Happy Mothers Day with Queen, part 3!

Hello Friends,

We're celebrating another Mum's day like we do every year on Vinyl in the Valley with a little Queen on the turntable.

Queen - "News of the World" (1977) - Elektra Records

This is Queen's sixth LP and captures the band at the height of their powers.  

Opening with the one-two punch of "We Are The Champions" / "We Will Rock You" one quickly realizes that they don't make them like this anymore!  Overused and overplayed? Yes.  A little bit on the overly-dramatic side?  Definitely. Even so, if these two songs don't get you pumped up for the rest of the record, you might need to have your pulse checked!


"Sheer Heart Attack" is a leftover track from the 1974 album of the same name.  Sounds as if its either punk-influenced or the band's reaction to the burgeoning punk movement.

"All Dead, All Dead" is Brian May's gentle ode to his dead cat featuring some great Freddie Mercury piano playing.

And speaking of which, no one could pull off a power ballad quite like Freddie Mercury and the boys could as evidenced on the album's second single, "Spread Your Wings".

Side One concludes with drummer Roger Taylor's funky, "Fight From the Inside".  Its not quite disco, but a definite precursor to their 1980 megahit, "Another One Bites the Dust".

Side Two kicks off with the incredibly sleazy (but not very good) Mercury-penned "Get Down, Make Love".  If you took a quick shower after this song (and we wouldn't blame you) and you returned during Brian May's "Sleeping On the Sidewalk" you might think someone switched records on you and you were now listening to early ZZ Top.  Nope, its Queen doing their best ZZ Top impression on a rags-to-riches rock & roll shuffle! 

Bassist John Deacon composed "Who Needs You" featuring some fine Spanish-guitar picking courtesy of Deacon and May.  Sweet and nostalgic-sounding.

"Its Late" is the band at their best! Grinding Brian May guitars backed by a driving rhythm section; Mercury's sneering operatic vocals and the familiar four part harmony on the chorus.  Although it sounds triumphant as fuck, the lyrics (written by May) seem to be about a recent break-up and are actually quite melancholy.

Which brings us to the last track, "My Melancholy Blues"-- a quiet and jazzy end to another great Queen album!

From arena rock to punk to gospel to disco to to ZZ Top to jazz, News of the World is a fine album but we can't help but noticing that it lacks some of the cohesion that that the band's prior two albums (A Night at the Opera / A Day at the Races) had.  Longtime Queen producer, Roy Thomas Baker, would return to produce their next LP, Jazz.   

Fun Fact: Tiki T. used to be scared of this album cover as a kid!**  What a dope!

RATING: 4 Sheer Heart Attacks out of 5

** The album's artwork was based on a painting ("Please.. .Fix it, Daddy?") by the amazing sci-fi artist, Frank Kelly Freas.

     

 

The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators

The 13th Floor Elevators - "The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators" (1966) - International Artists Records

From the Liner Notes..."Recently, it has become possible for man to chemically alter his mental state and thus alter his point of view (that is, his own basic relation with the outside world which determines how he stores his information). He then can restructure his thinking and change his language so that his thoughts bear more relation to his life and his problems, therefore approaching them more sanely.

It is this quest for pure sanity that forms the basis of the songs on this album." 

Hello Friends,

Tonight we're listening to the Elevator's first proper record, The Psychedelic Sounds of The 13th Floor Elevators. We believe that this is the first record released that used the term "psychedelic" in its title!  

As part of the Music of the Sphere's box set, this re-issue includes the original mono record in the original sequence as well as a 2010 re-issue, remastered in Stereo with the originally intended track listing.

Original 1966 Track Listing (Mono)

Side One: You're Gonna Miss Me

Roller Coaster

Splash 1 (Now I'm Home)

Reverberation

Don't Fall Down

Side Two: Fire Engine

Thru the Rhythm

You Don't Know (R.P. St John)

Kingdom of Heaven (R.P. St John)

Monkey Island (R.P. St John)

Tried to Hide

2010 Track Listing (Stereo)

Side One: You Don't Know (How Young You Are)

Through the Rhythm

Monkey Island

Roller Coaster

Fire Engine

Reverberation

Side Two: Tried to Hide

You're Gonna Miss Me

I've Seen Your Face Before (Spash 1)

Don't Fall Down

The Kingdom of Heaven (Is Within You)

This is a pretty significant debut record in terms of 60's psychedelia/garage rock.  Every song is pretty much amazing featuring the Elevators' signature twangy guitar driven blues rock, Roky Erickson's demonic vocals and Tommy Hall's maniacal electric jug playing throughout!  Produced by Lelan Rogers (Kenny's older brother), the album was the first LP released by fledgling Austin record label, International Artists.
  
Lyrically, most of the songs are about different states of consciousness or the desire to achieve altered states of consciousness through the use of psychedelics.

You gotta open up your mind and let everything come through - Roller Coaster

The key word, kids, is psychedelic.  Probably an overused term by 1970, but at the time, this was the kind of music being made by teens and twentysomethings who weren't quite satisfied hanging around the garage drinking a few beers and smoking a few joints.  No, no.  You can tell, in the very fabric of the music and lyrics, that these young troublemakers were into some pretty strong shit. Mushrooms, Pills, DMT, LSD, Adrenochrome, whatever the hell they could get their hands on. Blast off to Monkey Island, kids!

Through the stained glass windows moonlight flashes on the choir
And splashes on the altar in glows of liquid fire
Then it bathes you with its glory and you begin life anew
And the kingdom of heaven is within you - Kingdom of Heaven

A weird and wonderful debut LP.  A definite standout in an era of landmark LPs. Overall, the production is a bit more "polished"-sounding than Headstone: The Contact Sessions, but the Mono-version of the LP still sounds gloriously distorted and muddy!

We're not sure if the album accomplishes its stated goal as a quest for pure sanity, but it certainly does rock our socks off...

RATING: 5 Kingdoms of Heavens within you out of 5 

Wilderness

The Handsome Family - "Wilderness" (2013) - Carrot Top Records

Hello Friends,

Wilderness is the tenth studio album by Chicago's best married duo of gothic country-folk rock, The Handsome Family.

All the songs, I suppose, are supposed to be about things you see in a wilderness but with songs like "Eels", "Octopus", "Glow Worm" & "Wildebeest",  we're not sure what kind of "wilderness" these weirdos are hanging out in... 

Rennie & Brett Sparks aka The Adaams Handsome Family

Good record overall. Very spooky and atmospheric. Lyrically, it sounds like a series of fucked up, noirish children's stories.

Earlier this year, The Handsome Family provided the opening credits song ("Far From Any Road") to the fantastic HBO series, True Detective.

Alright! Alright!

RATING: 4 Yellow Kings of Carcosa out of 5

The Life and Times of KISS

Chuck Klosterman (a favorite of ours here on Vinyl In The Valley) has written perhaps the best article we've seen on KISS for the website, grantland.com.

Check it out here:

http://grantland.com/features/chuck-klosterman-kiss-hall-of-fame/

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The Magnificent Moodies

The Moody Blues - "Go Now" (1965) - London Records

Hello Friends,

Picked up this early Moody Blues record at Record Store Day last weekend.

Sounds absolutely nothing like any Moody Blues' albums we've ever heard before.  Its R&B and Merseybeat tunes sung mostly by Denny Laine (who would later join up with the McCartneys to form Wings).  Not proggy in the least. No mellotron.  No psychedelic album artwork.  No spacey concept tying the album together.  Sounds more like a slightly above average British Invasion record that anything on the Moody's second album (which many people regard as their proper debut), Days of Future Passed.

In England, it was released in a slightly different incarnation as The Magnificent Moodies, while here in the U.S. they re-named it, Go Now - The Moody Blues # 1 to capitalize on the success of their Number One single, the cover of the R&B song, "Go Now."

There's also a James Brown cover, "I'll Go Crazy"; Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry's "I've Got A Dream"; the Gershwin's "It Ain't Necessarily So"; Willie Dixon & Sonny Boy Williamson's "Bye Bye Bird"; et cetera.  Mister Sunshine Superman himself, Donovan, wrote the album's liner notes! 

The final track, written by Laine & organist Mike Pinder, is the British Invasion hit-that-never-was, "From The Bottom of My Heart".

Within the next two years, Laine and bassist Clint Warwick would be replaced by Justin Hayward & John Lodge, respectively, but we'll revisit the Moodys one night this Summer on a Prog-Rock Saturday.

Here's a live clip of Denny Laine performing "Go Now" as a member of Wings.

RATING: 4 Mitchells & Butlers Breweries out of 5

Hoppy Easter!

Happy Easter courtesy of Polish black metal band, Behemoth and their song, "Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel"... 

Have fun with the nightmares!

\m/

Movie Night: Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

Hello Friends,

Grab your popcorn and pull up a stool, its Movie Night again on Vinyl in the Valley!

Tonight we're watching Inside Llewyn Davis, a 2013 movie written and directed by the great Joel & Ethan Coen.

No one quite portrays the existential crises of modern man as enjoyably as the Coen Brothers do in their films.  From Barton Fink to Big Lebowski to their terribly underrated masterpiece, A Serious Man, the brothers Coen seem to be drawn to characters who are on psychic journeys-- road movies not necessarily of a specific place or time, but rather of a state of mind.

Inside Llewyn Davis is a film that could have only been made by the Coens.  The story revolves around the ups and downs (mostly downs) of the title character, Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac), a folk singer bouncing around clubs & coffee shops in 1961 Greenwich Village.  Musically, 1961 is kind of in a creative abyss taking place between Rock and Roll's first Golden Age and the next generation of greats like Bob Dylan and The Beatles. 

Based very loosely on real life folkster Dave Van Ronk, Llewyn's odyssey is one of just scraping by, never quite "making it", playing folk covers in cafes, sleeping on couches, burning bridges and chasing cats.  Along the way, there's the last of his "friends", folk duo Jim & Jean (Justin Timberlake & Carey Mulligan); a revealing trip to the abortion clinic; a road trip to wintery Chicago; beatnik poets (Garrett Hedlund), junkie jazzmen (John Goodman) and a brief glimpse of this new folky upstart (Dylan) who's about to turn this entire world on its ear.  And cats, cats, cats.

The entire cast is great.  Adam Driver who plays Al Cody (loosely based on Ramblin' Jack Elliott) is a real standout!

Although we agree its a little bit of a tough and challenging movie at times, we give Inside Llewyn Davis two cocktail glasses up!  Au revoir!

We'll see you next time, friends, until then the Tiki Bar is closed*.  

(* not really)

Music to Change her Mind

Jackie Gleason - "Music to Change Her Mind" (1956) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

Its been a while since we've had The Great One on the VITV turntable and tonight we've got a classic piece of Gleason "mood" music spinning.  And just what mood is that?  How about the mood to feed our date some red wine and sleeping pills while taking complete advantage of her! 

You think we're kidding?  All the clues are there friends.  Something is amiss! Just check out some of these song titles: "You've Changed", "GUILTY", "It WAS so Beautiful", "She's Funny That Way", "All By Myself", "You and the Night and the Music", "Dancing in the Dark", "You Call it Madness", et cetera.  It reads like some creepy night stalker's diary entries!

Music to Change Her Mind is the sound you hear in the wee hours of the morning, just before you fall asleep, with a good buzz going, after you smoked your last cigarette.

It's the sound of your brainwaves in a dense fog: misty, muddled, familiar and dreamlike.

The ethereal horn of Bobby Hackett is present throughout like a beacon in the night guiding us to shore!

FUN FACT: Side One's haunting "You're My Greatest Love" is also the theme music to The Honeymooners!

RATING: 4 Strings of Poloponies out of 5

13th Floor Elevators: Headstone - The Contact Sessions

The 13th Floor Elevators - "Headstone: The Contact Sessions" (1966/2010) - Contact Records

Hello Friends,

Tonite we're listening to the first LP in our recently acquired Music of the Sphere's box set.

Recorded in early 1966 by legendary psychedelic producer Walt Andrus, Headstone was supposed to be the Elevators' first LP (it was to be released on Gordon Bynum's Contact Records), but for reasons too convoluted to go into here, the finished product never saw the light of day! Luckily for us, The Elevators "lost" first album wasn't really lost all and they would eventually be signed to Houston's International Artists record label and get a proper debut with The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators.

Headstone (recorded in mono) sounds raw and raucous. Loud and electric.  A mix of original and cover tunes. Perfect in all its imperfection.  

Its a proper-sounding album and not just a collection of demos and outtakes.

It should also be noted that by early 1966, most of the members of the band were subsisting on a steady diet of marijuana, various pills and LSD.      

The opening track-- what would become the band's signature song-- "You're Gonna Miss Me", sets the stage not only for the rest of the album, but for the rest of the band's too-short career. 

At first, "You're Gonna Miss Me" sounds like pretty much any other post-British Invasion garage rock song, thunderous power chords (played by guitarist Stacy Sutherland) lead to a chaos-fueled drum beat that sounds as if both the drummer (John Ike Walton) and the drumset are tumbling down a flight of stairs while never quite losing the beat.  And what's that sound weaving between the beats like a swarm of stoned bees?  Why its an amplified jug being played (er, rather, being vocalized) by Elevators' founding member, Tommy Hall.  Within the first 20 seconds you can tell this band is going to be something more than just another Yardbirds-influenced blues band! 

Then... there's the voice! Like a demonic freight train breaking through the gates of hell, the barbaric yawp of lead singer, Roky Erickson, pierces through the music sounding just as frightening and unhinged today as it must have to audiences back in 1966. Amazing! 

You're gonna wake up one morning as the sun greets the dawn,
You're gonna wake up one morning as the sun greets the dawn,
You're gonna look around in your mind, girl, you're gonna find that I'm gone...

"You're Gonna Miss Me" is followed up by another original written by Tommy Hall & Stacy Sutherland, "Tried to Hide".  Then there's a cover of the Solomon Burke blues tune, "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love".  Next up is the the aching ballad, "Take That Girl" written by fellow Austin bohemian and frequent Elevators' collaborator, Powell St. John.

"You Can't Hurt Me Anymore" is another Hall-Erickson composition.  Side One closes with a nod to another fellow Texan, Buddy Holly, with the Elevators covering "I'm Gonna Love You Too" which sounds a little like what Holly himself might have sounded like if he would have made it to 1966-- stoned, world-weary and jaded, and with an electric jug frantically going at it in the background.

Side Two opens with another Powell St. John composition, "Monkey Island".  Its creepy and psychedelic as Erickson sings (yells) his heart out with lyrics literally about living on a monkey island.  ("Living home on Monkey Island, baby, right in the middle of a zoo / Living home on Monkey Island, baby, pretended to be a monkey too".) 

If a Southern and stoned Bob Dylan sang lead for Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, it might have sounded something like the next song, "Roller Coaster".  Another Erickson composition complete with tempo changes and very psychedelic lyrics about "opening up your mind and letting everything come through".

Things quiet down a bit on the gorgeous ballad, "Now I'm Home (Splash 1)", co-written by Erickson and Tommy Hall's wife, Clementine.  More melancholia, more paranoia and a killer guitar solo. Sample lyric: "The fierceness of my feelings rocks me like a roar / Its good to know we won't be strangers anymore".  (Supposedly Roky began writing this song after meeting yet another Texas native, Janis Joplin!)  On the song "You're Gonna Miss Me", Erickson declared with little uncertainty, "I'm not coming home!"-- on "Now I'm Home", midway through Side Two, he's apparently had a change of heart!  

The record ends with early versions of two more great psychedelic originals, "Where Am I? (Thru the Rhythm)" and "Fire Engine".  The former reaching new heights in lyrical neurosis while the latter is a surf tune written as a tribute to a mind-expanding DMT experience ("The Empty Place" = "DMT Place", get it kids?)

Again, there's some long story as to why Headstone wasn't released as the band's first album.  It would have made a fantastic debut.  But take a bunch of loud rock & roll, some rowdy Texas teenagers, a bunch of mind-altering substances and a very public drug bust and I guess its lucky that anything survived!

    Here's an early version of "You're Gonna Miss Me" courtesy of Roky Erickson's first band, The Spades: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qan7lVj3KtM.  

Can't wait to hear what's up next, the band's actual debut, The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators!

RATING: 4.5 Let Me Take You To The Empty Place On My Fire Engine out of 5