Decided to use Tumblr as a repository for various vinyl related images that catch my eye (see what I did there?). Take a peek over at VinylEye.com

Buddy, you want to be in business with Hi Pockets Duncan. With Hi Pockets Duncan, it’s first class all the way!

^{{by way of Proxbid Auctions}}

Can we just talk about Yusef Lateef’s playing here? I know it should all be about Cannonball Adderley but for me the highlight of this performance is Yusef. Jump to the 4:19 mark if Jazz isn’t your thing (isn’t usually mine either) so you can at least experience Dr. Yusef.

images/uploads/Maskman_partII.mp3

Recent score - rare Harmon Bethea 45. The A-Side wasn’t mixed very well - you can barely hear Harmon over the music. I’d assumed the B-Side (as presented here) would just be an all music version of the flip, but no. Full alternate vocals.

Ok so it’s not what anyone might call super sophisticated but I admire Harmon Bethea. The guy worked as a mail clerk by day and plugged away for 40+ years trying to ‘make it’ as a singer. Adopted an alternate persona (The Mask Man), streaked his hair pink and when that got people’s attention he decided to give them music with a sense of humor. Lord knows he must have had bucket loads himself just to keep at it over all those years.

Also, Harman? HarMAN? Jesus people. The man struggled for just a little recognition. Couldn’t you bother to proof the spelling of his name?

Extended version of any already ‘ample’ song but you have to love the energy of The Chambers Brothers. Rumour has it that Columbia president Clive Davis didn’t want them to lay down this track but instead hand it over to a white group to record. Thankfully they refused. Eventually it was recorded by the group but Columbia still didn’t want to put the single out. It wasn’t until the group had a hit with "All Strung Out Over You", that the record company allowed the band to re-record the song which by then had become a major showpiece of their gigs. The song was a successes but never quite managed to crack the top ten.

Kevin Coyne on the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1973. About a month after he released Marjory Razorblade. Such a shame neither of these performances made their way to any of the OGWT DVDs but I’m pretty sure there were some technical difficulties experienced during the recording so perhaps that’s why. Love both these songs and while House on the Hill was always a favorite from that album, this performance of it is particularly fine.

Btw, not that this hasn’t been observed before but Jesus, John Peel had a hell of a track record backing talent.

Love this version of Mississippi John Hurt’s Spike Driver’s Blues. It was recorded on Pete Seeger’s Rainbow Quest, a show dedicated to traditional American music that aired from 1965 - 1966. In fact I think I may even prefer it to the version found on Hurt’s 1966 album, Mississippi John Hurt Today! By the way, the vinyl reissue of that album from Pure Pleasure Records - outstanding.

Aside from Hurt’s playing and gentle singing one of things I love about him is his story. He recorded a few songs in New York City in 1928  for Okeh Records then effectively disappeared. It would be a further thirty- odd years before he was ‘rediscovered’ by Tom Hoskins, a folk musicologist who tracked Hurt down in Avalon Mississippi by listening to the lyrics of "Avalon Blues". Hoskins convinced Hurt (now aged 70) to make his way back up north and begin performing again which he did extensively until his death three years later. In that very short time he recorded three albums, appeared on the Tonight Show (would love to have a clip of that) and generally became a bit of a legend in the folk music scene.

As you can hear for yourself in the clip above his was a gentle style and he infused his music with real charm, soul and humour. In the clip below (again from Rainbow Quest), Hurt describes how he first learned to play.

Side Note: John’s granddaughter Mary Hurt-Wright looks after The Mississippi John Hurt Blues Foundation and its goals of preserving his legacy and introducing disadvantaged children to a musical style they might otherwise never know is a noble one so hop over and donate if you can.

Hikky Burr

Before the sweaters, there was The Bill Cosby Show 1969 - 1971

The positively EPIC Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake, an album which upon its release sported a most impressive circular fold-out cover as can be seen above (very much want got it!).

It’s discouraging to know that Lazy Sunday was beaten to the No 1 by Gary Pucket and the Union Gap’s Young Girl. A very solid tune to be sure, but this injustice only serves to illustrate that the listening public of the time would rather have had a song about narrowly avoiding child molestation charges at the top of the charts than celebrate a bunch of fun loving chappies just trying to enjoy their weekend.

The Last Time I Saw Paris

I’m 15 years old and Max Blechman and I are contemplating the basement level of Tower Records on West 66th and Broadway. Two kids who have no idea why they’re considering venturing down into an area of the store reserved for such oddities as Jazz and Classical and in all likelihood - Show Tunes.

Through the double glass doors we go and as we do we’re hit square by the crisp lilting tones of a bygone era. Without a word between us we make our way to the counter where we ask in unison, ‘What is this?’ A counter jockey  who appears to be in the final moments of a death throe pulls himself together long enough to reply, ‘That? That’s The Coward’.

Holy shit. We don’t know what that means but we know we have just discovered something epically cool. We hunt around the ‘Ts’ for close to twenty minutes before one of us realizes that obviously ‘The Coward’ will be homed under the ‘Cs’. The closest we can find is someone by the name of Noel who shares the surname. We each grab a copy of More Compact Coward, have our suspicions confirmed by an exasperated, yet ever perishing counter jockey and head off to our respective homes; new purchases in hand. Somewhere between ‘Poor Uncle Harry’ and ‘Don’t Let’s Be Beastly to the Germans’ I know gold has truly been struck.

Above is a scan of recently acquired 78 featuring the classic ‘London Pride’ on one side and ‘The Last Time I Saw Paris’ on the other. Though lacking in the mirth of other Coward recordings, T.L.T.I.S.P does not want for charm. For those interested I digitized the track above using the Ion iPTUSB portable turntable. The record isn’t in the best of shape so I’ve done a rough clean up by running it through Audacity. A large version of the sleeve is available to view here and wow what a sleeve it is.

Now THAT’s a project brief!

Dr. Dog is a band from Philadelphia and they’re a band I quite like. Their sound is their own but is clearly informed by the music of the 60’s and as a fan of music from the 60’s I see this as no bad thing.

I discovered Dr. Dog last year and as sometimes happens I was in a bit of a musical rut at the time but their sound not only lifted my spirits it also reminded me of all the great artists I had been neglecting during my usual listening rotations. What more could you ask of a band?

At some point I must have visited their website and I dare say i was less than overwhelmed at what I encountered though I’m sure it serves their purposes. I guess I just felt that they deserved better. I wasn’t (and am not) convinced I was the best person to inflict a little design vigilantism but figured there was no harm in trying. The result is a humble tributary site launched today - www.drdog.co.uk