Category: Music

STAX Stay In School

Stay in School, Don’t Be a Dropout (1967) was not a commercial release and less than 10,000 copies are known to exist in its original vinyl format.

Guess what’s in Bunk’s old vinyl collection!

This is a DJ album, distributed to R&B/Soul radio stations in urban areas. It’s got no lead-in tracks, meaning that the DJ had to pick what announcement or song he wanted to play and place the needle by hand. Stax/Volt was clever, in that the tracks of songs they were selling were preceded by public service announcements by the artists themselves.

“Hi, this is the big O, Otis Redding.
I was just standing here thinking about you,
Thought I’d write a song about you,
And dedicate it to you.
Take a listen.”

More info on this nice collectible here. Click to enlarge, check out the playlist, and read the commendation from Vice President Hubert Humphrey. There’s some great stuff on this album.

Saturday Matinee – Jerks, Avalanche, Malo, Santana & The Five Satins

Pointless vandalism. Jerks.

On a lighter note, there’s this. The Avalanche’s “Since I Left You.” I like it, not so much for the music, but the vid has a nice storyline with a clever twist at the end (h/t ryannon). The song reminded me of this grooviness:

Malo‘s 1972 hit “Suavecito.” Malo was a San Fransisco band led by Jorge Santana, Carlos’ brother. Rather than pick another sappy hit from that year (like Chuck Berry’s “My Ding-a-Ling“) let’s try this:

Carlos Santana‘s “Nowhere to Run” from a 1982 concert promoted by Apple founder Steve Wozniak. Now let’s jump forward another ten years to 1992.

Or not. In 1992, Boyz II Men had a hit with a cover of “In The Still of the Night,” but I just can’t bring myself to post it, so let’s go with The Five Satins‘ original, lip synched, from 1956.

And with that we’re outta here. Have a great weekend, folks, and be back here tomorrow for more fun.

Saturday Matinee – Bunk’s Birthday, World’s Fastest Indian, Call Me Al, Steep Canyon Rangers, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings


Kudos to Amy Oops for this one, even though it’s not my birthday and I’m no one’s bitch, even if I enjoy popping balloons.


World’s fastest Indian. h/t Mongoose

Nice version of this Paul Simon song. h/t AZfederalist

Steve Martin’s Steep Canyon Rangers provide free music for those who are without it. They’re not bad at it, either.

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings need no explanation. Pure retro soul, and with that, we’re out. Have a great weekend folks, and be back here tomorrow for more fun.

Saturday Matinee Roadtrip – Talking Heads, Beat Farmers, Steve Earle, Bruce Springsteen, Robert Mitchum & the Winter Bros.

Talking Heads‘ “Road to Nowhere.”

Beat Farmers‘ “Road to Ruin.” These guys were a great bar band.

Steve Earle‘s “Copperhead Road.”

Bruce Stringbean & the E Street Band‘s “Thunder Road,” in 1976.

Roger Mitchum‘s “Ballad of Thunder Road.”

Johnny & Edgar Winter, 2007, with Dylan’s classic “Highway 61 Revisited.”

The cooler’s full, the car’s gassed up, and we’re outta here. Have a great weekend, folks, and we’ll see you at the first rest stop after sunup.

Saturday Matinee – Escalator, The Green Men & Louie Louie

The guy had never seen an escalator, didn’t trust it for good reason. [Found here.]

The Vancouver Canucks are like the Chicago Cubs of hockey. They always come close to winning the Cup, but never quite pull it off. To be honest, I don’t follow the NHA, let alone professional sports. But I saw these guys, and I had no idea that they had earned recobanition as a National Treasure of Canada. [via]

Toots & The Maytals play Richard Berry.

George Duke and Stanley Clarke play Richard Berry.

Others played Richard Berry here, here and here.  Oh yeah, and this one’s good, too. But here is the original originator:

There you go – the originator of the classic fratparty song. Have a great weekend, folks. Be back here tomorrow for more fun stuff.

Saturday Matinee – Social Distortion, Chambers Brothers, Chicago, Bill Chase & Wild Cherry


Social Distortion linky courtesy of Coldwarrior. Great video that.

The Chambers Brothers’ grooved on the Mike Douglas Show in 1972. (Watch for John Lennon’s cameo.)

Chicago rocked during its early years before it got all wimpy and stuff. 1970’s “25 or 6 to 4” was a classic with a big band retro funk sound, even though nobody knew what the words meant.

Then there was Bill Chase with some 1971 vintage intrumental funk.  (Wait for the brass waterfall.)

Okay. White funksters with afros didn’t make the nut, but the song was a hit.

And with that, I’m out. Have a great weekend, folks.  See you back here tomorrow for more fun.

Saturday Matinee – Red Foley & Grady Martin, Johnny Burnette, The Yardbirds, Aerosmith & Tiny Bradshaw

Grady Martin was probably the greatest session guitar player in country music (that’s him on an electric double neck). He was the creator of what’s now called Rockabilly, but it was early Rock and Roll. Give him credit also for fuzztone.

That brings us to The Johnny Burnette Trio and “Lonesome Train.” Great early rock. Burnette was the guy who had a hit with a cover of Tiny Bradshaw‘s “Train Kept A-Rollin.” (Grady Martin played for Johnny Burnette in the mid 50s.)

So here’s The Yardbirds‘ 1966 version of “Train Kept A-Rollin”, with Jimmy Page.

Why stop there? Let’s jump to 1977 with Aerosmith’s version of the 1951 R&B song.

What? You haven’t heard Tiny Bradshaw’s original version? Well here you go.

And with that we’re out of here. Have a great weekend, folks, and be back here for more fun tomorrow.

And on this day, Awesome happened.

Shortly after recording what was arguably their best album at Abbey Road Studios, the Fab Four crossed that now famous intersection and posed for this publicity shot. (L to R: Paul, George, John and Ringo.)

Some say the Beatles were too popular, but you’ve got to admit that without “the British Invasion” of the 1960s there’d likely be no Tacky Raccoons.

[Image found here, crossposted here.]

____________________________________________

Update: This is disturbing.

Saturday Matinee – The Beatnix, Zappa, Carl Douglas, The Black Keys & the Streamline Rockers

One of my favorites of The PreFab Four (posted previously).

What the heck. Here’s Zappa’s version.

Here’s to the Royal Disco Wedding for our friends across the pond: “There was funky Chinamen from funky Chinatown.”  Great lyrics from Carl Douglas.  Reminds me of National Lampoon’s classic “Have a Kung-Fu Christmas.”

Heh. The Black Keys are my current favorites in the land of  retrorock, and they fit right in with the Soul Train motif. [Tip o’ the tarboosh to Bunkessa]

And as long as we’re going retro, here’s some rockabilly from the UK: The Streamline Rockers.

That makes five for this episode of the  Saturday Matinee, and with that I’m out. Have a great weekend folks, and see you back here tomorrow for more fun.

Saturday Matinee – Zappa, The Ink Spots, Iron Butterfly, Rare Earth & Satchmo

Earth Day has come and gone, and dang, I missed it. To make up for it, let’s run with the theme.

It would be different if I didn’t care, but I don’t want to set the world on fire.

Yep. In the Garden of Eden. On drugs.

That’s a rare Rare Earth vid. Now, to find one more video to round out the set… okay. I got it.

One of the prettiest songs ever written. Happy Easter and have a great weekend, folks. Be back here tomorrow for more fun.