a mellifluous clash | a cobbling of posts

BYG 529.029. magick sibling, daevid allen. note the lower case. gare de lyon train station, may 1968. on the cusp of toppling de gaulle. smyth & allen remain in France. EMI insists on submission. As the title suggests, this is in no small part a collision of two archived posts; from August 2008 and September

i can’t hardly stand it, no-no #2

“one hundred years ago Detroit Electric… could go 211 miles on a charge.” Not as perfectly distilled as the studio take which appeared belatedly on “VU“, this version is allegedly recorded in Detroit, 1969; not San Francisco, as some copies have misreported in bootlegging from the bootleggers. It very possibly pisses all over the same

i can’t hardly stand it, no-no

Recorded May 20th, 1969, NYC. ▼ THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: I CAN’T STAND IT from “VU” LP (Verve) 1985 (US)

a shoe box. strings. a rollerskate

Engineered by David Howard Baker, Apostolic Recording Studios, New York City.▼ SONNY SHARROCK: BLIND WILLY from “Black Woman” LP (Vortex) 1969 (US)

anorak or fishtail savagery; let sleeping dogs lie

… and before the skies cleared over Boomland, there briefly existed a sometimes growling sextet, Bulldog Breed. Featuring all three key members of T2 – in what I gather was a fusion of two minor league English collectives, Gun and Please – Bulldog Breed lived long enough to see the release of one long player

smile a little smile

Delightful schmaltz from the UK production / songwriting partnership between Tony Macaulay and Geoff Stevens; better known through their association with The Foundations – “Build Me Up, Buttercup” – and Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours. Owing a massive one farthing debt to “Penny Lane” era woodwind flourishes and cow lashed McCartney-isms, one also harbors a secret admiration

ayatollah khatami: talking asshøle

sphinc•ter |ˌsfɪŋktə|nounAnatomy• a ring of muscle surrounding and serving to guard or close an opening or tube, such as the anus or the openings of the stomach. DERIVATIVESsphinc•ter•al adjectivesphinc•ter•ic |-ˌtɛrɪk| adjective ORIGIN late 16th cent.: via Latin from Greek sphinktēr, from sphingein ‘bind tight’. And flaccid with it. While Iran’s favourite mullah shoots imbecilic spittle

whose badge ?

Smooth…but the thing which makes it for me is Harrison’s Abbey Road guitar bridge cutting across the zebra crossing. A couple of seconds of timeless, excruciating joy. Did I say unadulterated ? Written by Eric Clapton with a little help from George Harrison.Recorder some time in October, 1968. ▼ CREAM: BADGE from “Goodbye Cream” LP

#3 of a 10-point program

“I’m talking about unity, brothers and sisters,because we have to get it together.”– john sinclair, 1968. “3. Free exchange of energy and materials – we demand the end of money!” – #3 of a 10-point mission statement,John Sinclair, Minister of Information: White Panther Party, November 1st, 1968. ▼ MC5: KICK OUT THE JAMS from “Kick Out The Jams”

purple heart, first edition

peace march, LA: april 22nd, 1972. photograph by bill eppridge. Composed by Mel Tillis, and originally recorded by Johnny Darnell.“johnny got his gun”Arranged by Glennn D. Hardin;Produced by Jimmy Bowen. ▼ KENNY ROGERS AND THE FIRST EDITION: RUBY (DON’T TAKE YOUR LOVE TO TOWN) from “The First Edition ’69” LP (Reprise) 1969 (US)

mayfly

may•fly |ˌmeɪflʌɪ| noun ( pl. –flies) a short-lived, slender insect with delicate, transparent wings and two or three long filaments on the tail. It lives close to water, where the chiefly herbivorous aquatic larvae develop. • Order Ephemeroptera: several families and many species. • an artificial fishing fly that imitates such an insect.Happy birthday, Gus.

not john cale

Originally…released on vinyl as part of a series of albums recorded for John Gale’s Studio G Records, this is library music at its finest and most eerily familiar. TV Close Down. From Trunk Records: “Way back in the late 1960s a man called John Gale saw a gap in the market. He worked in advertising

death valley ’69

Two of four improvisations by Jerry Garcia – produced for the original “Zabriskie Point” score – which never made final cut. Jon made a point regarding a certain Navajo Indian’s mistrust and “low opinion” of Brujeria, and Carlos Casteneda’s meddling with those potent primal forces which reign out in the desert. Between cactus buttons blistering

some velvet morning, 40 years ago

photograph by don snyder. This version did not feature on Some Velvet Morning – Eleven Covers back in February over on the excellent How Marvellous, although Thin White Rope‘s definitive rendition did, alongside several other hitherto undiscovered gems. In hindsight, I am glad, since it provides me the opportunity to dig out this equally marvellous

gram for gram, pound for pound

dennis hopper by andy warhol, 1971. A joint Gram Parsons and Roger McGuinn composition; originally released as the flip side to “Bad Night at the Whiskey” ahead of the new LP. It did not chart. The follow-up of sorts to Parsons’ vehicle, “Sweetheart of the Rodeo“, by this point McGuinn was the sole remaining original

green mohair suit

A golden nugget in every sense. A jackpot of bile delivered on slick pedal steel. I could wax lyrical on this for at least a couple of dense paragraphs, but why bother ? You’ve heard it all before, I’m sure. The sound of a jug band player with a failing liver and a gilded splinter

put your boots on your feet

TI 7050. The history of Caribbean migration to the UK is well documented, but full of contradictions and convoluted misrepresentation. Between the end of World War II in 1945 and 1960, Britain offered free entry to its shores for all Commonwealth citizens, including returning soldiers who fought for Queen and Country. The infrastructure and economy

anatomy of a sketch

detail from “anatomy of the neck“.from the sketchbooks of leonardo da vinci. Very often, the working sketch delivers more of interest than the finished article; certainly, it reveals more on the mechanics of the creative process and the thinking from concept to final delivery. It is the same in music. In many cases, the very

paradise lost

engraving by lodovico cardi cigoli, 1559-1613. Beelzebub stands immobilized in ice, tethered to the centre of the earth.Possibly, his birth sign is Taurus. If you looked up at the stars once upon a time, you just might have seen him tumbling past Hyades. Be•el•ze•bub |bɪˌɛlzɪbʌb|a name for the Devil. ORIGIN from late Latin Beëlzebub, translating

charlie don’t surf

Capitol 2530. Blank Stares and Cricket Claps put together a post in December last celebrating the sometimes overlooked vocal talent of – genuine surfing – Beach Boy, Dennis Wilson. Dennis, of course, got in some bad out of family company with one Charles Manson, and that post featured “Never Learn Not To Love” from 1969’s