Blog: Music You (Possibly) Won't Hear Anyplace Else

He's big, red, fuzzy, and furry, and he's ours! A former barn cat turned spoiled house cat, King James loves to eat, complain, and nap in whatever order turns up and/or occurs to him. He's between six and seven years old. He loves his people and he's willing to tolerate his fellow felines. James brings our number up to nineteen.

It was really spectacular. I especially loved the... um.... Oops. Wrong picture.

Today, gospel tunes (and, often, texts) by the self-taught, ultra-talented Charles Hutchinson Gabriel. The above image was swiped (and modified) by me from this amazing page , maintained by John McDonnell, to whom I intend to send a thank-you email. Gabriel was a handsome cuss, no? Four of the titles are presented in two consecutive, contrasting versions--for instance, we hear a concert rendition of His Eye Is on the Sparrow , followed by a country gospel version (both terrific). Click here to hear: A Charles H. Gabriel Festival [...]

This was a recent thrift find, and what a cheap, but cool, cover! In typical no-budget fashion, the Parade label has given us three titles to choose from--the one on the front cover ( The Fun of the Polka, Vol. 2 ), the back cover ( Polka Party, Vol. 2 ), and the label (just Polka Party ). I kind of like the first one, so I'm sticking with it. No information about "Baron Stanley" in the liner notes, unfortunately--but, whoever he was, he had one heck of a band. The music is fabulous, [...]

I've always wanted to type "Terry Pillow returns," and this will probably be my only chance. We heard four of these at the beginning of this very month--now we have six more, for a total of four plus six. Now, I know what you're asking: Were these, at the time of recording, the ten best known hymns? Answer: Who knows? Kind of ambiguous, really, since they may have simply been the ten best known to the compilers. No, I suspect they--"they" being the Varsity group of junk labels--had ten tracks to stick on a 10" [...]

The major, major rock and roll pioneer Johnny Otis, who has passed away at the age of 90, wasn't black, but he's gotten the media treatment reserved for those black artists who dared to rock B.E. (Before Elvis). Namely, he's been dutifully shuffled into a Star Trek -style critical realm someplace between space and time, his long and powerhouse musical career condensed into such vacuities as, "Mr. Otis played an important role in creating a new sound for a new audience of young urban blacks. With a few years it would form the foundation of rock 'n' [...]

As you can see, my Casio WK-3800 has grown considerably. Today, we hear your blogger playing the first portion of a Bach setting of Was Gott tut on two Casio WK-3800 organ voices. As I type this, I have yet to check out the C.'s virtual organ slides--instead, I've been sprucing up the sound with MAGIX. I are high tech. Then, I quickly arranged Was Gott tut as Erik Satie might have harmonized it circa 1899. I'm amazed by how beautifully the melody sounds through the noise of all [...]

If you came here for country gospel, boy, are you in the exact right place--pull up a chair and sit a spell. (But, if it's winter when you're reading this, keep your shoes on.) This terrific gospel quartet was led by Arthur "Guitar" Smith (of Guitar Boogie fame), and these are some of their earliest recordings for MGM, as reissued in fake--i.e., "electronically enhanced"--stereo on MGM's Metro label. The LP is from 1965; the tracks date from 1954-1957. And you won't have to endure the fake, pushed-to-one-channel effect produced by the Metro engineers--your [...]

Like me, do you find yourself saying (either aloud or in your head so people won't stare at you), "When is TCM going to get around to showing Gone With the Wind , From Here to Eternity , Casablanca , North By Northwest , Singin' in the Rain , Mister Roberts , and Giant ? When, I ask you?? When ??" Well, we're in luck--it's nearly time for TCM's 31 Days of Oscar Registered Trademark (Oscar®)! For 31 days, TCM will air movies [...]

Ever seen a front jacket that's 90 degrees out of sync? If not, you have now. And we know it's the front jacket that's off, since, unlike the back jacket, it doesn't properly line up with the opening. Pick up this LP with the front jacket rightside up, and the record falls out. Since the label is Modern Sound, specialists in sound-alike singles and fourth-rate compilations thereof, none of this surprises us. What should surprise us, however, are the first-rate tracks and original artists to be found here. (Original, as opposed to [...]

...some music up and running before too long. ("Before too long" is one ambiguous phrase, isn't it?) In other news, I'm clearing my second hard drive of music files, which involves burning and labeling, so it's not a quick process. I've also made a giant leap in Operation Get Media Room Under Control. After making several minor dents in the mess over the past few months, I have, over the space of a couple days, restored nearly half the room to order. There's a walkway now. I can call Hoarders [...]

Just a note that today's selections weren't meant to thematically fit in with Epiphany--they're simply the contents of two 7" gospel discs I'd set aside for this series. One is a Royale label 45 EP featuring the Terry Pillow(!) Singers, the other a 7" vinyl Faith for Today -connected 78 (see above). I've always wanted to type "a 7" vinyl Faith for Today -connected 78." At last, my lifelong wish realized. The Terry Pillow material turns out to be excellent, almost cowboy-style, gospel, while the Faith for Today TV Quartet gives [...]

And so came the time to take down the lights, retire the tree, and store the Christmas kitsch. Thank you, Hong Kong creches and Santas and snowmen--Christmas isn't Christmas without you. A photo tribute to these most important holiday players:

Wow! Life discovered on the Moon! At least, according to this msn.com headline: Fly Inside Giant Moon Crater . Wow! I wonder if it's a giant fly? And this gem, from our big city newspaper: Mighty Careers from High-School Robots Grow We still have many days to go, 2012-wise, but I doubt a more bizarre headline is coming our way than "Mighty Careers from High-School Robots Grow." At least it doesn't say, " as High-School Robots Grow." Lee

Two selections from Hodie , ripped from the 1965 Angel recording of this great Ralph Vaughan Williams cantata. Texts and text credits have been scanned form the jacket (below). Bright Portals of the Sky (Vaughan Williams) March of the Three Kings

I hope to put up some Three Wise Men selections (the theme, not the group) before this day is o'er--I mean, over. Right now, we have the magnificent 1964 EP, Songs of Faith and Doubt , featuring six religious songs by the late, brilliant Sydney ( Lord of the Dance ) Carter, sung and played by Donald Swann. My previous copy of this EP (a thrifted copy, of course) was pretty banged up, with only two playable selections. I recently got a new copy and have listened to the entire EP for the first time. [...]

Varsity was a joke, even by cheap label standards. An Elliott Everett "Eli" Oberstein label (so that's where "Elliott Everett" comes from!), Varsity discs sounded like crap, basically. At least, I've yet to find one that doesn't, and I've had a lot of these critters. Varsity pressings are worse than Royale or Remington. I have a theory that any good pressings made by Varsity were an accident--and probably tossed out immediately by the quality control people. But, of course, some of the music on Varsity was cool enough. And this collection is delightfully [...]

Both of today's 45s appear to have been victims of jukebox play, especially the first one (Lori Ann Wagner & Bill Boehm's Singing Angels), but my Stanton stylus is very forgiving, at least when coupled with MAGIX ingenuity. Both sides track much better than they ought to, and I do not gripe. Well, I do, actually, but not when my audio tricks work. That last sentence was an up-too-late-at-the-blog classic. Anyway, I got good sound out of two fairly hammered discs, and that's what I live for. See? I'm not high-maintenance in [...]

I hate to be the bearer of bad grooves, but.... From 1956, a 2009 repeat. (Wait a minute....) I mean, from 2009, a 1956 repeat. Now, my Christmas-record tolerance is as high as anyone's, and much higher than most folks', but I still find these two sides god-awful in a way that's impossible to describe. So, enjoy! I know nothing about "Little Susie," except that the voice actor was obviously an adult male. These two sides sound like they were coughed up in less time than it took to wax them. [...]

First of all, let me explain that wrist pain is the reason for the lack of posts on these twelve days of Christmas. It started about a week ago in my right wrist, and I had to lay off of playing the keyboard and making sound files--meanwhile, I've been using a heating pad on my wrist, which has almost done the trick. Mild pain remains, and of course I'm hoping it departs ASAP. Anyway, that's why I haven't been busier than an over-caffeinated elf on December 24. Exactly what to call it, I don't know. [...]