The Dukes and Their Sources

April Fools Day, 1985....and XTC releases 25 O’Clock, a six-song EP under the pseudonym Dukes of Stratosphear. Conceived 6 years earlier, the band got to work on the project in 1984. Modeled on 1967-68 British psychedelia, no more than two takes were allowed on any tune, vintage instruments - including an old mellotron picked up on the cheap – were used when possible, and the madcapery was laid on thick. The joke, though, was on them, as the resulting EP – 25 O’Clock – outsold the previous XTC release, The Big Express.

What we have today, Dukes of Stratosphear & Sources, is the 25 O’Clock, coupled with the Dukes’ subsequent album, Psonic Psunspot. Each song is followed by the track (or tracks) that it evokes, at least for me. Some connections are instrumental, some thematic, and yet others stem from the use of effects and treatments that were, as they say, “of their time.”

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Sucking Since the '70s

The Rolling Stones released Tattoo You on this day in 1981. It was their last good album. Their last great album was probably Exile , maybe Some Girls . Sandwiched between the two, Emotional Rescue is almost as good. It wasn't even really recorded as an album. Its core is mostly comprised of outtakes stretching back to 1972. The band needed a new album to tour, but the Twins weren't getting along, so associate producer, Chris Kimsey, went through the archives and found the best bits for the band to finish off in 1980-81. "Little T&A" comes from a basic track cut during the Emotional Rescue sessions. "Start Me Up" originated during the Some Girls . The band worked on "Hang Fire" during both. It's a bit like Physical Graffiti, except that most of that album's tracks were new, whereas most of Tattoo consists of outtakes. It's a bit like Odds & Sods except that the tunes were worked on ...

Yes, There's Gas in the Car

In 1970 the police raided the house of Owsley Stanley - famed financial backer of Blue Cheer, architect of the dread "Wall of Sound" and LSD producer of renown. It was the third bust of note. The first, in December of 1967 found him with millions of dollars of acid. He was released on bail. Three years later, in Jnnuary, 1970, he was arrested along with the Grateful Dead in New Orleans - as related in " Truckin ". This last arrest resulted in the revocation of his bail and he spent the next two years in prison. On his release, Stanley returns to the Dead - a band that he initially bankrolled - to run sound for them again, but all is not the same. He's no longer the player he was. The road crew has emerged as a power center. He builds the Wall of Sound but the band goes on hiatus in 1974. The Wall is dismantled and Owsley never works with them again. The whole arc of his time with the Dead inspired Steely Dan's " Kid Charlemagne " - working in his...

George Jones Jones

The Possum would have turned 90 today. To mark the day, I'll suggest a live album, Back in the Saddle (Live: 1979) . It is an interesting LP. There doesn't seem to be a lot of information on it. George seems to be playing at Gilley's in Houston....as Mickey gets several mentions. It says "1979", but that may not be right. Lorrie Morgan is in the band, singing backup and the Tammy parts, but he wasn't with George until 1981-83. In 1979, however, she was married to Jones Boy Ron Gaddis, so the date could be accurate. George introduces " He Stopped Loving Her Today " as a song he always likes to play when he's in Houston, The audience responds with enthusiasm and recognition, but George cut that one in 1979 and didn't release it until 1980. It is not a concert, per se, because the audience fades in at the beginning of most songs and then fades out at the end. The recordings seem to be genuinely live, though. There is some feedback that creeps...

NRBQ

Here's wishing Joey Spampinato a happy birthday. His old band, NRBQ, should've been a presence on the airwaves. Instead they showed up mostly on the college radio and NPR affiliates left of the dial. While the band had friends and admirers in high places - Keith Richards, Bonnie Rait, REM, the Simpson's, Dr. Demento, Captain Lou - they never managed a mainstream breakthrough. In part, perhaps, it was of their own making. They could play, play anything: and they did. Their first album, in 1969, includes covers of Sun Ra , " Hey Baby ", Eddie Cochran - that last, one of the best ever. With three songwriters contributing equally, they may've been too eclectic and radio didn't know what to do with them. The debut also included a song of Joey's - " You Can't Hide " - which points the way to the the band's power pop of their late '70's - early '80's heyday. In fact the band would return to the song on 1980's " Tidd...

Cookin', Steamin', Workin', and Relaxin' With the Miles Davis Quintet

Sixty five years ago, on October 26, the Miles Davis Quintet assembled for a recording session that yielded most of the Cookin' and Relaxin' albums and a tune apiece that appeared on the Workin' and Steamin' discs. The other tracks on those albums were recorded in a one day session earlier that year. Four quality albums, not bad for two days of work.

The Nez

During my commute home I caught the end of "Joanne" on radio. I don't recall which channel I had on, but it was a deep cut, slightly out of place. It gave me pause...upon returning home, I got the news. He was my favorite Monkee. The "Smart" (or smarter or - maybe - smart-ass) Monkee, he was one of two playing musicians and the only real songwriter in the band. Even early on, before the "band" was given some creative control, their albums featured some of his songs. In late '67 Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys scored a top 20 hit with his "Different Drum". This playlist includes most - if not all - of the songs he wrote, co-wrote, or sang lead on for the band. "Different Drum", while not a Monkees tune, features the Poneys backed by crack El-Lay sessioneers... kind of like when Mickey sang "Mary Mary" . Several of the songs, especially the more straightforward, country ones, remained unreleased until the 1990's ...

Eagles: Laid Back Rockers...or Bogus Dudes?

If you think about it....and you might not want to....you can divide the Eagles' output into two periods. The first, beginning with the release of "Take it Easy" --fifty years ago this past week--constituted their slick country-rock, adult contemporary easy listening period. That which was encapsulated in that first Greatest Hits album. This period coincides with Bernie Leadon's tenure with the band. He had previously been in the Flying Burrito Brothers (for their second and third albums) and, before that, had played with Gene Clark in Dillard and Clark. His B-bender telecaster and banjo were, as much as anything, responsible for much of the Eagles' country sound. At the end of the One of These Nights tour, Bernie poured a beer over Glenn Frey's head and - in what would become an end of tour ritual - quit the band*. Enter Joe Walsh and so begins the second, laid back stadium rocker, period. The riffs and guitars got heavier. Joe playing featured more heavy s...

Богатирські ворота (The Great Gate of Kyiv)

On May 9th, we caught a show by Shakey Horse at the Witch's House in Haunchyville, WI. Posted below is a soundboard recording of an excerpt from their arrangement of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition". Unfortunately, the mellotron part is inaudible (maybe unlistenable). The band's tron player, Tommy, had his amp turned up so high that they cut his volume in the mix.

Happenings Some Years Time Ago: Then There Were Four

After defining the Yardbirds' sound for a year and a half through several groundbreaking, singles and one masterpiece of an album, Jeff Beck boarded a plane in Corpus Christi, Texas on this date in 1966, leaving the Yardbirds midway through a Dick Clark Caravan of Stars Tour. As the band finished recording Roger the Engineer in June, original bassist Paul Samwell Smith left the band. Jimmy Page was brought in first as a replacement on bass and later - after rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja shifted to bass - as co-lead guitarist. The band toured the US and then returned to London in the fall, where they recorded three songs. The first, " Happenings Ten Years Time Ago " (with John Paul Jones on bass) had been started a few months earlier. It is a frenetic bit of freakbeat, featuring the eastern motifs, distortion, and feedback fans had come to expect of Beck. Page's playing is distinctive. Released late in October, it didn't do well on the charts. The flip side, ...

Jammersmith Palais

Forty years ago this evening, the Jam recorded their show at the Hammersmith Palais, in London. It's a good show, three of the songs - including Eddie Floyd's " Big Bird " - ended up on Dig the New Breed . Another six tracks are from The Gift , which would be released the following March. The band is supported by horns (or a horn) and keyboards on the new tracks tracks (organ on " A Town Called Malice "). Some of their older songs get the treatment as well. A squeaky sax (maybe a clarinet) rounds out the sound on the bridge of " Going Underground "and the chorus of " That's Entertainment ", something would be mixed better - at least in Glasgow -during the tour supporting The Gift . Nevertheless, some good stuff.

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