Start your Saturday with Lenny, Paul, and Jim

From my latest Lenny Dee LP find, Dee-licious, here are two stomping classics. I mean, stompin' classics:

Tarragona (Santos Broqua), Lenny Dee, 1956.

Honky Tonk Train Blues (Meade "Lux" Lewis), Lenny Dee, 1956.

And, from 1927, we have the first-ever recording of Ferde Grofe's famous light concert piece Mississippi Suite (1926). Grofe's "tone journey" consists of "Father of Waters," "Huckleberry Finn," "Old Creole Days," and "Mardi Gras," though "Waters" doesn't appear here, probably to keep the performance from requiring another 12" 78 RPM disc. I wish the Victor label had allowed at least three sides, as "Old Creole Days" is almost ruined by the rushed tempo. Anyway, "Mardi Gras" gave birth to the pop standard Daybreak (in case the slow middle theme sounds familiar). And it features some excellent banjo picking from Mike Pingitore:

Mississippi Suite, Part 1 (Grofe), Paul Whiteman and His Concert Orchestra, 1927.

Mississippi Suite, Part 2 (Grofe), Paul Whiteman and His Concert Orchestra, 1927.

And we close with one of the most amazing performances ever stamped onto shellac: (James Reese) Europe's Society Orchestra, from 1914, with Castle House Rag. This comes straight from my 78 RPM copy (which is titled The Castles in Europe!), give or take a little EQ'ing:

Castle House Rag (One-Step; James Reese Europe), Europe's Society Orchestra, 1914. From 12" Victor 78.

Soon to come: more Merv, and more happy banjo sounds! So, stay tuned....


Lee

Cookzilla's first Birthday

Cookzilla--formerly Count Cookula--turned one year(s) old yesterday, and we had several fluffy-toy presents ready for his playtime pleasure. Cookie, er, Cookzilla loves to put the bite on said fluffy toys and run around with his "prey" in mouth-dangling display. None of the Cookie-in-flight photos came out, sorry to say, but this one is a classic. Run, it's Cookzilla!!!














At the moment, I'm thinking of renaming this blog "Awwwwwwwwww!!" Is that a cute pose, or what?

Our little Cookie monster also enjoys terrorizing the breakfast, lunch, and dinner tables--to the point that, anymore, he probably thinks his name is Cookie, Get Away from That! We're very glad to have this loving, leaping character in our herd. "Leaping" because, like all Manxes, he has this weird ability to shoot straight into the air like some feline Tiddly-Wink. Something to do with the Manx center of balance as it relates to taillessness. Cookie's brother is an up-and-coming showcat, but Cook is fine about having a celebrity sibling. No reason for him to be jealous--he is, after all, Cookzilla.












"Yeah, but does he have his own postage stamp? I didn't think so!"--Godzy, miffed.

Lee

Jackets, we've got jackets

My two thrift stops yesterday yielded 30-some pieces of vinyl and shellac. That's not counting the seven or eight 45s I forgot to bring to the counter during the first check-out. Yes, you read right--45s that I forgot to bring to the counter. And I call myself a thrifter.

The thing is, I had to figure out how best to divide two albums of 78s plus thirteen LPs between two arms (Carts? What are those?). During all that figuring-out, I spaced out the 45s. Luckily, I can't remember any of them, so I'm not drowning in regret. Well, actually, I recall that three were children's Christmas record/booklets, and two were square dances (with calls) by Carson Robison. So, I guess I do remember them.

I hate it when I forget that I've remembered something.

I'll live. I've got plenty of Carson Robison. And plenty of XMas sides (no, really). Found some great Yuletide LPs, anyway, and I'd love to write about them, but Christmas-MP3 competition gets pretty tight come November-December, and I ain't giving away my trade secrets! Heh, heh, heh. But I've found some really off-the-sled stuff so far this year.

You knew, of course, that XMas collecting is a year-round effort? You get the good stuff when it appears. It might be 85 in the shade, but you grab the holiday classics when they hit the dusty, germ-filled thrift bins. (Yuck. Suddenly, I'm not in a thrifting mood.)

Never, ever think about germs while thrifting. Because suddenly they're all over you. "Germs! Germs!! Aieeeee!"--Patron, fleeing thrift store. "Third one today."--Clerk, observing.

Anyway, some cool stuff--and I can't wait to get to the 78s. Al Cernik, Artie Shaw, Harpo Marx. Wow. Life without vernacular-culture discards just wouldn't be life.


















Not excessively rare, but a great cover (above). And a neat stereo-demonstration LP (1957). I'll be posting part of it.


















Is this tacky, or what (above)? Love it, though. 99 cents at Goodwill--could you tell? From 1956.


















A very happening album from 1967 (above). Pretty worn, too, though Good Vibrations plays beautifully, in more ways than one. That cover doesn't look the least bit posed, does it?

More sounds and images to come....

Lee

Some "Good Vibrations" for your Friday

I found some nice thrift store records today, and I'll be writing about them. And showing some of the covers (once I get the photos edited). Like any collector with too much stuff to manage, I never miss the chance to haul in more crap. Some cool 78s, including Al Cernik (Guy Mitchell!) with Carmen Cavallaro in 1948, and two Victor singles by Harpo Marx. Plus some black gospel shellac. Thrifting puts the "never know" in "you never know what you'll find."

The best of the LPs so far (I haven't cleaned them all yet) is Floyd Cramer's 1967 Here's What's Happening! That may sound like a slow day at Goodwill, but it really is an exceptional score. I offer proof in the form of Track 1, Side 1:

Good Vibrations (Wilson-Love), Floyd Cramer, 1967. Produced by Chet Atkins and Felton Jarvis.

That is already my favorite GV cover of all. Thanks, Floyd. And Chet.

The great vibrations continue with Stan Kenton's version of Kiss of Fi... I mean, El Choclo, a number written in 1913 by Angel G. Villoldo. From 1942, no less:

El Choclo (Villoldo), Stan Kenton and His Orchestra, 1942. From the Decca LP Music from Latin America.

Cramer and Kenton--what a combo. And only at MY(P)WHAE!













Lily says, "Hey, when are you going to put me on the Internet?"


Lee

Wake-up sounds for Thursday, March 9

Gosh, it's Thursday morning already! Before we know it, it'll be Thursday afternoon. Then, pretty soon, it'll be time for supper.

We can't allow you to make that journey without music:

Swanee (Caesar-Gershwin), Jaye P. Morgan with Hugo Winterhalter and His Orch., 1955. From LP set The Popular Gershwin.

Miserlou (Nicholas Roubanis), Eddie Layton, organ, 1959. From Mercury LP.

Valencia (Jose Padilla), Jose Albeniz and His Orch., 1956. From Decca LP Music from Latin America.

La Cucaracha, Pepe Gonzales and His Orch., 1957-ish . From Decca LP Music from Latin America.

There's a really cool cover to Music from Latin America, but you wouldn't know from my copy. Two problems: 1) a big "Our Price" sticker over the female dancer's face and 2) the damage caused when someone tried to remove the thing. Dang it. Otherwise, it's tacky enough to merit a spot on the wall....

Music-wise, a great Goodwill buy at 50 cents.

Oh, and say hi to the deer in our front yard. There were three of them, but only this one posed long enough--and close enough--for a good digital photo (or two). Very deer of him. Smile, you're on the Internet!















Lee

Today at MY(P)WHAE: Real-life James Frey? Bin Laden on Mars. Pure media. And more

So, there was a police chase that ended at the Granville, Ohio police station--(sound of car crashing). Granville hasn't seen this much excitement since James Frey fought off seventeen cops outside that university-area pizza shop with a machete. Life imitates art. As in, the art of lying.

"Match this, James Frey!"--Suspect, plowing into station. I guess he hadn't heard that Frey fabricated his macho resume. Oops. Now they tell him.

I'd feel pretty stupid if I'd plowed my car into the Granville police station in the hopes of one-upping James Frey, only to find out that Frey made up all of his wild stunts. Wouldn't you?

"You mean... you mean, Frey didn't really do all that stuff?"--Suspect. ("Wah-wah-wah-wah-wahhhhh"--Muted trumpet.) Don't you sometimes wish you had a "wah-wah-wahhh"-trumpet sound clip for life's "wah-wah-wahhh" moments?

Well, now you do: Wah-Wah-Wah, etc.

In other news, Michael Barone writes that, yes, there is/was a connection between Iraq and Al- Qaeda. Furthermore, he points out, lack of evidence is not evidence of lack. Or something like that. In other words, just because you can't prove something, that doesn't mean it might not be true. So, obviously, we were on firm ground when we attacked Iraq. I think we should attack Mars next, because who knows what kind of Al-Qaeda connection might exist between the possible microbial life forms there and bin Laden?

Interesting. We're told that great dangers are lurking everywhere, but the best we can do is base our strikes on possible danger. I read that, at a recent speech, Rumsfeld twisted his logic so tightly that it imploded, taking out the first two rows and sending the podium to Mars, where it just missed conking bin Laden's noggin. Read all about it in It Could Have Happened magazine.

If On the Waterfront ever gets remade, "I could have been a contender" will become "I could have been a contender. Therefore, I am!" Rumsfeld reasoning in action.

And... today's A Word a Day is "zeitgeber." Words to impress people with--ahh, yes. "An environmental cue, such as light, that helps to regulate the biological clock in an organism." I'm glad to learn this, because I've always wondered what you call an environmental cue, such as light, that helps to regulate the biological clock in an organism. I knew there had to be a word for it. Which reminds me--electric lights are, allegedly, the reason lots of people, like me, have trouble getting to sleep at night. That is, on account of artificial light (a pure medium, according to Marshall McLuhan, because it contains no "information"), we get too much "day," and our body's day/night clock is thrown off. Too much light, and our brains forget what dark is. Dark being the zeitgeber for night. And sleep.

Of course, in the movies, brightly-lit scenes are a sign that Steven Spielberg is the director. "O.K., everybody. Stare into the lights with your mouths open."--Steven, talking to cast. Audience members, watching scene: "The people on the screen are in awe. Hey, that's our cue to be in awe, too!" Such sledge-hammer emotional cues are awe too common in Spielberg flicks, in my opinion.

No, I'm not a Spielberg fan. As you may have gathered. People take that personally, as if I were dissing some vital part of their lifestyle. I've had people literally say they "can't believe" I don't like Spielberg. Very weird. Some cultural buttons you don't know about until you accidentally push them. You're laying your coffee cup down, or something, and your arm hits an invisible row of the things. "Helllllo."

We all know, from watching insects-eating-insects specials on cable, that Nature is filled with do-not-cross lines. Human life is no different. Except that insects aren't waiting to eat us at every turn. Not until we die, anyway. (Blegh!!)

Anyway, I wonder how the bin Laden-microbe talks are going? Maybe CNN will have something on them. The extreme unlikelihood that bin Laden is holding talks with Martian microbes is no reason to think that such talks aren't happening. So, I hope CNN gets on this quickly.



















Lee

Wake-up sounds for Wednesday, March 8

"Must... not... look at... camera...."--Lee, not looking at the camera.

The above photo shows me in the act of not looking at the camera. A more natural pose is what I was after. Not sure I achieved it or not, but, so help me, I tried to look natural.

Next time, I'll strive to look unnatural. Somewhere, I have a red fright wig. And a felt cowboy hat I wore when I came to work as Johnny Cash for Halloween. Those two things will help me look unnatural. And maybe I still have the ET mask from the Halloween before that one. Which would raise an interesting question--as in, why? Couldn't I bear to part with it? ("Oh, no! I can't toss out this $2.99 plastic alien mask! It might become valuable!") Inside was foam padding I'd attached with Elmer's glue to keep the thing from pressing too hard against my face. Four years later, I can still smell the glue.

Anyway, it's time to wake up. This music will help our brains and bodies reach a state of knowing-where-they're-at-and-what-time-it-is-ness:

Beyond the Blue Horizon (Robin-Whiting-Harling), The Melachrino Orchestra, 1953. From RCA Victor EP Music to Work or Study By.

Scrub, Brother, Scrub (Ken Warner), The Melachrino Orchestra, 1953. From RCA Victor EP Music to Work or Study By.

The Syncopated Clock (Leroy Anderson), The Three Suns, 1950. From RCA Victor EP.









"I blog, therefore I jam."--Lee


Lee

'Smervelous: Four Merv classics for your Tuesday

25 years ago, when I started collecting Merv Griffin records, I figured I'd have a complete set in no time. After all, how many records could Merv have made?

Answer: a bunch. I still don't have them all, though I'm probably 3/4 of the way there. And every time I decide that 75 percent of Merv's recorded output is a more than sufficient sample, up pops something cool that I hadn't known about--such as Merv's 1946 set on the Panda label (which Merv co-owned), or the much later, cut-in-Duluth Christmas City. Or something I'd given up on finding, such as Love Is on a Holiday (Cavalier label, 1946?), which showed up twice on eBay, once in 78 RPM form, and again as a 45 RPM reissue (in "stereo"!). So, you can see why I can't quit now.

(You can't? Oh.) Anyway, if I had to guess the number of singles Merv put out between the late 1940s and, say, 1975, that number would be, oh... 150? Thereabouts. In other words, about 300 titles.

And here are four classics from Mervyn's considerable oeuvre, including Banned in Boston, a Carlton label single that made it to number 80 on Cashbox. Let's start with that one:

Banned in Boston (Ballard Jr.-Tobias), Merv Griffin, 1961. Carlton 540.

Love Story (Table Porter-Schillaci), Merv Griffin, 1957. Decca 9-30240. ("Table-Porter Schillaci"??)

You Came a Long Way from St. Louis (Russell-Brooks), Merv Griffin, 1961. Carlton 552.

Lullaby of the Leaves, Merv Griffin with Lyle Bardo and His Orchestra, 1946. From Songs by Merv Griffin, on Panda (story below).

Merv (from Making the Good Life Last, 2003): "While I was at KFRC I made it into the record books in a rather interesting way. With my friend Janet Folsom, I formed my own little record label, Panda Records. We chose four songs and I recorded them at a studio in San Francisco. It just so happened that the recording engineer there had recently returned from the war in Europe, where he had been doing experimental recording with something called magnetic tape. In 1946, Songs by Merv Griffin became the first American album ever to be recorded on tape. (If you're looking for a copy, you can find it in the Ampex Museum.) "

Or... you can hear part of it at MY(P)WHAE!


Lee