Fake Hits Continue at MY(P)WHAE!

Chintzy but very fun rock and roll covers from Tops, Bell, Big 4 Hits, and Waldorf Music Hall. I'd include a label image or three, but I just had to remove my Kodak software, which I had made the mistake of updating. Never, ever update Kodak EasyShare software. In fact, don't put it on your computer in the first place--that's the best bet.

I'll miss EasyShare's ninety useless features, all designed to trick users into paying for on-line features they can easily do for themselves, such as sharing and printing their photos. Kodak has a good con going, but they can't seem to create computer-compatible software.

For all that, I liked their streamlined editing features. That is, until the software went nuts. Luckily, it left without a fuss.

So... twelve famous rock'n'roll tunes, with George Jones in the mix. Not sure what I think of his two titles, quality-wise, though I believe we'd be safe in filing these under "Not His Best Work." Meanwhile, the Three Belles' Bell-label Sincerely is an excellent cover of a cover, The Four Queens' (any relation to the trio?) Eddie My Love is fabulous, The Toppers' Guitar Boogie Shuffle shuffles, boogies, and rocks, and Artie Malvin's Hound Dog is an interesting departure from Elvis and Big Mama Thornton. Malvin's label (Waldorf) went for a gentler Buddy Johnson/Johnny Otis sound, which I find very pleasing. Authentic, maybe not. But what's authentic, ultimately?

Actually, Malvin was on a bunch of labels from the late 1940s through the 1950s, including MGM, Columbia, Prom, Children's Record Guild, and Cadence. But he was busiest at Waldorf.

Anyway....

Click here to reach zip file: Fake Hits Continue at MY(P)WHAE!

FAKELIST

AT THE HOP--Bones Howe and The Toppers
BLUE SUEDE SHOES--Hank Smith (George Jones)
HEARTBREAK HOTEL--Hank Smith (George Jones)
GUITAR SHUFFLE BOOGIE--The Toppers
SINCERELY--Three Belles, Larry Clinton O.
WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN' GOIN' ON--Dave Burgess
JOHNNY B. GOODE--Steve Todd
A FOOL SUCH AS I--Harry Randall
HEARTS OF STONE--Three Queens
EDDIE MY LOVE--Four Queens
ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN--Joe Fortunato
HOUND DOG--Artie Malvin



Lee

Arlo and Angelo

Our two baby boys. Arlo is the red-striped Manx, seen here in a classic "Aren't I adorable?" pose, while Angelo is the more serious looking tiger-striped guy. It was Angelo who ran up the tree a while back and had us so worried. And enjoying every moment, probably.

Griff is still hiding out, but we expect him to join the society of visible cats before too long....


Lee

Walking the line between chintzy and chintzier

Above we see an image of the Variety label (in its 78 rpm form), as swiped from eBay. I used to have a few of these, but I didn't keep them. One contained an extremely tacky cover of Johnny Cash's I Walk the Line in which each key change is accompanied by a bad tape edit. I've been annoyed at myself for not at least saving the track to cassette tape.

Well, turns out I did. I just discovered it on a made-in-2002 cassette, complete with label and number info. So, here for your enjoyment is the artist-unknown Variety V-6003 version of the 1956 Cash one-modulation-per-verse classic, along with two other uncredited cover tracks saved from the same cassette--What'd I Say (from a Modern Sound label LP) and Green Door (Variety V-6001).

And I have no idea what I just typed. Anyway, you won't be the same after hearing the badly-spliced no-name cover of I Walk the Line. Discover why it has remained in my memory for these past six years. Or... not. Whichever.

Click here to reach the three-selection zip file: I Walk the Line

PLAYLIST

I WALK THE LINE--Artist unknown (Variety V-6003)
WHAT'D I SAY--Arist unknown (Modern Sound MS 527; LP)
THE GREEN DOOR--Group unknown (Variety V-6001)



Lee

Colonoscopy report

Sorry for the lack of a report. All went well, except that my system hadn't cleared as much as the doctor would have liked--therefore, I'll have to do it again in five years. My doctor doesn't know why I didn't clear properly--it just happens. I'm a "just happens" patient sometimes.

I'll enjoy those five years to the fullest, knowing what's coming.

No polyps, obstructions, anything like that. I have no memory of the procedure, even though, technically, I was awake. I remember being wheeled into the colonoscopy room, and I remember waking up back in the original room. In a groggy voice, I asked questions. Each query took three tries to get out. Me: "Uh... thh... thh... dih... i...." Doctor: "What?"

Woman doctor, very petite, very efficient. Very friendly, talky nurses. Only a 50-minute wait for the thing to start, which isn't bad at all in hospital time.

I thought I'd be ready to eat three meals in one sitting once it was over. Not. Started with chicken soup, then ate half a hamburger.

Spell Check doesn't recognize colonoscopy. Maybe it's never had one.

I shall return--thanks for the nice wishes and the kind concern. At the moment, we've received a lost cat (he simply showed up at the door this a.m. after two days of absence--no explanation) and are looking for another. Life with cats is never a dull time.


Lee

Thoughts on Sunday

Actually, I know very little about Billy Sunday, so I don't really have any thoughts on him. About him. Whatever.

I am thinking about how nice it'll be to eat and drink stuff, once tomorrow's operation is over. Food. Mmm. A day of liquid-dieting, and I turn into Homer Simpson.

The liquid diet went okay, but the stuff I had to drink was beyond vile. Not the taste, so much (it didn't really have any) but the texture. Hard to explain exactly what it was, but it was, whatever it was. And you can quote me.

And now, no more food OR liquids until the scope's over. And I'm paying the hospital and doc to do this to me. I'll have to ponder that.

"Torture me. I'll pay you."--Me. "Sure!"--Doctor and hospital.

I'll survive, however. I'd say it's practically in the can, but I'm trying to avoid such word play.

Must get sleep....

Lee

Hilarious, dead-on cartoon by Glenn McCoy

Much of conservative cartoonist Glenn McCoy's material is the type that gets me yelling at the page--he's pretty right of center. But the man picks on Obama, and he does it very well. Hard to truly get mad at someone with more guts than the majority of comics and cartoonists.

This recent McCoy is a masterpiece. Feel free to take offense....
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Lee

Sunday Morning Gospel will return next week

Today is my liquid-prep day before surgery (colonoscopy). Didn't have time to put up a Sunday morning gospel entry, but I should be perfectly fine long before next week.

The fun is in the prep. Can't wait until Monday. To be over, I mean.


Lee

Jo Stafford at MY(P)WHAE, Part 2

Well, counting Sing Along with Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, this is Part 3. But why get technical? It's all about the music.

And the playlist is short this time around, but that doesn't mean worse. We have, for instance, a pre-Tim-Tayshun mock-hillbilly version of Cole Porter's Friendship, recorded in 1940 by The Dorsey Family (Mountain Branch). Last time I featured this, I concluded Jo can't be on the track, since 1947 was the release year on my 78, which is post-Jo-with-Tommy. Just tonight, though, I found out it was made seven years earlier and that Jo most definitely is present. (No wonder her solo spot sounds like her.) Credit this amazing discography for that confirmation: The Paul Weston and Jo Stafford Collection.

And we have another Dorsey track (mislisted at the source as Paul Weston and His Orch.)--the Gershwin/Gershwin Embraceable You, from 1941. Then three Columbia sides--I've Got a Sweetie (a cover of Ray Charles), its flip, and a great 1956 version of Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride.

Last--and, I suppose, least--is a Tops label version of Jo's big 1951 hit, Shrimp Boats, as performed by Nancy Brookes and The Toppers with the Hal Loman Orchestra. The sound quality is enhanced by groove wear, though not in a good way.

On the other hand, we do get to hear a contemporary (intended) sound-alike of a Jo record. Don't get to hear them every day....

Click here to reach zip file: Jo Stafford, Part 2

PLAYLIST (Jo Stafford with...)

FRIENDSHIP (Porter)--Tommy Dorsey Family (Mountain Branch), 1940.
PLEASE DON'T GO SO SOON--w. Paul Weston Orch., 1955.
EMBRACEABLE YOU--w. Tommy Dorsey and the Pied Pipers, 1941.
I GOT A SWEETIE (R. Charles)--w. Paul Weston Orch., 1955.
SLEIGH RIDE (Parish-Anderson)--w. The Starlighters, Paul Weston, 1956.

(Next selection is without Jo....)

SHRIMP BOATS--Nancy Brookes and The Toppers, Hal Lomen Orch.



Lee