I definitely prefer Bob Welch’s era of Fleetwood Mac to the saccharine post-hippie Buckingham era that followed and which brought the some of the best selling (and most covered by indie hipsters albums) in pop/rock. Sadly, we say goodbye to Bob Welch, the architect of Mac sound after Peter Green left the band. He committed suicide on June 7, this year, following an excruciating pain from the spinal surgery he had three months earlier. On the lighter side, we also have some cool new albums that we check out. Chelle Rose from Nashville TN has a new one out called Ghost of Browder Holler, produced by Ray Wylie Hubbard (what a great season for him this year!). Folk rock lady Shawn Colvin, who we remember as a background vocalist on Suzanne Vega’s song Luka, has a new album as well. It’s called All Fall Down. Talking about folk and country, Sonny and the Sunsets made a new album in this vain called Longtime Companion. He even took a picture with a cowboy hat. But don’t expect him to pull Jonathan Richman on you. He’s in it for real. And, brothers Villanueva are back with their band Hacienda and the new record Shakedown, once again a collaboration with Dan Auerbach.
Oberon Rose – Buried Alive;
Ray Wylie Hubbard – New Year’s Eve at the Gates of Hell;
Chelle Rose – I Need You;
Sonny And The Sunsets – I Wanna Do It;
Sonny And The Sunsets – I See the Void;
Shawn Colvin – All Fall Down;
Beachwood Sparks – Sparks Fly Again;
Hacienda – Mama’s Cookin;
Hacienda – Don’t Turn Out The Light;
Reigning Sound – I Don’t Believe (Live In CLE);
Guilloteens – I Don’t Believe;
The Beatles – Hey Bulldog;
The Bevis Frond – Hey Bulldog;
The Bevis Frond – Johnny Kwango;
Naim Amor – On Se Tient;
Fleetwood Mac – Sentimental Lady.
In today’s edition of the vinyl Junkyard we have two great albums from 1967, which was probably one of the greatest years for rock’n’roll ever. Still, you won’t hear much today about either of them. We start with Jonathan and Leigh and their record Third and Main. The title and cover allude to New York City and Greenwich Village. While the young couple Jonathan and Leigh definitely lived and played music over there at the time, they are actually from Dayton OH. The record was made for a sizable advance and put out by Vanguard Records. Some of the musicians that played on it later on helped Van Morrison to make his legendary Astral Weeks and you may notice that. But Third and Main was a flop and Jonathan and Leigh went back to Dayton, never recording anything together again. The second record in today’s edition of the Vinyl Junkyard is The Magic Garden by the vocal group The Fifth Dimension. The record is arranged, produced and composed by none other than Jimmy Webb. The record deals with some of the concerns that young adults and a little older adults had at the time. There is a lot of light drug references and other stuff that may be unexpected. Unlike Third and Main, The Magic Garden was successful in terms of sales. I think that both albums are very interesting and we should definitely pay respect to them.
PMS Issue 4, edited and hosted by Dubravka Juraga and Snezana Zabic, brings five Chicago poets and music from around the world. We didn’t get enough of Paul Martinez Pompa last time, so we not only brought him back, but also invited two of his talented students, Anahi Gante and Ky Ford, to read their poems. We are equally happy that
Today’s show is part of our Vinyl Junkyard series. We take one lp and we play it almost in its entirety with some associations that I get when I think about this record. Today’s record is a very special one in my little world. It’s a 1967 compilation record by Fontana records and it came out from what I know only in Netherlands, Israel and Yugoslavia. The lp contains 13 covers of the psych pop hits of the day, twelve of them by the uncredited studio musicians and two originals by Spencer Davis Group and Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick and Tich who were a part of Fontana records roster in Europe. The LP is interesting because even though it’s a clearly psych exploitation record, and even though the musicians are anonymous, all the songs are actually very well played, most of them quite faithful to the originals and in some cases maybe even better. You judge yourself. In any case, the record was very important for me, I grew up with it and whenever I hear songs from this record, actually these covers seem more familiar to me than the originals. They are so deeply carved in my memory.
Today we introduce two new artists at the Little Lighthouse. Both are coming from Atlanta, Georgia. Vincas remind me a lot on All The Saints, who are also from there. I wonder what happened to them. We also have a new blues band from Atlanta, Delta Moon. Ty Segall is very active. Besides his brand new record with White Fence, he also has a new record with his own band called Slaughterhouse. One of the most interesting reissues so far this year is The Red Bird Girls Very First Time in True Stereo which introduces some of the most interesting singles from Red Bird Records for the first time in stereo.
Four old legendary rockers are back these days with their new projects. Neil Young once again got on his Crazy Horse and this time he covered eleven songs from the history of the American continent. Thus the title Americana. Howe Gelb expanded Giant Sand to Giant Giant Sand and a busload of musicians from two places on the planet (Denmark and the US), and made a new rock opera dedicated to his hometown Tucson. Ed Crawford (Fromohio) has a new band FOOD and a new EP Four Easy Pieces. Alejandro Escovedo is back with the new record called Big Station. Once again, the record is co-written with Chuck Prophet and it is produced by Tony Visconti, just like the other two previous records. The idea of this episode is to fill up an our by hearing some new tunes from Young, Gelb, Crawford and Escovedo and also recall their earlier careers as well.
It’s almost summer. The weather is warm, Sun is shining, Venus is crossing. It’s weather for power pop, it’s weather for the Beach Boys. In today’s show we review the most interesting power pop tunes of today and among them, the new return for one of the biggest inspirations for power pop – the Beach Boys. Mike Love, Al Jardine and Brian Wilson are back together with the new album called That’s Why God Made The Radio. Talking about the Beach Boys, we also have the new record for Nelson Bragg, who played with them for awhile. Then we have Pugwash from Ireland who can definitely harmonize like the Beach Boys. Golden Boys are not so close to the beach, they are from Austin TX and their new record Dirty Fingernails is one of the most exciting records this season. New band and a fine example of good power pop are the Successful Failures who named themselves after a Jack London short story and they come from New Jersey. Tom Oberon comes from Connecticut and he’s a one man power pop band called Oberon Rose. His album Wunjo is free of charge on his soundcloud website. Lemon Clocks come from Liverpool and they have deliberately old fashioned sound on their new album Now Is The Time. Sea of Bees are two ladies with esoteric pop sound and finally, Songs For Snakes come from San Francisco and they bland fine melodies with loud guitars.
Today we say the last goodbye to the great banjo player Doug Dillard and one of the Bee Gees – Robin Gibb. Both of them passed away recently and we owe a lot to each of them for the development of rock’n’roll and popular music in general. Other than that, we check out mainly some new singles, eps – short form in general. John Doe and Exene have a new one, recorded with minimal arrangements in the studio. Richard Buckner has a new three-track ep called Willow. And then come the rockers. The Intelligence from Seattle and Nobunny have new 45s. The Paperhead from Nashville sport a lovely Syd Barrett styled single from a split EP with Mikal Cronin (among others). King Khan also splits a 45 with Mikal. Only LP tracks are by the Dillard and Clark and The Beegees today!
Today we say goodbye to one of the truly greatest bass players in rock’n’roll, legendary Donald Duck Dunn of the Booker T And The MG’s. He passed away on May 13, 2012 in his sleep after a gig with his old band mate Steve Cropper. We also have a new band in the show called Catl from Toronto. Jim Diamond produced their brand new album called Soon This Will All Be Gone. Gabriel Fulvimar hails from Cleveland. He has an interesting band called Gap Dream and we check that out today. The dB’s are back together with a full original line-up and we check out a new tune from the new lp called Falling Off the Sky. Guided By Voices have yet another new lp as well.
One two three four! Today we rock hard. There’s a new album featuring Joey Ramone’s vocals recorded over the years called “Ya Know”. King Tuff, after the new single presented a few weeks ago in this show, is back with the new self-titled album. Natual Child from Nashville TN, are also back with the new record called For The Love of The Game. Mission of Burma toil on with a new record as well called Unsound. New names in today’s show are fun time rockers Low Cut Connie, retro pop duet Quantic and Alice Russel and a mysterious retro glam band Cozy.