Greetings, everyone. I thought I would step back from daily activities for a moment and catch you all up on my recent and upcoming publications, writing projects, what’s up for this blog, etc.
Ugly Things #65 is out now and ready for purchase. I’ve got TEN (!!!) different pieces in it, covering a wide variety of subjects. Mike Stax’s article on the west coast group THE MOON and their various activities was very informative and well-written, connecting many dots for the reader/listener. I have always been a huge fan of Buzz Clifford’s 1969 Dot Records LP SEE YOUR WAY CLEAR, so it’s great to see that album championed and its backstory revealed (I actually contacted Mr. Clifford about it ten or fifteen years ago and got a friendly communication back from him). Presently, I’m working on another ten reviews for UT #66, and today I’ll be continuing on my coverage of JOHN MAYALL LIVE IN FRANCE 1967-73, a wonderful out-of-the-blue 2 CD/1 DVD set from Repertoire that will be a revelation to the Mayall fan and could surely win over people who’ve heard his name but don’t know his work.
I’m honored to have had a piece of mine published in the acclaimed Dutch ELVIS DAY BY DAY series of books, this time in the 2023 volume, on the recent FTD three-concert box AUGUST SEASON IN VEGAS. Though a Dutch publication, it’s now available easily in the United States via A-zon. Just do a search there for ELVIS DAY BY DAY 2023. You can always check out the daily updates on everything happening in the Elvis World by going to the Elvis Day by Day website (run by the indefatigable Kees Mouwen) at
The music-and-poetry album I did last year with Rambutan, BRIDGE ON THE BAYOU (on the Tape Drift label) is still available, though physical copies are running low (get yours now). It’s available via Bandcamp: https://rambutan.bandcamp.com/album/bridge-on-the-bayou
January saw the publication of my newest book-length poem STATIC STRUT (see post here in January about that book). Available for only $6.99…
The coming months will see two new poetry releases, a book and a chapbook.
++The chapbook is a brand-new piece (it even includes the Solar Eclipse the other day!) called STANZAS FOR KRISHNAMURTI, one section of a multi-part sequence of STANZAS FOR… poems (each 16 pages) which I’m working on in between other projects. Future poems in this sequence will be dedicated to/inspired by Kate Chopin and Fletcher Henderson (and others), but the one for J. Krishnamurti is done, and I wanted to get it out quickly as a taste of what’s to come. The poem is 16 pages and the book about 24 pages (perfect-bound paperback), in a new-for-KSE “Pocket” size of 4″ x 6″. It will be $3.95 US, as cheap as I can make it and still break even. That will be available on A-zon on May 1. If you are a local, I should have a few extra copies here, so look me up if you want a copy directly from me in the San Antonio area.
++The book is PROJECT BLUE, mostly consisting of pieces from old limited-run chapbooks from the 2006-2008 period in editions of 25 or so, only available briefly from Volcanic Tongue or if you caught me at a local reading in SA or in Austin. It also features a newly written 40-page open-field poem PROJECT BLUE, so the collection spans nearly 20 years of material. This collection of (mostly) older material should be more accessible to the general reader than some of my more-recent longer pieces, so I’ll be putting a bit more effort than usual into promoting PROJECT BLUE. Will let you know when that’s available…
Re: content on this blog in the coming months, I plan to publish here the introductory essay I did a few years back for the book collection WHEN THE TOPIC IS SEX of Ed Wood’s non-fiction prose writing from the early 1970s. Also, two pieces from the 80s and 90s that I still sometimes get requests for: the article about my dealings with Sky Sunlight Saxon in the 1980s, and the article about my conversation with John Cage when he visited SW Virginia circa 1989.
I was not able to take a summer “writing vacation” in 2023, but I will be this year (2024) in the very late summer, hitting SW Louisiana (of course) for 3 days and winding up in Natchez and Vicksburg, Mississippi for 11 days, staying one block from the river in the former, and right on the bank of the river in the latter. Should be the perfect environment to get some atmospheric work done!
Mary Anne and I spent two weeks in Oklahoma and SW Arkansas last month, finally getting to the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, visiting my old alma mater and workplace Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, spending a long weekend in the unique mountain town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and catching a few days of horse racing at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Oklahoma, a fine town on Rt. 66 where we stayed. The trip allowed me to push my personal “reset” button from everyday life, and also allowed the two of us to discover and rediscover together some of the wonderful things that the state of Oklahoma and the Ozarks have to offer.
Wishing you all an enjoyable late spring/early summer. Remember, new content is featured here EVERY WEDNESDAY as well as special/irregular pieces such as this one. See you soon…
Oh, a quick shout-out to the Hammett House restaurant in Claremore, Oklahoma, for the finest lamb fries I’ve ever tasted (see above).
Filed under: Uncategorized — kendrasteinereditions @ 1:42 am
1. Howlin’ Wolf Everybody in the Mood
2. Little Junior’s Blue Flames Mystery Train
3. Rosco Gordon Let’s Get High
4. Johnny Adams I Won’t Cry
5. Earl Hooker Going on Down the Line
6. Lost John Hunter ; His Blind Bats Cool Down Mama
7. Big Walter Horton Grandma Told Grandpa
8. Sleepy John Estes Policy Man Blues
9. Little Milton If Crying Would Help Me
10. James Cotton Cotton Crop Blues
11. Doctor Ross Cat Squirrel
12. The Prisonaires That Chick’s Too Young to Fry
13. Pat Hare I’m Gonna Murder My Baby
14. Joe Hill Louis We All Got to Go Some Time
V.A.—SUNRISE ON THE BLUES: Sun Records Curated By Record Store Day, Volume 7 (ORG), LP
ORG Music has been doing annual RSD compilations from the large and diverse archives of Sun Records, with material chosen by record store employees, and this 7th volume focuses on blues material from 1951-1956. Many ORG releases have been devoted to under-appreciated vintage jazz and blues, and any label that does quality vinyl releases on artists such as Bunk Johnson and Frank Frost and Earl Hines deserves our praise.
This 14-track collection is beautifully pressed on deep and heavy vinyl, capturing all the nuances of Sam Phillips’ sharp-edged but intentionally murky production style. The biting guitar of Pat Hare and Earl Hooker and Little Milton, the flame-thrower vocals of Howlin’ Wolf, the loping proto-bluebeat sound of Rosco Gordon, the down-home one-man-bands such as Joe Hill Louis and Doctor Ross, the gin-soaked barrelhouse piano of Lost John Hunter—there was a wide variety of first-rate talent on offer at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis in the early 50’s, and Sam Phillips was a master of capturing this lightning in a bottle.
Fortunately, the LP is programmed well so that the diversity of the music is highlighted from track to track. Unfortunately, while there are brief informative notes on the back cover, the inner sleeve contains no discographical information or personnel or pictures of the artists, but does contain two sides of self-aggrandizing hype from a certain vodka manufacturer. As most of the music included here has been reissued multiple times, the Sun specialist is not really the audience for this album, so a little bit more information and a little bit less vodka hype might be appreciated by the customer who shells out RSD prices for this album and who wants to learn a bit more.
BILL SHUTE, originally published in Ugly Things magazine in 2020
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and….Be sure to pick up a copy of my newest poetry book…
Filed under: Uncategorized — kendrasteinereditions @ 1:35 am
Whip Wilson was one of the last, if not the last, newly developed star of his own B-Western series (Wayne Morris is said to have had the last series of B-Westerns, but he was already a star, not one groomed from scratch). He appeared in a Jimmy Wakely western in late 1948 and was soon spun off into his own starring series of WHIP WILSON westerns at Monogram, running for four years, from 1949-1952, which lasted for 22 films. He also had his own comic book during this period (I should try to find a copy and then review it here!).
With “Whip” in his stage name (his real name was Roland Meyers), it’s clear that Monogram was hoping to cash in on the popularity of Lash La Rue, then at the height of his fame in 1948/49. However, Lash with his black outfits and Bogart-style line delivery was a far cry from Whip Wilson, who harkened back to more straightforward western heroes such as Roy Rogers or Buck Jones (Whip has a Rogers-like personality and looks somewhat like Jones). One problem with many of Lash LaRue’s films is that despite Lash being in them and being supported by the great comedian Al “Fuzzy” St. John and by top quality Western supporting actors, the films often had a slapdash quality (and NOT in an endearing way!), especially the later ones which were cobbled together from earlier LaRue footage. On the other hand, while Monogram was certainly a low-budget studio, they had a crack western unit which could do a lot with a little, and the films tended to move well, offer lots of action, and have fine supporting casts. At the same time as the Wilson series, Johnny Mack Brown had a long-running series at Monogram, and those films are considered the model of late-period B-westerns, helped a lot by Brown’s personality and presence (this was a man who co-starred in the silent era with Greta Garbo twice!). A lot of the quality of the Brown series rubbed off onto the Whip Wilson series.
While it must be admitted that Wilson has a bit of the “aw shucks” quality of a Reb Russell or a Jack Hoxie (Wilson is not often mentioned among the greats of the B-western, unfortunately), it lends an authenticity to his persona, and since he is inserted into well-constructed features made by the same Monogram machine which made the Johnny Mack Brown films, for me the Whip Wilson films are very entertaining, and you can see why he lasted for 22 features.
When I say “series,” I am referring to the fact that these films were sold to exhibitors in packages
of four or six or eight which would then be delivered over the next year. They might have titles associated with them to help close the sale, but often the films would not have been made yet—-in a sense, they were made to order. This film is called ARIZONA TERRITORY, but honestly, that title could be applied to ten other films just as well. There’s an Indian reservation nearby where the film is set, and St. Louis is referred to as being “back East,” but beyond that, this could be called NEW MEXICO TERRITORY or OKLAHOMA TERRITORY.
One thing low-budget Western filmmakers understood is that beyond having a charismatic cowboy star, you needed a quality sidekick, usually a comic side-kick. Even the most threadbare PRC western with LaRue or with a Bob Steele or a Buster Crabbe would be made entertaining by the antics of Al “Fuzzy” St. John—-I remember reading somewhere once that Al’s solo bits in the films were in some films not even scripted, other than the general situation….Al St. John, nephew of Roscoe Arbuckle and a first-rate silent comedy star himself, would just be let loose to do his thing, and all you needed to do was give him a piece of rope or a barrel or a gun that needed cleaning, and you’d get 3-5 minutes of side-splitting slapstick improvisation. Do that 3 or 4 times in the film, and you’ve got a quarter of its running time already filled….and filled in a manner that audiences would love.
At Monogram in this period, the great Scottish comedian ANDY CLYDE (see pic) was used in support of both Johnny Mack Brown and Whip Wilson. Clyde goes back to the silent days and worked with Mack Sennett beginning in 1921 (!!!!)—-he continued on with Sennett in the early sound days, including a number of Sennett-produced shorts distributed by EDUCATIONAL PICTURES. He then got his own sound comedy series at Columbia, which ran from 1934-1955….only the Three Stooges lasted longer, but their line-up changed over the years. Clyde was still working regularly on TV in the mid-sixties on shows such as THE REAL McCOYS and LASSIE, and he passed away in 1967, leaving us a huge legacy, which deserves more attention than it is getting. Little if any of Andy Clyde’s Columbia work (or earlier shorts, for that matter) has ever been released legitimately in any video format, although there is a recent book out about his shorts. Over the years, Chris and I have had to rely on grey-market “collector” sources for VHS copies of his Educational and Columbia shorts, but those became much harder to find in the DVD era, probably because the dupey 16 mm sources, often a copy of a copy, were considered unworthy of DVD-quality replication. Fortunately, the Brown and Wilson Monogram westerns with Clyde have always been available from outfits specializing in B-westerns, and now many of the films are available in pristine quality from the Warner Archive.
My copy of ARIZONA TERRITORY is from a grey-market source which offered all 22 of Wilson’s Monogram westerns (he never worked for another studio as a star) on six discs, and they look to be taken from 16mm TV prints, but they are good enough to enjoy on my 27-inch TV screen. ARIZONA was Wilson’s 8th starring role (of 22 total) at Monogram, and it’s a good example of a solid B-western action-adventure that would have had the small-town bread-and-butter audiences sitting on the edge of their chairs and feeling as though they’d gotten their money’s worth. I know that I would have wanted to buy a Whip Wilson comic book when I would get my next allowance or lawn-mowing money after seeing this film.
As often happens in these kind of films, Whip wanders into a new area and observes a young lady in a wagon being shot at….the shooter escapes as Whip offers help to the lady, who is clipped in her arm and luckily not seriously hurt. It turns out she’s got a sleazy uncle who is an ex-con who is doing some counterfeiting on the side, and his equally sleazy partner is always putting the moves on her and asking her to marry him. She owns a small business that sells supplies to the locals on the reservation and also distributes pottery made by that local tribe up in the Midwest. The pottery was not very popular until a new “formula” supposedly made it better quality and it started getting snapped up in Missouri, Kansas, etc. The young lady doesn’t really know what the “formula” is—-she was kept in the dark—-it actually is counterfeit money which is being stuffed into the bottoms of the pottery and then distributed in the Midwest. The sleazy uncle and his business partner are the ones behind this, although the lady is technically the business owner but innocent of it all. It’s just convenient for them that she is shipping this pottery out of state.
Whip smells something fishy as he gets to know the lady better and observes the shady characters involved with the business. Andy Clyde, whose character is an old pal of Whip’s, plays a federal marshal who is posing as a broke cowhand and gets a job as stage driver for the business. Together, they smash the crooks, break the counterfeiting racket, and salvage the lady’s business…and ride away into the sunset, though Whip promises her he’ll be back.
Running a crisp 56 minutes, ARIZONA TERRITORY’s tagline states, “ FRONTIER FURY! Bullet-Studded Story Of Badmen And The Badlands”, and it certainly delivers on that ballyhoo. If you are a person who appreciates post WWII B-westerns, I would highly recommend the late 40’s/early 50’s Monogram westerns of Johnny Mack Brown and/or Whip Wilson. Not all are great, but the batting average is high, and when you consider that Monogram was also making multiple Bowery Boys films every year (and continued making Charlie Chan films until 1949), you can see why I adore the mighty Monogram Pictures!
BILL SHUTE, originally published elsewhere online in 2018
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Be sure to pick up a copy of my newest poetry book…
Filed under: Uncategorized — kendrasteinereditions @ 1:36 am
1 Les Jaguars– Guitare Jet 2:30 2 The Mus-Twangs– Wolf Pack 1:54 3 The Road Runners– Road Runnah 1:58 4 Cecil Moore & The Notes– Diamond Back 1:40 5 The Night Caps– Mirage 2:37 6 The Ventures– Blue Tail Fly (Alternate Version) 1:54 7 The Marksmen – Sunny River 1:54 8 The Ventures– Louisiana 2:55 9 The Ramrods– Zombie Surfer 2:02 10 The Carnations– Red Wing 1:50 11 The Marksmen– Peace Pipe 2:20 12 Billy Strange– Moon Walking 2:02 13 The Lemon Drops – Canadian Capers 1:51 14 The Marksmen– Nokie’s Fenokey 1:50 15 The Chancellors – Mach 1 2:10 16 The Zanies– Claire De Looney 2:33 17 Music City Swingers– Harlem Nocturne 2:24 18 The Ventures– Blue Money 3:17 19 The Mus-Twangs– Zanzibar 2:00 20 The Velvetones– Jericho 1:59 21 The Ventures– Downtown (Alternate Version) 2:56 22 Ed Burkey– Whitewater Wipe Out 2:16 23 Mike Gordon And The Agates– Swing The Mess Around 1:55 24 The Zanies– Russian Roulette 2:00
V.A.—More Long-Lost Honkers & Twangers (Ace, UK), CD
After a mere seven-year wait comes the second volume of Ace’s Honkers & Twangers series, and it’s a diverse 24-tracker of obscure (well, mostly—”Diamond Head” by Cecil Moore has been reissued multiple times) instrumental rock and roll, largely guitar-based, from the early 60’s (with the exception of two 1970-71 Ventures tracks).
Speaking of The Ventures, seven tracks here are Ventures-related, four by the boys themselves, and three by guitarist Nokie Edwards’ band The Marksmen, while the other tracks are by lesser-known bands who have a variety of models: The Ventures (of course), Duane Eddy, The Chantays, The Champs, Dick Dale, Chet Atkins, even The Shadows and The Spotnicks, though all the artists are North American (the opening band, Les Jaguars, are from Quebec).
Besides Nokie Edwards, two other greats of West Coast instrumentals are represented here with rarities, guitarist and Wrecking Crew/Lee Hazlewood mainstay Billy Strange, and Marketts/Routers mainman Michael Z. Gordon, both with unreleased tracks from the vaults of Dore Records.
The bands here named The Ramrods and The Night Caps are not related to the better-known units with the same names, and I’m happy to hear the 1962 Felsted label single “Road Runnah” by The Road Runners (from my hometown of Golden, Colorado—the single was recorded in Denver), who later went to California for three weeks and recorded an album produced by Gary Paxton. There’s even an atmospheric version of “Harlem Nocturne” here, from the Bay Area band The Music City Swingers, since a version of what later became the theme for detective Mike Hammer improves any instrumental compilation.
The net is cast rather wide on this album, so even a 1971 Ventures run-through of Van Morrison’s “Blue Money,” though clearly not a 60’s recording, fits in well (and one can never get enough of guitarist Gerry McGee). Some will no doubt feel that this is not as essential as the first volume, but any serious 60’s instrumental fan with eclectic tastes (say, someone who still plays their Al Caiola and Challengers and Billy Strange albums regularly) will just turn up the volume and enjoy this well-programmed and exhaustively-documented set full of unfamiliar material. Let’s hope it’s not another seven years until volume three!
BILL SHUTE, originally published in Ugly Things magazine in 2020
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and….Be sure to pick up a copy of my newest poetry book…
Filed under: Uncategorized — kendrasteinereditions @ 1:28 am
Disc One. Piedmont Come Down To Atlanta
1. Ruth Willis (With Blind Willie McTell), Talkin’to You Wimmin’ About The Blues 2. Ruth Willis, Merciful Blues 3. Blind Willie McTel,l Mamma T’aint Long Fo’ Day 4. Curley Weaver & Eddie Mapp, It’s The Best Stuff Yet 5. Prince Moore, Mississippi Water #2 6. Prince Moore, Market Street Rag #1 7. Ruth Willis, I’m Still Sloppy Drunk 8. Buddy Moss, Red River Blues #2Audio Player 9. Buddy Moss, Hard Time Blues #1 10. Gitfiddle Jim, Rainy Night Blues 11. Gitfiddle Jim, Paddlin’ Blues 12. Barbecue Bob, Jambooger Blues 13. Barbecue Bob, Black Skunk Blues 14. Curly Weaver, Dirty Deal Blues 15. Georgia Boyd, Never Mind Blues 16. Sam Montgomery, Mercy Mercy Blues #2 17. Allison Mathis, You Done Quit Me Good As I Been To You 18. Blind Willie McTell, Delia 19. Blind Blake, West Coast Blues #1 20. Blind Boy Fuller, Rag Mama Rag #1 21. Joshua White, John Henry 22. John Jackson, A Blind Blake Rag 23. John Jackson, Too TightAudio Player 24. Unkown Artists, Squeeze My Lemon 25. Ed Bush, My Husband Just Now Left 26. Josh White, Darktown Strutters** Listener Beware
Disc Two. The COMPLETE 1956 Blind Willie McTell ‘Ed Rhodes Final Session’.
1. Warm Up 2. Baby It Must Be Love 3. Talk About “Dyin’ Crapshooter’s” 4. Dyin’ Crapshooter’s Blues 5. Talk About Early LifeAudio Player 6. Pal Of Mine 7. More About Life 8. Don’t Forget It 9. Talk About “Kill It Kid” 10. Kill It Kid 11. Talk About “That Will Never Happen No More” 12. That Will Never Happen No More 13. A Request For “My Blue Heaven” 14. My Blue Heaven 15. Some Talk “About Drinking” 16. Beedle Um Bum 17. Talk About “Salty Dog” 18. A Married Man’s A FoolAudio Player 19. Talk About “A To Z” 20. A To Z Blues 21. Talk About “New Orleans” 22. Goodbye Blues 23. Basin Street Blues 24. Talk About “People In Room” 25. Salty Dog 26. Talks About “Train Songs” 27. Wabash Cannonball 28. Talks About “St James” & Asks To ‘Snooze’ 29. St. James Infirmary 30. Asks For Prison Songs 31. Talk And If I Had The Wings 32. Length And Leadbelly 33. Instrumental (Medley) Kill It Kid (inst) – Weeping Willow (inst)– Wreck of the Old 97 (with vocal) Bonus Interview Edits. 34. Ed rhodes remembers Willie McTell in Conversation with Larry Cohn – part 1. 35. Part 2.
V.A.—It’s The Best Stuff Yet! (Frog, UK), 2-CD
This collection offers two CD’s devoted to the Piedmont (Virginia through Georgia) blues. The first CD contains tracks from Blind Blake, Buddy Moss, Barbecue Bob and others, sounding much fuller and clearer than previous Yazoo and Document reissues (along with an X-rated private recording of Josh White doing “Darktown Strutters Ball”), but it’s CD two that’s the real revelation here: the complete September 1956 Atlanta session of Blind Willie McTell, in order of performance and with all McTell’s talk between songs and interaction with the small group observing the session.
Parts of this material were issued on the Prestige Bluesville LP Last Session, but this CD provides what’s essentially an hour-long living-room performance from McTell, his chiming 12-string guitar sounding like it’s three feet away from you. The 58 year old McTell doesn’t sound like he is 29 again (as he was when he made his recording debut in 1927), but his agile, raggy guitar work, his skills as raconteur and storyteller, his upbeat, witty comments, his spirited singing, and his fascinating recall of details (working “sideshows” as a youth before he’d made records, serving as personal assistant to a dying gambler and pimp, etc.) make any criticism of small details irrelevant. At the time, McTell was playing for tips for the diners at a drive-in restaurant, which is where Ed Rhodes, who recorded the session, found him.
McTell was ill at the time of this recording and his drinking did not help his health. It’s said that he was aware this might be his last opportunity to record, and like an old and infirm actor who pulls it all together when he hits the stage for one last role, McTell’s skills as songster and street musician playing requests give the session a sparkle that will put a smile on the listener’s face. He’s also both playing what he thinks the man recording him wants to hear (and let’s not forget that this is the Deep South in 1956) but also thinking about his own legacy, as he knows these recordings will eventually find release (he asks that they not come out until after his passing). This is a precious and intimate hour with one of the greats of the original guitar-blues artists of the late 1920’s, one who continued to record off-and-on into the early 50’s, but who did not live enough to see the blues revival of the 1960’s. An essential purchase for any blues lover.
BILL SHUTE, originally published in UGLY THINGS magazine in 2019
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and….Be sure to pick up a copy of my newest poetry book…
Filed under: Uncategorized — kendrasteinereditions @ 1:15 am
SPEED SPAULDING COLLECTION FROM FAMOUS FUNNIES (Golden Age Reprints)
Speed Spaulding is the perfect hero for a 1930’s or early 1940’s B-movie or serial or comic book—a former college football star, a former championship boxer, a man who is knowledgeable in many fields, a handsome and athletic blonde who is attractive to the ladies (but is devoted to his main squeeze), a quick wit with a self-deprecating charm. I can easily imagine the late 30’s Buster Crabbe or Kane Richmond playing him on screen.
FAMOUS FUNNIES ran from 1934 through 1955, putting out 218 (!!!) issues in that time. It’s considered a pioneering comic book, and while not the first comic book, is one of the first publications to resemble what we’d today consider the classic comic book form. Much of its content consisted of republished comic strips, which had appeared in newspapers and then pretty much vanished unless someone clipped the strips and collected them. Famous Funnies founder Maxwell C. Gaines (whose son was William Gaines of Mad Magazine and EC Comics fame!) felt that those old discarded strips still had secondary value and that people would pay to read them—Famous Funnies then took off, but unfortunately Gaines was ousted from it by the publisher, Eastern Color Printing (he later had a lot of success doing the same kind of thing elsewhere, so he probably had the last laugh). Famous Funnies DID have some original content, not just reprints of strips, and when I got this SPEED SPAULDING collection, I first assumed that it was an original creation (Golden Age Reprints books have no information in them about the source of the material and no introductory essays—you’re on your own!). Liking the book a lot, I decided to review it, and then did some online research, which has turned out to be like peeling away the layers of an onion. Yes, it is based on an obscure strip, which had both a daily (see the B&W pic of sample) and a Sunday (see the color pic of an excerpt of a Sunday page) version….but both of these were an adaptation of a science fiction novel, WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, and the credited “authors” of the strip are the authors of the novel. Art is credited to Marvin Bradley, who later worked for many years on the well-known strip REX MORGAN, M.D., which still runs today in many newspapers. Because the comics in the book under review are in color, I presume they are Sunday strips, which were somehow re-edited or re-contextualized for the comic book page.
The novel WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE was made into a classic science fiction film in 1951, produced by George Pal. This strip has less to do with the source novel than the film does, beyond taking the general premise….about two distant bodies in space which are headed to crash into and destroy earth…and weaving it into an overall plot which at any time has 3 or 4 OTHER subplots running. It’s kind of like WHILE Speed Spaulding is posing as a boxer or fighting organized crime or having relationship issues with his girlfriend or helping the State Department or whatever, there is the thread of a plot about his girlfriend’s father, who is a scientist, having discovered that the worlds will collide and trying to figure out some way to keep the event from happening.
What I like so much about the SPEED SPAULDING comics is that they contain pretty much everything one would want in a 30’s/40’s action movie serial or comic book: gangsters, aviation thrills, brawls-a-plenty, intrigue in exotic foreign lands, all held together by the bizarre science fiction premise of the world potentially ending from this interplanetary collision, and with the usual B-movie/comic-book thugs and clichéd foreign agents trying to get in the way of the heroes. I’m reminded of those late-period Republic serials where some alien takeover is planned, and the entire invasion force consists of three or four fedora-wearing, dark-suited gangster types working for the alien powers and using such advanced interplanetary methods as fistfights and revolvers and running cars off highways to help conquer the earth! Also, as the newspaper comic strips appeared in 1940 and 1941 (and the Famous Funnies version came soon after that), right before the American entry into WWII, you can be sure that there are a number of faux-Japanese and vaguely Germanic villains and flunkies to liven up the proceedings. This reprint ends with the final installment of the comic strip, which kind of leaves a lot up in the air….or does it? I’m not going to be a spoiler—you read for yourself and decide.
Golden Age Reprints offers an attractive printed collection of the SPEED SPAULDING comics from FAMOUS FUNNNIES, but they are also available for free online (as they are in the public domain) at comicbookplus.com—-the earliest issue of FAMOUS I see Speed listed in is issue #71, and the latest issue is #86, so you could just do a search for FAMOUS FUNNIES on the comicbookplus website and read them for free, if you’d like. You’ll be glad you did….
BILL SHUTE, originally published elsewhere online in 2018
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Be sure to pick up a copy of my newest poetry book…
Filed under: Uncategorized — kendrasteinereditions @ 1:19 am
ANN ARBOR BLUES FESTIVAL 1969 LP Vol. 1
Roosevelt Sykes – Dirty Mother For You
Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup – So Glad You’re Mine
J.B. Hutto & His Hawks – Too Much Alcohol
Jimmy “Fast Fingers” Dawkins – I Wonder Why
Junior Wells – Help Me (A Tribute To Sonny Boy Williamson)
B.B. King with Sonny Freeman And The Unusuals – I’ve Got A Mind To Give Up Living
Mississippi Fred McDowell – John Henry
Pinetop Perkins – Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie
Big Bill Hill – Introduction
Luther Allison And The Blue Nebulae – Everybody Must Suffer/Stone Crazy
Clifton Chenier – Tu M’as Promise L’amour (You Promised Me Love)
The Original Howlin’ Wolf And His Orchestra – Hard Luck
Otis Rush – So Many Roads, So Many Trains *
Recorded April 12, 1970 at Hill Auditorium, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
ANN ARBOR BLUES FESTIVAL 1969 LP Vol. 2
1. Muddy Waters – Long Distance Call 2. Charlie Musselwhite – Movin’ And Groovin’ 3. Magic Sam – I Feel So Good (I Wanna Boogie) 4. Shirley Griffith – Jelly Jelly Blues 5. Big Mojo Elem – Mojo Boogie 6. T-Bone Walker – Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just As Bad) 7. Big Bill Hill – Announcements 8. Big Mama Thornton And The Hound Doggers – Ball And Chain 9. Big Joe Williams – Juanita 10. Sam Lay – Key To The Highway 11. Lightnin’ Hopkins – Mojo Hand 12. James Cotton Blues Band – Off The Wall 13. Son House – Death Letter Blues
V.A.—Ann Arbor Blues Festival 1969, Volumes 1 & 2 (Third Man), two 2-LP sets
Despite some off-years, the Ann Arbor Blues Festival has been going for 50 years, starting in 1969, which was a historic event, bringing together blues greats from different backgrounds and periods, artists who probably would not have crossed paths otherwise, in a college environment in beautiful Ann Arbor, Michigan.
And what a combination of artists it was…from younger urban electric artists such as Magic Sam and Jimmy Dawkins, to the greats of post-WWII electric blues such as Muddy Waters and B.B. King and James Cotton (who’d come from the South originally), to someone like Son House, acoustic bluesman who’d first recorded (at the same session as Charley Patton!) in 1930 and had the gravitas of an Old Testament prophet, to barrelhouse pianist and prolific songwriter Roosevelt Sykes, who first recorded in 1929 and who adapted well to the changes in African-American music over the decades (he later made great records in the jump blues and R&B vein).
Then there’s country bluesman Mississippi Fred McDowell, who’d been playing since the late 1920’s, but never made a record until he was discovered by folklorist blues researchers in 1959, and perhaps because he’d never been a commercially recorded bluesman, he remained a pure and uncompromising artist, eventually recording the album I Do Not Play No Rock’n’ Roll for Capitol and having his song “You Gotta Move” covered by the Rolling Stones. And let’s not forget the always show-stopping Big Mama Thornton, Texas master Lightnin’ Hopkins, Big Joe Williams, and T-Bone Walker (and others). A collection of major artists as rich as this could not have been assembled even five years later, so four full LP’s of precious live recordings from the 1969 Festival is a revelation for the blues fan.
Although these are non-professional recordings made on a portable machine by the festival organizers, the artists and their stinging guitars and passionate singing are always out front, and the recordings deliver a rawness and immediacy perfect for this music. These albums (two 2-LP sets, or a 2-cd set) compare favorably with the studio recordings of the same artists from that era. Third Man Records generally does a great job with LP’s, so this set is pressed on heavy vinyl and engineered to sound loud even when played at low volume. The thick booklet accompanying the discs is full of photos and first-hand accounts of the event. A must-own collection!
BILL SHUTE, originally published in Ugly Things magazine in 2019
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Filed under: Uncategorized — kendrasteinereditions @ 1:59 am
1 Spoonful 2 Rock Me Baby 3 Ball And Chain 4 Watermelon Man 5 Summertime 6 Medley: Hound Dogé, Walkin` The Dog 7 Sweet Little Angel 8 Sassy Mama Recorded at Rising Sun Celebrity Jazz Club on April 12, 1977.
William Shute’s profile photo William Shute unread, Oct 25, 1994, 8:36:25 AM to From: Bill Shute BIG MAMA THORNTON “The Rising Sun Collection” Just A Memory Records (Canada, RSCD 0002) Released l994
One of a few new releases recorded live at Montrteal’s “Rising Sun Celebrity Jazz Club” (I also saw a John Lee Hooker CD in this series), this l977 gig–with a backing band led by Phil Guy and also including John Primer and, on the last few cuts, Big Moose Walker–captures the fire and spirit of this great performer well and is a wonderful document for those of us who never had the privilege of seeing her live. I’d be lyin’ if I said her voice wasn’t somewhat shot, but then “It ain’t the meat/ it’s the motion,” and Big Mama is in fine raw form, sounding very spontaneous and also outrageous! The band gives her a lot of space to do her thing, and whether she is belting out “Rock Me BAby,” the raunchy “Watermelon Man,” or a tender, tragic, broken-voiced version of “Summertime,” she sings with authority and a delicious slyness. Big Mama is way up front and in-your-face with the way the concert’s sound was mixed, and the fact that this IS NOT a super-clean, well-balanced recording only adds to the immediacy of the experience and makes me imagine that I am there in the audience. By the way, I’ll bet most of y’all would have also wanted to be there that night, because Big Mama announces that the evening’s musical acts also included Jay McShann, Eddie Cleanhead Vinson, and Clifton Chenier (!!!!!!). There are touching and funny notes about Ms. Thornton’s spontaneity and let’s-live-for-today attitude towards life in Rising Sun head-honcho (at whose house BMT stayed for a few months) Roue-Doudou Boicel’s liner essay, and blues fans will love the casual photo of Boicel hanging around his home with John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, and Willie Dixon. The other entries in this series ought to be also worth investigating. Perhaps the MCA collection of Thornton’s 50s sides would be a better place for a newcomer to Big Mama’s work to start, but like a good live show this is a CD that has provided me with some unforgettable moments…and unlike a live show, I can re-experience it whenever I want.
BILL SHUTE, originally published elsewhere online in 1994
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Filed under: Uncategorized — kendrasteinereditions @ 1:16 am
Those who like the R&B side of Ronnie Hawkins should enjoy this LP collection of obscure 58-64 Canadian sides from The Hawk.
RONNIE HAWKINS AND THE HAWKS “rrrracket time” Charly LP (UK) CR 30180
come one, let’s go diddley daddy going to the river–slow version** bluebirds over the mountain suzie q i still miss someone(slow, acoustic) four strong winds(slow, acoustic) little red rooster** going to the river–fast version** ain’t that just like a woman got my mojo working let the good times roll ooby dooby love me like you can hey bo diddley
collection released circa l982
Except for the two acoustic cuts–the Johnny Cash chestnut and the Ian and Sylvia tune–this album is solid R&B and rocknroll. The final two tracks are from his first, l958 session in Hamilton, Ontario,(w/ Levon Helm), interesting garage recordings. “Hey Bo Diddley” is like a rougher version of Buddy Holly’s cover of the song.
The rest of the album is l964 singles sides released on Hawkins’ own “Hawk” label in Canada and some unreleased demos.The three tracks I’ve marked ** feature JAMES COTTON on harmonica! The common denominator here is the lack of production throughout–it’s refreshing to hear these thin-sounding, unadornedtracks. Coming from 58 and 64, these tracks are like bookends around Hawkins’ best-known period at Roulette. I’ve never considered The Hawk a rockabilly performer, in the purest sense. His influences seem to be…one foot in rockin’ uptempo honkytonk country of the early 50s, the other foot in the blues.
While this album contains no instant-masterpieces…and I can’t really agree with the hyperbolic linernotes’ assertion that these “the frantic rockin’ racket of a true primitive”…the album is very consistent and documents the blues-side of a classic 50s rock’n’roller. There was no “blues revival” to cash in on when these sides were cut…and a free spirit like Ronnie Hawkins would probably NOT do what was “in” at a particular time. If you’ve ever liked Hawkins, you’re sure to appreciate these obscure recordings. I’ve played it six or seven times this week since retrieving it from “storage.”
Re CD availability, I wouldn’t think that these lo-fi sessions would be a prime candidate for digitalizing, but who knows? This being a Charly release, perhaps you can get a two-dollar Portugese cassette of it from a Charly “licensee”?
Hats off to Ronnie Hawkins!! Time to go blast his hit version of “Who Do You Love”!
“The highway is like a woman…soft shoulders and dangerous curves” –Percy Mayfield
BILL SHUTE, originally published elsewhere online in 1996
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Remembering the great Austin bluesman W. C. CLARK, who passed away today, 2 March 2024. Over the decades, we saw him many times, in Austin, San Antonio, and even Houston. He would come around and chat with the customers at their tables in between sets. We’ve had an autographed gig poster of him on our living room wall for the last 15 years or so. Find some of his music online and enjoy it today. The album pictured is a good place to start.
Filed under: Uncategorized — kendrasteinereditions @ 1:01 am
1. I’ll Be Standing By – Chuck Walker & The VIP’s 2. At Last – Jimmy Bee 3. Hungry Children – Rudy Love & The Love Family 4. Mighty Clouds of Joy – B.P.S. Revolution 5. Honey – Felice Taylor 6. Slow and Easy – Vernon Garrett 7. Where She At – Z.Z. Hill 8. Don’t Believe Him – Stacy Johnson 9. Nobody But Me – The Other Brothers 10. Like I Do – Bobby John 11. Whole World Down On You – Larry Davis 12. It’s Getting Late – Al King 13. Jodine – Earl Foster 14. Then I Found You – Rudy Love & The Love Family 15. The Good Side of My Girl – Clay Hammond 16. The Thought of You – Jeanette Jones 17. You’re Still My Baby – Venetta Fields 18. Rock Me Baby – Millie Foster 19. What Is This World Coming To – Charles Taylor 20. What the Heck – Lowell Fulson 21. Funky Duck – Four Tees 22. I Need You (2nd Version) – Arthur K Adams 23. Ghetto Child – Johnny Copeland 24. Peace of Mind – Chuck Walker & The VIP’s
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V.A.—Los Angeles Soul, Volume 2: Kent-Modern’s Black Music Legacy, 1963-1972 (Ace/Kent, UK), CD
Ace’s Kent subsidiary has done a number of soul compilations over the years (the three volumes called For Connoisseurs Only are highly recommended) from the vaults of Los Angeles-based Kent-Modern Records, and this newest one offers a wide variety of soulful sounds, ranging from pop-gospel sides (in the wake of the Staple Singers’ chart success) to soul-flavored offerings from blues artists such as Lowell Fulson, Johnny Copeland, Larry Davis, and Arthur K. Adams. Soul stalwarts such as ZZ Hill and Clay Hammond and Vernon Garrett spent time at the label, and they are also represented, as well as Felice Taylor, who was the Diana Ross of the Kent-Modern stable.
A number of the tracks are quite obscure, coming from subsidiary and distributed labels such as Virgo, Golden Soul, Mo’ Soul, Earthquake, and Kent Gospel, and these performances are fresh and sound as though they would have appealed to Los Angeles listeners with Southern roots. There’s no slick “uptown” soul here trying to compete with New York or Motown productions, and that’s a big plus here. Also, as soul evolved into a slower, more funk-rooted vein, Kent-Modern adapted quite well, as with the 1971 “Jodine” by Earl Foster.
One objection some might have to this collection is that some of the tracks appear on past Ace/Kent reissues devoted to artists such as Fulson, Copeland, Adams, etc. In the compilers’ defense, though, the tracks used are lesser-known ones, and they sound great in the context of the other material. Anyone serious enough of a fan to have all the previous issues is probably not going to have a problem with getting 3/4 un-reissued material, and others would not even notice.
Imagine that you are listening to some low-wattage AM soul station in Los Angeles circa 1969, hearing local singles from artists who might be playing clubs and lounges just a few miles away, wanting a piece of the chart action of a Joe Tex or a William Bell, and plugging their new singles from the bandstand. Put this album on, turn up the volume, and it’s non-stop soul excellence from beginning to end, with hardly any tracks that will be familiar to most listeners, but many tracks that will have you wanting more. What a golden age of Black Music the city of Los Angeles had to offer in this period! No fan of lesser-known soul records will want to pass on this solid and eclectic compilation.
BILL SHUTE, originally published in Ugly Things magazine in 2019
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Filed under: Uncategorized — kendrasteinereditions @ 1:21 am
The “all Black cast” films of the 30s and 40s provide a lot of entertainment value, as well as a window into African-American culture of the day, performers who are often undocumented or at least underdocumented elsewhere on film, and usually excellent music.
Many of the feature films—-the ones directed by Spencer Williams, the ones directed by Oscar Micheaux, and the ones starring Louis Jordan—-were widely available in the early days of VHS and were aired on BET as filler in the early days of cable. I notice that many of those (no doubt due to their public domain status) are available today on some of the lower-grade free streaming services available via Roku. I hope that people are enjoying them there. When I first moved to San Antonio in 1991, I actually scoped out some of the locations used in Spencer Williams films, which could still be found at that time.
However, more obscure are the short subjects, and this gem from director Bud Pollard is a fine example of that. Thanks to SMU’s Jones Film and Video Archive for finding and restoring IT HAPPENED IN HARLEM, made at the studios of All American Films (the Black newsreel company) in Fort Lee, New Jersey, a city with a lot of film history. Strangely enough, the IMDB still lists this short as being lost, though SMU posted it on You Tube in 2021! Well, YOU don’t have to worry, as the YT link is below.
This film packs a lot into 23 minutes, with a showbiz plot, great Black vaudeville acts who might otherwise not be documented on film, jazz references (the legendary Smalls Paradise club) that will excite fans of the music of that era, and the music of Chris Columbus and His Swing Gang, who were popular in the clubs but not really documented on record much (Sidney Bechet recorded with them in 1938-39, for a film soundtrack). Drummer Columbus was also known as Chris Columbo and was at one time the oldest working musician in Atlantic City. He worked with Fletcher Henderson as early as 1921, and led the Club Harlem Orchestra for 34 years. His son, Sonny Payne, was also a jazz drummer and will be known to many readers.
Bud Pollard, of course, is well-known to fans of obscure exploitation films, and he also was a pioneer in patchwork films. I have a piece elsewhere on this blog about his patchwork film on Bing Crosby THE ROAD TO HOLLYWOOD (look for it in the search box here), and I have a half-finished piece in my draft box on Pollard’s final feature, LOVE ISLAND, starring the young Eva Gabor, which I hope to finish one of these days.
Most people have 23 minutes to waste, and I can’t imagine you’d regret spending it with the classic African-American short IT HAPPENED IN HARLEM.
The print and transfer are very good, so feel free to watch this on your television, not just on your computer….
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Filed under: Uncategorized — kendrasteinereditions @ 1:22 am
During my years in Stillwater, Oklahoma (1979-1985), I spent one year sharing the bottom floor of an older home in a quiet neighborhood with a guy from Alabama named Donnie Stackman. We were both part-time employees in the same academic department at the college we both attended, and we’d both lived together for the six months prior to that in the infamous $80 a month apartment with the hole through the wall into the alley, which I discussed in a previous piece. I did not know Donnie prior to the hole-in-the-wall apartment, but we were both friends of the third person who lived there, Jonathan, a long-haired zen-calm kind of guy from Birmingham who’d been in the Marine Corps, who’d invited both of us to move in so he could split the rent three ways and cut expenses. Jonathan did not join us when we found this other house to rent–it was just Donnie and yours truly….at least at the start.
Above us, occupying the second floor, lived two male graduate students in Agriculture from Tanzania–sorry, but I don’t remember their actual names. Like a lot of people from Africa or Asia who lived in the US back in that period, they affected a “Western-sounding” nickname to assist the locals in referring to them, and because those were not their real names and half the time I referred to them by those real names, not the nicknames, I’m drawing a blank on names, though I can see them clearly in my mind’s eye. Both were slim, serious-minded men in their late 20’s. I don’t think they drank, but I do remember sharing some cigarettes with them on the back steps a number of times. They probably would not have had time to drink or to waste precious hours on anything non-essential, as they were doctoral students working on Ph.D.’s. One thing I found interesting about them was that their higher educations had both been in Eastern Bloc countries. Their undergraduate work in agriculture had been in East Germany, and they’d both earned master’s degrees in the Soviet Union (though at different universities). The Eastern Bloc was looking to curry favor with third-world countries, both for influence and for potential trading partners. And now these men were in Stillwater, Oklahoma. I’d always been interested in getting to know international students (learning about distant cultures through conversation is cheaper than traveling to the places themselves, and also you’re getting it straight from the core of the culture, not the tourist version–also, people in an unfamiliar foreign land appreciate locals who welcome them and show an interest in and respect for their culture), and not having known many folks who’d lived in communist countries (this was the early 80’s), I found their stories about life in East Germany and Russia fascinating. Donnie never really got to know these fellows, other than saying “hi” when they crossed paths, but I would chat with them for 15-30 minutes maybe twice a week, and they invited me up to their apartment to eat a few times, where they prepared an inexpensive dish made with potatoes and eggs and onions and tomatoes and chile peppers and, of course, some spices from the homeland that were unfamiliar to me but delicious….and potent. Though they lived above us, these guys rarely made any noise and spent late nights at the university library in advance scientific study. They both earned doctorates in Agriculture and went back to Tanzania, where I believe they were promised jobs with the government agriculture ministry.
I was never really close with my downstairs roommate Donnie. He had a kind of Grizzly Adams vibe to him—-stocky, big blond-red beard, wore overalls, and affected a kind of folksy charm. We worked different hours, went to school at different times (I was a morning person–he was not), and stayed out of each other’s ways. We had an agreement where we’d split the kitchen and the refrigerator in half, one sink each, etc., and his side of the sink and his half of the refrigerator were always filthy. I wound up cleaning them up for him (which I’m sure he counted on!) because the stink of rotting onions in the fridge or the sight of bloated pieces of old bread floating in his sink was too much for me to take. Whenever he was out, I’d have the stereo on—-probably playing PIL “Second Edition” or one of the early Wire albums or a Chocolate Watchband album or one of Coltrane’s twelve Prestige albums over and over. He claimed to be into bluegrass, but he did not seem to know much about it. He’d sometimes listen to music with me and was the kind of guy who’d drink or smoke with me if I provided the supplies. I never knew him to buy a cigarette or beer of his own. He’d do without rather than spend a cent of his own on those things.
He would also go on crash diets from time to time…..or should I say starvation diets. He would literally starve himself for three or four days. After a few days of that, he would have some odd metallic odor coming out of his mouth. I asked him about this once because he mentioned that he was meeting a lady one night and I thought he should know that his breath was not good. He told me that he was diabetic and what I was smelling was ketones, and not to worry about it because he knew how to handle it. Unfortunately, as this unpleasant scent was not coming from his mouth but from somewhere deeper inside him, mouthwash and brushing would not have helped the breath problem. Who knows if he had any luck with the ladies that night.
When he did go off these fasts, he’d always hit some local watering hole during happy hour when they would have specials on pitchers of beer, and he’d choose a bar where people would know him, and he’d join a group who would, being the good sports that most happy hour drinkers are, invite him to join in. He’d usually stay until the last person left and/or the last drop of beer paid for by someone else had been consumed. I’m told he would also take the tip off the table, a tip left by those paying for the beer, and pocket it for himself. I used to hit a certain bar that served burgers and fried food on Fridays with a poet friend, who was also a friend of Donnie’s, and we’d get happy hour pitchers and cheap baskets of French fries and gravy and chat about life and literature and music and art for hours on end. Donnie would often crash these get-togethers and drink our beer and eat our fries and gravy. He was an entertaining guy always conscious of an audience, and as stated earlier, he played the colorful Southerner role to the hilt, so I doubt anyone ever minded his mooching, since he did provide entertainment value for the beer he drank and bar-food he pilfered.
One Wednesday–I think it was right before a holiday weekend, so he’d have a few days off work while the college was closed–he announced to me that he was going to Las Vegas for the weekend and would be back the next Tuesday. He did not drive, owned three shirts and three pants (and the shirts were all flannel checked shirts that were not great for those hundred-degree Oklahoma summers—-I can’t imagine he would have worn those back in Alabama!), and was a tightwad all around, so I was quite surprised by this move.
However, nothing prepared me for what I experienced that next Tuesday when he came back home…..he introduced me to his new wife, Candace. Yes, he met someone in Vegas over the weekend and married her on the spot and brought her back to Stillwater, Oklahoma. She had one suitcase full of clothes, and she moved into his room with him (we had endless arguments after that about whether the rent should be split three ways, as I suggested, or two ways, as he suggested).
Candace struck me as the mature one in this duo—-after all, it would be hard NOT to be—-and she had the case-hardened toughness that you find in, say, waitresses in all-night diners, people who’d seen it all and were prepared to face any hassle and stare it down. She had experience as a speech pathologist (though that was not what she’d been working at most recently), so she was able to get a job at the college within a week of arriving in Stillwater. Like me, she was a morning person, and her new husband was not, so they were rarely home at the same time. He tended to work in the early evenings–she was getting off work when he was starting. The result of this was that I spent many more waking hours with his wife than he did! This lady who was married for two weeks or whatever was stuck at home with ME each evening, and although things were awkward for a while at the beginning because I never approved of her as a “new roommate,” I accepted reality rather quickly, and we would wind up playing Scrabble or discussing art or listening to Coltrane’s BLACK PEARLS album on Prestige, the kind of long-tracked jazz album full of bluesy jams you could play over and over and over, getting up every 20 minutes to flip the record. She was a very intelligent person, had held a number of interesting jobs, was quite well-read, and had a kind of jaded cynicism that I found admirable and fascinating. She was about ten years older than I was and about five years older than Donnie.
When we would spend a few evenings in a row hanging out together, we both sensed a kind of innate need to not get too close—-after all, she was newly married and had moved across the country to live with this man, for better or worse. She’d put all her eggs in this basket. It was funny when I thought of how we would pretend not to know each other as well as we did whenever he was around. It was almost as if we were involved and hiding it, though we were not. Her relationship with her husband can be summed up in the following anecdote: when she got her first paycheck, she purchased an ice cream churn–she told me she loved to make homemade ice cream. When she first used it–after buying the cream and the salt and the ice and the caramel & butterscotch–she wound up serving this amazing ice cream to me and to the African guys, whom I invited down to join us as there was too much ice cream for the two of us to eat by ourselves. Her husband Donnie was working….or at a bar….or somewhere, probably mooching beer and fried mushrooms off someone.
Candace always referred to her husband by his last name–she would say, “hey Stackman,” if she had a question or wanted to tell him something. I NEVER heard her call him Donnie–or even refer to him by his first name when talking to some third party. Also, when they would be walking together (he affected a walking stick or cane which he did not need when out “on the town,” thinking it helped the Southern Gentleman persona) on the streets of Stillwater, which did not happen often, he’d be in some kind of detached zone in a personal fog. If she was turning a corner or having to stop somewhere, she’d tap Donnie and push him in the direction she wanted to go. It reminded me of someone walking a dog that had not been fully trained.
This old two-story home we rented the lower floor of was owned by a retired couple from the nearby town of Pawnee, who would come to town each month to pick up the rent money from us and from the African guys. It had the proverbial white picket fence around it and was at a corner on a tree-shaded neighborhood only about eight blocks from the campus but it seemed like it was miles away in terms of atmosphere, so it had a large lot. I volunteered to mow the lawn twice a month (they had an old push-mower in a shed behind the house) for a discount on the rent (although Donnie benefited from the discount too, he never offered to mow). It also had a large wrap-around covered porch. We took one side of it and half the front, and the African guys took the other side and the other half, though they rarely if ever used them because they were studying all the time.
There were three or four old rocking chairs out there (and this was the kind of area where they could be left out all the time and would never be stolen), and being at the corner there was often a breeze from one side or another, and being shaded, it always seemed ten degrees cooler than the yard. I spent a lot of time–when I was keeping apart from Candace–on that porch reading. And some of that reading was inevitably comic books, and many of those comic books were inevitably Charlton Comics. Back then, as I still do today, some 35 or 37 years later, I had a box where I would keep the new comics acquisitions, all gotten for a dime or at most a quarter at some used bookstore or junk store or in the garbage pile at a comics shop that treated Charlton product as if it had leprosy, and when I was bored, I’d work my way through a few, and then put them at the back of my stack.
They weren’t making many western movies in the early 80’s…..although I could still catch some obscure Monogram or PRC or Republic western in the middle of the night on UHF television, along with an occasional Italian western such as LEFT HANDED JOHNNY WEST, starring Steve Reeves’s old pal from the sword and sandal film days, Mimmo Palmera (or as it was Anglicized in the credits, Dick Palmer), or Sergio Corbucci’s MINNESOTA CLAY, with Cameron Mitchell as the blinded gunfighter who killed by sound….so western comics such as OUTLAWS OF THE WEST provided a cheap, action-filled fix with the wonderful stereotyped characters and situations that one could find in a Durango Kid movie, if they ever showed any of those, which they did not in early 80’s Oklahoma, but minus Smiley Burnette’s comedy and songs and with more violence and brutality. In the great tradition of Charlton’s waning days in the 80’s, the stories in this particular 1979 issue (which I probably acquired in 1981 or so for a dime) were all taken from 1959 Charlton western magazines and “re-purposed”. Did it REALLY matter in a western comic? I think not. All you need is an introduction like “Red Gruber’s huge ranch occupied the upper half of Bone Valley–he fought every owlhooter in Arizona to build the Three Bar brand–“ and lots of blazing pistols and stand-offs and fistfights in saloons and men on horseback shooting the guns out of the hands of other men on horseback, and you know you are getting what you have paid for. And with ten-cent used comics (which, in the case of the Charlton westerns, appeared to have never been read, with tightly creased spines), it did not take much to earn back that ten cents and satisfy me. In my eyes, terms like “owlhoots” and “varmints” and “ornery polecats” are like code-words among members of some secret society–I hear them, and whoever is using the terms is “in” as far as I’m concerned. We’re members of the same lodge and brothers.
That next summer, I moved on to my own solo garage apartment, where I lived for three years. Donnie left town, and I believe Candace went her own way to a different part of the country from where he went. I later heard that he had never actually gotten a divorce from a first wife up in Illinois, and I’m not sure how that situation wound up. Life brings you together with people you are friendly with but do not get close to, it forces you to interact with them, and then you stumble into your next situation. Only the yellowed Charlton Comics and the Prestige-label Coltrane albums survive to document that it was not all just a dream…
BILL SHUTE, published elsewhere online in 2018
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Filed under: Uncategorized — kendrasteinereditions @ 1:18 am
1 Ode to Saint Cecile – Mary Lou Williams 2 The Time of This World Is at Hand – Billy Gault 3 Jean Marie – Sam Jones 4 Aida – Rene McLean 5 Tipe Tizwe – Jim Mc Neely 6 Magwaza – Johnny Dyani 7 De I Comahlee Ah – Jackie McLean & Michael Carvin 8 Miss Priss – Ken McIntyre 9 Dark Warrior – Khan Jamal 10 Naima – Michael Carvin
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V.A.—Spiritual Jazz Volume 11: Steeplechase (Jazzman, UK), CD/LP
Most people associate the term “Spiritual Jazz” with labels such as Strata-East and Black Jazz and early 70’s sessions rooted in an Afrocentric or Asian or Islamic-influenced spirit, often growing out of a community arts collective that extends beyond just music. While Jazzman has issued a lot of that kind of sound in its 11 volumes (so far) of Spiritual Jazz compilations, they’ve also gone back as far as the 1950’s to investigate the roots of that approach to jazz, and they have brought back many exciting but forgotten recordings that sound amazingly fresh to modern ears.
Volume 11 is dedicated to “Esoteric, deep and modal jazz from the Steeplechase label (1974-84)” and presents over 70 minutes of gems from the large (900+ releases!) catalog of the Danish label run by Nils Winther. Steeplechase (still active today, after nearly 50 years) has always given free rein to jazz artists to record what they wanted to record, without worrying about commercial considerations, allowing them to bring to fruition projects they’d been wanting to record and release for years, but there were no takers among established labels, and self-releasing was not as common then as it is today.
In that spirit, we’re offered here a wide variety of lengthy tracks ranging from spiritual piano trio (Mary Lou Williams) to alto saxophonist Jackie McLean (a Steeplechase regular) duetting with the African-influenced percussion of Michael Carvin, also mixing in deep tracks from respected player-composers such as Khan Jamal, Ken McIntyre, Johnny Dyani, and Sam Jones, as well as stunning creations from lesser-known names such as pianists Jim McNeely (a member of Ted Curson’s band, whose track is an adaptation of an Zimbabwean folk melody) and Billy Gault (whose 1974 track is a perfect example of what’s usually considered spiritual jazz, with a vocal by Joe Lee Wilson and a Nation of Islam theme to the lyrics).
While some of Steeplechase’s releases by Dexter Gordon, Paul Bley, Anthony Braxton, Chet Baker, and Duke Jordan attracted attention in North America and were common sights in import racks, the material on this compilation did not, for the most part, and it’s easy to see how fine performances can get buried in a catalog of 900+ albums! As is usual for Jazzman, this is very well programmed and annotated, with amazing sound, and begs to be played on “repeat”—-looking forward to Volume 12!
BILL SHUTE, originally published in Ugly Things magazine in 2019
2024 update: This fine series is already up to Volume 15 as of this writing….check them all out!
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JANDEK, ‘THE WIZARDS HOUR’ (Corwood CD 0858), released 2023
recorded in early September 2009 and originally broadcast on WNYU-FM radio station
personnel (according to the Jandek Concert History website):
Jandek (Sterling Smith), guitar/gong/keyboards;
Karl Bauer (of Axolotl, someone whose work I followed closely in the early 2000s), viola/keyboards/drums;
Tom Carter, bass;
Marcia Bassett, guitar, vocals;
Pete Nolan, drums, trumpet, viola
1. The Wizard Awakens 20:44 2. The Wizards’ Afternoon 24:51 3. The Wizards’ Dream 16:34
Hard to believe it’s 15 years since 2009. That was an excellent year for Jandek live performances–there were TWENTY (!!!), and except for the July 2009 tour of Northern Ireland with Heather Leigh and David Keenan, the musicians were different with every performance. Sterling would throw himself into the mix with top-shelf experimental/free-improv musicians, both in North America and overseas, and they would see what happens. It took Jandek/Sterling out of his comfort zone and allowed him to take what he had to offer and combine it into a gumbo in which he was an element but not the sole or even primary determiner of the final product.
This was even clearer in performances that were either all-instrumental or primarily instrumental, as the content of Jandek’s stream of consciousness texts was not there to anchor the performance. Such is the case here, a live-in-the-radio studio performance originally broadcast on WNYU radio in 2009. Running about an hour, this performance soon appeared online, and I listened to it a few times back then.
The free-improv/experimental music community of that day was an interesting combination of people from different aesthetic backgrounds–some came from the world of contemporary classical music, some came from the world of free jazz, some came from the more abrasive and avant sides of the post-punk world, some viewed it (as I did to some extent) as an extension of psychedelia, some came to it from a visual art background and approached their music as creating sound-art, some came with a deliberately outsider background and their contributions were the equivalent of action-paintings from someone who could not draw a recognizable tree or face, some (more than I expected) came from the metal world but felt constrained by the limitations of the genre, even its avant and artsy extensions. And then there is Jandek, who is a genre unto himself (however, listening to Henry Flynt or early Loren Mazzacane Connors will help you to discover that Jandek was not alone in independently inventing this kind of wheel, although his lyrics and his delivery of those lyrics steer the listener away from making those connections).
I can’t help but compare the overall effect of this album, consisting of three long pieces, as that of tribal psychedelia, such as Ya Ho Wa 13 at their farthest out and side-long jammiest, or the Beat Of The Earth album. Pete Nolan’s percussion and Tom Carter’s bass keep things percolating and pulsating, sometimes like the heartbeat of an animal, though often very slowly and with a lot of space so you don’t notice what they’re doing but instead feel it. Bassett, Bauer, and Jandek all tune in on the same wavelength, and each tosses out morsels to the others which are then developed and twirled and tossed around until this sticky reptile of an instrumental unit sheds its skin and evolves onto another plane.
This was the period when Jandek did a lot of live collaborations with some of the most interesting figures in the experimental music community (and as some of you know, I co-produced, organized, and assembled the band for a Jandek performance in Austin in 2012, so I got to see first-hand how this alchemy worked), and fortunately for us, Corwood has in the last year or two gotten back to chronological issues of live shows from the early years, recently mining the vein of 2009. These performances were all so different from each other, and Jandek was truly in his prime at that time, inspired to higher heights by the presence of open-minded and motivated collaborators who could hit the eccentric pitches that he (Jandek) threw and meet him halfway artistically. The Corwood releases of recent years have not gotten the attention they deserve. As someone who buys multiple experimental music releases every month, I must testify that Corwood’s output is stunning, both in its diversity and its quality. If there are six or seven “essential” labels out there, Corwood is one of them (Another Timbre is another). I’m glad Sterling is still sticking to physical releases in the classic appearance and format. The Jandek project has been in operation for over 45 years now, and you don’t suddenly change a kitchen-sink melodrama into a screwball comedy during the last act of the play. Corwood has carved out a unique space of its own in the cultural world. Appreciate it while it’s happening…don’t just read about the circus after it’s left town.
BTW, there have been SIX more Corwood releases since this one. They are reasonably priced, the shipping is prompt, and you won’t be able to predict what the next one will sound like.
all tracks recorded live in the studio on Bb clarinet by Madison Greenstone, August 29-30, 2022
1. ecstatic consciousness i 03:26 2. aeolian harp i 03:40 3. flicker 03:26 4. glass horn (acoustic shadows) 03:22 5. aspects beyond thought i 02:25 6. aspects beyond thought ii 03:05 7. hidden name 02:51 8. aspects beyond thought iii (shadow presence) 02:30 9. ecstatic consciousness ii 03:26 10. smell of the moon 04:23 11. aeolian harp ii 03:45
As I came to appreciate, and then to savor, the seemingly infinite varieties of the color ‘black’ in the paintings of Diego Velázquez in museums, I also came to appreciate the seemingly infinite varieties of natural sound within the environments in which I found myself—-for instance, the variations within the endless dream-chord of wind and metals from the abandoned gas station and hardware store seen through the North-facing window of my shack outside New Braunfels, Texas, where I worked for about 3 months helping a friend set up a micro-brewery. I would lock into that dream-chord, as if strapping myself into and holding onto the safety bar of a roller coaster before starting my ride, and then follow its variations, as if walking a dry creek bed in uncharted territory and then following it way beyond the point where I knew where I was, excited by the sense of discovery and of the infinite variety of, and the infinite combinations among, the various sense impressions, simultaneously a symphony, an exhibition, a kaleidoscopic smorgasbord of tastes and smells and textures. It was all about turning off expectations, shutting down filters, and continuing a deep investigation of the possibilities of consciousness while rooted in a controlled element: the path of the dry creek bed.
I must have brought that way-of-perception to this recent album by Madison Greenstone because this series of investigations into the possibilities of resonances (to a non-musician lay-person such as myself, in the area of reed instruments, I tend to think of the overtones/harmonics/whatever in the playing of an Albert Ayler or a Frank Wright, or the rigorous examinations of these possibilites in the work on reed-player/composer/theorist Massimo Magee) produced by the Bb clarinet.
When the young soprano saxophonist Bob Wilber studied with the master, Sidney Bechet, in the 1940s, Bechet would have him play the same “note” in as many ways as possible. When you play it 10 ways, and don’t think you can go any further down that road, force yourself to approach it from 10 more directions, and make each one different in some way….then you discover the many potential ways to be different that you may have either taken for granted or not have ever conceived of before. Then force yourself to conceive of 10 more ways, etc. etc.
As Greenstone writes in the notes accompanying this release, “Each of these studies takes as its basis a mode of resonance latent in the Bb clarinet. This album collects iterative and essayistic reflections on the self-generative qualities of these resonances. The instrument becomes a site of indeterminacy. What happens when resonance overflows? Each resonance has some form of inner agency, some form of emergent phenomena that I search to breathe into being. This demands a continually renewed attunement to the liveliness of the sound: to its wildness, recalcitrance, and roughnesses. I sense that which seeks passage on the current of the breath. What wanders between? I fasten the conditions so that some other thing can emerge– without seeking to control, but merely to influence, to follow where it leads. Who follows during this passage?”
It’s also interesting that Greenstone uses the term ECSTATIC CONSCIOUSNESS for this project in that the creation of the sound paintings involves the letting go and following the untamed, as-yet-undefined flow wherever it leads, as in glossolalia (speaking/chanting in tongues). These resonances also seem to take on a life of their own, which the sensitive musician needs to dance with, rather than attempt to fully control.
This new album from Madison Greenstone is a fascinating and aesthetically satisfying exhibition of 11 related sound-art canvases that ride the exciting and unpredictable wave created when artists place themselves in that delicious grey area between control and loss of control. I can’t imagine this album ever getting old. Congrats to Ms. Greenstone for creating a work devoted to the possibilities of a particular reed instrument that is as forward-thinking in 2024 as Anthony Braxton’s FOR ALTO was to me in 1971.
I recently became co-administrator of a new FB group devoted to the multi-talented RODDY McDOWALL, very similar to the TAB HUNTER group I also co-moderate.
If you are on FB and you are already a fan of RM or if you’d like to further investigate his work, please apply to become a member, using the following link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/393085160048389
with Montgomery Clift in THE DEFECTOR (1966)
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Be sure to pick up a copy of my newest poetry book…
Filed under: Uncategorized — kendrasteinereditions @ 1:53 am
1 Norman Petty– I Kiss Your Hand, Madam 2 Don Guess– Believe Me 3 Hope Griffith– Only Once In A While 4 Ralph Newton– I’m Grievin’ 5 Bobby Jackson – Wow, Man! 6 Jim Robinson – Man From Texas 7 Lloyd Call– If I Had Known 8 Bob Church– Teenage Lady 9 Sherry Davis– Broken Promises 10 Roy Orbison– Cat Called Domino 11 Don And His Roses– Since You Went Away To School 12 Rick Tucker & The Roses– Dig Ya Little Later 13 Earl Henry– Whatcha Gonna Do? 14 Jimmie Stewart – Livin’ Doll 15 Glenn Pace & The Starlites– Outer Space 16 Johnny Wilson– I’m With You 17 Ronnie Price & The Velvets– White Bucks 18 Bill Sego– Come Along Dolly 19 Sonny Curtis– Red Headed Stranger 20 Ivan – That’ll Be Alright 21 Derrell Felts– It’s A Great Big Day 22 Jimmy Bowen– You Made Me Love You 23 Jack Kennelly– Cool Fool 24 Alvis Edwards– I Wake Up Crying 25 Honest Jess And His Western Cavaliers– Suzanne (Quit Rockin’ To The Can-Can) 26 Don Webb– Little Ditty Baby 27 The Big Beats, The Rhythm Orchids– I’m Runnin’ Late 28 Juanita Jordan– Some Sweet Day 29 Myron Lee & The Caddies– Blue Lawdy Blue 30 Terry Wayne – Be My Baby
NORMAN PETTY STUDIOS—Vault Series Volume 7, 1953-1959 (Nor-Va-Jak) CD
The Petty Vault Series moves back to the 1950’s with Volume 7, with 30 tracks from West Texas and New Mexico artists (except for Myron Lee, who came down from South Dakota), 11 of them originally unreleased.
The set starts off with a 1953 cocktail-jazz piano trio track from Petty himself, which is fitting because Petty’s success with his trio, with hit records on major labels, gave him the money to improve the studio in Clovis, New Mexico, and gave him the contacts with major labels and talent agencies that he used so well in placing the masters of artists he produced with a myriad of labels. Only in recent years has the full scope of Petty’s production work been catalogued and recognized. Petty’s name didn’t even appear on many of the records he produced, and often Petty collectors had to look for his publishing companies, Dundee Music or Nor-Va-Jak Music, on a 45 label to identify a possible Petty production.
The other 29 tracks here are all the kind of thing one expects from 1950’s Petty productions: lean, twangy small-group rockabilly, rockin’ country, and teen rock and roll with the inimitable West Texas grit. Well-known names such as Roy Orbison (an early version of “Domino”), Sonny Curtis, and Jimmy Bowen are mixed with artists associated with Petty’s stable (Peanuts Wilson, Juanita Jordan, Don Guess, and post-Holly Crickets vocalist Earl Sinks/Earl Henry) and lesser-known tracks by rockabilly legends such as Alvis “Eddie” Edwards and Derrell Felts, as well as local artists from cities such as Amarillo, Texas, and Hobbs, New Mexico. The released sides appeared on nationally distributed labels such as Coral, Dot, and Okeh, as well as obscure labels such as Enall, Fashion, Fidelity, Gold Air, and Triple-D.
As usual for this series, the material is presented in chronological order but provides a good mix of styles and tempos, making for a satisfying listening experience. You’d be hard-pressed to find just one of the 45’s included here for the price of this over-stuffed and attractive CD. These Nor-Va-Jak reissues, all from the Petty master tapes, have presented a huge amount of quality little-known music in the last few years, but they sell out in a few months, so grab this one while you can if you want an actual CD and not just a download.
BILL SHUTE, originally published in Ugly Things magazine in 2019
January 2024 note: This album is long out of print, and I see ZERO copies presently for sale on Discogs.
However, it IS available on various streaming services. 28 tracks from it can be found on You Tube Music:
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Be sure to pick up a copy of my newest poetry book:
Filed under: Uncategorized — kendrasteinereditions @ 1:31 am
DISC ONE
TEATIME ON THE TRAIL
1. WARMING UP THE BAND – Heads Hands & Feet 2. CAJUN WOMAN – Fairport Convention 3. HOME IS WHERE I WANT TO BE – Mott The Hoople 4. DEVIL’S WHISPER – Mighty Baby 5. DESERT ISLAND WOMAN – Chilli Willi & The Red Hot Peppers 6. WILLOWING TREES – Shape Of The Rain 7. ABBOT OF THE VALE – Tony Hazzard 8. LOUISIANA MAN – The Hollies 9. FADING – Mason 10. SLEEP SONG – Unicorn 11. BOY, YOU’VE GOT THE SUN IN YOUR EYES – Open Road 12. COUSIN NORMAN – The Marmalade 13. CLIFFTOP – Richmond 14. LADY CAME FRO THE SOUTH – Starry Eyed And Laughing 15. OIL FUMES AND SEA AIR – Stray 16. RED MAN – Rare Bird 17. THE PIE – The Sutherland Brothers Band 18. TOUCH HER IF YOU CAN – Matthews Southern Comfort 19. EMPTY STREET, EMPTY HEART – Quicksand 20. OOH LA LA – Faces
DISC TWO
BEFORE THE GOLDRUSH
1. COUNTRY GIRL – Brinsley Schwarz 2. WHEN I’M DEAD AND GONE – McGuinness Flint 3. FORTY THOUSAND HEADMEN – Traffic 4. NEW DAY AVENUE – Bronco 5. TRY AGAIN – Tranquility 6. VELVET MOUNTAIN – Cochise 7. A SOUVENIR OF LONDON – Procol Harum 8. CINNAMON GIRL – The Deep Set 9. DAY THE WORLD RAN AWAY – Stephen Jameson 10. I’LL JUST TAKE MY TIME – Byzantium 11. IT’S A WAY TO PASS THE TIME – High Broom 12. GOING TO THE COUNTRY – Holy Mackerel 13. LIQUOR MAN – Montage* 14. JESUS IS JUST ALRIGHT – Shelagh McDonald 15. WE BOTH NEED TO KNOW – Granny’s Intentions 16. BYE AND BYE – Heron 17. COUNTRY DAN AND CITY LIL – Timebox 18. AND A BUTTON – The Searchers 19. TAKE ME TO THE PILOT – The Orange Bicycle 20. THE JAILER – Natural Gas* 21. SO NICE – Curtiss Maldoon 22. MILLION TIMES BEFORE – Jawbone
DISC THREE
URBAN COWBOYS
1. OPEN THE DOOR – Carolanne Pegg 2. COUNTRY COMFORT – Rod Stewart 3. HOME FOR FROZEN ROSES – Northwind 4. NICE – Bridget St. John 5. COUNTRY ROAD – The Pretty Things 6. HOME GROWN – Andy Roberts 7. SHERIFF MYRAS LINCOLN – Edwards Hand 8. CIRCLE ROUND THE SUN – Marian Segal 9. PRETTY HAIRED GIRL – The Parlour Band 10. HELLO BUDDY – The Tremeloes 11. TALLAWAYA – Greasy Bear 12. MY NAME IS JESUS SMITH – Man 13. METROPOLIS – Keith Christmas 14. COUNTRY HEIR (single edit) – Deep Feeling 15. JOHNSON BOY – Prelude 16. COTTAGE MADE FOR TWO – Paul Brett’s Sage 17. SEE HOW THEY RUN – Dave Cousins & Dave Lambert 18. CLEAR BLUE SKY – Mother Nature 19. DANCING FLOWER – Idle Race 20. WHEEL OF FORTUNE – The Illusions* 21. MY LITTLE ONE – Gordon, Ellis & Steel* 22. I’LL FLY AWAY (demo version) – Plainsong
V.A.—Across The Great Divide: Getting It Together In The Country, 1968-74 (Grapefruit UK), 3-cd box
This unexpected compilation looks at UK bands who, somewhat under the influence of The Band, the Clarence White-era Byrds, and John Wesley Harding-era Dylan, decided to go “back to the country,” both literally (the liner notes date this “movement” from Traffic’s 1967 relocation to rural Berkshire) and musically. Since North American country and roots music is largely derived from English/Scottish/Irish roots anyway, these artists wound up re-investigating their own roots. As the UK music scene moved into 1968-69, this rural rock movement provided an alternative for those who didn’t feel like moving into hard rock or prog or heavy blues. While some bands moved totally into the field, many others dipped their toe into it or featured a track or two on an album or B-side, so we’ve got unexpected songs from well-known artists such as Rod Stewart, The Pretty Things, The Tremeloes, The Searchers, Mott The Hoople, Fairport Convention, and Procol Harum mixed among the more obscure names.
For many listeners, the real value of this collection will be revisiting (or discovering) lesser-known bands such as Head, Hands & Feet, Quicksand, Stray, Starry Eyed and Laughing, Richmond, Bronco, The Deep Set, and Curtiss Muldoon. This compilation offers UK “rural rock” as a genre unto itself, running alongside prog, hard rock, glam, singer-songwriter and other styles of that period, and there is a lot of diversity within this movement, whose members probably all thought of themselves as free spirits doing their own thing outside of then-current fads or styles.
Compiler-annotator David Wells is to be commended for tying together so many disparate strands from the UK music scene from 68-74 and finding a “rural” thread that unites them. The deep archival dig involved here is also quite impressive—there are 13 tracks not originally issued (and collectors are probably not on the lookout for an unreleased version of “Jesus Is Just Alright” from 1970 by Scottish singer-songwriter Shelagh McDonald the way they would be for some 1966 Freakbeat acetate) and Wells’ exhaustive liner notes provide a full context and background for each artist/track and offer many unexpected connections. A few tracks drift a bit too far into Crosby, Stills & Nash territory, but are mixed nicely into the overall fabric so that they don’t call much attention to themselves. A highly recommended set!
BILL SHUTE, originally published in Ugly Things magazine in 2020
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Be sure to pick up a copy of my newest poetry book…
also available as a local purchase with local postage from Amazon in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Japan, and Australia…
Press Release: STATIC STRUT is a one hundred page open-field poem, extending the format/technique used in Shute’s previous poetry books NEUTRAL, TWO SELF-PORTRAITS (After Murillo), COMPLEMENTARY ANGLES, TOMORROW WON’T BRING THE RAIN, and RIVERSIDE FUGUE.
STATIC STRUT is an expansive work, presented on a large canvas, influenced by the minimal approach of poet Frank Samperi and composer Jürg Frey, along with the diptych paintings of Andy Warhol.
Shute’s work is rooted in the post-Projective Verse poetics of Blackburn, Berrigan, and Eigner, but completely his own. The poetry echoes his work with such avant-garde musician-composers as Rambutan, Derek Rogers, Mari Rubio (aka More Eaze), Fossils, and Alfred 23 Harth, while being steeped in the culture and particulars of the present-day Gulf Coast and South-Central Texas.
The book’s epigraph comes from composer Morton Feldman, “silence is my substitute for counterpoint.”
A career-spanning Selected Poems, Junk Sculpture From The New Gilded Age, was published by Moloko Print in Germany in late 2021.
In 2023, Shute and Albany-based musician RAMBUTAN released a collaborative music-and-poetry album BRIDGE ON THE BAYOU, available on the Tape Drift label.
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I don’t want to repeat what was written here about my January 2023 poetry book NEUTRAL (you can read that write-up by clicking this link: https://kendrasteinereditions.wordpress.com/2023/01/14/new-poetry-book-for-2023-neutral-by-bill-shute-kse-420-available-now-for-immediate-shipment/ ), but STATIC STRUT was written immediately after NEUTRAL (Static Strut was composed between June 2022 and January 2023), and in many ways goes further out on the same limb as the previous work. Each physical page is a complete open-field poem, and as in NEUTRAL, each left-page/right-page combination functions as a diptych, although a number of the left-facing pages are blank (hence my reference to Warhol’s diptych paintings where one side is a monochrome canvas). The entire book works as ONE long-form poem, much like an exhibition of related visual works. Since 2018’s RIVERSIDE FUGUE, I have been working on a much larger canvas, the book-length poem, and in that work I began by using a fugue-like compositional logic, though I have been creating my own long-form structural designs, partially under the influence of composers Morton Feldman and Jürg Frey, whose works I was listening to during the creation of STATIC STRUT, and many of whose compositions could easily be described as a kind of static strut.
Unlike NEUTRAL, which was largely composed in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and contains a good amount of Vicksburg-specific detail, STATIC STRUT creates its own territory…and is both timeless and dealing with contemporary life in this toxic age in which we are situated. Take a 100-page open-field poetry STATIC STRUT for only $6.95.
As always, I thank you for your interest and support.
There will be another poetry book coming in the Summer of 2024, PROJECT BLUE, which is a collection of long-out-of-print poems from 2005-2009 KSE chapbooks, along with a brand-new forty-page open-field poem, ‘Project Blue’. The cover image is below:
Filed under: Uncategorized — kendrasteinereditions @ 1:47 am
This beautiful and fascinating new Creel Pone release originates from a 1986 10″ Evatone soundsheet flexi-disc, running approximately 22 minutes, growing out of an installation at the Yellowstone Art Center in Montana, alongside the work of sculptor Dennis Voss.
Composer/sound-sculptor PATRICK ZENTZ has created a fascinating blend of natural sound (similar to the field recordings which have been a big part of contemporary music for the last 25 years) and instruments which, like an Aeolian harp, are “played” by the seemingly random effects of nature, thus using the aleatory to create works whose form is ever-becoming. Anyone who has ever tuned in to the music of a stream or the wind as it flows through foliage or the commentaries of the waking birds at 5 a.m. should warm up to Zentz’s creation here.
As can be seen from the track listing, Zentz has presented brief, bite-sized audio snapshots of this environment throughout the course of a day, hence the album’s title DAY (September 1, 1985). However, this is not mere field recording–Zentz has created mechanisms to record the fluctuations of the environment in time, so it’s one degree extended from pure field recording. Here is an explanation of the 3 mechanisms from the album’s liner notes:
“Audio recordings for the 24 hour period were made to provide documentation of the variations revealed by the instruments’ interaction with the environment. … The Creek Translator combines the velocity of the wind with the flow of water in a small stream. … The Run-Off Drum merges the fluctuations or pulse of the wind with temperature variations. … The Horizon Translator unites the directional changes of the wind with the elevational variation of the horizon line.”
The result combines what sounds like gurgling or softly rushing water, juxtaposed with a low-pitched percussive rumbling and on occasion what sounds like the plucking of a loose string, juxtaposed with a higher-pitched varying tone not unlike the sound of one’s own nervous system heard in an anechoic chamber though at other times sounding like barely-heard moans of a coyote five miles away. Each of the sounds is constantly varying, quite subtly, and of course the juxtaposition of the elements creates a kind of kaleidoscopic effect. By cutting this material into fourteen short pieces, as opposed to presenting us with one solid 22-minute slab of this sound-happening, we’re presented with a series of delicious and fascinating miniatures which tease the listener, and with the entire album running well under a half-hour, you will surely find yourself wanting more and pushing the play button again.
Again, this is not really field-recording, though it sounds quite like it. It is a kind of conceptual sound-art which uses natural happenings to create an exhibition of 14 miniatures. It should definitely appeal to listeners who appreciate the field recording-based creations of Lawrence English or Jeph Jerman but also those who find nature-based musical forms such as the Aeolian harp appealing or those who have enjoyed the sounds of Ellen Fullman’s ‘Long Stringed Instrument.’
Day (September 1, 1985) certainly has captivated me and has reminded me of the essential lesson of so much sound-art from John Cage and beyond, TO LISTEN TO MY ENVIRONMENT and become one with it, one element within it.
In about two weeks (mid-to-late January 2024) my new book-length poetry work STATIC STRUT will be published. I’ll post an announcement and ordering information here at that time. Price should be in the neighborhood of $6.95, for a 100-page open-field poetry work which took seven months to compose and edit. I’d say that’s an excellent buy!
Filed under: Uncategorized — kendrasteinereditions @ 1:09 am
Jazz musician/writer/historian LOREN SCHOENBERG has offered a lot of quality Benny Goodman content on his You Tube channel, but there’s a lot more there than just BG. This recent offering is so fascinating and enjoyable that I felt the need to share the link to you all.
Swing-era jazz trombonist JACK JENNEY (1910-1945)
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You can also see Jenney in the 1942 swing-oriented feature film SYNCOPATION below (odd opening credits, as you’ll see–I’m surprised the unions allowed the technical crew to not be specified by their particular job):
As you can see from the birth and death dates above, Jenney passed away at the age of 35 from complications after an appendectomy, so what he left us is precious. His command of the instrument, his mastery of tone, and his innate sense of swing are all still worth enjoying, and savoring, today. Thanks to Mr. Schoenberg, and to Jenney’s former wife Bonnie Lake and to Jenney’s devoted fan and fellow musician Bobby Pring, for taking the time to do this remembrance in the 1980s, now online for all to enjoy.
Filed under: Uncategorized — kendrasteinereditions @ 1:06 am
MR. EDISON’S CHRISTMAS (Document Records CD)
As someone who frequents junk stores and so-called antique malls, and who enjoys visiting old “historic” homes and abandoned buildings (I lived within an hour or two of some western Ghost Towns, growing up in Colorado, which gave me a lifelong taste for the abandoned and the discarded), I’ve always been fascinated by the flotsam and jetsam of Christmas Past. Christmas cards to and from strangers that sat in a shoebox in a closet for years before being tossed away by the recipients’ children after Mom and Dad moved on to that endless Golden Corral buffet in the sky….budget-label Christmas albums played once or twice and then put at the back of the stack, now warped and unable to be played, but still being sold for a dollar, and sitting at the junk store year-after-year, as if someday the right customer will stop by and exclaim, “oh, I’ve always been wanting an unplayable warped copy of this Fred Waring Christmas album—how lucky I am!”….unopened boxes of Nutcracker-themed kitchen items that never got a chance to sit on the table next to Aunt Martha’s mince pies….Christmas tree ornaments emblazoned with the logos of businesses long forgotten, congratulating themselves on a successful 1939 or whatever….faded and yellowed Polaroids of awkward-looking children sitting on the laps of department store Santas, probably displayed on the family’s refrigerator for a season or two and then forgotten—-all discarded as quickly as the imitation joy that’s piped into society at large for six weeks every year, like the oldies music that’s piped into my supermarket, providing an aural backdrop as I toss cartons of oatmeal and rice-cakes and dog biscuits into my cart. I would say that all this faux-joy is forgotten on January 2nd of each year, but nowadays as people have fewer, if any, vacation days from work, it’s probably forgotten on the morning of December 26th, and if you work in retail, it’s probably forgotten VERY early on the 26th, because you have to be at work at 5 a.m. to deal with the throngs of people looking to return the presents others gave them or to pick up post-Christmas markdown bargains. There’s not a lot of “peace on earth or goodwill among men” as people fight over parking spaces or step over each other to get places in line to return that chafing dish (whatever a chafing dish is!) given to them by that brother-in-law they never liked.
I used to listen regularly to Garner Ted Armstrong’s “World Tomorrow” radio broadcasts as a youngster and adolescent, so I was probably permanently poisoned against Christmas by those, as you could guarantee each year that Garner Ted would devote at least two shows in the November and December period to how the celebration of Christmas is completely un-Christian, how Jesus was most likely born in late September or early October, how Jesus never asked anyone to celebrate his birthday and how such a celebration would be totally contrary to what He stood for, etc. Just Google Mr. Armstrong’s name and the word “Christmas” and you too can read or listen to his anti-Christmas diatribes.
There’s no need to try to get that warped 1950’s Christmas album to play by putting pennies on the tone-arm and hearing the needle gouge into the grooves, when instead you can go even further back and savor vintage Christmas recordings from Thomas Edison’s organization, taken from test pressing cylinders and disks, dating from 1906-1927, collected on this wonderful CD from Document Records, best-known for their exhaustive chronological collections of pre-WWII blues 78’s. They offer a number of releases of historic recordings from the archives of the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in New Jersey. This particular one contains 67 minutes of holiday-themed treasures taken from such legendary Edison recording formats as Blue Ambersol Cylinders and Diamond Discs. The album opens with a 1906 performance by the Edison Concert Band, taken from a Gold Moulded Cylinder, of “Joy To The World,” sounding like the kind of semi-symphonic brass band you might hear coming from a gazebo on a mound on the city square in some cold and windy moderate-sized midwestern town, as you stood there, hands in pockets, freezing your ass off, doing your best to be festive. You’ll feel like you have come to life on the pages of some lesser-known novel by Sinclair Lewis or Theodore Dreiser, sitting unread as a link on the Project Gutenberg website. This is followed by an overly-formal reading of “Silent Night,” with the requisite chimes, reminding you of the stiff formality of the Christmas holiday performances you were forced to sing in as a child. Following that is a tear-jerking violin performance of Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” which would be the perfect music to use as the soundtrack for some D.W. Griffith film where Lillian Gish is dying of consumption and her child is starving as she wraps herself and the child in blankets, with no wood or coal for heat…and she looks out the window to see the Christmas revelers out on the street, throwing snowballs and drinking egg-nog. Griffith would probably include some title cards with melancholy passages from the poems of Browning or Tennyson or ironically-presented lines from the words of Jesus. Of course, there are also holiday monologues on this album, delivered in that wonderful early 1900’s stage-y oratorical style you would hear in low-budget indie films during the early sound-film era from actors who’d worked a lot during the silent-era but were rooted in the turn-of-the-century regional stage, actors like William Farnum or Robert Frazer. And perhaps most interesting is a promotional record (see picture) sent to Edison sales-persons and distributors as a Christmas gift that doubles as a reminder to boost sales and be more aggressive in working accounts in 1925, to make it more profitable than 1924. Anyone who’s ever worked in sales will shake their heads in recognition that nothing has really changed in 100 years, only the technology.
I’ve never liked the film IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, and I’m not likely to tune in to the countless Christmas films on the Hallmark Channel, aimed at stay-at-home Moms whose families earn more than $250,000 per year who enjoy seeing a romanticized version of themselves projected on-screen….so I can’t think of a better way to experience a “classic Christmas” than to play this collection of cylinders and discs from 100 years ago and tap into the ongoing permanence of the Christmas tradition.
So….let’s all stuff ourselves on Christmas and hope that there’s an Alka Seltzer on the shelf somewhere for later when our gluttony comes back to haunt us. On December 26th, this scuzzy apartment building I live in is still going to smell like sewage, the Grandpa across the hall whose children rarely call him will continue to water down his medicine or cut his pills in half because he can’t afford the full dosage of his medications, and the long-haired stoner down the hall who refuses to work will continue to mooch off the single mom he’s shacked up with and eat the majority of the groceries that she purchases with food stamps, food which is intended for her child. The Christmas message will be as hollow as the foil-wrapped faux-chocolate dollar-store Christmas trees and Santas left outside my door by the garlic-breathed woman in the next apartment who peeks out her blinds whenever anyone walks past the broken-down charcoal grill in the courtyard that birds have turned into a nest and who launches into unwanted and shrill lectures, beginning October 1st of each year, about how some cabal of conspiratorial forces out there are working to take the Christ out of Christmas.
BILL SHUTE, originally published elsewhere online in 2019
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With Christmas coming soon, it’s time to dust off my copy of a first-rate Biblical epic that doesn’t get much attention or respect, the 1962 Italian PONTIUS PILATE, with Jean Marais in the title role, and in a mesmerizing performance, John Drew Barrymore as Judas…and Jesus. Since my 2005 online review (reprinted below), I’ve acquired an excellent letterboxed copy in English, a significant upgrade, with a few scenes in Italian. Keep in mind that I DID NOT have access to that copy in 2005 when the review was written…
Sword-and-Sandal version of the times of Jesus–with John Drew Barrymore as Jesus AND Judas!
I finally scored an English language copy of this interesting Italian sword-and-sandal style depiction of the life and times of Jesus, focusing on the career of Pontius Pilate, played by legendary French actor Jean Marais (Cocteau’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST). I previously had a Spanish language version, but the dubbing sounded like it was recorded in a radio station last week and there were virtually no sound effects. This original English version is MUCH more enjoyable, with both Basil Rathbone and John Drew Barrymore (as Judas, not as Jesus) doing their own voices in the dubbing. The story is structured with a wrap-around sequence where Pilate is on trial in front of Caesar, and Pilate recounts the events of his life. At the end of the film, we pick back up with this trial and we see what Pilate has learned from his life and from his encounter with Christ. Basil Rathbone, doing his own voice, is quite impressive as the Jewish religious leader Caiaphus–he tries to be a faithful spiritual leader to his people, while he understands the political necessities of the day. The scene where Rathbone challenges Marais to take down the Roman insignias off the Hebrew temple is quite impressive. Of course, the “gimmick” about this film is that John Drew Barrymore plays both Judas and Jesus. Let’s start with Judas. This is a role Barrymore was born to play–he was always excellent as a tortured soul or an outcast or a man with a tragic obsession, and in the Judas created by these scriptwriters, the part requires all of these qualities, and Barrymore does a great job. During one of Judas’s most intense scenes, we suddenly start getting angular, Orson Welles style shots of Barrymore that are unlike any other shots in the film! Yes, Barrymore also plays Jesus, but we only see Jesus’ back and side and closeups of his eyes–frankly, had a man of similar build been under the robe throughout the film and it wasn’t John Drew Barrymore, I don’t think I would have known. Also, someone else dubs Jesus’ voice when He speaks, which isn’t very often. Peplum fans will see a number of familiar faces such as Livio Lorenzon and Riccardo Garrone, and the whole film has the look of a sword and sandal film. I feel like I understand more about the political world of Palestine in the days of Jesus after seeing this film, and Barrymore’s unique portrayal of Judas is something I won’t soon forget. As a fan of sword and sandal films in general, I thought PONTIUS PILATE was quite interesting and overall a success.
BILL SHUTE, originally published elsewhere online in 2005
the great JOHN DREW BARRYMORE in the role he was born to play, Judas Iscariot
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THE GEMTONES—Complete Recordings (Super Oldies), 2-CD set
The Gemtones, from Moncton in the Canadian Maritime province of New Brunswick, were quite popular as a teen dance band in the Eastern half of Canada from 1961-1966. They released four albums of material on the Banff (Ontario) and Caprice (Quebec) labels between 1963 and 1965, and all of that is included here, along with two radio sessions from 64-65, for a total of 52 songs, 13 of which are previously unreleased.
The Gemtones began as a mostly instrumental unit, heavily indebted to The Shadows and The Fireballs, doing Shadows covers and writing originals in the same vein. As a live band, they needed to offer a variety of tempos for the couples dancing and to play the hits of the day, which they did in both instrumental and vocal versions, easily moving from dreamy instro versions of “Turn Around, Look at Me” or “Michael Row The Boat Ashore” to all-out rockers such as “Reno” and “The Little General,” to frat-rock standards such as “Walkin’ The Dog” and “Hang On Sloopy,” Beatles tunes, and well-chosen covers ranging from Little Eva’s “Turkey Trot” to Dave Baby Cortez’s “Rinky Dink.”
Like a lot of bands who began in the pre-Beatles era—-The Astronauts, for instance, whom they resemble in a number of ways, but without the surf and hotrod material—-The Gemtones were rooted in late 50’s rock and roll, and one can easily imagine them in their matching suits playing to excited fans at the local CYO dance or Pipefitters’ Union Ball in towns across eastern Canada. Had they been from the US Midwest, they might have recorded for Soma, and had they been from the Northwest, they might have recorded for Etiquette, but production-wise their records don’t sound like anything on those labels. Fortunately, these 52 sides show the band pretty much laying down their live sets in the studio, no clutter, just a working band banging out twangy pre-Revolver teen rock and roll.
Personally, I can’t get enough of circa-1964 teen dance bands churning out energetic covers of “High Heel Sneakers” and “Glad All Over,” and I love sharp instrumentals in the Shadows/Fireballs vein, so for me, 52 tracks of this kind of material, most of which will be new to listeners, is quite a find…and highly recommended for fans of these styles and this period.
BILL SHUTE, originally published in Ugly Things magazine in 2020
note: all physical releases from Super Oldies have been deleted (and sold out in a few months after their initial release anyway) and the label is now digital-only….you may be able to find a copy of this in the secondary market, but you may well have to find it on a streaming service. It is partially available on You Tube Music, my streaming service of choice, and you can find it 31 tracks of it here:
Kendra Steiner Editions (Bill Shute) 