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…
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 @ 1:36 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…
Kendra Steiner Editions (Bill Shute) 