MCKIE FITZHUGH 1915-1970

WURLITZER WEDNESDAY

Up Up and Away!

Today in the WFMU parking lot Station Manager Ken is planning to soar into the freeform stratosphere while strapped to his favorite lawn chair. (In case you were wondering, this is how the greatest listener supported radio station in the world raises money.) A consortium of scientists and intelligent chimps have determined that it will take 180 balloons to get Ken airborne. For every thousand bucks pledged we'll attach one helium balloon to Ken's chair. Cabbage pledged towards FMU naturally goes towards powering your favorite Number One Ichiban Rock 'n' Soul blogstream as well, so let's get with it and 1) get Ken airborne, 2) keep FMU and this blogstream up and running and 3) get stuff in the mail! Pledge here, check out the wild swag here and, oh yeah--today is also 85 years since Sammy Davis, Jr. popped onto the scene!

What could posibly go wrong??

Up Up and Away

ACME ANNOUNCEMENT

On The Air With Greg Cartwright Vol. 2

Poster by J.R. Williams!

The long-anticipated return of Boss Jock, Greg O spinning Rock 'n' Soul 45s on WFMU Ichiban!

Show Me Your Monkey (DJ Set) 

1-Lennis Guess - Old Mill Road
2-The Ron-Dels - Picture Of You
3-The Outcasts - The Winds Escape
4-Johnny Copeland - Wake Up, Little Suzie
5-The Bleu Lights - Bony Maronie
6-The Chayns - Live With The Moon
7-Benny Curtis - Ain't That Tuff
8-Mary Johnson - You Have My Blessings
9-Sonny Flaharty - Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On
10-Jay Dee Bryant - I Want To Know
11-John Hammond - I Wish You Would
12-The Spyders - Hush Puppy
13-The Merits - Arabian Jerk
14-Dee Dee Warwick - Don't Call Me Anymore
15-Rod & The Satellites - She Cares
16-Emil O'Conner - Some Of Your Lovin'
17-Billy Hambric - New York City Baby
18-The Unlimited Four - Calling
19-Al Greene - I'll Be Good To You
20-Kenny Hamber - Show Me Your Monkey
21-Roy Lee Johnson - Two Doors Down
22-Jimmy Gilreath - I Need It
23-Billy Barry - I Feel Thunder
24-Dee Dee Sharp - Deep Dark Secret
25-Ray Agee - From Now On
26-Eddie Bond - Slip Slip Slippin' In
27-Elvis Presley - Spinout
28-Little Willie John - Take My Love
29-Don Schraier - Pig Tail

And, be sure to tune in to the Cherry Blossom Clinic with Terre T for a live set from Greg's latest supergroup, The Parting Gifts.  LP available on In The Red Records.

Studio B shot by Jason Krekel

Damn right, I'll Buy A Freezer From You

Little Old Wine Drinker Me (MP3)

Robert Mitchum - Little Old Wine Drinker Me

Having left his mid 1950s calypso career behind him, Robert Mitchum resurfaced as a recording artist with this fine 1967 country effort.

Mind Over Matter

 

 

What are some of your favorite albums of 2010?  This one makes my list.

Reigning Sound - Mind Over Matter  (mp3)

Schoolgirls, Airplanes, and Motor Vehicle Operators

This ditty has been re-used, re-written, and ripped off for good and ill, which is as it should be. Everything good is a rip-off of something else. But the first Sonny Boy Williamson (John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, not to be confused with Sonny Boy Williamson II, aka Sonny Boy Williamson Too, Sonny Boy Williamson Also, or Rice Miller; more on him here) is generally credited with inventing it. And maybe he did. I don't claim any scholarly high ground here. If you can read enough Document Records liner notes to figure it out without killing yourself, then god bless you.

"Good Morning Little School Girl" was popular enough that one of its verses, the one about getting an airplane and flying it all over your town, was given its own franchise with "Airplane Blues".

And then Memphis Minnie gave it new lyrics and had a big old hit with "Me and My Chauffeur Blues".  Fittingly, Chuck Berry, no slouch when it comes to songs about schoolgirls, automobiles and occasionally even airplanes, re-shaped it into "I Want To Be Your Driver", one of his many criminally under-rated mid 60's recordings.
So here are those and others, as always presented in the scratchiest fidelity available for your responsible home use as consenting adults.

Sonny Boy Williamson - Good Morning Little School Girl
Sleepy John Estes - Airplane Blues
Blind Boy Fuller - Flyin' Airplane Blues
Memphis Minnie - Me And My Chauffeur Blues (1941)
Muddy Waters - Good Morning School Girl
Nina Simone - Chauffeur
Memphis Minnie (w/Little Walter!) - Me And My Chauffeur Blues (1952)
Junior Wells & "Friendly Chap" - Good Morning Schoolgirl
Lattie Murrell - Good Morning Little School Girl
Mississippi Fred McDowell - Good Morning Little School Girl
Chuck Berry - I Want To Be Your Driver
Larry Williams - Little School Girl

Thanks to Andy Maltz for putting on his pants and leaving the house to loan me some of these recordings, and to Robert Crumb (in advance) for not suing us for using his Sleepy John Estes drawing.

WURLITZER WEDNESDAY

Radio Gods

WWJ - Michigan

The Ravens - Rockin' At The Record Hop (mp3)

Ichiban Meetup......Macon, Ga.

Happy to report that the first ever Ichiban Meet & Greet this weekend in Macon was a big success. Perhaps you'll recall that last week I put out the word that we'd be staging a little get together at the Disabled American Veterans Hall in Macon, Georgia. Music was provided by the Southern Gents.

Things went off without a hitch and we sure were surprised by the size of our readership in Macon. A nicer bunch of people you could never hope to meet. Thanks for coming out, y'all! That's our fearless leader right in the middle.

TEXAS TWANG TIMES TWO

TURKEY TOWER

Marvin Rainwater

Thanksgiving, 1951

Via the USC Digital Library.

Turkey Neck Stretch!

Turkey_Neck_Stretch

WURLITZER WEDNESDAY

Wine Me Up

Faron Young shows us how it's done.

Tribute To The Disabled Veteran (MP3)

Johnny B. Denton - Tribute To The Disabled Veteran (2:42)

If you'll be in middle Georgia the day after Thanksgiving, feel free to come on out and have a beer with me and Ichiban maven Debbie D and our spouses at the Disabled American Veterans Hall in Macon. We'll probably be there by 8PM or so. Live music will be provided by the house band, the Southern Gents.

We should be pretty easy to spot.

DAV Hall
4493 Houston Avenue
Macon, Georgia
MAP

Return Of The Big 10 Inch.....Record Party!

Join us on Sunday, November 21 for the long awaited Return of the Big Ten Inch record party at the Bell House in Brooklyn.  Hear all your favorite Ichiban Rock 'n' Soul records the way they were meant to be heard, AT 78 RPMs!  5-10 PM.  Free.  Cash bar.  See you there.

Tubb

Games People Play

Don't Shake Hands With The Devil (MP3)

Cowboy Copas - Don't Shake Hands With The Devil (2:07)

Big Star

When My Baby's Beside Me (alternate mix)

Kancho!

artwork by our hero Takeshi Tadatsu

You can listen to the Ichiban stream on your phone.  Just download the WFMU app or plug our address into any public media player.

Endless Endless Sleep

Jody Reynolds (mp3s)
Jimmy Witherspoon
Lee Kram
Little Willie John
Hondells
Hank Williams, Jr
Poppy Family

SAM THE SHAM AND THE PHARAOS

My Benny's Wearing Off (MP3)

Tom Hyatt & The Black Mountain Boys - My Benny's Wearing Off (2:18)

My Benny's Wearing Off, a Sid Kleiner's House Of Guitars production, was recorded in Califon, New Jersey - less than 50 miles from WFMU headquarters in Jersey City.

Mac Rebennack aka Dr. John

Under A Hoodoo Moon
Mac Rebennack - Storm Warning (78)
Ronnie & The Delinquents - Bad Neighborhood
Dr. John - Mama Roux

Spike Jones - Cocktails For Two Promo Film

The Devil In Mrs. Jones

Billy Larkin - The Devil In Mrs. Jones (2:34)

Give a listen to this breezy chunk of infectious mid-70s country pop from Billy Larkin.

Ichiban New Bin

Ace Records has done it again with a compilation of songs written by Lee Hazlewood.  Califia has 25 obscure covers/originals of hits that require repeated listenings.  For example:

Duane & Miriam Eddy - Guitar On My Mind (mp3)
Dino, Desi and Billy - The Rebel Kind

Salute to Dave the Spazz for the add.

Charley Pride In Person

Seeing Charley Pride sing the national anthem on TV the other night before his beloved Texas Rangers were summarily dispatched from the World Series by a bunch of sixteen year old hippies from San Francisco, I was reminded that he cut what might be the best live country album ever. It's like a country version of the first Ramones album in its brevity and perfection. If you're used to his studio recordings, many of which are slathered in high fructose Nashville additives, it's a treat to hear him swinging and loose with nary a string section or choir in sight and a killer band that prominently features the astonishing Lloyd Green on pedal steel, who does this thing on "Six Days On The Road" where he imitates an approaching police siren and for a moment you think that either something's wrong with your stereo or your ride is finally here. This album appears to be out of print but you can find the LP used easily enough, and you should. Until you do, here's a few cuts to tide you over:
Six Days On The Road
Just Between You And Me
Shutters & Boards

What's The Word?

The Thunderbirds - In My Thunderbird (mp3)

Jackie Shane!

Jackie Shane - In My Tenement (45)

And The Winners Are

 

Congratulations to all 5 of our contest winners!  Joe S, Rich Z, Chris D, Brian M and Brian S.  Thanks to everyone who entered and to Darrell over at Monster Movie Music for making the movie!!

Witchin' You A Happy Halloween...

Turn My Picture Upside Down (MP3)

Merle Travis - Turn My Picture Upside Down (2:28)

Here's one from the multi-talented Merle Travis, the pride of Rosewood, Kentucky, located in Muhlenberg County. Warren Oates grew up just about 15 miles down the road in Depoy.

Remembering Mad Mike Metrovich this Halloween Season

Mad Mike died shortly after his Halloween show back in 2000. Two years ago Norton Records put out the stunning collection titled, Mad Mike Monsters. If you don't know who Mad Mike was, I can't stress enough that you pick up the 3 LP's (they're out on cd too, but....) that are filled to the brim with amazing songs. If you already know who Mad Mike was, I assume you already have these wonderful releases!

Here is a song that was a Mad Mike favorite with some Mad Mike patter before and after the song from an aircheck from a Halloween show on WZUM (it remains to be seen if this was from his last show, but when i first heard it, it gave me shivers down my spine).

The_Poets_Dead

And here is a link to my compilation of songs Mad Mike used to play that I made shortly after the Norton releases with all sorts of Mad Mike airchecks thrown in. I tried to make it sound like an actual Mad Mike show from back in the day. It is called More Mad Mike Madness.

http://kogarsjunglejuice.blogspot.com/2009_05_01_archive.html

oops, the link was dead--now fixed...

Seven Corpse Dinner

1-The Madmen - Haunted
2-Peter And The Wolves - Mr. Frankenstein
3-The Rainbows - I'm Gonna Go Down
4-The Essex - Cemetery Stomp
5-Important Announcement
6-The Magics - Zombie Walk
7-Count Drac - The Trance
8-Baron Daemon & The Vampires - The Transylvania Twist
9-The Weirdos -E.S.P.
10-Coming Attraction - Fiend For Flesh
11-Merv Griffin - House Of Horrors
12-Leonard Johnson - The Bug
13-Connoissurs - Count Macabre
14-Claudine Clark - Walkin' Through A Cemetery
15-Coming Attraction - Frogs!
16-Morgus With The Daringers - Werewolf
17-The Emersons - Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde
18-Igor And The Maniacs - The Big Green
19-Skipper Tyle - Wolf Gal
20-The Last Word - Sleepy Hollow
21-Tony Casanova - The Grave
Re-mastered from the original 45s

Happy Halloween from Mad Daddy & Fool's Paradise!

Mad Daddy Rides Again! A Halloween Treat From The Fool's Paradise Archives!

Here's an audio excerpt from a pile of Mad Daddy airchecks recorded by a couple of young Clevelanders back in 1958. It features Mad Daddy at the height of his considerable powers with classic platter chatter and some sleazy RnB sounds from the likes of Fenton Robinson, The Rays and other notables!

Listen closely and hear the two teenaged archivists who recorded these shows goof on the Mad Dad and put down their own pals on tape ("Olson wears Batty Bucks on his ears!")

These two from the pimples and braces set are true wisenheimers...click below for the countdown!

Mad Daddy (reel to reel)

Thanks, Rex!

Spider Baby!

FANTASCOPE

Happy Halloween!

Eerie animation...

The Cast of Eerie Publications Perform the Johnson-Smith Novelty Company "Horror Record"

When Is Mama Coming Home (Sad MP3)

Daddy, where did they take Mommy in that big black car?

Leroy Copling Of The Ozark Troupadors - When Is Mama Coming Home (3:12)

This greasy riff

I love this greasy, grinding riff (or lick, or motif, or whatever the stratocaster-playing lawyers who run everything are calling it these days).  It has long since been run into the ground by the giant-beer-company-sponsored, neatly-trimmed-bearded legions of "blues" "musicians" all over America and the world, but these variations on it still sound pretty good to my ears and hopefully to yours:

Little Richard- Directly From My Heart
Don and Dewey- Pink Champagne
Howlin' Wolf- I Walked From Dallas
Hound Dog Taylor- Sadie

Wang Dang Dula

Donald and the Delighters - Wang Dang Dula

Donald and the Delighters - Elephant Walk

Lux and Ivy's Favorites Volume Fifteen!

Here is Lux and Ivy's Favorites Volume Fifteen!

This volume is a mix of left over songs from that magical tape that came into my possession earlier this year and some other hold over songs that I've been waiting to throw on the series.

A HUGE thank you goes out to Haunted George for doing the cover for this volume. For those unfamiliar with his work, I highly recommend checking out his Myspace or Facebook pages (the URL's are part of the artwork when you download the volume). Be sure to check out his stuff. It's some of the more interesting/different music being produced today in a landscape filled with the usual garbagegarage (tm).

A few notes on the songs.

The intro/instrumental was reassembled from the original tape using the best sources I could find. You can read the whole story about "instrumental" on my blog. It shouldn't be too hard to find the track title if you really want to know. I kept it a mystery for the hell of it. The actual intro will be familiar with most everyone (i hope!). It was on the tape I was given and I had to laugh when I heard it. You could tell it was recorded using a cheap microphone that was more than likely held up to a television so it could be put on the tape.

Ruth Wallis - Ubangi. Wow, here is a song that i've looked for for years! In an old interview with the Cramps, Lux had attributed this song to someone named Ruth Fallen, and described the song in pretty good detail. I could never find this song anywhere. He called it YOU BANGI ME, I BANGI YOU (or something like that).

Then, as a result of that interview I gave to Dig It magazine, someone contacted me (thanks Colin!) suggesting that it was Ruth WALLIS! I tracked down the song, listened to it, and decided it HAD to be the song Lux was referring to. My guess is that the interviewer mis-heard Lux when he said the name of the artist. FALL-IN, WALL-IS, it could have been careless notes, or a bad transcription of a tape the interviewer had made.

Finding a good copy of the song was nearly impossible. It originally appeared on 78. I found a CD compilation of Wallis's songs with Ubangi on it. Great, right? A version taken from CD has to be good quality, right? Wouldn't you know it? The CD has a glitch on that particular song! Any mp3 rips of it sounded like shit. Besides the glitch it had an amazing amount of background noise.

After a while I found that it had been issued on a LP as well and through some further searching found a sealed copy for sale on ebay. This is the version on this compilation. And even then, it doesn't sound that great. I think it was mastered from the original 78 and not a master tape. The song even gets louder and softer, so I guess no one cared because it was for stag parties anyway!

Then I found a few more holdover songs from the original INCREDIBLY STRANGE MUSIC interview.

Red Hewitt and the Buccaneers - D.J. Blues; Lux never mentioned the artist, just talked about the song, and the lyric "music right out of the swirling all!" The first few seconds of this track remind me of a cramps song. So happy to have found this track. Red Hewitt was from New Zealand and released a few 45's on the Audion label (see scan on tracklisting).

Sheri Lee Douglas - Chime Bells; Never thought I'd find this one. Lux and Ivy swear this is KAY MARTIN singing, and I have to agree with them. It sounds exactly like her. The b-side of this 45 will be on the next LAIF volume.

Let's see, what else? There are a few more tracks from Forbidden City Dog Food as well as a bit from the Purple Knif Show. After listening to it again recently I heard a few seconds of something that never registered with me before. As the show ends, there is a few seconds of the deadly ones song, the mad drummer! It is such a great song, it HAD to be included on this volume.

Enjoy this volume, it might be awhile before the next one, but you never know!

My plans for remastered versions of the earlier volumes are still going according to plan. Volume 6 will be next, then volume's one, two, three and five.

Huge thanks go out to: Debbie D for doing a little sound voodoo on a bunch of the mp3's to make them sound better, Howie Pyro for the secret track, Bruce Milne, Colin Duff, Olaf Jens for helping me with a few songs, Steve Pallow, and Adam Fitch for his amazing graphics.

LAIF_15