Arthur Alexander Month: The Monument Years CD

The Monument Years CD covers Arthur's post-Dot 60s work. Over half of it was unreleased at the time and while there's some duff cuts, most of it sounds great. Arthur is a little bit less despairing than during his Dot years, so there is the occasional lapse in intensity, but not on this great pissed off (and otherwise unreleased) self-penned rant where he actually bucks fate instead of just giving into it. "I PLAY SANTA CLAUS FOR YOU!"

You Don't Love Me (You Don't Care)

Jazzed Up And Bonkers!!

Dan and Travis do a radio podcast. It's called Jazzed Up And Bonkers!! They play funny tapes and dumb songs. Do you like funny tapes and dumb songs? Sure you do. We do too. That's why the staff here at WFMU's Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban are honored that Dan and Travis have created a special episode of Jazzed Up And Bonkers!! especially for the Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban audience. Oh yeah--the stuff they play rocks out like crazy, also. Check out the special Jazzed Up And Bonkers!! episode now!

WFMU’S ROCK AND SOUL ICHIBAN- JAZZED UP AND BONKERS!! #1

1. Don & Dewey- “Jungle Hop”
2. The Lifeguards- “Everybody Out of the Pool”
3. Rico & The Ravens- “Don’t You Know”
4. Denny & The Catalinas- “It Ain’t No Big Thing”
5. Huey “Piano” Smith & His Clowns- “Beatnik Blues”
6. Roy Brown – “Party Doll”
7. Little Walter- “Crazy, Mixed-Up World”
8. Roy Gaines- “Skippy is a Sissy”
9. Little Richard- “Keep A Knockin’ (live medley)
10. Ronnie Dawson- “Do Do Do”
11. Jim Backus- “Caveman”
12. The Gestures- “Run, Run, Run”
13. The Jalopys- “A Real Bonkers Jalopy Mess”
14. The Bantams- “Suzy Q”
15. Baby Jean- “If You Wanna”
16. Vonnie Fritchy- “Sugar Booger Ave.”
17. Elvis Presley- “She’s A Machine”
18. Bobby Lee Trammell- “Uh-Oh”
19. Link Wray- “Walking Down the Street Called Love”
20. Ronnie Self- “Bop-A-Lena”
21. Gino Washington- “I Gotta Move On”

Midnight To Six Man

Jungle 45 of the Week

KAN_GU_WA!

Lancelot Link - Secret Chimp

The Rolling Stones - You Better Move On

Wife Of The Party

Liz Anderson - Wife Of The Party (2:28)

Robert Altman's Nashville 1975

Arthur Plays The Macon, Ga Auditorium 1963

Arthur Alexander - Two Sides Of The Cover Coin

Always loved Arthur's cover of LOVE ME WARM & TENDER on his Dot album - simple & clean.

AND... his upbeat cover of BLACK NIGHT released on 45 in 1964.
Originally issued by Charles Brown in 1951.

 

Arthur definitely put his own unique country/soul stamp on every thing he cut.

Anna

Arthur didn't like the Beatles' version of "Anna".  He thought they were "little girl shit".  He preferred the Stones' version of "You Better Move On".

Arthur Covers Alex Chilton

1965-1972

Cry Like A Baby (mp3)

Gemini Spacecraft Honors Arthur Alexander

Our pals over at Gemini Spacecraft did a fine post on Arthur last year.  Thanks, Bob!

Arthur Alexander Month

You Don't Love Me, (You Don't Care)

Arthur's favorite cover of his songs was Dusty Springfield's "Everyday I Have To Cry Some"

Arthur Alexander Month

Arthur Alexander Month

Rainbow Road (fiction)

Arthur Alexander Month

"Detroit City" was a hit for Bobby Bare in 1963.  Written by Mel Tillis and Danny Dill.

Arthur Alexander Month!

The Hound and Rex at the Ichiban launch party

The Hound's interview with Arthur Alexander April 17, 1993 on WFMU, Arthurs's last.

Entire show (mp3)

Arthur Alexander Month

WSM Radio Tower

Arthur was born in Florence, Alabama on May 10, 1940.  He must've listened to the Opry on Saturday night.

Down The Backroads

Arthur Alexander Month

The Fame Gang

"You Better Move On" was the first chart hit for FAME studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

ARTHUR ALEXANDER MONTH

Hank Ballard

Hat tip: Sweeney Todd's Barber Shop.

Itchy Bon?

Itchy_Bon_Mash

Look who's back in town!

 

Although in order to escape personal demons Arthur Alexander ended up dropping out of music & driving a bus in Cleveland for most of the eighties, he did get to experience a comeback of sorts before his passing in 1993. At the time of his death he had just released a new album and was playing many well received shows around the country.
Nice that Arthur got to see a little good luck at the end instead of more of the bad luck that seemed to dog his entire career.

He's one of my faves of southern soul & this is going all the way back to his first...

June (Arthur) Alexander - Sally Sue Brown

Happy Arthur Alexander month - SHO'NUFF!!!

December Is Arthur Alexander Month!

Alabama Music Hall Of Fame

Esquerita Awareness Month: "As Time Goes By"

    It's time for the closing ceremonies of Esquerita Awareness Month, so if you start listening to this as soon as it's posted, it'll end right on time a few seconds before midnight. We're going to play you out with the B-side of Esquerita's last single (the flip can be heard here), his version of the 1931 standard better known for Dooley Wilson's version from ten years later, as heard in Casablanca. I was going to offer up my 78 of that version as well, but I can't seem to locate it, and I have a vague memory that it might have cracked beyond playability some years ago. C'est la guerre. And it's not as if you haven't all heard it, anyway.

    Self-indulgent personal note: As a kid growing up in upstate South Carolina in the '70s and '80s, there wasn't much evidence of anything good ever having happened there, so getting my copy of Kicks #3 and learning that Esquerita was from right up the road in Greenville... well, that was pretty gratifying. At last, a fellow South Carolinian who wasn't an embarrassment. I've learned a lot more about local music history since then , -- maybe sometime I'll tell you about the Monstabuckings, from Anderson, for instance-- but that was the first indication that maybe my homeland had spawned something greater than the Marshall Tucker Band*. And for that I'm grateful.

Magnificent Malochi - "As Time Goes By"


*To be fair, there's a lot worse to be found along the "Southern Rock" spectrum, but growing up in a redneck college town (the worst of both worlds!)gave me an exceptionally low tolerance for all AOR music, whether British- or Southern- accented, which has remained with me throughout life.

Esquerita Awareness Month: "Mama Your Daddy's Come Home"

As Esquerita Awareness Month draws to a close, we offer up the great man in another of his many aliases (to refresh your memory: Stephen Quincy Reeder, Jr. AKA Eskew Reeder/Eskew Reeder, Jr. AKA Esquerita AKA Esqrita* AKA S.Q. Reeder AKA Eskew "Esque-Rita" Reeder AKA Magnificent Malochi AKA Mark Malochi AKA Fabulash, and probably more that aren't documented) with a fine entry from 1968. The last solo record he'd release during his lifetime, it doesn't seem to have charted anywhere I can find, despite Billboard's prediction:

On a personal note, this is a particular favorite of my lovely wife. I hope you like it , too!

Magnificent Malochi - "Mama, Your Daddy's Come Home"



*This is how it's rendered in the songwriting credits on Little Richard's "Dew Drop Inn" and "Freedom Blues". Richard apparently nicknamed him "Excreta", so I guess we should add that one to the above litany of names.

New Orleans Shakedown With Richard D

DJ Richard D (mp3)

Guest DJ New Orleans Shake Rock & Soul 8
   Tracks:  60:22 minutes playtime         

*** richard - intro -Drits and Gravy - Talk that Talk
Chris Kenner - (Baton 220 1956) Grandma's House
Eddie Bo - (Chess Uniss 1957) Walk that Walk
                (Chess 1698 1957) Oh-Oh
Paul Marvin - (Ron 322 1959) Hurry Up
Boogie Jake - (Minit 602 1959) Early Morning Blues
Irma Thomas - (Ron 330 1960) A Good Man
Irma Thomas - (Bandy 368 1961) Look Up
Joe Cook - (Apollo 1202 1963) Dish Rag
Donnie Elbert - (Deluxe 6168 1958) Come On Sugar
Robert Parker - (Ron 327 1959) All Night Long Pt 1
Robert Parker - (Ron 327 1959) The Laughing Monkey
*** richard - set recap
Joe Jones - (Ric 972 withdrawn 1960) You Talk Too Much
Lee Dorsey - (Fury 1053 1961) Ya Ya
Ernie K-Doe - (Minit 661 1962) Easier Said Than Done
                       (Minit 645 1962) Hey Hey Hey
                       (Instant 3260 1963) Baby Since I Met You
Betty Harris - (Sansu 480 1968) Trouble with My Lover
Diamond Joe (Minit 629 1961) Moanin' and Screamin' Pts 1 & 2 
Irma Thomas - (Minit 633 1961) It's Too Soon to Know
Betty Harris - (Sansu 461 1967) Bad Luck /
                                 Lonely Hearts
Cyrille Neville - (Josie 1014 1970) Tell Me What's On Your Mind
*** richard - set recap
Skip Easterling - (Instant 3309 1970) I'm Your Man

Eskew Reerer Awareness Month

Tell me what's behind the green door.

Esquerita Awareness Month: Little Richard - "Dew Drop Inn"

Little Richard - "Dew Drop Inn"

     Today's tune, released in Spring 1970 by Little Richard and co-written by "Esqrita," was the first single off of The Rill Thing, his first new album in three years and was the flip side of "Freedom Blues", also co-written by Mr. Reeder, . It was Richard's biggest hit in the post-Specialty era, charting in Billboard at #47, and in Cashbox at #62, which I suppose makes it the best-selling disk that Esquerita was ever involved in.

     While the song is a tribute to the famous New Orleans night spot (located at 2836 LaSalle Street), it also serves as something of a eulogy, since it was at about this same point that the club breathed it's last gasp.  Jeff Hannusch has a good article about it's history at the Iko Iko website that I recommend.

     Esquerita's own version of this tune was recorded in the '60s. but not released until 1991 by the good folks at Norton Records. It can be had either as a 7'' or as a bonus on the CD version of Vintage Voola. Maybe you should just get both, to be safe!

Little Richard - "Dew Drop Inn"

Gary Garcia 1948-2011

The media coverage of Gary Garcia's death on November 17th was understandably  focused on his status as half of Buckner & Garcia (I'm not going to embed "Pac-Man Fever" here, but if you simply must hear it, you can see them perform it on American Bandstand here). Here in Ichiban-land, though, we mourn him as the leader of Akron, Ohio's Outlaws. You can hear them perform "The Scavenger" here, courtesy of Bob the Sponge. Side note: the still-living Jerry Buckner was apparently a member of the Rogues, who made a couple of records backing up Harvey Russell, the "Singing Cop".  Here's the first one-- a fine Isley Brothers cover.

Photo swiped from Buckeye Beat

  While they met in Akron as students at Perkins Jr High School, Mr. B and Mr. G plied their trade in Atlanta from the mid-'70s on, and that's where they created their most important contribution to American culture. Any Southerner-- or anyone who's ever gotten hungry on the interstate in the South, for that matter-- is familiar with the row of site-specific singles on every Waffle House jukebox. Most of those singles are produced or performed by Buckner and/or Garcia. Here's a label shot of one, courtesy of our own Greg G. 

  So, next time you're eating hash browns by the off-ramp at 2:45 AM, punch up a couple of WH anthems and raise your glass of sweet tea in a toast to Mr. Garcia. Make sure your food's already on the table, though... I've encountered Waffle House employees who aren't all that thrilled to hear "Waffle House Woman" or "844, 739 Ways to Eat a Hamburger" yet again, and they're not willing to say that they won't spit in your food. Fair warning.

Honeymoon With The Blues (MP3)

Eddie Noack - Honeymoon With The Blues

Lux & Ivy's Faves Volume 16!

Head over to Kogar's Jungle Juice blog for the latest!!!

Note From The Editor

We are currently working on getting a new player for our 24 hour webstream. In the meantime, you can listen via any mp3 player by opening this address: http://wfmu.org/wfmu_rock.pls

You can also find us in Itunes under Radio/Golden Oldies/WFMU's Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban.  This also shows the song title/artist playing.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

Limehouse Blues

I never get tired of guitarist Billy Mure's spectacular version of this old jazz standard.

Esquerita Awareness Month: "Sweet Skinny Jenny"

      This is the A-side to Mr. Peek's first solo single; the B-side may be heard here, where its context, and the origins of this particular copy are discussed at length. Besides Peek and Esquerita, this session also included future NRC recording artists Joe South and Ray Stevens.

     I held off on posting this last week because I was hoping to relate an amusing anecdote about Mr. Peek, but the person I heard it from some years back no longer remembers the details, so I'm gonna skip it. It wasn't that great anyway, I guess.

    Paul Peek (with Esquerita) - "Sweet Skinny Jenny"

Mambo!

House Of Guitars

Big thanks to Sid Kleiner over at the House Of Guitars for sending in lots of 45s and reel-to-reels.  Here's my current fave.

Chuck McCloud and The Ramblers - Green, Green Grass Of Home (45)

Alf Newman?

It's_a_Gas

Let's_Do_the_Fink (link fixed)

MORGUS THE MAGNIFICENT DOCUMENTARY JUST AIRED! WATCH HERE!

I'm so excited to see this documentary! i just learned of it's existence on ebay (!!??!!) and then found that it can be watched in 5 parts here!
http://www.fox8live.com/content/ads/morgus/default.aspx
there was no embed link so just click on the link above & get Morgusized!!!

Greg Cartwright Spins

Finally!  Greg is back with another action packed DJ set. 

1-Ervin Rucker - Hideout
2-The Elites - What's The Password
3-Jim Backus - Short On Love
4-Riley Wyldflower - Smog Song
5-Paula Goodridge - Peanut Butter
6-East Side Kids - Subway Train
7-New York Dolls - Subway Train
8-Teardrops - Sweet Sweet Sadie
9-Grady & Brady - Love Or Money
10-Cris Stevenson - Little Girl
11-Lee Hazlewood - Della
12-Music Explosion - Dazzling
13-Chris Kenner - Right Kind Of Girl
14-Pearl Woods - Right Now
15-Lamont Anthony - Popeye
16-Timmy Shaw - Thunder In My Heart
17-Koko Joe (Abner Jay) - Insomniac
18-Merced Blue Notes - Rufus Jr.
19-Eddie Ray - Do It Right Now
20-Conway Twitty - Go On and Cry
21-Mel Anton & The Checkers - Little Girl
22-Henry & His Kasuals - Little Girl
23-Squires V - I'm Thru
24-Larry Knight & the Upsetters - Hurt Me
25-Ronnie Self - Houdini
26-Honey Duo Twins - Come On Baby
27-Cottilions - Sahara

Vol. 5!

Vol. 1

Vol. 2

Vol. 3

Vol. 4

Vol. 6

Vol. 7

Dance!

As mentioned on Fool's Paradise yesterday!

The Coasters - Dance! (45)

DOTTIE'S DISTRICT

Friday At The Hide Out

Dave "Baby" Cortez Goes Country

So I understand that organ man Dave "Baby" Cortez has a new album coming out soon on Norton Records. If he slips in another crazy country cover or two I, for one, will be a very happy customer.

I'm Gonna Tie One On Tonight (MP3)

Wilburn Brothers - I'm Gonna Tie One On Tonight

FABULASH

Esquerita Goes To Texas

Caption: Esquerita on the move, Good Publishing Warehouse, Fort Worth, Texas.

Photograph via The Great Lost Photographs Of Eddie Rocco (Kicks Books, 1997).

Wild Wild Party

I've heard that there is a wild shindig going down in Brooklyn this
weekend...

Darryl Vincent - Wild Wild Party

See ya there.
We'll be rocking & reeling & hanging from the ceiling.