The Balls Bros. Band "Come on Over"

The Balls Bros. Band
Rock and Roll Freedom
LP
(Gramex Records, 1977)

Used record stores are like a magnet to me. There are a handful in my area that I hit on a semi-regular basis, and there are certain stores with certain sections that I always check. One of those sections is for vintage (or is it historic?) local records. It's usually full of stuff that doesn't look particularly appealing and/or stuff I already have. Every once in a while, though, something snags my eye.

Sometime in the last year, this album jabbed me in the ocular socket and made me take a closer gander. I flipped it over and saw that it was from 1977, no one was actually named Balls, and both guitarists also played synthesizers. What the heck; here's my $4. Thank you; goodbye.

Musically, these guys were pretty much straight up rock, pop, and roll. They're not flashy musicians and the compositions aren't challenging or anything, but, after a few spins, I found the songs pleasantly popping into my head on a fairly regular basis. Lyrically, the songs are mostly about love and rock and roll, i.e. Rock and Roll Freedom, A Rockin Love Song, Lovin to the Rock and Roll, etc. Today's jukebox selection doesn't have either concept in the title, but it's still about lovin', of course. It's a snazzy little power pop gem that, in my opinion, could have been a hit.

The songs on the album were all either written or co-written by the dude on the left below, Rocky Valentine. I've tried researching these guys on the 'net, but have found precious little info other than they have at least two or three more albums out there, plus some singles, all on the Gramex Records imprint, which may or may not be their own label. If anyone would like to hip me to more info, I'd be much obliged, thanks.

The Screaming Gypsy Bandits "Junior"

The Screaming Gypsy Bandits
In the Eye
LP
(BRBQ Records, Inc., 1973)

The world is full of unexpected connections. For instance, one would not be likely to think a link might exist between avant garde art punks MX-80 Sound, Top 40 popsters Looking Glass, mid-'70s metallers Starz, and contemporary jazzers like John Zorn, Tim Berne, and Satoko Fujii.

I'd like to introduce you to that link. Ladies and gentlemen, The Screaming Gypsy Bandits.

Their output during their lifetime was scant: this album and the compilation LP Bloomington 1, where I first heard them, released on the same label a couple of years later. Their members went on to stardom as the years wore on, however. Guitarist Bruce Anderson went on to fame, of a sort, with MX-80 Sound and its various offshoots. Guitarist Brendan Harkin joined Looking Glass, after their mega-hit Brandy (You're a Fine Girl) but in time to play on their final single, and stayed with them as they morphed into Fallen Angels then Starz. Bassist Mark Dresser (who left before this album was recorded) has played with the above jazz luminaries and scads more.

Three of the songs from this album were added as bonus tracks to the CD reissue of vocalist Caroline Peyton's 1972 album, Mock Up, so I've chosen one of the remaining six for today's post. It was written by Mark Bingham, who penned all the tracks on the album plus all of the songs on Mock Up. Junior is the longest track on the album and allows the members to really stretch out.

The liner notes for the Mock Up CD mention a Screaming Gypsy Bandits album that was never finished, Back to Doghead. In 2009, that album hit the shelves, finally, in compact disc form. Unlike In the Eye, it's a much more out there affair, with obvious inspiration from Captain Beefheart and The Mothers of Invention. I think it's pretty fabulous.

Billy ThunderKloud and the Chieftones "Indian Nation"

Billy ThunderKloud and the Chieftones
Where Do I Begin to Tell a Story
LP
(Superior Records, 197x)

March 26, 1972: I was eight years old, and my Daddy took me to my very first rock concert. The headliners were the Jackson 5, but the opening act was Billy ThunderKloud and the Chieftones. That night was actually my second time to see Billy and his krew, as they'd performed at a variety show my Mommy had taken me to see at the state fair a day or two beforehand.

The only things I really remember about either show was the band's long-ish name, the fact that they wore Native American garb (though we called it Indian back then), and they played today's song. For many years after, in fact, I associated it with them rather than The Raiders, who'd originally written and recorded it in the early '70s (video below). While researching for this post, I discovered that Billy and the boys actually were full-blooded Native Americans from the Tsimshian Nation, heralding from what is now British Columbia, Canada. Sadly, the linked Wikipedia article does not consider Billy to be one of the notable Tsimshian people.

I had no idea Billy ThunderKloud and the Chieftones had released records until nearly a quarter-century later, when I stumbled upon a copy of their album All Through the Night, also released by Superior Records, at my favorite local store. Boy, oh, boy . . . it turned out to be fairly cheesy lounge-style versions of country and easy listening favorites.

Naturally, when I found a copy of Off the Reservation, I snapped that one up, too! Tragically, however, neither had their version of Indian Nation.

I finally discovered that Indian Nation was on their album Where Do I Begin to Tell a Story. I bought a copy off eBay recently and was crushed when it turned out to be in horrible condition. I mean, practically unlistenable. I ripped the song, though, and cleaned it up as best I could for your enjoyment. It still sounds pretty rough, though.

As always, liner notes from the '70s and earlier are often a treat. Check out these from the back cover. The writer seems astonished to have discovered that, whoa!, Native Americans are just like real people!

I had never had a close relationship with any full-fledged Indians until Billy Thundercloud and the Chieftones. I have, however, kept myself aware of the Indian's plight through the years. I must admit I expected that they would have deep hostilities in their music. As one of the musicians on the session I had to get my head together to portray this expected feeling. To my surprise it didn't happen that way.

At the recording session, these beautiful people put out nothing but good vibrations. Their music reflects their strong heritage, simply with its feeling, but the amazing thing is they use modern, popular material to reflect their attitudes. When you listen to Theme from Love Story, think about Billy Thundercloud not only speaking about a love for a woman, but his love for mankind. Where do I begin to tell the story, . . . this is actually what he thinks. Their lives have been twisted and confused since childhood because of their race, yet they have managed to overcome hate and hostility. They can still love.

This album is filled with that deep feeling of goodness, warmth, and compassion for their people and all people. Listen and feel the vibrations. Feel it like we felt it at the recording session. It is there.

My thanks to the Chieftones for allowing me to be a part of their music and their spirit.

MARK ELLERBEE

NOTA BENE: Where Do I Begin to Tell a Story was later reissued with a different, and much uglier, cover. It's the same photographs, but rearranged and with a huge, overly bright, cyan border added plus different, super-cheesy type fonts.

Addendum: I have never owned a Jackson 5 or Michael Jackson record in my life.

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Wayne County & The Electric Chairs "Cry of Angels"

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Wayne County & The Electric Chairs
Storm the Gates of Heaven
LP
(Safari, 1978)

I have to admit knowing not a lot about Wayne County, other than he was an early fixture on the New York proto-punk/punk scene. All I'd heard until recently was a few fairly raunchy but musically bland songs on compilations. I knew he was originally from Georgia, where I now reside, and that he'd moved to New York at some point, obviously.

A few months ago, though, I came across a used copy of this LP from 1978 that I'd never seen before, and decided to give it a chance. It turned out to be a pretty darn good punk album, and today's song is my favorite from it.

When Storm the Gates of Heaven was recorded, Wayne performed in outrageous drag. At some point, though, Wayne transitioned and became Jayne County, the first (only?) trans woman punk rock star. She still performs and records to this day. In fact, a review of a recent show here in Atlanta was what prompted me to give this album a shot. Well, that and seeing interview clips over the years with Jayne that were usually pretty hilarious.

The Trees Community "I Will Not Leave You Comfortless"

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The Trees Community
The Christ Tree
CD boxset
(Dark Holler • Hand/Eye, 2007)

When I read the booklet that came with the quadruple disc, deluxe reissue of the 1975 album The Christ Tree by The Trees Community, something jumped out at me immediately. The last paragraph of the mini-bio of group founder and leader William Shipen Lebzelter states

. . . he contracted an incurable disease. He was gone so quickly that no one knew quite what had happened. He was just 44 years old when the Lord took him from us.

The time frame for his death would've been the 1980s, and incurable disease sounded suspiciously to me like a euphemism for AIDS. Hmmm . . .

Late one night a few months ago, I finally decided to Google Shipen to see if my suspicions were well founded. I found group member Katherine Shishonee Krupa's blog, Seven Story Bus: The Story of the Trees Community, which covers the history of the group. Though she wrote nothing about his death, Shishonee did write a fair amount about Shipen and fellow founding member Philip Ariel Dross's homosexuality and some of the challenges it presented both to the group and to outsiders.

As I read random blog entries that night, I started crying. The homosexuality of some group members was so clearly important in their history, yet the booklet completely straightwashed them. About Ariel's leaving the group and falling in love with the man with whom he spent the rest of his life (to the best of my knowledge), the booklet simply says, After four years with the group, he moved back to his home state of Florida where he found the love of his life.

All that aside, the album is absolutely wonderful, no matter one's religious affiliation or lack thereof. The Trees Community's approach to music making was a unique take on folk music with what we would today call world music instrumentation. There are gorgeous vocals, mellifluous melodies, and striking dashes of avant garde experimentalism. Today's song is from their 1973 cassette album A Portrait of Jesus Christ in Music, which takes up most of disc two of the box set. The piece was re-recorded for The Christ Tree, but in a radically different version.

William Penn "Gossamer Looms"

William Penn
Crystal Rainbows
LP
(Sounds Reasonable, Inc., 1978)

From the cover and title, one might expect the album therein to be some sort of horrible New Age monstrosity. I bought it 'cause Robert Rutman appears on this track with one of his marvelous steel cellos (picture below, with string enhanced by moi). It was with a definite sense of dread that I put it on the turntable, but my fears were quickly destroyed by the content of the music within.

The liner notes tell the story of the album better than I can, so I'll let them take over:

Born January 11, 1943, William Penn has, during his career as a composer, written music which is tonally accessible to everyone. His music and sound effects scores commissioned by the National Air and Space Museum for the Albert Einstein Spacearium have thrilled millions. His music for Shakespearean Plays, performed by the Folger Theater Group and the New York Shakespeare Festival, has brought new depth to the classics. As a serious composer, Penn has written more than thirty concert pieces, twelve film scores, six musicals, four ballets, and forty-three scores for plays.

What you are about to hear is not a mainstream creation of any kind. From the choice of instruments to the final cutting of the master discs, this is an unusual production.

American primitive instruments and finely handcrafted replications have been combined with state-of-the-art recording technology to produce an amazing expression of far-sighted creativity, both idiomatically and technologically.

It all seems so magical, this assemblage of woods, strings and steel, but we who experience it daily understand the great simplicity of the work. Within the confines of the art, this experience becomes, simultaneously, divinely personal and universal, leaving works to the world which encompass all ages. Yet, instrument building is an art that needs to be seen as well as heard. Recent efforts to reveal contemporary masterworks have been most encouraging. Gallery shows, museum exhibits, art festivals, and publications have all aided this great renaissance of instrumental design.

Ken Riportella
Maker/Metamorphis II

In June 1978, Sounds Reasonable, Inc. (SRI) learned that the Renwick Gallery of the National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, would mount an exhibition that included unique and esoteric American handcrafted musical instruments. SRI subsequently developed the idea of composing an album of music played on these instruments.

By July 1978, a cooperative agreement between SRI, the Smithsonian Institution and the instrument makers was signed, and work began. SRI selected Dr. William Penn as composer for the project. After reviewing and finally choosing forty-three of the instruments, thirteen were actually used in the recording. The nature of the musical compositions precluded using all of the instruments chosen. The listener may wish to note that the instruments recorded are listed on the opposite leaf in the order of their appearance on the recording. Devices for electronic effects are listed only when used as discrete sound sources.

Tonality of the instruments has been modified throughout by using electronic and spring echo; parametric equalization; electronic pitch change; and phase reversal. Delicately recorded are the natural qualities of the instruments themselves. The Cloud Chamber Bowls drift naturally through the stereo spectrum, while the grand piano takes on an unbelievable dual identity.

Crystal Rainbows is a work of monolithic tonality which, unlike the more common commercial record, finds unity in its musical structure while allowing each listener the freedom to discover favorite colours in the making of personal rainbows.

Since the first recordings were completed, people have asked which of the instruments I like the best. Unequivocally I must answer the Ten-Foot Single String Stainless Steel Cello. The power and depth of this wonderful instrument are refreshing, and the opportunities for exploration are exciting in prospect and unpredictable in direction. Conjuring up visions of dragons, black holes and volcanic eruptions, this monster too large for the recording studio was erected in the lobby of our downtown office building at 2:00 A. M., and recorded during the lull between the passage of the night people and the early morning buses. The rubber piano, although not part of the exhibit, is also a favorite and is Penn's invention.

The audiophile will find dynamic range that literally makes the stereo system buzz; the electronic music devotee will discover new sounds and combinations of electronic equipment used to create space where none previously existed; the lover of avantegarde music will find herein an opus which reaches new heights in musical awareness; and who knows, but that Moonshine may become a hit single.

Edmund S. Barnett
October 21, 1978

The players for this piece:

• Mark Cushing: Highland Bagpipes
  
• Kathleen Doyle: Sansa Finger Piano
  
• Dominick Labino: Glass Harmonica
  
• William Penn: Finger Cymbals, Jaw Harp
  
• Robert Rutman: Single String Stainless Steel Cello

Christ Child "Five Finger Exercise"

Christ Child
Christ Child
LP
(Buddah Records, 1977)

Back in my late teens/early twenties, about all I listened to was punk rock. I remember seeing this album in used record stores a few times and thinking it looked fake. I mean, something just didn't ring true, especially to a kid hopped up on Black Flag and Minor Threat, you know? I listened to a bit of it at a store with a record player and thought it sounded thin and weak. On top of that, there were the liner notes:

Oh, come on!

Decades passed, I grew up, and I came across a posting of the entire album on a music blog. Naturally, I downloaded it, 'cause it sucked, right? It oughta be good for a laugh, right?

Oh, crap.

I liked it. I liked it a lot. Off I went, in search of a real copy. I checked all the local used record stores but to no avail. I looked around on-line, but copies were usually pricey. I forget where I eventually found one, but I snagged a copy in amazing condition. On top of that, it wasn't a cut-out! Every copy I saw when I was a kid had a corner cut off. I ripped it to digital, did some very minimal clean-up, made myself a CDR of it, and couldn't stop listening to it! Sure, the sound was a bit thin, as I remembered, but the songs were catchy as all get out. It may have been artifice, but that doesn't mean it wasn't art, you know?

A bit of research turned up the real story, and, just as I had always suspected, it was, indeed, a total con job. Let me qualify that a bit: a fake, but a great album, nonetheless. Per the man responsible, Richard Monda, aka Daddy Dewdrop:

. . . in 1977 I was approached to do a project of my choosing. Of course it was under financed but…OF MY CHOOSING, were the operative words. In all the years I had been working in music I never had anyone say those words. I jumped at the chance. I had recently returned from London where I recorded in a studio where both the Beatles and the Stones had recorded but also above the studio was where The Sex Pistols stored their equipment so I used to see them dragging the amps etc. up the stairs and letting them smash into each step as they went to their storage room. I was fascinated by their angst and that still holds true to this day. Their basic attitude was lack of respect for anything including their instruments. I had been accused of the same thing many times in my career so I got it immediately. I wanted to try something in that genre.

You can read the whole, not-sordid tale on his blog, here.

Buddah probably released it with the hopes of cashing in on the punk scene (sorry, no big money in that for well over another decade), but the man responsible for the tunage did it out of love for the music, rather than a desire to cash in. I imagine that's a big part of why it may not be legit but is still pretty darn great.

Now, here's a strange thing. It's been reissued . . . sorta. You can purchase it, re-titled as Crazy, Dirty & Dangerous, from Amazon as a burnt-on-demand CDR, or as a digital download from Amazon or iTunes.

Merrill Womach "Sweet, Sweet Spirit"

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Merrill Womach
Merrill Womach in Quartet
LP
(New Life Records, 1977)

When I saw this album in the used bin at Tower Records in Atlanta, I thought the text was in Cyrillic. After pulling it out for a closer look, I discovered it was actually a gospel album from the mid/late 1970s by a guy from Spokane, WA, resting place of my nine-year-old appendix.

According to the liner notes:

Widely known for his unique vocal achievements in sound, Merrill is the first one to produce multiple stereophonic recordings. Through a series of delicately performed recordings of his own voice singing the various parts, he has produced duets, trios, quartets and even a 42-voice precision male chorus. Accompanying Merrill in many of his concerts are taped symphony orchestration backgrounds which are the result of years of research and development.

In addition to being a master of recording technique, Womach was also the victim of a fiery plane crash on Thanksgiving Day, 1961, just over seven months after my parents got married. This is the cause of his horrific facial scarring. Yes, it's not a horror movie makeup job; the poor guy actually looked like that.

As would be expected, nearly the entire album is graced with the sort of instrumental backing one might expect on a Caucasian gospel album of the period: dreadful. This particular track, however, is completely a cappella, albeit severely multi-tracked. I actually quite like it.

Be·Bop Deluxe "Teenage Archangel"

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Be·Bop Deluxe
Teenage Archangel
7" single
(Smile Records, 1973)

Be-Bop Deluxe jumped out at me through the FM radio waves back in 1978. I'd heard of them, having seen their records in stores, but had never actually heard them. Their new album at the time was Drastic Plastic, and its hard, new wave sound turned out to be delectable ear candy to 14-year-old me (still is, too), even though I mostly listened to metal at the time (and thought punk rock sucked because Johnny Ramone didn't play any guitar solos when the Ramones were on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert).

The singles Panic in the World and Electrical Language got regular airplay where I lived, and I loved them so much I had to buy the album. It wasn't too long before I snapped up the rest of what was out there on LP, and was a happy, happy camper, despite the earlier albums being quite different: more prog rock than new wave and gobs and gobs and gobs of fantastic guitar.

At some point, I learned that Be·Bop Deluxe had released a single on their own label back in 1973, before signing with Harvest Records, home of Kevin Ayers, Syd Barrett, and other assorted weirdo geniuses. Luckily, in mid-1978 my family moved from northern Louisiana to the Washington, D.C. area, which had much better record stores. I tracked down a copy of the single at Yesterday & Today Records,which was the store in town if you were looking for obscurish punk, new wave, oddball, and/or heavy metal records. There were lots of other good stores, mind you, but Y&T was the epicenter, so to speak. The owner, Skip Groff, was incredibly supportive of the local underground scene. He produced sessions for local bands, had his own label, Limp Records (as opposed to the UK's Stiff Records, you see), and employed many of the local punk rockers of note at the store.

This single wasn't released with a picture sleeve, to the best of my knowledge, so that's my protective plastic sleeve holding it in the pic. I supposed I could've scanned it sans-sleeve, but I didn't want to risk damaging the record. I know the sound is a bit muddy, but that's the way it's sounded since the day I bought it. The song on the b-side, Jets at Dawn, was re-recorded for their first album, Axe Victim, but Teenage Archangel never made it beyond this little slab o' black wax.

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NOTA BENE: Your eyes are not deceiving you; the band name above is written both as Be·Bop Deluxe and Be-Bop Deluxe; it changed from release-to-release. It was also written Be+Bop Deluxe, BE BOP deluxe, Be Bop Deluxe, and Funky Phaser and His Unearthly Merchandise (seriously! but just for the song Shine on the b-side of the Kiss of Light single).

Tom Jones "Act of Mercy"

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Tom Jones
Do You Take This Man
LP
(EMI Columbia, 1979)

Yeah, I know . . . I've posted two Tom Jones songs already. I can't help it; I am obsessed.

The lil' goodie today comes from what would appear to be Tom's rarest album, Do You Take This Man. As you might guess from the cover, it's quite discofied. Normally, I can't stand disco, but I'll make the occasional exception.

It's impossible for me to say with absolute certainty that this his Tom's rarest, but I can say that it took me years to find a copy. For the longest time, based on the lack of information about it on the 'net, I thought it might be one of the 57 bazillion compilation albums out there. In addition, it was released in 1979, the same year that Rescue Me was released over here on my side of the pond from Wales. If you think the front cover's something, you should see the picture inside the gatefold. Tom is resplendent in chesty hirsuteness, and that belt buckle you can see on the front? It's enormous! The cover pic does not do it justice. It'd probably be quite handy for hand-to-hand combat. Oop! Pun not intended.

Much as I love Tom, I'm not sure if I would be able to decide between Do You Take This Man and Rescue Me which has the ickiest cover.

Anyhow, today's track was apparently originally done either by disco queen Vicki Sue Ring My Bell Robinson or Hamilton, Joe Frank & Dennison, formerly known as Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds; both released versions in 1976. I listened to a bit of a clip of VSR's recording on YouTube, and I have to say Tom's version is better. Then again, with Tom, that's usually the case.

Now, I'm just not familar enough with disco to know if the repeating string figure is common, or if Madonna flat out stole it for Vogue. I'll let you be the judge. Sorry the clip below isn't the original video, and is a different mix. Madonna won't allow embedding from YouTube, so we head to Vimeo for Robert Jeffrey's version:

I performed to MADONNA's VOGUE in the Summer of 1991 when my parents took me to Hampton Beach Casino in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. A business in the casino at the time gave tourists the chance to lip-synch to their favorite pop songs in front of a blue screen background, and I was lucky enough to partake that summer.

Ian Lloyd "One More Chance (Sha La La)"

Ian Lloyd
Ian Lloyd
LP
(Polydor, 1976)

Roughly a fortnight after I became a teenager, I attended my first rock concert. Yes, that's the actual ticket stub from said show! Not long after that show, I started buying records with my own money. My parents had given me a copy of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band that they found at a yard sale when I was twelve, but that was the only record I had that wasn't a children's record.

Even during this early phase of record buying, I was already doing the buy-it-'cause-it-looks-interesting-and-it's-cheap thing. I found this Ian Lloyd album at a huge rummage sale held at the same place I'd seen Kiss earlier. I bought it and Slayed? by Slade, who looked a bit thuggish (this was a positive; I wanted loud, tough music); I think they were 25¢ each (the albums, not the members of Slade). I hated the Slade album (love it now, though), but the LLoyd one I listened to a lot. It certainly didn't rock as hard as Kiss (especially not on this track!), but the songs were catchy, and I liked it.

Some time in college, I sold off a ton of records when I was getting heavily into hardcore punk, and this was one of the casualties. A few months ago, I started getting a hankering to hear it again. This urge was partially inspired by my obsession for all things Starz (featured here this past October), as Starz guitarist Richie Ranno had played briefly in Lloyd's pre-solo group Stories before becoming a Star(z), but not on their huge 1973 hit Brother Louie (please, see below). My interest was also piqued 'cause I couldn't even remember what it sounded like!

Looking around town proved fruitless, so I turned to the 'net. It didn't take very long for a sealed copy to appear on eBay for a reasonable price, and off a-bidding I went. When it arrived, the songs sounded only vaguely familiar, but I still liked many of them, lo these many decades later. I debated between a few, and this song kept popping into my head, so here 'tis.

Geez, I even saved the newspaper ad for the above concert! But hey, it was my first (not counting my daddy taking me to see the Jackson 5 when I was eight), and Kiss were the hottest band in the land! A pack rat at an early age . . .

NOTA BENE: Today's entry gets the before they were famous tag, in addition to after, as it was writ by Mick Jones, who played guitar here and not long after shot to megastardom with The Clash Foreigner, whom I never particularly liked (but they were at least more palatable than Boston).