A Little Blog Music

There's not a whole lot going on these days in YankeeBoy land. Being unemployed with no regular hours is playing havoc with my sleeping schedule, as evidenced by the fact that I am writing this at 2 AM. I really need to find a job soon, not just for the money but for my own sanity. If and when I can ever retire I will need to find some activity to fill my time. But since I had to cash in my pension in order to pay for school and life in general, I figure that if I'm lucky I'll be able to retire sometime around my 98th birthday. At my last job I used to joke with my boss and tell him that if he wasn't nicer I would die at my desk and he would have to deal with my carcass. These days it doesn't seem quite so funny. But enough of this. Let's get to what we all came here for.

Badfinger - Rock Of All Ages

Although Badfinger managed to score four Top-20 hits back in the early 70's (this was the B-side of their first "Come And Get It") the band was beset by musical setbacks, internal disputes and mental illness resulting in the tragic suicides of two of their founding members.

Bob Dylan - Love Minus Zero (No Limit)

Back in the Spring of 1965, after "Mr. Tambourine Man" by The Byrds first hit the charts, my friend's older sister lent me "Bringing It All Back Home". Much of what I heard went over my 14-year-old head but this song really struck a chord with me. It remains one of my favorite Dylan songs.

The Broken Hearts - You Won't Find Me

This song is the leadoff track of their first (only?) album "Want One". Fans of upbeat, slightly garagey Power Pop would do well to check it out on Amazon as it contains 20 tracks of similar musical fare.

Billy Harner - Don't Want My Lovin'

I've always thought that The Fleshtones would do a great cover of this song. Unfortunately there has never been a comprehensive Billy Harner 'Best-Of' but the good news is that most of his singles can still be found for not too much money.

The Pleasure Seekers - What A Way To Die

Like most of the garage-loving world, I first heard this song on the comp of the same name. Back in the late-80's I sang a variation of this song called "What A Way to Diet" with Vince Brnicevic's Air Force.
Wayne Newton - Comin' On Too Strong

For almost everyone I know, this song is where interest in Wayne Newton begins and ends. This Terry Melcher produced masterpiece is a far cry from "Danke Schoen".
Madness - Bed And Breakfast Man

I've always loved the first Madness album and "B&BM" is one of its forgotten gems. I especially like that chunky little organ riff throughout the song.
John Lennon - Nobody Told Me

For me, this is the ultimate "coming of age" song. It so perfectly captures that moment in our lives when we realize that so many of the grand assumptions of our youth are not quite that way and that life is just...life.
Los 007 - No te Puedo Encontrar

This mid-60's Peruvian nugget is an interesting melange of styles. The guitars have this moody, slightly ominous feel and then the vocals come in sounding almost like The Vogues or The Lettermen.

The Woggles - Sayonara Blues

Along with The Lyres and The Fleshtones, Atlanta GA's Woggles put on some of the most energetic shows I have ever seen. For sheer danceability and fun, these guys are just about as good as it gets.
Ted Taylor - Everywhere I Go

Ted Taylor has one of the more distinctive voices in R&B/Soul. This is one of his more upbeat tracks, that I'm guessing was recorded fairly early in his career.
Warren Zevon - Johnny Strikes Up The Band (Live @ The Roxy 4-24-78)

I've always been a big fan of Mr. Zevon and this song, a tribute to one of his own heroes Johnny Carson, has always been one of my favorites.
Joe Frank & The Knights - Can't Find A Way

Hailing from Jackson, MS I am assuming that this organ-fueled pounder was their only 45 as, despite their appearance on a number of garage compilations, this is the only song of theirs that has come to light. Still, if you're going to leave a one-song legacy, you could do a lot worse than this.
Dale McBride - Prissy Missy

This primitive stomper has appeared on a number of online compilations over the years but a search on Gemm Music and Ebay could not turn up any copies of the original 45. Apparently Dale has had quite an extensive career as a country singer although this is the only record I know by him.

Ruby Johnson - Keep On Keeping On

Ruby was one of the lesser known artists on the Stax/Volt roster but her lack of crossover mainstream success should not be taken as a lack of artistic merit as she had a handful of quality records in the mid-60s before retiring from the music business.

The Beau Brummels - One Too Many Mornings

For many fans of their original folk-rock sound, after the Beau Brummels left Autumn Records to sign with Warner Brothers, their records were nowhere near as compelling, despite some interesting experiments like being one of the first Rock bands to record an album in Nashville. "OTMM" however hearkens back to their original sound and remains one of the best versions of this song ever recorded.
The Cordells - Annie Get Your Yo-Yo

Ritchie Cordell was one of the many unknowns of the Brill Building music scene back in the mid-60's and he penned a number of hit songs for acts like Tommy James & The Shondells and The 1910 Fruitgum Company. This was one that certainly deserved to be a hit but for some reason, failed to click. Sadly, Cordell died of pancreatic cancer in 2004.

Everybody's smoking but no one's getting high.