Willis Alan Ramsey (self-titled)

Americana,Country Rock,RnB

A one of a kind record from a talent so deep it kills you to learn… this is all there is. Straight out of Austin, Texas this may be the best of the whole Armadillo/outlaw scene, though Willis never wanted a part of it in the first place. Country fans and foes alike should grab this record and hold on tight.

Willis Alan Ramsey’s record  merges country and soul as much as it combines chicken shack production with a touch of studio glitter. Put out by Leon Russell on his Shelter label (Russell also contributes keyboard), Ramsey was only twenty when he wrote many of these tunes, and only 22 or so when he laid down the vocals. Pretty remarkable considering the sound. It’s an ecclectic mix of styles with songwriter tunes ranging from the sweet and waltzy to bluesy, gritty grooves. “Muskrat Candlelight,” the album’s most sugary spot, would be covered by America and forever confined to the Lite 97s as “Muskrat Love.” But other tracks tear it up. All originals except for “Angel Eyes,” which fits like a glove on Side 2, every song is a serious keeper.

A few tracks are ornamented with strings and orchestral accompianment, which works for the more developed numbers, but the sound gets so nicely stripped at times. On two tracks, “Satin Sheets” one of them, the only percussion is a steady kick drum with a thick cardboard sound. “Ballad of Spider John,” the hypnotic storytale opener, also achieves this effect; the simplicity delights me to no end.Then this little green bit of heaven closes with a cut no one could argue, a swampy and irresistible groove: “Northeast Texas Women.”

Willis Alan Ramsey made one of those perfect albums. Unfortunately for us, he was seriously jaded by the music business, and never put out another record.

“Northeast Texas Women”

:D CD Reissue | 1999 | Koch | buy from amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1972 | Shelter | search ebay ]

Record Store Day

Sweet Shops

Record Store Day

Tomorrow is the first annual Record Store Day. The official site explains it a little strange: “all of these stores will simultaneously link and act as one…” but to me the message is clear, get out there and do some record shopping. Doing this blog here, sometimes I get jaded, self-conscious, or uninspired, but I set foot in one of my favorite record stores and all the problems go away.

We link to online retailers quite a bit here, but I would always recommend buying locally first. And in the face of convenient internet downloads, record shops are beginning to need some grass roots support. So scrape up 30 or 50 bucks and a friend and binge on good vinyl tomorrow.

Record Store Day
recordstoreday.com
Participating Retailers

Les Sinners “Vox Populi”

Concept Albums,Pop,Psych

Original copies of this lp are fairly expensive, sometimes selling on ebay for a few hundred dollars. It’s worth it though, as Vox Populi is one of the great early concept lps and definitely one of the best French-Canadian albums bar none.

A little history on the band known as Les Sinners: they started out in Quebec during the mid 60s and before Vox Populi released two garage pop albums in 1967, their half French/half English-sung debut Sinerisme was an excellent, defiant effort that combined rowdy fuzz rockers with attractive garage pop numbers. The similarly titled Sinnerismes followed the debut album and while not as strong as the aforementioned record, it was still a respectable slab of garage pop. Vox Populi or “voices of the people” was the group’s highwater mark, a superb concept lp centered around life and people’s attitudes toward everyday situations. This 1968 release was sung entirely in French though it’s interesting to note that a recent English version cd reissue of Vox Populi (25 Succes En Anglais) appeared in the early 1990s! Both versions are recommended and differences between the two are very few. Only the French version of Everything Will Be Fine (Le Fou Du Roi) may have the edge over its English counterpart because it begins and ends with cool, distorted vocals.

Vox Populi bears a strong resemblence in sound to the Who’s Sell Out lp and shares a concept similar to that of the Kink’s Face to Face album. Many of the songs are 2.5 to 3 minute pop-art gems and the album displays a good stoned sense of humor throughout. It’s almost useless to pick out key tracks as Vox Populi is very consistent and individual. Everything Will Be Fine, Nothing Is Happening, and Today, Tomorrow are all strong psych pop tracks with good atmospheric vocals, an “english feel” and a nice, trippy production. Other hard rocking highlights are the muscular, lean rocker Late and the brilliant Don’t You Run Away. Don’t You Run Away is a killer fuzz laden psych punker that sounds similar to a really good cut off the Outsiders’ C.Q. or the Pretty Things’ S.F. Sorrow. Another strong track, The Days Are Gone is a superb melancholy rocker that harkens back to an earlier time in rock history.

Les Sinners would go on to release another album or two during the progressive rock era though none of them matched the greatness of the debut or the legendary Vox Populi.

Early Sinners:

mp3: Sour as a Sidewalk

Vox Populi:

mp3: The Days Are Gone (Anglais)
mp3: Le Fou Du Roi (Francaise)

mp3: Don\’t You Run Away
mp3: Today, Tomorrow

:) Original Vinyl | Jupiter | search ebay ]

Kensington Market “Aardvark”

Pop,Psych,Sunshine

Aardvark

The Kensington Market were a Toronto band that recorded two albums in the late 60s off the Warner Brothers label. Their first album, Avenue Road appeared in 1968 and was greeted with great acclaim. Avenue Road was a modest effort that was noteworthy for a few reasons, it featured decent pop instincts and solid songwriting. In 1969 the band released their final lp titled Aardvark. After the release of this disc the band broke up a few months later, leaving behind a much stronger lp than their debut.

Aardvark is a weird and wonderful mini masterpiece in which much of the Kensington Market’s reputation rests. This time out there were no silly jugband tracks and many of the album’s ideas are fully formed and well thought out. Some of the songs, like the beautifully trippy Cartoon and the ahead-of-it’s-time Help, use primitive synthesizer in all the right ways. Help sounds like a lost Flaming Lips track with its open arrangement and blissed out guitar playing. Side I Am would have had radio potential had it not been for the experimental Smile-era Beach Boys intro. It’s a stunning pop song with Penny Lane horns, fine vocals and that special, inspiring 60s magic. Other tracks like Think About The Times and If It Is Love have more of a meloncholy air but are equally excellent and reveal a more pessimistic side of the band. The experimental Americana of Half Closed Eyes is another standout composition that’s superb in an early morning folk-strum Dylan way with unusual synthesizer flourishes.

Aardvark requires a few close listens to sink in but it really is a great Beatles influenced pop album by an underrated band. This vital piece of Canadian rock n roll will be reissued on cd for the first time by Pacemaker (February/March 2008-).

“Half Closed Eyes”

:D CD Reissue | 2008 | Pacemaker | buy @ EMI ]
:) Original Vinyl | Warner Bros | search @ ebay ]

The Golden Dawn “Power Plant”

Psych

I’ve owned this album for years and while I think it’s a very solid lp, it most certainly isn’t desert island status. Power Plant was this Texas group’s only album, released 1968 off the legendary independent label International Artists. Many rate this album as the best IA release all over but it’s nowhere near Easter Everywhere or 1966’s Psychedelic Sounds Of. Not the year’s most original release, George Kinney’s vocals sound a little too close to Roky Erickson and the band lacks the originality and vision of the Elevators.

Kinney was in a pre-Elevators band, the Fugitives and also played an important role in getting Erickson’s book, Openers, financed and published. I’ve been told that Power Plant’s original release date was set for sometime in 1967 but for uknown reasons IA held out till the following year. That being said, there are still many fine moments on Power Plant. Evolution, the leadoff track, is a good psychedelic rocker with chimes, snotty punk vocals and some nice fuzz guitar. The band plays hard and tight throughout and favor hard bluesy licks over fuzz as heard on songs like Starvation and I’ll Be Around. There are two undisputed classics on the album, This Way Please and My Time. The former is an excellent piece of acid drifter music while My Time may be the best song the Golden Dawn ever wrote. I hear bits of Gloria in My Time, the guitars are powerful with a rough edge and there’s a nice raga style solo making this an all-time, epic garage punk classic. Another highlight Tell Me Why stands out for backwards tapes and twisted Kinney vocals.

Power Plant is worth recommending on the strength of the above songs and it’s overall consistency. There have been numerous cd reissues though the Sunspot release comes in a nice mini lp sleeve with good sound quality. Kinney has made some late 60’s/early 70’s post Golden Dawn music which is reportedly very good but has never seen an official release.

“My Time”

:D CD Reissue | 2003 | Sunspots | purchase ]

PODCAST 3 Cool it Down

Podcast

TRS Podcast Logo

Running Time: 60 Minutes | File Size 54.9 MB
Download: .zip | .mp3
To subscribe to this podcast: https://therisingstorm.net/podcast.xml [?]

Hosted By Liz

PLAYLIST

Moby Grape “Hey Grandma”

Link Wray “God Out West”

talk set: bed = Miles Davis “Black Satin”

George Harrison “I Dig Love”

The Remains “Time Of Day”

The Kinks “Sweet Lady Genevieve”

The Beach Boys “Little Bird”

clip from “The Who Sell Out”

The Monkees “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You”

Gandalf “Golden Earrings”

The Zombies “I Know She Will”

Eye of The Storm
Bill Fay “Till The Christ Comes Back”
clip from Song Cycle by Van Dyke Parks
Little Feat “Willin'”

The Velvet Underground “Cool It Down”

Tony Schwartz “Bill Bones” (street recordings)

Tom Waits “Earth Died Screaming”

Fairport Convention “Si Tu Dois Partir”

The Basement Tapes “Million Dollar Bash”

Tintern Abbey “Vacuum Cleaner”

Sponsor
Commercial for The Move
The Move “Do Ya”

Classic Closer
CCR

Sync: “Round and Round” + Brian Eno

Video

mp3: Brian Eno – Golden Hours
mp3: Brian Eno – Little Fishes

Sweet Shops *The Best Record Stores* Ear X-tacy

Sweet Shops


Every time I’m in town I can’t leave without a trip to this shop. If you’re visiting Louisville for the first time, skip Fourth Street Live and head straight to where the real action is. Nestled amongst gorgeous residential neighborhoods and Olmstead’s Cherokee Park is Bardstown Road, the go-to thoroughfare for night life and home to one of my favorite record dealers, Ear Extacy.

The shop is great for one of the best reasons, it turns you on to new stuff. I bought my first T-Rex album here because they had a special promotion on ‘classic albums’ (including others I had known already like Forever Changes and This Years Model). A store you can trust, where the sales folk might even compliment your picks, is a hard find. Basically all you could want is stuffed up in their shelves: vinyl reissues, a pop/rock section with quality selections from modern and vintage standpoints, fresh used bins right up front, and a real deal dedicated bluegrass shelf that always gets my fingers flipping.

As I said, this is one of my favorite shops for the very reason that you know you’re going to come out of there with something great that you could have never predicted. Don’t miss it. Any Louisville readers out there? Go Cards; final four next year.

Ear X-tacy
1534 Bardstown Road
Louisville, KY 40205
502.452.1799

Les Baroques “Les Baroques”

Garage

No, not the great Midwestern psych band, these Baroques were based in Holland and had roots extending as far back as the late 50’s. Les Baroques were part of a fertile Netherlands beat scene though their sound was occasionally strange and unconventional for a bluesy garage beat group. Some of their songs were dressed up with harpsichords, bassoons and string arrangements though it was original lead singer Gary O’Shannon’s (Gerard Schoenaker is his real name) tortured vocals and unique personality that set the group apart from the competition.

O’Shannon reminds me of an early Van Morrison on speed whose vocals are carelessly sloppy but somehow compelling and original. Their first single, Silky, was released back in 1965 and was a good, dreamy European folk-rock number that was unusual but still deserved a better fate. The bizarre top 40 followup, Such A Cad, was arguably better and is a strange punky original with bassoon fills and a great O’Shannon vocal performance. Such A Cad’s flip, the western sounding Summerbeach, was just as good and highlighted by fine harmonica playing and an otherworldly atmosphere. Their third single, I Know, was another dutch hit and while still a respectable effort, it was somewhat of a letdown when compared with the previous two 45’s. But I Know’s flip, the punk rock ballad She’s Mine, was one of their great songs and had O’Shannon in top form, giving a stunning vocal performance with attitude and passion.

The group fired back with another strong garage punk single (I’ll Send You To The Moon) that had lots of strange tempo shifts and the above debut album in 1966. After the completion of the lp, O’Shannon would leave the group for military service. This effectively ended Les Baroques classic period though the lp is strong and full of great, forgotten rockers like the mysterious I Was Wrong and the Animals influenced classic, O-O, Baby, Give Me That Show. Special mention should go to I Was Wrong as it’s a killer psych punk track with great raga influenced guitar work and angry, neurotic vocals. There are also two good Booker-T-like instrumentals that have nice organ playing and really show off the band’s instrumental chops. For most bands two instrumentals would be the kiss of death but Les Baroques were a cut above the pack instrumentally and both these tracks standout as highlights. Another great track is Troubles, a good sublime rocker that features some of O’Shannon’s best tortured vocals over a dreamy backdrop.

O’Shannon’s departure pushed the band to enlist a new frontman, Michel van Dijk. The new lineup released a handful of singles and the disappointing 67 lp Barbarians With Love. Only the storming fuzz rocker Working On A Tsjing-Tsjang (late 1966) single could measure up to the O’Shannon years. In 2002 Hunte Music released an impossible to find 2 cd set including all the singles and both lps. Definitely worth searching for.

“I Was Wrong”

:) Original Vinyl | Whamm | 1966 | search ebay ]

Phil Ochs “Pleasures Of The Harbor”

Folk,Pop

Phil Ochs (pronounced “oaks”) had a practiced and stark folk vocal, with deep and pretty vibrato, which makes a bizarre contrast to his pointed lyrical content. I don’t know what it was like to hear this music in 67, but I’m not saying I wish I could have. When people refer to music as ‘dated’ it’s a turn-on; good records are timeless and it’s our ears that are ‘dated.’ Besides, it wasn’t that long ago. Forever, however, I am going to keep diving back in time for discoveries as rich as this one.

Today, I’m posting a longer track. I can’t get it out of my mind. “I’ve had her, I’ve had her…” Two listens to Pleasures Of The Harbor hooked me. It becomes a sing-a-long record, with catchy choruses: “She’s a Rudolph Valentino fan, and she doesn’t claim to understand, she makes brownies for the boys in the band.” Despite the importance of a memorable refrain, the poetics are sprinkled within the verses.

Songs have the smoky sound of a dark bar. At times shifting in mesmerizing harpsichord, brass, winds, and strings. Joseph Byrd contributes electronics on the final track. A soft lounge combo and it sounds on the lighter side of things, but Ochs has this hard edge you can’t escape.

Elektra put out his protest record, I Ain’t Marching Anymore, recently on vinyl so it would be nice see a similar treatment to the above, though I found mine for a few bucks at the shop. It makes more sense to hear Phil stretching his vox over a violently stroked acoustic, but this album is gorgeous and impossible to get over.

“I’ve Had Her”

:) Original Vinyl Search | ebay ]