TONY JOE WHITE "...Continued" (1969)

 

 I think Tony Joe White is one of the most underrated, and underappreciated musicians of all time. To most people he's like a one-hit wonder with his killer hit "Polk Salad Annie." 

But his songs are all stories, he's got a deep and soulful Southern voice as good as any, he plays an insane guitar with effects Jimi Hendrix would be proud of, and he always surrounds himself with the best players on bass, drums, and keyboards, and last by not least, his music is totally unique!

His second album was titled "... Continued," and came out in 1969. He kept cranking them out for decades. 

Damn, he died in 2018, and I never even knew it.  

Here's to you Tony, you were the Boss!

TONY JOE WHITE - "Elements And Things" 

 

I'M A HOG FOR YOU BABY (1959 -1966)

 

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were two of the greatest songwriters of all time, if not "The Best."

They wrote so many hit songs, I couldn't even attempt to list them all. 

They wrote "Yakety Yak," Charlie Brown," "Poison Ivy" and "Searchin" for The Coasters.

They wrote the giant hits "Stand By Me," Jailhouse Rock, "Hound Dog," "Love Potion Number 9," and "Kansas City," which have all been recorded by multiple artists. There's just basically no end to the list, and one really fun song, "I'm A Hog For You," has been recorded by not just The Coasters, but groups as divergent as Dr. Feelgood, The Drifters, and The Grateful Dead.

Here's three glorious versions I enjoy a lot. 

This was the first recorded version from 1959!

THE COASTERS - "I'm A Hog For You" 

 

Before they became The Kinks, they recorded this demo as The Boll-Weevils in 1963.

THE BOLL-WEEVILS - "I'm A Hog For You, Baby" 

 

The first time I heard this song, it was probably 1966, and by The Surfaris when it was the B Side of their monster hit "Wipe Out."

THE SURFARIS - "I'm A Hog For You"  

THE PIXIES THREE - "Party With The Pixies Three" (1964)

 

 I  really don't know what else to say, and I sure don't know about you, but I'm ready to "Party With The Pixies Three!"

They look like a lot of fun! 

 

Debra Swisher, Midge Bollinger, and Kaye McCool.

Every guy's dream come true in Anywhere, U.S.A. circa 1964!

THE PIXIES THREE - "442 Glenwood Avenue" 

THE LADY BIRDS - "Why Must I Be Lonely" (1965)

 

The Lady Birds were from Fullerton, California, and only had a couple of singles.

This was the B side, and the A side was a cover of The Drifter's "Sweets For My Sweet." 

 

 

One cool thing, they asked Ladybird Johnson for permission to use the band name. 

 

Do not confuse The Lady Birds with this 60's Brit duo and trio,

The Ladybirds.

These birds sang the background vocals on Marc Bolan's first release "The Wizard," were the Mood Mosaic voices, and also sang background vocals on songs by John Entwistle, and many others.

 

And whatever else you do, don't confuse The Lady Birds with The Ladybirds who claim to be "the world's first all-girl topless rock band." 

 

THE LADY BIRDS - "Why Must I Be Lonely" 

CHARLIE HUNTER QUARTET - "Natty Dread" (1997)

 

I loved the brilliant concept of this Charlie Hunter Quartet album when it came out in 1997. Not just a couple of cover tunes, but record every song in order just like on the original album, but do it in Charlie's own particular style of jazz.

The original album was Bob Marley And The Wailers 1975 classic "Natty Dread," and here's the title song!

CHARLIE HUNTER QUARTET - "Natty Dread" 

HIT RECORDS (of Nashville) - "Please, Please Me" (1963)

 

Rich here with a bet that you might not have previously heard the term "Explotio," which was the practice of selling sound-alike records of current hits to unsuspecting music fans. For example, in the wake of the British Invasion, dozens of albums flooded the market featuring photographs of four shaggy-haired boys in partial shadow (much like the photo on the "Meet the Beatles" album cover). Sometimes, the misleading name of "The Beetles" or "The Newest Sounds from England!" scrolled across the top. And it was only after the buyer slapped the album on the family hi-fi did they discover it wasn't The Beatles at all but an anonymous group hired by a fly-by-night recording company. Unsurprisingly, among the most frequent customers for these fake Beatles albums were parents of young fans who had no idea what the actual Beatles faces looked like or didn't notice the intentional misspelling of the band's name. 

 

For the most part those Beatles knock-off albums disappeared after a year or two, although existing copies in mint shape are worth a lot of money these days in the collectors' markets.

 

However, one particular record label, HIT RECORDS (of Nashville) made handsome profits for many years in the Explotio business, releasing hundreds of 45's of current Top 40 hit records for 39 cents, which was roughly half the cost of the single by the original artist at the time. The quality of the imitation performances ranged from quite good to piss-poor. In either event, the recordings were made quickly and released cheaply, and an undiscerning fan might think she'd gotten a pretty good bargain to own her favorite song.

THE BOLL WEEVILS - "Please, Please Me" 

BAD BRAINS - "Rock For Light" (1983)

 

This 1983 LP by Bad Brains has always fascinated me. It's mostly hardcore punk music, but Bad Brains was also a Reggae band.

 Seems to me I read a long time ago that sometimes when it was a punk show, they would play Reggae, and if it was a Reggae show, they'd play punk!

These guys have a sense of humor! 

Here's a couple of classic examples. The first one is 34 seconds long.

The ad you'll have to sit through to hear it is probably longer than the song!

BAD BRAINS - "Joshua's Song"

 

    BAD BRAINS - "I And I Survive"