47-christmas

i never got to make a christmas album like uncle phil , but i did get to make an unreleased christmas single in 1966. of, course recording it at the end of november did not help. happy christmas, o

43-eric woolfson

eric woolfson was known to a lot of the world for creating the alan parsons project, known to UG listeners as the co-writer of chris farlowe's, mick jagger produced, "baby make it soon."

eric passed last week. he will be missed. a great, great pop ear and a lovely fellow...

CLICK HERE for a link to Eric's homepage

CLICK HERE for his obituary

40 - kim fowley release and marilyn smoked cannabis

my underground garage label-mate, kim fowley, goes all arts & leisure in the new york times. wonderful recognition for a man of our time and then some...

"music by the unknown for the unloved"...pure rock'n roll proust. enjoy, o

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES - MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30TH

KIM FOWLEY
“One Man’s Garbage: Lost Treasures From the Vaults 1959-69, Volume One”

“Another Man’s Gold: Lost Treasures From the Vaults 1959-69, Volume Two”
(Norton)

Many have made profound records with a heavy hand and dumb records with a light hand. But making dumb records with a heavy hand: that is for the true hot-doggers, those who truly love their own scent and know that immortality in the arts is both a construct and the desired thing.

During rock’s middleweight years Kim Fowley turned out this sort of record by the dozen: doo-wop, surf, girl-group, novelty, psychedelia. A song about undercover cops posing as surfers. A song about yo-yos. Who is Kim Fowley? He’s a recording-studio lizard still living and working in Los Angeles, an old-fashioned producer, promo man and Svengali who eagerly sang or talked over the band when necessary. You may know him from his work with the Runaways, Joan Jett and Lita Ford’s mid-’70s band. It’s possible you know him as a producer of “Alley Oop,” by the Hollywood Argyles, from 1960; or as a writer of “Nut Rocker,” the 1962 instrumental that swiped the “March of the Wooden Soldiers” melody from “The Nutcracker.” Maybe, if you’re good at this, you know him as a credit line on lesser tunes by Kiss or Cat Stevens. Beyond that you might be in trouble.

An anthology of Mr. Fowley’s work, “Impossible but True,” totes up his successes, and another, “Underground Animal,” is dedicated to his obscurities, with a greater quotient of greatness. But here, in two volumes, are his abject failures, mostly small-batch 45s, some never let out of the can. This music is in certain parts nearly unjudgeable by musical standards. But it qualifies as West Coast social history, conceptual art and, possibly, a form of fiction

A few songs are great (“Bodacious” by the U.S. Rockets). Some are deeply inept (“Bounty Hunter” by Donnie and the Outcasts). Outside of their three minutes or less on vinyl, most of these bands existed mainly in Mr. Fowley’s head; he had a concept for each one. Rock ’n’ roll, he writes in his loud, profane and insightful liner notes, is “music by the unknown for the unloved.” Further, he writes, it’s “about the sun beating down on you and lemonade in your hand. It’s atmospheric.” That may be his credo or just a rationalization, but it’s very good.

In his early days there was no album-length work to undertake, and as he imagined his one-off happenings, Mr. Fowley jumped on meager opportunities with a brio beyond what they deserved. He took unused instrumental tracks made by bands with unpaid studio bills and rendered new songs upon them. He corralled misfits into studios and dreamed up band names in short order. He created his own labels: Kimco, Last Chance, Rubbish.

Here are a bad Shirelles (Althea and the Memories), a bad white Shirelles (Bonnie and the Treasures), a good California-beach “Susie Q” (the Renegades’ “Geronimo”), a corny satire about hippies (“Long Hair, Unsquare Dude Called Jack”). There’s a great creative wiliness behind it all. You can’t condescend to Kim Fowley as an outsider artist: he’s too mercenary, too self-conscious about the aesthetics of pop and too much of a thrill seeker.

BEN RATLIFF

CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO ARTICLE

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it's been a big year for marilyn monroe. first she joins me in singing "happy birthday" to little steven, now she's busted for going up in pot. is she or isn't she? smudge for yourself. best, o

CLICK HERE TO READ

and here's me and marilyn singing happy birthday

28 - buffy saint-marie and malcolm mclaren

i just love buffy sainte-marie, i hope you do. from the UK Financial Times .....

CLICK HERE FOR ARTICLE

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i could never resist malcolm mclaren (sex pistols, bow wow wow, new york dolls and himself) probably because I have never met him.

marianne faithfull sent me a message about malcolm a few years ago saying "it's all right, andrew, he's one of us."

i am not exactly sure about that, however i did enjoy his latest ramblings. if you are in edinburgh in august do say hallo for me if you see him.

CLICK HERE FOR ARTICLE

23 - get back, johnny burnette and head to body size ratio

my dear pal and magno performer Al Kooper (fellow Aquarian, born just five days after moi) sent this writing and video. it's from a very special moment in our shared (that's all of us) of our shared musical pleasure and history. the beatles and billy preston and "get back", plus a few guests.... enjoy and thanks al. best, o

from al:

"Hope you all enjoy this as much as I did. The history of the song
made it even more interesting.

________________________________

Here's a clip you likely have never seen. The recording of 'Get Back'
for the 'Let It Be' album.
In their early days, The Beatles played in clubs for hours most
nights, but by 1967, they stopped touring. This single was advertised
as "The Beatles as nature intended."

McCartney: "We were sitting in the studio and we made it up out of
thin air... we started to write words there and then... when we
finished it, we recorded it at Apple Studios and made it into a song
to roller coast by."

The character "JoJo" was based on Joseph Melville See Jr., Linda
McCartney's first husband. He was from Tucson, Arizona, and killed
himself there in 2000.

The missing verse from Get Back: "Meanwhile back at home there's
nineteen Pakistanis, Living in a council flat/Candidate for Labour
tells them what the plan is/Then he tells them where its at".
("Council flat" is the British equivalent for "housing project").
Early versions include the line "I dig no Pakistanis." The song began
as a commentary about immigration, telling people to "Get Back" to
their own countries. It was meant to mock Britain's anti-immigrant
proponents. Paul McCartney thought better of it and made the lyrics
more obscure.

Paul looked at Yoko in the studio when he sang the line "get back to
where you once belong." John thought he was disrespecting her. There
was a rare quote by Paul that said "I don't take any notice of her.
She's John's wife so I have to respect her for that, but I don't think
she's the brightest of buttons. She's said some particularly daft
things in her time. Her life is dedicated to putting me down but I
attempt very strongly not to put her down." They eventually became
friends even if it did have to be after John was murdered. Ringo was
the only one who would accept Yoko in the beginning when she first
came in picture, during and after The Beatles.

Billy Preston played piano and became the only guest artist to get a
credit on a Beatles single - "The Beatles with Billy Preston." George
Harrison had left the recording session one day and saw Preston in
concert with Ray Charles. The Beatles had met Preston back in 1962
when they were both playing in Germany, but they hadn't seen each
other since. Harrison asked Preston to come by the studio the next
day. Having him in the studio eased the tension and made it easier for
The Beatles to put personal conflicts aside and record the album.

On the clip you can briefly see a young Mick Jagger & Charlie Watts
from the Rolling Stones in the booth. Phil Spector was the guy with
the glasses."



_____________________________________________________________________________

and thanks to jason mcphail, the trainspotting bestest sammy glick of a manager from glasgow this side of wee alan mcgee, for reminding us how great the johnny burnette rock and roll trio, rip into " honey hush".



_________________________________________________________________________________


and here's another hip tip from jason.....

"Her head to body size ratio will have Gered doing cartwheels. As Kenny pointed out 'We're talking Bruce Springsteen ratios here'"

blog 18-rebroadcasting alo's weekday shows!!!

NEW BROADCAST SCHEDULE BRINGS SIRIUS UNDERGROUND GARAGE DJ
TO LATE NIGHTS ON WEST COAST

ANDREW LOOG OLDHAM PROGRAM NOW RE-AIRS WEEKNIGHTS AT 9PM PACIFIC


SIRIUS Satellite Radio’s Underground Garage/ 25, an extension of the critically acclaimed syndicated radio show Little Steven’s Underground Garage, will now cater to those crazy California teenagers as “The Andrew Loog Oldham Program” will air from 9pm until midnight PT on the west coast starting immediately.

For the first time since Little Steven’s Underground Garage started broadcasting on Sirius in 2004, there will be a DJ heard after 9 PM on the West Coast. Andrew Loog Oldham, the legendary manager and producer of the Rolling Stones from 1963-1967and one of the original Underground Garage DJs at Sirius, has held the weekday morning spot on the East Coast (Monday through Friday; 8 AM – 11 AM Eastern Time) since February of 2007. Now his daily show is being rebroadcast so Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and all points west will hear his often hilarious candid observations, first-person insights, and musical expertise in the evening.

“I love all of our DJ’s but Andrew is the Govn’er,” says Little Steven. “We have him on every day because I simply cannot imagine getting through the day without him. It occurred to me recently (I have no excuse really) that the only time the west coast could hear him was 5 to 8 in the morning which is fine if you’re an actor but if you’re a relatively normal human being it might be a bit early, so here you go."

blog 11-atlanta, bruce springsteen, athens, BRMC

we just had a wonderful time in america, north america. we always do. this time
my family and i flew up from bogota to atlanta to get together with SVZ and catch the april 25th phillips arena, bruce springsteen & the E street band show. this was bound to be a moving experience, as it would be the first time that bruce and the Estreeters would be in concert since the passing, burying, and paying of respect to founding keyboard, zane gray and maven, maestro danny federici.



before the concert....food. we met SVZ in the lobby of the four seasons hotel
and SUV'd around the corner to a local wop-hop eatery. the food was wunderbar, the host and service very cage de follies. the host was so graceful that when we'd finished chopping, noshing, dishing and wishing ray davies waterloo sunsets and pete townshend a great now that he's old,SVZ WAS TOLD THAT HIS MONEY WAS NO GOOD AT THE INN BUT THAT HIS THOUGHTS AND SIGNATURE ON A RESTURANT plate would be more than appropriate for the food consumed.

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the evening before the atlanta bruce concert, we drove down to athens, ga to
catch BRMC at the 40 WATT venue. i'm interested in any town that produced REM. BRMC are a group i've loved for a long time. their records are great, i just
wondered what was it? the group, the management, the vibe, the timing, record company... that had stopped them breaking on through.

i had thought it might be the record company as to how could the big machine stay on top of, stay on the street with, and support BRMC as they hoe'd the road. they are terrific on stage, really, but they take so damn long abut it. Their audience is faithful and full of bravo, but if they ever want to appeal to those of us who 9 to 5 they had better get the chops down and moments up. do not get me wrong, i loved them, as did the audience, they are awesome. but to tease us with the high end of their collective talents only once, and on the very last song, is impudent to say the least.

on their very last song of their show you heard the totality of their power,
instrumentally and vocally. you heard the national anthem they could
become, but after two hours, or what seemed like two hours it's just not enough.
it's just a subjective opinion, no one else seemed to object, but when i like
something, i want it for the world.

a big hail to BRMC member robert who said a nice hi, glenn was a charmng
host and robert's dad, mike, who said hi after manning he lights for the band.
athens...nice pizza town. all of you lucky enough to be schooling in athens are
blessed. use it well.

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had breakfast the next morn with my old new york pal, sid maurer. after years in
the art and music trade in new york, sid has settled in atlanta to attend to his
first love (after barbara) and that is to paint. we had not caught up for nigh
on 15 years and brekky was great. we'll have more news about sid in the next
blog.

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bruce was magic. i have not seen him since the bottom line in ' 75 (thanks jon
tiven for taking me there back then) and then an amnesty international MSG gig at the end of the 70's with jackson browne (thanks bob krasnow for that one).

the atlanta show kicked off with some great halibut and broccli backstage with the
crew; thanks to the lady-in-charge for super duper food. said hallo to max
weinberg. after charlie watts there’s ringo, jim keltner, jim gordon and max..... and hal blaine and is it gary chester that was the drummer on gene pitney's "every breath i take" ?

SVZ did his wunderbar meet and greet with the UG people and fans and that was quite a cirque du soleil with good vibes. then it was showtime....



it started with a moving video tribute to danny federici then just went slam dunk, slam run, we ran all the way home and out in the streets, the shore, the life, the movement, the reason, the angst, and the spirit and joy. it is an american
heartfelt experience. i could call it a religious experience, it's not, it's a
social experience with soul on. clarence, steven, max all the E street loonies
just keep laying out those tunes and pouring out those magical charts with so much heart and knowing.

4-csw, ug, vf, and prince's trust

most of the underground garage CSW’s (coolest songs in the world) are worthy of the note, the reward, and the airplay. but on certain lucky weeks along comes a recording that sums up the parts of the best of our game. "baby du jour" is one such ditty. the artist is roy loney & the longshots and "baby du jour" is culled from their september 18th, MM7 outing,"shake it or leave it" on career records. this record is real and off the floor. it has swamp, slide, shimmy and glimmer and it is oh so pro and relaxed and in the pocket of groove; i feel like a pointer sister. in as many words, “i'm so excited”. you can hear the room and the camaraderie of a nod, a wink and friendly persuasion. huge loog congrats to the writers - mr. loney and larry rea; the producers, mr L and the multi-accomplished living specie, deniz tek; and the band on this track: loney - vocals, guitar, jim sangster – guitar, deniz tek – guitar, scott mccaughey – bass, and graham black on drums.

the cut is so darn evocative of huey smith, specialty records, eddie cochran and as said, it's so off the floor and live. i have nothing against machines, although i prefer them when they are giving power to tape. given the less than sexy recent efforts of tom petty and bob seger both those gents and their producers should lend an ear to mr. loney. he shows it can still be done. i wish it well.

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steven van zandt is in the biz of entertainment. UG fans will be pleased to note that the UG will be entertaining and live again every wednesday following halloween at the hawaiian tropic zone, just north of new york's times square at 49th and 7th avenue. stay tuned to the UG and www.undergroundgarage.com for shows and acts coming up.

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an unlikely pairing would seem to be paul mccartney and the wayward straw, pete doherty...not so. have a read of this meeting of the two rockers: click here.

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whilst on the subject of reading check out this month's VANITY FAIR. the cover is off-putting, a less than live B &W shot of former president, john f. kennedy and his wife jacqueline the o. however, the inside has a lot of good reads. there’s an extract from the new eric clapton biography that is direct and compelling.



( i saw eric last night on larry king. it's a must for clapton fans. larry pushes the envelope of taste as to how much he dwelt on the death of clapton's son conor, but clapton dealt with it well. he has a maturity that he's taking to the road the way sinatra did in the late 70's). it would seem that daily we recover from what we've done, what we have done unto others and what has and what we perceive was done unto us. eric deals with it all first hand and on track. he does so from the point of view of being in recovery every day. i share that disease (alcoholism and addiction), with eric and so many others. clapton handles it like a man.

you might think, why not? well, read the extract, and perhaps buy the book. you'll read how clapton has handled his gift, his "being god", his tempestuous relationships with himself and " les dames" , various band mates, his triads of fame, the tragedy of loss like a well-spoken, under-spoken man of enough and occasional steel. i applaud him for his john ford-ness. if his music has ever ouched you, if you cannot touch booze or aspirin without losing it, if you've lived a charmed life this book's for you. there's also an accompanying 2 disc set called complete clapton.

in the same VANITY FAIR issue there is a great tom stoppard piece on syd barrett; dominick dunne on the latest on the phil spector murder trial; the incredible story of the fall from grace of boy band manager lou pearlman (though some might say just managing the acts he did was a fall from grace) who milked the bands, bilked the public and is about to have a day in court. the issue has the usual articles on the middle east excesses of haliburton; the bush government and KBR that you can read at your own peril and/or disgust and a very moving piece by christopher hitchens about a young enlisted american army officer, 21 year old mark daily, who was killed this past new year.

also in the VF issue is a piece on serge gainsbourg. the french elf-like-gremlin with a way with words and women. a fascinating lyricist and painter of sounds extraordinaire. he was an institution in france...like a tom waits who had become as big as clint black...underground mainstream. there are similarities with clapton; gainsbourg could not give up the drink and died at the age of 62. of all the french composers and singers gainsbourg is the one who brought the rhythm and cultures of the world unto france. he added his own way with words and gave france a musical canvas so brilliant, dark, and bright; the likes of which it will not see again. he only "pooped" in the rest of the world once. in 66 when he recorded " je t' aime... moi non plus", first with brigitte bardot, then with jane birkin.

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finally, for today, i was watching prince charles and his two sons on an A & E repeat of this summer’s London, "prince's trust concert"; a charitable venture by the prince that does amazingly good things for the ghettokiddies of the UK by providing work and entrepreneurial opportunities. these come via grants, as in cash, that the country itself no longer provides. the interview was coming to an end and the subject of music came up when suddenly out of nowhere prince charles chimes in with "have you heard of this chappie leonard cohen ? amazing poet, lovely songs, wonderful voice." his two sons looked at him as if he were daft , or perhaps they had no idea who leonard cohen was. i love leonard cohen and i warms the cockles of my musical heart to know that his mood and solace has cheered the man who may not be king.