... Stupefaction ...: 04/01/2013

Apr 30, 2013

Happy birthday 80th Willie Nelson!

Before its too late I'd like to take this opportunity to wish Willie Nelson a happy 80th birthday!

Daily Travels: uptown C train

Listen to Savages’ debut album, Silence Yourself

I have to admit, the older I get the more difficult it can be to keep up with & stay interested in new and contemporary music. UK post punk-styled band, Savages, seem to have made it past my carmudgeonly tainted tasteometer. Their debut album, Silence Yourself, is out May 7 on Pop Noire/Matador. The label has made the entire album available for listening right now. Turn it up & enjoy.

Pre-order it here.

Stupefied: The James Williamson (Stooges) Playlist

James Williamson and his trusty Gibson Les Paul. Shot by Robert Matheu.

Today is a big day. Not only do the Stooges have a brand new album out today (Ready To Die - available now), but guitarist James Williamson has very kindly shared his own Stupefied playlist with us! I cannot express how honored I am by this. After all, this guy's fret work has been ringing my bell, not to mention my ears, for over 30 years now! A big, big Stupefaction thank you to you, James!

The Stooges are a busy bunch. As I write this, I just got back from seeing them perform a show great 11-song set for an intimate crowd of 450 at Le Poisson Rouge here in New York. (Setlist: Gun, Job, Burn, Ready To Die, Raw Power, Gimme Danger, Sex and Money, Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell, The Departed, 1970, Fun House.) The show was webcast by NPR Music (watch it here), and will probably have been broadcast across the NPR radio network by the time you're reading this. The band will have also appeared on the Colbert Report last night, and that'll be available for streaming online as well. After that? Who knows, but they do have some European summer festivals lined up, so keep an eye on the Stooges' Facebook page, or one of the links above.

For some really good reading on James, I highly suggest some of the interviews he's done with Australian website, the I-94 Bar, starting with this one. The site also has some great interviews with Ron & Scott Asheton, and a lot more...

Buy Ready To Die and other Stooges' classics here. I should also give a shout out to saxophonist, Steve Mackay. Visit his site here.

01. Bob Dylan – Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
02. The Rolling Stones – Ventilator Blues
03. Jeff Beck Group – I Ain't Superstitious
04. The Velvet Underground – Rock & Roll
05. T. Rex – Life's A Gas
06. Keith Jarrett – The Mourning of a Star
07. Love – Bummer In The Summer
08. Marvin Gaye – Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)
09. The New York Dolls – Frankenstein
10. The Beach Boys – Let's Go Away For Awhile
11. Randy Newman – Living Without You
12. Sly & The Family Stone – Everyday People
13. The Velvet Underground – White Light/White Heat
14. T. Rex – Metal Guru
15. Jimi Hendrix – Fire
16. Roky Erickson – Two Headed Dogs
17. Al Green – Belle
18. The Kinks – Starstruck
19. Frank Zappa – Little Umbrellas
20. John Coltrane Quartet – A Love Supreme Part I: Acknowledgement

Before: Iggy & James, early 1970's, by Robert Matheu

After: Iggy & James about 40 years later! Also by Robert Matheu

Apr 29, 2013

I could use some good fortune myself, Iggy

Iggy Pop gets his fortune told below in preparation for the release of the new Stooges album, Ready To Die, tomorrow on Fat Possum Records. Watch the band's appearance on The Colbert Report tonight, and come back to Stupefaction tomorrow for a Stupefied playlist by none other than James Williamson!

Shot by: Jean-Pierre Leloir. Happy birthday Duke Ellington!

Duke Ellington by Jean-Pierre Leloir.

And here is one of my favorite recordings, a 1962 collaboration between Duke and John Coltrane, "In A Sentimental Mood."

Apr 28, 2013

Movie of the Week: Ready Steady Go! Vol. 1

Here's a nice comp of performances from the 1960's on Ready Steady Go! Included are The Beatles, Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Rolling Stones, Cilla Black, Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames, Billy Fury, The Who, The Searchers, The Animals, Them, Dusty Springfield, Lulu, Sandie Shaw, and Peter Cook & Dudley Moore.

Apr 27, 2013

The Cosimo Code: new website dedicated to legendary New Orleans' producer, Cosimo Matassa

Big thanks to Andy Schwartz for pointing the way to this new(?) and invaluable resource for those interested in the work of the legendary record producer, Cosimo Matassa. Its an astounding & extremely valuable bit of work. A huge congratulations and thank you must go out to those involved in the project.

Since I can't really say it any better than Andy, here's what he had to say about it: Invaluable new website dedicated to the studio recordings of COSIMO MATASSA, created by intrepid New Orleans music researchers John Broven, Red Kelly & John Ridley. Quote: "In October 1960, Matassa introduced a new sequential master tape series starting at 100 with clients allocated individual prefixes. This series ran until the demise of the Cosimo Recording Studios in 1968, and was continued after a fashion with the new Jazz City Recording Studios until 1977. By annotating the series for the first time, we are able to get a better all-round picture of the recording sessions carried out at the Cosimo studios by artists, labels and producers as New Orleans R&B morphed into Soul; Blues, Gospel, Doo-Wop, Pop and Garage Rock were also recorded. Ergo, the Cosimo Code is gradually being unraveled." Born 4.13.1926 in NOLA, Cosimo Matassa was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

Visit The Cosimo Code

Movie of the Week: Yello on Snub TV

Thanks to the eagle eyed Kyle for this one: Yello has always been a favorite of mine. Wealthy guys from Switzerland playing (at the time) cutting edge electronic-based, latin-tinged, art pop? I'm in! Plus, the mustaches worked and weren't ironic. And, at least in the early days, they were completely independent. Their first couple of albums were released on Ralph Records here in the States. Enjoy this made-for-TV doc from the eighties...

Bonus: Yello recently released their own app, Yellowfier. Get it for free through the end of this month for iPhone here.

Shot by: Peter Basch

Marlene Dietrich by Peter Basch (Source)

Apr 26, 2013

Sonny Vincent, Suicide, and living to tell about it

The Dogs, Distance & Suicide at The Circus, St. Marks Place, NYC, October 1971

Sonny Vincent

Sonny Vincent is one of those New York guys...the type of musician who has always been around...played the right places at the right time with the right acts, but for some reason never really made it (although you wouldn't know that from his discography). Always a part of the underground, you really need to dig a little deeper to find out about these types. And they usually have interesting stories to tell.

Thanks to Peter Dougherty for pointing me to this pretty amazing interview with Vincent over at Victim of Time. While the entire thing is definitely worth reading, it was the story about Suicide that really interested me. I've excerpted that below, but make sure you check out the entire interview right here. And keep up with Vincent's current stuff via his Facebook page and website.

What was your most lasting impression of Suicide and what was your first encounter with seeing them?

Ahhh Suicide. In the early days I would see Alan and Marty pushing gear down the street in a shopping cart, Didn’t know who they were, but it definitely looked odd seeing them walking along the sidewalk on St. Marks Place or Canal Street pushing an A&P cart with a keyboard that had no protective case sticking out of the cart. The first time I played a show with them was at a place called The Circus/Playwrights Workshop. It was originally called The Electric Circus where all the 60’s groups like Hendrix and The Doors played. Then a bit later, it was called The Dom, and Moe Tucker and Sterling Morrison told me they played there early on when it was shortly called The Balloon Farm, and also they did a lot of the Velvet Underground / Andy Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable performances there when it was The Dom. I think Andy rented the place sometime to put on his events. (Continued after the jump.)

Mudeford Quay is here. Courtesy of Daisy

George Jones RIP

George Jones - RIP

Movie of the Week - Johnny Kidd & The Pirates: Jukebox Heroes

Hugely influential in the UK, Johnny Kidd & The Pirates are perhaps best known for two singles, "Shakin' All Over" (covered by the Who, the Flamin' Groovies, Generation X, and many others), and "Please Don't Touch" (probably best known Stateside via the joint version by Girlschool and Motorhead). Not only did these guys rock, but they had a somewhat nasty image that Malcolm McLaren later took into consideration when forming all of his ideas for his clothing shop, and finding his own little rock & roll band to run.

Band leader & namesake, Johnny Kidd, died in a car crash in 1966, but the band has lived on in many permutations over the years earning some dough from their brief time in the spotlight.

Hat tip to Anorak Thing

Apr 25, 2013

Iggy & The Stooges live from NYC, Sunday evening. James Williamson does the Stupefied playlist on Tuesday!

NPR Music and WNYC's Soundcheck present a pretty special First Listen Live concert from Iggy & The Stooges, broadcast from New York City on Sunday, April 28, beginning at 5:00PM ET. Watch the group rip through songs from its new album Ready to Die which will be available on Tuesday, 4/30.

Speaking of Tuesday, 4/30, I'm very proud to announce that Stooges' guitarist, James Williamson, has been generous enough to offer his playlist for Stupefaction's Stupefied playlist! Yowza! Keep an eye on this space Tuesday morning.

James Williamson - back from the dead!

New documentary: A Band Called Death

I've mentioned them before, and then it seemed that interested had waned a bit in this band, but Death is back, baby! Available On May 24th digitally & in theaters, A Band Called Death tells the story of this pretty much unknown all-black 70's punk rock band from Detroit. Looks like a good one...

Before Bad Brains, the Sex Pistols or even the Ramones, there was a band called Death. Punk before punk existed, three teenage brothers in the early '70s formed a band in their spare bedroom, began playing a few local gigs and even pressed a single in the hopes of getting signed. But this was the era of Motown and emerging disco. Record companies found Death’s music— and band name—too intimidating, and the group were never given a fair shot, disbanding before they even completed one album. Equal parts electrifying rockumentary and epic family love story, A Band Called Death chronicles the incredible fairy-tale journey of what happened almost three decades later, when a dusty 1974 demo tape made its way out of the attic and found an audience several generations younger. Playing music impossibly ahead of its time, Death is now being credited as the first black punk band (hell...the first punk band!), and are finally receiving their long overdue recognition as true rock pioneers.

Ride at the Brixton Academy, March 27, 1992

Here's a fantastic full set by one of my favorite Creation Records bands, Ride. It was taped at the Brixton Academy in London on March 27th, 1992...so long ago! Special shout out goes out to drummer Loz Colbert.

Setlist:
Leave Them All Behind
Taste
Not Fazed
Unfamiliar
Like A Daydream
OX4
Perfect Time
Twisterella
Drive Blind
Making Judy Smile
Nowhere
Vapour Trail
Chrome Waves
Mouse Trap
Dreams Burn Down
Time Of Her Time
Chelsea Girl

Apr 24, 2013

Friars Aylesbury ticket stubs

Source

Cordell “Boogie” Mosson RIP (Parliament Funkadelic)

Cordell “Boogie” Mosson - RIP

Apr 23, 2013

Rolling Stones 66: Tour Program

Wow...thats some line up!

See more scans of this fantastic artifact over at Voices of East Anglia.

Lou Reed doesn't like what he hears

Via This Isn't Happiness

Stupefied: The Joe Bonomo Playlist

This week's edition of the Stupefied Playlist comes from our pal, writer Joe Bonomo. Its safe to say that Joe is a guy after my own heart - that is to say, he obviously writes about what he knows & loves. His books include great reads on The Fleshtones, Jerry Lee Lewis, and AC/DC's Highway To Hell (see all of his titles here). He blogs about various things, including music, and other books by other writers, at his blog, No Such Thing As Was.

His next book, a collection of personal essays entitled This Must Be Where My Obsession With Infinity Began, will soon be published by Orphan Press - the result of Joe winning a contest held by the publisher! It can be ordered directly from the publisher here. A big thanks to Joe for the rockin' list!

01. Big Blon’ Baby - Jerry Lee Lewis

02. The Greatest Lover In The World - Bo Diddley

03. Mr. Pitiful - Otis Redding

04. If Sugar Was As Sweet As You - Joe Tex

05. Sittin’ On My Sofa - The Kinks

06. Twelve Months Later - The Sheep

07. Concentration Baby - Dave Clark Five

08. I See The Light - The Music Explosion

09. Tally Ho - The Detroit Wheels

10. Feels Like A Woman - The Troggs

11. Truth Drug - Nick Lowe

12. Everything's Turning to Gold - The Rolling Stones

13. Babysitter - The Ramones

14. You're My Favorite Waste Of Time - Marshall Crenshaw

15. I Really Want You Right Now - Lyres

16. Be My Guru - Hoodoo Gurus

17. Batteroo - The Planet Rockers

18. Loyola - The Dictators

19. Jolene - The White Stripes

20. Remember The Ramones - The Fleshtones

Apr 22, 2013

The 2013 Summerstage Concert Schedule is here

You can view it here.

Richie Havens RIP

Richie Havens - RIP

Richie Havens: The Lost Broadcasts: This release compiles a number of television appearances by musician Richie Havens between 1969 and 1971. The sessions featured are drawn from June 1969 through October 1971. From the earliest sessions just before the Woodstock festival, Havens performs two versions of the Beatles song 'Lady Madonna' and 'Just Above My Hobby Horses Head', both tracks from the Richard P Havens album. Moving forward to October 1971, we have three versions of the George Harrison song 'Here Comes The Sun', which was a featured track on his then current album Alarm Clock. Two other songs come from this session. 'Teach Your Children' and a cover of the James Taylor song 'Fire And Rain'. The final song comes from a session filmed almost a month later at the end of October and is another take on the George Harrison song 'Here Comes The Sun'.

Giorgio Gomelsky in the NY Times


Giorgio Gomelsky in 1999, by Godlis

“Music is a journey, not something mapped out by a lawyer,” he said. “Human expression is when you make real what you feel. It’s about the discovery of reality behind appearances.” - Giorgio Gomelsky

The NY Times' City Room blog recently ran a nice profile on the legendary Giorgio Gomelsky that's worth a read. Check it out here.