The X-Temporaneous Boogie
“I dream, therefore I exist.”― August Strindberg
For those who have read this newsletter for a while know that I am on the final stages of co-producing (with my wife) the biggest music reissue project I have done…as well as the one that has taken the longest. 15 (or 16?) years ago I had the (bright?) idea of doing a deep dive into the early years of Specialty Records, one of the most successful independent labels of its time in both the secular and gospel worlds. And for this project I intentionally focused away from the Little Richards and Lloyd Prices and Sam Cooks1 that the label eventually signed, and chose to take a deep dive into the earliest years of the label with music that was big at the time but goes unnoticed today…music that provides the initial blueprint for rock n roll.
I spent the last week focusing on the tedious task of going over each of the 250 songs that will be published in this reissue, finishing the research as to who played on each track, where the tracks were recorded….when they were recorded and released. For anyone who has not done this kind of exercise before it is safe to say that doing it right takes time and to look at that many recordings is borderline insane.
That being said stories seep out of the information collected. For example, one thing that becomes very apparent is that there was a hell of a lot of recording activity happening on the last week of 1947. 75 years ago a debate between artists and unions and radio broadcasters and labels around royalties escalated into a battle which resulted in an imposed recording band that would begin on January 1st, 1948.
The labels had lived through this in the early 40s and had learned from that time not to be caught in ban-mode without a gaggle of singles that were ready to stamp onto shellac and distribute to the awaiting fans; if they were prepared, they could continue their business during without the ability to record new tracks. And thus, the great period of recording began….leading up to the last week of December 1947. Roy Milton, the label’s hit-making ace, was at Universal Recorders in Hollywood cutting the apply-named New Years Resolution while Jimmy Liggins was at Associated Recorders cutting Teardrop Blues, the b-side to Cadillac Boogie (one of the jump-starters of the rock n roll movement), and Rough Weather Blues. The Nelson Alexander trio was cutting the fab Rock That Voot while the mighty Pilgrim Travelers were recording I Want My Crown.
The studios of Los Angeles were buzzing.
My favorite story of that week of recording came from Camille Howard’s session. The pianist needed one more song to complete the allotment she was aiming for. It was December 31st, and it was minutes away from midnight, when the ban would go into effect. Without a planned song, she had the engineer press record, started rolling her fingers down the piano, got her drummer/partner in crime Roy Milton to jump in with a shuffle after a few bars, and proceeded to create a boogie-on-the-spot. She hit the last note as the clock struck twelve. Session over, mission accomplished. She called the song The X-Temporaneous Boogie and it was released during the ban, in April of 1948.
Shabbes!
Marty Roberts Dies: Half Of ‘Marty & Elayne’ Lounge Band At The Dresden Was 89
How many dozens of drinks did I raise towards Marty & Elayne from the bar in the back of the Dresden’s main room? An out-of-town visiter did not know Los Angeles night-life-living until an evening jaunt included seeing their show, the quintessential lounge act. I cannot believe the days of Marty and Elayne are over. Screw Covid for stopping his final years of performing. There will never be anyone like Marty Roberts….
Unearthed video of Joey Ramone’s pre-Ramones band, Sniper
My friend Jay Babcock publishes the incredible newsletter Landline (no surprise from the guy who created Arthur Magazine). He recently posted this revelatory…if not damaged and dirty…video of Sniper, Joey Ramone’s early band. It is so strange to hear Joey’s signature voice not framed by Johnny’s guitar or Dee Dee’s 1-2-3-4 call out to start each song. Proto-punk? Full on. Reminds me a little of when I first saw the early Imperial Dog footage (I miss you Don Waller)…it is just exciting to see music history that was barely archived. Hey kids: there was a time that not everything you experienced could be seen around the world an hour later….
U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo named artist in residence for Tulsa's new Bob Dylan Center
“When Bob Dylan stepped forward and made his path of song making, poetry, and storytelling, a path that lit a generation, he opened a creative door for others to find their way to fresh invention and imagining. I am one of those who followed” Harjo said in a statement,"My residency will allow this legacy to be extended to the community, to encourage and share creativity. I am honored to be part of this new venture.”
Archaeologists Unearth Colossal Pair of Sphinxes in Egypt During Restoration of Landmark Temple
“Fragments of a colossal pair of limestone sphinxes were unearthed at the ancient Egyptian temple of Amenhotep III in western Luxor. A German-Egyptian team of researchers, led by archaeologist Hourig Sourouzian, discovered the artifacts half-submerged in water during their restoration of the funerary temple of the pharaoh and the Colossi of Memnon…The sphinxes measure around 26 feet long and likely depict the ancient ruler outfitted wearing a mongoose-shaped headdress, a royal beard, and a broad necklace.”
H G Wells: Rapture in Southend
Using a new book about Wells as an anchor, this article does a deep dive on his downward spiral, his crazed private life….illuminations I did not know about.
WEEKEND LISTEN: To Find Me Gone by Vetiver
Forgive me if I have posted this one before (I don’t THINK I have). There is nothing like when a record becomes a friend…and then an old friend…that you can count on to flood your space with a musical feeling that connects you to the past times you had played it before…maybe even remembering when you first heard it. I remember first seeing Vetiver at the Swedish American Hall…and I remember when this record came out. This record features such impeccable songwriting, and Andy Cabic’s voice is so smooth evocative. To Find Me Gone was the crowning achievement of that New American Weird folk movement in the 90s that also brought us Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart and the rest. A classic American album.
AIR
By: Howard Moss
That empty entertainment, air,
Of colorless, consistent hues,
Carves out realities. We stare
Upon its sculptured views.
It makes sighs possible; we gasp,
Refreshed upon its art;
A glass for the remarkable,
It lets us see all things apart.
Since it is distance, must it rhyme
With time also? I think it is
The heart of all our circuses,
Since everywhere it is the same.
It is a cage of sight and sound
Both equally enmeshed
Around a turning central pole
Whose orbit leaves us fresh.
The air is free. It tells us then
What freedom is: to share again
The part we barter for the whole,
Although we see it not at all.
Sam Cook was with the Soul Stirrers during his time at Specialty