Archive for the ‘Columbia’ Category

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Tim Rose / The Jimi Hendrix Experience / The Creation

Saturday, December 13th, 2008

Hey Joe (You Shot Your Woman Down) / Tim Rose

Listen: Hey Joe (You Shot Your Woman Down) / Tim Rose 01 Hey Joe (You Shot Your Woman Down).mp3

According to some, it’s this Tim Rose arrangement and slow version of ‘Hey Joe’ that manager Chas Chandler brought to his band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, as a template for their recording.

I played Tim’s version recently, and thought I’d do some research. By the way, the fast, jangled, garage band version popularized by The Leaves is not part of this discussion.

Listen: Hey Joe / The Creation 20 Hey Joe.mp3

Tim Rose, Hendrix and The Creation all did the slow, haunting one, full of mystery. In my research travels, I read that Chas and Jimi may have, in fact, gotten their idea from The Creation, who were playing this arrangement of ‘Hey Joe’ in London clubs late ’66, exactly when Hendrix and Chandler entered the studio to record that first single. Although The Creation never released a 7″ of ‘Hey Joe’, it was an album track, which I’ve posted.

Hey Joe (Single Mono Mix) / The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Hey Joe (Single Mono Mix) / The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Listen: Hey Joe (Single Mono Mix) / The Jimi Hendrix Experience 01 Hey Joe.mp3

Also for reference, I’ve posted the original mono single mix from The Jimi Hendrix Experience above. This version is the one you know, but that mono mix is magic. Even though this original copy has been played hundreds of times, the record still sounds larger than life.

WOLF6_4_66, WOLF, Dee Jay & The Runaways, Clefs Of Lavender Hill

My introduction to ‘Hey Joe’ was indeed via the Tim Rose rendition. Interestingly, the songwriting is credited differently on all three labels above (click to enlarge). Somehow, this was a hit on my hometown station, WOLF (see chart). Check my past posts for a look at what great music this station played. I hate to say they may have been one of the last great US radio stations. Scary.

The story of ‘Hey Joe’ is full of twists and turns, and now with so many participants deceased, one of great myth.

Read about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_Joe

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Posted in Columbia, Polydor, Reprise, The Creation, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Tim Rose, WOLF | No Comments »

MOBY GRAPE

Thursday, December 4th, 2008

Omaha / Moby Grape

Omaha / Moby Grape

Listen: Omaha / Moby Grape MobyGrapeOmaha.mp3

When recalling the handful of US 60′s bands I appreciated (at the time that is, I was still pretty buzzed on the British Invasion, it was us-against-them mentality), I always forget Moby Grape. They were a bit wooly looking, yet had a nice splash of psychedelia thrown in, especially on ‘Omaha’ (from their debut LP, MOBY GRAPE), thereby completely tolerable. Initially I probably liked the name and idea of Moby Grape better than Moby Grape themselves. Surprisingly, many UK bands tipped them, with some, like The Move, actually covering their songs live. When the second album, WOW, came out, I felt the compelling urge to buy it. Like Pink Floyd’s UMMAGUMMA, it was a double record, but priced as a single – that helped. The second disc was a jam, and featured Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield, both well respected….jammers. Let’s be honest, I don’t think anyone got through it more than once, although we all claimed to have. The first disc however had some proper songs in there. It was all very Dennis Hopper. The psychedelic angle had vanished but their dark, cold sound increased nicely – and the vocals were a big attraction. In the end, a top rock group.

Posted in Al Kooper, Columbia, Mike Bloomfield, Moby Grape, The Move, The Pink Floyd | No Comments »

SECRET MACHINES

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008

Lightning Blue Eyes / Secret Machines

Listen: Lightning Blue Eyes / Secret Machines SecretMachinesLightningBlueEyes.mp3

Christmas 2004. I finally had a few weeks off and planned to catch up on a bunch of new records I’d been meaning to get to since November. For a few years, I made it a point of stopping at the original HMV store on Oxford Street every London visit. Luckily, I looked after a bunch of Columbia’s UK acts, and ended up there about four times a year. No one else would touch the English groups. Our chairman didn’t like the UK stuff, so they were hot potatoes. HMV really jumped on the vinyl resurgence curve early. Well before any of the other chains. Then and now, the purists put their nose in the air to the place but I say they’re wrong. HMV stocks all the indie and worthy major label 7″ singles at cheap prices, usually 99p week of release. And the vinyl portion of the floor is set up famously, just like a record shop in the day. The 45 wall is nirvana, with box lot size helpings of just about everything. I would grab tons of titles and listen later. So that Christmas break I allocated time. I’m pouring over the first two Secret Machines singles I’d gotten that month earlier but still hadn’t played, and notice Brandon and Ben Curtis were in the lineup. Hold on, these guys were in UFOFU, a band I had released on The Medicine Label. It had to be the same guys. So I listened. Wow, they’re great. I’d heard their name a lot, mostly from the junior A&R kids at Columbia. What a great bunch they were, especially Keller and later Christian Stavros. I had wrongly assumed Secret Machines were alternative radio fodder, formula hard rock. No. This was the real deal. I went out on Christmas Eve and got the full length. As if by magic, I had a new band to be crazy about. How fun.
Now it was countdown to an upcoming show and sure enough, they were awesome. I was so pleased to see Brandon and Ben getting their just rewards. I turned some friends on to them as well. Everyone was in. Brandon came by Columbia just before Christmas ’05 and played me the new album. A few songs really stood out, ‘Lightning Blue Eyes’ in particular. All of them were pretty long. I remember we talked about some singles edit, and he went off to try a few. This was one, and it’s a smash waiting to happen. Don’t think it got much play, but I could be wrong.

No matter, Secret Machines shredded the tent at Reading the following August. The place was rammed. The crowd went berserk.

I’m making an exception by posting ‘Lightning Blue Eyes’. You see, it’s only available as a blue see through glittery reeking of some marketing angle pressing. I hate colored vinyl. Should be illegal, a controlled substance. Records should be black, just like God created them. For this single though, an exception.

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Posted in Andrew Keller, Chrisitan Stavros, Columbia, HMV Store - Oxford Street, Medicine Label, Reading Festival, Reprise, Secret Machines, UFOFU | No Comments »

THE LO FIDELITY ALLSTARS / DEON JACKSON

Monday, November 10th, 2008

Battleflag / The Lo Fidelity Allstars test pressing

Battleflag / The Lo Fidelity Allstars

Love Makes The World Go Round / Deon Jackson

I hung out with Phil tonight. He stopped by to get some songs needed for a DJ job in Scotland that he’s schlepping to. He started brainstorming about his next project, The Cherry Truckers and played me a few tracks. It’s going to be pretty hot.
We met ten years ago when I picked up his band The Lo Fidelity Allstars for Columbia and became fast record collecting friends. We certainly had some fun bus rides on those US tours. Then a few months ago, by ridiculous coincidence, he and Holly bought an apartment two blocks from me. Why he left England is a constant to and fro between us but that’s another story. Deservedly, their single ‘Battleflag’ became a pretty big hit even in the States. You see the original version, which was blocked from release, had a Prince bit in it. The Lo Fi’s publisher, Warner-Chappell also published Prince, but couldn’t seem to get him to clear it – or according to some sources, had no rapport with him to even present the idea at all – so off it came. This post is that uncleared version. Some white labels were initially pressed for clubs, but the legal department freaked and in addition to ordering them destroyed – covered their asses by having them stamped ‘Uncleared Sample – Do Not Circulate’ first, just in case. That was way too tempting for me. I had a pal in the plant grab a few boxes and send them straight over to my office. They have since changed hands on eBay for crazy amounts. Worth it I must say. More importantly, this version is out there as it should be – and I bet Prince would like it too. See if you can spot the potential issue.

Listen: Battleflag / The Lo Fidelity Allstars 07 Battleflag.mp3

So Phil is flipping through stuff, putting together some songs to play at this Scottish do. Inevitably, these are the fun moments, when one good track leads you to find another. Not having heard this in ages, we gave it a play. I’d forgotten about it’s deep soul production, one only a great voice can fill. Never knew at the time if this was a guy or girl. Deon was pronounced just like Dionne, and it always baffled me until I saw him on Shindig. This record actually got it’s start on TV. It was CKLW’s Swingin’ Time, Detroit’s local American Bandstand knockoff that triggered it. He even managed an album on Carla’s parent label, Atco. According to Wikipedia, he’s a student supervisor nowadays.

Listen: Love Makes The World Go Round / Deon Jackson 11 Love Makes The World Go Round.mp3

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Posted in Atco, Cherry Truckers, CKLW, Columbia, Deon Jackson, Dionne Warwick, Phil Ward, Prince, Shindig, Skint, Swingin' Time, The Lo Fidelity Allstars | No Comments »

SAGITTARIUS

Friday, November 7th, 2008

Listen: My World Fell Down / Sagittarius

Listen: My World Fell Down / Sagittarius MyWorldFellDown.mp3

Gary Usher was an early collaborator with Brian Wilson. One of them hugely influenced the other, not sure which, their work is so similar sounding. You might even say their sound was identical. Very much tied to the surf/hot rod California scene, he manufactured a bunch of bands in the genre: The Hondells being the biggest. In ‘67, the sound of LSD mixed with clean, west coast surf-pop trademarked his then current fictitious band: Sagittarius. This single was ever present during the summer of that year. Although it didn’t chart that high (#70), it warranted a full length that is really good. This is almost a blueprint of well produced, commercial drug pop.

Posted in Brian Wilson, Columbia, Gary Usher, Sagittarius, The Hondells | No Comments »

The Psychedelic Furs

Monday, October 13th, 2008

Heaven / Psychedelic Furs

Heaven / Psychedelic Furs

Heaven / Psychedelic Furs

Listen: Heaven / Psychedelic Furs PsyFursHeaven.mp3

It was the Christmas break, 1979. Corinne and I went to stay with Howard in London for what turned out to be a Christmas to remember. He really did it up right, as always had countless things planned, on the go go go, especially hitting all the record shops. Went to see The Birthday Party at The Venue. Fuck they were, um, great. I did not appreciate it fully at the time, but in hindsight – yes, pretty great. And then there were the traditional English holiday parties. Not industry parties mind you, but family ones, like John Anthony’s Mom’s. That spread was fierce and her homemade trifle…..well we still talk about it to this day. The nights we didn’t eat our way through a party or see a band were just happily spent playing records in HT’s front room. The floor was literally covered with 45’s, row after row leaning against the moldings. An endless trove to flip through and pick from. Hours would just fly by, never a dull moment. And he had everything, all the latest releases – and there were many. Don’t forget, loads of great records were still coming out weekly. It was the tail end of punk turning into whatever the next thing was called…I really can’t remember actually. And often Richard and Tim Butler would be by. Howard had just signed them to CBS, and they were beaming about their first single ‘We Love You’, which Howard had just gotten copies of. In fact, they kept playing it over and over and over. But hey if they didn’t, we did. It was the start of a friendship that lasted years and brought loads of fun times. I realized only recently that The Furs were a really good singles band. I mean they have so many. I was very into TALK TALK TALK, not a bad track in my book, so always thought of them more as ‘albums’. But lately I’ve been rotating a bunch of the 7’s on my ipod and indeed – they were a solid singles band. I’m not sure many people rate ‘Heaven’ as one of their best but it sure is. I ran into Richard on the street about a month ago. He’s lived in NY for years. Picked up right were we left off, as if mid-sentence. We were shocked to think it’s been 29 years since that Christmas. Pretty amazing considering we’re both still 35.

Posted in CBS, Columbia, Howard Thompson, John Anthony, The Birthday Party, The Psychedelic Furs | No Comments »

The Lightning Seeds

Friday, June 20th, 2008

Sugar Coated Iceberg / The Lightning Seeds

Today I got an email from my pal in LA, Christian Stavros, and he wrote: ‘currently listening to a playlist of my fave bands from growing up’, proceeding to list, amongst others, The Lightning Seeds. Do you remember they had a hit in the US ages ago with a song called ‘Pure’? It was a surprising hit too, as it sounded so English. It actually reminded me of the Jonathan King classic ‘Everyone’s Gone To The Moon’. Lead singer Ian Broudie (also a top producer) has a similar voice and delivery. This was around ’89 when sounding English was becoming a problem, unlike in the ’60s & ’70′s. Years later, when I worked for Columbia and was Suede’s US A&R guy, I was always fighting to get attention for them at the label. The radio department would argue: but they sound so English. I’d always say, ‘I know – that’s the point’. But guess what, I lost the argument and Suede didn’t get the play they deserved, or any play actually. So…i proceed to ask Christian if he’s heard this single, and happily he hadn’t. I say happily, because it was really fun to turn him on to it. I pulled it out, and it just sounds great.

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Posted in Chrisitan Stavros, Columbia, Ian Broudie, Jonathan King, Suede, The Lightning Seeds | No Comments »

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