Mayo Thompson - Corky's Debt to His Father (1970)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 3:07 AM 0 comments

Mayo Thompson (born 26 February 1944 in Houston, Texas) is an American musician and visual artist best known as the leader of the avant-garde rock band Red Crayola (Krayola).
The obscure, defiantly avant-rock Texas band the Red Krayola has been held together entirely through the persistence of Mayo Thompson. For a taste of Thompson at his most accessible, however, consider Corky's Debt to His Father, an album made in 1970, put on record in 1986, and finally released eight years later. The album features a softer Thompson sounding like a Texan Syd Barrett, with songs that are spare and mystical but ultimately friendly. While the band sticks mostly to the familiar sounds of folk guitars, pianos, deep horns, and heavy bass, the instrumental arrangements are designed to clink along and never quite reach harmony. What is created in the end is an uptight and warped version of the stripped-back country & western of late '60s Dylan. If Thompson could sing, Corky's Debt's jazz touches and linear quality might have made the record something of an American Astral Weeks. Instead, we'll settle for coherence and a considerable amount of charm.
Tracks
A1 The Lesson 2:39
A2 Oyster Thins 6:00
A3 Horses 3:09
A4 Dear Betty Baby 3:47
A5 Venus in the Morning 2:30
B1 To You 2:50
B2 Fortune 2:11
B3 Black Legs 3:50
B4 Good Brisk Blues 3:07
B5 Around the Home 2:50
B6 Worried Worried 5:03
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Jeff Simmons - Lucille has messed my mind up (1969)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 2:52 AM 0 comments

Jeff Simmons, born May 1949 in Seattle, Washington, is a rock musician and former member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. Simmons provided bass, guitar, and backing vocals for the group between 1970 and 1971. He left The Mothers just prior to the filming of 200 Motels (where he was replaced in the film by Ringo Starr's chauffeur Martin Lickert) in mid 1971. Jeff later returned to the group for a time during 1972 and 1973. Zappa and Mothers albums he appeared on include Chunga's Revenge (1970), Waka/Jawaka (1972), Roxy & Elsewhere (1974).

Years later Zappa released a number of archival recordings made during this period that feature Jeff including You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1 (1988), You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6 (1992), and Playground Psychotics (1992). Jeff also appears in the Zappa movie The True Story Of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels (1989). Numerous Zappa bootleg recordings from the same era also feature Simmons.

Jeff's music career began in Seattle. In 1967 he became a member of the local group Blues Interchange which soon changed its name to 'Easy Chair'. The group self-financed their only recording, released by the regional Vanco label in 1968. The 12" one-sided, three-song album sold well in the independent record shops along University Way NE (known locally as The Ave) in Seattle's University District. Only about 1000 copies of locally produced Easy Chair record were pressed. It is now a highly valued collectible.

Easy Chair was then booked as the opening act for an August 24, 1968 concert by The Mothers of Invention at the Seattle Center Arena (renamed in 1995 to Mercer Arena.) During the sound check Easy Chair was discovered by Zappa, who recognized that the group's musical and lyrical aesthetic and sense of humor was compatible with his own.

The group followed Zappa back to Los Angeles. In December 1968 Easy Chair was a supporting act for Zappa and The Mothers for 2 concerts at the Shrine Auditorium. The concerts were organized to showcase Zappa's two new record labels, Bizarre Records and Straight Records. Other artists appearing at the shows included Alice Cooper, The GTOs, and Wild Man Fischer. But Easy Chair never had the opportunity to make a record in Los Angeles. After disagreements and unexpected delays the group broke up before any recordings were made.

Simmons stayed in Los Angeles and completed two solo albums for Straight. He co-composed the soundtrack for the biker film Naked Angels (1969). His second album Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up (1969), featured Zappa as producer. Zappa wrote two songs and played lead guitar under the pseudonym La Marr Bruister. The engineer was Chris Huston, who also worked on Led Zeppelin II at about the same time. Lucille was voted the 2nd best album on Straight Records by Mojo Magazine. Both albums were re-issued on CD in 2007 by World In Sound Records.

Simmons is one of only a handful of musicians to share a songwriting credit with Zappa. Their collaboration Wonderful Wino appears on Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up and also on Zappa's 1976 album Zoot Allures. The title song of the album Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up was also re-recorded in a completely different arrangement on Zappa's 1979 album Joe's Garage. Simmons is also listed as co-writer (with Zappa and Napoleon Murphy Brock) on Dummy Up from Zappa's 1974 album Roxy & Elsewhere. During a 1982 guest DJ spot on UK's BBC Radio 1 Zappa played some of his favorite recordings including Simmons' song I'm In The Music Business.

Jeff continued to play music with various groups in the Seattle area during the 1980s. He appeared in the 1988 movie Rock and Roll Mobster Girls which was produced on video tape in Seattle during the very early stages of the Grunge music scene. Jeff Simmons' most recent work is Blue Universe (2004).
Tracks
01. Appian Way
02. Zondo Zondo
03. Madame Du Barry
04. I'm In The Music Business
05. Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up
06. Raye
07. Wonderful Wino
08. Tigres
09. Aqueous Humore
10. Conversations With A Recluse
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Emitt Rhodes - Emitt Rhodes (1970)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 2:39 AM 0 comments

Emitt Lynn Rhodes is an American singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer born February 25, 1950 in Decatur, Illinois. When he was five his family moved to Hawthorne, California. Considered by many as "the one man Beatles," his solo recordings of the early 1970s show a clear Paul McCartney influence in both vocals and musicianship. Rhodes began his career in musical ensembles The Palace Guard (as the group's drummer) and The Merry-Go-Round (multi-instrumentalist), leaving the drums to the expertise of Joel Larson.
Rhodes recorded the album in his home studio. At the time, union rules required that recordings released on major labels must be recorded in proper studios, so the fact that this was a home recording could not be mentioned on the cover. The runout groove of the original LP release on Dunhill Records contained a decorative banner proclaiming, "Recorded at Home." Rhodes wanted to call the album Homecooking, but Dunhill decided to title it Emitt Rhodes.

Rhodes recorded the instruments on a four-track recorder and then approched Dunhill, who gave him a contract. He transferred the four-track instrumental recordings to an eight-track recorder to add the vocals on the four additional channels (and using a better microphone).

The album reached number 29 on the Billboard album chart. The single "Fresh as a Daisy" just missed the top forty. Billboard later called the album one of the "best albums of the decade". The song "Lullabye" was featured in the film The Royal Tenenbaums.
Tracks
01. With My Face On The Floor 3:06
02. Somebody Made For Me 2:23
03. She's Such A Beauty 2:21
04. Long Time No See 3:14
05. Lullabye 1:05
06. Fresh As A Daisy 2:46
07. Live Till You Die 2:44
08. Promises I've Made 3:21
09. You Take The Dark Out Of The Night 2:54
10. You Should Be Ashamed 2:38
11. Ever Find Yourself Running 2:34
12. You Must Have 2:04
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