Doctor Mooney's 115th Dream

Shadowed Vengeance: The Black Keys, “Ten Cent Pistol”

2010-11-28T22:15:00.003-05:00

Six albums in, The Black Keys have kicked up an undisputed knockout—their finest full-length to date. Brothers, this motley collection spots the Akron hoodoo men uncorking their thrilling line of seething blues romps and fueling it further with wrenching soul-squeezed shakedowns.

On “Ten Cent Pistol,” Auerbach and Carney plumb to the depths of soul’s shadowed underbelly – the sinister drum march, foreboding doom and six-string hollow bodied weep signals the funeral procession to come, Auerbach’s sharp rasp details the tale: “there she was / behind the door / she hit them with / her ten cent pistol, / because they ruined her name”

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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MP3: The Black Keys - “Ten Cent Pistol”

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Jimmy Page & Jeff Beck’s Yardbirds Keep A-Rollin’, “Stroll On”
Aloe Blacc’s Greenback Hustle, “I Need A Dollar”
John Fogerty’s One-Man Band: Blue Ridge Rangers, “Working on a Building”
Sacred Steel Bellows: Robert Randolph & The Family Band, “If I Had My Way”
The Temptations’ Unchained Battle Cry, “War”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Jimmy Page & Jeff Beck’s Yardbirds Keep A-Rollin’, “Stroll On”

2010-11-21T15:15:00.002-05:00

The short-live Page-Beck association lasted less than six months, assembling triplets of unruly death defying acts of studio recorded musical fisticuffs: “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago,” “Psycho Daisies” and “Stroll On.”

Their crowning triumph, “Stroll On,” an unruly overhaul of “Train Kept A-Rollin’,” was featured during a short club sequence in Michaelo Antonioni’s swinging London art flick, Blow Up [see below]. Patients, this cut will hit yer rock 'n roll stethoscopes with fireball force, a sonic meltdown. Yes, the twosome’s double lead wall of racket sounds like a sex act between two consenting locomotives. But this is slashing, doom-laden boogie, a thick flamethrower-swarm of fuzz and feedback on the warpath. The lineup critics referred to as ‘World War Three’ severed ties shortly thereafter.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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MP3: The Yardbirds - “Stroll On”

Download unlimited songs to your iPhone or Android. Choose from over 9 million songs on MOG. Try it free now!
MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Aloe Blacc’s Greenback Hustle, “I Need A Dollar”
John Fogerty’s One-Man Band: Blue Ridge Rangers, “Working on a Building”
Sacred Steel Bellows: Robert Randolph & The Family Band, “If I Had My Way”
The Temptations’ Unchained Battle Cry, “War”
Smokey Voltage: Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs’ “The Devil’s in the Jukebox”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Aloe Blacc’s Greenback Hustle, “I Need A Dollar”

2010-11-17T22:15:00.002-05:00

Patients, the word is out on Aloe Blacc, neo-soul man number one. The kind of act that rolls with the tide and talks about the struggles of the times. The one-time rapper in duo Emanonc becomes a full-fledged soul stirrer, on the verge with his sophomore full-length, Good Things.

An Ode For The Financially Strapped

No track in 2010 has managed to tap into the doom and gloom of the era like Aloe Blacc’s bold 21st century depression anthem “I Need A Dollar.” Pegged as the entrance theme to HBO’s How To Make It In America--Blacc’s pleading velvet croon heightens with every hook--a piping hot recession jingle that fuses social consciousness with ‘70s soul reflections. Nothing new, but a modernized rendition of these troubling times, that will seize your heart and billfold (hey, hey).

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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MP3: Aloe Blacc - “I Need A Dollar”

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MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
John Fogerty’s One-Man Band: Blue Ridge Rangers, “Working on a Building”
Sacred Steel Bellows: Robert Randolph & The Family Band, “If I Had My Way”
The Temptations’ Unchained Battle Cry, “War”
Smokey Voltage: Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs’ “The Devil’s in the Jukebox”
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ Nocturnal Bark, “I Put A Spell On You”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

John Fogerty’s One-Man Band: Blue Ridge Rangers, “Working on a Building”

2010-11-10T22:15:00.004-05:00

The Father, Son, and Holy Choogle

In the spring of ’73, John Fogerty was an all-star--a union of one. After cutting ties with Top-40 radio kings Creedence Clearwater Revival, he declared independence from CCR with a smokescreen, saddling up and moonlighting as Blue Ridge Rangers. His eponymous solo record, Blue Ridge Rangers is a one-man show--Fogerty dispatched as arranger, singer, player and producer--delivering pristine treatments to twelve C&W and traditional numbers ranging from Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya (On the Bayou)” to George Jones’ “She Thinks I Still Care.”

One of our favorite tracks, the gospel-flavored “Working on a Building” kicks off the second side. Originally cut by Heavenly Gospel Singers, Fogerty absorbed the spiritual from an early Stanley Brothers interpretation. This rendering seizes joyful exuberance with immovable, Creedence-tinged geetar, fiddle, steel, banjo and flushed layers of resonating vocal assaults, effectively capturing the spirit and reshaping it into an industrial-strength soot-smeared rocker of the holiest denomination.

“Working on a Building”
Written by: Lillian M Bowles and Winifred O Hoyle

I'm workin' on a building, I'm workin' on a building,
I'm workin' on a building, for my Lord, for my Lord.
If IIIIIIIIIIIIII were a drunkard, tell you what I'd do,
I'd quit my drinkin', and work on a building too.
[Chorus:]
I'm workin' on a building, I'm workin' on a building,
I'm workin' on a building, for my Lord, for my Lord.
It'a a Holy Ghost building, It'a a Holy Ghost building,
It'a a Holy Ghost building, for my Lord, for my Lord.
If IIIIIIIIIIIIII were a gambler, tell you what I'd do,
I'd quit my gamblin', and I'd work on a building too.
[Chorus]
If IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII were a preacher, tell you what I'd do,
I'd keep on preachin', and I'd work on a building too.
[Chorus x3]

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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MP3: Blue Ridge Rangers - “Working on a Building”

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MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Sacred Steel Bellows: Robert Randolph & The Family Band, “If I Had My Way”
The Temptations’ Unchained Battle Cry, “War”
Smokey Voltage: Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs’ “The Devil’s in the Jukebox”
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ Nocturnal Bark, “I Put A Spell On You”
Robert Plant and Band of Joy’s Divine Rumble, “Angel Dance”
Inescapable Barbed Joy: The Wright Specials, “Ninety-Nine and a Half Won’t Do”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Sacred Steel Bellows: Robert Randolph & The Family Band, “If I Had My Way”

2010-11-08T21:15:00.002-05:00

Pedal steel gunslinger, Robert Randolph harnessed esteemed producer T-Bone Burnet’s well-tuned ear for counsel on We Walk This Way - his first studio album in four years. He was rewarded with a history lesson, excavating over a century of rock, blues and gospel. Randolph voices, “T-Bone opened my eyes to great archival music. He's a link between the past and the present."

This 11-song collection is a first-class work, including revamped dupes of Bob Dylan's "Shot of Love," "Walk Don't Walk" by Prince and John Lennon's "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama.” But it’s the exorcism and renovation of Blind Willie Johnson’s gospel-blues number “If I Had My Way” that leaps out at our rock ‘n roll stethoscopes. Featuring an ace guest spot on slide and vocals by Ben Harper; the barnstorming track’s vivid wails burn with turpentine grace and give reason to drop kudos on the lawless strut of We Walk This Way.

Robert Randolph & The Family Band: Robert Randolph, pedal steel, vox; Danyel Morgan, bass; Marcus Randolph, drums

We Walk This Way is out now on Warner Bros.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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MP3: Robert Randolph – “If I Had My Way”

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MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
The Temptations’ Unchained Battle Cry, “War”
Smokey Voltage: Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs’ “The Devil’s in the Jukebox”
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ Nocturnal Bark, “I Put A Spell On You”
Robert Plant and Band of Joy’s Divine Rumble, “Angel Dance”
Inescapable Barbed Joy: The Wright Specials, “Ninety-Nine and a Half Won’t Do”
Kings of Leon and their Big Rock, "Mary"

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

The Temptations’ Unchained Battle Cry, “War”

2010-11-06T20:15:00.001-04:00

Nineteen sixty-nine, the newly christened socially conscious, psychedelic Temptations are given first crack at the Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong-penned crusade against bloodshed in Vietnam for Psychedelic Shack - the third album featuring the rumbling vocal attack of soul belter Dennis Edwards. For their rendition The Tempts’ give “War” a boot camp shelling complete with urgent get-up-and-go vocals, fiery backing and sergeant major shouts, "hup, two, three, four.”

The track was so potent that Motown received thousands of letters begging them to release "War" as a single. Motown’s management viewed the song as too controversial, handing it off to Agent-Double-O-Soul, Edwin Starr to inject it with his own venomous punch.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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MP3: The Temptations – “War”

Download unlimited songs to your iPhone or Android. Choose from over 9 million songs on MOG. Try it free now!
MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Smokey Voltage: Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs’ “The Devil’s in the Jukebox”
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ Nocturnal Bark, “I Put A Spell On You”
Robert Plant and Band of Joy’s Divine Rumble, “Angel Dance”
Inescapable Barbed Joy: The Wright Specials, “Ninety-Nine and a Half Won’t Do”
Kings of Leon and their Big Rock, "Mary"
Doris Troy’s Sturdy Soul Caper, “You Give Me Joy Joy”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Smokey Voltage: Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs’ “The Devil’s in the Jukebox”

2010-11-04T22:15:00.003-04:00

Ray LaMontagne is a love-jinxed troubadour, carrying an old soul. According to lore, during a spell working in a Maine shoe factory he was sparked to kick start his music career after hearing the Stephen Stills tune “Treetop Flier” by way of transistor radio. Four long-players on, the singer-songwriter has waxed the dazzling God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise with his gutsy backing band, The Pariah Dogs—Eric Heywood (guitar), Jennifer Condos (bass), Patrick Warren (keyboard), Eric Heywood (pedal steel) Greg Leisz, (pedal steel) and Jay Bellerose (drums).

By album close, LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs are rushing full-throttle - on the brink, hammers down, smoldering thirty-eights drawn. Patients, “The Devil’s in the Jukebox” is an impossible number to keep a lid on – a heavy stepped, no-frills dance escorted by unshakeable harp squalls and LaMontagne’s thirty-six grit sandpaper squawk. The floor boards will rattle.

God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise is out now on RCA Records

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MP3: Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs – “Devil’s In The Jukebox”

Download unlimited songs to your iPhone or Android. Choose from over 9 million songs on MOG. Try it free now!
MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ Nocturnal Bark, “I Put A Spell On You”
Robert Plant and Band of Joy’s Divine Rumble, “Angel Dance”
Inescapable Barbed Joy: The Wright Specials, “Ninety-Nine and a Half Won’t Do”
Kings of Leon and their Big Rock, "Mary"
Doris Troy’s Sturdy Soul Caper, “You Give Me Joy Joy”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ Nocturnal Bark, “I Put A Spell On You”

2010-10-31T19:15:00.003-04:00

The one-time golden gloves victor was a well-oiled booze machine when unloading the demented spooky carnage of “I Put A Spell On You.” It was intended to be a sweet love ballad before head of Columbia Records Arnold Maxim fetched some gin and whiskey for the session; sinister pie-eyed madness ensued.

Throughout his finest three minutes on wax, his first — and only — hit, backed by a menacing ghoulish shuffle, Hawkins comes off as a deranged R&B evangelist. His wicked spectral baritone oozing snarled feral shouts, “I put a spell on you / Because you're mine,” The spine-chilling track became an underground smash, selling a quarter of a million copies, in spite of being outlawed from the radio waves.

“I Put A Spell On You”
OKeh Records, 1956
Written by: Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
Produced by: Leroy Kirkland

I put a spell on you
Because you're mine

Stop the things you do
Whoahuh - what's up?
I ain't lyin'
Yeaaah, i can't stand - hoo!
No runnin' around
I can't stand
No put me down
I put a spell on you
Because you're mine
Whoahaa - yeah!
Woah!

[sax solo]

Stop the things you do
Whoahuh - what's up?
I ain't lyin'
Aahh!! aah! i love you
I love you
I love you anyhow
I don't care if you don't want me
I'm yours right now
I put a spell on you
Because you're mine, mine
Mine!!! aah whoahh huh

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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MP3: Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – “I Put A Spell On You”

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MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Robert Plant and Band of Joy’s Divine Rumble, “Angel Dance”
Inescapable Barbed Joy: The Wright Specials, “Ninety-Nine and a Half Won’t Do”
Kings of Leon and their Big Rock, "Mary"
Doris Troy’s Sturdy Soul Caper, “You Give Me Joy Joy”
Dialed In: The Black Angels, “Telephone”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Robert Plant and Band of Joy’s Divine Rumble, “Angel Dance”

2010-10-30T21:15:00.005-04:00

Rock ‘n roll’s majestic elder statesman Robert Plant’s first long player since 2007's triumphant, Grammy-winning Raising Sand, alludes to the Birmingham-based, blues wielding gang he fronted in the mid-sixties, Band of Joy.

The former Led Zeppelin lead man resurrected Band of Joy with a new cast of players — co-producer Buddy Miller, electric guitar; Darrell Scott, acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo, accordion, pedal steel; Patty Griffin, vocals; Byron House, bass and Marco Giovino, drums. Recorded in Nashville, the album was recently ruled one of the doctors’ and nursemaids’ favorite records of the year. Plant remarks, “I wanted to bring my personality to other people’s songs and kick the door open a little bit…or edge it open with my hips.”

Check out the rejuvenated Los Lobos track “Angel Dance.” An unwavering onslaught of stormy reverb leads into rhythm rocked gently; Plant uproots his weathered croon, “And they'll laugh up and down the hall / Don't you go shout when you hear them fall / Let them fly across the wall / Let them cry 'til the morning calls / Little angel dance."

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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MP3: Robert Plant – “Angel Dance”

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MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Inescapable Barbed Joy: The Wright Specials, “Ninety-Nine and a Half Won’t Do”
Kings of Leon and their Big Rock, "Mary"
Doris Troy’s Sturdy Soul Caper, “You Give Me Joy Joy”
Dialed In: The Black Angels, “Telephone”
Meet Koko Taylor’s Sledgehammer Shout, “Wang Dang Doodle”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Inescapable Barbed Joy: The Wright Specials, “Ninety-Nine and a Half Won’t Do”

2010-10-26T22:15:00.002-04:00

The Gospel According To Gordy

Spawned off the success of the Motor City hit machine Motown records, Berry Gordy’s short-lived subsidiary, Divinity served as an outlet for spiritual and gospel music. Narrowly unleashing four singles: The Wright Specials’ “That’s What He Is To Me” (9904), Gospel Stars’ “Give God A Chance“ (9906), Burnadettes’ “First, You’ve Got To Recognize God (9907) and our favorite, a bona fide pew burner, The Wright Specials second Divinity single, “Ninety-Nine and a Half Won’t Do” (9905). You might be accustomed to the versions by Wilson Pickett and Creedence Clearwater Revival – this fevered take on the gospel spiritual is an open-hearted, savior summoning call to action, a stunning blow to the “Ninety-Nine and a Half Won’t Do” canon.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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MP3: The Wright Specials – “Ninety-Nine and a Half Won’t Do”

Download unlimited songs to your iPhone or Android. Choose from over 9 million songs on MOG. Try it free now!
MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Kings of Leon and their Big Rock, "Mary"
Doris Troy’s Sturdy Soul Caper, “You Give Me Joy Joy”
Dialed In: The Black Angels, “Telephone”
Meet Koko Taylor’s Sledgehammer Shout, “Wang Dang Doodle”
Karen Elson’s Twisted Elegance, “The Truth Is In The Dirt”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Kings of Leon and their Big Rock, "Mary"

2010-10-24T13:15:00.007-04:00

The Kings of Leon, meddling sons of a preacher man, have set up at a crossroads after their multi-platinum, Grammy-winning breakthrough Only By The Night. Nine years on and five albums in, the Followills’ have risen from indie darlings, once christened the Southern Strokes, to glossy arena-ready rockers, soaring into the mainstream – heirs to the rock ‘n roll throne.

For their fifth long-player, Come Around Sundown, the Followill family band, uprooted from Nashville and recorded in Midtown Manhattan – they stick to their guns, cloning the template that fueled sales upwards of 6 million, making for an unremarkable experience, an unfocused album lacking bite. Yeah, you guessed it patients, the doctors and nursemaids are suckers for the first three KoL albums, with the lads Followill riding their Southern-fried swagger and moonshine-fueled rollercoaster: Youth and Young Manhood, Aha Shake Heartbreak and Because of the Times.

Tennessee’s rock patriarchs shine on the anthemic standout track, “Mary,” where they toy with hard-driving doo-wop, bringing it South of the Mason Dixon line. The track gets off the ground swaying with frontman Followill drawling, “Mary, if you want to / I waive my right / I'll be on the corner / Just passin' time,” backed by spurred guitar jabs and steady as bedrock rhythm. There’s even an indulgent, on the loose guitar solo – a rarity in their canon.

Come Around Sundown is out now on RCA

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MP3: Kings of Leon – “Mary”

Download unlimited songs to your iPhone or Android. Choose from over 9 million songs on MOG. Try it free now!
MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Doris Troy’s Sturdy Soul Caper, “You Give Me Joy Joy”
Dialed In: The Black Angels, “Telephone”
Meet Koko Taylor’s Sledgehammer Shout, “Wang Dang Doodle”
Karen Elson’s Twisted Elegance, “The Truth Is In The Dirt”
John Lennon’s Junk Sick Noise, “Cold Turkey”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Doris Troy’s Sturdy Soul Caper, “You Give Me Joy Joy”

2010-10-21T23:15:00.001-04:00

Discovered by soul general, James Brown during a stint as an usherette at Harlem’s Apollo, Doris Troy bagged her first top-ten hit for Atlantic with, “Just One Look” in 1963. She continued, singing backup on “My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison, Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” and on celebrated albums, Let It Bleed by The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd's, Dark Side Of The Moon.

In 1970 George Harrison signed ‘Mama Soul’ to Apple Records and waxed her self-titled long player, to little promotion and fanfare -- even though the album featured a mighty troupe of all-stars: Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Stephen Stills, Leon Russell, Ringo Starr, Jackie Lomax, Klaus Voorman, Peter Frampton, George Harrison and Delaney & Bonnie. Check out the doctors’ and nursemaids’ favorite number, the Troy/Harrison/Starr/Stills penned groover, “You Give Me Joy Joy” – a track steeped in soulful British blues revival, featuring six-string assaults by Harrison and Stills.

Doris Troy, vocals; George Harrison, guitar; Stephen Still, guitar; Ringo Starr, Drums; Klaus Voorman, bass; Leon Russell, piano.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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MP3: Doris Troy – “You Give Me Joy Joy”

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MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Dialed In: The Black Angels, “Telephone”
Meet Koko Taylor’s Sledgehammer Shout, “Wang Dang Doodle”
Karen Elson’s Twisted Elegance, “The Truth Is In The Dirt”
John Lennon’s Junk Sick Noise, “Cold Turkey”
Sharon Jones’ Heat Seeking Howl; Dap-Kings Rumble, “Money”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Dialed In: The Black Angels, “Telephone”

2010-10-19T22:15:00.001-04:00

The Black Angels lifted their name from the Velvet Underground cut "The Black Angels Death Song" – their sound: stirring up the late 60s with threatening bolts of bleeding reverb and bone-chilling psychedelic tidal waves, sturdy as the hangman's rope.

With two albums under their belts, Passover and Directions to See a Ghost, the Austin-based quintet signed to the iconic and recently re-launched Blue Horizon Records, setting free their highly anticipated Phosphene Dream. Produced by Dave Sardy, this set finds the band pushing and expanding, further into a new direction: Less doom, tighter reverb drenched drone-spun rock and added heavy handed pop sensibilities.

The biggest eye-opener comes nine songs in with the album’s zippy second single, “Telephone.” The band deep-sixes the drone, pops the clutch and hightails it with a take charge rave-up – a darting retro nod that unpacks overjoyed surges of frisky go-go organ and gusty six-string jangle, in under two minutes.

Phosphene Dream is out now on Blue Horizon Records

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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MP3: The Black Angels – “Telephone”

Download unlimited songs to your iPhone or Android. Choose from over 9 million songs on MOG. Try it free now!
MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Meet Koko Taylor’s Sledgehammer Shout, “Wang Dang Doodle”
Karen Elson’s Twisted Elegance, “The Truth Is In The Dirt”
John Lennon’s Junk Sick Noise, “Cold Turkey”
Sharon Jones’ Heat Seeking Howl; Dap-Kings Rumble, “Money”
Scream Black Merda, “Cynthy-Ruth”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Meet Koko Taylor’s Sledgehammer Shout, “Wang Dang Doodle”

2010-10-14T23:15:00.004-04:00

The Willie Dixon-penned, “Wang Dang Doodle” employs one of the most colorful casts of back alley juke joint characters ever assembled: Automatic Slim, Razor Totin' Jim, Butcher Knife Totin' Annie, Fast Talking Fanny, Washboard Sam and Pistol Pete. Enter fire-breathing wailer Koko Taylor, the South Side dame who injected heart and soul into this stomping, no-nonsense shakedown about kicking off your shoes and partying down.

Discovered by Willie Dixon in the early sixties, Koko Taylor cut the earthquake-inducing “Wang Dang Doodle” in 1966, selling over a million – Chess Records’ last top ten hit. Koko’s take is an earsplitting force of nature, detonating with her thrilling barbarous wail and the hurried gallop and shotgun bite of her backing, no wonder she was crowned Queen of the Blues – all rise.

“Wang Dang Doodle”
Written by: Willie Dixon

Tell Automatic Slim , tell Razor Totin' Jim
Tell Butcher Knife Totin' Annie, tell Fast Talking Fanny
A we gonna pitch a ball, a down to that union hall

We gonna romp and tromp till midnight
We gonna fuss and fight till daylight
We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long
All night long, All night long, All night long

Tell Kudu-Crawlin' Red, tell Abyssinian Ned
Tell ol' Pistol Pete, everybody gonna meet
Tonight we need no rest, we really gonna throw a mess
We gonna to break out all of the windows,
we gonna kick down all the doors
We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long
All night long, All night long, All night long

Tell Fats and Washboard Sam, that everybody gonna to jam
Tell Shaky and Boxcar Joe, we got sawdust on the floor
Tell Peg and Caroline Dye, we gonna have a time
When the fish scent fill the air, there'll be snuff juice everywhere
We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long
All night long, All night long

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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MP3: Koko Taylor – “Wang Dang Doodle”

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MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Karen Elson’s Twisted Elegance, “The Truth Is In The Dirt”
John Lennon’s Junk Sick Noise, “Cold Turkey”
Sharon Jones’ Heat Seeking Howl; Dap-Kings Rumble, “Money”
Scream Black Merda, “Cynthy-Ruth”
Ragged Daydream: The Moondoggies, “It’s a Shame, It’s a Pity””

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Karen Elson’s Twisted Elegance, “The Truth Is In The Dirt”

2010-10-12T21:15:00.002-04:00

With her brick red mane and milky white complexion, red-hot British belle Karen Elson is more than a fetching face in the crowd -- yeah she’s Jack White’s ball and chain, but she is also a founding member of cabaret troupe The Citizens Band.

Recorded at Third Man Studios in Nashville, Music City chanteuse’s debut outing, The Ghost Who Walks covers sweeping swathes of haunted terrain: from vintage dust bowl country twang to weather beaten gothic folk stylings. The breathtaking second single, “The Truth Is In The Dirt” has managed to take hold as the asylum’s favorite cut: shocks of spooky organ crack while slinking guitar lines entombed in fuzz lurk behind Elson’s distilled croon: “The truth is in the dirt on the ground / not on the blazing horse from the midnight sun / the fire will turn your bones to dust,”

“The Truth Is In The Dirt”
Written by: Karen Elson

The truth is in the dirt on the ground
The truth is in the dirt on the ground
not in your gilded cage with your rusted spoon
when the ground splits open it will swallow you

The truth is in the dirt on the ground
The truth is in the dirt on the ground
not in your poison tongue or your acid tears
let the truth howl in your ears

You should come, it's killing time
flames are burning behind her eyes
here she comes, it's killing time
flames are burning behind her eyes

The truth is in the dirt on the ground
The truth is in the dirt on the ground
Not in your claws, drawn-out scratch 'til it bleeds
knocked down dead gets what she needs

The truth is in the dirt on the ground
The truth is in the dirt on the ground
not on the blazing horse from the midnight sun
the fire will turn your bones to dust

here she comes, it's killing time
flames are burning behind her eyes
here she comes, it's killing time
flames are burning behind her eyes

The truth is in the dirt on the ground
The truth is in the dirt on the ground
not in your gilded cage with your rusted spoon
when the ground splits open it will swallow you

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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Karen Elson-The Truth Is In The Dirt by doctormooney

MP3: Karen Elson – “Truth Is In The Dirt”

Download unlimited songs to your iPhone or Android. Choose from over 9 million songs on MOG. Try it free now!

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
John Lennon’s Junk Sick Noise, “Cold Turkey”
Sharon Jones’ Heat Seeking Howl; Dap-Kings Rumble, “Money”
Scream Black Merda, “Cynthy-Ruth”
Ragged Daydream: The Moondoggies, “It’s a Shame, It’s a Pity””
Lost and Found: Ron Davies, “It Ain’t Easy”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

John Lennon’s Junk Sick Noise, “Cold Turkey”

2010-10-08T23:15:00.020-04:00

Cast off as a Beatles single release at the tail end of their Abbey Road sessions, the raucous guttural stomp of “Cold Turkey” made its inaugural appearance during the Toronto Rock & Roll Revival 1969. Two weeks later, Lennon and his band of misfits, The Plastic Ono Band, including Eric Clapton and Ringo Starr, recorded the ode to kicking heroin cold turkey style at Abbey Road and Trident Studios. The track hit number 14 in the United Kingdom, and number 30 in the United States, despite being banned from American airwaves.

You can practically feel the shiver-inducing, heavy heroin gloom in this track: suffering, pain and anguish in Lennon’s smack-addled, tortured wail, along with Clapton’s potent, hypnotizing jagged riff. The lack of treble and echo in Starr’s kit and Voormann's bass evokes an eerie hopelessness. Lennon moans, “I promise you anything / Get me out of this hell / Cold turkey has got me / On the run,”

John Lennon, vocals, electric guitar; Eric Clapton, electric guitar; Klaus Voormann, bass; Ringo Starr, drums.

“Cold Turkey”
Written by: John Lennon

Temperature's rising,
Fever is high,
Can't see no future,
Can't see no sky.

My feet are so heavy,
So is my head,
I wish I was a baby,
I wish I was dead.

Cold turkey has got me on the run.

My body is aching,
Goose-pimple bone,
Can't see no body,
Leave me alone.

My eyes are wide open,
Can't get to sleep,
One thing I'm sure of,
I'm in at the deep freeze.

Cold turkey has got me on the run.
Cold turkey has got me on the run.

Thirty-six hours,
Rolling in pain,
Praying to someone,
Free me again.

Oh I'll be a good boy,
Please make me well,
I promise you anything,
Get me out of this hell.

Cold turkey has got me on the run.
Oh-, oh-, oh--, oh...

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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"PLAY LOUD"

John Lennon-Cold Turkey (Single Version) by doctormooney

MP3: Plastic Ono Band – “Cold Turkey”

Download unlimited songs to your iPhone or Android. Choose from over 9 million songs on MOG. Try it free now!
MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Sharon Jones’ Heat Seeking Howl; Dap-Kings Rumble, “Money”
Scream Black Merda, “Cynthy-Ruth”
Ragged Daydream: The Moondoggies, “It’s a Shame, It’s a Pity””
Lost and Found: Ron Davies, “It Ain’t Easy”
Soul Survivor: Mavis Staples, “Creep Along, Moses”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Sharon Jones’ Heat Seeking Howl; Dap-Kings Rumble, “Money”

2010-10-07T22:15:00.004-04:00

With four albums under their belts--including 2007’s 100 Days, 100 Nights--and their newfangled Bosco Mann-produced, Daptone Records-released, I Learned The Hard Way, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings have managed to become more than a copy-cat band; successfully carrying on the long-lasting tradition of celebrated, American soul groups.

Check out their power-packed ode to “Money,” where soul sister number one is pining for coin and dishing on the recession, “Money, why won’t you stay awhile? /…. Banks folding / President scratching his head / The economy is bad / Wall Street about to lose their mind / Going up and down,” This is a street-tough track that lurks to start, smooth as dynaflow, building into a full-fledged blistering seismic shuffle - a funktified wildfire where the eight-piece Dap-Kings set the backing ablaze.

Sharon Jones, vocals. The Dap Kings are: Homer Steinweiss, drums; Binky Griptite, guitar; Bugaloo Velez, congas; Dave Guy, trumpet; Tommy 'TNT' Brenneck, guitar; Bosco Mann, bass; Neal Sugarman,Tenor; Ian Hendrickson-Smith, baritone.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings-Money by doctormooney

MP3: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – “Money”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Scream Black Merda, “Cynthy-Ruth”
Ragged Daydream: The Moondoggies, “It’s a Shame, It’s a Pity””
Lost and Found: Ron Davies, “It Ain’t Easy”
Soul Survivor: Mavis Staples, “Creep Along, Moses”
Get To Know Bo Diddley’s Amplified Heat Wave, “I Can Tell”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Scream Black Merda, “Cynthy-Ruth”

2010-10-04T22:15:00.003-04:00

The Motor City quartet, branded with a menacing moniker - initially Murder Incorporated, Black Murder and finally settling up on the less quarrel-inducing Black Merda—originally served as backing for agent of soul, war-groovster Edwin Starr. Later, they snubbed offers from Motown producer Norman Whitfield and Temptations’ first tenor, Eddie Kendricks, eventually signing with Chicago-based Chess records – home of their favorite album, Muddy Waters' Electric Mud (1968).

In 1970, Chess released Black Merda’s self-titled long player to little fanfare. A killer slab of bullet-laced funk somewhere in between Hendrix-like wailing, scrapyard grinds and the high octane p-funk of Parliament. Patients, Black Merda should have been a stone cold knockout.

The double-barreled bombast of debut single “Cynthy-Ruth” (2095) is the cut rocking our rock ‘n roll stethoscopes. This is a bonafide classic, stamped with its hard-boiled encroaching haze of wah-wahs, soulscarring grunts and ‘Hoo-Hoo’ uppercuts.

Black Merda: Anthony Hawkins; guitar, Charles Hawkins; guitar, VC Veasey; bass, Tyrone Hite; drums

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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Black Merda-Cynthy-Ruth by doctormooney

MP3: Black Merda – “Cynthy-Ruth”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Ragged Daydream: The Moondoggies, “It’s a Shame, It’s a Pity””
Lost and Found: Ron Davies, “It Ain’t Easy”
Soul Survivor: Mavis Staples, “Creep Along, Moses”
Get To Know Bo Diddley’s Amplified Heat Wave, “I Can Tell”
Hacienda’s High Octane Prowl, “Who’s [sic] Heart Are You Breaking”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Ragged Daydream: The Moondoggies, “It’s a Shame, It’s a Pity”

2010-10-02T20:15:00.005-04:00

Patients, meet the Moondoggies, the Pacific Northwest’s remedy to your musical doldrums. With their 10-track sophomore album, Tidelands in the can – awaiting release on Sub Pop imprint Hardly Art on October 12 - the Emerald City foursome will hit the road with Laurel Canyon ragamuffins, Dawes, on a brief Fall tour through the Midwest and West Coast.

Leadoff cut, “It’s a Shame, It’s a Pity” starts hushed, peaceful, strolling with a back porch acoustic groove. The song ignites with panoramic flare when the full band kicks in: striking three-part harmonies, pounding rhythm, sinking their roots deep into the best of what vintage blend Americana has to offer. Frontman Kevin Murphy, “Many of the lyrics came to me while trying to be constructive in how I dealt with feeling depressed, rather than just getting wrapped up in my own head.”

The Moondoggies are: Kevin Murphy, vocals, guitar; Carl Dahlen, drummer; Caleb Quick, keyboard; Robert Terreberry, bass.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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The Moondoggies-It's A Shame, It's A Pity by doctormooney

MP3: The Moondoggies – “It’s a Shame, It’s a Pity”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Lost and Found: Ron Davies, “It Ain’t Easy”
Soul Survivor: Mavis Staples, “Creep Along, Moses”
Get To Know Bo Diddley’s Amplified Heat Wave, “I Can Tell”
Hacienda’s High Octane Prowl, “Who’s [sic] Heart Are You Breaking”
Sugar Pie Desanto and Etta James’ Subterranean Shakedown, “In The Basement (Part 1 & 2)”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Lost and Found: Ron Davies, “It Ain’t Easy”

2010-09-26T20:15:00.003-04:00

Originally written, recorded and ushered in by little-known Music City Troubadour Ron Davies, later covered by UK rocker pups, Three Dog Night and the celebrated Thin White Duke, David Bowie –Davies’ take on “It Ain’t Easy” is a long neglected, one of a kind classic.

Ron Davies’ debut long player Silent Song Through The Land—recorded in 1970, after Davies was signed by A&M Records at age twenty—is made up of nine blue-ribbon cuts – each one original and full spirited. First single and lead-off track, “It Ain’t Easy” is easily given highest rank amongst the doctors and nursemaids here at the asylum- a cut aided on the 88s by Leon Russell, Davies’ voice quivers with the gentle ache of an evangelist, while the rolling thunder refrain rumbles with rejoice, taking wing: “It ain't easy, it ain't easy / It ain't easy to get to heaven / When youre going down,”

Ron Davies, acoustic guitar/vocals; Leon Russell, piano; Mike Deasy, lead guitar; Chad Stuart, bass; Jim Keltner, Drums; Merry Clayton, Venetta Fields, Clydie King, background voices.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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Ron Davies - It Ain't Easy by doctormooney

MP3: Ron Davies – “It Ain’t Easy”

ZIP: Ron Davies – Silent Song Through The Land

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Soul Survivor: Mavis Staples, “Creep Along, Moses”
Get To Know Bo Diddley’s Amplified Heat Wave, “I Can Tell”
Hacienda’s High Octane Prowl, “Who’s [sic] Heart Are You Breaking”
Sugar Pie Desanto and Etta James’ Subterranean Shakedown, “In The Basement (Part 1 & 2)”
Madcapped Romance: The Fling, “Wanderingfoot”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Soul Survivor: Mavis Staples, “Creep Along, Moses”

2010-09-23T22:15:00.007-04:00

A sinister guitar line lurks behind 71-year-old Mavis Staples’ spirited husky contralto, as the soul chanteuse sings in harmony during the thunder-infected refrain: “Creep along Moses Moses creep along / Creep Along Moses I Thank God,”

For her latest release, Gospel’s leading light, Mavis Staples has teamed up with Wilco frontman, Jeff Tweedy for her 13th solo album and Anti- records sophomore release, You Are Not Alone. Recorded at Wilco’s studio The Loft, You Are Not Alone is an evenhanded glorious collection of traditional numbers and covers: Pops Staples, Randy Newman, Allen Toussaint, John Fogerty, Reverend Gary Davis and Little Milton. Plus, a pair of tracks penned by the album’s producer Jeff Tweedy, “You Are Not Alone” and “Only The Lord Knows.”

“Creep Along, Moses” is the go to cut for many of the doctors and nursemaids here at the asylum. A rolling, triumphant take on a Traditional that Mavis learned from her father, the Patriarch of the Staples Singers, Pops. The vocals are heavenly and the short grumpy guitar bursts shine.

Mavis Staples, vocals; Rick Holmstrom, guitar, vocals; Jeff Turmes, bass, vocals; Stephen Hodges, drums; Kelly Hogan, Nora O’Connor, Donny Gerrard, background vocals.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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Mavis Staples - Creep Along Moses by doctormooney
MP3: Mavis Staples – “Creep Along, Moses”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Get To Know Bo Diddley’s Amplified Heat Wave, “I Can Tell”
Hacienda’s High Octane Prowl, “Who’s [sic] Heart Are You Breaking”
Sugar Pie Desanto and Etta James’ Subterranean Shakedown, “In The Basement (Part 1 & 2)”
Madcapped Romance: The Fling, “Wanderingfoot”
Torched Teardrops: Elmore James and His Broom Dusters, “The Sky is Crying”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Get To Know Bo Diddley’s Amplified Heat Wave, “I Can Tell”

2010-09-20T23:15:00.004-04:00

A minor hit for the rock ‘n roll swashbucklers Johnny & the Pirates, resuscitated by UK punk trailblazers Dr. Feelgood. But neither could match the signature two-bit, freight train beat of Bo Diddley – Rock’s mad scientist and founding father’s take on “I Can Tell.”

Recorded on June 27, 1962, the “You Can’t Judge A Book By Its Cover” B-Side is musical hypnosis at its finest: Diddley dispatches rumbling vocals, coupled with veiled heartache and the backing deploys trancelike riptide-ridden rhythms. Focus on the inextinguishable blend of hypnotizing tremolo and bottom that seeks like a frayed-wired sidewinder. A true force of nature.

(Bo Diddley, vocals, guitar; Jerome Green, maracas; Jesse James Johnson, bass; Billy Downing; drums).

“I Can Tell”
Written by: Ellas McDaniel and Samuel Bernard Smith

I can tell because it's plain to see
I can tell the way you look at me
The way you know, you hold my hand
Yes, pretty baby I can understand
I can tell, I can tell
I know you don't love me no more

No more, no more
No more, a-no more
I can tell, I can tell
I know you don't love me no more

I asked your mama and your papa, too
What more can a poor man do?
Now, you been runnin' with a heart-breaker child, around
Yes, a new boy's why you put me down
I can tell, I can tell
I know you don't love me no more

(Instrumental)

Well, you won't answer your telephone
When I knock on your door
They say that you ain't home
Your sister let me in
And tell me I can wait
When you come home

You show up real late

Now, I can tell
Oh, I can tell
I know you don't love me no more

No more
I said, no more
No more
No more

Baby, I can give you romance
Only if you give me another chance
I'll cook your food and wash your clothes
I promise I'll keep your warm when it get cold

I can tell
I can tell
I know you don't love me no more

No more

FADES-

No more

A-no more.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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Bo Diddley-I Can Tell by doctormooney
MP3: Bo Diddley – “I Can Tell”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Hacienda’s High Octane Prowl, “Who’s [sic] Heart Are You Breaking”
Sugar Pie Desanto and Etta James’ Subterranean Shakedown, “In The Basement (Part 1 & 2)”
Madcapped Romance: The Fling, “Wanderingfoot”
Torched Teardrops: Elmore James and His Broom Dusters, “The Sky is Crying”
Midnight Creeping with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, “U.S. 41”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Hacienda’s High Octane Prowl, “Who’s [sic] Heart Are You Breaking”

2010-09-14T22:15:00.002-04:00

With the help of the Akron hoodoo man, Dan Auerbach, the boys from the Alamo City have done it again. Hacienda has managed to serve up a seductive stockpile of South Texas Soul on their Sophomore full-length, Big Red and Barbacoa.

After gigging with Dr. Dog, Alberta Cross, Heartless Bastards, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears; opening for Dan Auerbach on his Keep It Hid tour and serving as his backing band, Fast Five; the band salvaged two separate weekends to record the Alive Records, Big Red and Barbacoa at Auerbach’s Akron Analog Studio in Ohio.

Of the twelve cuts, the song we keep coming back to is the barnstorming racket and Herculean strut of lead-off track, “Who’s [sic] Heart Are You Breaking.” The quartet is backed by a surging firestorm - an unshakable, shiver-inducing, goose bump-ridden riff, suitable only for after hours consumption, while Rene Villanueva carves through and unfolds a bellyful of soul-squeezed and echo-laden lines, “How did this noon day get so dark / Whose heart are you breaking now.” This is electrifying rock ‘n roll rubbed raw. Not many neo-retro outfits can pull off a quick-draw high noon showdown with the ghosts of Rock’s past and triumph. Hacienda does that, and pulls it off with the swagger of a Molotov cocktail.

Hacienda’s Big Red and Barbacoa is out now on Alive Records

Hacienda are:
Dante Schwebel (guitar/vocals)
Abraham Villanueva (piano/organ/vocals)
Jamie Villanueva (drums/vocals)
Rene Villanueva (bass/vocals)

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

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Hacienda - Who's Heart Are You Breaking by doctormooney
MP3: Hacienda – “Who’s Heart Are You Breaking”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Sugar Pie Desanto and Etta James’ Subterranean Shakedown, “In The Basement (Part 1 & 2)”
Madcapped Romance: The Fling, “Wanderingfoot”
Torched Teardrops: Elmore James and His Broom Dusters, “The Sky is Crying”
Midnight Creeping with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, “U.S. 41”
Slim Harpo’s Southern-Fried March, “Folsom Prison Blues”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Sugar Pie Desanto and Etta James’ Subterranean Shakedown, “In The Basement (Part 1 & 2)”

2010-09-12T22:15:00.006-04:00

Patients, today we have a ferocious pair of long lost knockout tracks from the double- dealing Chess-mates, pint-sized diva Sugar Pie Desanto and Her Majesty of the Blues, Etta James. Two muscular ditties that have shades of nasty, back-alley grit, Chicago blues fire and pistol-whipped funk.

Of the three tag-team duets that cousins Sugar Pie and Etta cut together for Chess, the impromptu “In The Basement (Part 1 & 2)” seven-inch is the preferred single of the doctors and nursemaids here at the asylum. Released in 1966, side one Part One is a ripping supercharged soul feast of all-night stomp – a sweat soaked surging bullet of razor sharp grooves. Sugar Pie and Etta go line for line, toe-to-toe: “Ohh, now tell me where can you party, child, all night long? / In the basement, down in the basement, yeah,” Part Two doesn’t quite pack the punch of the flip-side, but possesses the same get down spirit as Part One.

“In The Basement (Part 1)”
Written by: Sugar Pie Desanto and Etta James

Ohh, now tell me where can you party, child, all night long?
In the basement, down in the basement, yeah.
Oh where can you go when your money gets low?
In the basement, whoa down in the basement
And if a storm is taking place, you can jam and still be safe
In the basement, down in the basement, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Where can you dance to any music you choose?
In the basement, whoa down in the basement
Oh, you got the comforts of home, a nightclub too.
In the basement, whoa down in the basement.
There’s no cover charge or fee and the food and drinks are free,
In the basement, down in the basement

Come on child, you can do it, you can do it, yeah

In the basement, that’s where it’s at (4x)
In the basement, in the basement, in the basement
that’s where its at

(You tell ‘em)
Where they don’t, where they don’t check you age at the door,
In the basement, whoa down in the basement
Barracuda and [?] ‘til your feet get sore
In the basement, whoa down in the basement
Do any dance you want to do, there’s no one under you
In the basement, I know it, you tell ‘em oh-h-h-h I wanna go

In the basement, that’s where it’s at (4x)

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Sugar Pie and Etta

Sugar Pie Desanto and Etta James - In The Basement (Part 1) by doctormooney
MP3: Sugar Pie Desanto & Etta James – “In The Basement (Part 1)”

Sugar Pie Desanto and Etta James - In The Basement (Part 2) by doctormooney
MP3: Sugar Pie Desanto & Etta James – “In The Basement (Part 2)”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Madcapped Romance: The Fling, “Wanderingfoot”
Torched Teardrops: Elmore James and His Broom Dusters, “The Sky is Crying”
Midnight Creeping with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, “U.S. 41”
Slim Harpo’s Southern-Fried March, “Folsom Prison Blues”
Locomotive Boogie: Justin Townes Earle, “Harlem River Blues”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Madcapped Romance: The Fling, “Wanderingfoot”

2010-09-08T22:15:00.004-04:00

Long Beach, California is swiftly becoming a musical mecca – a rampant breeding ground for tomorrow’s indie-darlings: Dawes, Avi Buffalo, Delta Spirit, The Growlers, Deep See Diver. Now patients, we know it’s no small honor to be considered one of the best up-and-coming bands coming out of the LBC, but we think we have a legitimate candidate after listening to The Fling’s stellar maiden voyage, When The Madhouses Appear.

Produced by The Fling and recorded by Matt Wignall, When The Madhouses Appear is simply a fine debut album - a showcase in musical honesty that manages to recall the sound of the old guard, but coax the panoramic soundscapes into being their own. The doctors and nursemaids are diggin’ the cuts, “Strangers,” “Elinor,” “Out Of My Head,” “Dry The Rain” and “Cold Comfort,” but our rock ‘n roll stethoscopes are hooked on the 70s-tinged, AM-dial psychic sting of lead single, “Wanderingfoot.” A track that features refreshing melodies that ring bright, soaring lap steel and lyrics of lovesick retreat: “Find a place to hide / away from you,”

The Fling are:
Dustin Lovelis – guitar, vocals
Graham Lovelis – bass, vocals
Justin Ivey – drums
Justin Roeland – guitar, keys, vocals

When The Madhouses Appear is available on iTunes, Amazon and through their Band Camp

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of The Fling
The Fling - Wanderingfoot by doctormooney

MP3: The Fling – “Wandering Foot”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Torched Teardrops: Elmore James and His Broom Dusters, “The Sky is Crying”
Midnight Creeping with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, “U.S. 41”
Slim Harpo’s Southern-Fried March, “Folsom Prison Blues”
Locomotive Boogie: Justin Townes Earle, “Harlem River Blues”
Chuck Berry’s Motorvatin’ Pursuit of “Nadine”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Torched Teardrops: Elmore James and His Broom Dusters, “The Sky is Crying”

2010-09-06T15:15:00.003-04:00

Covered by the leading lights of the blues world, Freddie King, Sonny Boy Williamson, Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan, “The Sky is Crying,” is a smoldering side. Originally cut by Elmore James—perhaps his top track— it was recorded in the Windy City and released in 1960 on Bobby Richards’ New York City-based Fire label, Fire 1016.

Written spur-of-the-moment, in a Chicago rainstorm and recorded that night, this hot-blooded track—credited to Elmo James—delivers on multiple fronts: rib-sticking wails, lacerating steel-string slide assaults and searing jolts of soul stirring backing.

Recorded: 1959, Chicago
Producer: Bobby Robinson
Elmore James: vocal/guitar; Odie Payne: drums; John A. Williamson (aka: Homesick James): bass; Johnny Jones: piano; J. T. Brown: saxophone
Released: 1960 "The Sky is Crying" b/w "Held My Baby Last Night" (Fire 1016)

“The Sky is Crying”
Written by: Elmore James

The sky is cryin, look at the tears roll down the street.
The sky is cryin, look at the tears roll down the street.
I'm wadin in tears lookin for my baby,
And I wonder, where can she be?

I saw my baby one mornin, and she was walkin on down the street.
I saw my baby one mornin, and she was walkin on down the street.
Made me feel so good,
Until my poor heart would skip a beat.

I got a bad feelin, my baby, my baby don't love me no more.
I got a bad feelin, my baby don't love me no more.
Now, the sky's been cryin,
The tears rollin down my nose.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Elmore James
Elmore James and His Broom Dusters - The Sky Is Crying by doctormooney

MP3: Elmore James and His Broom Dusters – “The Sky is Crying”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Midnight Creeping with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, “U.S. 41”
Slim Harpo’s Southern-Fried March, “Folsom Prison Blues”
Locomotive Boogie: Justin Townes Earle, “Harlem River Blues”
Chuck Berry’s Motorvatin’ Pursuit of “Nadine”
Delta Spirit’s Kerosene Blaze, “Bushwick Blues”

FROM THE ASYLUM VAULTS: PATIENT FAVES
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
‘Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Midnight Creeping with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, “U.S. 41”

2010-09-02T22:15:00.005-04:00

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers 12th studio album and first collection of tracks with The Heartbreakers since 2002’s The Last DJ, is a departure from the Tom Petty that you thought you were acquainted with. Mojo is The Heartbreakers’ heavy-handed salute to the blues – an album that is steeped in the hotfooted Southern blues romps that were recorded live in-studio with no overdubs. Keyboard guru Benmont Tench: “When we sit around and we don’t have anything to learn or rehearse and we’re just messing around, this is the kind of music we play.” Petty cements their firm affinity for the blues with, “This is where the band lives when it’s playing for itself.”

This blue-chip long player is filled to the gills with a handful of superb cuts: “Jefferson Jericho Blues,” “Running Man's Bible,” “I Should Have Known It,” “Takin' My Time,” “Good Enough,” - the cut our rock ‘n roll stethoscopes are strung out over is their stand out, high-speed expressway take on the country blues, “U.S. 41.” Petty and the gang deliver a rugged workout that would sound right at home at an after-hours juke joint on Chicago’s Maxwell Street, 1964. Petty’s swamp water warble pairs perfectly with Campbell’s piercing dagger-like slide lines, Blair's bedrock-steady bass runs and Thurston’s bullish harp swoops of shrapnel.

Mojo is out now on Reprise Records

Tom Petty – guitar, vox
Mike Campbell - guitar
Benmont Tench - keys
Ron Blair - bass
Scott Thurston – mouth harp and guitar
Steve Ferrone – drums

“U.S. 41”
Written by: Tom Petty

My daddy came a marchin’
Over the hill at dawn
Had to make that wage man
That’s how we got along
My daddy’s life was workin’
Workin’ all day long
Put food on the table
And the children sang a song
Yes, the children sang a song

My grandad’s name was pulpwood
Wore a coat of green
Took a wife in ‘31
Drove the big machine
My daddy load the lumber
Put it on the truck
Used to see him walkin’ home on U.S. 41
That’s right, U.S. 41

All my life’s been workin’
Out the door and gone
Got to make that overtime
Keep us movin’ on
Need a drink of water
To get out of the sun
Burnin’ up to make that wage on U.S. 41
That’s right, U.S. 41

The boss man owns the business
Keeps it goin’ strong
Be blowin’ like a hurricane and
Work like nothin’s wrong
We got to keep on movin’
‘til the bell gone ring
Fill her up with kerosene
And let that lady sing
Whoa now, let that lady sing

His given name was Lucky
His wife’s name Annie Brown
Run outside the law
And they chased him right on down
Lucky faced the lawman
The captain drew his gun
They put him with a sling blade
That’s right, U.S. 41
On U.S. 41

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of TP & THB
Tom Petty - U.S. 41 by doctormooney

MP3: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “U.S. 41”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Slim Harpo’s Southern-Fried March, “Folsom Prison Blues”
Locomotive Boogie: Justin Townes Earle, “Harlem River Blues”
Chuck Berry’s Motorvatin’ Pursuit of “Nadine”
Delta Spirit’s Kerosene Blaze, “Bushwick Blues”
Cookin’ with Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band: “Sure 'Nuff 'n Yes I Do" – One Fine Cut

Slim Harpo’s Southern-Fried March, “Folsom Prison Blues”

2010-08-30T22:15:00.004-04:00

Patients, the doctors and nursemaids here at the asylum know you are well-versed in Johnny Cash’s classic Sun Records penitentiary ballad, “Folsom Prison Blues,” but today we wanted to usher in Slim Harpo’s hip shakin’ treatment of the classic cut.

Recorded in 1969, a year prior to The Man in Black’s revival at Folsom Prison, Slim’s version handles Cash’s take on the big house with flawless command. You don’t get the infectious boom-chick-a-boom from the Cash treatment, but this Bob Wilson-produced reworking delivers a dose of rousing stovepipe soul; a rave-up, complete with the Bayou state bluesman’s sly nasal drawl, creeping slide assault and horny squalls of Slim’s trademark swamp groove. Sadly, this Excello single was pulled from Harpo’s final recording session – he died of a massive heart attack less than a year later.

“Folsom Prison Blues”
Written by: John R. Cash

I hear the train a comin'
rollin' 'round the bend,
ain't seen the sunshine,
Since, I don't know when,
I'm stuck in Folsom Prison,
And time keeps draggin' on,
And the train keeps a-rollin',
On down to San Antone.

When I was a baby,
My Mama told me, "Son,
Always be a good boy,
Don't ever play with guns,"
But I shot a man in Reno,
Just to watch him die,
When I hear that train comin’,
I hang my head and cry.

I bet there's rich folks eatin',
In that fancy dining car,
They're probably drinkin' whiskey,
And smokin' big cigars,
But I know I had it comin',
I know I can't be free,
But those people keep a-movin',
And that's what tortures me.

Well, if they freed me from this prison,
If that railroad train was mine,
I'd move out over a little,
Farther down the line,
Far from Folsom Prison,
That's where I want to stay,
And I'd let that lonesome whistle,
Blow my Blues away.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Slim
MP3: Slim Harpo – “Folsom Prison Blues”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Locomotive Boogie: Justin Townes Earle, “Harlem River Blues”
Chuck Berry’s Motorvatin’ Pursuit of “Nadine”
Delta Spirit’s Kerosene Blaze, “Bushwick Blues”
Cookin’ with Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band: “Sure 'Nuff 'n Yes I Do" – One Fine Cut
Sing Along with Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three: “La La Blues”

Locomotive Boogie: Justin Townes Earle, “Harlem River Blues”

2010-08-27T23:15:00.002-04:00

Son of a country outlaw, branded with the namesake of a songwriting legend, New York City via Nashville singer-songwriter Justin Townes Earle rambles in the same weater-beaten cowboy boots as his old man, Steve Earle and Townes Van Zandt.

Now, the prodigal son readies his third Bloodshot Records long player, Harlem River Blues - the follow-up to last year’s Midnight at the Movies. Earle’s inspiration: “I drove over the Harlem River one time and it was just the most desolate-looking thing I’d ever seen… it’s just the nastiest body of water you’ve ever seen in your life. And I guess it just kind of inspired me a little bit.”

The album burns out of the gate with the title track and eponymous single, “Harlem River Blues” – a track injected with sturdy juke-joint swagger and unmistakable life. With the Harlem River as its muse, this surefooted number kicks out a soulful, choir-backed jam with Earle’s wistful pleas for the dirty water of the Harlem: “Lord, I'm goin' uptown to the Harlem River to drown / Dirty water gonna cover me over and I'm not gonna make a sound,”

Harlem River Blues is out September 14th on Bloodshot Records.

“Harlem River Blues”
Written by: Justin Townes Earle

Lord, I'm goin' uptown to the Harlem River to drown
Dirty water gonna cover me over and I'm not gonna make a sound

I'm on a roll, mama, I gotta go, gotta get there while I still can
Troubled days are behind me now and I know they're gonna let me in
When you see me walkin' up the empty yard, just a-singin' and a-clappin' my hands
Tell my mama I love her, tell my father I tried, give my money to my baby to spend

'cause Lord, I'm goin' uptown to the Harlem River to drown
Dirty water gonna cover me over and I'm not gonna make a sound

Good times come and they go, even a good man'll break
He'll let his troubles bury him whole even though he knows what's at stake
So I'm taking no chances, carrying over while I'm still good in His grace
I'm no fool, mama, I know the difference between tempting and choosing my fate

'cause Lord, I'm goin' uptown to the Harlem River to drown
Dirty water gonna cover me over and I'm not gonna make a sound

Lord, I'm goin' uptown to the Harlem River to drown
Dirty water gonna cover me over and I'm not gonna make a sound

Lord, I'm goin' uptown to the Harlem River to drown
Dirty water gonna cover me over and I'm not gonna make a sound

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of JTE
MP3: Justin Townes Earle – “Harlem River Blues”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Chuck Berry’s Motorvatin’ Pursuit of “Nadine”
Delta Spirit’s Kerosene Blaze, “Bushwick Blues”
Cookin’ with Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band: “Sure 'Nuff 'n Yes I Do" – One Fine Cut
Sing Along with Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three: “La La Blues”
Louie and The Lovers’ High Wire Romp, "Sittin’ By Your River"

Chuck Berry’s Motorvatin’ Pursuit of “Nadine”

2010-08-24T22:34:00.004-04:00

Fifty-five years ago, armed with a cherry-colored ES-355, Saint Louis blues picker and former beautician, Chuck Berry aimed to conquer the world with his hip-shaking rock ‘n roll and smooth licks. Tracks like "Johnny B. Good," "Maybelline," "Sweet Little Sixteen," and "Rock and Roll Music" became standards. His fortune changed in 1959, when, while gigging in El Paso, Berry transported Janice Escalanti, a juvenile Native American lass, across state lines to Missouri for work as a hat check girl at his nightspot, Club Bandstand. Berry was tried twice and later sentenced to three years in jail.

While behind bars his popularity snowballed: his songs were being covered by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones were cutting their teeth on Berry and the Beach Boys made a note-by-note cover of the maestros "Sweet Little Sixteen" ["Surfin’ U.S.A"]. After his release in 1963 he resumed recording and touring. Chess released six singles between February 1964/March 1965, four of them "No Particular Place To Go," "Promised Land," "You Never Can Tell" and “Nadine” were penned in the Federal Medical Center and among his finest. Of those four cuts, the track that gets the doctors and nursemaids motorin’ is the rival to "Maybelline" and his first post-prison song - "Nadine" – an essential to do the duck walk and dance the frug to. Take note of the driving go-go beat, Berry’s frenzied public transportation pursuit and that renowned coffee-colored Cadillac.

“Nadine”
Written by: Chuck Berry
As I got on a city bus and found a vacant seat,
I thought I saw my future bride walkin' up the street,
I shouted to the driver, "Hey conductor, you must slow down.
I think I see her, please let me off the bus."

Nadine, honey, is that you?
Oh, Nadine, honey, is that you?
Seem like every time I see you,
Darlin' you got somethin' else to do.

I saw her from the corner when she turned and doubled back,
And started walkin toward a coffee-colored cadillac.
I was pushin' through the crowd tryin' to get to where she's at,
And I was campaign-shoutin' like a southern diplomat.

Nadine, honey, is that you?
Oh, Nadine, honey, where are you?
Seems like every time I catch up witcha,
You're up to somethin' new.

Downtown searchin' for her, lookin' all around.
Saw her gettin' in a yellow cab, headin' uptown.
I caught a loaded taxi, paid up everybody's tab.
Flipped a twenty-dollar bill an' told him, "Catch that yellow cab."

Nadine, honey, is that you?
Oh, Nadine, honey, is that you?
Seem like every time I catch up witcha,
You're up to somethin' new.

She moves around like a wayward summer breeze.
"Go, driver, go, go'on, catch her for me please."
Movin' thru the traffic like a mounted cavalier.
Leanin' out the taxi window tryin' to make her hear.

Nadine, honey, is that you?
Oh, Nadine, honey, is that you?
Seem like every time I see you,
Darlin' you up to somethin' new.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Chess 1883
MP3: Chuck Berry – “Nadine”

"If you wanted to give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry,"
–John Lennon

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Delta Spirit’s Kerosene Blaze, “Bushwick Blues”
Cookin’ with Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band: “Sure 'Nuff 'n Yes I Do" – One Fine Cut
Sing Along with Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three: “La La Blues”
Louie and The Lovers’ High Wire Romp, "Sittin’ By Your River"
Glorious Rays of Kinky Sleaze on The Growlers’ “Something Someone Jr.”

Delta Spirit’s Kerosene Blaze, “Bushwick Blues”

2010-08-22T20:15:00.004-04:00

After trotting around the globe for 290 shows over the last two years, golden state four-piece Delta Spirit have managed to churn out their Sophomore long player, History From Below – a first-rate follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut, Ode To Sunshine. Front man Matthew Vasquez explains, “It’s been three years of straight touring off our last record so most of the songs were written in hotel rooms and tested in front of an audience. We spent six months of this last year making a record that sums up three years of growing up.”

Our rock ‘n roll stethoscopes have been swinging to the sweltering urgency of lead single “Bushwick Blues.” Laid down at Prairie Sun Studio C in Cotati, CA – the setting for an exorcism and a pair Tom Waits’ Grammy winning albums, “Bushwick Blues” drives like an air raid and takes flight like a runaway freight train. The cut crests at the tail-end with Vasquez’s lip-curling bark: “Because my love is strong / And my heart is weak after all.”

History From Below is out now on Rounder Records

Check out the Kerri Kleiner produced and Banner Gwin directed video for “Bushwick Blues”

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Delta Spirit
MP3: Delta Spirit – “Bushwick Blues”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Cookin’ with Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band: “Sure 'Nuff 'n Yes I Do" – One Fine Cut
Sing Along with Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three: “La La Blues”
Louie and The Lovers’ High Wire Romp, "Sittin’ By Your River"
Glorious Rays of Kinky Sleaze on The Growlers’ “Something Someone Jr.”
Shootin’ and Lootin’: The Slickers, “Johnny Too Bad”

Cookin’ with Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band: “Sure 'Nuff 'n Yes I Do" – One Fine Cut

2010-08-19T11:15:00.004-04:00

CAUTION: ELECTRICITY MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO HEALTH

Trout Mask Replica. Ice Cream For Crow. Shiny Beast. All are untamable, twisted sonic blasts, but the album that wins our rock ‘n roll stethoscopes over every single time is Captain Beefheart’s Buddah Records debut long player, Safe As Milk (1967).

Along with “Zig Zag Wanderer“ and “Electricity,” the track that we can’t get enough of is the distilled brew of warped delta mayhem, “Sure 'Nuff 'n Yes I Do" – a rousing lead-off track that capsizes Muddy Waters’ “Rollin’ and Tumblin,’ the blueprint for the cut. This full-blown assault is led by Captain (Don Van Vliet) Beefheart’s four-and-a-half octave guttural growl and backed by a rhythm section, led by then 20-year-old guitar wiz Ry Cooder that deploys a groundswell of busty knots and thundering menace: “Hey hey hey all you young girls wherever you're at / I got a brand new Cadillac I got a Ferrari too / Sure 'nuff baby sure 'nuff 'n yes I do,”

"Sure 'Nuff 'n Yes I Do"
Written by: Don Van Vliet

Well I was born in the desert came on up from New Orleans
Came up on a tornado sunlight in the sky
I went around all day with the moon sticking in my eye

Hey hey hey all you young girls wherever you're at
I got a brand new Cadillac I got a Ferrari too
Sure 'nuff baby sure 'nuff 'n yes I do

Got the time to teach ya' now, bet you'll learn some too
Got the time to teach ya' now, bet you'll learn some too
Sure 'nuff baby sure 'nuff 'n yes I do

Hey hey hey all you young girls whatever you do
Hey hey hey all you young girls whatever you do
Well come on by and see me I'll make it worth it to you

.....with me and I'll ..with me and you
Sleep with me and I'll sleep with me and you
Stick with me and I'll stick with me and you.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of C.B.
MP3: Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band – “Sure 'Nuff 'n Yes I Do”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Sing Along with Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three: “La La Blues”
Louie and The Lovers’ High Wire Romp, "Sittin’ By Your River"
Glorious Rays of Kinky Sleaze on The Growlers’ “Something Someone Jr.”
Shootin’ and Lootin’: The Slickers, “Johnny Too Bad”
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

Sing Along with Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three: “La La Blues”

2010-08-09T20:15:00.001-04:00

Pokey Lafarge, a modern day balladeer in the truest sense, delivers his brand of deeply rooted dustbowl Appalachia-blues on his third offering--and Trade Root Music Group maiden voyage-- Riverboat Soul. Hailing from St. Louis, Mo, 27-year-old Mr. Lafarge and his dapper band of ragamuffins, the South City Three— Adam Hoskins, Joey Glynn and Ryan Koenig-- deliver a mighty fine collection of spirited takes that make the doctors and nursemaids feverishly hoot, holler, stomp our feet and clap our hands. Our favorite cut on Riverboat Soul comes in the form of “La La Blues”- a fistful of freewheeling ragtime, an oscillating groove and foot-tapping hook that shines brightly, a true cooker. Pokey exclaims: “One thing that’s happened is the new material is being written for a bigger sound with more vocals from my compadres, who all like to join in and make a joyful racket.”

Pokey Lafarge: Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica, Kazoo
Ryan “Churchmouse” Koenig: Washboard, Harmonica, Vocals
Adam “Boss Hoss” Hoskins: Guitar, Vocals
Joey Glynn: Upright Bass, Vocals

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three

MP3: Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three –“La La Blues”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Louie and The Lovers’ High Wire Romp, "Sittin’ By Your River"
Glorious Rays of Kinky Sleaze on The Growlers’ “Something Someone Jr.”
Shootin’ and Lootin’: The Slickers, “Johnny Too Bad”
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition

Louie and The Lovers’ High Wire Romp, "Sittin’ By Your River"

2010-08-02T21:15:00.001-04:00

Today we have an off-the-radar offering from Salinas California garage rockers, Louie and The Lovers—a Chicano four-piece fronted by Louie Ortega. Recorded in 1970 during one 18-hour session by Sir Douglass Quintet founder and Lonestar state legend, Doug Sahm, Rise is a treasure trove of top-notch ditties – one of great musical oversights by the audiophiles of the world. Why the release wasn’t a smashing success is shrouded in mystery.

Their debut long-player is filled to the brim with asylum approved tracks: “I Know You Know,” “Rise,” “Driver Go Slow,” “Royal Oakie,” but the cut the doctors and nursemaids are really taking to heart is the gripping rumble of “Sittin’ By Your River” - a swift stampede of winged fuzz and hard hitting buckshot wails: “Going to cast out my heart / going catch me a part of your soul.”

Louie and The Lovers:
Louie Ortega (singer/guitar)
Frank Paredes (guitar)
Steve Vargas (bassist)
Albert Parra (drums)

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Louie and the Lovers

MP3: Louie and the Lovers –“Sittin’ By Your River”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Glorious Rays of Kinky Sleaze on The Growlers’ “Something Someone Jr.”
Shootin’ and Lootin’: The Slickers, “Johnny Too Bad”
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Present an Exercise in Swirling Melancholy Madness on "Everytime I'm with You"

Glorious Rays of Kinky Sleaze on The Growlers’ “Something Someone Jr.”

2010-07-29T23:15:00.005-04:00

Patients, meet The Growlers, a barnstorming collective of sea-side tramps, hailing from the lowest registers of the Southern California coastline. Since 2006 they have self-released an eight EP collection called, Couples and opened for the likes of Devendra Barnhart and Dr. Dog.

Their debut album, Are You In Or Out?, is a treasure chest of lusty ditties. This is a brand of white-hot nuggets that shakes the rock ‘n roll family tree down to its foundation, rootlets and all. Next to “Acid Rain”, our favorite cut of their debut LP is album opener “Something Someone Jr.” Brooks Nielsen’s rattlesnake moan and his band of oddballs unleash a venomous saga of turbo-charged aftershocks – an adrenaline-infused brand of roadhouse blues that the doctors and nursemaids like to call: warped surf scuzz.

The Growlers are:
Brooks Nielson (vocals)
Scott Montoya (bass guitar, vocals,)
Matt Taylor (lead guitar, vocals)
Brian “don’t surf” Stewart (drums, vocals)

“Something Someone Jr.”
Written by: The Growlers

My spine just squinted and my eye is weak
I can’t find peace in a form of speech
My views change color red hot, ice cold
Black ain’t a color happiness ain’t gold
It’s hard for me to feel normal easy to feel free
It’s hard for you to understand if you can’t feel me
I ain’t in a western in a way I can grasp
I try to hold on to something that is fast
If something is a way of saying you don’t know
Then a name is just a way of being visible
My name is someone junior
Who is my dad
Mama is a Catherine Anne Hoover and she’s all that
And a bag of crypt
I’m a municipal and the mundane
I try to keep weird keep away from the same
I haven’t read an outline on how to pass youth
Rather than get passed I pass doobs
I’m out I’m in it’s hard to live in this given culture
All the hers and hims
All of the rats, snakes, and youth vultures around
My heart’s out of shape and my head’s in a cast
I try to hold on to something that is fast
If something is a way of saying you don’t know
Then a name is just a way of being visible....

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of The Growlers

MP3: The Growlers –“Something Someone Jr.”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Shootin’ and Lootin’: The Slickers, “Johnny Too Bad”
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Present an Exercise in Swirling Melancholy Madness on "Everytime I'm with You"
Son House and the Blind Owl Double Team "Levee Camp Moan"

Shootin’ and Lootin’: The Slickers, “Johnny Too Bad”

2010-07-28T14:15:00.003-04:00

In the summer of 1972, Perry Henzell released upon the world the Jamaican gangster film, The Harder They Come - an underground classic that kick-started American audiences' devotion to reggae. With the release of the film came a knockout soundtrack that was filled to the gills with direct-from-the-island, quintessential rocksteady and future reggae icons: Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker, Scotty and The Maytalls.

Nestled among a stockpile of classics is one of the most celebrated reggae hits, and a rock ‘n roll stethoscope approved track, by The Slickers, “Johnny Too Bad.” This Byron Lee produced cut is essentially the blueprint for the film, an urban bandit escapade, “Walking down the road / With your pistol in your waist,” robbing, stabbing, looting and shooting to the top. Filled with an alluring, golden voiced rudeboy and shanty town croons, this cut demonstrates that you don’t need to be laced with profanity and vivid violence to convey a menacing threat.

“Johnny Too Bad”
Written by: The Slicker

Walking down the road
With your pistol in your waist,
Johnny you're too bad.
Walking down the road
With your ratchet in your waist,
Johnny you're too bad.

You're just robbing and you're stabbing and you're looting and you're shooting
Now you're too bad.
You're just robbing and you're stabbing and you're looting and you're shooting
Now you're too bad.

One of these days when you hear a voice say come
Where you gonna run to
One of these days when you hear a voice say come
Where you gonna run to

You're gonna run to the rock for rescue
There will be no rock
You're gonna run to the rock for rescue
There will be no rock

{organ solo}

Walking down the road
With your pistol in your waist,
Johnny you're too bad.
Walking down the road
With your ratchet in your waist,
Johnny you're too bad.

You're just robbing and you're stabbing and you're looting and you're shooting
Now you're too bad.
You're just robbing and you're stabbing and you're looting and you're shooting
Now you're too bad.

One of these days when you hear a voice say come
Where you gonna run to
One of these days when you hear a voice say come
Where you gonna run to

You're gonna run to the rock for rescue
There will be no rock
You're gonna run to the rock for rescue
There will be no rock...

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

From the liner notes:
“walking down the road with a pistol in your waist, Johnny you’re too bad…” was the Slickers, and they should know: when the lawyer was getting copyright clearance on that tune, one of the writers was underground. The other was in death row.

Enjoy this single cc of The Slickers

MP3: The Slickers – “Johnny Too Bad”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Present an Exercise in Swirling Melancholy Madness on "Everytime I'm with You"
Son House and the Blind Owl Double Team "Levee Camp Moan"
All Hail the Queen of Rockabilly, Wanda Jackson: “Shakin’ All Over”

Tame Impala’s Deep Space Trip: “Solitude Is Bliss”

2010-07-21T14:15:00.003-04:00

Patients, not since the late ‘60s has a band sounded as cosmically in tune as Aussie Quartet, Tame Impala. Frontman Kevin Parker and drummer Jay Watson met close to a decade ago and during their first-ever US jaunt in June they played the role of openers for MGMT.

On their Modular Recordings debut long player InnerSpeaker, the Perth-based psych-rockers have managed to seize the disorienting brand of paisley-charged, madcapped dream pop with their well-executed penchant for psychedelia. First single, “Solitude Is Bliss” is a crisp REM-induced daydream that smokes with echo-laden hallucinatory acid-hued sonic booms.

Tame Impala are:
Kevin Parker – vocals, guitar
Jay "Gumby" Watson – drums, backing vocals
Dominic Simper – guitar & synth
Nick "Paisley Adams" Allbrook – bass

“Solitude Is Bliss”
Written by: Kevin Parker

Cracks in the pavement underneath my shoe
I care less and less about and less about you
No one else around to look at me
So I can look at my shadow as much as I please

All the kicks that I can't compare to
Making friends like they're all supposed to

You will never come close to how I feel (x2)

Space around me where my soul can breathe
I've got body that my mind can leave
Nothing else matters, I don't care what I miss
Company's okay
Solitude is bliss

There's a party in my head and no one is invited

And you will never come close to how I feel (x2)

Movement doesn't flow
Quite like it does when I'm alone
I'll be the one who's free
You and all your friends
Can watch me, today

Don't ask me how you're supposed to feel

You will never come close to how I feel (x4 fade out)

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Tame Impala

MP3: Tame Impala – “Solitude Is Bliss”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition
Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Present an Exercise in Swirling Melancholy Madness on "Everytime I'm with You"
Son House and the Blind Owl Double Team "Levee Camp Moan"
All Hail the Queen of Rockabilly, Wanda Jackson: “Shakin’ All Over”
Jackie Lomax’s Forgotten Gem, “Sour Milk Sea”

Bob Dylan Plugs In; Folkies Howl in Disgust for “Maggie’s Farm” – 45th Anniversary Edition

2010-07-19T22:15:00.003-04:00

July 25, 2010 marks the 45th Anniversary of Bob Dylan double-crossing the folkies, ‘plugging in’ and going electric at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island. It was Dylan's third year at the festival. Expecting to put together a traditional acoustic set, Dylan changed course the night before, swiftly putting together a band and rehearsing all night at a Newport manor; learning three songs: “Maggie’s Farm,” “Phantom Engineer” and “Like A Rolling Stone.”

"We want Dylan. We want Dylan."

It was bound to happen: Dylan dropping the Troubadour bit and arming himself with a sunburst Fender Stratocaster to begin his electric pilgrimage. After Cousin Emmy’s set, Dylan debuted a sound that would change the landscape of music. Peter Yarrow, sans Paul and Mary introduced the Dylan and his newly minted ensemble: "Ladies and gentlemen, the person that's going to come up now has a limited amount of time ... His name is Bob Dylan." An instant after the introduction the band roared into Bringing It All Back Home cut, “Maggie’s Farm” - unleashing a strict diet of booming electric reign while the congregation unchained a molotov cocktail of boos, jeers and caterwalls – along the lines of: “Play folk music! ... Sell out! ... This is a folk festival!” Mike Bloomfield, Sam Lay, Jerome Arnold, Al Kooper, and Barry Goldberg were the pushers of the rhythm as Dylan sneered: “No, I aint gonna work for Maggie's pa no more /
Well, he puts his cigar / Out in your face just for kicks / His bedroom window / It is made out of bricks / The National Guard stands around his door / Ah, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's pa no more.”

“Maggie’s Farm”
Written by: Bob Dylan

I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more
No, I aint gonna work on Maggie's farm no more
Well, I wake up in the morning
Fold my hands and pray for rain
I got a head full of ideas
That are drivin' me insane
It's a shame the way she makes me scrub the floor
I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more.

I ain't gonna work for Maggie's brother no more
No, I aint gonna work for Maggie's brother no more
Well, he hands you a nickel
He hands you a dime
He asks you with a grin
If you're havin' a good time
Then he fines you every time you slam the door
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's brother more.

I ain't gonna work for Maggie's pa no more
No, I aint gonna work for Maggie's pa no more
Well, he puts his cigar
Out in your face just for kicks
His bedroom window
It is made out of bricks
The National Guard stands around his door
Ah, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's pa no more.

I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more
No, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more
Well, when she talks to all the servants
About man and God and law
Everybody says
She's the brains behind pa
She's sixty-eight, but she says she's fifty-four
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.

I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more
I aint gonna work on Maggie's farm no more
Well, I try my best
To be just like I am
But everybody wants you
To be just like them
They say sing while you slave and I just get bored
I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more.

“Get that distortion out of his voice ... It's terrible. If I had an axe, I'd chop the microphone cable right now.”
- Pete Seeger

"That first note of 'Maggie's Farm' was the loudest thing anybody had ever heard."
- Joe Boyd

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Bob Dylan

MP3: Bob Dylan – “Maggie’s Farm” – Live at Newport 1965

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Present an Exercise in Swirling Melancholy Madness on "Everytime I'm with You"
Son House and the Blind Owl Double Team "Levee Camp Moan"
All Hail the Queen of Rockabilly, Wanda Jackson: “Shakin’ All Over”
Jackie Lomax’s Forgotten Gem, “Sour Milk Sea”
Pearly Gate Music Casts Heavenly Spell on "Big Escape"

Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Present an Exercise in Swirling Melancholy Madness on "Everytime I'm with You"

2010-07-18T11:15:00.002-04:00

A little less than a year ago - due to red tape and stormy legal fisticuffs-- the Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse and David Lynch collabo, Dark Night of the Soul was collecting dust on the EMI shelves. In May 2009, a 48-page book of stunningly strange photographs from revered director David Lynch was released bundled with a blank CD-R branded, "For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will." Now the long-delayed, beautiful, sonic soundscapes have officially been released.

Filled to the gills with an all-star gathering of contributions from the likes of the Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys, Julian Casablancas, Suzanne Vega, Black Francis, Iggy Pop, James Mercer, the late Vic Chesnutt and Nina Persson, this long player is a masterstroke of epic proportions. Of the 14 cuts, the track that hits us right in the rock ‘n roll stethoscope is the lovesick triumph, "Everytime I'm with You" by former Grandaddy frontman, Jason Lytle. This spooky, cosmic lullaby chillingly unspools, lulling the listener into the belly of the beast – an off-kiltered hypnotic carnival with swirling shadows and lyrical longing.

"Everytime I'm with You"
Written by: Danger Mouse, Mark Linkous and Jason Lytle

Every time I'm with you
I am drunk
And you are too

Well what the hell
Else are we
Supposed to do

Yeah every time
You come by
We get so trashed
And stay up all night

Well it's so wrong
But it's so right
Yeah, it's alright

Every time, Every time
Every time, Every time
Every time, Every time
I'm with you
I guess it's true

Every time, Every time
Every time, Every time
Every time, Every time
I'm with you
I guess it's true

And every time
I'm with you
I'm fucked up
And you are too

Well what the hell
Else are we
Supposed to do

Every time, Every time
Every time, Every time
Every time, Every time
I'm with you
I guess it's true

Every time, Every time
Every time, Every time
Every time, Every time
I'm with you
I guess it's true

Lyrics by Jason Lytle, Synthesizers and Wurlitzer by Danger Mouse, Bass, Electric Guitars and Optigan by Mark Linkous, Lead and Background Vocals, Electric Guitar and Synthesizer by Jason Lytle, Drums by Steve Nistor, Additional Engineering by Jason Lytle.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse

MP3: Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse feat. Jason Lytle – “Everytime I’m With You”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Son House and the Blind Owl Double Team "Levee Camp Moan"
All Hail the Queen of Rockabilly, Wanda Jackson: “Shakin’ All Over”
Jackie Lomax’s Forgotten Gem, “Sour Milk Sea”
Pearly Gate Music Casts Heavenly Spell on "Big Escape"
Magic Sam Blues Band’s Lovesick Warhorse, “All of Your Love”

Son House and the Blind Owl Double Team "Levee Camp Moan"

2010-07-14T22:15:00.005-04:00

Alan ‘Blind Owl’ Wilson was the primary pillar in the musical resurrection of the King of the Delta blues, Eddie J. “Son” House, Jr. In 1964—sixteen years after Son quit music and a few years before Wilson would form Canned Heat—he tracked House down in Rochester, New York and re-taught him the guitar parts from his 1930s Paramount sessions and Alan Lomax’s Library of Congress recordings – basically teaching Son House how to play Son House.

As far as Delta Blues go, the John Hammond produced, Columbia released Father of the Folk Blues is the high water mark for blues recordings in the 60s. 21 tracks were recorded during the sessions, and nine were released as CL 2417. The song that the doctors and nursemaids can’t get enough of comes at the end of the platter’s flip-side, "Levee Camp Moan.” This mesmerizing 9-minute cut features House’s overpowering, lethal roar, which sounds eerily like rolling thunder as he uncoils with industrial-strength force on his steel National guitar. Blind Owl’s harmonica accompaniment is masterful - perfectly blowing flawless hair-splitting notes, never trampling House’s volatile delivery and blazing bottleneck.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Son House

MP3: Son House – “Levee Camp Moan”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
All Hail the Queen of Rockabilly, Wanda Jackson: “Shakin’ All Over”
Jackie Lomax’s Forgotten Gem, “Sour Milk Sea”
Pearly Gate Music Casts Heavenly Spell on "Big Escape"
Magic Sam Blues Band’s Lovesick Warhorse, “All of Your Love”
Arcade Fire’s Indie Bravado Shines on their Serenade to Suburbia: “The Suburbs”

All Hail the Queen of Rockabilly, Wanda Jackson: “Shakin’ All Over”

2010-07-13T12:15:00.005-04:00

What we have here is 73 year-old Wanda Jackson - rockabilly’s leading lady-- joining forces with the aristocratic horseman of rock, Jack White to take on British buccaneers, Johnny Kidd and the Pirates' “Shakin' All Over” – the B-side to the Third Man Records single, “You Know I’m No Good.” The result: the Sooner songstress delivering her raunchy untamed drawl with riptide force; hard-edged blasts of brass, a chugging rhythm section and kinky lines of guitar fuzz – a downright enjoyable barnburner.

With a career spanning six decades, the First Lady of Rockabilly (who spent a brief stint dating Elvis Presley,) holds a stockpile of hits under her garter: “Let's Have a Party,” “Fujiyama Mama,” and “Riot in Cell block No. 9.” Bob Dylan pegged her as, “An atomic bomb in lipstick.” And if all goes as planned, her first LP since 2003 will be released on Nashville’s Third Man Records in September. White had this to say about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member’s upcoming untitled release, “It’s really powerful. We did a lot of songs that we had to abandon because they’re so outrageous. We just took it too far. And it’s all cover songs — we didn’t even have to go into originals. We just had so much energy to work with. I can’t wait for the record to come out; it’s just wild.”

“You Know I’m No Good” (Amy Winehouse) b/w “Shakin’ All Over” (Johnny Kidd & The Pirates) 7” is available at thirdmanrecords.com and digitally on iTunes - LP due in September.

“Shakin’ All Over”
Written by: Johnny Kidd

When you move in right up close to me
That's when I get the shakes all over me

Quivers down my backbone
I got the shakes down my knee bone
Yeah the tremors in my thigh bone
Shakin' all over

Just the way that you say goodnight to me
Brings that feelin' on inside of me

Quivers down the backbone
I got the shivers down the thigh bone
Yeah the tremors in my back bone
Shakin' all over

Quivers down my backbone
Yeah the shakes in my knee bone
I got the tremors in my thigh bone
Shakin' all over

Well, you make me shake and I like it, baby
You make me shake and I like it, baby
Well, shake, shake, shake
Shake, shake
Shake, shake, shake
Shake, shake, shake

Recorded at Third Man Studio, Nashville, TN
November 2009

Wanda Jackson – Vocals
Carl Broemel – Steel Guitar
Joe Gillis – Organ
Patrick Keeler – Drums
Justin Carpenter – Trombone
Leif Shires – Trumpet
Craig Swift – Saxophone
Jack Lawrence - Bass
Jack White III – Guitar

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Wanda Jackson

MP3: Wanda Jackson – “Shakin’ All Over”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Jackie Lomax’s Forgotten Gem, “Sour Milk Sea”
Pearly Gate Music Casts Heavenly Spell on "Big Escape"
Magic Sam Blues Band’s Lovesick Warhorse, “All of Your Love”
Arcade Fire’s Indie Bravado Shines on their Serenade to Suburbia: “The Suburbs”
M. Ward Recasts The Wolf’s “Howlin’ For My Baby”

Jackie Lomax’s Forgotten Gem, “Sour Milk Sea”

2010-07-09T00:15:00.004-04:00

Jackie Lomax’s debut single on the Beatles boutique label, Apple Records is a genuine force of nature. If yer not familiar with the rock 'n roll Liverpudlian, Jackie Lomax (formerly of the Undertakers) was the first artist signed to the Apple label in the late-sixties and one of the first non-Beatles artists to have his name on the famed Granny Smith logo.

While George Harrison penned the White Album-era demo, “Sour Milk Sea” in Rishikesh India, in the majestic foothills of the Himalayas, he never recorded the song. As Harrison maintains, “It was done by Jackie Lomax on his album Is This What You Want? Anyway, it's based on Vishvasara Tantra, from Tantric art. 'What is here is elsewhere, what is not here is nowhere'. It's a picture, and the picture is called Sour Milk Sea - Kalladadi Samudra in Sanskrit. I used Sour Milk Sea as the idea of - if you're in the shit, don't go around moaning about it: do something about it”

Released on September 6, 1968, as Apple 3, the Harrison produced, "Sour Milk Sea” is an explosive knockabout – a restless rock and roll banger in its truest sense that featured a who’s who of rock royalty: Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Nicky Hopkins and George Harrison. The journeyman rocker, Lomax recalls, “I must admit that when I heard the backing track with Eric and Ringo, it sounded better, and I started to think, I'm not sure if I can sing this damn thing because it sounds so good as an instrumental! When I sang it, there were three people in the booth looking at me - George, Paul and Ringo.” The highlight is Harrison and Clapton’s dynamic double lead guitar riffing and the irritable, wrecking ball solo “Slowhand” fires off towards the end of the first minute.

Jackie Lomax’s remastered Apple debut, Is This What You Want? will be released on CD and via digital download on October 26, 2010.

“Sour Milk Sea”
Words and Music: George Harrison

If your life’s not right, doesn’t satisfy you
You don’t get the breaks like some of us do
Better work it out, find where you’ve gone wrong
Better do it soon as you don’t have long

Get out of Sour Milk Sea
You don’t belong there
Get back to where you should be
Find out what’s going on there

If you want the most from everything you do
In the shortest time your dreams come true
In no time at all makes you more aware
A very simple process takes you there
Get out of Sour Milk Sea you don’t belong there
Get back to where you should be
Find out what’s going on there

Looking for release from limitation?
There’s nothing much without illumination
Can fool around with every different cult
There’s only one way really brings results
Get out of Sour Milk Sea you don’t belong there
Get back to where you should be
Find out what’s going on there

Get back to where you should be
Find out what’s going on there

Get back, get back, get back
Why don’t you get back now
You don’t belong here
Get out of here, babe

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Jackie Lomax

MP3: Jackie Lomax – “Sour Milk Sea”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Pearly Gate Music Casts Heavenly Spell on "Big Escape"
Magic Sam Blues Band’s Lovesick Warhorse, “All of Your Love”
Arcade Fire’s Indie Bravado Shines on their Serenade to Suburbia: “The Suburbs”
M. Ward Recasts The Wolf’s “Howlin’ For My Baby”
Magnificent Noise: The Modern Lovers’ “Roadrunner”

Pearly Gate Music Casts Heavenly Spell on "Big Escape"

2010-07-07T11:15:00.005-04:00

“After nearly a decade of trying to be a decent, hard-working proletariat,” exclaims the Emerald City storyteller, Zach Tillman, “I’ve taken up permanent residency on Deadbeat Street. And what better way to spend time there than home recording?” The fact that Zach Tillman’s older brother is Fleet Foxes’ drummer and solo artist Josh Tillman doesn’t mean a hoot in our book. Under the holy moniker, Pearly Gate Music, Zach Tillman has created a mysterious piece of bewitching airy daydreams on his 10-track lo-fi Barsuk Records debut.

Recorded mostly in his Seattle living room, the most important cut and centerpiece of the self-titled album comes in the form of the alluring, “Big Escape.” This is enchanting indie electric church music at its finest, patients. Doused in a folk-pop glow, the lively, bouncing rhythm smolders and fizzes as Tillman croons about a summer escapade: “All the way down the West Coast / It's about time for a big escape.”

“Big Escape”
Written by: Zach Tillman

It's been years
since the big escape
the summer days
were gorgeous as your face
i mean it

the birds sang
we fell in love
we got fired
we got fired up

i needed it
ooo ooo
ooo ooo
ooo ooo oooo

and we come
to a harder part
the casualties of a war
we didn't start
and never ever wanted

i've got the time
if you've got the notion
i've got the patience
if you've got the gusto
all of our strengths
will fit just like a puzzle
all the way down the West Coast

it's about time for a big escape
it's about time for a big escape
it's about time for a big escape
it's about time for a big escape

ooo ooo (repeat)

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Pearly Gate Music

MP3: Pearly Gate Music – “Big Escape”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Magic Sam Blues Band’s Lovesick Warhorse, “All of Your Love”
Arcade Fire’s Indie Bravado Shines on their Serenade to Suburbia: “The Suburbs”
M. Ward Recasts The Wolf’s “Howlin’ For My Baby”
Magnificent Noise: The Modern Lovers’ “Roadrunner”
Blues Majesty: John Lee Hooker’s “Walkin’ The Boogie“

Magic Sam Blues Band’s Lovesick Warhorse, “All of Your Love”

2010-07-05T17:15:00.003-04:00

Put simply, blues sorcerer, Magic Sam – the nickname given to him by Shakey Jake—was the crown prince of Chicago’s West Side sound. Before his untimely death in 1969, he had recorded sides on Cobra, Chief and Crash along with two immaculate albums, West Side Soul and Black Magic for the Chicago-based Delmark label. After his Delmark contract expired, there were rumblings he would sign with Stax, Soulsville USA.

The definitive blues album of the late 60s, West Side Soul, captures an unrivaled Sam at his peak. One of the finest cuts and favorites of the doctors and nursemaids here at the asylum is the re-working of his first Cobra single, “All of Your Love.” Recorded by Delmark founder and owner Bob Koester in 1967, “All of Your Love” is a razor sharp nitty gritty knockout steeped in gut-wrenching emotion. Throughout the track, Magic Sam’s slow burning lake effect eruption rolls like thunder and rattles lovelorn sonic lightning. "Magic Sam had a different guitar sound," remarks record producer, Willie Dixon. "Most of the guys were playing the straight 12-bar blues thing, but the harmonies that he carried with the chords was a different thing altogether. This tune "All Your Love," he expressed with such an inspirational feeling with his high voice. You could always tell him, even from his introduction to the music."

“All of Your Love”
Written by: Sam Maghett

All your love, baby can it be mine
All your love, baby can it be mine
I hate to be the one
The one love you left behind

All your love, baby don't put around
All your love, baby don't put around
Love is one thing baby
You won't find on the ground

All your love, I've got to have one day
All your love, I've got to have one day
Don't you leave me baby
Please come back this way

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Magic Sam

Magic Sam – vocals, guitar
Mighty Joe Young – guitar
Stockholm Slim – piano
Earnest Johnson – bass
Odie Payne – drums

MP3: Magic Sam Blues Band – “All of Your Love”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Arcade Fire’s Indie Bravado Shines on their Serenade to Suburbia: “The Suburbs”
M. Ward Recasts The Wolf’s “Howlin’ For My Baby”
Magnificent Noise: The Modern Lovers’ “Roadrunner”
Blues Majesty: John Lee Hooker’s “Walkin’ The Boogie“
The White Stripes Have too Much to Think on “Party of Special Things To Do” Sub Pop Single

Arcade Fire’s Indie Bravado Shines on their Serenade to Suburbia: “The Suburbs”

2010-07-03T14:15:00.005-04:00

In six weeks, the Montreal collective will be unveiling the hotly anticipated follow-up to 2007's Neon Bible, The Suburbs. Frontman Win Butler revealed to NPR, "We moved to the suburbs of Houston when we were young," Further explaining. "As a young child it's kind of like [going] to Mars." Butler wanted to revisit those experiences. "A lot of my heroes, from Bob Dylan to Joe Strummer, were suburban kids who had to pretend they were train-hoppers for their whole lives."

To date, our rock ‘n roll stethoscopes have tuned into four of the sixteen cuts from the Canadian septet’s soon-to-be-released double album: “We Used to Wait,” Ready to Start,” “Month of May,” and the standout track that comes from the limited edition 12” released at the end of May, “The Suburbs.” This alluring shakeout doesn’t follow the same anthemic blueprint of past tracks – instead, they employ a rolling parlor piano line as the foundation for the epic Suburban ode. With Win Butler’s swaying, laidback, gloomy lyrical authority leading the march: “But in my dreams, we’re still screamin' and runnin' through the yard/And all of the walls that they built in the seventies finally fall/And all of the houses they build in the seventies finally fall/Meant nothin' at all.”

The Suburbs is available via Merge on August 13

The Arcade Fire are: Win Butler, Régine Chassagne, Richard Reed Parry, William Butler, Tim Kingsbury, Sarah Neufeld and Jeremy Gara.

“The Suburbs”
Written by: Winn Butler

In the suburbs I
I learned to drive
And you told me we'd never survive
Grab your mother's keys we're leavin'

You always seemed so sure
That one day we'd fight in
In a suburban world
your part of town gets minor
So you're standin' on the opposite shore
But by the time the first bombs fell
We were already bored
We were already, already bored

Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm movin' past the feeling
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm movin' past the feeling again

Kids wanna be so hard
But in my dreams we're still screamin' and runnin' through the yard
And all of the walls that they built in the seventies finally fall
And all of the houses they build in the seventies finally fall
Meant nothin' at all
Meant nothin' at all
It meant nothin'

Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm movin' past the feeling
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm movin' past the feeling and into the night

So can you understand?
Why I want a daughter while I'm still young
I wanna hold her hand
And show her some beauty
Before this damage is done

But if it's too much to ask, if it's too much to ask
Then send me a son

Under the overpass
In the parking lot we're still waiting
It's already passed
So move your feet from hot pavement and into the grass
Cause it's already passed
It's already, already passed!

Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm movin' past the feeling
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm movin' past the feeling again

I'm movin' past the feeling
I'm movin' past the feeling

And in my dreams we're still screamin'
We're still screamin'
We're still screamin'

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Arcade Fire

MP3: Arcade Fire – “The Suburbs”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
M. Ward Recasts The Wolf’s “Howlin’ For My Baby”
Magnificent Noise: The Modern Lovers’ “Roadrunner”
Blues Majesty: John Lee Hooker’s “Walkin’ The Boogie“
The White Stripes Have too Much to Think on “Party of Special Things To Do” Sub Pop Single
The Morning Benders Radiate Cosmic Sunshine on “Excuses”

M. Ward Recasts The Wolf’s “Howlin’ For My Baby”

2010-07-01T11:15:00.003-04:00

True Blood: Music From the HBO Original Series Volume II is littered with droves of notable contributions, but the one alluring, bayou-cooked cut in the 14-song collection comes from one of the most haunting whispers in recorded music, indie-music darling, M. Ward.

On this eerily charged rendition of “Howlin’ For My Baby,” M. Ward, Jordan Hudson and Mike Coykendall manage to raise the classic Howlin’ Wolf track from the ashes and retain the song's antique glow. Ward’s devilishly-drenched, laid back, murky yowl packs a bite and fizzes with after-midnight cold blooded goodness - highlighted by periodic blasts of muscular slashes of agitated fuzz.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of M. Ward

MP3: M. Ward – “Howlin’ For My Baby”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Magnificent Noise: The Modern Lovers’ “Roadrunner”
Blues Majesty: John Lee Hooker’s “Walkin’ The Boogie“
The White Stripes Have too Much to Think on “Party of Special Things To Do” Sub Pop Single
The Morning Benders Radiate Cosmic Sunshine on “Excuses”
Dawes Delivers Stone Cold Classic with “When My Time Comes”

Magnificent Noise: The Modern Lovers’ “Roadrunner”

2010-06-28T23:15:00.005-04:00

The first band to catch the new-wave: Boston-bred Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers hold a firm affinity for The Velvet Underground – a sound that is stamped strongly on their breakthrough two-chord joyride down Route 128, “Roadrunner.” Starry-eyed Richman says, “If there was no Velvet Underground there would have been no such record. Does that tell you what you need to know?”

Recording in 1972, the quirky quartet teamed up with producer and The Velvets’ John Cale on their ode to the AM dial. Yeah, the cut sounds a touch like a bare boned rendition of VU’s “Sister Ray,” but hey, Richman’s unhitched delivery takes a strong hold on the blueprint to proto-punk – the sound that took the UK by storm five years later.

Patients, can you believe that their demos were shelved until 1976?

“Roadrunner”
Written by: Jonathan Richman

One two three four five six
Roadrunner, roadrunner
Going faster miles an hour
Gonna drive past the Stop 'n' Shop
With the radio on

I'm in love with Massachusetts
And the neon when it's cold outside
And the highway when it's late at night
Got the radio on
I'm like the roadrunner

Alright
I'm in love with modern moonlight
128 when it's dark outside
I'm in love with Massachusetts
I'm in love with the radio on
It helps me from being alone late at night
It helps me from being lonely late at night
I don't feel so bad now in the car
Don't feel so alone, got the radio on
Like the roadrunner
That's right

Said welcome to the spirit of 1956
Patient in the bushes next to '57
The highway is your girlfriend as you go by quick
Suburban trees, suburban speed
And it smells like heaven(thunder)
And I say roadrunner once
Roadrunner twice
I'm in love with rock & roll and I'll be out all night
Roadrunner
That's right

Well now
Roadrunner, roadrunner
Going faster miles an hour
Gonna drive to the Stop 'n' Shop
With the radio on at night
And me in love with modern moonlight
Me in love with modern rock & roll
Modern girls and modern rock & roll
Don't feel so alone, got the radio on
Like the roadrunner
O.K., now you sing Modern Lovers

(Radio On)
I got the AM
(Radio On)
Got the car, got the AM
(Radio On)
Got the AM sound, got the
(Radio On)
Got the rockin' modern neon sound
(Radio On)
I got the car from Massachusetts, got the
(Radio On)
I got the power of Massachusetts when it's late at night
(Radio On)
I got the modern sounds of modern Massachusetts
I've got the world, got the turnpike, got the
I've got the, got the power of the AM
Got the, late at night, (?), rock & roll late at night
The factories and the auto signs got the power of modern sounds
Alright

Right, bye bye!

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Jonathan Richman – vocals, guitar
Jerry Harrison – piano, organ, backing vocals
Ernie Brooks – bass, backing vocals
David Robinson – drums, backing vocals

Enjoy this single cc The Modern Lovers

MP3: The Modern Lovers – “Roadrunner”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Blues Majesty: John Lee Hooker’s “Walkin’ The Boogie“
The White Stripes Have too Much to Think on “Party of Special Things To Do” Sub Pop Single
The Morning Benders Radiate Cosmic Sunshine on “Excuses”
Dawes Delivers Stone Cold Classic with “When My Time Comes”
Woozy, Back Alley Blues on The Strange Boys’, “Be Brave”

Blues Majesty: John Lee Hooker’s “Walkin’ The Boogie“

2010-06-27T22:15:00.003-04:00

On Chess long-player House of the Blues, the no-nonsense Motor City blues cat John Lee Hooker cuts straight to the heart of a stockpile of stompin' six-shooter blues recorded from 1951 to 1954. The collection holds one of the finest blues tunes of all-time – a gloriously modified version of “Boogie Chillen.”

Throughout “Walkin’ The Boogie” – the B-side to “Sugar Mama” on Chess 1513, the electric boogie man beats the living daylights out of the floorboards as he pounds, strangles, shudders and shakes through the gruff, crawling saw-tooth rhythms. The Hook’s double-tracked vocals and slapback effect add to the primal runaway rattles and bewitching Boogie Woogie Dee-troit blues grooves.

“Walkin’ The Boogie”
Written by: John Lee Hooker

Well my mama she didn’t ‘low me, just to run around all night long, oh Lord
Well my mama she didn’t ‘low me, just to run around all night long
I didn’t care what she didn’t ‘low, I would slip out of the house
When I first came to town people, I was walkin’ down Park Way
Every was talkin’ about, the Henry Swing Club
I decided I drop in there that night
When I got there, I say, “Yes, people”
They was really havin’ a ball, oh Lord

One night I was layin’ down,
I heard mama ‘n papa talkin’
I heard papa tell mama, let that boy boogie-woogie
Because it’s in him, and it got to come out
And I felt so good,
Went on boogie’n just the same

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy these 2cc John Lee Hooker

Chess 1513
April 24, 1952
Recorded in Chicago, Illinois

MP3: ”Walkin’ The Boogie” (Single Version)
MP3: “Walkin’ The Boogie (Alternate)

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
The White Stripes Have too Much to Think on “Party of Special Things To Do” Sub Pop Single
The Morning Benders Radiate Cosmic Sunshine on “Excuses”
Dawes Delivers Stone Cold Classic with “When My Time Comes”
Woozy, Back Alley Blues on The Strange Boys’, “Be Brave”
Boogie with Freddie King’s “Going Down”

The White Stripes Have too Much to Think on “Party of Special Things To Do” Sub Pop Single

2010-06-23T22:15:00.006-04:00

Beginning at the tail end of 1998, the famed, Seattle-based label, Sub Pop began releasing 7” singles through a mail order subscription service called the Sub Pop Singles Club - a springboard for a legion of up-and-coming acts kicking around the indie scene. Enter The White Stripes.

In 2000, the peppermint twistin' duo doused three Captain Beefheart tunes with their feedback-ridden, candy-colored blues. A trio of tracks that tickle our rock ‘n roll stethoscopes pink. Side-A, “A Party of Special Things to Do” is a second to none cover – a full scale air raid of over-driven guitars wrapped in chicken wire, partnered with the deep ringing velocity of White’s gutbucket vocals. Jack White recalls, “On Party of Special Things to Do we used different recording techniques, going straight into the board, with fuzz guitar and bass. That was the first time we've ever done that. When a song feels like it needs something, I just wanna have it there.”

On the flipside they deliver their therapeutic, fuzzed-out pyrotechnic power with a pair of gems: “China Pig” recalls the sounds of hellhounds with a dose of White’s heavy-handed special madness. “Ashtray Heart” is a staggering behemoth of twisted sound that finds the aristocratic horseman of rock barking out, "Someone's had too much to think!"

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Sup Pop Records
December 5, 2000
Catalogue #: SP-527
Written By: Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart)

“Hey loser. Wanna find some action? Here at SUB POP we've started a special club for lonely record collectors like yourself...Every other month we'll send you 2 limited edition 45's. All you have to do is SEND US YOUR MONEY"

Enjoy these 3cc of The White Stripes

MP3: A. The White Stripes – “Party of Special Things To Do”
MP3: B1. The White Stripes – “China Pig”
MP3: B2. The White Stripes – “Ashtray Heart”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
The Morning Benders Radiate Cosmic Sunshine on “Excuses”
Dawes Delivers Stone Cold Classic with “When My Time Comes”
Woozy, Back Alley Blues on The Strange Boys’, “Be Brave”
Boogie with Freddie King’s “Going Down”
Flat Duo Jets Set “Frog Went A-Courtin’” Ablaze

The Morning Benders Radiate Cosmic Sunshine on “Excuses”

2010-06-22T14:15:00.005-04:00

The Morning Benders, Frisco’s darlings, have effectively merged into the front lines with their Talking Through Tin Cans follow-up, Big Echo.

Throughout their sturdy sophomore LP, co-producer and Grizzly Bear bassist Chris Taylor lends his fanatic devotion to noteworthy helpings of marvelous, multi-colored sounds. The defining moment for the asylum’s doctors and nursemaids comes during the memorable "Excuses." Perhaps an indie ode to the symphonic mad man’s [Phil Spector] Wall of Sound. In reality, an alluring cut that’s filled with lush swathes of spectacular, wide open shining sonic tones and a kaleidoscope of dazzling twists – a true pop gem.

The Morning Benders are: Christopher Chu (vocals/guitar), Timothy Or (bass), Jonathan Chu (keyboard/guitar) and Julian Harmon (drums).

"Excuses"
Written by: Christopher Chu

You tried to taste me
And I taped my tounge the southern tip of your body
Our bones are too heavy to came up
Squished into a single ceel of wood

Oooooooh .... Oooooooooh

And I made an excuse
You found another way to tell the truth
I put no one else above us
We'll stil be best friends when all turn to dust

Oooooooh .... da-da-da-da-da

Dum du-dum du-dum du-dum du-du-dum
(repeat)
da-da-da-da-da
(repeat)

We are so smooth now
Our edges are beaten drift wood widdled down
Old bodies slip when they make love
We'll mine our sparks to shout us above

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of The Morning Benders

MP3: The Morning Benders – “Excuses”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Dawes Delivers Stone Cold Classic with “When My Time Comes”
Woozy, Back Alley Blues on The Strange Boys’, “Be Brave”
Boogie with Freddie King’s “Going Down”
Flat Duo Jets Set “Frog Went A-Courtin’” Ablaze
Wail on, Skydog: Duane Allman's Muscle Shoals Serenade

Dawes Delivers Stone Cold Classic with “When My Time Comes”

2010-06-20T20:15:00.004-04:00

Last year, this heralded Laurel Canyon quartet — Taylor Goldsmith (vocals, guitar) Alex Casnoff (piano, vocals), Wylie Gelber (bass), and Griffin Goldsmith (drums, vocals) released their strikingly consistent debut album, North Hills. This album invokes the down-home spirit of L.A. bands like the Flying Burrito Brothers, the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. “We're very much aware of the fact that we're from Los Angeles, California, and all of the associations that come with that,” lead singer Taylor Goldsmith declares, “A lot of our favorite records were made in L.A., and while they have this overwhelming American feel to them, they also have this Los Angeles resonance, and Los Angeles cynicism that's entirely unique. I'm always happy people notice that in us.”

While North Hills is filled with a fine collection of noble moments, “When My Time Comes” is the crowning achievement for the California folk-rockers – a weather-beaten singsong anthem for the ages that’s delivered with priceless precision and wide-open balance. As good as a tumble in the hay, “When My Time Comes” is a choice cut for the doctors and nursemaids here at the asylum.

“When My Time Comes”
Written by: Taylor Goldsmith

There were moments of dreams I was offered to save
I live less like a workhorse, more like a slave
I thought that one quick moment that was noble or brace
Would be worth the most of my life.

So I pointed my fingers, and shout a few quotes I knew
As if something that's written should be taken as true
But every path I have taken and conclusion I drew
Would put truth back under the knife.

And now the only piece of advice that continues to help:
Is anyone that's making anything new only breaks something else.

When my time comes,
Ohhhhh, oh oh oh.
When my times comes,
Ohhhhh, oh oh oh.

So I took what I wanted and put it out of my reach
I wanted to pay for my successes with all my defeats,
And if heaven was all that was promised to me
Why don't I pray for death?
And now it seems like the unraveling has started too soon,
Now I'm sleeping in hallways and I'm drinking perfume
And I'm speaking to mirrors and I'm howling at moons
While the worst and the worst that it gets.

Oh you can judge all the world on the sparkle that you think it lacks.
Yes you can stare into the abyss, but it's staring right back.

When my time comes,
Ohhhhh, oh oh oh.
When my time comes,
Ohhhhh, oh oh oh.

Oh you can judge all the world on the sparkle that you think it lacks.
Yes you can stare into the abyss, but it's staring right back.

When my time comes,
Ohhhhh, oh oh oh.
When my time comes,
Ohhhhh, oh oh oh.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Dawes

MP3: Dawes – “When My Time Comes”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Woozy, Back Alley Blues on The Strange Boys’, “Be Brave”
Boogie with Freddie King’s “Going Down”
Flat Duo Jets Set “Frog Went A-Courtin’” Ablaze
Wail on, Skydog: Duane Allman's Muscle Shoals Serenade
Just Add Grease: Lowell Fulson’s Take on “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road”

Woozy, Back Alley Blues on The Strange Boys’, “Be Brave”

2010-06-16T23:15:00.004-04:00

With their sloppy, off-the-cuff roadhouse charm, Austin-based garage-rockers, The Strange Boys stir up a feisty lo-fi brand of rock ‘n roll that pulls from a catalog of sounds. We like to think of it as one part, laidback Stones-y R&B, and another part children of the Nuggets – dig those pesky ankle-biting riffs. If you haven’t heard The Strange Boys yet our rock ‘n roll stethoscopes suggest you check them out.

The barbed wire breeze of “Be Brave” storms through on the third track of their In The Red released LP of the same title. This sparkling cut is full of life and highlighted by Ryan Sambol’s heroic, dilapidated drawl, Jenna Thornhill-DeWitt’s bruising sax and
the howling chorus, “You gotta be brave!” Patients, these kids are alright.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

The Strange Boys are:
Ryan Sambol (Guitar, Lead Vocals, Harmonica), Philip Sambol (Bass), Greg Enlow (Guitar), Mikey La Franchi (Drums), Jenna Thornhill-DeWitt (Saxophone, Backing Vocals), and Tim Presley (Backing Vocals)

Enjoy this single cc of The Strange Boys…

MP3: The Strange Boys – “Be Brave”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Boogie with Freddie King’s “Going Down”
Flat Duo Jets Set “Frog Went A-Courtin’” Ablaze
Wail on, Skydog: Duane Allman's Muscle Shoals Serenade
Just Add Grease: Lowell Fulson’s Take on “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road”
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"

Boogie with Freddie King’s “Going Down”

2010-06-14T22:15:00.003-04:00

Our rock ‘n roll stethoscopes are happy to report that Freddie King’s “Going Down” is an electrifying, magnificent romp – the crown jewel of his Shelter records debut, Getting Ready.

The lonestar bluesman recorded the swagger filled, “Going Down” at the famed Chess Records on Chicago’s South Side – home to many of his idols and confidantes. “I used to be 16 years old, livin’ next door to the Zanzibar Club [Chicago]. I was underage and Muddy [Waters] would slip me through the side door. That’s when him and Jimmy Rogers, Little Walter and Otis Spann was the band. Muddy would sneak me in and sit me down by the bandstand and I would listen. That was a heavy band, man.”

Produced by Leon Russell and written by Don Nix, “Going Down” is anchored by a vicious eruption of pounding piano, a pair of drummers delivering rattling, earthshaking bombs, monster bass lines from Donald 'Duck' Dunn and searing, razor sharp vocal blitzes with pile driving guitar lines by the Texas Cannonball [King].

“Going Down”
Written by: Don Nix

I'm going down
I'm going, down, down, down
Down, down
Yes, I'm going down, yes
I'm going down, down, down
Down, down
Yes, I've got my feet in the window
Got my head on the ground

Let me down
And close that box car door
Yes, let me down
And close that box car door
Well, I'm goin' back to Chattanooga
And sleep on sister Irene's door

(guitar & instrumental) Hey!

Yes, I'm going down
I'm going down
I'm going, down, down, down
Down, down

Yes, I got my feet in the window
I got my head on the ground

(instrumental to end) 'close'

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of the Freddie King…

Shelter, SHE8905, 1970
Freddie King (vocals, electric guitar); Leon Russell (guitar, piano); Don Preston (guitar); Jon Gallie (organ); Donald "Duck" Dunn (bass); Charles Blackwell, Charles Myers (drums).

MP3: Freddie King – “Going Down”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Flat Duo Jets Set “Frog Went A-Courtin’” Ablaze
Wail on, Skydog: Duane Allman's Muscle Shoals Serenade
Just Add Grease: Lowell Fulson’s Take on “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road”
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Shades of Heartache: Doris Duke’s “I Don’t Care”

Flat Duo Jets Set “Frog Went A-Courtin’” Ablaze

2010-06-10T22:15:00.004-04:00

The Flat Duo Jets play their brand of rockabilly with red hot, crazed intensity – a spooky make of spine chilling rave-ups and blistering shock waves of throaty growls. The type of calculated restlessness that had a huge influence on the aristocratic horseman of rock, Jack White’s music: “I owned all of his records as a teenager, and was thrilled at the fact that we were able to play together recently on tour. His attitude towards music is remarkable. His songwriting, along with his love of classic American music from the south, be it rockabilly, country or R&B, is one of the best kept secrets of the rock ‘n roll underground.” Ninnies they are not.

Armed with a rusty razor sneer and ’62 Silvertone, Dexter Romweber and ace drummer “Crow” Smith attack the traditional ballad, “Frog Went A-Courtin’” mercilessly and give it a gear-grinding, sonic facelift. Originally released on Go Go Harlem Baby - well after the 1986 Athens, GA rockumentary: Inside/Out, “Frog Went A-Courtin’” is trashabilly at its peak – Romweber hollers and boogies like a crazed lunatic: “Frog went a courtin' and he did ride / With a sword and a pistol by his side, uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh,” This cut is a warhorse of epic proportions, a romp that packs quite a wallop.

“Frog Went A-Courtin’”
Written by: Traditional
Frog went a courtin' and he did ride, uh-huh
Frog went a courtin' and he did ride, uh-huh
Frog went a courtin' and he did ride
With a sword and a pistol by his side, uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh

Took Miss Mousie on his knee, uh-huh
Took Miss Mousie on his knee, uh-huh
Took Miss Mousie on his knee,
Said Miss Mousie, will you marry me, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

Where shall the wedding supper be, uh-huh
Where shall the wedding supper be, uh-huh
Where shall the wedding supper be
Way down yonder in the hollow tree, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

Frog went a courtin' and he did ride, uh-huh
Frog went a courtin' and he did ride, uh-huh
Frog went a courtin' and he did ride
With a sword and a pistol by his side, uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of the Flat Duo Jets…

MP3: Flat Duo Jets – “Frog Went A-Courtin’”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Wail on, Skydog: Duane Allman's Muscle Shoals Serenade
Just Add Grease: Lowell Fulson’s Take on “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road”
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Shades of Heartache: Doris Duke’s “I Don’t Care”
Hidden Charms of The Undertones’ 'Teenage Kicks' EP

Wail on, Skydog: Duane Allman's Muscle Shoals Serenade

2010-06-08T22:15:00.008-04:00

Before the Southern-fried, twin-dueling lead-guitar lines, runs and riffs of Duane Allman and Dickie Betts in The Allman Brothers Band, Duane Allman was a prolific sideman - enhancing tracks with his bottleneck slide guitar sorcery and blazing venomous sting on a string of cuts, by a wide variety of acts: Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Clarence Carter, Otis Rush, Boz Scaggs, John Hammond, LuLu, Ronnie Hawkins, King Curtis and Cher. True hip-shaking goodness.

Duane's recording career lasted only a few short years, but the strength of his session work at FAME Recording Studios alone could have solidified his legendary status. Check out the six-string fretted fire on Wilson Pickett’s cover of the Beatles’ classic, “Hey Jude.” Eric Clapton recalls, "I remember hearing Wilson Pickett's 'Hey Jude' and just being astounded by the lead break at the end. ... I had to know who that was immediately - right now." Find out for yourselves, patients.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy these 7cc of Skydog...

At FAME Recording Studios, Muscle Shoals, AL

MP3: Clarence Carter featuring Duane Allman - "The Road of Love" (1967)
MP3: Wilson Pickett featuring Duane Allman - "Hey Jude" (1968)
MP3: Arthur Conley Featuring Duane Allman - "Stuff You Gotta Watch" (1968)
MP3: Aretha Franklin featuring Duane Allman - "The Weight" (1969)
MP3: Otis Rush Featuring Duane Allman - "You Reap What You Sow" (1969)
MP3: Lulu featuring Duane Allman - "Dirty Old Man" (1970)
MP3: Johnny Jenkins Featuring Duane Allman - "Down Along the Cove" (1970)

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Just Add Grease: Lowell Fulson’s Take on “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road”
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Shades of Heartache: Doris Duke’s “I Don’t Care”
Hidden Charms of The Undertones’ 'Teenage Kicks' EP
Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed, Soul’s Prodigal Son, Readies For Launch on “Explosion”

Just Add Grease: Lowell Fulson’s Take on “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road”

2010-06-06T21:15:00.007-04:00

What we have here is, frankly, Lowell Fulson pulverizing the raunchy Beatles cut, “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road” with wrecking ball force – a genuine knockout. Recorded with the Muscle Shoals rhythm section and released in 1970 on the Shreveport, LA-based Jewel records, “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road” is the kind of track that retains the power and emotion of the original and adds a heavy slice of nitty gritty fuzz and thunderbolt fury, plus a few more places, in addition to the road, where you can do it – try a car or a house.

“Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?”
Written by: Lennon/McCartney

Why don't we do it in the road
Why don't we do it in the road
Why don't we do it in the road
Why don't we do it in the road
No one will be watching us
Why don't we do it in the road

Why don't we do it in the car
Why don't we do it in the car
Why don't we do it in the car
Why don't we do it in the car
Why can’t we do it in the car
You know we don’t have too far to go
Why can’t we do it in the car

Why can't we do it in the house
Why can't we do it in the house
Why can't we do it in the house
Oh let’s do it in the house
Nobody knows what it’s all about

Well let’s do it in the road
I say we can do it in the road
Oh let’s do it in the road
Why can’t we do it in the road
No one will be watching
Why don’t we do it in the road

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of The Lowell Fulson…

1969
Jewel 802
MP3: Lowell Fulson – “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"
Shades of Heartache: Doris Duke’s “I Don’t Care”
Hidden Charms of The Undertones’ 'Teenage Kicks' EP
Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed, Soul’s Prodigal Son, Readies For Launch on “Explosion”
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange

Get the goods at emusic.com or amazon.com

Locked and Loaded: The Dead Weather, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death"

2010-06-02T22:15:00.005-04:00

On the flipside of “I Cut Like A Buffalo,” The Dead Weather take on the obscure West Coast Pop Art Experimental track, "A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death" with pure vengeance. It’s an unrelenting attack that delivers an explosive, footstompin’ depth charge of quivering energy and chug-a-chug-chug, powerhouse graveyard bliss.

Music Row’s favorite son, Jack White barks out some of the most frightful, whiskey-soaked lyrics that our rock 'n roll stethoscopes have ever heard: "A child of a few hours/is burning to death/her eyes are full of smoke/her mouth is full of fire/napalm is perfect for women and children," Not to be outdone, Alison Mosshart aka Baby Ruthless, cries out some choice lyrics of her own: "We should have called Suzie and Bobby/They like to watch fire." Poor children. All this savage absurdity is anchored by a rhythm section that besieges the listener, drumming with unshakable raucous grooves and switchblade garage cool.

Patients, this is a track that really cooks - some might call it pure musical excellence.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of The Dead Weather...

MP3: The Dead Weather – “A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Shades of Heartache: Doris Duke’s “I Don’t Care”
Hidden Charms of The Undertones’ 'Teenage Kicks' EP
Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed, Soul’s Prodigal Son, Readies For Launch on “Explosion”
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
The Lone Star Seduction of Townes Van Zandt’s “Waiting Around To Die”

Get the goods at emusic.com or amazon.com

Shades of Heartache: Doris Duke’s “I Don’t Care”

2010-05-31T23:15:00.005-04:00

Doris Duke’s killer, long-lost, deep, southern soul gem I’m A Loser is a women’s album. Taken from the liner notes: Every woman who hears this album will have the emotional shock of the forgotten past, being vividly brought back into focus; to the point that they will relive the sadness, jealousy, anger and heartbreak, that once was theirs…

Soul connoisseur, Dave Godin, the man responsible for introducing Mick Jagger to ‘black music,’ called I’m A Loser, “the best album I have ever heard” and after a few listens this hard hitting LP is rising fast on the asylum charts.

Recorded in 1969 and produced by former Atlantic Records writer/producer Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams Jr. I’m A Loser was recorded at Phil Walden's Macon, Georgia Capricorn Studios and was later issued on Canyon Records in 1970: “I [Jerry Williams] walked the streets of New York for six months trying to give it away, then onto Los Angeles. I totally believed in this concept when I walked into Wally Roker's Canyon Records. He played it once and said he had to have it. I damn near paid him.”

The one cut that stands hand and stethoscope above the rest is the hard-hitting “I Don’t Care.” This track is a one-of-a-kind treasure that will send chills down your spine – an unequaled, gripping trifecta of heart-wrenching emotion: singing, writing and razor-sharp production.

The Funky Fox has the uncanny ability to channel pain and heartbreak through her songs. “I Don’t Care” begins with a woman leaving the city from the deep south and ends with her contemplating suicide after adopting the world’s oldest profession: "Then I met a guy as smooth as silk, in a midtown bar / He said with my good looks, I'd go very far // I didn't know what he meant / I thought he was heaven-sent // Until I found out his sweet talkin' / Added up to street walking".

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Doris Duke…

MP3: Doris Duke – “I Don't Care Anymore”
Canyon Records LP 7704
Written by: Jerry Williams, Jr. & Gary Bonds & Maurice Gimbel
Jerry Williams Music/No Exit Music/Wally Roker Music; Bmi

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Hidden Charms of The Undertones’ 'Teenage Kicks' EP
Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed, Soul’s Prodigal Son, Readies For Launch on “Explosion”
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
The Lone Star Seduction of Townes Van Zandt’s “Waiting Around To Die”
The Gypsy Tinged Soul of The Mumlers, "Don’t Throw Me Away"

Get the goods at emusic.com or amazon.com

Hidden Charms of The Undertones’ 'Teenage Kicks' EP

2010-05-26T23:15:00.004-04:00

At first listen, The Undertones’ debut 4-track, rollicking hormonal fueled Teenage Kicks E.P. will sock you in the gut and then make you weep countless waterlogged tears of jubilation. This is the kind of record that seizes moments – the kind you spin countless times in a row. In fact, BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel played the potent elixir of “Teenage Kicks” back to back on his September 12, 1978 broadcast: ‘wasn’t that the most wonderful record you’ve heard in your life?’ then Peel played it again.

Belfast’s crown prince of punk, Terri Hooley signed The Undertones - a Derry, Northern Ireland based group - to his Good Vibrations record label in 1978, “I wasn’t sure about them because nobody liked them. People crossed the road just to spit at Feargal Sharkey.”

On June 16th, 1978, The five-piece cut the first-rate Teenage Kicks E.P. at Wizard Studios in Belfast during a rip roaring one day session, for £100 plus an £8 VAT. Produced by Dave Smyth, the E.P. greets the listener with a quavering belch of pulverizing, yet lackadasical, heart-wrenching teenage amplified, garagescuzz-pop mania; a white-hot collection of magnificent two-minute, three chord tunes. Such a description ought to get yer heart racing in your cage because “Teenage Kicks,” “True Confessions,” “Smarter Than You” and “Emergency Cases” are a collection of pure punk-pop treasures. You are in for a treat if these are new to yer ears.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Feargal Sharkey (Lead Vocals)
John O'Neill (Rhythm Guitar)
Damien O'Neill (Lead Guitar,Backing)
Billy Doherty (Drums)
Mickey Bradley (Bass,Backing Vocals)

GOT4 - The Undertones - Teenage Kicks 7"

Cover Printed By: Print Workshop
Cover Concept and Part Layout: Terri Hooley
Photographs and Part Layout: Paddy Simms
Roadie: Bernie McNamey
Recorded at: Wizard Studios, Belfast

Enjoy these 4cc of The Undertones…

MP3: “Teenage Kicks”
MP3: “Smarter Than You”
MP3: “True Confessions”
MP3: “Emergency Cases”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed, Soul’s Prodigal Son, Readies For Launch on “Explosion”
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
The Lone Star Seduction of Townes Van Zandt’s “Waiting Around To Die”
The Gypsy Tinged Soul of The Mumlers, "Don’t Throw Me Away"
The Heavy Unleash Sinister “Sixteen”

Get the goods at emusic.com or amazon.com

Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed, Soul’s Prodigal Son, Readies For Launch on “Explosion”

2010-05-24T23:15:00.004-04:00

Be advised that Boston-bred, Brooklyn-based soulster Eli 'Paperboy' Reed and his zippy seven-piece band, The True Loves have created a fiery barnburner that packs quite a wallop. On “Explosion” - the closing track of their upcoming major label debut on Capitol Records, the Paperboy channels the swagger of Otis and gunpowder wail of Pickett, while his band delivers a 100-mph soul drenched treatment of ferocious punchy horn blasts, pounding drums and frantic turbulent grooves. It may sound like a revival, but Eli is trying to make it all his own, “For me, it’s all about writing pop songs. Soul music was the greatest pop music of the 20th century and its influence is so far-reaching. When I pick up a guitar to write a song, the influence of the music I love invariably comes out. I can’t sing or write any other way than I do.” Gonna be an explosion, indeed.

Come and Get It is out August 10 in the U.S.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Eli 'Paperboy' Reed and The True Loves...
MP3: Eli 'Paperboy' Reed and The True Loves – “Explosion”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange
The Lone Star Seduction of Townes Van Zandt’s “Waiting Around To Die”
The Gypsy Tinged Soul of The Mumlers, "Don’t Throw Me Away"
The Heavy Unleash Sinister “Sixteen”
Run Away with Taj Mahal’s “Leaving Trunk”

Get the goods at emusic.com or amazon.com

The Black Keys Slay Peel Session at Old Corn Exchange

2010-05-21T22:15:00.005-04:00

This is a good one, patients.

To celebrate the release of The Black Keys’ sensational new long player, Brothers, the doctors and nursemaids would like to open up the asylum vaults and serve up a slice of pounding glycerin-laced distortion from the wicked messengers’ Peel Session at the Old Corn Exchange in Brighton, England.

In 2003, The Black Keys took their rock 'n blues menagerie to the UK and recorded three Peel Sessions (Maide Vale 4, Peel Acres, Old Corn Exchange) for the BBC’s patron saint of disc jockeys, John Peel.

The Old Corn Exchange session exhibits all that is great about the primitive, soul-squeezed two-ring stomp of The Black Keys: lusting midnight moans, raunchy fuzzed-out licks and irresistible soulful grit. Throughout the seven song set their double barreled, locomotion blues chug bleeds crude urgent stomps and overwhelming throbbing blasts of distorted blazing energy – the kind of bad-assed, junkyard scuzz that busts cracks in the foundation, depletes the ozone and taunts the listeners’ eardrums.

This knock out set is a total success on all fronts, especially after the full-blown, rusted nail hollers of “Heavy Soul.” John Peel closes out the show by saying, “It’s not in my contract to come and speak to you at after the bands have played, but I think you’ll agree with me, what is so great about these two, is they just don’t know how good they are.” Indeed.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy these 8cc of The Black Keys…

October 28, 2003
Producer - Andy Rogers
Engineer - Jamie Hart
Studio – Old Corn Exchange

The Black Keys are Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney

MP3: John Peel Intro
MP3: “Thickfreakness”
MP3: “Busted”
MP3: “Yearnin’”
MP3: “The Breaks”
MP3: “Have Love Will Travel”
MP3: “No Trust”
MP3: “Heavy Soul”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
The Lone Star Seduction of Townes Van Zandt’s “Waiting Around To Die”
The Gypsy Tinged Soul of The Mumlers, "Don’t Throw Me Away"
The Heavy Unleash Sinister “Sixteen”
Run Away with Taj Mahal’s “Leaving Trunk”
Is Muddy Waters Your Doctor? He Thinks So

The Lone Star Seduction of Townes Van Zandt’s “Waiting Around To Die”

2010-05-18T23:15:00.005-04:00

Those who kneel before the altar of Townes Van Zandt know that “Waiting Around To Die” is an unquestioned masterstroke, an eerie ballad of 190 proof cowboy soul and dusty prairie romance. If you are unfamiliar with the celebrated bare-boned gutbucket balladeer, he can be best summed up by Steve Earle, "Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world. And I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that." Of course, Townes later said, "I've met Bob Dylan and his bodyguards, and I don't think Steve [Earle] could get anywhere near his coffee table."

After penning a varied assortment of talking blues ditties, “Waiting Around To Die” was Townes’ first attempt at writing a serious song. Originally appearing on his debut LP, For The Sake of the Song in 1968, the tune, along with two others were rerecorded for his stunning self-titled set in 1969.

The magic of Townes Van Zandt reads like a roadmap to the dusty backroads of excess and heartbreak. Townes recalls the inspiration for the song: “I talked to this old man for a while,” continuing, “and he kinda put out these vibrations. I was sitting at the bar of the Jester Lounge one afternoon drinking beer, thinking about him, and just wrote it down.” On “Waiting Around To Die” Townes subscribes to the life of a drifter, never up for pardon from his boxcar; where shadows are your friend and booze and codeine are his muse. The haunting beauty, mournful finger picking and ten-gallon, weather-beaten Texas groan on “Waiting Around To Die” offers a straightforward and revealing look at a dark side of life. Put simply, a one-of-a-kind tune, one of the finest cuts that TVZ laid down, an essential listen.

“Waiting Around To Die”
Written by: Townes Van Zandt

Sometimes I don't know where this dirty road is taking me
Sometimes I can't even see the reason why
I guess I keep on gamblin', lots of booze and lots of ramblin'
It's easier than just a-waitin' 'round to die

One-time friends I had a ma, I even had a pa
He beat her with a belt once cause she cried
She told him to take care of me, she headed down to Tennessee
It's easier than just a-waitin' 'round to die

I came of age and found a girl in a Tuscaloosa bar
She cleaned me out and hit it on the sly
I tried to kill the pain, I bought some wine and hopped a train
Seemed easier than just a-waitin' 'round to die

A friend said he knew where some easy money was
We robbed a man and brother did we fly
The posse caught up with me, drug me back to Muskogee
It's two long years, just a-waitin' 'round to die

Now I'm out of prison, I got me a friend at last
He don't steal or cheat or drink or lie
His name's codeine, he's the nicest thing I've seen
Together we're gonna wait around and die

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Townes Van Zandt…

MP3: Townes Van Zandt – “Waiting Around To Die”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
The Gypsy Tinged Soul of The Mumlers, "Don’t Throw Me Away"
The Heavy Unleash Sinister “Sixteen”
Run Away with Taj Mahal’s “Leaving Trunk”
Is Muddy Waters Your Doctor? He Thinks So

The Gypsy Tinged Soul of The Mumlers, "Don’t Throw Me Away"

2010-05-16T18:15:00.006-04:00

The Mumlers deserve a feverish round of applause for the impressive follow-up to their 11-song Galaxia Records released debut long player, Don’t Throw Me Away. Recorded at San Francisco’s Ruminator Audio Studio, the album is filled to the gills with loose salvation army sounds that are doused in haunted swathes of first rank cool and rooted in the eerie colors of the blues, soul, folk, and country.

The beauty of the San Jose sextet’s sophomore release is that every track might end up being the favorite of the gal next to you. But, the shining light for the doctors and nursemaids is the hypnotizing slow cooker, title track, “Don’t Throw Me Away.” This is a song with guts: chief songwriter, vocalist Will Sprott and band channel the macabre spirit of Victorian-era trickster, William H. Mumler with a parade of slinking Ouija board grooves and a wistful cascading guitar line that swing like a pendulum. Towards the last quarter of the song the mercury rises as Sprott pleads in a chilling quicksilver snarl, “Won't you change your mind / How could you ever want to be so unkind?” A mesmerizing strangled mess of emotions “Don’t Throw Me Away” is a pure triumph and will be sure to clear your mind of any clutter.

“Don't Throw Me Away”
Written by: Will Sprott

Oh love, don't throw me away
How can you be so unkind?
My whole life
I'm going to try to change your mind

Oh love, stay here with me
Just one more night
Tomorrow the sun is going to rise
& the boat that we rowed through our lives will capsize

You say you don't want me
You're talking to a black hole
Your wicked words will never find my ears

But if you say you want to love me
& ease my soul
I would wipe away all of my salty tears

Oh love, don't throw me away
How can you be so unkind?
My whole life
I'm going to try to change your mind

Won't you change your mind
How could you ever want to be so unkind?
Please change your mind

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of The Mumlers…

MP3: The Mumlers – “Don’t Throw Me Away”

MORE PRESCRIPTIONS
The Heavy Unleash Sinister “Sixteen”
Run Away with Taj Mahal’s “Leaving Trunk”
Is Muddy Waters Your Doctor? He Thinks So
’Get Back’: The Beatles As Nature Intended

The Heavy Unleash Sinister “Sixteen”

2010-05-12T17:15:00.006-04:00

After one spin of The Heavy’s unmerciful “Sixteen,” one will be quick to recall the spooky stomp of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins “I Put A Spell On You” or imagine a fairy tale Sonics recording session at Stax. The lead single off of last year’s The House That Dirt Built tells the story of a sinful 16-year old schoolgirl and Satan. "What the devil wants/Believe the devil gonna get." The fact of the matter is that this quintet from Noid, England serves up a filthy love potion of neo-retro soul, covered in black soot and laced with back alley grooves. A noisy knockabout that swings like mad and makes you wonder how they charmed the hoodoo man with such a bewitching blend of psych-soul.

The Heavy are:
Vocals: Swaby
Guitar: Dan "T" Taylor
Bass: Spencer "Big Daddy Spence" Page
Drums: Chris Ellul

I saw her dancin' with the devil
And he was wearing my shoe
Black and white Jordan leathers
And she was looking for abuse
Now she looked just like heaven
But her mind reeked of hell
Now I know I shouldn't be telling
But I guess I guess if you know her well
She's the kind of girl
She can believe me when I say, she can

She's already ready there, and already there.

Now what the devil want
Believe the devil gonna get
He gonna stretch her out
Like a tape in a cassette
And when you see these kinda girls
They all look big as fun (???)
But the devil know the devil know
There is only one thing tonight she gonna suck
Cuz she wont no she cant
Believe me when I say
She cant
She's already there
She's already there

We got sixteen year olds acting like they forty year olds
Yo we need to do it and we need to re-clense the souls
I have an idea, lets take rich style high tronic system and we crush em out

Cuz she wont she cant
Believe me when I say
She's already there
She's already there.

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of The Heavy...

MP3: The Heavy - “Sixteen”

Run Away with Taj Mahal’s “Leaving Trunk”

2010-05-10T13:15:00.005-04:00

After a short stint with Ry Cooder in folk-blues band The Rising Sons, Taj Mahal hit Studio 3 at Columbia Records to record his dynamic downhome David Rubinson-produced debut LP with Jesse Ed Davis (lead guitar), Ry Cooder (rhythm guitar), Gary Gilmore (bass) and Chuck Blakwell (drums).

It’s “Leaving Trunk,” the ruthless Sleepy John Estes penned opening track that will hit you straight in the gut like a barbwire-wrapped sledgehammer. The gritty delta jam immediately invokes a vivid portrait of bandits hotfooting it into town, swilling Mexican wine, armed to the teeth with groo-vay electricity.

The tune lures you in with a pair of twin devils – a stormy harmonica line blown out by Taj Mahal and Jesse Ed Davis’ filthy lick that surely hasn’t bathed in days. Once Taj’s tenacious holler kicks in you will be sure to be clapping yer hands and stomping yer feet.
Clocking in at nearly five minutes, this relentlessly powerful littly ditty brings true meaning to the saying, the blues had a baby and they named it Rock ‘n Roll.

“Leaving Trunk”
Written by: Sleepy John Estes

I went upstairs to pack my leavin' trunk
I ain't see no blues, whiskey made me sloppy drunk
I ain't never seen no whiskey, the blues made me sloppy drunk
I'm going back to Memphis babe, where I'll have much better luck

Lookout Mama you know you asked me to be your King
She said you kiddin' man, if you want it, keep it hid
But please don't let my husband, my main man catch you here
Please don't let my main man, my husband catch you here

The blues are mushed up into three different ways
One said go the other two said stay
I woke up this mornin' with the blues three different ways
You know one say go "baby I want to hang up", the other two said stay

Lead 1

Wake up mama I got something to tell you
You know I'm a man who love to sing the blues
Now you got to wake up baby, mama now, I got something; I got something to tell you
Well you know I'm the man, oh yes and I love to sing the blues

Come on Davis
Come on, come on

Lead 2

I went upstairs to pack my leavin' trunk, you know
I ain't see no blues or whiskey made me sloppy drunk
I ain't never seen no whiskey, the blues made me sloppy drunk
I go home baby and I lay down on the lawn

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,

Enjoy this single cc of Taj…

MP3: “Leaving Trunk”