Part 6 has returned....
Ah, yes--Clock on the Wall; Space Race to the Moon. What a great way to start a slaylist. I must have found this 45 in Pensacola while stationed there (twice) in the Navy--I'm guessing it was my second stay, in 1981, though it could have been during my first, in 1977. And it was just sitting on my computer desk last time I looked, but not now--what happened to it? (Wooo-eee-oooo.) Strange forces are at work here. I mean, besides my fifty-something memory.
Anyway, classic garage band rock from 1966 or 1967 (never determined for sure which), and credited on the label (Golden--Records of La.) to one Alva Starr, whose real name was Alva Snelling and who passed away in 1995. In 2009, I heard from his wife at this very blog.
The coolest thing about these two tracks is how they complement one another--manic (Space Race) vs. obsessively hypnotic (Clock). One thing that adds to the manic feel is the too-fast metronome at the end, along with the over the top, Sansui-style reverb. And, no, I refuse to ever type that again.
Then there's Tennesse Ernie Ford's version of Stack-o-Lee, a folk song better known in its late Fifties form (Stagger Lee). Great Big Eyes is a take on the story of Little Red Riding Hood, and Where's Flo? would be a typical drunk number, except for its incredibly elaborate (and skillful) presentation. Spike Jones would have been amazed. More hiccoughs with Little George (Got the Hiccoughs) by Anita Bryant, the kind of side that slaylists were invented to include, and more splendid production and arranging work, this time from Ray Stevens and Shelby Singleton (Laughing Over My Grave, 1964). The Johnston Brothers are wonderfully not current, Joe South's novelty is (in my useless opinion) lame but fun, and Vladmir Rebikoff's marvelous March of the Gnomes (1902; from his Christmas Tree Suite!) sounds like a collaboration between Erik Satie and Ferde Grofe.
Now I suppose you want the zip file link. That link I give to you, dear downloader: Halloween 2012, Part 6
SLAYLIST
Space Race to the Moon--Alva Snelling, 1969 or 1970.
Clock on the Wall--Same
Stack-o-Lee--Tennessee Ernie Ford, Joe "Fingers" Carr, 1951.
Laughing Over My Grave--Ray Stevens, 1964.
Little George (Got the Hiccoughs)--Anita Bryant, 1959.
Crystal Ball--The Johnston Brothers, 1954.
The Creep--Same.
Great Big Eyes--The Rivieras, 1960.
Where's Flo?--Don Lucas, 1962.
The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor--Joe South, 1958.
March of the Gnomes (Rebikoff)--RCA Victor O., Dir. Alan Cornwell.
6 comments:
Nice lineup again, Sir Lee. I keep forgetting to ask...are the Classics Illustrated yours? If so, I am immediately therefore jealous that you have issues I have not added. If not, I still like the fact you're sharing the pics with us. My Dad bought me CI after CI from the time I ws 5. Then at age 8 I went on a tear, and started reading all the real versions I could get my hands on...imagine a vintage comic book influencing a kid to read the classics.
Wonder what some of the current crop of comics would inspire me to read if I were 8 again...
Yup, they're mine. I went on a CI kick last year. Probably the beginning of my mid-life crisis!
I, too, read a number of real versions after I read the CI editions--Odyssey, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, All Quiet on the W. Front. One thing I appreciated was how faithful their "Frankenstein" was to the real story, save for their stealing of the Jack Pierce design for the monster.
As you probably know, some of the earliest CI's massacred their sources--the first Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, for instance, which was probably the worst CI of all time. The revised version was fabulous, though.
Actually, the all-time worst CI adaptation had to be The Flayed Hand, part of "3 Famous Mysteries." It looked like something rejected by Charlton.
Hello,
I enjoy the music you post. I noticed that in the past you've posted The Statesmen singing "Everybody's Gonna Have A Terrible Time Down There" during Halloween. The past years' links won't open any more. Any chance you'll post it again this year? Thanks.
Part 4 then part 6 ... now you're just screwing with us ... I respect that. Thanks for the tunes and Happy Hallowe'en.
LCF
Glad to see your Halloween mixes again this year. They are always a highlight of the season. Thank you.
Charles,
Amazingly enough, that track will be showing up in either the next playlist or the one after that. I didn't realize it had been M.I.A. for so long.
Lou,
Actually, there was a part 5, but no longer. Long story....
Icepick,
And more to come! (I never miss an opportunity to say that.) In fact, I just discovered some Halloween 78s I'd put aside and forgotten about. Records have a way of vanishing in all of these rows and stacks....
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