Big Star inspired a fevered allegiance among fans of power pop, giving rise to a cult of believers who spent decades spreading the gospel. Their enthusiasm turned this obscure Memphis pop band,one that got little airplay, sold few records, and only played a handful of times, influencing artists as diverse as Cheap Trick, R.E.M., and The Replacements into one of the most revered bands of their time. 4cds covering tracks from their 3 LPs , solo Alex Chilton and Chris Bell and pre Big Star outfits Rock City and Icewater.
The collection also uncovers a trove of unreleased demos, unused mixes, alternate versions of songs, and a 1973 concert recorded in Memphis taken from three sets Big Star performed at Lafayette's Music Room in Memphis in January 1973. It is the best live recording ever of the band. As always Rhino deliver lavish packaging,extensive liner notes, rare and never-before-seen photos, and insightful essays about the cult of Big Star and the band's history.
Also out soon is the 2 cd deluxe edition of Chris Bell's " I Am The Cosmos " LP. Preorder that now.
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This is a dazzling trip into the creative and chaotic underground world of Warhol's Silver Factory. Accompanied by a psychedelic soundtrack and trippy special effects, this wildly entertaining documentary tells the real story of Andy Warhol as he became the epicenter of the New York avant-garde art scene in the Sixties. In original interviews, clips of Warhol screen tests and films, and thousands of photos and rare archival footage chronicling factory life, Warhol Superstars and friends revisit their fifteen minutes of fame and everything that came with it drugs, sex, music, and the joy of being filmed doing it all.
Factory people Billy Name, Gerard Malanga, Mary Woronov, Taylor Mead, Brigid Berlin, UltraViolet, and Bibbi Hansen ( Beck's mother ) candidly discuss the magic and mayhem of the Silver Factory, including their intimate dealings with Andy Warhol, the comings and goings of artistic giants like Bob Dylan and Lou Reed, and the day-to-day drama of these eccentric bohemians.It's a snapshot of an exhilarating time vividly bringing to life a fascinating counterculture and its spiritual father, icon and innovator Andy Warhol.Two and a half hours taken from over 50 hours of original interviews.!
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Mojo In Store
John Kennedy's '68 Comeback Special
John's first band JFK & The Cuban Crisis debut release " Careless Talk Costs Lives " was the very first release on the Waterfront Label and the reason Steven Stavrakis started the label long before the Waterfont store was born.
We're over the moon to be able to present John and his incredible band at a very special Mojo instore on Friday 9th October at 7pm. Wednesday 30th September is the official launch of the new album
" Is This Not Paris ? " at The Vanguard with support from Perry Keyes. For more info go to www.myspace.com/johnfranciskennedy.
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Now Lookie Here!
Spotlight on Blues & R'n B
" When I die they'll say 'He couldn't play shit, but he sure made it sound good!' "
That was Punk Bluesman:
Hound Dog Taylor
Theodore Roosevelt "Hound Dog" Taylor was born April 12, 1915 in Natchez, Mississippi, with six fingers on each hand. He was called Hound Dog because he was always on the hunt for women. The name stuck. In fact, he was chased out of Mississippi by the Klan(!) sometime in '42 after getting a little TOO friendly with a young white girl. He never went back.
Arriving in Chicago, and in order to pay the rent, Hound Dog (who could barely read or write) worked a variety of day jobs and picked up gigs wherever he could at night. In '57 he was building TV cabinets when he decided to become a full-time bluesman. By now an Elmore James disciple, our man dropped the standard and E tunings he'd been playing in favour of an amped up and rockin' bottleneck style.
It wasn't long before Taylor had picked up a huge local following on the strength of his wild live appearances on the South and West sides of town. It was around this time too when one night, a drunken Hound would, with a cut-throat razor, cut off the small extra finger on his right hand.
In 1961 Freddie King hit big with "Hideaway", in fact it made him a star. The tune was in part lifted from a number King had heard the Dog crankin' out in a club somewhere. Taylor never did receive a composer's credit for the song, but in true Hound Dog style, he didn't seem too bothered by it.
Well, Freddie might have been churnin' out single after single, but by the late sixties Hound Dog had managed just three (though he did do one for Checker). Young fan Bruce Iglauer, then working as a shipping-clerk at the Jazz Record Mart owned by Bob Koester, approached him and some other musicians ( guitarist Houserockers' Brewer Phillips and drummer Ted Harvey ) with a view to put out an album. Harvey was a guy who'd worked with Elmore James. There was no bass!
Iglauer had earlier tried to convince boss-man Koester, who also ran Delmark records, to sign Hound Dog, to no avail. As luck would have it though, he'd just received a small inheritance of $2500 and was determined to: "…turn people on to my favourite band". With that, Alligator Records was born.
Recorded live in the studio in just two nights during the spring of '71 "Hound Dog Taylor & the Houserockers" did a great job of capturing the band's raw energy. Hound Dog used his $50 Japanese electric guitar and Sears & Roebuck amplifiers with cracked speakers (oh yeah, and plenty of Canadian Club and beer) for the recording. The master tape was made for under $1000 and with the rest a thousand copies of the album were pressed up. Within a year that LP was the biggest-selling blues record on an independent label, selling at that early stage some 9000 copies. It contained "Give Me Back My Wig" which would go on to become his best-known song.
Bruce Iglauer: "Hound Dog was incredibly proud…To make an album, to see his picture on it, to have people come up to him and ask him to autograph it. He was sitting on top of the world. He was flabbergasted when I paid him royalties".
Offers started coming in for the guys to travel and for tours…Iglauer again: "After I began to realize that he (Hound Dog) couldn't read maps or road signs and couldn't get anywhere himself, I began doing the booking, negotiating deals, issuing contracts. I still had my day job at Delmark at the time. I remember him opening for Mitch Ryder's group 'Detroit'…he did some shows with Big Mama Thornton in New York. We did one tour of Australia with Freddie King and did a lot of big venues…" (From memory, it was the Showground in Sydney and included Alexis Korner, Duster Bennett and Sonny and Brownie…it was 1975).
"Natural Boogie" came out in '73 with, as you'd expect, more of the good stuff…he's playing a different $50 Japanese guitar (a Kingston with lots of knobs and switches...which he liked). And Hound Dog did the closest he could to WRITING two songs for the album, "Sadie" and "See Me In The Evening" (though Phillips gets the credit for the latter).
Iglauer: "Those he felt great about. So he liked (that second album) a little better".
Still, things do have a habit of going wrong, and in May'75 (and with plans for a live album) a drunken fight broke out between Phillips and Hound Dog. The guys were the closest of friends and were forever jokin' around. Brewer probably took it too far though (referring in this instance to the guitarist's wife) with something along the lines of: "I knew her when she was just a whore on 43rd Street". Hound Dog left the room, and then returned with a .22 rifle. Drunk, and aiming for the couch, he hit Phillips twice, once in the forearm and once in the leg. Phillips was OK, but pressed charges, things got nasty and Taylor was supposed to be tried for attempted murder.
But the Dog was a sick,sick man by this stage, dying of lung cancer. Instead of facing a trial he landed in hospital. On his death-bed, his last wish was granted when Brewer Phillips visited him in the hospital and forgave him for the incident. Hound Dog Taylor passed away the very next day, December 17, 1975.
"Beware Of The Dog!" the live album came out the following year, some say it's his best.
Lee
Selected Discography:
Hound Dog Taylor & The Houserockers
Genuine Houserocking Music
Beware Of The Dog !
Release The Hound
Natural Boogie
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Got Vinyl Records To Sell?
Need to sell some of your vinyl records?
We are always buying - either email: info@mojomusic.com.au
or else phone us at (02) 9262-4999.
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The Mojo Playlist
Sam Cooke- The Rhythm & The Blues
Gary Walker- Album Number One
Tom Russell- Blood & Candle Smoke
Charlie Parr-Roustabout
Buddy Guy-Sweet Tea
Champion Jack Dupree-King Singles Comp
Guy Clark- Sometimes The Song Writes You
Roy Buchanan - The Prophet (First Album)
Various - My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama.
Various - White Trash Rockers Vol1 & 2
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Amped Up Trailblazers
Hard Rock Gems from the late 60's and early 70's
Blue Cheer
Blue Cheer have never received enough recognition for being one of the first bands to kick start what would end up being termed "heavy metal". Formed in 1966, Blue Cheer stripped down to a trio in 1967 with Dickie Peterson (bass, vocals), Paul Whaley (drums), and Leigh Stephens (guitar) and became what is now considered the classic lineup..
The band soon became famous for their massive stacks of Marshall amps used on stage. At the time, they were deemed to be the "loudest band in the world". This was no exaggeration as the band were renowned for blowing amplifiers - and literally setting them on fire - as they pushed the equipment beyond their design limitations in their single pursuit of LOUDER EQUALS BETTER.
Their debut album Vincebus Eruptum (released in January 1968) is arguably a classic in the genre of hard rock in that when it was released, it was louder and noiser then nearly anything that had come before it.
Like contemporaries Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Blue Cheer considered themselves a "power trio" . Although they didn't possess the skill and virtuosity of these more famous bands, they were able to make up on the skills front with their attitude by being so raw and raucous (it was punk -like) . There is no doubt other bands at the time were listening to them - such as the MC5, The Stooges and even The Who (whose version of Eddie Cochrane's "Summertime Blues" owes a big debt to Blue Cheer 's heavy treatment of the same song ).
Vincebus Eruptum was a sonic eruption - their was no real production to speak of - it was like - get the band in the studio, crank up the amps, thrash the drums til they were covered in blood, and just make sure that the "hit record" button had been enabled.
The album was a mixture of Peterson originals and covers - but it didn't matter where the song came from as they approached all their material with the same blitzkrieg method. The covers were well chosen - the previously mentioned "Summertime Blues" (which became the band's only US Top 40 hit); the blues standard "Rock Me Baby"; and Mose Allison's "Parchment Farm" (interestingly the Who also recorded a Mose Allison tune "Young Man Blues" not long after).
One of the highlights of the album is the guitar work of Leigh Stephens. While he lacks the dexterity and fluency of say Jimi Hendrix or Jimmy Page, Stephens' ability to coax interesting sounds from his guitar that swoop, soar, and oscillate - is inventive and unique.
The album was a hit , going to Number 11 in the Billboard charts.
The band followed up with Outsideinside (1968), which in some ways is a better effort - particularly in terms of production - as well as the fact that the band contributed a greater proportion of original material (stand-out tracks being "Just a Little Bit" and "Come and Get It"). One of the two covers on the album - The Stones "Satisfaction" - was given a punk type treatment. Again, Leigh Stephens guitar playing on this album is a big plus - though drummer Paul Whaley also has his moments of glory with the instrumental "Magnolia Caboose Babyfinger."
Not long after this album was completed, their were personnel changes with Leigh Stephens departing - supposedly due to "drug culture" differences i.e. he was the only straight member in the band. Stephens continued his career in music releasing solo albums and playing in obscure bands such as Silver Metre (which included ex Jeff Beck Group drummer Micky Waller) , and the short-lived Pilot (not the UK pop band). His last solo album was released in 2004.
Stephens' replacement was budding guitar hero Randy Holden - a guitarist whom, like Stephens, had an individual style. Holden only managed to stay for half of the third album New! Improved! (1969) which was a patchy effort compared to the previous two albums - though the strong tracks on it all feature Holden. The album also saw the addition of keyboard player (Ray Kellogg) as well as replacement guitarist Bruce Stephens (who was quite competent but unfortunately, didn't have the flair and originality of his two predecessors).
The reason Holden departed was over money disputes. Holden then released a solo album Population II (1969) that showcases his guitar playing. It's an album that would be of interest to anyone who likes hard rock guitar playing with edge.
By the time of the fourth album - Blue Cheer (1969) - the band's sound had changed dramatically - they were very restrained. Drummer Paul Whalley had vacated the drum stool and was replaced by Norman Mayell. The album was far more consistent than New! Improved! On this album they eschewed choosing a rock classic like Summertime Blues or Satisfaction to cover - but instead, decided on a Delaney Bramlett and Mac Davis composition titled "Hello L.A., Bye-Bye Birmingham". With its almost laid-back treatment - it's hard to believe that this is the same band that had anything to do with Vincebus Eruptum.
With their fifth album - The Original Human Being (1970), guitarist Bruce Stephens had departed - replaced by former KAK singer and guitarist Gary Yoder. The band mixed more influences and sounds (even sitar on one track) to make some interesting music - but the music was more in the vein of The Band than a hard rock power trio.
Although the band was becoming more consistent and more adventurous with their music, their album sales were going down.
With Oh! Pleasant Hope (1971), the band carried on with their laid-back sound. The album was a respectable effort which includes their classic "I'm The Light". However, success was still alluding the band. This led to disillusionment, and they eventually broke up in 1972.
In the years since, the band has reformed with different line-ups - performing concerts and even releasing new albums. Recently, newer generation bands have recognised the contribution that Blue Cheer made to hard rock with bands like Smashing Pumpkins doing Blue Cheer covers. In 2000, a tribute album which featured different metal bands covering Blue Cheer songs was released - Blue Explosion: A Tribute to Blue Cheer.
Dot Man
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If you are after anything on CD, DVD, or vinyl, email us at info@mojomusic.com.au
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