I believe I once read somewhere that Tedd Smith was Billy Graham’s Pianist. And record enthusiasts probably best know him for the common and less than amazing “Time to Run” soundtrack. But he also made a few very ambitious concept albums for Word/Light – this being the best of the ones I’ve heard. The album […]
Here is the “highly personal story” of Mrs. Gertrude Behanna, a story of alcohol, drug addiction, three broken marriages and attempted suicide. Just look at Gertrude, doesn’t she exude the aura of misbehavior and a youth gone wild?! But who am I to know. Maybe God healed her visage of all that was ugly and […]
This one might already be known to many people on here but it wasn’t known to me. Another blind buy (based on seeing there was a cover of “People Are Strange” and the totally cool photo of Julie on the back) and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. The cover of People […]
This came as a present from a friend and the physicist in me went ape-sh*t. This is a 45 themed around recordings from Sputnik, the first satelite to make it into space (launched from the former U.S.S.R. in 1957). Side one is a recording of the data being sent from Sputnik while in space. Lots […]
Cantor Raymond Smolover apparently wasn’t an unimportant figure in the Jewish music scene in the states, having produced and written (comic) opera’s and also teaching singing and vocal training techniques to many. Here’s a curious record he did with the youth choir The Nifty Levites for the Bell label, called “Edge of Freedom, a folk/rock […]
Linda Rich’s first lp on the Chicago based IVR label from 1969 is an amazingly beautiful set of original xian folk-pop. Outstanding sparse production, excellent songwriting, and Linda’s understated, yet confident vocals make this a record that reaches way beyond any kind of novelty factor often used to “handicap” Christian records. In fact, like many […]
This record comes with pretty much everything you could ask for in a Private Press Gospel album. There’s the ugly chicks, long haired dudes, tubby inbred looking dudes and a bus within which to travel and spread the word. Just as well then that there’s a choice cover shot that incorporates all the ugliness of […]
Fairly decent psych / pop soundtrack for this 1968 drugsplotation film. Going by the cover art alone you’re almost guaranteed at least a couple good listens on here. I’ve never seen the film but from what I’ve read at IMDB it sounds pretty bad (meaning I’ll have to see it soon). Anyway, onto the music. […]
Records with low budget duo-tone covers pressed by high schools with Christian kids sporting acoustic guitars pretty much haunt me in my dreams now. So, yeah, I got a full on boner when when I found this. I even like green. And it’s from Canada so it kinda has that lure of “the exotic other”. […]
This folk record is definitely borderlining country, which is a rarity for me, even though I find myself knee deep in bluegrass 78s on a regular basis. As an admirer and collector of folk himself, John Jacob Niles took his Kentucky way of life and transformed it into a countless amount of recordings that are […]
One thing is for sure: at no point during the making of this record was Jo Kondo told that he needed ‘more cowbell’. His 20 minute trance suite ‘Under The Umbrella’ is performed by an ensemble of 25 musicians, all but one of them armed with nothing but that most erotic of instruments – the […]
Here’s a cool record. Side one consists of an audio collage covering a year in the life at the University of Southern California. Some of it is predictable — marching bands, football games, stuff like that. But then you’ve got clashes between student protesters and administrators, a glee club type song (“we will have these […]
I have heard that this is the exact same record as the more well known Animated Egg lp. I, however, have never had them side by side to know for sure. Regardless, this is one of the best psych-sploitation cash-in albums out there. There is an epic story about these sessions which encompass, ace studio […]
Okay, the music on this Indonesian reggae record might not be all that good, but hey, how often do you stumble into Indonesian reggae? The accompanying track, called Reggae Beat, is actually quite charming. Especially the flute parts are rather exotic, with a gamelan scale that blends in nicely. The organ sounds pretty spaced out […]
Any discussion of Hollywood-based country rocker Ron McFarlin by a snotty record collector like myself will get around to Kenneth Higney comparisons pretty quickly. Same burnt, boozy sound; same peculiar sense of rhythm; similar downer lyrics that don’t always make sense; hell, they even look alike. Well, there’s only one Higney, but I like Ron […]
Described somewhere on the internet as “the first gay album,” which is of course nonsense (this was 1973), this is nonetheless a milestone and beat Peter Gruzden’s The Unicorn for the title of first topically gay private press country LP by three years. And when I say it’s gay I mean explictly queer and proud […]
This is easily the funniest and most inventive non-standup comedy LP I’ve ever heard. It’s a one-joke record, but what a joke and what a execution. It never gets old. The basic idea is that all animals ought to wear clothes, because “we’re all peeping toms of a sort” and no one should have to […]
Easily one of the greatest record covers of all time, making use of a painting called ‘Rapture’ by Charles Anderson. I also found a different shitty gospel record using the full, uncropped artwork on the cover. Just off to the left of the picture you see here? A 747 smashing into a skyscraper.
This record was given to the new owners of Volkwagen Transporters back in 1980, promising them “technical impressions” of the van in question. Apparently, people who were into this particular Volkswagen van were heavily interested in abstract musical interpretations of the insides of their car, or so the people from the marketing department assumed. So how does […]
When last I spoke of Mr. Stearns, I believe I claimed something to the effect of “he fell off” after making one decent lp. Well, thankfully this claim brought about a reminder that I needed to revisit this, his second lp. While I’m not sure I agree that it “steps all over” Ancient Leaves, I […]
Put aside whatever bias you might have against inter-species communication for a few minutes and give Jim Nollman a try. Sure, I know your cat doesn’t listen when you scream, “Stop clawing the god damn furniture, you horrible fiend!!!” – but, have you ever tried jamming with the little fella on, say, a Viheula? Didn’t […]
Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with a discussion on how cool the “Phasing Drums” part is. As a matter of fact, that’s the most uninteresting part of the record (gasp!). The highlights of this record therefore fall under the “electronic sounds” section, which makes up the entire A side and a quarter of the […]
Hadn’t found a cover quite this good/bad in a while. This dude clearly thought he was THEE MACK
I’m finishing this up at about 3:30 AM Pacific standard time, a perfect middle-of-the-night moment to finalize my thoughts on the infamous Kit Ream – All That I Am LP on Creative Records from 1978. Catalog number MW001. A “Waxidermist’s” wet dream. What started for me a few years ago as yet another late afternoon […]
Impressive Christian folky stuff with some trippy electronics on a couple of tracks. A lot of its gets a bit same sounding, but it’ll definitely appeal to fans of mellow stuff like the Guitar Ensemble, etc. The tracks with electronics really make you wonder how killer this could have been had they gotten a bit […]