Author – Patrick the Lama

Last Next – Shanty Blue Folk

Last Next is one of the odder birds in my collection. Self-released circa 1972 by a group of New York City musicians led by an army veteran songwriter (shown in uniform on the cover), the album is dominated by amateurish country s-sw with a world-weary undertone, like Hoyt Axton or Jim Croce.

Tom Carlile & The Craftsmen: Original Sounds

Tom Carlile would later see some success as a country artist, but this early LP is previously undocumented. Dating from circa 1968, it’s a vanity pressing with a certain amount of money poured into it, as indicated by the prestigious studios where it was recorded. I guess they didn’t have any dough left for a proper artist […]

Marquee Revue: Live

The generic ‘sun-dial’ cover keeps delivering hits, here in the form of an early 70s club band who pack a lot more punch than expected. Straight outta Omaha, the Marquee Revue have more in common with fuzzed out hippie cover bands like Smack or Marble Phrogg than the lounge-rock acts they’re usually lumped in with. They […]

Moods: Live At Turner Hall

Apart from everything else, the great state of Texas produced a number of cool club band LPs in the 1960s. Kenny & The Kasuals’ “Impact” is familiar to many, and the Jades from Dallas cut two enjoyable albums in a similar style. The Moods, from Luling, didn’t release this until 1969, but for all practical […]

Hugh Romney (Wavy Gravy)

Before transforming himself into performance artist, westcoast scenemaker, and hippie commune godfather Wavy Gravy, Hugh Romney hung around the beat scene on both coasts, and made some recordings. This poorly documented album, titled “Third Stream Humour”, dates from 1962 and is a live recording (at least partly) from a standup performance at the Renaissance in […]

Art Of The Gifted

There’s lots of records by crazy people out there, but albums made by real mental patients are considerably fewer. Here’s one, recorded in 1985 by clients at various mental health facilities in Colorado. The project was the brainchild of Dr Alan Melinger, and upon scrutiny it appears to be a partial vanity trip for the […]

Musique Moderne

Here’s an unusual title that may interest ethnic beat and library music aficionados. “Musique Moderne” is a somewhat mysterious release which appears to have been produced by the Moroccan government. I’m guessing early 1980s from the look and sound of it. A possible agenda for it was to display the ability and versatility of the […]

Michael Dobbins – Music For The Seeker

Bing Crosby drops acid and wakes up in a ditch outside an ashram with a long unkept beard and a clear plastic bag holding his personal belongings. Confused, blinking against the desert sun, he senses that he must keep on seeking. Walking down the empty road, he comes upon a Stranger. The Stranger speaks of […]

Cincinnati Joe and Mad Lydia

Here’s an obscure but not very expensive album that should appeal to anyone whose ears are shaped in a Waxidermian kind of way. The rather unlikely couple came together in the fair town of Cincy, where they released this LP as well as a couple of non-LP 45s. As suggested in my Acid Archives review, […]