IGL Dance Jamboree ’66

Nice collection (time capsule if you will) of 30 bands who participated in IGL’s first Battle of the Bands, participants were each given 3 hours of free studio time. A monumental task for sure, the next year a similar deal was offered and the number of bands was kept to 14. Judging was done from the tapes, with Huron, South Dakota’s Bird Dogs declared the winner by KIOA disc jockey Jim Michaels. Unfortunately nobody from the studio documented who played what, so you’ll notice a lot of ??? in the artists names. There are two discs to this set the first contains Garage/Folk Rock and the second contains Pop/R’n’B. 

The Elastik Band

Everyone has heard the immortal “Spazz” by The Elastk Band, one of the original garage classics discovered early on. You will most likely be surprised with the rest of the tracks on this great collection as they don’t sound much like the revered classic at all. Instead they head in a more pop/psych direction, a lot of this reminds me of the Strawberry Alarm Clock in spots, which is a positive thing. At any rate this is a nice mix of mid sixties sounds sure to please fans of the era.

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The Soup Greens - That's Too Bad

Essential garage goodness from these New York hipsters. “Like A Rolling Stone” is quite possibly the best interpretation of a Dylan song ever (at least in my world)!!! Too bad these guys didn’t stick around long enough to record more, thankfully we have this collection released on Misty Lane. If you are lucky enough to track down a copy of this, don’t hesitate and snag one for your collection. You need this!

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

32 Original Historic Rockabilly Classics - Vol. 4

Volume 4, the last volume of this awesome series of compilations. I personally like this volume more so than the first three. “Steady With Betty” by Benny Joy nearly knocked me off my chair, damn fine stuff. I would like to thank Anonymous for providing these wonderful tunes, thanks you for your generosity. So without further blabbering by myself here are the links, you have two file options WMA part 1 and 2 or M4A, the choice is yours. Either way you’re gonna love it.

32 Original Historic Rockabilly Classics - Vol. 3

Another 32 killer slabs of rockabilly music. Amazingly there is no chaff on this series, every song is a winner. This volume gives me the warm fuzzies on account of the inclusion  of “Rock N’ Rolll Saddles”

 by Johnny Edwards with the Whitecaps. Which was reportedly the first rock n’ roll record to be recorded in Wisconsin, at a studio in Wausau where polka was predominantly recorded. This same studio would later crank out some decent garage records on the Big Sound label, such as “You Can’t Tame Me” by the Benders and “Same Old Grind” by the Spacemen. Anyway...

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Herschel Sizemore - My Style

Here is a set from bluegrass legend Herschel Sizemore, eight of the tracks are originals penned by Herschel. During his long career Herschel has lent his extraordinary Mandolin playing talents to artists such as Jimmy Martin, Del McCoury, Vassar Clements, Bill Monroe, Allen Bibey, Curly Seckler, The Dixie Gentlemen and the Bluegrass Cardinals. So give this a listen and if you like what you hear please support Herschel by visiting his website and order one of his CD releases,  he has three available including My Style.

MY STYLE

Jerry Douglas - Everything Is Gonna Work Out Fine [1987]

Here is a collection that combines all the tracks from Jerry’s first two albums on one CD. Sorry for the overlap with the vinyl sourced post of Fluxology a few days ago. The track order is a wee bit out of sync compared to the original LP’s but it plays through just fine. It’s exciting to hear Jerry developing his style as this plays along, just the tip of the proverbial ice burg.

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30 Original Historic Rockabilly Classics Vol. 2

Since posting the first volume of this rockin’ series I have located a gently used copy of this CD for my shelf. This is a fresh rip with new scans for your pleasure. Volume 3 should be posted here in the not so distant future. Volume 4 has proven to be elusive, so don’t hold your breath on that one.

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Utopia

One of my favorite Todd Rundgren projects. It may not be Runt or Something/Anything, it is however a top notch pop album with catchy songs at every turn. Just give Feet Don't Fail Me Now, Princess of the Universe or Hammer In My Heart a spin and see for yourself. Hard to believe this (and Deface The Music for that matter) are out of print, such a shame.

UTOPIA

Nashville West

Another piece of the country-rock pie from Nashville West. With future Byrds Gene Parsons and Clarence White, you know this is going to be good. Also in the band was Gib Guilbeau on rhythm guitar and lead vocals along with Wayne Moore on bass. This live performance at El Monte’s Nashville West club is from early 1967. So give this a spin and get lost in Clarence White’s distinctive guitar sounds.

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