Various Artists - "Lend Us A Quid, The Tanked-Up, Dressed Down, Dirty-Ass R&B Side of Pub Rock!" (WAXCD 004)

Hi there! When I was in my teens, one of my dream jobs was to be an archivist on record companies in the likes of the British Ace. Actually I’m still dreaming of this quite a lot... You know, dreams are for free! Anyway, I was fascinated by the thing totally. I mean, you’re getting paid to search the vaults of legendary 
labels like Stax, Modern or Meteor, to write the liners, to interview long forgotten heroes and to gather a compilation for the listening pleasure of a majority that has obviously an upper IQ level and of course great taste! And this was the driving force for starting the whole WAX CDs compilations. The addition of JP makes many matters easier, BUT I tell you guys that this persuasion’s not an easy shit to do. You’re setting yourself higher standards every time and you’re coming to a point that you feel imprisoned on your own ‘fun’ idea. OK, I made it look quite weepy but what I’m trying to say is that when you get positive reactions from other people for your ‘work’, it is obvious and happens almost subconsciously to want to make it even better next time and all of a sudden this photo’s not so good, this track doesn’t fit well, and when you’re come finally to an end, you realize that you have already spent on this two or three months! But it’s still a fun thing to do and I wish this was my every day routine! As you can see, this time we have picked on Pub Rock. Be careful though, we didn’t want to make just ‘another’ gathering of well known songs. And we wanted also this stable to have a ‘concept’. And the concept here is the “Dirty R&B” side of the idiom. That means no Brinsleys, no Ace, and no Bees Make Honey. Nothing against these bands of course, Brinsleys in fact are one of my favorite combos of the era but this shit here’s about raw uncompromised energy! I wanted the punk forefathers, the ones that teach the Pistols and their generation who Music Machine was and where this evil force called rock & roll was born or/and by whom?! 

In my mind the best rock & roll combo came outta UK (in all periods of time!), hands down are Johnny Kidd and the Pirates. Way cool than many before or since! No wonder these guys were a huge influence on our subject. Mick Green patented the sound made Wilko a hero and their song was the reason why the Feelgoods christened themselves this way. I tried to stick to a ‘heavy’ R&B beat for all selections here and I tried as well to link past with the then present and future. Downliners Sect was no new to the game of course, but seeing their kids succeeding in their own game, jumped up the wagon and released at least one killer LP (they did the same with punk as FU2, but that’s another story waiting to be told). Lemmy and co. was no less than a kick ass pub band in their prime, and along with 'their gals' created a mayhem picking on Johnny Kidd’s classic “Please Don’t Touch”. MC5’s front man Rob Tyner left an interesting (at least) single with the Hot Rods backing him up, and the more garage approach of the movement with The Inmates and The Cannibals (driving force was and still is Mike Spenser of the MKI Count Bishops) who introduced the Nuggets to a generation of punks that wanted to re-establish rock & roll but not in the traditional way. I included also the Little Roosters (WHATTA NAME!) and the nuclear blast in the form of a song named “I Need a Witness (produced by Joe Strummer), a song the Cock Sparrer (!) made widely familiar, the Hammersmith Gorillas savage take on the Kinks (Gaaaaaaallll you really got me gowin!), here from the original single and not from the RAW records re-press that had mastering/sounding problems plus the Bob Seger Chuck Berry homage by none other than Terry Gibson of the Sect! The Untouchables Wilko produced single as far as I know is quite a rarity already, and Dr. Feelgood’s live hyper speed take on Jerry Lee just rips! There’s an interesting little story behind every track here and why chose it but we will need more time to put into shape a thing thats already late a bit… So, hope you enjoy it and try find all these bands if you already haven’t. And keep in mind that Pub Rock was the true but unfashionable movement that REALLY saved rock & roll’s ass! RESPECT!
PS: "Lend Us A Quid" was the ironic pin my idol Steve Marriott used to wear during his pub rock days. Many of the fans still believe this was the sad end. I'm not one of those! I wish anytime soon, some better sounding tapes from the ones already exist to surface in public... 

As usual no bootlegging on WAX CDs. Share and dance freely!

The Cramps - "Songs The Lord Taught Us - Alternate Mix, French Release" (Illegal Records, 1980)

We’re gonna bury you guys in Cramps rarities over the next days (OK, maybe months, it depends on our spare time…). The start waxed the day before with the Cramps mega rare single and since this blog have a Cramps PhD holder, Jean Philippe, we’re gonna share whatever we think our ‘vaults’ (actually JP’s, myself stayed to the official releases with a few exceptions) hide and deserves exposition. And boy this never heard by me either. I’m just the guy learned it a few hours before of you! And some hours before me, Jean Philippe just had bought it (are we a straightforward blog or what?!). So let’s begin: On the minor exceptions I was talking about some lines above, was the well known bootleg “Songs the Lord Might Have Taught Us”. If my tired memory serves me right, “Might Have Taught Us” was unofficially released by two at least different bootleggers. The one I own for sure has a 'polite' sound, at least for the Cramps standards. Audible of course, in a way clear, but weak. Hearing it for the first time made me think that our beloved monsters did no wrong with these recordings keeping them off many people’s ears, even if these ears belonged to their fans (I’m one so I believe I can talk from the fans point of view, right?). All the following listenings made my meditation even stronger. And I know a lot of people who faith that these recordings were in fact demos, maybe in their anxiety to defend their/our heroes. My impression after only one shot of this, is that these are the alternate mixes of the band's classic debut all Cramps fans looking for. Exactly what my buddy JP told me, he's the Cramps-torian and I’m not the one to contradict this. What’s for sure this record here's a totally unique item in the Cramps rapidly growing official/unofficial discography. For a better readout of this semi-official release (?), wise what my partner mailed me:

“More Cramps shit? You may have heard about the very rare (50 copies) promo version of "Songs the Lord Taught Us" LP, which contains alternate mixes and with “Drug Train” instead of “TV Set”. I don't have it (and probably never will, as it's a several thousands Euros piece of plastic), but it was bootlegged several years ago as "Songs the Lord Might Have Taught Us". I have the bootleg but I couldn't enjoy it as the sound is very, very thin. It doesn't sound bad, but it doesn't sound right (it's in mono and doesn't have balls). BUT, I found (just today!) the alternate mix of the rare promo on a French -official- pressing of “Songs The Lord Taught Us" LP. It's a very basic mix, with less echo on Lux’s vocals, and in most cases, drums have much more "presence". The version of “TV Set” (which is not on the promo LP nor on the bootleg) is not only a different mix, it's an alternate take, and a pretty good one. I loooooooove it. Here it is, without the bootleg shitty sound!" We believe you don't need more, right?

The Cramps - "Human Fly / Domino" (Vengeance, 7" - 1978)

Days and years are going by much quicker than you might think. It’s already three years since Lux Interior; the Bad Elvis left this world for another. I’m not saying dead cause I’d like to remember him always as a zombie! My favorite, the coolest and the dirtiest! A primordial swamp hillbilly punk who came to this world to remember us poor sinners how rock & roll was a force of nature and not just music to dance by. I always put the Cramps in the punk movement and not in the psychobilly area. They were PUNKS! In the true-est sense of this word. And they got further than more acolytes did. They didn’t just got back to the basics, they denude it, had with it WILD SEX, discharged it from his recent years guilts and make it again DANGEROUS! Well, this is a VERY HARD TO FIND item of the Cramps discography. And a very expensive as well if you can find it in a mint copy. It came out from their own label (I think…) Vengeance, and has a DIFFERENT somehow dirtier mix of “Human Fly” than the one most most of us know from “Off the Bone”. Producer here's too Alex Chilton, but still this looks like a nonidentical version of the well known song. Don't know, if someone of you guys and gals know some more, shine a light. As my partner JP said, “You can hear Lux singing very close to the mic and the sound quality is better!”

Bizzz, bizz, bzzzzzzzzz!

Dr. Feelgood - "Malpractice - Italian Pressing" (United Artists, 1976)

One of the coolest (does exist such word?) ever ‘bad habits’ that I witnessed so far, it's the one my faithful partner JP has! He spends almost uncalculated his money on buying... the same record (in both formats) and MANY times! And I suspect this happens with just one purpose on his mind… To find the best sounding pressing or mastering! I admire you mate! Lucky me of course, cause as all record collectors use to do, I do have on my vault some of my fave discs in three or four different mixes but that's it! I prefer to throw my (everyday less and less...) money off my pocket for different things! So, the other day sent me this email:
 “Dr Feelgood Malpractice: you probably heard it a million times before (and I won't blame you for that), both the CD and the UK LP versions sound loud & clear, but the Italian pressing I ripped  yesterday sounds (almost) like a different mix (for some reason), with thundering bass & drums. Surely Feelgood is great for Brilleaux & Wilko, but the rest of the team is kicking some serious ass too, and this is very nicely highlighted on this version. I'm enjoying it even more [damn it, the pounding on "Going Back Home" is so good], so I needed to share it with you!”

 And guess what? For one more time he was 100% right! God bless you man! Next move was to add this bona-fide rip to my i-pod and in the next morning on my way to the job, I touched the play button anxious to hear on my own to what my friend raved so much about the previous night… BOOM-BAM-BOOM! If some of you guys and gals out there is a sound engineer, please explain to me WHY THIS HAPPENS?  I mean, I know this brilliant record upside down from my teens, and this is a CLEARLY better sounding shit! Anyway, I believe I don’t have to tell much (or add…) about the Feelgoods or this record especially that you haven’t read already probably somewhere else, but this is definitely the best garage record of the 70s! Cause for me Dr. Feelgood were actually a garage outfit. Tight as hell, rhythmic like an uzi in a paroxysm mode, more confident in comparison with their debut and with a perfect position between cover toons and the Wilko penned originals! From my house to the place I work it’s about an hour distance, and even if it was early morning, i had a strong will to attend the hearing with some bourbon (the first J. Geils Band record I played right next, made things even worse).  OK, for one more time I'm bubbling up so much saying actually nothing. I'll put a dot here. Listen to this even if you have it. You'll understand why immediately!

The (Count) Bishops - "Live! - Japanese Pressing" (Chiswick, 1978)

I know this brutal live document has some uploads in the blog-sphere already, but this is quite 'different'. The best thing about blogs is enclosed in just one word and that is "communication". I learned MANY things through the years from other people's spaces, had the time to 'correct' and 'sift' things that i had on my mind in a blurry situation and make friends as good as the 'real ones', everyone have in real life. Me and JP are working for quite long on a new WAX CD project. Some things made us hold up the whole 'disquisition' (haha, yeh right!) but in the whole process some sparks got up. Anyway, hopefully in a few days we will be able to present you this new essay. So, partners are made from the same clothe, and in a one way or another sway each-other. And one of my 'influences' on him are my beloved Count Bishops! Jean Philippe started diggin' for records like this one and got up with a Jap version i never had and probably in this cursed country that i live, never find, at least in a reasonable price! The sound on this classic by now LIVE 10" (i know it was out on 12" format also) is raw and at the same time smooth. The way women like their men (right babe?), haha. Along with "Speedball" this is my fave Bishops record. It got me some time to habituate "new" singer, Dave Tice but on this all band members swing and sweat! Gosh, I'm sure these fuckers torched every single bar dared to book them! I wish a video tape resurrect sometime with Bishops doing their thing!
Later lads!

In Memory of Etta & Johnny ... Etta James - "Rocks The House" (Argo/Chess, 1964) & The Johnny Otis Show - "Cuttin' Up" (Epic, 1970)

This post was meant to be a little bit celebrating... Yesterday this blog got into his third year of life and i was preparing a gift in a titty-shaking way... You know, sleazy 'Las Vegas Grind' type 45s just for the occasion. The sad news of losing Etta & Johnny left this fair for another time. Without people like those two, a blog space like this would have never existed anyway. I'm not expecting from you to need this dork here, type some words telling who these titans were. And I'm not expecting also to need me to bring in your ears some of their sounds. Actually i wasn't going to post anything cause sometimes saying nothing, says a lot. But it's 2 in the morning, kids and wife sleeping as all normal people tend to do except for me and my guilt for not solemnize two of the greatest r&r/r&b heroes ever. So that is, and I'm shutting my mouth down, letting the music do the 'dirty' talking. And that's what i liked the most for both of 'em. They were dirty and sexually starving monsters just like this music orders.  R.I. P.
PS: If that says something, Johnny Otis was Greek... and Black!

The Pink Parker (Graham Parker & the Rumour) - "Hold Back The Night" (Vertigo, 1977 - EP)

F*ck Elvis Costello! I never liked him. I bought when I was a youngster two albums, which were ok but I can’t stand him! A sniveling nerd and nothing else! I still can’t understand also what’s on a woman’s mind… My eyes had been blown by surprise (to put it mildly...) when I read for the first time in the cool McNeil/McCain book 'Please Kill Me' the part in which Bebe Buell was ‘confessing’ her love for the aforementioned wearing spectacles bloke… I mean OK, love’s blind BUT what in the bloody hell gal, did you find to him? He wasn’t Buddy Holly, even if he wanted to; he could have never come close to his brilliance! And Elvis? Elvis! Oh my god, someone should stop parents giving names without second thoughts! And the sad/crazy/unreal part of this story it’s that this sell-out became a star and Graham Parker not!

I can easily spend my/your time by insulting 'Elvis' and forgot that this piece here is about Graham Parker. Don’t try finding someone better in this league, Parker was the best. Actually, Parker was a league by himself! I despite all this ‘Brit Springsteen’ non sense. I mean OK, just like Bruce, Graham had all the right influences and a shit hot band backing him up (the Rumour was a round up of ace pub rock stars -- Brinsley Schwarz and Bob Andrews from Brinsley Schwarz, Martin Belmont from Ducks Deluxe, Steve Goulding from Bontemps Roulez plus Andrew Bodnar), but unlike Spingsteen GP’s influences were visually audible. Van ‘the man’ Morrison, the Stones and a healthy dose of pure American Soul built his sound, having by side an almost Dylan-ish ability to write clever and auto sarcastic lyrics. His three first Mercury albums (at least...) are totally brilliant works and this page suggesting them without second thoughts as add-ons to your record collection. Anyway, the 'Pink Parker' EP belongs to the pantheon now of the absolutely legendary and kick-ass releases of the late 70s. A 7inch EP consisting by four fantastic songs, two studio non-LP tracks and two live (officially bootlegged, whatever that means anyway...), the title-track a KILLER rendition of the Northern Soul classic, "Hold Back The Night" originally by the Trammps with the Rumour and the Rumour Horns firing in all cylinders!

White Trash Soul's Previous Year Hot Tenners!

Better late than never, right? I’m a little late on this, just two weeks, but many of the records you’re about to check in the next lines; released in the last days of the previous year and I needed to have some more spins to see if they deserve a place in the top 10 White Trash Soul’s New Releases list or not. I tried not to sift a lot. I mean, a good 90% of the stuff that comes naturally in your mind, are probably those you played and liked the most. One more thing's that some of them are actually 2010 releases, but due to the fact i bought 'em in 2011 makes me wanna put them in here too and i guess that's counting, right? Btw, some of the records listed below haven't got at the moment their 'physical' place on my shelf, but i was able to hear them, take a bite and put 'em on my 'following strikes' from (guess where?!) downloads and that's the reason why downloads do exist. Advertising! OK narrow minded people behind a desk? So, in no particular order these are the White Trash Soul quality approved selections. Go make 'em yours and you won't regret! 
PS: For any arguments, derelictions or just your point of view, there's this little button down there saying 'comments'... Feel free to post whatever your point of view is!

New Releases

• The Dustaphonics – ‘Party Girl’ (King-A-Ling)
• The Buttshakers – ‘Headaches & Heartaches’ (Back To Mono)
• The Excitements – ‘The Excitements’ (Penniman)
• The Phantom Keys – ‘The Real Sounds of…’ (Screaming Apple)
• King Salami & the Cumberland Three – ‘Fourteen Blazin’ Bangers!!’ (Dirty Water)
• Brandy Butler & the Fonxionaires – ‘Don’t Want Nothing’  (CopaseDisques)
• V/A – ‘Mojo Presents: Sticky Soul Fingers – A Rolling Stones Tribute’ (Mojo) 
• J.C. Brooks & the Uptown Sound – ‘Beat of our Own Drum’ (Vampisoul)  
• The Morlocks – ‘Play Chess’ (Popantipop)  
• T-Model Ford & the Gravelroad – ‘Taledragger’ (Alive)

Reissues

• Barrence Whitfield and the Savages – ‘Barrence Whitfield and the Savages Plus 10 More for the Pot’ (Ace)  
• Melvin Davis – ‘Detroit Soul Ambassador’ (Vampisoul)  
• The Fleshtones – ‘Roman Gods / Up-Front EP…Plus’ (Raven)  
• The Outta Place – ‘Monaural’ (Screaming Apple)  
• DMZ / Lyres – ‘Radio Demos / Live at Cantones, Boston 1982’ (Munster)
• Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs - ‘The MGM Singles’ (Sundazed)
• Iggy Pop & James Williamson - ‘Kill City - Restored, Remixed, Remastered’ (Bomp)
• Bo Diddley - ‘Bo Diddley's Beach Party’ (Hip-O)
• John Mayall - ‘So Many Roads, An Anthology 1964-1974’ (Universal)
• Howlin' Wolf - ‘Smokestack Lightning, The Complete Chess Masters’ (Hip-O)

Compilations 

• V/A – ‘Jerk. Boom! Bam! Greasy Rhythm N’ Soul Party, Volumes 1’ (Jerk Boom! Bam!)  
• V/A – ‘Jerk. Boom! Bam! Greasy Rhythm N’ Soul Party, Volumes 2’ (Jerk Boom! Bam!)  
• V/A – ‘Jerk. Boom! Bam! Greasy Rhythm N’ Soul Party, Volumes 3’ (Jerk Boom! Bam!)  
• V/A – ‘Jerk. Boom! Bam! Greasy Rhythm N’ Soul Party, Volumes 4’ (Jerk Boom! Bam!)  
• V/A – ‘R&B Hipshakers Vol. 2: Scratch That Itch’ (Vampisoul)  
• V/A – ‘Mr. Hot Shot Present: The R&B Review Vol. 2 (3&4 for vinyl version)’ (King Novelty)
• V/A - ‘!Chicas! Spanish Female Singers 1962-1974’ (Vampisoul)
• V/A - ‘Buttshakers Vol. 8’ (Mr. Luckee)
• V/A - ‘I Hate Cherries Vol. 2’ (Sleazy)
• V/A - ‘Jukebox Jam!’ (Jukebox Jam)

Night Trains - "Sleazeball" (Acid Jazz, 1994)

Not again! I got this feeling in the first place when our little 'zine was in its last legs. That 'must write something' feeling got me bored quicker than i thought it would and the next logical level was another nail (mine's this time) in our cool mag's coffin. Suddenly i felt the same. And you know, blogs not about this. You must write, share, post anyway something when you're into the groove and not cause that's what your dictatorship mind demands! Another thing was/is the concept. You know, this is a 'garage/soul/rock & roll' page and that's the way should be left! Fuck rules man! Sometimes you're your own worst enemy. I got to be 33 y.o. to see why many of the people already knew me (my best friends included), referring to me as an adherence person! And i was wondering 'why?'. Cause you trapped in asshole on your own keen rules, that's why!
So, this album i believe it's a club classic. Not the way 'Screamadelica' is, but probably due to the fact that in the late 80s the Acid Jazz label was ruling the sweaty nights 'round London, this pill must was one of their best weapons. I told you before, I'm a 90s kid and i got to all these by myself and not because of some hype. I still like Acid Jazz. I believe this label got something of my idiosyncrasy. It digs the same way garage punk, soul and r&b as 'vexed' jazz, funk or even some electro. Don't know shit about the Night Trains. Who they were, what they did, if they had a hit or how many records were able to put out. I just gave a little check for their discography on the net. I bought this cause i liked the front sleeve (don't ask me why) and as usually (still...) happens to me of the label's logo. I haven't heard it in years. Brushing up your record collection always have something to offer and this time was this groooooovy baybee compact disc. I'm sure you can get it through some internet auction and on the other hand surely this never re-printed so...till the next time my mind command me to give you something, slip in.
Yours faithfully.

Eddie & the Hot Rods - "Live At The Marquee EP" (Island Records, 1976)

Hi there! Happy new year to every single one of you guys and gals! We 're back, entering our 3rd year's essence; looking forward for mo' action packed music! So, let's get straight to the point. Eddie & the Hot Rods are among those bands I'm still listening constantly in fact since my early teens. And how not? They are kicking some serious asses as i'm reading on gig reviews still! Of course the period from 1975 to 1981 was their landmark and the peak of their hi - powered rock & roll engine. I yet think of their 45 rpm singles and EPs as the better format for buying and hearing them firing in all cylinders! My fave Hot Rods period was when the absolute brat / reincarnation of the ancient blues outlaws, Lew Lewis, blustered this poor harmonica as a full force member but don't look for him in this dynamite. He just sat there for two singles. But the storm wasn't about to simmer down... What's in here is the very definition of punk rock! A pub rock band, casting in the past and finding the lost for many years rock n' roll roots! And when i'm talking about 'roots' i'm not saying the obvious ones (Chuck, Bo etc) just like the rest of their comrades did. These vagrants got a little further though by checking the 60s garage and R&B bands to draw up from there all their primitive instincts! Question Mark & the Mysterians "96 Tears", Bob Seger's best Chuck Berry song that the Man never wrote "Get Out of Denver", Them's "Gloria" and Stones' "Satisfaction" delivered in hyperspeed  and sweat. At the end of 1976, NME journalists vote for this single as the second best of that year. I really wonder what was the first...