Dec 182011
Sounds of the Hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!
This week’s edition of Saturday Night Shut-In arrives late and without commentary from Mr. Moderator. We’ll have to let the music do the talking. Expect a chattier host next week.
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/RTH-Saturday-Night-Shut-In-58.mp3|titles=RTH Saturday Night Shut-In, episode 58][Note: The Rock Town Hall feed will enable you to easily download Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your digital music player. In fact, you can even set your iTunes to search for an automatic download of each week’s podcast.]
Oh thank goodness this appeared – I was starting to go through Kubler-Ross stages of mourning but was still firmly stuck in Denial when this post made it’s appearance. A great show – I’ve listened to it twice while wrapping presents – and will probably play it for Mr. Royale again. I particularly liked that cover of “Sound and Vision” and have been trying to figure out who it is. Beirut? Fiery Furnaces? Please elucidate (along with the other tracks).
Glad you dug it, ladymiss. Here’s the track list with a little commentary, when necessary:
Clinic – Shopping Bag
The Saints – No Time
Shirlean Williams and the Tempo’s Band – Ease It to Me: This is from a compilation called Carolina Funk that General Slocum burned for me. Lots of good stuff I’d never heard of before. Wonder if the Doobie Brothers were fans of this song. Speaking of the General, I wish we could get that guy active in the Hall again. I need to catch up with him in person, if nothing else. Great guy who will factor into this episode a bit later…
Jimi Hendrix – Wait Until Tomorrow
The Emotions – When Tomorrow Comes: This was a late-period Stax/Volt band I don’t know a lot about. This track is from the Stax box set I bought for andyr and his wife for their wedding about 20 years ago. Generous, self-less friend that I am I later borrowed and burned the entire box. This little piece gives some details about them: http://supersoulsisters.blogspot.com/2009/05/emotions-untouched-plus-1969-1974.html
The Big Mess Orchestra – Sound and Vision: This is a huge, fun theatrical orchestra that General Slocum and longtime musical and theatrical friends have organized for (mostly) annual holiday spectacular shows. Here’s their website, which explains things better:
http://bigmessorchestra.com/.
Here’s a small appreciation I wrote on the guy, who I met and befriended in college days:
http://overlookedgems.blogspot.com/2006/01/andy-bresnan.html
The Beatles – Blue Jay Way (in German True Stereo): You know how I feel about the GTS version of Magical Mystery Tour – it’s magical, bringing out all the moods in the grooves and justifying some of the more challenging, underwritten songs in the Beatles’ catalog. I always liked this song better than most Beatles fans, but this version is especially creepy.
Quasi – Prest-o Change-o: This is a band Oats turned me onto. I’ve got about a half dozen of their songs on my iPod. I’m sure you know the drummer is Janet Weiss, from Sleater-Kinney, The Jicks, and Wild Flag (I’m pretty sure she’s in that band too, right?). Weiss’ husband, I believe, a Sam Coombs (?) is her partner in Quasi crime. Did he date back to an early band with Elliot Smith, Heatmiser, or something like that?
Roxy Music – Amazona: I’ve gone on about this song too many times, but why stop now? I’m forever dazzled by the end of the guitar solo and how the band gets back into the song. One day a college friend and I spent what seemed like an hour lifting the needle back to that point and trying to determine exactly what happened there.
Rufus Thomas – I Think I Made a Boo Boo
XTC – No Thugs in Our House (live): This is a bootleg recording I downloaded years ago. Even noted XTC hater E. Pluribus Gergely gives it up for a live Old Grey Whistle Test version of this song, which proves, once and for all, that Andy Partridge was more than a machine.
The Emotions singer really has a Diana Ross vibe…and I know how you feel about Diana Ross.
Yes, that’s probably the reason why I thought it sounds more like a Motown track than a Stax one.