Bell Peppers and Young Canadians & Show # 467

The Bell Peppers - Batman (Seeds Of The Bell Peppers EP)

This first video is from Manchester’s The Bell Peppers. This Surf and Rock and Roll based group has put out a number of releases, all of which have been made available for free download via their bandcamp page. This version of “Batman” was done for the Seeds Of The Bell Peppers EP, which contains four cover songs including a re-worked version of The Stooges “1969” in their style. “Batman” is based on the Link Wray version of this song originally written by Neil Hefti for the 60’s Batman television series. This version adds a more Garage element to the mix. The Seeds Of The Bell Peppers EP can be downloaded for free along with the bands other EP’s at their bandcamp page.



The Young Canadians - Data Redux (This Is Your Life EP)

The Young Canadians were a Punk Rock band from Vancouver that formed in 1979 and only lasted for a brief time as a band. They consisted of Art Bergmann on guitar/vocals, Jim Bescott on bass, and Barry Taylor on drums. Originally known as The K-Tel’s, they released one EP under that name (the Automan EP in 1979) before changing their name to The Young Canadians due to legal reasons from the K-Tel corporation. The song “Data Redux” was originally released on the This Is Your Life EP in 1980. The Young Canadians are well known for their highly influential sound having connections and influence on other Vancouver bands at the time, such as The Pointed Sticks, Active Dog, D.O.A and the Subhumans. They are perhaps best known for their song “Hawaii” (co-written by Ross Carpenter of Active Dog) which is now known as a Canadian Punk Rock classic. The band split up in 1980. Art Bergmann has gone on to a respectable solo career. All of the bands recordings, including several unreleased live recordings, were compiled on the No Escape compilation album in 1995 and later re-issued by by Sudden Death Records in 2005.



This week's play list:

1. White Fence – Only Man Alive
2. Organ Eyes – Teenage Kingdomdom
3. Average Times – She Knows
4. Pow Wows – Slug Song (Live)(The Clean Cover)
5. Needles/Pins – I Heart Your Drugs
6. The Pygmies – He’s A Whore
7. Babysitter – Be Cool
8. Jimmy Kelly & The Rock-A-Beats – Little Chickie
9. The Night Riders – Cottonpickin’
10. The Gruesomes – My Dad’s A Ho-Dad (Live)
11. The Stomach Mouths – R & B No.65
12. Robert Pollard – Shielding Whatever Needs You
13. Big Search – Distant Shore
14. Survival Knife – Traces of Me
15. The Subways – Oh Yeah
16. The Oblivians – Fire Detector
17. Rude Norton – Sea Cruise
18. Young Canadians – Son of Spam (Live)
20. Young Canadians - Data Redux
21. The Boys – I Don’t Care
22. Johnny Moped – No-One
23. Television Personalities – Where’s Bill Grundy Now?
24. Lost Patrol - That's Your Style
25. Surfer Blood - Gravity
26. The Bell Peppers – Batman
27. The Bell Peppers – Bell Pepper Hop
28. Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet - (Relax) You Will Think You Are A Chicken

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for July 30. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

The Byrds Sweetheart Of The Rodeo & Show # 466

 

The Byrds sixth full length album Sweetheart Of The Rodeo was recorded at a very interesting and brief transitional time in the band's history. After David Crosby left the group and Michael Clarke in late 1967, the only two remaining Byrds were Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman. The Byrds were best known for their Psychedelic Folk and jangly Pop songs in the early to mid 60s, but Sweetheart Of The Rodeo would turn out to be something radically different. It was originally conceived as a double album by Roger McGuinn during the recording of their previous album The Notorious Byrd Brothers. His idea was to make an album chronicling an overview of the history of American music in the 20th century. The planned genres were Bluegrass, Jazz, Blues, Country & Western, R&B and Rock music, but that changed shortly after a new member was added to The Byrds line up, Gram Parsons.

The new line up of The Byrds consisted as Roger McGuinn (guitar/vocals), Chris Hillman (bass), Kevin Kelley (drums) and Gram Parsons for piano/guitar. Parsons soon became involved and was more than just a sideman. His love of Country music took over causing McGuinn and the rest of the band to decide to do a Country Rock album. The band hired session musicians and went to Nashville, Tennessee to record tracks for Sweetheart Of The Rodeo. It should also be noted that despite doing a full length Country Rock album, The Byrds had flirted with Country on their previous albums prior to this. After recording in Nashville, the band recorded some tracks and did overdubs over in Los Angeles. Sweetheart Of The Rodeo featured mostly cover songs and reworkings of traditional Country and Folk songs. Several songs were written and sung by Gram Parsons as well. There are two Bob Dylan songs that were covered for this album. The Byrds were no strangers to covering Bob Dylan songs. They covered numerous Bob Dylan songs throughout their career. But the album’s opening track “You Ain’t Going Nowhere” is perhaps as some Byrds fans see it, their best Bob Dylan cover.

“You Ain’t Going Nowhere” wasn’t even released officially by Bob Dylan at the time when The Byrds recorded and released it. Bob Dylan would release the Basement Tapes with members of The Band in 1975 featuring a version of this song and his own different version of the song was released on Greatest Hits Volume II in 1971. The band’s versions of “You Ain’t Going Nowhere” and “Nothing Was Delivered” offer something different with each track. “You Ain’t Going Nowhere” is an authentic Country Rock version of this song and “Nothing Was Delivered” also features that Country flavour, but also the harmonious vocal style that The Byrds were known for. The band reworked traditional songs such as “I Am a Pilgrim” popularized by Merle Travis, “The Christian Life”, “Pretty Boy Floyd” originally by Woody Guthrie, “Life In Prison” by Merle Travis, Luke McDaniel’s “You’re Still On My Mind”, William Bell’s “You Don’t Miss Your Water”, and “The Blue Canadian Rockies” written by Cindy Walker, but sung by Gene Autry. “One Hundred Years From Now” and “Hickory Wind” were Parsons originals.

Tensions in the band were tumultuous during this period in their career. Gram Parsons was becoming a conflict with the other Byrds and during a short brief European tour in 1968, he connected with The Rolling Stones. The Byrds planned a tour in South Africa as well, which would be part of the reason that Parsons would leave the group. The other reason was that due to legal reasons three of the songs that Gram Parsons recorded vocals for on Sweetheart Of The Rodeo (“You Don’t Miss Your Water”, “The Christian Life” and “One Hundred Years From Now”) had to be replaced. The vocals were re-recorded with Roger McGuinn, the de facto leader of the group on vocals. This only added to the tension between the band members, since Parsons would be upset over him getting less of a presence on Sweetheart Of The Rodeo. It wouldn’t be long before Parsons would leave the group, in fact he left the group before the album was even released. He would go on to work with The Rolling Stones and shortly after Sweetheart Of The Rodeo, Chris Hillman left the group and formed The Flying Burrito Brothers with Parsons.

Sweetheart Of The Rodeo was released in August of 1968, and received a mixed reception upon its initial release. Country music fans absolutely hated the album and bashed it, calling The Byrds “long-haired hippies” who were trying to subvert Country music. There was evidence of this when after completing sessions for Sweetheart Of The Rodeo in Nashville in 1968 they made an appearance at the Grand Ole Opry. The performance was met with heckling, booing and negative reactions. Some Byrds fans even disliked it too, but it was a unique release. It was one of the first releases by a popular band to be a radical shift from their established sound. The album brought Gram Parsons to the mainstream audience and is considered one of the first Country Rock albums to be released. Gram Parsons released an album entitled Safe At Home with an earlier band of his called International Submarine Band that is often considered the first Country Rock album.

This album is an important lineage in the exposing of Country music as a fashionable form of music for a younger audience. It was viewed as quite the opposite by many at the time. Sweetheart Of The Rodeo is now considered an album ahead of it’s time, but was a pretty bold thing to do in the late 60s. While this incarnation of The Byrds lasted barely six months, it is a fascinating time in not only The Byrds history, but also in the career of Gram Parsons. It is also said to be one of the first examples of the future of Country Rock music. The song titles “You Ain’t Going Nowhere” and “Nothing Was Delivered” went on to have deeper meanings following the release of this album. Many people at the time felt that there was “nothing” really that great about this album, but it wound up to become the last highly influential album released by The Byrds.




This Week's Play List:

1. Fuzz – Loose Sutures
2. Midnight Angels - I'm Sufferin'
3 The Neurons – New Location
4. Peace – Your Hand In Mine
5. Jay Arner – Bad Friend 2
6. Barren Girls – She Devil
7. The Future Primitives – 1-2-5 (The Haunted Cover)
8. The Future Primitives – The Fly (The Mummies Cover)
9. No Bunny – Chuck Berry Holiday (Live At Third Man)
10. The Mandates – Is She Coming Back?
11. Cold Warps – Don’t Haunt Me Ok?
12. Paul Jacobs – Broken Pencils
13. Cold Country – Missing The Muse
14. The Replacements – Portland
15. The Byrds – You’re Still On My Mind
16. The Byrds – You Ain’t Going Nowhere
17. The Reply – Give What You Can
18. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Tiny Steps
19. Magazine – Boredom (Peel Session)
20. Spy Device – You Can’t Work It Out
21. The Undertones – Smarter Than You
22. Radio Birdman – Anglo Girl Desire
23. The Stooges - Down On The Street

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for July 23. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers Unreleased Max's Kansas City 1979 & Show # 465

Following the breakup of Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers in 1978, Johnny Thunders headed to London to record his first full length album So Alone. When he returned to the US, the band decided to reform and play a series of live gigs (something that would happen periodically until Thunders death in 1991). Original Heartbreakers drummer Jerry Nolan did not want to take part in this initial set of reunion gigs so the band recruited drummer Ty Styx. These series of shows were recorded and resulted in the 1979 release Live At Max’s Kansas City, which would be released through Max’s Kansas City’s own Beggars Banquet Records. The recordings captured the band in good spirits and in all their loud, sloppy Rock and Roll glory. The album was so well received that a follow up live album was planned. The band got Jerry Nolan on board to play drums again and three live shows were planned and recorded once again. The results this time were for the most part unusable due to a number of factors, one being The Heartbreakers escalating drug use. There were only five usable tracks from this venture according to the some sources. The reason for this is on the third night of recording Johnny Thunders walked off the stage after the fifth song stating he had to “tune up”, but he never returned to the stage. The album was aborted and these tracks would later be issued on the reissued version of Live At Max’s Kansas City as bonus tracks on ROIR.

Another live recording has surfaced from 1979, one that has been bootlegged and available for sometime. This live recording was also at Max’s Kansas City and is a great performance featuring many songs not on the original Max’s Kansas City live album. This show was recorded on April, 28th 1979. This performance is also another quality performance and was an intended release, but it never saw the light of day officially. Commonly known as Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers Unreleased Max’s Kansas City 1979, this recording showcases numerous ramped up R&B covers and songs that would later be used on future Johnny Thunders solo releases. Notable songs on this bootleg include live versions of songs that weren’t on any official studio release at the time such as “Too Much Junkie Business”, “London Boys”, “M.I.A”, “Flight” and “Copycat”. For the covers there’s “Money”, “Do You Love Me”, “Seven Day Weekend” and two songs that would windup on Johnny Thunders 1978 So Alone album. Those tracks would be a cover of The Chantay’s Surf classic “Pipeline” and “Great Big Kiss” originally by The Shangri-Las.

While this album wasn’t officially released it adds to the mystery and aura that is Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers. Many of the songs found on this live bootleg showcase the band’s catalogue of songs that were building for sometime. The songs captured are rare as they were never officially released by The Heartbreakers and showcase the band’s live energy fusing a Chuck Berry meets Rolling Stones R&B Punk sloppiness. The songs would be spread out over Thunders future solo releases and even some (“Flight”, “Seven Day Weekend”) would end up being played by Walter Lure’s post Heartbreakers band The Waldos.

This video features "Two Much Junkie Business" from the very same 1979 Max's Kansas City show:


The Play List:

1. The Individuals – I Really Do
2. Shadows – Gathers No Moss
3. Johnny Cash – I’d Still Be There
4. Johnny Cash – What Do I Care
5. Lonesome Lefty - New Cocaine Blues (Tell It To Me)
6. The Polymorphines – The Clean and The Dirty
7. Sam Coffey and The Iron Lungs – Rick James Blues
8. Booker T – 66 Impala
9. The Danks – Octaganal
10. Seven Story Redhead – Shake It Out!
11. Dan Sartain – Swap Meet
12. Wavves – Demon To Lean On
13. Papermaps – Break
14. Wire – The Commercial
15. Wire – Used To Know
16. Diamond Rugs – Country Mile
17. The Rolling Stones – Far Away Eyes (Live in Texas 1978)
18. Legato Vipers – Chocolate Milk
19. Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreaksers – Pipeline (Live Unreleased Max’s Kansas City 1979)
20. Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers – M.I.A. (Live Unreleased Max’s Kansas City 1979)
21. The Black Lips – Make It (Live At Third Man Records)
22. The Cramps - She Said
23. Buzzcocks – I Look Alone
24. Young Rival – T-Shirt and Shorts
25. Young Rival - Modern Life

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for July 16. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

The Prehistoric Cave Strokers Interview & Show #464

Prehistoric Cave Strokers - from the It Came From The Garage Vol.1 linear notes (1986)

 

The Prehistoric Cave Strokers are a Garage Rock band from Windsor, Ontario that formed in 1985. The band also mixed in elements of Punk/Post Punk, but were primarily known for their primal Nugget-themed Rock sounds with at times absurdist lyrics. The original line up of the group featured Marc Fedak (guitar/backing vocals), Dan Moriarty (lead vocals), Lyndon Way (bass) and Jono Fiddler on drums. James Nemeth joined on bass in 1988, when Lyndon moved to Montreal for school and Jerry Rozon took over on drums when Jono moved to Peterborough in 1990. The band has been featured on numerous Garage Rock compilation albums in the late 80’s/early 90’s and produced one full length album that wasn’t released publicly. Let’s Id! (or Don’t Forget About Us When You’re Famous – its original title) was recorded by the band on a four track tape recorder in 1985-1986. It was only given out to a few friends.

The band has reformed several times since their original split in 1991, most recently in 2010 at FM Lounge in Windsor. They will be reforming once again, this time with the original line up on July 13th, 2013 at FM Lounge in Windsor.

For more information on The Prehistoric Cave Strokers you can check out the article I wrote about them in 2010 here.

Listen to the interview I did with Marc from The Prehistoric Cave Strokers here:



This Week's Play List:

1. The Soft Pack – They Say
2. Paul Shuttleworth – Just Another Weekend
3. Devo – Be Stiff
4. Fun Things – (I Ain`t Got) Time Enough For Love
5. Jolly Green Giants – Caught You Red Handed
6. Spectrals – Sob Story
7. Hurricane & Able – Hate The Blues
8 . Prehistoric Cave Strokers – Sold Out (Live 1991 at The Coach & Horses)

MARC FEDAK (OF PREHISTORIC CAVE STROKERS) INTERVIEW

9. Prehistoric Cave Strokers – Fat Man (Garageland Recording Outtake)
10. Prehistoric Cave Strokers – Urine You're Out (Live At FM Lounge 2010)
11. Ray Condo & His Hardrock Goners – Sweet Love On My Mind
12. The Sci-Phonics – 4 Questions
13. Indian Wars – Sweetheart of the North
14. Guided By Voices – My Son Cool
15. Sonic`s Rendezvous Band – Electrophonic Tonic
16. Dead Ghosts – Hanging (In The Alley)
17. Vic Godard & Subway Sect – Head Held High (John Peel Session 1978)
18. Bo Diddley – Please Mr. Engineer
19. Tandoori Knights – Tandoori Party
20. Ty Segall Band – The Tongue
21. Ty Segall Band – Muscle Man

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for July 9. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

White Fence's Cyclops Reap & Show 463

White Fence released Cyclops Reap in April 2013. White Fence is actually Tim Presley, a prolific musician from California in the vein of Ty Segall and John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees. Last year he released three full length albums, Family Purfume Vol.1, Family Purfume Vol.2 and Hair which was a collaborated effort with Ty Segall (who also released three albums last year). All of Presley’s recordings have been lo-fi Psychedelic Pop bedroom recorded affairs and this album is no different. But at the same time it has something different to offer than his previous efforts. This album has a bit more clarity, but still gives off that lazy Psychedelic warmth that White Fence has been known for.

Cyclops Reap starts with “Chairs In The Dark” that begins with an offbeat organ loop, being made on a 4 track tape recorded at his home this is something that will pop up at various moments on this album. This song features luscious melodies and that lazy warmth that is found in White Fence’s catalogue, but this song exemplifies a new kind of clarity and cohesiveness that wasn’t as evident previously. “Beat” is a singer/songwriter acoustic driven Pop track, while “Pink Gorilla” is a heavy Psychedelic Garage track with dizzying drum fills, and super fuzzy guitar lines, sounding like a cross between 80s Garage and at times 60’s Pop. “Live On Genevieve” features backwards guitar, layered vocals and strange sound effects which show the extent of White Fence’s Psychedelic experimentation. This song crosses and blurs the line between The Beatles Psychedelic Sgt. Peppers era sound and Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd.

Other stand out tracks include the echoing Pop sounds of “Make Them Eat Dinner At Our Shoes”, the warbled sounds of “White Cat” which changes in an instant from a slow melodic song to a fast driving fuzzed out Garage and organ driven Rock song, and the finger picking acoustics of “Only Man Alive”. “Run By The Same” features a lo-fi George Harrison guitar sound and catchy melodies. This album is difficult to pin down because there are so many fragments that make up the album as a whole. As mentioned it does have a lazy feeling, but it makes the album sound like it is loose and together at the same time.

This album was initially intended to be a collection of the leftover songs from White Fence’s back catalogue ones that have been piling up over the last three years, but Presley quickly changed his mind. In a recent interview Presley described the album and its recording process:

“This record was initially going to be a collection of the many songs trapped between the 4 White Fence LP’s. As I was putting that together, there were more coming. a better crop. I couldn’t stop. So, instead of a retrospective I said “Fuck It”. might as well use the most current songs of the bunch. For the exception of “Make Them Dinner At Our Shoes” which is from 2009.”

As a whole, Cyclops Reap grabs a hold of the listener in a laid back effort, calmly captivating us until it attacks in a fuzzy haze during unexpected moments. Although initially intended as a retrospective of previous recordings, this album reaps the benefits of Presley’s prolific song writing abilities and lurches forward in a new direction instead of heading backwards.

This Week's Play List:

1. Deerhunter – Neon Junkyard
2. Waker Glass - Neighbourhood Party
3. Portugal The Man – Evil Friends
4. Luck of Eden – Bangalore
5. Field Assembly – Storms and Stress
6. The Reply – I Must Stop
7. Danny Rivers – I Got
8. Teenage Head - Little Sister (Live)
9. The Demics – The Least You Could Do
10. Lowlife – Leaders
11. The National – Graceless
12. New Order- Dreams Never End
13. The Nefidovs – In & Out
14. The Knockouts – Riot In Room 3C
15. MYSTICS – Three Legged Dog (Demo)
16. Ramones – No One To Blame (Demo)
17. The Clash – Safe European Home
18. Fergus & Geronimo – Roman Tick
19. Black Angels – Broken Soldier
20. White Fence – Chairs In The Dark
21. White Fence – Pink Gorilla
22. Ty Segall & White Fence – (I Cant) Get Around You
23. Ty Segall & White Fence – Scissor People

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for July 3. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.