Sometimes you hit the wall and sometimes the wall hits you. Well, the wall hit me this week. I had five good starts on columns and all five fizzled out. Lucky for me, I have a bathtub full of gin and older articles and interviews to which I can turn when the brain cells stop operating. Lucky for you, one of those interviews is one I conducted with one of the seventies’ key people on the Memphis music scene: John Fry. Here, he talks about Ardent Records‘ deal with Stax Records, the disaster which brought both labels to the edge of oblivion and the promise of two bands which would gain popularity long after the fact: Cargoe and Big Star. It is is fascinating for a number of reasons, not the least of which was Big Star‘s rise to the top years later without the media hype such rises usually entail. I give this to you exactly as I posted it right after the turn of the century.
Archive for Green Pajamas
Frank Gutch Jr: Ardent’s John Fry Talks About Ardent Records, Big Star, Cargoe and Stax…..
Posted in Opinion with tags ardent records, Big Star, Cargoe, DBAWIS, Don't Believe a Word I Say, Frank Gutch Jr., Green Pajamas, Indie Artists, Indie Music, John Fry, music, Records, Stax Records, Terry Manning, The Hot Dogs on February 13, 2013 by segariniFrank Gutch Jr: Loose Ends, Even Looser Ends, Paige Anderson & The Fearless Kin, Green Monkey Christmas, and Those Pesky Notes (to which you should really pay more attention)…..
Posted in Opinion with tags BrownChicken., Bryce Larsen, DBAWIS, Deep Sea Diver, Don't Believe a Word I Say, Drew Gibson, Elephant Revival, Fearless Kin, Frank Gutch Jr., Frothing The Nog, Green Monkey Records, Green Pajamas, Indie Artists, Indie Music, Jim Basnight, Jimm McIver, Laurie Biagini, Lisbee Stainton, N.C. Thurman, Paige Anderson, Pandora, Paul Roessler, Ray Brandes, Records, Rita Hosking, Scott Boyer, Shook Twins, Spotify, The Kavanaghs, Young Fresh Fellows on December 19, 2012 by segariniIt’s 3:30 in the morning and I can’t sleep and part of it has to do with Spotify. Not Spotify specifically, but all of the music subscription services that have come along since digitization: Mog and Pandora and Rhapsody and Sony and others. What set me off was a musician who posted on Facebook that maybe you should log on to Spotify and check out a certain artist. Why would that set me off, you ask? Because I have just recently turned my back to such “services”. Because if they are a better way to find music and artists, they are also cutting off the hands that feed them. The hands of musicians and the hands of songwriters ans indeed the hands of all involved in the musical process, for it is a process.
Frank Gutch Jr: The Best of 2012, Vinylly— The Shoes!, and Notes…..
Posted in Opinion with tags 101 Essential Records., Alcoholic Faith Mission, Craig Elkins, crooked numbers, Dala, Dan Miraldi, DBAWIS, Don't Believe a Word I Say, Frank Gutch Jr., Green Pajamas, Indie Artists, Indie Music, Jeff Gold, Keith Morris, Ken Stringfellow, Laurie Biagini, Maxi Dunn, Munro Melano, Pete Ham, Picture The Ocean, Records, Research Turtles, Roger Hodgson, Sage Run, Shoes, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Sydney Wayser, Ticktockman, Whispering Pines, Winterpills on November 28, 2012 by segarini
Whaaa-a-a-at, you say? 2012 ain’t over yet? You’re right. It ain’t. But if the Mayans have it right, it will soon be all over so if you don’t mind the indulgence I’ve decided to do what I do every year— post my list of albums which have floated to the top a month early. I do it for a couple of reasons. One, I hate for my list to get mixed in with the rest of those end-of-the-year lists which swarm late December and early January. The timing is all too predictable and if there is anything I don’t like, it’s predictability (which is why I don’t go gaga every time Keith Richards adds another day to his fossilized remains or Mick Jagger farts).
Frank Gutch Jr: Vinyl Presence & Presents (After All, Christmas Is Around the Corner) and Notes From Under the Ground…..
Posted in Opinion with tags 667s, Arborea, CDBaby, Dala, DBAWIS, Don't Believe a Word I Say, Frank Gutch Jr., Freedom Hawk, Gavin Guss., Good To Die Records, Green Monkey, Green Pajamas, Hitmen, Howie Wahlen, Indie Artists, Indie Music, Lisa Joy Pimentel, Nick Holmes, No Small Children, Putters, Records, Red Rattles, Sandrider, Small Stone Recordings, Spyn Reset, Sundowners, Sydney Wayser, The Fire Tapes, Ticktockman, Tom Dyer, vinyl, WarHen Records, Wes Swing, Xenat-Ra, Zombie vs. Shark on November 21, 2012 by segarini
I don’t know what youth wants from us old farts, especially when it comes to music. Many mock us for being Boomers, many laugh at our music. I can understand. I laugh at us, too. Our insistence that stars are gods, especially rock and movie stars. Our self-indulgence. Our knowledge that we more than any others are omniscient. God, but there have been times when I wished I had been borne of another generation (until I look at the other generations and realize that they are as fucked up as are we).
Frank Gutch Jr: Fun With 45s (Into the Depths of Hell), Jess Pillmore Breaks Her Silence, and Notes…..
Posted in Opinion with tags Ace, Aces Straights & Shuffles, April Wine, Bridey Murphy, Cargoe, Crushed Out, Daddy Cool, Dan Phelps, DBAWIS, Dewey Terry, Don't Believe a Word I Say, Eric Lichter, Five Man Electrical Band, Flash Cadillac, Frank Gutch Jr., Free Beer, Green Pajamas, Horslips, Indie Artists, Indie Music, jess Pillmore, Jessy Greene, Joel Brown., Ken Stringfellow, Little Roger & The Goosebumps, Marmalade, Mean Creek, Michael Dinner, music, Paul Carrack, Poor Young Things, Ray Brandes, Records, Rubettes, Sweet Pain, Tell-Tale Hearts, The Detergents, The Record Company, Tom Dyer, Xenat-Ra on November 7, 2012 by segarini
That’s what one of my old girlfriends used to call hanging out at my place. The Depths of Hell. Of course, as far as I could tell, anyplace which did not exclusively play everything Los Angeles was hell to her. Linda Ronstadt. The Eagles. Joni Mitchell. Jackson Browne. Gawd, but I always thought if there was a hell on Earth, it was Los Angeles. Soft Rock hell. Bland hell. Mediocre hell. Just plain hell.
Frank Gutch Jr: Ray Brandes, Gary Heffern, Jim Call and Javier Escovedo: The Denizens of San Diego, The Big Research Turtles Giveaway, (and pssst! There Are Notes)…..
Posted in Opinion with tags Antje Duvekot, Country Dick Montana, Crushed Out, Dan McLain, DBAWIS, Don't Believe a Word I Say, Elephant Revival, Frank Gutch Jr., gary heffern, Green Pajamas, I'm Your Man, Indie Artists, Indie Music, Javier Escovedo, Jim Call, Lisbee Stainton, Ray Brandes, Records, Research Turtles, San Diego, Shook Twins, Soundcarriers, Sylvie Simmons, Tell-Tale Hearts, The Crawdaddys, The Minnows, The Penetrators, The Zeros, Ticktockman, Tim Griswold, Tom Dyer, Whispering Pines, Will Kimbrough on October 10, 2012 by segarini
I know a go-go girl. Not one of those Studio 54-types who more than likely considered it a job or a chance to take her dancing to a higher level, but an honest-to-God go-go girl who danced because it was (and still is, thankfully) in her blood. Her name is Elaine McAfee Bender. I will be writing about her go-go life soon. I know a girl who sings about go-go girls. Well, about go-go girls in the modern world. Her last album, in fact, is titled A Go-Go Girl In a Modern World. Her name is Laurie Biagini. I will be writing (more) about her soon, too.
Frank Gutch Jr: RIP – Pocahontas Illinois Cloud (Plus a Retrospective of Maggi, Pierce & EJ and Hymn For Her), and That Elusive Research Turtles Release Becomes Imminent….
Posted in Opinion with tags Craig Elkins, crooked numbers, DBAWIS, Don't Believe a Word I Say, ej simpson, flamethrowers, Frank Gutch Jr., Green Pajamas, hymn for her, Indie Artists, Indie Music, Keith Morris, lucy tight, lunic, maggi jane, maggi pierce & ej, monterey pop, music, pierce ternay, pokey, randy hansen, Research Turtles, sopwith camel, tommy womack, wayne waxing on August 15, 2012 by segarini
Yesterday was rough. What should have been a fantastic day, one heralding the release of the long-awaited Research Turtles‘ Mankiller Pt. 2 EP, turned incredibly somber when I stumbled upon a post by Hymn For Her‘s Lucy Tight that Pokey had tripped off this mortal coil, and if that sounds a bit flippant, I assure you that it’s not. Pokey was a dog, mind you, but not just any dog. A very human dog. Though I had only met him twice and only for short periods, we were friends.
Frank Gutch Jr: Randy Cates Talks About Gypsy (and Rico) and Even More Notes (Pop Quiz at Eleven)…..
Posted in Opinion with tags Antithesis, Bill Lordan, Dala, DBAWIS, Don't Believe a Word I Say, Elephant Revival, Enrico Rosenbaum, Frank Gutch Jr., Green Monkey Records, Green Pajamas, Gypsy, Hardin Burns, In the Garden, Indie Artists, Indie Music, James Walsh, Jim Johnson, Jon Gomm, Kink Ador, Lianne Smith, Minneapolis, music, Randy Cates, Richard Snow, Sean Kelly, The Fire Tapes, Tom House, Unlock the Gates, Zoe Muth on July 25, 2012 by segarini
I was sitting here in front of the computer this past week and wondering about the plethora of deaths amongst musicians, because it seems like musicians are taking a larger hit than normal lately, and Gypsy popped into my head. Gypsy Queen— Part One, to be specific. “Warning… warning…” to be even more specific. Goddamn but I love the beginning of that song and the rest of the song, to boot, and I couldn’t help but wonder what the hell is going on. I can’t turn on the computer anymore without hearing of another musician’s passing and, truth be told, it is starting to get me down.
Frank Gutch Jr: A Compendium of Music Topics – Myspace, Revisiting the Intellectual Property Debate, The Green Pajamas’ Death By Misadventure, and Those Pesky Notes….
Posted in Opinion with tags Buxter Hoot'n, DBAWIS, Death By Misadventure, Don't Believe a Word I Say, Eva Turnova, Frank Gutch Jr., Green Pajamas, Harold Feld, Indie Music, music, Music Fog, Myspace, Public Knowledge, Red Rattles, Research Turtles, Ticktockman, Tom House, Uncle Sinner, US Trade Representative on July 11, 2012 by segarini
Look, I tried to come up with a comprehensive topic for this week. I really did! But this past week has been such a jumble of music-related mumbo-jumbo that I thought I might take this time to put some things behind me. Seems like every time I turn around, someone is promoting this or bitching about that and I try to keep up, but it seems impossible. I have music to listen to, people, and don’t really have time for all the bullshit! And yet, here I am, aren’t I? Diving head first into questions which, like the oil in the Gulf, keep floating to the surface. So let’s start with….
Frank Gutch Jr: Thoughts On Tom House… A Night With Junior Raimey (and Lost Tortoise)…
Posted in Opinion with tags Alcoholic Faith Mission, Cloud & Kelly's, DBAWIS, Don't Believe a Word I Say, Frank Gutch Jr., Green Pajamas, Indie Artists, Indie Music, Jubal Lee Young, Junior Raimey, Laurie Biagini, Lost Tortoise, Old California, Oregon, Records, Steve Young, Tom House on June 13, 2012 by segarini
While I won’t apologize for this column (which reads more like a review), I do want people to know that I am aware that columns are not a place for reviews. This didn’t start out this way in my head, but the words came out a review of sorts anyway, and I can only make an exception for artists like Tom House and albums like Winding Down the Road. This is a special album, an album which I have no doubt will gain cult status within a very short period of time. You know what cult status is, don’t you? Respect given to music way outside the accepted— music for which you have a profound appreciation and a personal attachment. Welcome to the personal:
