Frank Gutch Jr: John ‘Buck’ Ormsby: Maybe Out of His Tree, But Never Out of His League; Plus, Artists Who Should Have Made It (A Musical Roundup)

This morning was cold and wet with a chill that went to the bone, the clouds threatening, the rain off and on but somehow consistent.  I knew it would be.  Yesterday, my friend John Hicks had posted a message that Buck Ormsby had died.  No way, I thought, because I had had contact only a few days previous— just a note, but contact.  When I approached Hicks, he said that he had found out from Ormsby’s son’s page.  He sent me the link and there it was.  We are sorry to report… and the words became a blur.   While it hardly seemed possible, Buck was gone.  Is gone, for none of us will hear from him again and that is truly a sad thing.

Frank Gutch Jr: They Come From Edmonton— Science Fiction of the Most Musical Variety… Plus Notes

They were Jesse Dee & Jacquie B when I first heard them— two waifs supposedly in the outbacks of the Yukon surviving by hunting and survival skills, living off the land, playing bars for beer.  They ate raw meat, sometimes frozen if there was no way to thaw it (there evidently isn’t, on the whole), but skirted moose and squirrel out of respect.

Frank Gutch Jr: My Music Bubbleth Under

It should be no secret by now that when it comes to music I am drawn to the non-hits, the non-charters, and the obscure.  Some of the most beloved music of my past have consisted of  artists and songs only the most avant of the garde have treasured— the Little John & The Monks and the Cargoes and, until their fairly recent deification, the Big Stars.  It started innocently enough— the placement of Jimmy Bowen‘s By the Light of the Silv’ry Moon on radio station KEX‘s Barney Keep‘s playlist, but it was enough.

Frank Gutch Jr: Jim Colegrove… Death, Chicago, and Nixon… Plus Notes

When last we heard from Mr. Colegrove, he was headed back to Ohio with drummer N.D. Smart II for Christmas.  When he got back, the first person he called was his old buddy Phil.  They talked over old times with Phil’s brother, Bruce, and as Jim told them of the happenings in the Big Apple, Bruce became enraptured.  He had a week before classes were to start up again so he volunteered to drive Jim back.  When it was time, they piled Jim’s belongings into Bruce’s VW and headed back.  Two days later, they were in New York.

Frank Gutch Jr: New Albums: Lost Leaders, Zoe Muth, Chris & Gileah, Joseph LeMay, and Others; and Voluminarious Notes (there will be a quiz)!!!

If this was a real job, I would have been fired long ago.  I spent a whole day and night piecing together the research for this weeks column which was intended to be fun and games with radio charts because, man, when you get into them (especially the ones from the fifties and sixties), they are fun as hell and, boy, the tricks you have to know to understand them, but once again things came along to kick the idea to the curb.  It happens every week, swear to God, so I took a little trip down computer lane and counted the columns and column ideas I have started and not finished and it came to 27.  The good thing is that I still have 27 ideas set aside for future columns.  The bad news is that I haven’t worked on any one of them since. Sigh.

Frank Gutch Jr: Sometimes it’s About the Music and Sometimes it’s ALL About the Music….

…and today, I’m in the ALL state of mind.  What got me into this mood were two CDs I received in the mail fairly recently:  Winterpills‘ All My Lovely Goners and Lisbee Stainton‘s Go.  I am reluctant to say that I receive albums like this all the time but the truth is, I do.  Maybe not this good and maybe not with regularity, but I get them all the time.  There is so much good music out there that I can’t even begin to keep up, and that’s with my ignoring the major label, who hardly need my help to spread the word.  Are these two special?  They must be because I don’t think I’d feel right if I didn’t write about them quickly and in depth.  This is the quickly.  I shall save the in-depth for reviews.