DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS

Shit. I’ve burst into tears three times just trying to get through the opening track on this cart, He Stopped Loving Her Today. What is it about good country music that provokes such gut wrenching spasms of lonely grief? And here, the keening majesty of Mr. Jones’ voice proves he was the undisputed master of the emotional body blow.  He Stopped Loving Her Today revived Jone’s career, even though h...

De Vorzon founded Valiant Records in 1960. [5] During the 1960s, he signed the Association to Valiant, and produced its first single, a cover of the Bob Dylan tune "One Too Many Mornings." De Vorzon wrote "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight" for the Cascades , but the group did not record it. In 1963, De Vorzon recorded the song himself, with his group Barry and the Tamerla...

Welcome to Mesmerized with Bill Mesnik. Presenting  "Summer Journey,"   a 10 episode story in song.  Setting the scene:  It's a sweltering summer day  in Los Angeles, California, and choking fires are raging all over the area. A middle aged man falls in the street from heat exhaustion, and suddenly becomes amnesiac - He is without ID, and cannot remember his name or where he lives. ...

From Purple Hearts to Flying Crosses, veterans can hold any number of decorations, but few can boast the title of Oscar winner. For his role as double amputee Homer Parrish in 1946's The Best Years of Our Lives , actual veteran Harold Russell earned unique distinction as the first non-professional actor to win an Oscar and the only one in history to win two Oscars for the same role (Supportin...

Several years ago, I wrote a time-travel film treatment called “Song Trippers” about a quartet of lonely, damaged people who found solace through music. Each lost soul connects to a song that transports them back in time to the place in their youth when they were the happiest. Of course, we all know that music has magic power. There are songs that can trip my memory far from the here and now to ea...

Both Rich and I are in the process of moving; Rich from his Florida manse to the green hills of North Carolina, and I…. to who knows where, or when? But it’ll be soon. I have lived in my house for 24 years, and the amount of accumulation is mind boggling, and paralyzing. Since the death of my wife, Chemayne, two years ago, I’ve been unable to face the tremendous lift it’s going to take to purge a...

In October, 1966, the singer Nico began a residency at a bar in the East Village. She wore a white pantsuit and wielded a tambourine; her drawn vowels hung in the smoky air. She was still playing occasional shows with the Velvet Underground , whose first album would be released the following year. But, to Nico’s dismay, the band’s leader, Lou Reed, refused to play guitar at her solo shows, and bar...

Several years ago, I wrote a time-travel film treatment called “Song Trippers” about a quartet of lonely, damaged people who found solace through music. Each lost soul connects to a song that transports them back in time to the place in their youth when they were the happiest. Of course, we all know that music has magic power. There are songs that can trip my memory far from the here and now to ea...

"Two Trains Running" - From The Blues Project Album "Projections" STEVE KATZ: It was Danny's tribute to Muddy Waters. Danny lived for Muddy Waters, which is sort of understandable given how wonderful, how monumental Muddy and some of his songs were. And that was one of his most monumental songs. AL KOOPER: We started playing it and as we became a better band it became a be...

FROM OUR 2020 "DIG THIS" ARCHIVES TO WISH GARNET MIMMS A HAPPY 89th BIRTHDAY! Best known for his original rendition of "Cry Baby," later a major item in Janis Joplin 's repertoire, Garnet Mimms' pleading, gospel-derived intensity made him one of the earliest true soul singers. His legacy remains criminally underappreciated. Garnett Mimms was born in Ashland, West Virg...

Several years ago, I wrote a time-travel film treatment called “Song Trippers” about a quartet of lonely, damaged people who found solace through music. Each lost soul connects to a song that transports them back in time to the place in their youth when they were the happiest. Of course, we all know that music has magic power. There are songs that can trip my memory far from the here and now to ea...

JOY GENERATORS I first heard The Mills Brothers on a compilation disc in the 70’s with their rendition of F.D.R. Jones (a song with a complicated history). But, what struck me right off the bat was the fanfare of mouth trumpets, the infectious swinging groove, the unadulterated joy that gushed forth, and the perfectly in synch sibling harmony. This was one of the most enduring acts in American His...

Lesley Sue Goldstein was born in Brooklyn in 1946 but grew up in Tenafly, NJ. She was a junior in high school when she was discovered by legendary producer Quincy Jones, who produced her 1963 hit "It's My Party" – a song which has achieved legendary status in the classic rock cannon. It remained at the top of the charts for two weeks and prompted Gore to record the Top 10 answer son...

" In 1960s New York City lived a blind, often homeless man with a long, flowing beard, who dressed as a Viking and stood sentinel at the corner of West 54th Street and Sixth Avenue in midtown Manhattan. He sold his poetry and performed on custom-built percussion.  His recordings are considered legendary pieces of original sound emanating from a unique artist who continues to be misunderstood...

"PRIDE OF PLACE" QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE by Quicksilver Messenger Service (1968, Capitol) Just like an inveterate fisherman, there are tales of conquest that every collector will regale you with. Here’s one of mine: Buried inside a snow blanketed storage locker in the Pacific Northwest I discovered a treasure trove of some long dormant, left for dead 8 track cartridges. I was payin...

Lee Moses was a huge talent and if he’d had the big hit album he richly deserved, Time And Place would’ve been it. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist, Moses cut his teeth in the clubs of Atlanta, the ‘Motown of the South’, where he frequently performed alongside his contemporary Gladys Knight (who reportedly wanted him for the Pips, but couldn’t pin him down). It was, however, in New York in the...

If you’d been hanging out in Los Angeles any time in the summer of 1966, there would have been a high chance of stumbling across Arthur Lee. He might have been wearing just one shoe, or swimming trunks; he’d almost certainly be peering over a pair of psychedelic sunglasses. But then Lee could do what the hell he wanted. Barely 21 years old, he was the undisputed King Of The Sunset Strip: the most...

" THE WORST OF ALL TIME?" LORD SUTCH AND HEAVY FRIENDS by Lord Sutch (Cotillion, 1970) Disclaimer: this is an unusual move for Captain Billy, who ordinarily posts carts by artists whose music he’s passionate about. However, one compelling aspect of collecting 8 tracks is the “grab bag” effect. Oftentimes, you’ll purchase a group-lot of cartridges and you won’t know what you have until yo...

“JERRY LEE and THE SUN SOUND” The Sun Sound began when Sam Phillips launched his record company in February of 1952. He named it Sun Records as a sign of his perpetual optimism: a new day and a new beginning. Sam rented a small space at 706 Union Avenue for his own all-purpose studio. The label was launched amid a growing number of independent labels. In a short while Sun gained the reputation thr...

Before the emergence of the house and rave music scenes in the late 80's, there was Northern Soul. This phenomenon happened in the north of England where several clubs emerged where DJs played obscure American soul records. It may not sound like much now but I am guessing it meant a lot back in the mid 70's, particularly when you take into account the state of music in Britain at the tim...

"Commercial Rocks!" - This Is What the Radio Transmitted During the 60's When The Vinyl Was Not Spinning and The DJ Was Not Chattering - This Was Real Commercial Rock - With The Doors, Iron Butterfly, The Velvet Underground, Joe Tex, Peter and Gordon, Blues Magoos and MANY MORE!! **** To experience a treasure trove of free, downloadable Podcasts and great music in High Definition  p...

Despite all the trouble that dogged the label, there’s a reason ESP-Disk’ recordings still hold listeners spellbound 50 years later. It’s as simple as the motto that was on the back of every album: “the artists alone decide.” While that may seem to be a recipe for chaos, it often worked with Stollman’s shoestring operation, usually with just the one studio engineer, Richard Alderson, who got off o...

ESP-Disk’, a record label started in New York in 1963 by Bernard Stollman, unleashed a sonic blast of free-form rock ‘n’ roll, free jazz, ur-freak-folk, poetry, and experimental music until the end of the decade, a blast that would leave a mark on the next two generations. ESP introduced the world to, among others, The Fugs, Pearls Before Swine, the Velvet Underground, and the Holy Modal Rounders,...

"THE GREATEST UNKNOWN GUITARIST" IN THE BEGINNING by Roy Buchanan (Polydor, 1974) This is one of my all-time favorite 8 track scores. I bought it for .29 cents at Rockaway Records in Silverlake, CA., and the amount of sublime bliss that it has given me for that paltry sum doesn’t equate. This proves the egalitarian potential of the 8 track: for the price of some spare change, one of life...

THE "ONE HIT WONDER" IS A PART OF OUR MUSICAL VOCABULARY. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE "ONE ALBUM WONDER"? HERE WE EXAMINE FOUR SUCH TREASURES.