Johnny Kongos and His G-men Rocked

I grew up as a huge Elton John fan. So, like any good fan/collector I looked for albums that were connected in some ways one of my favorite artists. And so it happened that some time in the late 70s or early 80s I managed to stumbled upon a phenomenal album - the Elektra release of John Kongos' self-titled "Kongos". The crew on the album all looked familiar from my years as an Elton collector. And one song was familiar. I had this cool compilation record from the UK that included Kongos' big single "He's Gonna Step On You Again". Cool. Here was the album that great track came from! AND it even had the original version of "Jubilee Cloud", a song that appeared on Long John Baldry's classic "Everything Stops for Tea" - an album produced by Elton John and Rod Stewart, coincidentally. That great album is, once again, out of print on CD ... but it will be back.

MEANWHILE ... I didn't find out until a few years ago that this guy had quite a history!! It turns out that he'd been making music in his native South Africa since the early 60s. I only uncovered this information when I lucked into a CD reissue of 'questionable legitimacy' that featured two of the albums that Kongos recorded with his band 'The G-men' back in the time when the Beatles were still looking for "Help!" from one another. And this stuff has a rockin' beat, I tell ya!!

If you don't believe me, groove to it for yourself. (Password: "G_Men_rock")

Ah, and what happened to Mr. K. after his stint with the G-men? Well, in 1966 he'd moved to England to catch the tail end of the British Invasion. He cut one solo single and then took his place as the front man in Floribunda Rose (one single in '67) and the more psych-pop Scrugg, who issued three 45s in the late '60s.

Danny and Smootchy ... Some CLASSIC Redneck Humor!

Sometimes, the things that you found in the 44 cent bin were full of surprises.

My buddy Barry found this bizarre country comedy album in such a bin about 35 years ago. It's ridiculous. It's absolutely silly beyond words, and the album title indicates just how corny the humor is. But DAMN, somehow it's funny. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you ... Holiday Inn's own Danny and Smoothcy, and their album "Creamed Country Corn". These guys are over the top, but why not see for yourself. Their hasn't been a keyboard and drum duo this exciting since ... I dunno ... Lee Michaels and Frosty. (I'm KIDDING!)

The story behind this album was that Barry traded his copy to me thirty-plus years ago ... and sorta regretted it ever since. Over the years, that original copy disappeared somehow, but he and I would still always find ourselves referring to the insane bits that these two did. Well, about 4 years ago, I lucked out and found a sealed copy online for about six bucks. It was worth it's weight in ... well ... vinyl, I guess. Anyway, it was as dumb as we remembered it. The funny thing was that the album was sealed, but since the record company probably pressed their stuff on used combs, it came complete with the surface noise you hear on this transfer. My hope is that some of you will find the humor between the crackles on this 'down home' country/comedy classic.

The original credits say the following: Side 1 - Uninterrupted mirth, laughter, hysteria, giggles and chuckles - 17:15 / Side 2 - Uninterrupted guffaws, howls, fun, hilarity and screams - 17:40. The tracks are split as follows: We're Two Jerks from Jericho / Something On Your Mind / Husbands In Law / White Lightning / Cry Baby / If I Was an Itty Bitty Girl.

Danny and Smootchy

Pumpkin Powder Scarlet and Green ... Cool.

The biggest selling group for the Acta Records label was The American Breed.The band's first three singles didn't make much of an impression on the charts (even in their native Chicago!), but their fourth release was a song that became an instant pop classic ... the amazing, hook-laden, "Bend Me Shape Me". The band featured Al Ciner (guitar), Chuck Colbert (bass), Lee Graziano (drums), and Gary Loizzo (vocals, guitar). The single made #5 nationally and topped the charts in Chicago in early 1968. Interestingly, the song was pulled from the catalog of another great 60s pop band,The Outsiders'. The track provided the title of the group's second album.

The third album by the band is not as familiar to most collectors than its predecessor. But when you're a music-obsessed little kid growing up in the Bronx (and consequently Long Island), you don't ask about sales figures or status of a record. Your ears tell you what to think. And for me, 'Pumpkin Powder Scarlet and Green' was a very cool record. Nice harmonies, cool 1960s what-the-heck-does-THAT-mean lyrics, and the presence of some type of lyrical theme made it quite a curio. And yeah, years later I continue to love this little record. And since I couldn't find it on CD, there was only one thing left to do. Transfer the LP!

Eventually, the group moved toward a heavier soul sound, picked up a female singer, and changed its name to 'Ask Rufus'. Chaka Khan replaced that singer, and the band's name was shortened to 'Rufus'. As 'Rufus', they had several huge pop/soul hits for ABC.

Special thanks to http://www.bsnpubs.com/dot/acta.html for the info.

Acta 38006 (Stereo)
Pumpkin / Cool It (We're Not Alone) / Welcome, You're In Love / The Right To Cry / Ready, Willing And Able / Take Me If You Want Me / Powder / Scarlet / Anyway That You Want Me / Master Of My Fate / Music To Think By / Train On A One-Track Mind / I'm Gonna Make You Mine / Green

Very cool!

A Beatle Mystery SOLVED!! The identity of Penny O'Dell is ...

It was always great to find a new Beatles rarity in the local record bin. In the early years, most Beatle bootlegs were housed in white cardboard sleeves with a one page Xerox copied black and white cover. The song titles - many incorrect - had been quickly typed underneath a picture pulled from Nicholas Schaffner's book. Sound quality ranged from incredible to ... "What IS that in the background, McCartney's voice or a moose?"

Sometimes, you would get it home and find that you had struck gold, and perhaps you'd be treated to one or more of the band's many great BBC appearances (years before the Capitol release was a gleam in their eyes). Or maybe, you'd hear one of their handful of well recorded live shows.

But Other times, you had struck ... well, vinyl. Some unscrupulous bootlegger scammed you out of $4.50 to listen to the regular studio version of a song played through a mono speaker, garbled with some chatter, and labeled as a 'rare studio outtake'. Feh. Some of the more interesting situations that would happen occurred when a song by a band that wasn't even the Beatles would find it's way onto one of these 'collections'.

Here's one of those. The album "20x4" had a few revelatory bits on it when it came out back in the late 70s. But much of it was junk. One extremely interesting cut on the record was titled "Penny O'Dell" by the knowledgeable staff at 'Ruthless Rhymes Records'. It was a GREAT tune with an excellent hook, nice feel and great lyrics. The cover listed it as a Wings outtake from their 1974 Nashville sessions. It sure was McCartney-worthy ... but whose VOICE was on it, singing this tune about a homecoming queen who may ... or may not ... be named Penny O'Dell? It wasn't Paul. It wasn't Denny. The odds of it really being a Wings cut was quite slim. The recording on the LP is interrupted about 3/4 of the way through by an engineers voice muttering what seem to be the title. Then it restarts almost where it left off ... and trails off into a great bootleg mystery.

Over the years, Beatle fans have grown to love this mysterious tune - even though most of them have been wondering who the hell really recorded it. Wonder no further. A fine Nashville songwriter named KENNY O'Dell recorded this gem - actually titled 'Homecoming Queen" - in the early 70s. After a 25+ year search I was able to unearth the Kapp Records 45 of this great song through the wonders of the Internet. Breathe easier, fellow Beatle-people - as the great Inspector Clouseau would have said ... 'Ze meestairy ees a-soulved'. Dig it.

Homecoming Queen

First up ... a few moments withThe Liverpool Scene

The key members of this unique ensemble were: Adrian Henry, Andy Roberts, Mike Hart and Mike Evans. Their name comes from the title of a poetry book in 1967, published in London and bringing to the public the works of Roger McGough, Brian Patten and Adrian Henry (nowadays better known as an artist).

The town of Liverpool had a fairly high presence in the late 60s, owing to that band of mop-tops who shall remain nameless. And ‘the Scene’, according to beat poet Allen Ginsberg, was the conscious center of the human universe; hence, the name of this band. Musicians + poets had been a wonderful combination since Lord Buckley first made his ‘scene’ happen. In England, it was the Scaffold (Roger McGough, Roger Gorman and Michael McGear) who were able to combine music, comedy and poetry into albums and singles that made it onto the charts … but more on them later.

A book called (The Mersey Sound), featuring Henri, McGough and Patten, featured pop-song (and pop culture) influenced poetry. Roger McGough – also a member of Scaffold - saw it this way:The kids didn't see this poetry with a capital ‘p’, they understood it as modern entertainment, as part of the pop-movement. He and some excellent Liverpool area musicians began holding regular Tuesday sessions of this new hybrid genre … and a group was formed from these meeting.

The late, great John Peel put his support behind them, and produced their first LP in 1968, which didn't sell very well despite his backing. The second LP fared no better. A third album, thematically inspired by a disastrous tour of the states made no major steps toward fame and fortune for the band, whose members had now begun to invest time in other projects.

The group’s records now command a nice price in excellent condition. I happened upon my copy of “The Amazing Adventures of the Liverpool Scene” at a long-defunct used record store here on Long Island. I fell in love with the band’s unique style of jazz/rock/beat/poetry. Well-played stuff, this is. Some of the pieces are quite beautiful and moving, some are clever and witty, and some relate to the fast-moving paces and cultural icons of the times. One of the latter, a piece entitled “Batpoem”, remains a favorite of mine. I played it often during my years on WCWP Radio at C.W. Post College. So … here it is. If anyone is interested in hearing the entire album, let me know. It is long out of print, and unavailable on CD.

Batpoem

“Amazing Adventures of …”
Songs:
Tramcar To Frankenstein / Che Guevara / Gliders and Parks / Burdock River Run / Che Guevara / Universes / Batpoem / Che Guevara / Percy Parslow`s Hamster Farm / Happy Burial Blues / Palms / Che Guevara / Love Story

RCA Victor LSP-4189
Produced by John Peel
Copyright 1969

Line Up:
Andy Roberts, Vocal Guitar
Adrian Henri, Poet
Mike Evans, Vocal, Guitar
Mike Hart, Vocal, Guitar
Percy Jones, Bass
Brian Dodson, Drums

Material is written by various group members, mainly Adrian Henri

Special thanks to Nobby for the great info that can be found about these folks on: http://www.mekons.de/home/

Remember flipping through record bins ...

And remember slipping the vinyl out of the sleeves in the used record stores to check the condition. Did I find a gem? Maybe ... but it's $35.00. Nope ... that's not gonna happenfor me today. Payday ain't till Monday. Or maybe it would only be marked $4.00?!? Could that be true? Nah, too good to be true. And then you find that it's beat up, it's a re-issue, or funnier still, it's a stereo album in a mono sleeve. Oiy.

But then there were those moments ...

You'd be flipping through a rack and muttering ... "got it, got it, got it ... NEED IT!". And there it was; at that moment in time ... the record that was your personal 'holy grail'. And it was in mint condition. And it was affordable. And now ... well now IT WAS YOURS! OK, so I won't go into the follow-up anticipation of whether or not it would as great as you had expected it to be once you got it home and up onto your turntable ...

That situation could go either way.

But this blog is for posting and commenting on some of the more rare and obscure items that I've looked for, and found, over the years. Hope you'll dig some of them, too.

Peace!