Salt Water Taffy

Here's something sweet and savory for ya.

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Love Minus One

This record is a real hodgepodge of styles, from lounge to jazz to pysch. But it's actually pretty great for a virtually unknown movie soundtrack, which you can read about over at Waxidemy (be sure to check out the comments).

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Sounds of the Woodstock Age

This glorious slab of ridiculous exploito can be found over on Rock Archeologia. Many thanks, bud!

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Barry Mann

It's likely that when Carole King had her tremendous success with "Tapestry" that record company execs figured they could make money off the other Brill Building songwriters. Neil Sedaka fared quite well. Not so much for the likes of Ellie Greenwich, Gerry Goffin and Barry Mann, all of whom made worthy if idiosyncratic records, of which "Lay It All Out" is one.

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Cass Elliott

At this point in her career, Cass was done with the bubblegum music that Dunhill had apparently foisted on her and she no longer wanted to be called "Mama." So she went into the studio with songs from more serious-minded writers like Judee Sill and Randy Newman to produce what is likely her best record. Alas, after this she decamped to Vegas, to Carson, and to the middle of the road before her untimely death.

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U.S. Navy Port Authority

Just wanted to turn up the heat in here.

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Trade Martin

Answers the musical question, who is Trade Martin?

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The New World

No doubt you'll want to support this artist.

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Howard Lemon Singers

It's Sunday, and time for some gospel music. Here is an exceedingly rare record from the Howard Lemon Singers on the Stax label. I was able to comp these tracks from various sources, but I am missing the song "There'll Come a Time." If anyone has it, please post a link in the comments. And may the cosmic muffin bless you if you do.

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The Now Generation

More cool instros of the hits of the day, this time as performed by the Now Generation (aka the Joe Scott Orchestra) on the classy Mainstream label. This one comes in thanks to Derrick Bostrom of the Meat Puppets.

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Tapestry

Some Canadiana, with touches of '70s-era Neil Young. I wonder where they got their name from?

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Pom Pom Girls

Here's a re-up, by request, for this cheesy Mike Curb soundtrack. Would anyone have Curb's "Song for a Young Love" record? If so, please put a link in the comments.

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Jimmie Rodgers

Not the "singing brakeman" Rodgers, here is one of this Jimmie's obscure A&M records. You can read more about this album here.

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Buy Buy Baby

A cool instro disk from, of all people, marketing schills Young & Rubicam.

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Jim Gordon

Wonderful solo record by famed session drummer Jim Gordon. Yeah, his later life has been a tragic one, but his music lives on. To hear some of the fantastic tracks he's played on, check out these compilations from Any Major Dude with Half a Heart. The breadth and depth of his session work may surprise you (it did me).

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Tom Pacheco

Some Americana, from back before that term was coined.

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A Different Rosie ...

In which Sesame Street gets down with its bad self.

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Roosevelt Grier

A request came in from Monkeeboy for Rosie's "Soul City" album. Unfortunately I don't have that one, but I was able to locate many of the songs (along with a batch of other tunes). Alas, I'm missing some key tracks - among them the title cut - so if anyone has a nice clean rip of this rare (and pricey) LP, please post a link in the comments.

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Al Rosa

I couldn't find anything about this guy. It looks to be his only record. I picked it up because it was on Tower, the Capitol Records subsidiary, and because, according to the sticker, it can be played on all stereo players. Enjoy.

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The Further Adventures of Larry Kusnitt

Once again, I know this is outside the musical realm of my usual posts, but what the hey. The link below will take you to Bandcamp where you can either download the album for free or actually pay for it. By choosing the latter you will directly support Mondo Exploito (mo' money = mo' records).

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Mark Spoelstra

A vinyl rip of Mark Spoelstra's self-titled album, which was produced by James William Guercio (of Chicago fame).

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Buddahrama

Buddah was always a strangely eclectic label, and never is that more obvious than on this rare French comp, which contains "50% rapide and 50% slow" music. I mean, you got your Captain Beefheart right next to your Lemon Pipers, and there's also a bizarre track by a one-off group called Le Cirque, which was produced by Leon Russell. And then there are straight soul stompers by Henry Lumpkin and Timothy Wilson. I would imagine Buddah's motto was "Anything That Sticks."

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Jeff Monn

A dose of reality, by request.

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The Establishment

So I bought this record off eBay, and it's actually much better than I thought it would be. Kind of soul-ish in a WASP-y cream-puff way. Enjoy this vinyl rip!

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B.J. Thomas

A vinyl rip of a lesser-known record on ABC by the esteemed Mr. Thomas.

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Ron Dante

I've always dug this guy's voice. Not a major album by any stretch, but a pleasant one nonetheless.

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Toni Wine

Once again, this is not an actual album but a compilation I made from various sources featuring songs and demos by the great Toni Wine and her group, Dusk. If anyone has additional tunes by her and would like to add them, please post a link in the comments.

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The First Edition

One of the last editions of the First Edition.

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Pat Shannon

Nice soft, sunshiny LP. Some background: In dealing with Pat Shannon and his career, it's important to remember that sometimes nepotism isn't a matter of undue favoritism — Pat Shannon's real name was Pat Glasser, and he was the brother of Warner Bros. staff producer Dick Glasser. That obviously gave him an edge in getting recorded, but he did have the talent to justify the effort. His career began in the late '50s with the single "Maybelle" b/w "Knock Knock (Who's There)" at Decca, and he cut a total of four singles for the label through the end of 1959. These records were mostly in a country-pop vein, with several sides featuring the Anita Kerr Singers and Owen Bradley producing several of them. Shannon was a charismatic singer with a gentle folk tenor that had an enticing dark edge, and he might have found success as part of the early-'60s folk revival. Instead, he emerged again — produced by his brother — on the far side of the psychedelic era with "Candy Apple, Cotton Candy," released in the final week of May 1968. The single retained the gentle trippiness appropriate to 1966-1967, and had a great beat plus some powerful bass work amid the tasteful brass and gently twanging sitar. It was also written by Ruthann Friedman, who'd composed "Windy." Listening to the song's reverb-laden voice and flutes, and its general sunshine pop elegance, one wonders whether the people playing here aren't the same session musicians who handled most of the playing on the Association's records, and whether Warner Bros. might have been trying to groom a potential sound-alike act. Alas, this record never took off, and Shannon was to release only one more single, on Uni in 1969, before giving up his career as a recording artist. "Candy Apple, Cotton Candy" was pretty much forgotten until Rhino Handmade resurrected it for 2004's Come to the Sunshine: Soft Pop Nuggets from the WEA Vaults. At last report, Shannon was living in retirement in California, and had suffered a stroke.

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John Gregory Orchestra

All your favorite detective show hits!

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P.F. Sloan

He was raised on records ... as was I.

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Silverbird

Here's my vinyl rip of "Broken Treaties," the debut album from Silverbird. I think I'm more partial to their second album, which you can find in the January 27th entry.

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Mariano and the Unbelievables

A perfect album for a lazy Sunday afternoon. BTW, this post is 2-fer, containing their other record, "25th Hour."

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The Bantams

Answers the musical question: What if Rodney Allen Rippy fronted Dino, Desi and Billy?

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The Wheel

Kick back in your comfortable chair, slip into euphoria and spin the Wheel.

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A Treasury of Great Folk Rock Hits

More Dunhill goodness. If anyone has other Dunhill comps, please post a link in the comments.

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More Kyle

This fills a request from Rock Archeologia. A nice album, very different in feel from the one I posted yesterday.

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Dave Antrell

This one goes out to monkeeboy. Sweet and sunshiny (especially nice on this snowy day here in Boston), with the assistance of the Wrecking Crew (Carol Kaye, Mike Deasy, Hal Blaine, et al). Enjoy.

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Bobby Hart

Speaking of Bobby Hart ...

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Kyle

Here's an album I picked up yesterday for $1.99 at In Your Ear in Harvard Square. I have seen Kyle's other two records - "Times That Try a Man's Soul" and "Kyle" - floating around the interwebs, but not this one. I couldn't track down much about this guy other than this was his final disk. At times he sounds a little like Neil Diamond. It was produced by Danny Janssen and Bobby Hart (of Tommy Boyce and ...), which made it essential - at least for me. If anyone out there has some info on ol' Kyle, please share it in the comments.

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Don Randi

Thanks to Rock Archeologia, here is "Revolver Jazz." Alas, it's only 160 kbps, but it's nice to finally listen to this album. If anyone has a higher-quality rip, please post a link in the comments.

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Terry Jacks

As a follow-up to the Susan Jacks entry (thanks, btw, to blog friend Rock Archeologia for posting "Forever"), here are two albums by her hubby, "Seasons in the Sun" and "Y' Don't Fight The Sea." If anyone has two later albums from Terry - "Pulse" and "Just Like That" - my collection, and my pitiable life, will be complete. Please post in the comments if you do.

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Bobby Bloom

Don't know about you, but I'm ready to head over to Montego Bay.

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Brutal Beauty

Yeah, I know this is outside the musical realm of my usual posts, but I'd like to share this record with you. The link below will take you to Bandcamp where you can either download the album for free or leave a little in the tipping tray. Please choose the latter.

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Booker T and Priscilla

Fresh vinyl rip for you. Features "Bobby Dylan" on harmonica, Chris Ethridge of the Flying Burrito Brothers on bass and Johnny Barbata of the Turtles/Jefferson Starship on drums. Careful listeners will notice the piano motif from "Layla" popping up on one of the tunes. A question arises: who stole it from whom? Overall, a pretty unusual record. A bit of mellow funk, some gospel, some light soul. Priscilla's voice can grate at times, especially when she's getting into it. BTW, if someone has Booker T and Priscilla's album "Home Grown" and would like to share it, please put a link in the comments. Thanks.

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Bobby Darin

In which ol' Walden Robert Cassotto signs on with Motown for one last shot at relevance.

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Jeanie Greene

Very nice (and rare) white gal Southern soul. Here's some info: Mississippi native Mary Elizabeth Lee started her recording career under the stage name Jeanie Johnson in 1958 when she contracted with RCA Victor with assistance by Chet Atkins. The mid 1960s brought about a new moniker, Jeanie Fortune; an introduction to future husband Marlin Greene; and backing vocals session work at American Studios in Memphis and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama. Toward the end of the '60s, under her married name, Jeanie Greene, she released a singles for both Atco and Cotillion; her 1971 full-length solo debut, Elektra's "Mary Called Jeanie Greene"; and played gigs in both the Alabama State Troupers and Southern Comfort. Throughout Mary Elizabeth Lee's career as a singer, songwriter and keyboardist, her vocals can be heard on recordings by Big Ben Atkins, Wayne Berry, Reuben Howell, Eddy Mitchell, Willie Nelson, Don Nix and Dan Penn as well as on stage at "The Concert for Bangla Desh" and with Elvis Presley "On Stage: February 1970."

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More Spanky

What happens when the squares try to be hip.

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Groovie Goolies

Archies go goth.

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Rob Galbraith

Hen's-teeth rare soul-country gem.

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