11.24.2008

My Dad is cooler than Your Dad



Oh, Ricky Nelson. You used to be a heartthrob, back when that meant something. Yes, you had your version of Youth Rock. Very white, very innocent, very fun.



Download "There's Good Rockin' Tonight" by Ricky Nelson

Charmed all the ladies, you did. But then, at some point, you gave birth to the Nelson Twins.



But these things happen; I forgive you, Ricky Nelson. (But I will not forget.)
Ricky Nelson is about to find his way from Rock'n'Roll Heaven, to one of my Mix CDs. (this is only a small step down, because my mixes are rather fantastic*-, oh but you knew that, didn't you, Ricky Nelson?!)

The mix will be called "AMX", after a very special muscle car that MY DAD has. This is why my Pops is cooler than your pops (I didn't even capitalize your pops- that is how much cooler mine is than yours!). My Dad is restoring this badass, boss motorized vehicle.
I am pretty sure that the lovely women of Quentin Tarantino's DEATHPROOF talked about this car.
Thus, the mix will be Tarantino-movie-soundtrack themed. I will have oldies rock (witness Ricky Nelson, above), semi-obscure soul, and some sort of hip-hop or other. This will cover the well-loved soundtracks of Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and Kill Bill. So far, I am considering Jerry Butler, Ricky, and something from the RZA- all of which I ripped recently**. Also going to put the original version of "(Bang Bang) My Baby Shot Me Down" on there; written by Sonny Bono (!) and thus recorded by Cher (!). Probably going to put "Leader of the Pack" on there, for some explicit "DEATH PROOF" references. Yes, "referencing" will be key, since that is 88% of what Quentin Tarantino does.

Here's another little gem by Ricky "I <3 you!" Nelson:


* If you are wondering how to download one of my various mixes, just click its link, obv, but you'll also need a program that unzips file packs.
EASY!:
WinZip, which lots of computers come equipped with, will do the job. I use WinRar, because it is free to download ('trial', but won't stop working if you don't buy it...) and works swell.

** Just so you know, all my posts tagged "Archive Fever" have songs that I ripped from vinyl. That means they are old, and topnotch. They are good enough, you see, that I took the time to painstakingly record them from vinyl records to my computer. Likewise, all posts tagged "track listing" are mixes that I've made; you'll want to download them all, of course, now that you can unzip them.....

Here's a picture of an AMX, doin' what AMXs do....

11.13.2008

Don't Knock my Coccyx

A friend of mine fell off a scooter. She's okay, but she did injure her
coccyx.
It's not funny.
Also not funny is how good Wilson Pickett is.



R I G H T ?? !! ?? (I tell you, I am not one bit joking when I say: my grandfather has the exact same suit. He wore it to my high school graduation, and damn, if he didn't look sharp.)

This is an album I picked up a while ago. Again, it came from the Second Mile thrift; not too surprising, since the album before this one was called "Wilson Pickett in Philadelphia" (it was produced here by Gamble and Huff). That probably helped him gain a little more regional recognition.
"Don't Knock My Love", on the other hand, took him back to his ruts (that's "roots", pronounced Southern Style) - it was produced at the famous Muscle Shoals Studios.

When I first put on this record, I'll admit that I thought it a little slick.
I don't know what the hell I was thinking, because it's in fact more than a lil' gritty. Maybe it was the suit that threw me (the suit above, obviously: that's the cover of the record of which I speak). Well, as Wilson himself told me, You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover.mp3 (download).

Stream it here, if ya'd rather:


I think I was washing dishes, so maybe I wasn't really listening actively. (maybe it should've been LOUDER? right: it should ALWAYS be LOUDER!)

It (now) reminds me of a snippet of Leigh's and my conversation about the Staple Singers, Stax, etc VS The Supremes and Motown records.
This Wilson Pickett record would fall on the former side: south-y, bigger and looser. The Supremes, Mssr Gaye, etc. have a citified sound, slicker and much more poppy.

This record (and, in general, Muscle Shoals, Stax et al) is more elemental: it's got some of earth in it; it's got some Fire and Water (download mp3) in it:




Yeah, your man Wilson Pickett is not citified: he's country. He's country like Otis "Tramp" Redding. I'll post that song - a funny and funky duet with Carla Thomas- sometime too, but you gotta wait...
Here, to tide you over, is a picture of Otis Redding, approved by your own United States Gov't:


oh hey my wait: it's a TRAMP STAMP!!!! AHAHAAHAahaha aHahhaHAh HAHhaHah ahahaha!