Halloween: Rockabill-o-ween edition (twang!)

With Halloween coming, c'mon, you gotta listen to The Cramps.
(listen to darn near all of it, if you wanna)


Grab that DL on the DL

It might hurt, burn, sting, a little-- yet "when the devil drives, you needs must go".

If that song brings you to a dark place, friend, try this version instead: Roy Orbison's more upbeat and swinging version. This is closer to Casper the Friendly Ghost (in the best possible way).

Download Domino by Roy Orbison




And to finish, an earlier Roy Orbison version, that sort of splits the difference between Casper and Lux:

See, everybody loves sunglasses. "Sunglasses: Not just for Albinos Anymore!"

Halloween- HalloWoman Edition

Halloween- yes! The best international holiday ever, easy.
(except for maybe Thanksgiving, which I just learned Canadians also celebrate)
(and except my birthday)

So to help you celebrate- because I'm a giver, see?- I will put up a slew of unholy holiday-related songs.
Now, this song musically is not so dark or spooky-ooky. But, it is by the great (late- that's sorta Halloween-ish) Marty Robbins.

(download Devil Woman- Marty Robbins as you watch below)

Now, you kids these days, with your John E. Cash, or what have you... Sure, he's who all those kids- who are demanding candy already- would post for their Halloween songs. Sure, sure, "Ring of Fire"- but you already know about that song. Lord, you probably already have that song! So I give you this instead.

Or rather, these instead:


(maybe you can snag that one too.

And this one, you just gotta hear.



Listen to it- it's nuts! It has killing, stampedes, lightning, Mexico, lightning which performs a miracle, and the face of Jesus Christ- the OG Zombie- Respek!

Lion-Less Helter-Skelter Honky-Tonk

That's Duane Eddy, on Youtube. Okay?
Create a makeable digital download-version of the same here, plus other songs

So, more deets about the most recent AMX mix that I birthed,
entitled "AMX: Black Mask McGuffin".



This one was modeled after the Pulp Fiction soundtrack; precisely, it's based upon my imprecise memory of it. SO there is Al Green-ish RnB; there is surf-y, country-y, honky-y tonk-y rock too. About 6 of one, half dozen of the other.
You should have a good idea of the BLACK side- see all my posts on Philadelphia International Records, on Jerry Butler, etc.

Now I'm giving you a dose of the WHITE side- the honky-tonk bits. You know, the white man's blues: barroom sad-sack business. Chorales for "The Loser's Cathedral", as a jam by David Houston calls bars.


You are asking yourself why the mix "Black Mask MacGuffin" is called what it's named; or conversely, why it is named what it's called.



Definition of a MacGuffin (from www.filmsite.org):
"Alfred Hitchcock's term for the device or plot element that catches the viewer's attention or drives the logic or action of the plot and appears extremely important to the film characters,
but often turns out to be insignificant after it has served its purpose;
its derivation is Scottish, meaning a "lion trap" for trapping lions in the lion-less Scottish Highlands (i.e., a trap that means nothing, since it is for an animal where there is no such animal)."

That would be the suitcase in Pulp Fiction.

"Black Mask" was a working title of the movie: I think that would refer to "the Gimp".


One last chance: Download AMX: Black Mask McGuffin.zip.

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: