Alix Dobkin – Living With Lesbians (1976)
I just about soiled myself when I saw this record at a garage sale back in May. It certainly was one of the odder sales that I’ve been to this year. In addition to this gem and a couple other 1970′s lesbian albums, the old guy who was hosting the sale also had a grocery bag full of lesbian porn for sale. I’m sure there was a good story there but I couldn’t figure out a way to inquire about his music and video tastes without appearing like a total perv myself. So I forked over seventy-five cents for the aforementioned vinyl gems and went on my merry way. It’s now six weeks later and I’m still trying to unravel the mystery of why a guy, well into his 70′s, would have such an appetite for all things lesbian.
Let me start off by saying that I have friends, both male and female, who are gay. I’ve always prided myself in being able to make friends with people regardless of their race, nationality or sexual preference. If I only hung out with fat, old, white people like myself, life would suck. I also have some friends who are pretty religious and feel that being gay is immoral. Personally, I don’t get it. Why are religious people generally the most intolerant of others? Isn’t religion suppose to teach tolerance and compassion? I could drone on for hours but by now, you either agree with me or you’re dying to tell me to shut my pie hole so I’ll just leave it there.
It’s not really a big deal to be a lesbian artist today. Heck, they’re everywhere. Melissa Etheridge, Ani Difranco, the Indigo Girls, k.d. Lang, just to name a few. But think about being out there 34 years ago. I was in 8th grade when this album was released and I’m pretty sure that I had no idea what a lesbian was. So I give Alix a lot of credit. It was pretty brave to be out of the closet in a time when gays where openly discriminated against on a regular basis. Not that the world is perfect now but I have to believe that it’s a easier life today than it was in the 70′s.
Alix Dobkin was a part of the Greenwich Village scene of the early 1960′s that included Bob Dylan and you can clearly here the influences on some of the tracks here. She sings well and for the most part, this is a pretty good collection of folk songs. Granted some of the subject matter is certainly not aimed at middle-aged men like me. Nonetheless, I can respect an artist singing about topics that are important to themselves. One selection that I would have omitted, however, is the fourth song on side one, “Legnala”. I defy you to listen to the wailing on the first half of the song without cringing. It scared the crap out of both my dog and cat. They seemed to think there was a wounded animal in the house. I’m not making that up. The dog was utterly confused as to how she should react to the painful sounds being emitted by my speakers. Song four on side two isn’t much better. Apparently it’s a Bulgarian folk song but I find it difficult to believe that any Bulgarian would recognize it.
Here’s a pretty cool video of Alix rapping back in 1986. The woman really is a trailblazer. Heck, I think she even lifted some of my “white boy” dance moves.
So sit back. Free your mind. Venture a little bit outside of your comfort zone. Perhaps even channel your inner lesbian. If you’re open-minded enough, you’ll find that there’s nothing wrong with people having different beliefs and values than you do. If you’re lucky enough, you might even discover that they actually make life a whole lot more interesting. For my friends who are a little more on the conservative side, I’ll post something a little more to your liking next week. In the mean time, please put away your Sarah Palin action figures and get back to work.
Tracks:
Side One
- 01_01 – Living with Lesbians
- 01_02 – Over the Banks
- 01_03 – Chewing Gum
- 01_04 – Legnala
- 01_05 – Hearts & Struggles
- 01_06 – Good Old Dora
Side Two
Guy Carawan – Green Rocky Road (1976)
I figured that there wouldn’t actually be anything “hellish” about this album but since it’s fairly obscure, it still warrants a posting. Particularly since I happen to enjoy the sound of the hammered dulcimer which Mr. Carawan certainly excels at playing. Overall, the whole record has a nice Appalachian/folksy/Celtic feel to it. There’s nothing offensive to the senses and it’s damn fine music to do homework to.
The only videos of Guy that I could find were of him playing guitar so for anyone who might be wondering “what is a hammered dulcimer and how can I learn to play one?”, you’re in luck. I found this nice instructional video. Should this happen to inspire you to take up the hammered dulcimer and release an album, please send your royalty payments to Mr. Wonderful, care of: vinylfromhell.com.
Tracks:
Side One
- 01_01 – Soldier’s Joy
- 01_02 – St. Anne’s Reel
- 01_03 – Green Rocky Road
- 01_04 – Cluck Old Hen
- 01_05 – Pretty Saro
- 01_06 – Pig Town Fling
- 01_07 – Planxty Irwin/Morrison’s Jig/Little Beggerman
- 01_08 – Ain’t Goin’ Home Soon
Side Two
Dr. Kenneth McFarland – The Best of Ken McFarland’s Humor (1966)
I love collecting old comedy records. When I first heard Bob Newhart’s “Button Down Mind” and Bill Cosby’s “Bill Cosby is a Very Funny Guy….Right?”, I was hooked. They’re both classics that I measure other comedy albums against, even 40 years after they were released. What I enjoy most about older comedy albums is that they were clean. (Ok, maybe not Redd Foxx). I’m not talking hygiene here. I mean they lacked profanity. People could entertain without dropping F bombs every ten seconds. For me, there’s just nothing funny about most comedians who work blue. Once in a great while you’ll see an exception. I think Sam Kinison’s early stuff was brilliant. And let’s face it, Sam never worked clean. I’m not a prude. It doesn’t offend me. I just don’t think that it takes a creative mind to swear.
Ken McFarland wasn’t actually a comedian by trade. Most of the albums that he released were motivational or patriotic. This LP just happens to compile some of his funny bits from years of speeches. Personally, I found the majority of the stories a bit dated but what do you expect for a record that’s 44 years old. There’s some rapid-fire stories here. Sort of like Henny Youngman with longer bits. A few of the stories made me chuckle but there’s definitely some high mileage stuff here.
- Nurse – “Doctor, you’re signing that prescription with a rectal thermometer”.
- Doctor – “Well now I know where I left my pen”.
Ummm…yeah.
Where Dr. McFarland does excel is as a public speaker, something that I’ve always found very difficult to do. If you’re interested enough, you can listen to some of his better known speeches at a website devoted to preserving his works: mcfarlandspeaks.com
I decided against posted audio files of this album for two reasons. There’s an active fundraising effort at the above mentioned website to help preserve Dr. McFarland’s speeches and it’s quite possible that the contents of this album may be part of that effort. That being said, sharing them for free would be a foolish move on my part. Secondly, and this is the biggie, his daughter who is actively involved in preserving his works, was on the Kansas Supreme Court for 32 years, including 14 years as Chief Justice. Now….I may not necessarily be the brightest bulb on the tree……but I do know not to dangle my fingers in the piranha tank.
Continue reading Dr. Kenneth McFarland – The Best of Ken McFarland’s Humor (1966)
Walt Johnson – Oulun Poika Laulaa
I’m a sucker for homemade album projects, so I was thrilled to stumble on this gem last weekend at a local church garage sale. They actually had a second album of Walt’s so I grabbed that one too. According to the album, Walt and his wife were born and raised in the Oulu area of northern Wisconsin. For those who aren’t familiar with the area, it’s beautiful country with the highlight being the nearby Bois Brule River. A world class trout stream and stunning canoe and kayak destination. And don’t miss Johnson’s Berry Patch around the end of June. An Oulu hot spot. I’m drooling just thinking about those sweet, plump strawberries.
I couldn’t resist adding this video. I’ve run the Brule a few times during the summer, but these guys are nuts. I don’t care if they’re covered head to toe in Neoprene, that’s gotta be cold.
Walt decided to make this record at the urging of his friends after spending many years playing at area dances. My concern was that Walt’s friends might be telling him how good he is just to be nice. So I spun this album up fearing the worst. Well let me just say this, Walt….you rock! With a minimal organ and accordion accompaniment, Walt does a beautiful job singing. Mostly in a language that I can’t understand. He moves back and forth effortlessly between Finnish and English, and he’s so smooth that I’d still listen if he was singing in Klingon.
The part I loved best about this album was seeing that my boiler repairman, Ernie, provided “instrumental assistance”. I had no idea that he was a musician too. Although I didn’t know him well, I always looked forward to every fall when Ernie would stop by to restore my heat for the winter. The man was a wizard with my 1970′s era boiler, so I’m really not surprised that he had other talents. Very cool.
If you’re interested, I did find Walt’s follow-up LP on eBay for $9.98. I haven’t listened to it yet but if it’s half as good as this one, I’d pony up the ten spot.
Tracks:
Side One
- 01_01 – Kultainen Nuoruus
- 01_02 – Onnemi
- 01_03 – Villi Ruusu
- 01_04 – Maailman Matti
- 01_05 – Tennessee Valssi
- 01_06 – Metsa Pirtti
Side Two
Zuhrah Shrine Chanters – Encore (1986)
When I hear the word “Shriners”, I think of a couple different things. The first being the 22 children’s hospitals that they operate in North America. There’s no arguing that it’s a great cause that does a lot to paint an image of Shriners as wholesome, God-fearing, businessmen. The other thing that I think of is a bunch of old, drunken guys riding around in little cars for parades or acting badly at conventions. Here’s the story of one of these car stunts gone awry: Drunken Rampage And here’s a video of another one plowing into a crowd:
I don’t want to spend time bashing the Shriners because I really don’t know much about them. I do, however, have a natural distrust for any club with secret rituals and funny hats. Here’s an interesting website that claims to expose the Masons and Shriners as worshipers of Satan. Masonbusters.com Ya gotta love free speech.
So whatever your opinion might be, here’s a bunch of patriotic, religious and Broadway musical hits to soothe your troubled soul.
Tracks:
Side One
- 01_01 – The Sound of Music
- 01_02 – Go Down Moses
- 01_03 – The Lord’s Prayer
- 01_04 – God Bless America
- 01_05 – Let There be Peace on Earth
- 01_06 – This Land is Your Land
- 01_07 – The Battle Hymn of the Republic
Side Two
Hugo Molinares y Sus Magnificos – Salsa, Cumbia y…..Sabor (1984)
What do you get when you combine a 1980′s porn star mustache with the sensibility of a sleeveless Member’s Only jacket? You get Hugo Molinares of course. That’s about the only thing I can dis’ Hugo on though as his band plays some fantastic salsa music. The real problem is trying to find any information at all on Hugo in English, as my Spanish is……how do I say this…..no hablo Espanol.
After several minutes of Googling, I gave up trying to find any info on Hugo. About all I can tell you is that the album was recorded in Columbia and I’m guessing that’s where Hugo is from. Other than that, I found that a copy of this same album recently sold for $3.99 on eBay which means that my 50 cent investment has the potential to reap a 500% return. If only my 401k were tied up in copies of this album, I’d be on a path to early retirement.
Here’s a cool video of Hugo playing keyboard at what appears to be a restaurant. I particularly love the last couple of seconds where the old woman with the walker steps in front of the camera.
Tracks:
Side One
Side Two
Continue reading Hugo Molinares y Sus Magnificos – Salsa, Cumbia y…..Sabor (1984)
Polka Padre – Polka Padre Hits
Nothing says Catholicism in northern Minnesota quite like a good polka mass. If you’re wondering why, drive through one of the many mining towns that dot the Iron Range. The first thing you’ll notice is the sheer number of bars in each town. My guess is that the only way they could get these motley hoards to church was by promising some good old fashioned party music. And let’s face it, if you’re going to party on the Range, there better be a damn good polka band.
Ten years ago , I couldn’t see myself getting into polka music. But sadly, now that I’ve hit middle age, I actually enjoy it. The Padre and his group play some pretty tight polka and I was tapping my toes as I surfed for some info on the Reverend Kapoun. That’s when my stomach turned. So ya know all that stuff about Catholic priests molesting children? Yep, that’s right, the Polka Padre turned out to be “The Polka Playing Pedophile Padre”.
Normally I like to attempt some humor with my posts. Today it just doesn’t seem appropriate. Here’s a link to an article about the Reverend getting a $1.1 million lawsuit overturned. His lawyers even had enough class to send a bill for their legal fees to the victim. Polka Padre Ruling
And if you’d like to see the full history of allegations against Reverend Kapoun, check this out. Reverend Kapoun Allegations
I debated whether or not to even post this record but in the end, I figured it would provide an opportunity to let people know the truth. My own personal opinion of the Padre isn’t too high but I won’t start throwing around slanderous terms. Feel free to form your own opinions.
Sure I’m familiar with biblical passages such as Matthew 7:1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” but I’m pretty sure that it doesn’t apply to pedophiles. So today…….I’m casting the first stone (it’s another biblical reference, sheesh….do I have to explain everything to you people??)
Tracks:
Side One
- 01_01 – It’s Polka Time
- 01_02 – Moonbeams Clear
- 01_03 – Who’d You Like to Love Ya
- 01_04 – Susie Polka
- 01_05 – Oriole Waltz
- 01_06 – Hard to Get
Side Two
Last of the Ninth….Twins Pennant Drive in ’65
This is a huge day for baseball in Minnesota. Today marks the official opening of Target Field, the Minnesota Twins new home. The Twins play two exhibition games against the St. Louis Cardinals before the regular season starts on Monday. To celebrate the return of outdoor baseball to Minnesota, I thought I’d post this album of highlights from the Twins 1965 World Series appearance. The Twins eventually lost to the Dodgers in 7 games but since I was only two years old at the time, the loss didn’t leave the same emotional scars as the the Vikings countless failures.
For me, the best part about listening to this record was being able to listen to professional announcers. Halsey Hall, Ray Scott and Herb Carneal are all legends in Minnesota broadcasting. I’ve ranted before about the lack of professionalism that ex-jocks bring to the booth, but for some reason, the powers that be seem to feel that they add some extra dimension to the game. They don’t. Ninety-nine percent of all ex-jocks are just plain painful to listen to.
Herb Carneal was my favorite baseball announcer. He became the Twins lead announcer in 1967 and remained so until 2002 when he scaled back his workload. Herb continued his role part-time through the 2006 season and passed away on April 1st, 2007. His replacements, John Gordon and Dan Gladden, are so bad that I refuse to even listen to them.
I’ve been a big baseball fan all of my life. When I was a kid, my dad and Uncle took me to quite a few Twins games at the old Met Stadium. When the Twins moved indoors in 1982, most of us who grew up with outdoor baseball were horrified. If you’ve never been to the Metrodome, the first thing that you notice is that most of the seats point to the outfield. You actually have to keep your head turned to watch the game. After nine innings, you can barely turn your head. The stadium was actually designed for football. Baseball was an afterthought. All of which makes today one of the greatest days in my life. In case my wife is reading this, I’ll say that the days we met and got married were better. Although she’ll probably know that I’m lying.
No talk about the Twins would be complete without a clip of game 163. I’ve heard a lot of people call this one of the greatest games ever played, myself included. But my pal Bob-O from Recordo Obscura had a great point. It was a pretty sloppy game where both teams threw away chances to win. And he’s right (something I usually won’t say about a Tiger’s fan). This wasn’t an exhibition of great baseball. What made the game so great is that even though both teams threw away chances, they both left everything on the field. So even though it wasn’t great baseball, I still think it was a great game.
Thanks to the fine people at YouTube for sucking the life out of the internet by removing any video that might be even remotely interesting. You’ll have to imagine a clip of game 163 here.
Tracks:
Side One
Side Two
Continue reading Last of the Ninth….Twins Pennant Drive in ’65
Dallas – The Music Story (1985)
Wow!!! This is freakin’ horrible. I managed to survive the over-synthesized theme song but by the time I got through the second song, “Who Killed Jock Ewing” sung by Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs for those of you who remember the show), I was ready to use this baby for target practice. Some of the singing isn’t quite as bad because they bring in some 80′s country pop singers who actually have decent voices, but the songs themselves are just plain awful. The first song on side two is “sung” by Howard Keel who played Clayton Farlow. Whomever decided that Keel should attempt to sing should be soundly thrashed.
I found it particularly interesting that none of the shows main characters (Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, Linda Gray, Victoria Principal, etc.) loaned their names to this project. It’s not really that surprising after you give this thing a spin.
For those of you who are too young to remember, Dallas was the number one rated television show for several years. The show ran from 1978 until 1991. In reality it should never had lasted 14 seasons. The show’s 9th season will always be remembered as the infamous “dream” season. Patrick Duffy’s character, Bobby Ewing, was killed off at the end of season 8 but miraculously appears in the shower during that last episode of season 9. It turns out that his wife, played by the yummy Victoria Principal, had dreamed the entire season. Ugh! One of the worst plot twists in the history of television and it was pretty much the end of Dallas as a top-rated show.
The thing that I’ll always remember about Dallas is that during it’s run, I met my future first wife, got married and then divorced. In a shorter period of time than this show lasted. It shouldn’t have surprised me though. She loved this stupid show and of course that meant that I had to watch it too. My ex thought Bobby was “dreamy” and that I was a complete bastard because I didn’t aspire to be the total wuss that his character was. I tended to root for J.R. because his character was a total sleezeball and I knew it pissed her off. Ahhh…the good old days. If only I could understand what went wrong……
Tracks:
Side One
- 01_01 – The Theme from Dallas
- 01_02 – Who Killed Jock Ewing?
- 01_03 – I Wanna Reach Out and Touch You
- 01_04 – Makin’ Up for Lost Time
- 01_05 – A Few Good Men
Side Two
David Rose and His Orchestra – The Stripper and Other Fun Songs for the Family (1962)
A nice find from Smiley’s Flea Market in Macon, GA. The title is what caught my eye. I don’t normally think of strippers as family fun but the thought was too intriguing to pass up. ”That’s right Jimmy, tuck that dollar into the nice lady’s g-string”. I know a little education at a young age would have helped make my first trip to a “Gentleman’s Club” a little less awkward. Which brings me to my next inappropriate thought. How exactly did he collect royalties every time his song was played in a nudie bar? Hmmm….so many questions.
I did a little research on David Rose since I wasn’t familiar with him or his work. It turns out that the guy was married to Martha Raye and then Judy Garland. Holy crap! I guess he was pretty famous. Each marriage lasted three years which is pretty much the norm for Hollywood nuptials, even today. According to Wikipedia, Judy had at least one abortion while she was married to Rose due to the insistence of her mother, her husband, and her employer, MGM studios. Wow! All religious views aside, that’s just disturbing. In addition to his hit “The Stripper”, Rose wrote music for Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie and was musical director for the Red Skelton Show during its entire 21 year run.
My initial thought was to include an old Betty Page striptease video along with this record but as I was perusing them, the whole idea just felt a little too pervy. It’s not that I’m on a high moral horse so much as that I’ve always tried to keep this site somewhere around “PG”. Even a fairly sanitized 1960′s striptease seems like a step over that line to “R” so I’ll forgo any video amusement this week. (Ok, the Family Guy vasectomy video might have already broken that barrier). For those of you who feel the need for something a little more “adult” while listening to this album, I’ve heard that you might be able to find some risqué stuff on the internet. Huh….seriously?
Tracks:
Side One
- 01_01 – The Stripper
- 01_02 – Night Train
- 01_03 – What is This Thing Called Love
- 01_04 – Mood Indigo
- 01_05 – Banned in Boston
- 01_06 – St. James Infirmary
Side Two
