February 2010 Archives
Go Get ‘em Braves (1961)
Before I head out on a well deserved vacation, I thought I’d celebrate the opening of spring training with a nice vintage baseball album.
This album captures some of the play-by-play calls of the Milwaukee Braves from 1953 to 1961. The Braves had 5 future Hall of Fame players on their roster during this period including Hank Aaron, Warren Spahn and Eddie Mathews. The team eventually fled to Atlanta after the 1965 season but during their 13 years in Milwaukee, they never had a losing season. Milwaukee even managed to capture a World Series title in 1957 by beating the dreaded Yankees.
If you’re a fan old old time baseball, this is a pretty cool record. It’s from a time when there was no such thing as an ex-jock in the announcer’s booth. Back in the days, announcers were professionals. They painted a picture of the game with words. Now days, they make you want to destroy your TV and/or radio.
There’s not a whole lot I can add about this album. It doesn’t have the normal goofy cover that I prefer to post, so for the sake of entertainment, here’s one of my favorite Conan O’Brien sketches. (You may have to refresh the page for the video to appear).
Tracks:
Side One
Side Two
Miosen Bade-Forenings Masage Band – Swingin’ in Live (1976)
OK, I knew it was time to post again when Bob-O from Recordo Obscura started busting my chops for slacking. Since I’m pretty sure he’s one of the two or three people who check my page regularly (hell, my wife doesn’t even read my rantings), I figured that I could blow off my homework for a night and do something a little more constructive. Well…something a little more interesting.
Generally, if you stumble on to an LP with a strange picture like this one, odds are that the music is going to be pretty weird too. Unfortunately that isn’t the case here. There’s no reason to fret though. The Miosen Bade-Forenings Masage Band just happens to play some damn fine swing. And while I’m generally not a big fan of jazz, I’m not averse to something that swings as long as its got a good horn section.
I had a difficult time finding any information at all on these guys. I figured that any guy who looked this comfortable in a bathrobe must be American. It’s certainly my fashion of choice when I’m working from home. The album and song titles are in English, but that’s it. I do see a reference to “Oslo” on the back cover and the recording was done in the town of Trondheim. Both of which are located in Norway. So based on my Monk-like detective work, I’m going to make a bold assumption that the Miosen Bade-Forenings Massage Band is in fact, from Norway. (Not bad for a public education, eh?)
Not surprisingly, the story of the group is in some type of Scandinavian language (Norwegian perhaps?) so it’s of no use to me. I did notice that all seven members of the group autographed the back cover so this may actually be worth the 50 cents that I paid for it. That is, assuming that they signed it in ink made from 24k gold.
Tracks:
Side One
- 01_01 – Everybody Loves My Baby
- 01_02 – I’m Gonna Sit Right Down
- 01_03 – West End Blues
- 01_04 – Black and Blue
- 01_05 – A Monday Date
Side 2
- 02_01 – The Sheik of Araby
- 02_02 – When It’s Sleepy Time Down South
- 02_03 – Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gave to Me
- 02_04 – St. James Infirmary
- 02_05 – After You’ve Gone
Continue reading Miosen Bade-Forenings Masage Band – Swingin’ in Live (1976)
Chevrolet Sings of Safe Driving and You (1966)
I love this album. It’s one of those LPs that’s so bad, it’s good. Eight folk songs that have lyrics straight out of a drivers education manual. If this was made today, it would have to be rapped by Snoop Dogg in order to get little Jimmy’s attention. Plus there’d have to be a song about having a @#$%ing stereo with huge sub-woofers that can rattle windows three blocks away. Also noticeably missing is a song about driving while texting. How did Chevy not see these trends coming 40 years later?
Track three on side 2 is a real winner. It’s a song about centrifugal force and friction. Not something you hear every day. While there’s no vocal credits on the album, this one sure sounds like Carly Simon.
Tracks:
Side One
- 01_01 – An Exciting Thing (Driving a Car)
- 01_02 – Grown-up Baby (Driving Psychology)
- 01_03 – Cities and Towns (Driving in City and Heavy Traffic)
- 01_04 – Nowhere Fast (Observance and Enforcement)
Side Two
- 02_01 – Gentle Things (Adverse Driving Conditions)
- 02_02 – When the Wrong Thing Happens (Stopping Distances)
- 02_03 – The Natural Laws (Laws of Motion)
- 02_04 – Man-Made Laws (Common Sense Driving)
Continue reading Chevrolet Sings of Safe Driving and You (1966)
