New Words & Music Adaptation by Huddie Ledbetter - Copyright 1963 (Renewed) 1977 (Renewed) Folkways Music Publishers Inc.
This episode, we return to the “Creation & Evolution” theme as we trace the history of the song called “Black Betty”. It’s a fascinating story, from its origins as an African-American work song to its transformation into a rock anthem by Ram Jam. We’ll explore the musical evolution of this enduring track. Join us for this captivating musical journey.
“Black Betty” New Words & Music Adaptation by Huddie Ledbetter – Copyright 1963 (Renewed) 1977 (Renewed) Folkways Music Publishers Inc.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome back to the “I’m In Love With That Song” Podcast on the Pantheon Podcast Network. I’m Brad Page, host of the show, where each episode we take a song and put it under the microscope, so to speak, looking at all the elements that make the song work. We look at the performance, the arrangements, the production, all the various components that go into making a great song. No musical expertise is required here, this show is for anyone who’s curious about the strange alchemy, the magic of music.
This episode is the second in our occasional series that I call “Creation and Evolution”. This is where we look at songs that have an exceptionally long, involved, and sometimes convoluted history. You may remember that back on episode 152. I used the “Creation and Evolution” theme to explore the song “Midnight Train To Georgia”, that classic track from Gladys Knight and The Pips. Some songs are written pretty quickly, in a burst of inspiration. Other songs might be meticulously worked on, written and rewritten over time. But some songs, passed through various hands, are recontextualized or mutated as different writers and performers add their interpretations and revisions. Sometimes this can happen over generations.
Case in point, the song we’re discussing today has its roots, at the very latest, in 1935, but probably much older than that. Eventually, it made its way onto a single in 1977 by an unknown rock band who became a one-hit wonder thanks to this song. This is Ram Jam with “Black Betty”.
Tracking the history of the song called “Black Betty” is difficult to do with any certainty. Its origin is considered to be as an African-American work song. The first recorded version was by a prisoner named James “Ironhead” Baker. John Lomax and his son Alan traveled across the country recording and documenting the folk music of America. During a visit to the state prison in Sugarland, Texas, they recorded James Baker, along with other inmates, singing a version of “Black Betty”.
The most well-known version for quite some time was recorded by Huddie Ledbetter, otherwise known as Lead Belly. He was also a former prisoner, convicted of murder, who recorded dozens, maybe hundreds of songs for the Lomaxes that made Lead Belly famous… but never rich. In April 1939, Lead Belly recorded a medley of three work songs, “Looky, Looky Yonder and “Yellow Woman’s Doorbells”, with “Black Betty” sandwiched in between.
Lead Belly was credited as songwriter on that version, and his name still appears in the credits sometimes today. But the song surely predates him.
So, who– or what– exactly is “Black Betty”? Well, the first reference we know of was published by Benjamin Franklin, of all people, in 1736. Appears in his “Drinkers Dictionary” as a term for being drunk; when someone was pretty tipsy, you could say “he’s kissed Black Betty”. It could also refer to a whiskey bottle.
Others have described “Black Betty” as a whip that was used against prisoners. Some say it refers to a gun. And some people said it was a term for the transfer wagon at the penitentiary. That later morphed into referencing a cardinal or motorcycle. One thing that seems pretty clear in all of these early interpretations is that Black Betty was probably not a woman.
There are many more versions of “Black Betty”. Some notable versions include one by Odetta in 1964. Like Lead Belly, she included it in a medley with “Looky Yonder”.
You’ve probably noticed at this point, we’re getting some musical accompaniment with guitars, and not just the acapella version.
As far as I can tell, it first appeared in a rock context by Manfred Mann in 1968. But in their version, they called it “Big Betty”.
And by this time, the “Black Betty” in this song appears to have transformed into a woman.
Now, there was a band called the Lemon Pipers in the late sixties. They were signed to Neil Bogart’s Buddha label, home to quite a few bubblegum pop bands in the sixties and seventies. The label pushed the band into a more pop direction, and they did score one big hit, the psychedelic pop classic “Green Tambourine” in 1967.
By 1969, the Lemon Pipers had split up. Their guitarist and singer, Bill Bartlett, formed a Band called Starstruck. In 1973, Starstruck recorded their version of “Black Betty” as a single and released it on their own label. It ran 4:45 seconds and was performed by Tom Kurtz on rhythm guitar, David Fleeman on drums, David Goldflies on bass and Bill Bartlett on lead guitar and lead vocals.
And the song became a regional hit around the Cincinnati area. A couple of producers out of New York, Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffrey Katz, who had done a lot of work for Buddha Records, they heard the Starstruck version of “Black Betty” and thought they could do something with it. So, they took Bill Bartlett and formed a whole new band around him, which they called Ram Jam.
Ram Jam released their first album, self-titled, in 1977, which includes “Black Betty”. It’s actually the opening track on the album. But except for Bill Bartlett, none of the members of Ram Jam play on the song. Producers Kasenetz and Katz took the original Starstruck recording and edited it; they reordered the parts and deleted some sections altogether, editing the 4:45 seconds Starstruck version down to just 2:25 seconds for the Ram Jam single. Now, the version released on the Ram Jam album is closer to the original’s length– it’s 3:57 seconds. But once you know that this track has been significantly edited, you can pretty easily hear where the edits were made.
So, now let’s get into the track– and remember, this is just the same musicians that played on the Starstruck version, re-edited into this Ram Jam version.
It’s the same intro as the Starstruck version, including a gong with a phasing effect on it.
Here comes that gong again with more of that phasing or flanging effect on it.
Now, right there, is the first of the edits, and it’s maybe the most noticeable edit in the whole Song.
Now this is interesting… it’s actually kind of crazy. They are going to take the intro of the song– which you just heard less than a minute ago– and they’re going to splice it in here, repeating the exact same intro, including the same guitar solo again.
There’s clearly another edit right there. It’s particularly noticeable in the way the cymbal or gong is abruptly cut off rather than its natural decay.
They’re double tracking his vocals here.
Now, the Starstruck version has this whole guitar riff thing that they do here, and then they go into a sped-up version of the verse. On the Ram Jam edit, they move that guitar riff to later in the song, and delete the sped up verse altogether. Instead, they take a different guitar riff from later in the song and move it up here.
We even get a little mini drum solo here.
After that, we get a short dual guitar harmonized part, and then the song speeds up, but only for the guitar solo. There’s no vocal part here.
Bill Bartlett is ripping it up on guitar there. But it’s equally impressive what the bass player and drummer are doing behind him. This was played by David Fleeman on drums and David Goldflies on bass, both from Starstruck.
And now here’s where they splice in that riff played earlier in the Starstruck version.
And here comes another drum break– It’s actually the same drum solo from earlier in the Song, edited back in again.
Here’s another twin guitar part. I really like this one. First, let’s hear just the guitars.
And now let’s hear that with the whole band.
“Black Betty” by Ram Jam. Or should I say Starstruck?
The song’s been covered quite a few times since then, including a version by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds; that version is pretty reminiscent of the old Lead Belly version.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that this song has had its share of controversy. The NAACP called for a boycott of the Ram Jam song when it first came out… and you can see why a bunch of white guys singing about “Black Betty” could be seen as offensive. But considering the fact that the song was originally written and performed by black artists, and it’s always been murky whether the song was about liquor, a gun, a prison wagon, a whip, or a woman, I feel comfortable enough including the song in this show. I hope you liked it, and maybe learned a little something about the creation and evolution of songs.
Thanks for joining me for this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” Podcast here on the Pantheon Podcast Network. If you’d like to support the show, one way to do it is to tell your friends about the show and help spread the word.
Another way you can support the show is to buy a t-shirt from oldglory.com. You’ll find shirts and merch from all your favorite bands at oldglory.com, and when you use our discount code, lovethatsong, you’ll get 15% off and you’ll be helping to support the show. The website is oldglory.com and the discount code is lovethatsong. Thanks in advance for helping us out. I will be back in about two weeks with another new episode. Until then, turn up your favorite version of “Black Betty”. Bam-a-Lam!
REFERENCES:
Ram Jam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_Jam
Black Betty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Betty
Steve Marriott, Peter Frampton, Greg Ridley, Jerry Shirley - Copyright 1971 Unart Music Corp (BMI), UMG Recordings, Inc.
Humble Pie is often overshadowed by bands like Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, and Queen, but they were a considered a “supergroup” when they formed in 1969– fronted by Steve Marriott from the Small Faces and Peter Frampton from The Herd. Their first 2 albums are a mixed bag, but by the time they signed with A&M Records in 1970 they had refined their style down to a bluesy, hard-rockin’ sound. Rock On (1971) was their most successful album to date and features “Stone Cold Fever“, which is itself a stone-cold classic.
“Stone Cold Fever” (Steve Marriott, Peter Frampton, Greg Ridley, Jerry Shirley) Copyright 1971 Unart Music Corp (BMI), UMG Recordings, Inc.
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TRANSCRIPT:
I’ve got a Stone Cold Fever, but I don’t need no doctor! Welcome to the “I’m In Love With That Song” Podcast. I’m your host, Brad Page. In each episode of the show, I pick one of my favorite songs and we explore it together, looking at it from every angle, trying to get a handle on what makes the song work, and why do I like it so much? Musical knowledge or experience is not a prerequisite here. We don’t get technical. This show is for anyone who loves music.
This episode, we’re taking another look at one of the best hard rocking bands from the 1970’s, a band that’s kind of overlooked now. They’ve been overshadowed by groups like Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Deep Purple, Queen… those all became iconic bands, but for a while there, Humble Pie was right up there with them. This time out, we’re digging into a song that’s one of their classics, from a pivotal album in their career. This is “Stone Cold Fever” by Humble Pie.
Humble Pie were somewhat of a supergroup when they formed in 1969. Steve Marriott had been the front man for the Small Faces, and Peter Frampton was the breakout star from a Band called The Herd. They got together and formed a new band with Greg Ridley on bass– He’d been playing with Spooky Tooth– and a young drummer named Jerry Shirley. He was only about 17 when he joined Humble Pie.
Now we’ve discussed Humble Pie, and the Small Faces. on this show before, so I’m not going to rehash everything again, you can go back and listen to those episodes. But essentially, both Marriott and Frampton wanted to be taken more seriously as musicians. They were tired of being perceived as pop stars, so Humble Pie was their shot at credibility.
They signed with Immediate Records and released their first album, “As Safe As Yesterday Is”, in August 1969. Interestingly, one of the earliest uses of the term “heavy metal” appears in a review for this album. I don’t think anybody today would describe this album as anything close to “heavy metal”. In reality, this record is kind of a mixed bag with some rockers, but also some bluesy numbers, acousticy folk, and even a touch of post-psychedelic rock.
Their second album, “Town And Country”, was released just a few months later, in November 1969. This one was more acoustic than the first album, but Immediate Records was in financial trouble and they quickly went bankrupt. So this album, “Town And Country”, was never even released in the US at the time.
After the collapse of Immediate Records, they signed a new deal with A&M Records, and the band refocused. Most of the acoustic stuff was gone. They developed a harder, heavier sound and they concentrated on the American market, determined to break through here. Their first album for A&M, which most people in America thought was their first album period, was just called “Humble Pie” and came out in July 1970. It features a great version of the Muddy Waters classic “I’m Ready”.
They continued to refine their sound, and in March 1971, they released their strongest, most successful album yet, “Rock On”. There’s a half-dozen rock-solid songs on this album, including “Stone Cold Fever”. Most of the tracks on “Rock On” had been part of their live set for a while, so they’d worked out all of the kinks and they were well rehearsed by the time they hit the studio to record this album.
The album was produced by the band along with Glynn Johns. All four band members share songwriting credit on “Stone Cold Fever”. The song was performed by Peter Frampton on guitar and backing vocals, Greg Ridley on bass and backing vocals, Jerry Shirley on drums and Steve Marriott on guitar, harmonica, keyboards and lead vocals. The track begins with the guitar riff– and what a great guitar riff this is. It’s played by Peter Frampton in the left channel.
After two times around, the rest of the band starts coming in, including Steve Marriott’s guitar in the right channel.
They add these little trills to the guitar riff. Marriott does it first in the right channel, and then Frampton adds a harmony to it.
Let’s back it up a bit and we’ll play into the first verse. It’s an interesting vocal sound on this track. I used to think that they just used some heavy slapback echo on the vocal to get that sound, but now, listening to it more closely, I think that Steve Marriott actually double-tracked his vocal; he sang it twice. So, the natural inconsistencies in any human performance keep the tracks from sounding 100% identical, which produces the sound we hear on the final mix.
So, let’s try to isolate each one of these vocal performances. Here’s the first one.
And here’s the second vocal.
Now, they sound pretty much the same when you listen to them in isolation, but if we can combine them together, you can hear how those slight differences between the two tracks provide the sound we hear in the final mix.
All right, let’s go back, put that all together, and hear that verse again in the final mix.
That leads us into a new riff. The first time through, Marriott and Frampton play it in unison. The second time around, Frampton plays a harmony which climbs with each cycle.
Next is a short harmonica solo played by Steve Marriott over the main riff. Also notice Jerry Shirley’s banging on a cowbell in the background.
Let’s go back and listen to the two guitars during that verse. They’re essentially playing the main riff, but each of them are playing it pretty loosely, improvising around it as they go along. They’re not trying to play it exactly or perfectly, and they’re not trying to match each other. This gives the recording a spontaneous live feel. Again, its Frampton in the left channel, Marriott in the right.
And that brings us to the second riff with the harmonica.
After that nice drum fill by Jerry Shirley– and remember, he was only about 19 when they made this record– that fill takes us into a jazzy section featuring a fantastic guitar solo by Peter Frampton. Frampton’s name doesn’t often come up when listing the great guitarists, but I absolutely think he’s one of the best. So, let’s hear just his guitar first.
Frampton is an incredibly tasteful player, and his jazz-influenced licks are really distinctive. There’s no one else who really plays quite like him. Now let’s hear how that solo works in the final mix.
Then we get a short harmonica break before the guitarists return with another riff.
The next riff is accentuated with some backing vocals. Let’s hear those backing vocals first.
And now let’s hear that in context.
“Stone Cold Fever” by Humble Pie.
“Rock On” was their best-selling album up until this point, but Peter Frampton was feeling frustrated. He was fine with the harder rocking material, but he wanted more than that, too. And he wanted to be more than just the guitar player; he wanted more opportunity to write and sing. And let’s face it, Steve Marriott was not the easiest guy to deal with. So later in 1971, just after they had recorded a live album, “Rockin’ The Fillmore”, Frampton left to pursue a solo career.
When “Rockin’ The Fillmore” was released, it became a big hit. It’s still the album that Humble Pie is most remembered for, and as Frampton watched his former band’s album climb the charts while he struggled to get his solo career off the ground, he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d made a big mistake. But things worked out for him a few years later, though. That’s a topic for another podcast.
As we’ve mentioned on previous podcasts, Steve Marriott died tragically in a fire, in April 1991, age 44. One of the greatest vocalists of his generation.
Greg Ridley died in November 2003 from complications from pneumonia. He was 56.
Peter Frampton suffers from a somewhat rare progressive muscular disorder called Inclusion Body Mitosis. He initially announced his retirement from music, but he’s still been able to play, so he’s kept going. Above all, he is a true guitar player at heart, and he’ll play for as long as he can.
Jerry Shirley is still with us, and thankfully, as far as I know, he’s still healthy and still playing drums today.
Thanks for joining me here on the Pantheon Podcast network for this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. If you’d like to support the show, and I hope you do, zip on over to oldglory.com and buy a t-shirt or two. They carry shirts and merchandise from all of our favorite bands, and if you’re like me, you can never have too many t-shirts. So support your favorite artists, wear their shirts with pride. And when you use our discount code, “lovethatsong”, you’ll get a nice discount and you’ll be helping out this show. That website is oldglory.com and the discount code is lovethatsong. Thanks in advance.
I’ll be back in about two weeks with a new episode, so I’ll see you then. In the meantime, catch up on all of our previous episodes– there’s over 180 of them now– on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, or find us in your favorite Podcast app.
Now go dig out some Humble Pie records and rock on with “Stone Cold Fever”.
RESOURCES:
Humble Pie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humble_Pie
Peter Frampton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Frampton
Steve Marriott https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Marriott
Rock On album https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_On_(Humble_Pie_album)
"Serpentine Fire" (Maurice White, Verdine White & Reginald "Sonny" Burke) Copyright 1977 SBK April Music Inc/Free Delivery Music
Many bands would be running out of ideas by their 8th album, but not Earth, Wind &Fire – many consider All ‘n All to be their best record. Freshly inspired by the varied sounds & rhythms of South America, Maurice White brought his genre-blending compositions to new heights on this 1977 album, as evidenced by the opening track, “Serpentine Fire”, which White himself described as Earth Wind & Fire’s “most ambitious single”.
“Serpentine Fire” (Maurice White, Verdine White & Reginald “Sonny” Burke) Copyright 1977 SBK April Music Inc/Free Delivery Music
TRANSCRIPT:
Sing a song and keep your head to the sky, ‘cause you’re all shining stars. This is the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast, one of many fine shows on the Pantheon Podcast Network, and I’m your host, Brad Page. Each episode, I pick one of my favorite songs and we dig into it together, looking and listening for all those magic moments, the little things that turn a good song into a great one. Don’t worry if you’re not a musician or musical expert, you don’t need to be. We’re just going to tune our ears into the arrangements, the performances and the production that make it a great song.
This episode we’re listening to one of the biggest, most successful acts in history. Call ‘em R&B, call ‘em funk, call ‘em Afro pop, jazz, soul…. any way you look at it, this band has an incredible catalog of music and a bunch of huge hits. We’re going to explore one of those hits right now: This is Earth, Wind And Fire with “Serpentine Fire”.
This is our second visit with Earth Wind And Fire. We covered the song “Shining Star” back on Episode 56– check that one out if you haven’t heard it yet. It’s one of my favorites. So let’s recap just a little of Earth Wind and Fire’s history here.
Maurice White was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1941. For a while he played with Booker T in Memphis before he moved to Chicago to live with his mother and stepfather. He attended the Chicago Conservatory of Music, played drums around the scene, and worked as a session drummer at Chess Studios, where he played with many of the greats: Etta James, Chuck Berry, Junior Wells, Muddy Waters, just to name a few.
In 1969, he formed the Salty Peppers with Wade Flemings and Don Whitehead. Eventually he moved to LA and changed the name of the band to Earth Wind and Fire, based on his astrological sign. In 1970, his brother Verdine White joined the band as their bass player. Earth Wind and Fire released their first self-titled album in 1971. Their second album, “The Need of Love”, came out the same year, and a third album, “Last Days And Time”, was issued in 1972. That was the first album with vocalist Philip Bailey, who would share vocals with Maurice White and become a critical factor in the band.
“Head To The Sky” came out in 1973, and “Open Our Eyes”, their fifth album, in 1974. This album features “Mighty Mighty”, which was kind of their first big crossover hit.
In 1975, they released “That’s The Way of the World”, their 6th album. It was also the soundtrack to the film That’s The Way of the World, and the band appears in the movie. “Shining Star” is from this album, and it would become their first #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. See our previously-mentioned Episode 56 for more details.
The title cut was also issued as a single.
Maurice White was a musical visionary, but he was more than that, too. He envisioned bringing people together spiritually through his music. He viewed their next album, the album that would become “Spirit”, as their most important album so far. He was also interested in showing a different vision of black masculinity than what you typically got from celebrities. He wanted to present the band as “sons of a royal and noble Africa”.
The album cover featured the band all dressed in white, eyes closed in meditative poses with three large white pyramids behind them. This was the first of many album covers that would feature eastern and Egyptian imagery.
He wanted to awaken spirituality among his audience. Not so much religion, but spirituality. His goal was to share his interests– mysticism, Buddhism, Egyptology. As Maurice said, “Our vibe was definitely afro-centric, but not a separatist one. It was about community, the family of man.”
Sadly, as they were working on the “Spirit” album, they lost a key member of their family. Charles Stepney had worked closely with the band on their last few albums as producer, arranger and contributing songwriter. He died on May 17, 1976 from a heart attack. He was 45 years old. He was a close friend of Maurice White and the whole band, really. The album would be in many ways a tribute to Stepney. “Spirit”, their 7th studio album was released in September 1976.
After the success of the “Spirit” album and the massive tour that followed, by now, Earth Wind and Fire were putting on an amazing stage show and they were a huge concert draw. But Maurice White was exhausted. He needed a break. He took the first vacation of his life, spending two months touring South America. He visited drum schools in Brazil and absorbed the sounds and rhythms of the various cultures. When he returned home, he brought these fresh ideas to the next Earth Wind and Fire album, which would be called “All In All”, their 8th album of all new material.
Now, you would think at that pace, eight albums plus a live album, all within six years, that they would have run out of steam. But many people consider “All In All” to be their best album.
“Serpentine Fire” is the song that opens the album, and what a way to kick it off. It was written by Maurice White, Verdine White and Reginald Sonny Burke. It was produced by Maurice White.
\Maurice has described the song as “profoundly odd, an idiosyncratic mixture of African music, tango and gospel blues, with an abstract lyric about Kundalini energy.” Kundalini is a form of divine feminine energy located at the base of the spine. When awakened, it leads to spiritual liberation. Kundalini is a Sanskrit word meaning “coiled, or coiled like a snake”.
Maurice White says “Serpentine Fire” is Earth Wind and Fire’s most ambitious single because it’s so musically abstract. The song begins with an intro played by the bass, keyboards and percussion, with the horns joining in after the first four measures. You can already hear that Latin feel in the percussion.
Let’s go back and listen to the keyboards because it’s a very dense mix. A lot going on. Sometimes it’s hard to pick out the individual parts. There are at least two keyboard parts, one on the left and one on the right. The one on the right has a phasing effect on it. From there, it’s going to break out into a supremely funky track.
Let’s break that down a bit. Like all good funk songs, at the heart of the groove is the bass guitar. Adding to this syncopation is both the percussion and the horn parts. So let’s listen to those.
Little further down in the mix are the keyboard parts.
And there is one guitar part in the left channel. Let’s hear all of that together again. Now for the first verse.
Let’s check out the vocals. This is Maurice White with an occasional harmony by Philip Bailey. The vocals are doubled with a decent amount of reverb on them.
Let’s continue with the rest of that verse. This is the chorus where Philip Bailey takes over. Philip was renowned for his falsetto, and the way it contrasted and complemented Maurice White’s vocals is one of the most magical things about Earth Wind and Fire.
At the end of the chorus is a short section where they bring in the gospel influence. You can see how they’re blending all kinds of elements together.
That brings us back to the main riff. I love that vocal bit at the end there.
We’l pick it back up for the next verse.
That groove is so great. I want to hear just a little of the bass, the horns and the percussion. We’ll keep a little of the guitar in there, too.
I want to hear more of Maurice White’s vocal track.
And I’d like to hear just the vocals on that part, too.
There’s kind of a big finish there this time around. They could have ended the song right there, but just when you think it’s done, they kick back in.
Notice how there’s tuned percussion.
And that brings us to the last chorus. The guitars and keyboards are going to make their way forward a bit in the mix here at the end. The guitars are still difficult to make out, but there are two guitar parts in there. That’s pretty crazy, right? And of course, there are still the two keyboard parts. And of course, that killer bass guitar part that I just got to hear it by itself one more time.
All right, let’s go back to the final mix. We get another round of the chorus vocals, then the horns take over as the song fades out.
“Serpentine Fire” by Earth Wind and Fire. The “All In All” album was released in November 1977. The album cover featured artwork by Shusei Nagaoka. Shusei didn’t speak English, and Maurice didn’t speak Japanese, but they met and Maurice was able to articulate his ideas by showing him books on Egyptian art and UFO’s. Nagaoka sketched out some ideas and a relationship was forged that would result in a whole string of album covers for Earth Wind and Fire. Nagaoka created a bunch of other album covers for ELO, Jefferson Starship, and Deep Purple, but my favorites of his are the covers he did for Earth Wind and Fire.
Thanks for being a part of this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. You can find all of our previous episodes on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, or just look for us in your favorite podcast app. We’ll be back in about two weeks with another new episode. Until then, check out some of the other great podcasts on the Pantheon Podcast Network.
It’d be great if you left a review wherever you listen to the show, and if you’d like to contact us, you can find us on Facebook, or send an email to lovethatsongpodcastmail.com.
If you’d like to support the show, the best thing you can do is to tell a friend about it, because your recommendation really does mean a lot. As always, remember to support the artists you love by buying their music. And thanks for listening to this episode on Earth wind and Fire with “Serpentine Fire”.
by Earley Dranne - Copyright Excellorec Music Co. BMI
Strap in for a wild ride with Elvin Bishop and his fiery ensemble as they tear through the raucous track “Calling All Cows“, from the rollicking 1977 live album Raisin’ Hell. We dig into this electrifying live performance that showcases a band at the top of their game. A prime example of the musicianship that made the ’70s a golden era for live albums; Elvin Bishop’s Raisin Hell stands out as a testament to that time.
For those who have never heard Elvin’s work, this episode is a perfect introduction. And for long-time fans, it’s a chance to fall in love with his music all over again.
“Calling All Cows” (Earley Dranne) Copyright Excellorec Music Co. BMI
Take advantage of our discount code lovethatsong and save 15% off t-shirts & merch from your favorite bands at OldGlory.com!
TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome to the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. You are listening to us on the Pantheon Podcast Network, and I am your host, Brad Page. And each episode of this show, I pick one of my favorite songs and we dive into it together, listening for all of those little moments, the special touches that make it a great song. No musical skill or knowledge is required here– all you need is a love for music, and you’re going to fit right in here.
Now, usually on this show we focus on studio recordings, looking at how songs were put together in the recording studio. But on this batch of episodes, we’re focusing on live recordings, tracks from some of my favorite, and kind of lesser-known, live albums. On this episode, we’re going to listen to a track by Elvin Bishop from his 1977 live album “Raisin’ Hell”, featuring his smokin’ hot band, showing just how exciting it can be when a really tight group of musicians cut loose and play. This song is six minutes of pure fun. It’s called “Calling All Cows”.
Elvin Bishop’s image has always been as a country boy, a real hayseed. But as is often the case, the truth, it’s a little bit more nuanced than that. He was born in Glendale, California, in 1942, but he grew up on a farm in Iowa with no electricity, no running water, no indoor plumbing. His family moved to Oklahoma when he was ten, but he was a smart kid. He graduated from high school as a National Merit scholar, earning him a full scholarship to the University of Chicago. Ostensibly, he went there to major in physics, but not coincidentally, it just happened to bring him closer to the blues and R&B music that he loved.
While at the University of Chicago, he met a harmonica player named Paul Butterfield, and they would visit the Chicago clubs, learn from the blues greats, people like Otis Rush, Hound Dog Taylor, Buddy Guy. They formed the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 1963. Though Bishop was the original guitarist in the band, he was largely overshadowed by Mike Bloomfield, who joined in 1965. That’s not surprising, as Bloomfield was one of the greatest guitar players of his generation. Almost anyone would have taken second fiddle to him, but Elvin was no second-rate guitarist.
The Butterfield Blues Band released their first album in 1965 and about a year, later cut their second album called “East West”. “East West” is one of the most influential albums of the 1960’s. Along with a selection of typical blues covers, the album features two lengthy instrumental tracks which let the band cut loose, experiment with jazz and elements of Indian ragas. One of the first albums to incorporate these exotic elements in a rock and blues context.
Mike Bloomfield quit the Butterfield band after “East West”. Elvin Bishop would hang on for two more albums, and then he left, too, to start his solo career in 1968. The first Elvin Bishop group album was released in 1969, and over the course of four or five more albums, Elvin built a band around him of tasteful, flexible players who could really jam.
Donnie Baldwin on drums. Michael “Fly” Brooks on bass, Johnny Vernazza on second guitar. These guys were tight, but these albums were all largely under the radar; none of them were close to breaking any sales records.
A singer named Mickey Thomas had been singing background vocals on the last few Elvin Bishop group albums. But on their 6th album, “Strutting My Stuff”, in 1975, Mickey was promoted to full-time band member and got to sing lead vocals on a few tracks, including a little number called “Fooled Around And Fell In Love”.
That was it. That was the secret sauce. The band needed a group of super-tight players who could really hit the groove. Elvin’s guitar out front and Mickey Thomas’ vocals on top. They had a bona fide hit.
They followed the “Strutting My Stuff” album with their next record, “Hometown Boy Makes Good”, and then in 1977 released a live album called “Raisin’ Hell – Elvin Bishop Live”.
1977 was peak Live Album era; everyone was releasing live albums. Many of them became big hits. This is a pretty typical live album of the period. It’s a double album offering a nice retrospective of Elvin’s solo career with a few surprises thrown in. Robert Christgau, the “Dean of American rock critics”, actually gave this album an A minus. So that’s at least one thumbs up. But I really like this album a lot. It’s a selection of tracks recorded across five shows, from March 1976 through February 1977. This particular track, “Calling All Cows”, was recorded at the February 1977 show at the Old Waldorf in San Francisco. “Calling All Cows” originally appeared on the “Juke Joint Jump” album from 1975. Here it’s expanded a bit to really let the band play. And this was a big band. There’s a lot of players on that stage. Of course, you have Elvin Bishop on lead guitar and lead vocal on this track. Mickey Thomas on backing vocals. Johnny Vernazza on guitar. Melvin Seals on keyboards. Don Baldwin on drums. Michael “Fly” Brooks on bass. Billy Slais on saxophone and keyboards, Renee Slais and Debbie Cathey on backing vocals. And Chuck Brooke, Bob Claire, Dave Grover and Bill Lamb on horns. The album was produced by Alan Blazek.
The song kicks off with a drum fill, and it sounds like there’s some percussion, conga drums maybe in there, too. Then the bass and synthesizer play a funky little riff together.
Elvin’s telling someone to wait a minute, I don’t know if he’s talking to the band or the audience, but this song isn’t stopping for anyone.
I love that bass part right there. They’re hitting such a great groove already. Listen to how the horns punch up certain little bits throughout the song. It’s classic.
And now we got a twin guitar part. Elvin and Johnny V playing in harmony. They’re both playing slide guitar here.
Let’s hear just the bass and the drums. Listen to that groove they’re laying down. Here comes the first verse sung by Elvin with, I think, Johnny V singing along with him.
“We’re gonna have a little milk we’re gonna have a little cream, we’re gonna have a little butter, a little margarine”. I mean, come on, is that great or what? I love this song.
There’s a great little lick in there in the left channel. I think it’s played by Johnny V on guitar. But then again, it could be Melvin Seals on keyboards. Let’s back it up a bit and play into that second verse.
Listen to those horn accents and the way they’re locked right in with the drums. This band is tight.
Let’s bring up those twin guitars. Notice how the guitar solo takes a break for the horns to do their thing, before we go back to the guitars. This isn’t just a free form jam. There’s an arrangement here. It feels like they’re just jamming, but there’s a structure behind it all.
Elvin is going to play a little solo. Listen to how the horns are building things up behind the solo, and then they bring it down to just the groove.
The keyboards get a few licks in here. And now another taste of those twin harmony guitars by Elvin and Johnny V. Another crescendo from the horns and back to the twin guitar riff.
And then the last verse. Let’s back off the vocals and just listen to the groove the band is laying down behind them.
Let’s bring the vocals back up now. Here comes a new little piece with some tasty guitar work. On the studio version of this track, the song just fades out at some point. They added this section, and this is actually where they would end the song live, right there. But by this time, they had added the horn section. And here they let the horns pick it back up right at the break and lead the band into an extended finale. It’s an example of how a song can evolve and grow as it’s performed live.
Listen to the bass and drums build the tension here. And then how the whole band just hits this riff. Listen to that bass.
We continue to build to a big finale. They are not done yet. They are going to squeeze every little bit out of this big ending.
The Elvin Bishop Group, “Calling All Cows”.
Commercial success was fleeting for Elvin Bishop. “Fooled Around And Fell In Love” was his one and only hit. But he’s kept making records and touring. He’s a member of both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame, and he’s been nominated for a Grammy for Best Blues Album quite a few times, though he hasn’t won yet. At 83 years old, he’s still playing, still got a shot at that Grammy. Hope he gets one. He deserves it.
Mickey Thomas would leave the Elvin Bishop Group after this live album, and not long after that, he joined Jefferson Starship. I love Mickey Thomas’ voice, and I expect we’ll hear from him on this show again sometime.
You know, Elvin has always portrayed himself as a fun-loving, good time boy, but there’s more to his life than just that image. Honestly, I kind of hesitate to bring this up because I don’t like to sensationalize things, but Elvin has suffered real tragedy and pain in his life. In August of 2000, both Elvin’s wife and his daughter were murdered. I can only imagine the toll that that must have taken on him. And again, I don’t want to play up anyone’s suffering for the sake of a podcast, but I think it’s important to acknowledge Elvin Bishop as a full person and respect what he’s been through and his ability to carry on.
Thanks as always for being a part of this episode. I’ll be back in about two weeks with another new show. Who knows what we’ll be talking about then, but I hope you join us. If you missed any of our previous episodes, you can catch up on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com or find us wherever you listen to podcasts. We’re on iTunes and Spotify and YouTube and pretty much everywhere you can listen to podcasts.
If you’d like to support the show– and I hope you do– he first thing you can do is to just tell someone about the show, share it with your friends or family, because it’s recommendations by smart, knowledgeable people like you that really help us out.
On behalf of all the shows here on the Pantheon Podcast Network, I thank you for listening. Go out and find yourself a copy of Elvin Bishop’s “Raisin’ Hell” album. Crank it up and listen to this version of “Calling All Cows”.
In this episode, we take a fascinating journey into the world of obscure Psych and Hard Rock from the 1970’s with the “Brown Acid” series. Brown Acid is not just a collection of music; it represents a moment in time, a period that falls between the peace and love of the hippie era and the aggressive sounds of punk rock– a vital documentation of a lost chapter in American music history. In this episode, you’ll be treated to a selection of tracks from the series, showcasing the eclectic and often wild sounds that characterize the Brown Acid compilations.
This unique series has been a labor of love for its creators, Daniel Hall and Lance Barresi, who have dedicated over ten years to unearthing rare tracks from the late ’60’s & ’70’s that have long faded into obscurity. As the 20th volume of the Brown Acid series has just been released, we take this occasion to explore the entire series and highlight some of Lance & Daniel’s favorite tracks.
Zeke – “Box” (Intro track) (Brown Acid Volume 1) Josefus – “Hard Luck” (Vol 1) Glass Sun – “Silence Of The Morning” (Vol 2) Factory – “Time Machine” (Vol 3) Summit – “The Darkness” (Vol 7) Attack – “School Daze” (Vol 8) Stonewall – “Outer Spaced” (Vol 9) Gary Del Vecchio – “Buzzin'” (Vol 13) Raven – “Raven Mad Jam” (Vol 14) White Lightning – “Under Screaming Double Eagle” (Vol 15) Brotherhood Of Peace – “Feel The Heat (In The Driver’s Seat)” (Vol 16) Parchment Farm – “Songs Of The Dead” (Vol 18) Banana Bros – “Suck You In” (Vol 20) Luke & The Apostles “Not Far Off” (Outro track) (Vol 8)
TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome to the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast on the Pantheon Podcast Network. I’m your host, Brad Page.
Chip Monck (Woodstock): Uh, to get back to the, uh, the warning that I’ve received, you may take it with however many grains of salt you wish that the brown acid that is circulating around us is not specifically too good. Uh, it suggested that you do stay away from that. Of course, it’s your own trip, so be my guest. But, uh, please be advised that there is a warning on that one.
Okay, on this episode, we’re going to explore the Brown Acid. Don’t worry about it– the Brown Acid I’m talking about is a series of compilation albums of some of the most obscure psych and hard rock bands from the 1970’s. If you’ve listened to this show for a while, then you know that I love psychedelic garage rock from the 1960’s, but I’ve also got a soft spot for 1970’s hard rock. And the “Brown Acid” series collects some of the hardest-to-find, most collectible records from that period.
These were not bands where the members went on to find fame and fortune later; these are bands that managed to put out a single, or maybe one album, but never made it beyond that and faded into obscurity.
But these records are wild and untamed, and there’s some magic in that. And I love this Brown Acid series. I’ve been thinking about doing a show on Brown Acid, and just this past month, they released their 20th volume in this series– 20 albums full of the rarest, forgotten hard rock that you’ll ever hear. “Brown Acid: The 20th Trip” is available now on CD, vinyl or digital if you want to stream it.
So, I thought there’s no better time than right now to shine a light on this great series. And rather than just talk about it myself, I figured I’d invite the two guys responsible for this series to join me on this episode. Lance Barresi, from the Permanent Records store in LA, one of the most knowledgeable people in the world on this music, and Daniel Hall, owner of Riding Easy Records, the label that has released all 20 editions of Brown Acid. They both graciously accepted my offer to come on and tell the stories behind this music in the Brown Acid series. Buckle up, because this episode, it’s a long one. But I had a great time talking with these guys, so let’s go!
BRAD PAGE:: It is my great pleasure to be joined by Daniel Hall and Lance Barresi to talk about the “Brown Acid” series on the occasion of their 20th album release. Let’s start first, Daniel, by telling everyone what exactly is Brown Acid all about?
DANIEL HALL: People ask me all the time, and my go to easy definition is it’s post-hippie, pre-punk, it’s in that sort of like, no man’s land time period where, you know, peace and love is over. There’s bad acid going around at Woodstock; people are getting stabbed at Altamont; You know, it is a social, cultural change, and the music is getting more aggressive and louder. But it’s not quite heavy metal, it’s not quite punk rock. It’s just that sort of, you know, sweet spot in the middle. So, for those of you who may not be familiar, that is kind of the really quick definition of what it is. And most of it’s in America.
BRAD: You guys are doing a really great job of chronicling this lost period of American hard rock. For someone like me who grew up in the 70’s, these were the kinds of bands that your older brother played in when you were in high school. And they scraped together just enough money to put out one 45, and then that was it. Then it disappeared. But you guys have brought this stuff back. Lance, tell me how Brown Acid came to be; what’s the story behind the series?
LANCE BARRESI: Yeah, our series started a little over 10 years ago now, believe it or not, back in 2015, Daniel and I got together and decided to give this thing a whirl. And it all kind of culminated from, you know, me having a record store, Permanent Records. I’ve been the owner of permanent since 2006. And, long story short, anytime I would find an interesting record, especially a private pressing, whether it be a 45 or an LP, I would track the artists down to see if they had any stock copies left of the original pressing. So I was already in the habit of doing that. And then sometime in like, 2014 or something like that, I started a weekly DJ night with Ty Segal. And we were spinning mostly late 60’s and early 70’s hard rock and heavy psych and stuff like that. But as he stepped away from the DJ nnight to start touring more heavily– his career was really on an upward trajectory around that time– I took over the DJ night, and that put a lot of pressure on me to bring fresh material every Wednesday night from 10pm to 2am to keep myself entertained and not just constantly come back with the same stuff. So, I started digging deeper. So I very quickly amassed a pretty massive quantity of late 60s and early 70s hard rock, heavy psych and proto metal 45’s. And so through trying to acquire these 45’s, I was striking out finding them on Discogs and eBay and all the other usual suspects online. These records are generally not available in record stores, or even at record fairs– even the biggest one on the planet in the Netherlands, you’ll find very few of the kinds of records that we comp on the Brown Acid series. So, my last resort was to track down the members of the bands to see if they had any copies of the records left in their attic, basement, closet, what have you. And so I started inadvertently just amassing a big list of contacts of the artists behind these records.
DANIEL: When Lance’s DJ night was happening, I don’t even remember what the 45 was, but I was like, “Dude, this is sick”. And you’re like, “Oh, I have some of that at the shop. You should come by next time, remind me”. And he had a lot of 45’s. And I was like, “Dude, how do you have like so many copies of this?” And then he told me how he had gotten them and he had reached out and whatever. And I was like, wait a second, you know how to get a hold of all these guys? And that was like the beginning of sort of like, we gotta do something with that, man. So yeah, yeah.
LANCE: And so I, in addition to doing the DJ Night, I also at some point decided to start bringing a tape deck. So I was recording all of my sets and the sets of my guest DJs. And at some point, somebody saw the tapes and they were like, “Hey dude, you should sell these at the shop”. And I was like, “I, uh, don’t think I can do that legally. I don’t feel quite right about it”. But that got my gears turning. Like, hey, I think it would be pretty good idea to do a compilation series, or at least a compilation, just one of some of the records that I was playing. And then right around that same time, Daniel came into the shop, I mentioned the idea, the concept, and he was like, “Send me a playlist. Send me a mix and I’ll check it out.” And the rest is history.
DANIEL: You know, obviously, we’re all privy to the Black Sabbath and Zeppelins and Deep Purple and Hendrix and, you know, some of the greatest records ever recorded. But what blew me away was like, How did I miss– how did all of us miss… I mean, not just me, but, like, all of us missed all of this stuff that happened around that time. And, you know, even going back and talking to people who were around at that time and very much in the mix, and people who you would kind of expect to know, and they’re like, “Guys, I get a Brown Acid record, I might know one song of the 10 that are on there”. Like, “I’m always getting schooled”. So that was the biggest mind-blowing thing for me. And when Lance and I started talking about how it was going to be, I don’t think either of us really understood how deep it would go. But we, I don’t think we would have thought that we would hit 20 and still kept it strong through 10 years, but here we are.
BRAD: So the other thing that I love that you guys do, you don’t just seek out the artists, but you’re actually paying these guys, right? I mean, you’re giving them the licensing and royalty, Probably seeing more money now for these records than they did 50 years ago when they were actually released.
DANIEL: Yeah. For many, this is the only time that they ever got paid for their music was through the Brown Acid comps. And, um, yeah, we shell out a couple hundred checks every six months. And I get a lot of text messages and email saying, “I got the check. Thank you so much! I can’t believe you guys keep sending these.” So that is one of the fulfilling things.
LANCE: The other thing is that I think a lot of people, when we’re talking about music history in general, people tend to forget that the trajectory, and the way things have gone historically with musical styles, is that it’s been a continuum since Day One, right? So we didn’t just have The Beatles and garage rock, and then jump forward to punk and metal with nothing happening in between that. If you just go back and listen to, especially some pop records, of course, and there are a lot of major label records that have the same vibe that Brown Acid has. But also, even if you just listen to classic rock radio, you go back and you’re like, all right, well, this track’s from 1972. And this gets us to 1974 pretty easily. Before you know it, you’re in 1976 and you’re like “this is almost punk rock”, but nobody has actually codified it or put a label on that, as Daniel said, “no man’s land of music” that kind of slipped through the cracks, and isn’t easily defined as “garage rock” or “punk” or “metal”. It is Brown Acid, and it is these things that are in between there. And unfortunately, hard rock doesn’t exactly describe this music perfectly, because a lot of people, when you say “hard rock”, they think Guns N Roses or Aerosmith or something and that’s not necessarily incorrect, but hard rock is just like a little too big of an umbrella, little too broad.
DANIEL: Yeah, exactly.
LANCE: So yeah, it’s been our mission to kind of like put these particular records, and these tracks into a context that makes it easier for people to understand the history.
BRAD: Well, I think we’ve talked about it as best we could; let’s listen to some of this stuff. I asked you guys to pick– I know this was a real “Sophie’s Choice”, but I asked you to whittle down 20 albums worth of material into about a dozen songs. Some of your favorites. So, let’s get started. Where do you want to start? You want to pick something off the very first volume to play a little bit of first?
LANCE: Yeah, sure. So Josephus is a band from Texas, from Houston, and they released two LPs back in the day. They self-released the “Dead Man” album, which is just an absolute stunner of a hard rock. People call it “Psych”, and maybe it has some psychedelic elements, but it is a straight early 70’s hard rock and thoroughly Proto-Metal LP. And I mean that in terms of the sonic vibe of the music, but also the album cover is absolutely frightening; there’s just a stark kind of sepia tone skull just blasted on the front of the album cover. It’s got a really kind of dangerous looking font also. So this record just jumps out of the bins at you if you’re lucky enough to find one. It would just slap you in the face as something you absolutely need to hear. And Josephus went on shortly thereafter to release a self-titled album on mainstream records. And unfortunately, that didn’t do much for the band and they ended up splitting up. In addition to those LPs, Josephus released two singles on their own Hookah Records imprint, and then one single promo single off of the Mainstream Records LP. And “Hard Luck” was one of the singles that they put out way after the fact. “Hard Luck” didn’t actually even come out until 1979. So, we’re talking about, like almost a decade between when the “Dead Man” LP and the self-titled record came out, and the two singles that they released much, much later. But the vibe is still, you know, right in line with the time period that we’re generally focusing on, going up to 1974. Even though this record was released in 79, it very much sounds like an early to mid-70-s affair to me.
BRAD: Okay, well, let’s hear Josephus and “Hard Luck”.
LANCE: And uh, low and behold, after Hard Luck got comped on Brown Acid, it was covered and… Tanya Tucker did the.
DANIEL: Tanya Tucker did the cover. And she was actually nominated for a Grammy that year for her full album. I don’t think she won, but nonetheless, Tanya Tucker, the famous country singer and dude, I mean, she performed the song on Oprah and stuff like that. So anyways, that’s a nice little tidbit, but it just kind of goes to show how broad this stuff really can go. You know what I mean?
BRAD: Right.
LANCE: There is, uh, an official music video of Tanya Tucker doing “Hard Luck”, which is amazing.
DANIEL: Absolutely. Yeah.
BRAD: All right, so let’s take a look at something from the second volume of Brown Acid. You picked a track by a band called Glass Sun. Tell me about these guys.
LANCE: Yeah. “Silence of the Morning” is kind of the quintessential heavy psych jam. This particular track is just absolutely stunning. It’s everything you want out of a heavy psych jam. The band was from Detroit. They released this 45 back in the day. They did put out a second single called “Stick Over Me”, which is good as well. This is a perfect example of exactly the kind of Heavy Psych that we’re trying to comp on Brown Acid. Not all the songs on Brown Acid get into this kind of heavy psych zone; a lot of them are more straightforward hard rock. But God Damn, this track is just absolutely incredible, acid-soaked psychedelic rock. I don’t know what more to say about it. You kind of have to hear it to believe how amazing it is.
DANIEL: The whole thing pretty much a masterpiece. It’s like it really is a quintessential Brown Acid track. So…
BRAD: All right, let’s hear a little bit of Glass Sun and “Silence of the Morning”.
BRADe: Glass Sun and “Silence of the Morning”. Great fuzz guitar on that one. I love that.
LANCE: Yeah, there’s fuzz guitar abound on the serieseries that’s kind of, one of the…
BRAD: It’s the staple, right? Yeah, fuzz guitar; you know, little rough vocals, but it’s all in the charm of these records. I don’t know “charm” is necessarily appropriate word…
DANIEL: That’s charming.
BRAD: Yeah, I dig it. I love this stuff. All right, what do we got up next?
DANIEL: Factory “Time Machine”.
LANCE: Factory “Time Machine”. This is another, just absolutely mind blowing track by a band that put out one 45 and then ceased to exist. I feel so lucky to have been able to track these guys down, because the band lives in the UK now, and they also, they’re American guys, if I remember right, I haven’t talked to Tony and Andy Kunta from Factory in a long time. But they released this single in 1971 and they did, like many bands of the day in the UK, an edition of 99 copies. I think the reason behind that was for tax purposes; I think if you released a record during a certain time period in the UK, it was considered a promotional thing only, so you didn’t have to pay taxes or whatever. It wasn’t dealt with the same way by the government. And yeah, both songs on this single are stunning. “Time Machine” is like the more Sabbathy heavy jam on the 45.
BRAD: I was getting some, like, Grand Funk Railroad vibes a little bit– until the vocals come in and he goes to a whole other place with the vocals on this track.
LANCE: There’s a wild vibrato going on with this that you’re just like, you can’t believe happened. You know, and that’s kind of one of the most wonderful part about parts about these bands self-releasing this material, is that they were not inhibited by a record producer or a label A&R person, for the most part. They went into the studio, paid for their own time, and got to make all their own creative decisions, for better or worse.
BRAD: Right.
LANCE: This is unencumbered artistic freedom, which I absolutely love. And maybe in some cases these tracks would have had a better shot at commercial appeal if they had been more well produced or more professionally produced. But I enjoy the vibe of them as they are. And you know, a lot of the guys that we talk to, when we’re licensing this material, they ask if they want us to, they’ll want to re-record the song, or they’ll want to remix it or change it in one way or another. And we always say, “No, thank you. We like these songs as they are. Let’s re-release the original version and keep it as it was”. Because that’s the way it was meant to be in the first place.
BRAD: Right. It keeps it from being generic, because it’s so specific, you know, the amateur-ness of it in some cases…not always, but in plenty of cases. But that’s all part of the charm.
DANIEL: It’s part of the charm.
BRAD: Yeah, exactly. What makes it work the way it works. Right.
DANIEL: And another thing that we also get to is like when we’re going to license a song and they’ll be like, “Wait, you want to do what? Like, dude, I recorded that when I was 17. Let me play you my new album. I’m so much better now”. And you’re like, “No, no, no, no, that’s, I’m sure it’s great, but this series focuses on this time period, and we’d love to check out your other stuff, but this is what we’re talking about”, right?
BRAD: Yeah, that’s a whole different animal. All right, well, let’s hear some of Factory and “Time Machine”, exactly as it sounded in 1971.
BRAD: Factory “Time Machine”. All right, I think the next track you guys got, you skipped ahead to the fifth edition of Brown Acid. You chose a song by a band called Captain Foam, “No Reason”. Tell me about Captain Foam.
LANCEE: Uh. Oh, you gotta love that, right? Just the name. “Captain Foam”.
BRAD: Some of these name are brilliant.
LANCE: Yeah, I love it. Yeah, I live for this stuff. So, we only had to skip ahead to the Fifth Trip here, in the interest of saving time. Otherwise, we’ll be here all day.
BRAD: Sure.
LANCE: Captain Foam is actually a solo project by a guy named Richard Bertram. He was from Canton, Ohio. And,yeah, he performed initially with another guy named Mike O’Brien as “Captain Foam and The Doctor”. But then he shortened the name of the group to just Captain Foam and release this 45, just the one 45, “No Reason”, backed with “Will There Ever Be a Time” in 1972, on Bold Records. And there are other records on this imprint, but it’s definitely a tiny little micro-label from Ohio. And he recorded in the Youngstown studio, Peppermint Productions recording studio. And we’ll get to that later– we talk a lot about Youngstown and a lot about Peppermint Recording Studios when we’re talking Brown Acid, because Youngstown was the Mecca. But Captain Foam, he was particularly hard to find because I was looking for him in Ohio, and believe it or not, Richard Bertram had an illustrious career in the tech world. And he now lives in a mansion in Malibu. And luckily, I was able, I don’t even remember how I was able to track him down, but I found him and we were able to license “No Reason”, which again, this is a quintessential Heavy Psych monster. And I got to meet him because he came out, he had…
DANIEL: A crazy, like a one-piece robe on. Like he had a whole vibe, dude. It was not like just some old rock dude showing up with like his jeans and a T-shirt. He came to play. I mean, he was pimped out. So it was pretty exciting to meet him.
BRAD: That’s great.
LANCE: He looked like an extra from the cantina scene in “Star Wars” or something. What is going on? You are from the future, dude. Holy…
DANIEL: I remember being there and Lance is like, “Bro, can you believe Captain Foam is in the building right now?” Like, so funny.
LANCE: Yeah, we got to talk with him about the band and the stories he was telling that now were absolutely unbelievable. That particular project was so successful for Richard that he, when he was out on tour with Captain Foam, had to mail U-Haul boxes full of cash back to Ohio while he was out on the road. I don’t know why you… I mean, I guess I do know why you don’t just take the cash and put it in the bank, but instead of depositing the cash from the shows, he was just taking the cash and mailing it in. U-Haul boxes back home. And also, you can see a photo online of him performing live. He told us all about his setup, which was just mind blowing. It’s literally him with a wall of full stacks behind him, like six to ten full stacks. And he’s got this massive lighting rig that kind of goes around the perimeter of the stage, and he’s in control of all the lights in the fog and everything, just with foot pedals on stage. And he created his own rhythm tracks, just with the guitar, and loop them over and over for the live show. So you can see in that photo that he’s on stage by himself. And there’s no drummer on stage with him in these photos. And you can hear the drums obviously on the 45, but live, he was doing all this stuff himself. And it was hugely– well, it was moderately successful. He was playing very sizable venues at the time, and it was like kind of a big deal. And then, you know, he ended up being a session musician. And I think he started playing with a bunch of like legendary blues cats and he moved out to the west coast and ,you know, ended up doing well doing that. Gave up Captain Foam and then ended up becoming very successful doing other things.
BRAD: Captain Foam, “No Reason”. So, you guys have talked a little bit already about tracking down all of these band members. How difficult is that? I imagine that’s got to be a slog in probably 90% of these cases. Is that true or…? I would imagine it’s not easy.
LANCE: It’s rarely easy. But luckily, like I mentioned before, we had a little bit of a jump-start because I had already reached out to a lot of folks in an effort to acquire copies of these 45’s. So that helped. And then I just, I’m extremely motivated, and excited about this kind of stuff. So I’m always using whatever spare time I have, between running the Permanent Records roadhouse and acquiring as many used records as I can for our store, to spend as much of my other time tracking these guys down because, A: we want to license these tracks for Brown Acid; B: I would love to purchase copies of the record for the store and my personal collection if I don’t have them already. And C: getting to hear these guys stories is absolutely amazing. Yeah, you know, you sometimes the story behind the record is even better than the song.
BRAD: Right.
LANCE: But yeah, I mean, not only is it difficult to find some of these guys, because a lot of time has passed; you know, we’re dealing with records now that are, in some cases, more than 60 years old, you know, and, nfortunately, a lot of the guys that were in these bands are getting up there in age, or have already passed on.
BRAd: Yeah.
DANIEL: And also, when we do finally get a hold of them, most of these people came up at a time when the record business was pretty predatory, and artists were getting taken advantage of and getting just completely hosed. So there’s already this sort of built-in distrust of a record label coming to them.
BRAD: Sure.
DANIEL: But the one thing that we have is our word and our track record. And, you know, we can show them our body of work, especially at this point. It’s sort of an institution at this point.
BRAD: Have you ever had someone just flat give you a No?
DANIEL: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
BRAD: Is that heartbreaking, when you’ve chased the record down and you really want to get it on the series?
DANIEL: No, Lance. Just keeps hitting them up every three months until they say yes.
BRAD: So you just wear them down.
LANCE: That’s not actually true. I only do that if someone says, “I’m not interested right now”.
DANIEL: Right, right, right.
LANCE: But yes, we have been told a handful of times; it’s rare, but more often than not, if someone’s saying hard No, “please don’t contact me again about this”, it’s usually because they want nothing to do with that era of their life anymore. And that’s completely fair for a couple of reasons, because first and foremost, you got to remember these guys were in these bands and they put a lot of effort into making these records, right? And for the most part, they were not successful.
BRAD: It can be painful. Sure.
LANCE: Yeah. And who knows what kind of other, uh, bad blood there might have been between any given band member and their other bandmates. You know, a lot of bands break up because, you know, a guy sleeps with other guys ‘wife, or sister or whatever, and it gets ugly. And I know a lot of people in contemporary bands that don’t talk to each other anymore. And for these guys, what’s the point of dredging up a whole lot of history and bad memories for what amounts to not a whole lot of money at the end of the day? You know, this is the labor of love for everybody involved, and we understand that. We’re not offering these guys million-dollar checks. And as Daniel has said in the past, “Nobody’s driving a Lamborghini around here”. You know, another time the guy said, “I’m a Christian now, and I don’t want to have anything to do with that part of my life where I was doing psychedelic drugs”.
DANIEL: And, yeah, he didn’t like the name of the compilation series, he didn’t like the artwork that was part of the compilation series. And we’re like, okay, well, we can’t really. We can’t argue with you there. So…
BRAD: Yep.
LANCE: And we say thanks and respectfully leave them alone.
BRAD: All right, the next track you guys picked was from a band called Summit, a track called “The Darkness”. This one kicks off with some textbook Echoplex oscillation. You had me from the word go on this one. Let’s talk about this track.
LANCE: Yeah, this is one of my favorites on the series for a couple of reasons; the intro and the outro make it really fun to DJ. And Summit are from Missouri, and that’s where I’m from. And there’s not a whole lot of these kinds of records from my home state, unfortunately. Just a handful. But anyway, yeah, “The Darkness” is about the most appropriately-named track on the series. This is a very, very dark, foreboding psych track. And I love the fact that this was recorded in rural Missouri, in Clinton, Missouri, which is a small town about an hour and a half southeast of Kansas City. And these guys– talk about dedication to their craft– these guys used to have to take a bus ride to rehearse, an hour or so away from their home, to go to a barn out in the middle of nowhere to rehearse. And they did that. You know, that’s dedication, and that’s how you come up with some of the special magic that’s on these tracks.
BRAD: All right, let’s listen to a little bit of Summit and “The Darkness”.
BRAD: “The Darkness” by Summit. The next track you selected was one of my favorites, too. A band called Attack, and the song “School Daze” with a Z–, D, A, Z, E. Tell me a little bit about this one.
LANCE: Yeah, Fans of the Detroit sound, you know, from the late 60s and early 70s, will immediately recognize the MC5 influence on “School Daze”. These guys were absolutely amazing. They’re from St. Clair Shores, Michigan, just outside of Detroit. And the fact that these guys did not get signed to Electra around the same time is just a tragedy. This band should be a household name. The Production on this 45 is just as good as the early MC5 singles. stooges up, too.
DANIEL: Or The Stooges, too, I mean, it’s, like, right in line with what was going on at that time, for sure.
LANCE: Totally. Both sides of the 45 are killer. And it’s one of the rarest ones on the series, too. I’m looking at the stats on Discogs right now. There are no copies available for sale; 319 people want this, only 20 people have it, and it has sold for as much as $1,000. I wouldn’t be surprised if it went for three times as much the next time it comes up for sale.
BRAD: A great riff. I love the drums on this one too. This is a band called Attack with “School Daze”.
BRAD: That was Attack with “School Daze”. All right, what do we got up next?
LANCE: This one is near and dear to me. Aand this one is, maybe has one of the wildest stories behind it– I hope you have time for it, Brad.
Brad Page: Yeah. Let’s talk about Stonewall.
Brad Page: Oh, my goodness. So “Outer Spaced” is the track we included on Brown Acid. And that track is on a LP. It’s on an LP, self-titled LP that was technically released in 1976. But that’s only the beginning of the story. Stonewall were a legit band. They were based out of New York, and they had a career going, like, they were just getting rolling. They had a manager and they were about to kick things off. Well, they go into the studio, they record this LP and unfortunately there was a falling out between the guys in the band. They decided to split up. The recordings sit on the master tape, get put on a shelf and forgotten about. Everybody goes their separate ways. That was in 1972, I believe. So, in the mid-70’s, thanks to a loophole in the tax law, record labels took advantage and started releasing quote unquote “recordings” and then taking a loss on those, because they didn’t actually release them properly, they just said they did, and reported the loss for the write-off on their taxes.
DANIEL: That’s where the word “Tax Scam Labels” came from. There were a bunch of these labels that were really using tax scam labels to launder money, essentially.
LANCE: Yeah, exactly.
BRAD: That’s the record business for you.
LANCE: Yeah. As if Morris Levy needed more shadiness, right? He was able to form Tiger Lily Records to release a whole bunch of material that, lo and behold, took huge losses. Well, they only took huge losses because he reported that, he didn’t actually even release any of these records properly. And the Stonewall tape, for whatever reason, got pulled off the shelf and pressed the vinyl, probably only in an edition of 100 copies, maybe? There’s only five known copies to exist of this particular record, right? They all say “For DJ Use only, Not For Sale” on the label. And the record was pressed, it was actually pressed, in some unknown quantity in 1976. The recordings from ‘72 released in 1976, quote unquote. Well, this record exists somehow, some way, somewhere, unknown, until the mid-80’s when Paul Major, a guy who, well, he’s in Endless Boogie now and a legend in the record collecting world. He was trading records with traders and collectors and dealers all over the world. And they were sending each other boxes and sharing finds and stuff. And he got the Stonewall record in one of these trade boxes. He puts it on, he’s like, “Oh, that’s cool”, but he was way more into the outsider scene and like really, really crazy Psych records. And this thing didn’t immediately check a box for him. So, he offered it up for sale in his mail order catalog for 60 bucks. The mail order catalog goes out to all of the recipients– nobody bites on it. And one night, he decides to just go ahead and throw this record back on, revisit it. And it clicks and he’s like, “Oh my God, this is a monster. I’m keeping this”. It’s never gonna be offered up for sale again, you know? So somehow, some way, I’m not sure if it was from Paul’s copy or otherwise, it gets bootlegged– it’s bootlegged on vinyl, it’s bootlegged on CD numerous times, over and over and over, bootlegged. And these bootlegs are on top of what the original pressing was, which was a bootleg– the band was never paid, ever, for the release of this record, until I came along in 2019, I think it was when I originally contacted the surviving member, Anthony Assalti, he’s the drummer from Stonewall. And I released the LP legitimately for the first time ever on Permanent Records. And that’s the first time Stonewall was ever paid for this recording they made in 1972. And they didn’t even know that the record had been pressed until sometime in the 90’s when they found bootlegs of it on eBay. So, truth is truly stranger than fiction in some of these cases. And Stonewall is one of the craziest stories of a legendary, epic rock and roll record from 1972 that could have, if it was handled better when it was originally recorded, it could have been up there with the best of the best of the era.
DANIEL: Absolutely. 100%. And we’re lucky enough to have one of the tracks on Brown Acid.
BRAD: Yeah, this was another one of my favorites. I love the groove on this one. Killer track. Let’s play a little bit of Stonewall and “Outer Spaced”.
BRAD: “Outer Spaced” by Stonewall. One of the things that I really love about this series– your design, the album cover art, the graphics. Who handles that? Who came up with that? Where do you find these photographs?
DANIEL: All the design work is done by Jeri Yoshizu, and she actually is the Creative Director for the Riding Easy Records label. So, she has a hand in every single cover design. And I’m glad that you mentioned that, because a lot of thought and work went into Brown Acid, and designing Brown Acid. All credit goes to Jeri Yoshizu, who has done an incredible job at helping us come up with the visual to sort of tell the story of what that is. And some of the photos are taken from old magazines, some of the photos are taken from film, some of the photos are photos that were given to us. And then we obviously take them and flip them and make them our own.
BRAD: I mean, these look like people that I went to high school with in the late 70’s and the very early 80’s. It brings me right back, just looking at those covers, just everything from the hair to the clothes.
LANCE: Yeah. We’ve literally had friends send us photos of their parents and we’re like, “Oh, wow, can we use this for Brown Acid?” Because they’re like, “Hey, I found this photo of my mom from 1970, and it looks like something you would use for the series”.
BRAD: Kudos to Jerry. Great work. I love it.
LANCE: Yeah, she works magic with not a lot of original source material to work with. And that’s an important thing to kind of note, too; Daniel mentioned that these bands generally don’t have any photos or flyers or ephemera from the era. A lot of them don’t even have an original copy of their own 45.
DANIEL: Yeah.
LANCE: You know, so forget about master tapes, a lot of these guys don’t even have a usable copy of the original vinyl record for us to use. So that’s been another element. We have to track down the record. If I don’t already have it, the hunt is on. Once we’ve licensed the track, to be able to release the material properly, because you can’t just take an MP3 off of YouTube or wherever else you might find it online, and just throw it on a vinyl record and have it sound as good as the rest of the material on there, you know?
BRAD: Right. Well, one of the artists on Brown Acid, you’ve been able to reissue a complete album of his work: Gary Del Vecchio.
DANIEL: That’s exactly right.
BRAD: Yep. I can buy copy right here.
DANIEL: All right, man! Yeah, Gary. Gary’s been great to work with. Obviously, the “Buzzin’” 7-inch came out.. . when did I come out? ‘73?
LANCE: 1970. It’s a pretty early one. And Gary was in high school when he recorded that one.
DANIEL: Yeah, another one in Youngstown, Ohio.
LANCE: Recorded at Peppermint Studios. And Gary has told me– I met up with him at Peppermint Studios last summer, actually, and went on a tour with Gary Rhamy and Anthony, the guys that, Gary’s the original one of the founders of the studio there. He’s been there since day one and he still records new music in there. They have a massive archive of tapes. It’s an amazing facility. And Gary Del Vecchio and I met up there last summer, and he told me that he would literally save his lunch money and as soon as he had enough, he would go talk to Gary Rhamy and record a new track in there, which is how the “Buzzin’” 45 initially was recorded. And all the other material that came out on the “Buzzin’” LP on Riding Easy as well.
DANIEL: And the “Buzzin’” LP was the first time that most of those songs ever saw any sort of wide or commercial release, the first time was two years ago. And basically it was all recorded from like 1970, 1976, I believe.
BRAD: What’s a great record. Let’s play a little bit of Gary Del Vecchio’s “Buzzin’”.
BRAD: Gary Del Vecchio “Buzzin’”. Okay, next up is Raven. Now, this is not the Raven, the heavy metal Raven from the 80’s. This is one guy, right? Raven is one guy.
LANCE: Correct.
Brad Page: Let’s talk about this record. Raven, and the track you chose was “Raven Mad Jam”, which is– I mean, it’s all there in the title.
LANCE: It is quite a mad jam, for sure. You know, with just… this is a wasted, biker-rock LP called “Back to Ohio Blues”. It was originally released in 1975. Yeah, Raven was a free spirit. He’s no longer with us, unfortunately, but I’m in touch with his estate, and his brother-in-law told me that he grew up in Columbus. At some point, he kind of drifted off down to Florida, was just kind of hanging around with a biker gang and writing and recording songs. And then, back in 1975, he moves back to Ohio, hence the name of the LP—“Back to Ohio Blues”. He goes into the studio with a bunch of these songs that he had written and just jams them out with a bunch of other musicians. There are other musicians on the LP, obviously, but little is known about any of the guys that were in the studio at that time. I think there was just such a drug-fueled haze around the whole situation that they just went in there, ripped this thing out, and then kind of went their separate ways. Raven passed not that long ago, because he was behind the reissue that came out in 2007, where he changed up the album cover and put a contemporary photo of himself on the cover with an acoustic guitar, and he’s dressed all dapper. It is truly a unique, unhinged listening experience. And Raven just totally shreds all over this thing. This guy truly lived a rock and roll lifestyle.
DANIEL: He embodied Brown Acid, OK?
LANCE: Definitely, yeah.
BRAD: Four minutes into it, you get a drum solo that lasts for a couple of minutes, I think. And then it ends with, like, an acoustic guitar, Jimmy Page-style workout. This song’s got it all folks!
DANIEL: Right!
BRAD: Yeah, this is, it’s everything. This is a great track– it’s Raven and “Raven Mad Jam”.
BRAD: That’s ‘Raven with “Raven Mad Jam”. Next up, a band called White Lightning and a song called “Under Screaming Double Eagle”. What’s the story behind this one?
LANCE: So before White Lightning, Tom “Zippy” Kaplan was in a band called The Litter, a garage band called The Litter. He’s kind of like the main guy. And The Litter are well-known in the garage circuit; the LP’s, “Distortions” and “$100 Fine” are both very well-known and expensive and collectible garage LP’s. And then they also put out an LP in ‘69 on Probe called “Emerge”. Well, after The Litter, Zippy and some of his other cohorts out of Minneapolis, they formed a band called White Lightning, and White Lightning released only one single back in the day, “Of Paupers and Poets”, backed with “William”. They originally released this on their own label Hexagon, which is the same label that I think “$100 Fine” came out on, but it also got picked up a year later and was released on Atco. So it did get released on a major label eventually, but that was pretty much it for White Lightning. But before they went on to release an album under a slightly different name– just Lightning– they recorded a bunch of other White Lightning material. So, once we got in touch with Zippy, we discovered all this other material and, yeah, we licensed it all. Not only did we license it, we acquired the master tape.
DANIEL: Yeah, White Lightning lives over here. Now, the record that we did reissue, we gave it a name, called “Thunderbolts of Fuzz”. And, for anybody who’s wondering what the reference to White Lightning is, that was actually, um, a strain of LSD that was going around at the time. So, it very much fits right into Brown Acid, yeah. But it’s definitely acid-soaked, heavy psychedelic rock and roll, for sure.
BRAD: White Lightning with “Under Screaming Double Eagle”.
BRAD: “Under Screaming Double Eagle” by White Lightning. Let’s talk a little bit about Brotherhood Of Peace. You picked a track called “Feel the Heat”.
DANIEL: Yeah.
LANCE: Yeah, that’s a banger. And there are not a whole lot of Rock 45’s that have killer drum breaks like the one on “Feel The Heat in the Driver’s Seat”. But yeah, wow. Hip-hop producers should take note of this one, especially because they could flip this beat so easily.
DANIEL: Yeah, it’s a really funky track too.
BRAD: Yeah. This is my favorite– of the tracks you picked, this is my favorite one. I really like this one; Love the riff, great bass playing. Really well recorded bass too, which is something you don’t always get on a lot of these records. But it sounds very professional. Yeah, Great guitar solo, great vocals, nice harmonies, cool percussion at the end. It’s a great track.
DANIEL: Yeah. Kind of reminds me a little bit of David Bowie “Fame”, like the vibe and the feel of it. But yeah, you’re totally spot on there. It’s a groovy track from, Mount Airy, North Carolina. That’s where they’re from.
LANCE: Yeah. If David Bowie was from North Carolina and got into some Southern Rock, that might be what had come out of him, for sure in a different universe. And that’s kind of an important element of Brown Acid, too, Brad, is a lot of these tracks could have been hits in a different, an alternate universe. You know, any one of these bands. And Brotherhood Of Peace is a good example of one that was accessible enough, well recorded enough, catchy enough, to have broken through if they had had, if circumstances had been different, right? You know, it just goes to show you that it doesn’t just take talent to become massively famous and successful in the music industry; you have to be at the right place. Mount Airy, North Carolina was not the right place and at the right time. And you have to have a lot of stars align and be willing to play the game that the people who did become famous played to be able to get to where they got. Yeah, Brotherhood of Peace is such an underrated band. They released this single in ‘78, I think it was. But before that, they released an LP called “Cutting Loose” in 1976. And the single we chose for Brown Acid is not on the LP. And we chose that single because the entire LP got reissued on Riding Easy Records as well. It’s a really, really melodic, fun rock and roll record from 1976.
DANIEL: Yep.
BRAD: Yeah, I really love this one. So, let’s hear a little bit of Brotherhood Of Peace and “Feel the Heat in the Driver’s Seat”.
BRAD: Brotherhood Of Peace, “Feel The Heat in the Driver’s Seat”. The next one you picked was “Songs of the Dead” by Parchment Farm. This, to me, sounds like the Allman Brothers if they were punks.
DANIEL: That’s actually a really good description. I like that.
LANCE: Yeah, this his track is outstanding and has to be one of the heaviest tracks ever recorded from a band from Missouri, especially from this era. Parchment Farm recorded this material in the late 60’s, maybe into the early 70’s. I don’t remember the exact date, ‘72, I think. And they never released any of this stuff, which is just unbelievable, because it was fantastic material. Pretty well recorded. Easily could have had “Songs Of The Dead” on a 45 at least. But it never saw the light of day. And the only reason Daniel and I know about it, and now the world at large, is because through trying to license– was it Osage Lute,or….
DANIEL: Yeah, it started with Osage Lute. And then we figured out that the same guys that were in Osage Lute were involved with another band out of Missouri called Back Jack. And we were dealing with the gentleman named Mike Lusher. But Mike said, “Hey, you know, there was nine of us that were in this incestuous sort of groups all over, and there’s this Parchment Farm thing. Have you guys heard the Parchment Farm stuff?” And when he sent the unreleased album over as MP3’s, Lance & I were like, “What the– How the hell did this thing never see the light of day?”
LANCE: Yeah, that was a mind-blowing find. Essentially, I had been looking for the Back Jack guys and I was striking out, and I went down the road of looking for the Osage Lute guys. And to have Mike Lusher respond almost immediately about Osage Lute, and then divulge almost immediately that they were related to another band that I was already trying to track down without success… and then tell us that there’s a Parchment Farm LP of completely unreleased material.
DANIEL: We didn’t even know what Parchment Farm was. He just said, there’s another project that happened around this time. And on top of that, Mike takes meticulous notes and has all kinds of stuff that, like, most bands never held onto. He even had Super 8 video of a rehearsal one day. He really came through with just a gold mine; you know, as we were saying, a lot of these guys don’t even have a copy of their record, let alone an old show flyer, a poster, or band photos that could be used for anything. And Mike just had all this stuff that was archived and in really good condition. And yeah, we took the tracks that they had and we had them remastered and run through some expensive gear. And like, that’s what the album is.
LANCE: And there’s other recordings that we’re still considering releasing from that core group of people. Just an unbelievable treasure trove. Thanks again to Mike Lusher for making it all possible and being such an amazing archivist.
BRAd: Yes, that’s such a great story. So great. Let’s hear a little bit of Parchment Farm “Songs of the Dead”.
BRAD: “Parchment Farm”, Songs of the Dead. All right, well, that brings us right up to today: the 20th volume of the Brown Acid series is out now. I just got my CD in the mail the other day. I own all of them on CD; I have a few of them on vinyl as well. But I love this series, it’s so great. Even up to Volume 20, you guys are still finding some fantastic material to put out. You wanted to spin up one track from the latest edition. This is by the Banana Bros, a song called “Suck You In”. What’s the story behind this one? This is probably my second favorite of the tracks that you guys picked.,I really love this one. But who are the Banana Brothers? Why are they called the Banana Brothers? And what exactly are they sucking in?
LANCE: That’s, uh, definitely a better question for the Banana Bros themselves. But I’m sucked in by this track. And the story behind it is absolutely unbelievable. Because, first of all, the Banana Bros “Johnny Banana” 45 does not exist on Discogs. There’s only one reference to the 45 existing on the Internet, and that’s on RateYourMusic.com com, which I don’t know who uses RateYourMusic.com– and no slight to them, but it’s not necessarily a huge resource. And so I have a copy of the “Johnny Banana” 45. My copy has “Johnny Banana” on both sides. So it does not even have the track “Suck You In” on it. However, the RateYourMusic listing does list that. And my girlfriend’s copy of the 45 has “Suck You In” on it. And because of Tara’s copy of this 45, we were able to include “Suck You In” on Brown Acid: The 20th Trip. They don’t know why some copies got pressed with “Suck You In” on it and some didn’t. Even though the center labels for my copy and Terra’s copy are exactly the same, and say they only have “Johnny Banana” on both sides, some of them got this track pressed into one of the sides– and thank goodness for that, right? Because “Johnny Banana” is an all right track, but this one is an absolute, just stunning.
BRAD: Yeah, this one’s great. It’s a really good recording. The drums sound great, which, again, is something you don’t always get on these records. Whoever recorded this one really knew how to record drums. Good guitar work, too. It’s a great vocal. Yeah, it’s a great track. And it’s another one of those ones you think “Only if”, right? This could have stood up to– it does stand up to plenty of other quote unquote, “professiona”l major label releases of the time.
LANCE: Absolutely. I couldn’t agree more. And, yeah, it’s not surprising that these guys were so good and were able to record this, because Buddy Sklar, one of the Banana Bros, was in a fairly well-known late 60’s garage psych group called The Hook. So he had plenty of experience in the music industries, a very accomplished musician. So, it’s fantastic that he continued on and recorded this 45 after his career in The Hook. And I don’t know if Daniel wants to divulge this information on this podcast or not, but I’ll just go ahead and say it and you can edit it out if it doesn’t work for this: we’ve licensed both of The Hook LPs for reissue on Riding Easy Records as well.
DANIEL: Yeah, that’s exciting. That’s a world exclusive.
BRAD: So when will those be coming?
DANIEL: We’ll get them up on digital probably this year. But physical, we have a little bit of a backlog.
BRAD: Awesome. Let’s hear a little bit of the Banana Bros “Suck You In”.
BRAD: And that’s the Banana Bros with “Suck You In”. All right, guys, well, that is the baker’s sozen that you decided to play. I’m sure we could go on and talk about a ton more tracks, there’s so much great stuff on there. I can’t recommend this series highly enough. I discovered it– I wasn’t there from the beginning, I think I probably came in somewhere around on the 10th or the 12th album, and immediately went back and bought all the prior editions. I’ve bought every version that’s come out since, and I’ve loved every one of them. They are so much fun. If you’re a hardcore music fan, you gotta check some of this stuff out. What is the best way for people to explore these albums and purchase them? Should they do it from the Riding Easy website? Is that the best place to go?
DANIEL: Obviously it’s on all streaming platforms, so you can try it before you buy it, you know what I mean? But go in there and check it out. But we always recommend, if you’ve got a local shop, support your local store. Those are the stores that continue to sort of help spread the gospel. Obviously ridingeasyrecs.com has them, Permanent Records has them. Um, there’s a lot of different ways to get this, I think we still have maybe, like, three or four of the “Die Hard” versions of the 20th Trip that come with a book and some extra stuff and whatnot. But regardless, as long as you buy it, whether it’s digital on bandcamp, or you’re streaming it or whatever– or even if you don’t have any money, take a listen to it and share your favorites track on social media. Like, you don’t have to spend money to support small endeavors like that; sharing something on social media is great too, you know, and you might tip somebody off who will come out and buy a record. So, Brad, I just want to thank you so much for taking the time and having us, and the fact that you buy these things, it means a lot, it really does.
BRAD: Oh, it’s my total pleasure. The fact that you guys are keeping this music alive, you’re putting it out there… again, I can’t recommend it highly enough. Please go check it out. Lance Barresi from Permanent Records. Daniel Hall from Riding Easy, thank you so much for taking the time to come on the show and talk about this series and the 20th edition. Congratulations on making to 20. I’m sure there’ll be more coming. I’ll be in line for the next volume for sure. Thanks so much guys.
DANIEL: I appreciate it. Thank you Brad.
LANCE: Thank you for having us, Brad. And my website is permanentrecordsla.com, and if you’re intrigued by the Raven LP or the Stonewall LP, you can get those at permanentrecordsla.com .
BRAD: I will definitely be checking those out, so thanks for that. Thanks, guys. Hope we talk again somewhere down the line. But I really appreciate it, this has been a blast. I’ve loved every minute of this. Thank you so much.
DANIEL: Thanks Brad.
BRAD: There you go. Lance and Daniel, they were just great. I could have talked with them all day– we just scratched the surface here. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. Please check out the Brown Acid series, and their other releases, too. I’ll put the links in the show notes.
Come back and join me in two weeks when the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast returns with another new episode. All of our previous episodes can be found on your favorite podcast app or on our website, lovethatssongpodcast.com.
On behalf of everyone on the Pantheon Podcast network, I thank you for listening. See you next time.
by Roger Waters - Copyright 1975 Roger Waters Overseas, Ltd
Pink Floyd has been a cornerstone of rock history, producing some of the most iconic albums ever recorded. One song that stands out in their catalog is “Have a Cigar” from the album Wish You Were Here, a track that offers a scathing critique of the music industry. In the latest episode of the podcast, we dive deep into this song, uncovering what makes “Have a Cigar” a classic.
“Have A Cigar” (Roger Waters) Copyright 1975 Roger Waters Overseas, Ltd
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TRANSCRIPTS:
Come on, you ravers, you seers of visions– shine on with the “I’m In Love With That Song” Podcast. I’m your host, Brad Page, and every two weeks, we come together here on the Pantheon Podcast Network to explore a different song. Each episode, I pick one of my favorite songs and we dig into it together, uncovering all the elements that go into making a great song. You don’t have to be a musician or have any technical knowledge– this isn’t a show for just the experts, this is for anyone who just wants to listen and explore what makes a good song great.
In this episode, we’re exploring a real classic. By any measure– artistically, commercially– Pink Floyd were one of the most successful bands of all time. They created a handful of the greatest albums ever released. On this episode of the podcast, we’re exploring a song from an album that came out just about in the middle of their career, an album that represents many things for this band, and the stories of making it are the stuff of legend. From the album “Wish You Were Here”. This is a song called “Have A Cigar”.
Pink Floyd have been covered on this show before: In episode 58, we looked at “Us And Them”, and episode 114 featured “See Emily Play”. If you haven’t heard either of those episodes, go check them out. I’m not going to go over their history again, you can revisit those previous episodes if you’d like. We’re going to pick up where we left off after “Dark Side Of The Moon”.
“Dark Side Of The Moon”, of course, was their breakthrough album. I don’t need to tell you how big that album would become, but it was an important, significant record from the moment it was released. So, for Pink Floyd, the challenge was: what to do next?
The band was searching for a direction. First weeks, then months, went by with not much to show for it. Endless sessions in their rehearsal studio, trying to come up with something. Something not just good, but something to match or top “Dark Side Of The Moon”. That’s no easy task.
Compounding the problem was the fact that fractures were beginning to occur within the band. The pressure of what to do next exacerbated the disagreements between the four band members. Initially, they returned to a concept that they first explored back in 1970. It was a project called “Household Objects”, where they would forego the use of their traditional instruments and create songs using rubber bands, broomsticks, wine glasses, aerosol cans, smashed Light bulbs. They had abandoned that idea before, but now, without any better ideas, they returned to “Household Objects” and spent at least a month in 1973 trying to conjure music from kitchen appliances and hand tools. But ultimately, they abandoned the idea again.
To my knowledge, the only thing that survived from the “Household Objects” project is a two-minute recording of tuned wine glasses, and a three-minute track called “The Hard Way”. The sound of those wine glasses would be used at the beginning of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”, but the rest of it all went by the wayside.
Finally, in January 1974, during one of those endless jam sessions, guitarist David Gilmour stumbled across a four-note phrase. Almost by accident, they took that idea and expanded it, pushing it in different directions and adding new elements, eventually forming it into a song called “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”, a multi-part suite that would open and close their new album. They would also take the sound of those wine glasses and incorporate a little bit of that into “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”.
The subject of that song, as all Pink Floyd fans know, was their former singer, guitarist and bandleader Syd Barrett. “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” is a fascinating piece of music worthy of an exploration all on its own. But not in this episode… we’re here for a different song.
So now Roger Waters, the bassist and primary lyricist, had some themes to work with: absence and the harsh realities of the music business, both of which directly related to Syd Barrett, but also extended beyond him.
The actual recording sessions for the album, which would be called “Wish You Were Here”, began at Abbey Road in January 1975, a year after they first came up with that riff that inspired the album. One of the tracks they worked on was a darkly funky track called “Have A Cigar”, a ripping takedown of the music industry, sung from the perspective of a typically greedy, self-serving record executive. It was written by Roger Waters, produced by the band, and performed by David Gilmour on guitars, Richard Wright on keyboards, bass by Roger Waters, drums by Nick Mason and vocals… well, we’ll get there in a minute.
The song begins with a riff played together on the bass and the guitar. Sounds like both the guitars and the bass have a flanger effect on them.
After a couple of playthroughs of the riff, the drums and the keyboards come in. There’s a little whoop sound in there. Let’s back it up a bit.
I like that descending guitar part that leads back into the riff. Here comes the second riff.
There are two synthesizer parts plus an electric piano, each one placed in a different spot in the stereo mix that allows each part to occupy its own space. When you add in the bass, drums and guitars– and I’m sure there’s more than one guitar track here– there’s a lot of music here, but the mix doesn’t feel cluttered at all.
That’s the first of these little guitar and keyboard fills that play off of each other, answer each other. It’s nothing fancy, but I just like the dialogue between the guitar and the piano throughout the song. Let’s pick it back up from there.
And it sounds to me like Richard Wright has also added a clavinet part now.
And here’s the first verse. But that voice doesn’t belong to anyone in Pink Floyd. When it came time to record the vocals for this track, both David Gilmour and Roger Waters took a stab at it, but neither of them were happy with their performance. Just by happenstance, a singer songwriter guitarist named Roy Harper was recording his own album next door. Roy Harper is a fairly obscure figure, certainly in the United States, he’s never had any hits here and never got much radio play. If Americans know his name at all, it’s likely from the song title of the Led Zeppelin song “Hats Off To Roy Harper”. But Roy Harper is a brilliant British folk-rock songwriter and performer who has released a number of unique, and you could say eccentric, albums. He’s a musician’s musician, a songwriter’s songwriter. And he was friendly with the guys in Pink Floyd. Since they were both working on albums at Abbey Road, they would pop in to visit each other’s sessions. He watched Pink Floyd wrestle with the vocals on this track for days and eventually, he offered to sing it for them.
Here’s a little bit of the version with Roger Waters attempt at the vocal. It’s really not that drastically different, but Roy Harper brought a wonderfully acerbic tone to the track. Roy had his share of misfortune at the hands of record companies, so he could relate to these lyrics for sure.
That’s one of the best lines in the whole Pink Floyd canon. The idea that this record company bigwig who’s trying to schmooze them doesn’t even know that there’s no one in the band actually named Pink Floyd.
I love the way he elongates the word “train” and twists his phrasing at the end.
Sounds like he’s double tracked his vocal there too.
Here comes the second verse. You know, I’ve listened to this song so many times, but I never really noticed until now just how much work the keyboards are doing here. I’m even hearing a little bit of Stevie Wonder influence in there.
Let’s bring up the vocals again. Roy Harper is just killing it here.
So that brings us to the guitar solo. It’s another classic solo by David Gilmour. And we’ll listen to that in a minute. But first I wanted to focus on the rhythm section for a bit. I think it’s fair to say that neither Nick Mason or Roger Waters are virtuosos. Nick Mason is not a flashy drummer, but he’s rock solid. And neither he or Roger Waters are exactly funky players, but they’re laying down a pretty cool groove here. So let’s just listen to that for a while.
Alright, now let’s go back and listen again with the guitar solo.
Let’s bring up that guitar.
And now, we get a change of audio perspectives, as a synthesized “whoosh” repositions us, as though were listening to the song now through an old transistor radio.
And that, of course for everyone who’s familiar with the album, leads us into the next song, “Wish You Were Here”. But that’s another story.
“Have A Cigar” by Pink Floyd. The “Wish You Were Here” album was released in September 1975 and topped the charts in the US and the UK. It is still regarded as one of Pink Floyd’s best albums. In fact, I believe it is David Gilmour’s favorite Pink Floyd album.
But it was the beginning of the end of the band. Roger Waters had taken over creative control and over time, would push the other members further away. Richard Wright was essentially fired from the band and then rehired as a session player for the group. Eventually, Roger Waters pushed himself out of the band.
But despite the personal unpleasantness, “Wish You Were Here” is a really cohesive album. Every band member contributes excellent performances, and the album flows perfectly as a whole. It’s a masterpiece.
Richard Wright died from lung cancer in September 2008. He was 65. Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Roy Harper are still with us today at the time of this recording.
Thanks for being a part of this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” Podcast. If you’d like to support the show, why don’t you head over to oldglory.com and buy a t-shirt or two? They have a bunch of Pink Floyd shirts in stock, along with a ton of other bands, and if you use our promo code, “LoveThatSong”, you’ll get 15% off and you’ll be supporting the show. So thanks in advance.
You can find our previous episodes on Pink Floyd, along with over 150 other songs that we’ve covered, on our website lovethatsongpodcast.com, or just look for them in your favorite podcast app. Send us an email to lovethatsongpodcast@gmail.com or post your comments and feedback on our Facebook page. And of course, it would be great if you left us a rating or a review wherever it is that you listen to this show.
We are part of the Pantheon family of podcasts, home to a ton of other great podcasts, all featuring the music we love.
I will be back in about two weeks, so let’s meet here again. Until then, thanks for listening to this episode on Pink Floyd and “Have A Cigar”.
RESOURCES:
Pink Floyd https://www.pinkfloyd.com
Wish You Were Here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wish_You_Were_Here_(Pink_Floyd_album)
Dark Side of the Moon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Side_of_the_Moon
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