The With It Side of Liberace!

Liberace (above), Spooner Oldham (below)

Listen/Download – Liberace – Suite Judy Blue Eyes

Listen/Download – Liberace – Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye

Greetings all.

The track I bring you today is an interesting cover by an artists that no one, least of all me, thought would ever appear here at Iron Leg.

That said, Liberace is proof that sometimes the least obvious books contain a fairly interesting chapter or two.

I found my way to the sequined master’s 1970 LP ‘A Brand New Me’ via the drum break on his cover of Steam’s ‘Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye’.

Yes, drum break.

I forget where I heard it, but when I finally looked up the album, I saw that was composed entirely of what were contemporary rock and pop tunes.

When I finally got my hands on a copy, I was genuinely shocked to discover that the group backing Lee on his entry into the pop-stakes was led by none other than the mighty Spooner Oldham.

The album ‘A Brand New Me’ was Liberace’s first after leaving Dot records for Warner Brothers in 1970.

What evidence there is, including the fact that the album was produced by none other than Ed Cobb, indicates that someone was making an honest stab (at least as honest as possible) to take the star-spangled candelabra wrangler and hip him up a bit.

I can’t imagine that anyone honestly thought this would lead him to hitting the festival circuit, where he might be tempted to share a stage with Canned Heat or some such, but taken as a whole, the LP is a pretty interesting effort.

In addition to Oldham, one of the architects of southern soul, the group included drummer Dennis St John (soon to join Neil Diamond’s band), bassist Emory Gordy Jr (a Nashville favorite and arranger of today’s selection) and guitarists Larry Collins, better known for his early years with his sister Lorrie as the Collins Kids, and Barry Bailey, later of the Atlanta Rhythm Section and percussionist Joe Correro.

Though all of these players were from the south, the record itself was recorded in Hollywood.

Now for me, the big question is how much did Liberace have to do with the record, other than playing the piano leads.

The arrangement of ‘Suite Judy Blue Eyes’, with groovy electric piano touches by Oldham, and understated brass is actually quite interesting. Though the ‘sound’ of the song is probably restricted by its existing structure – fairly elaborate for a rock song – it manages to exceed all expectations.

No one would ever accuse Liberace of being a soulful piano player, yet his contribution to the song is restrained. The interplay between the acoustic and electric piano is minimal, with the two instruments taking separate paths within the arrangement, and the horns and strings, like Liberace’s playing are far less florid than you might expect.

The final product is comparable to the version of the same song recorded by Bola Sete around the same time for his ‘Working On a Groovy Thing’, (click on the link to hear it)  a similarly constructed album.

The version of Steam’s ‘Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye’ is less interesting, suffering from the formality imposed upon it by the loss of vocals and the addition of piano lead. I include it because it contains what has to be the only open drum break on a Liberace album, which like unicorns and yetis simply must be put on display when finally captured.

I hope you dig the cuts, and I’ll be back next week with a new edition of the Iron Leg Radio Show.

Peace

Larry

 

PS Head over to Funky16Corners for some soul.

Iron Leg Radio Show #14

Beep beep beep beep…..

Playlist

Action Scene – Hawkshaw/Mansfield (KPM)
Beauregard and the Tuffs – (Love Is Like a) Ramblin’ Rose (Decca)
Ferris Wheel – I Can’t Break the Habit (Philips)
Ananda Shankar – Jumping Jack Flash (Reprise)
Ananda Shankar – Dance Indra (Reprise)
Fireballs – Groovy Motions (Atco)
Grass Roots – No Exit (Dunhill)
Grass Roots – Alone Phone Spot

Bee Gees – Coke Spot
Bee Gees – I Can’t See Nobody (Atco)
Robin Gibb – Saved By the Bell (Atco)
Robin Gibb – Mother and Jack (Atco)
Bee Gees – The Earnest of Being George (Atco)
Biff Rose – Fill Your Heart (Tetragrammaton)
Biff Rose – What’s Gnawing at Me (Tetragrammaton)
Biff Rose – The Promise (Buddah)
Laugh-In Promo

Curt Boettcher – Levis Spot #1
Curt Becher and California – Happy In Hollywood (WB)
Curt Boetcher – I Love You More Each Day (Elektra)
Eternity’s Children – Mrs Bluebird (Tower)
Tom Northcott – Who Planted Thorns In Miss Alice’s Garden (WB)
Tom Northcott – Sunny Goodge Street (WB)
Artie Schroeck Implosion – Six O’Clock (Verve)
The Association – Birthday Morning (WB)
The Beach Boys – I Know There’s an Answer (Capitol)
Blades of Grass – I Love You Alice B Toklas (Jubilee)
Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart – Smilin’ (Aquarian)
Emmit Rhodes – Golden Child of God (ABC/Dunhill)
Enoch Light and the Light Brigade – Marrakesh Express (Project 3)
The Herd – Understand Me (Fontana)

Listen/Download -Iron Leg Radio Show Episode 14 – 90MB/256kbps

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you well.

It’s time once again for the Iron Leg Radio Show.

Before we get started I want to let you know that this is Pledge Week over at Funky16Corners (aka the mothership).

I always put out the tip cup about this time every year to raise money for the server costs related to Funky16Corners and Iron Leg.

If soul and funk is a bag you’re in, there are close to 150 mixes and another 110 or so radio shows posted in the archives at Funky16Corners.

If you’re solely an Iron Leg-ger, there’s lots to pour into your ears over here as well, with the Iron Leg Digital Trip Podcast Archive as well as the Iron Leg Radio Show.

If it’s something you find valuable in any way, please click on the donate link over at F16C.
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This month’s Iron Leg Radio Show sees us back around the 90 minute mark, with some garage, freakbeat, worldbeat, a tribute to Robin Gibb, some tunes by Biff Rose and a very long set of sunshiney pop.

As always, I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back next week with something groovy.

Peace

Larry

PS Head over to Funky16Corners

Mike Stoller and the Stoller System – Silver Sea Horse / Numero Uno

Mike Stoller and Jerry Leiber

Listen/Download – Mike Stoller and the Stoller System – Silver Sea Horse

Listen/Download – Mike Stoller and the Stoller System – Numero Uno

Greetings all.

I hope all is well in your corner of the world.

Once in a great while, in the midst of music acquisition, one stumbles upon a record that seems to have become wedged in a forgotten fold of the universe, that when shaken free reveals itself to be a forgotten gem.

The records I bring you today are that, and then some.

I can’t recall how I stumbled upon ‘Silver Sea Horse’, but I suspect that it was during a routine browse through a list of records for sale that had been brought to my attention.

Though I consider myself a huge fan of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and someone who has plumbed the depths of the less obvious catacombs of their ouvre, I had never heard of the Stoller System.

Once I saw the record (it only cost three bucks) I pulled the trigger and awaited its arrival in the old mail slot eagerly, not expecting a whole lot, yet knowing that when it came, no matter what it sounded like it would slip another leaf into great book of Leiber & Stoller-iana.

So, the disc shows up, and I slip it under the needle, and within a few short seconds, it became immediately obvious that this was one of those rare discs that seemed to have been engineered with a map of the pleasure centers of my brain at hand.

There, in just hair over three minutes, was a forgotten (unjustly) slice of a musical zeitgeist so wonderful, so able to bring to mind the very essence of a very specific time, that I was transported, listening to it over and over again at least half a dozen times.

The likelihood that the Stoller System was anything more specific than a group of studio musicians put together by Leiber and Stoller to bring this music to life is very slim.

There were two singles released under than name on the Amy label in 1968, comprising a total of four songs, all instrumentals.

Other than that, there is little to no information out there on the project, other than listings in Leiber/Stoller discographies.

The material I’ve heard (my 45 of Silver Sea Horse is a two-sided, mono/stereo disc) is all interesting, falling into the wide category of mood music with a leaning – at least to my ears – toward what one might expect to find on a TV or movie soundtrack of the day.

‘Silver Sea Horse’ is – in a word – magical.

Credited to ‘Mike Stoller and the Stoller System’, with arrangement by Stoller and production by Leiber and Stoller, ‘Silver Sea Horse’ sounds like the result of dream session in which Burt Bacharach, Vince Guaraldi and Herb Alpert came together.

Featuring a wonderful, hook-laden melody, delivered with smooth brass, electric harpsichord and subtle Latin percussion (dig the cuica!) it’s not too far off the mark from Bacharach pieces like ‘Pacific Coast Highway’ or ‘Nikki’, or some of the later, non-Peanuts instrumental music that Guaraldi was doing for Warner Brothers.

The second track I bring you – ‘Numero Uno’ – comes from the only other Stoller System 45. This track is also – perhaps to a slightly lessert extent – a pastiche of spy/suspense themes, also sampling liberally from the bushel basket of musical signifiers, including booming timpani, martial snares, piccolo trumpet (or something like it) wrapped in an upbeat, mod theme.

Standing side by side with ‘Silver Sea Horse’ it almost sounds as if someone had challenged Stoller to come up with these themes to purposely emulate the sounds mentioned. He (and Leiber) clearly had an “ear” for such things, so good in fact that both of the tunes posted here manage to conjure up their respective “worlds” without sounding kitschy or parodic.

I don’t know if any of the four tracks were just a small, ‘vanity’ exercise for Stoller, or if they were perhaps repurposed from some forgotten project. If anyone knows, please pass along the information.

I hope you dig them as much as I do.

See you next week

Peace

Larry

 

PS Head over to Funky16Corners for some soul.

___________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers

have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US

($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.
__________________________________________________

Easy Peasy, But Not Too Cheesy…

Ron Frangipane

Listen/Download – Ron Frangipane and His Orchestra – Venus

Listen/Download – Topanga Canyon Orchestra – Crimson and Clover

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you well.

I should start off by mentioning that you may have noticed that the graphics have disappeared from some of the old posts.

Thanks to having to change domains at extremely short notice, both Funky16Corners and Iron Leg suffered some interwebs damage last week.

The Iron Leg problems were much smaller, due to the fact that this is still a WordPress-hosted blog, so the basic framework and URL remained untouched, and only graphics and sound files (and the locations thereof) were affected.

I am restoring the links on the old content as time allows.

The tunes I bring you today are a couple of very tasty examples of late-60s, exploit-kitsch, in which mainstreamers applied their orchestral talents to the pop hits of the day.

Sometimes, the results were unfortunate, revealing the decided non-hipness of the creators in short order.

I have lots of both, since I am pathologically incapable of passing up stuff like this when I’m out digging.

Other times – the rarer ones – where the orchestrators in question were more talented (and hip) the music was quite groovy indeed.

The two tracks I bring you today are particularly nice examples of those rare moments when the pieces all fell into place, and the sounds were cool.

The first comes from a 1969 album by the Topanga Canyon Orchestra.

The guiding light in this case was an arranger named Norman Ratner (who also worked on Mark Eric’s epic album of Brian Wilson worship, as well as Don Grady’s Canterbury 45), and despite some very unhip saxophone in the beginning, their version of Tommy James and the Shondells’ ‘Crimson and Clover’ manages to get just a little bit far out, with some groovy a-go-go combo organ that sounds like it dropped right out of a movie soundtrack.

New York-based arranger Ron Frangipane (who did the orchestrations on John and Yoko’s ‘Sometime In New York City’) takes a slightly more substantial approach with his version of Shocking Blue’s ‘Venus’.

The arrangement is a bit closer to the source material, and toward the end of the cut things get genuinely trippy with some crazy psychedelicization.

The Frangipane LP, ‘Rated X For Excitement’ actually has more bang for the buck, and can be found rather cheaply.

Ironically, the Topanga Canyon Orchestra LP, which only has a few interesting tracks tends to be much more expensive.

I hope you dig the sounds and I’ll be back next week with more.

Peace

Larry

 

PS Head over to Funky16Corners for some soul.

Iron Leg Radio Show Episode #9

Beep beep beep beep…..

Playlist

Hawkshaw/Mansfield – Action Scene (KPM)
Brenda Lee – Is It True (Decca)
Nat Stuckey – Listen To the Band (RCA) Echoes In the Wind
Nat Stuckey – In the Year 2525 (RCA)
Fabulous Thunder – Jealous of You (Tight)
Dino Desi and Billy – I’m a Fool (Reprise) Lee Hazelwood
Dino Desi and Billy – The Rebel Kind (Reprise)
Pinking Canandy – Hello Hello (Uni)
Pinkiny Canandy – Mr Keiley’s Roof (Uni)
Pinkiny Canandy – Goodbye Goodbye (Uni)
The Knack – Time Waits For No One (Capitol)
The Knack – I’m Aware (Capitol)
Paul Revere & the Raiders – Pontiac Judge Commercial

Hub Kapp and the Wheels – Radio Spot
Hub Kapp and the Wheels – Sigh Cry Almost Die (Capitol)
Hub Kapp and the Wheels – Boney Moronie (Capitol)
Tom Northcott – 1941 (WB)
Tom Northcott – Blackberry Way (Uni)
Tom Northcott – Iron Pines (Uni)
Frankie Valli – The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore (Philips)
John Frangipani – Jingle Jangle (Mainstream)
Dave Van Ronk and the Hudson Dusters – Clouds (Both Sides Now) (Verve)
Carnation Instant Breakfast Commercial

Enoch Light and the Light Brigade – Over Under Sideways Down (Project 3)
Keith Mansfield – Boogaloo (Epic)
Sweet Charity OST – The Pompeii Club (Rich Mans Frug) (Decca)
Walter Wanderley – Kee-Ka-Roo (Verve)
Dave Grusin – Ascent To Virginity (ABC)
Mr Jamo – Shake What You Brought With You (SSS Intl)
Henry Mancini – The Theme From the Party (vocal) (RCA)

Listen/Download -Iron Leg Radio Show Episode 9 – 156MB/256kbps

Greetings all.

Welcome back for the ninth go-round in the Iron Leg Radio Show saga.

This time out we have all kinds of goodies for your earholes, including some unusual country-pop, beat, late-60s power pop, prime Canadian folk-rock and a long set of explosive now sound goodness.

If you haven’t yet picked up last month’s (or any of the other previous) episode on MP3, please do yourself a favor and grab it (them).

I hope you dig this episode, and I’ll see you all next week.

See you next Monday.

Peace

Larry

 

PS Head over to Funky16Corners

Iron Leg Radio Show Episode #5

Beep beep beep beep…..

Playlist

Opening – Action Scene – Hawkshaw/Mansfield (KPM)

Pink Floyd – Candy and a Currant Bun (Harvest)
Los Bravos – Going Nowhere (Press)
Sagittarius – Another Time (Columbia)
Phyllis Brown – Another Time (Barnaby)
Ronnie Aldrich – Ride My See Saw (London)
The Syn – Grounded (Deram)
Terry Reid – Superlungs (Epic)
Beatles Yellow Submarine Promo

The Peddlers
Roy Phillips (organ, vocals), Trevor Morais (drums) and Tab Martin (bass)
Peddlers – What’ll I Do (45 version) (Philips)
Peddlers – On A Clear Day (Epic) From Three In a Cell
Peddlers –Pentathlon (CBS) From Freewheelers written by Keith Mansfield
Peddlers – Walk On the Wild Side (Philips) From Live at the Pickwick
Peddlers – I’m Coming Home (Epic) From Three In A Cell
Peddlers – Ain’t No Big Thing (CBS) From Freewheelers

Wildweeds – Someday Morning (Chess)
Klowns – Yellow Sunglasses (RCA)
Lee Mallory – Many Are the Times (Valiant)
Holy Mackerel – Scorpio Red (Reprise)
The Hardy Boys – I Can Hear The Grass Singin’ (RCA)
The Robbs – Bittersweet (Mercury)
Archies – Melody Hill (Calendar)
Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart – Smilin’ (Aquarius)
Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart – I’ll Blow You a Kiss In the Wind (Aquarius)
Cowsills – Milk Promo Spot

Listen/Download -Iron Leg Radio Show Episode 5 – 140MB/256kbps

Greetings all.

Welcome to the fifth edition of the Iron Leg Radio Show.

I have some very groovy stuff lined up for you this month, including the usual psychedelic odds and sods, a nice set of sunshine pop and a set devoted to the sounds of one of my very favorite groups,  the Peddlers.

As always, I hope you dig the show, and I’ll be back next week with something else ear delicious.

Peace

Larry

 

PS Head over to Funky16Corners

Two Tastes of Moog from the Electronic Concept Orchestra

Moog and his monster.

Listen/Download – Electronic Concept Orchestra – Rock Me

Listen/Download – Electronic Concept Orchestra – Grazing In the Grass

Greetings all.

I hope all is well in your part of the world, and that you all had a chance to pull down the ones and zeros on last week’s edition of the Iron Leg Radio Show. It has – as the previous three episodes – been moved to the ILRS Archive (see tab in blog header…).

The tune I bring you today is something unusual and cool that I grabbed recently.

While I’m always on the lookout for easy/kitsch stuff, especially when it treads (warily or not) into what we record people might describe as ‘legitimate’ territory, i.e. rock, psyche or even soul and funk.

I’ve found Enoch Light and his various and sundry offshoots to be a rich source of extra groovy sounds, from unusual takes on 60s rock to serviceably funky versions of James Brown tracks.

One segment of the easy/kitsch/exploit world that I’ve never been a huge fan of is Moog records.

Though I dig the Moog when used as an accent on rock (or other) records, I’ve always thought that as a featured instrument it lacked a certain musicality. It’s novelty in the space age 60s made it a favorite addition to soundtracks, but with rare exception (like Dick Hyman’s epic take on James Brown’s ‘Give It Up or Turn It Loose’) was it ever used to create anything I’d want to listen to more than once in an irony-free environment.

That said, when I do find Moog albums in the field, I grab them because first and foremost I am an inveterate vinyl junkie, and on the off chance that they might turn out to be worth a couple of bucks and could be flipped.

When I ‘Moog Groove’ by the Electronic Concept Orchestra I recognized it right away as something I’d seen listed in crate diggers ‘finds’ posts on a soul/funk board I frequent, and since the price was right I grabbed it, tossed it on the keeper stack and took it home.

Good thing too, since once I dropped the needle on the record (and took a look at the back cover) I realized that this was no ordinary Moog set.

First off, ‘Moog Groove’ was pleasing to the ears in a way that a lot of Moog albums aren’t, i.e. it was clearly recorded by musicians with a modicum of taste and enough skill with the synthesizer to apply it fairly tastefully, i.e. it never ended up sounding like a 23rd century robot orgy.

Secondly, while perusing the back cover I was very pleased indeed to discover that the drummer on the session was one of my favorites, that being Morris Jennings Jr., a longtime member of Ramsey Lewis’s band and a fixture on Cadet Records sessions in the 60s and 70s. Why he was practically the only musician mentioned on the album is a mystery. He wasn’t particularly well known, nor – though it has a couple of nice breaks on it – is the album a drummers tour de force.

I have found a reference that seems to indicate that there were other Cadet sessioners involved in the sessions, including keyboardist Eddie Higgins (who plays the Moog on the ECO’s records) and guitarist Phil Upchurch. This may indicate that these albums were recorded in Chicago, but I can’t say for sure.

What it does have going for it is a nice amalgamation of late 60s pop with the synthesizer worked into the mix as organically as possible.

The selection of covers is both appropriate (i.e. no country Moogification) and interesting.

The two tracks I bring you today are my favorites from the album.

You get to hear a nice take on Hugh Masekela’s ‘Grazing in the Grass’, with the Moog applied with an organists touch, as well as a cool take on Steppenwolf’s ‘Rock Me’. Both tunes also give you a taste of Jennings’ talents as a percussionist.

The Electronic Concept Orchestra released at least two other albums between 1969 and 1973.

I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll be back next week.

Peace

Larry

 

PS Head over to Funky16Corners for some soul.

Iron Leg Radio Episode #4!!

Beep beep beep beep…..

Playlist

Opening – Action Scene – Hawkshaw/Mansfield (KPM)

Jacques Dutronc – Et Moi Et Moi Et Moi (Vogue)
Ian and the Zodiacs – Na Na Na Na Na (Philips)
Rotary Connection – Burning of the Midnight Lamp (Cadet Concept)
Living Strings – Somebody To Love (Camden)
Litter – My Little Red Book (Probe)
Jethro Tull – Fat Man (Reprise)
Clear Light – Think Again (Elektra)
American Breed Alone Phone Spot

Glenn Campbell – Guess I’m Dumb (Capitol)
Brenda Lee – The Crying Game (Decca)
Colin Blunstone – Caroline Goodbye (Epic)
Enoch Light and the Glittering Guitars – You Showed Me (Project 3)
Linda Ronstadt – She’s a Very Lovely Woman (Capitol)
Love – The Red Telephone (Elektra)
Monkees – Porpoise Song -  45 edit (Colgems)
Pearls Before Swine – I Saw the World  – 45 edit (ESP Disk)
7-UP Commercial

Ascots – Sookie Sookie (Super)
Barbarians – Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl (Laurie)
Changing Times – How Is the Air Up There (Philips)
Music Machine – Trouble (Original Sound)
Peanut Gallery – Out of Breath (Canterbury)
Kingsmen – Trouble (Wand)
Kitchen Cinq – Determination (LHI)
Wayne Logiudice – Come On Lets Get a Little Action On (Philips)
Lindy Blaskey and the Lavells – You Ain’t Tuff (Space)
Guilloteens – Hey You (HBR)
Vanilla Fudge Coke Commercial

Listen/Download -Iron Leg Radio Show Episode 4 – 149MB/256kbps

Greetings all.

The middle of August is here, and that means it’s time again for the Iron Leg Radio Show.

This time out we have even more of the groovy stuff that you’ve come to expect from Iron Leg, with the garage, and the Euro punk, and the sunshine pop, kitsch, freaks (beaten well), sophisticated musical musings, pa-sike-o-modelica and of course anything else that pops.

So, pull out your ears, prepare them for liftoff and pull down the ones and zeros.
See you next week.

Peace

Larry

 

PS Head over to Funky16Corners

Iron Leg Radio Is On The Air!

Beep beep beep beep…..

Playlist

Opening Theme – Alan Hawkshaw/Keith Mansfield – Action Scene (KPM)

Baker Knight & the Knightmares – Hallucinations (Reprise)
Apparitions – She’s So Satisfying (Caped Crusader)
Andre Brasseur – Pow Pow (Palette)
101 Strings – Spinning Wheel (Alshire)
World of Oz – Peters Birthday (Deram)
Turtles – She’s My Girl (White Whale)
Radio London – Pussycat

Standells – Little Sally Tease (Tower)
Tino & the Revelons – I’m Coming Home (Dearborn)
Thee Muffins – Surprise Surprise
The Lime – Love a Go Go (Westwood)
Strangeloves – In the Night Time (Bang)
Sonics – Lost Love (Picadilly)
Sonny and Cher – It’s Gonna Rain (Atlantic)
Boyce and Hart – Coke Spot

Softmachine – Love Makes Sweet Music
Soft Machine – A Certain Kind (probe)
13th Floor Elevators – Livin On (45 Edit) (IA)
Blue Things – Orange Rooftop of Your Mind (RCA)
Buffalo Springfield – Expecting To Fly (Atco)
Yes – Everydays (Atlantic)
Upbeat radio Spot

Millennium – Prelude / To Claudia On Thursday (Columbia)
Neon Philharmonic – Brilliant Colors (WB)
Mark Eric – California Home (Revue)
Love Generation – The Love In Me (Imperial)
Lee Mallory – Take My Hand (Valiant)
Hondells – Just One More Chance (Columbia)
Neon Philharmonic Radio Spot

Insomniacs – My Favorite Story (Umbrella)
Mod Fun – I Am With You (New)
Lord John – Westminiature Abbey (Bomp)
Smithereens – Just Got Me A Girl (Dirt)
Biff Bang Pow – There Must Be a Better Place (Creation)
Game Theory – 24 (Alias)
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions – Rattlesnakes (Capitol)
Ravi Shankar Anti-Drug PSA

Montanas – That’s When Happiness Began (Pye)
Lovin’ Spoonful – Six O’Clock (Kama Sutra)
Animals – I’m Gonna Change the World (MGM)
Motifs – If I Gave You Love (Selsom)
Biff Rose – What’s Gnawing At Me (Tetragrammaton)
Billy J Kramer – 1941 (Epic)

Listen/Download -Iron Leg Radio Show Episode 1 – 266MB/256kbps

Greetings all, and welcome to something very special.

As mentioned in today’s post over at Funky16Corners, my experience creating the Funky16Corners Radio Show – which airs on Viva Radio and is then archived for download over at the blog – had me thinking about expanding the whole radio show bag.

Initially I considered doing a second Funky16Corners show, but eventually my thinking came around to the idea of doing something similar with the vibe here at Iron Leg, i.e. 60s pop (and sometimes beyond) of all varieties, with the garage punk, and the sunshine pop, and the psychedelic and whatever else happens to fall into that particular bag.

I’ve been doing Iron Leg, with both individual tracks and mixes for four years now, and I figured it was time for something new and (hopefully) interesting.

The Iron Leg Radio Show (you can tell I sweated over that name, huh?) will be posted on a monthly (for now) basis, and is likely to run in the vicinity of 90 minutes, though this first show breaks the two-hour mark.

You’ll be getting all of the groovy stuff you’ve come to expect here at Iron Leg, but the bouillabaisse is going to be stewed together in what will hopefully be new and interesting ways, with both music and information together, which in the words of Abraham Simpson, is the “style of the time”.

Right now, the Iron Leg blog will be home base for the radio show until I find somewhere else to host it as well, which is fine by me with the MP3s as good at my link as someone else’s.

That of course may never happen, since the internet and podcasts (and MP3 playback devices) have really replaced radio. My ipod (and I’m sure a lot of other people use theirs the same way) is a de facto radio, delivering everything my radio used to do, more efficiently and with much more personal entertainment value than the old wireless set, wherever, whenever, and for however long I want it to.

This is not to say that the old formats of radio are, or should be extinct. In fact podcasting has freed these formats from illogical (at least in what’s left of a free-thinking, adult-level world) constraints having to do with advertising, time limits, freedom of speech issues etc.

It bears mentioning that radio-style programming via podcasting is in many ways (all positive) returning broadcasts to an expansiveness, whether with musical choice or conversation (much of what I listen to in the car, on the ipod, are spoken word podcasts on a variety of topics) that they once had, even if only on the fringes.

We’re in a boom period now where (as it was with blogging) everyone and their crazy uncle has a podcast of some kind, but these things tend to shake out in the end, with the truly fringy stuff finding its small audience, more popular stuff finding a bigger audience, and those things with no audience at all eventually disappearing as their creators become bored or move on to something else (thus the vast floating islands of abandoned web sites and blogs out there in the wilds of the interwebs).

Where the iron Leg Radio Show ends up on that spectrum remains to be seen. If a healthy percentage of the existing audience for this blog, and those from Funky16Corners whose tastes cross over like mine do take a listen and dig what they hear, that’ll be enough for me.

It’s fun creating these shows and I hope that comes through in the podcasts.

I hope you dig it, and I’d like to hear what you think, so drop me a line if you have the time to give it a listen.

Enjoy, and I’ll see you all next week.

Peace

Larry

 

PS Head over to Funky16Corners for some soul.

ILDT Redux – The Au Go Go Mixes

Iron Leg Digital Trip Number Five – The Party

Playlist

1 Henry Mancini (The Party OST) – The Party (vocal) (RCA)
2 Keith Mansfield – Boogaloo (CBS)
3 Enoch Light – Over Under Sideways Down (Project 3)
4 Moe Koffman – Dr Swahili (Jubilee)
5 Mr Jamo – Shake What You Brought With You Pt1 (SSS Intl)
6 Dick Hyman – The Liquidators (Command)
7 Walter Wanderley – Kee Ka Roo (Verve)
8 Sweet Charity OST – The Pompeii Club (Rich Man’s Frug) (Decca)
9 John Philip Soul & his Stone Marching Band – That Memphis Thing (Pepper)
10 Andre Brasseur – The Duck (Palette)
11 Tony Newman – Soul Thing (Parrot)
12 Jimmy Caravan – Look Into the Flower (Vault)
13 Vic Mizzy (Don’t Make Waves OST) – Vox Box (MGM)
14 New London Rhythm & Blues Band – Soul Stream (Vocalion)
15 Dave Grusin (Candy OST) – Ascension to Virginity (ABC)
16 Henry Mancini (the Party OST) – The Party (instr) (RCA)

Listen/Download 46MB Mixed MP3 – MP3

Download 46MB ZIP File-

Iron Leg Digital Trip #32 – A Not Unpleasing Splash of Colour

Playlist

Keith Mansfield – Soul Thing (Pronit)
101 Strings – Jesus Christ Superstar (edit) (Alshire)
Jimmy Smith – The Cat (45 edit) (Verve)
Enoch Light – C’Mon and Swim (Command)
Living Strings – Out and About (Camden)
Mariano and the Unbelievables – Sunshine Superman (Capitol)
Lady Nelson and the Lords – Soho Strut (Dunhill)
Louis Bellson – The Eel (Project 3)
Quincy Jones – Mohair Sam (Mercury)
Lloyd Green – Steel Blue (Chart)
Mike Sharpe – Spook A Lou (Liberty)
Dave Pike Set – You’ve Got the Feeling (Wagram)
Vic Mizzy – Daybreak In Malibu (MGM)
Andre Brasseur – Pow Pow (MFP)
Virtues – Meditation of the Soul (Andee)
Enoch Light – Bond Street (Project 3)
New London Rhythm and Blues Band – Soul Mate (Vocalion)
Freddie Scott and the Seven Steps – It’s Not Unusual (Marlin)
101 Strings – Spinning Wheel (Alshire)
Mohawks – Baby Hold On Pt2 (Cotillion)
Moe Koffman – Funky Monkey (Jubilee)
US Air Force Academy Falconaires – Day Tripper (USAFA)
Keith Mansfield – Funky Fanfare (KPM)

Listen/Download 102MB/256K Mixed Mp3

Download 77MB Zip File

Greetings all.

As the fam and I will be away for a combination vacation, DJ excursion (I’ll be spinning funk and soul for two nights in western Massachusetts, see Funky16Corners for the deets), I have decided to repost two very simpatico mixes for you to chew on while I’m away.

Iron Leg Digital Trips numbers 5 and 32 really do belong together, with the latter being intended as a sequel to the former.
They are my take on the Au Go Go vibe of the swinging 60s, with all manner of groovy stuff stitched together from soundtracks, library music, jazz, pop, soul, funk and kitsch.

You can read the original manifesto here.

So mix yourselves up a cocktail, pull down the ones and zeros and I’ll be back next week with some garage punk.

Peace

Larry

 

PS Head over to Funky16Corners for some soul.