HE KNOWS WHAT'S BEST FOR ME

by Scott Mitchell


PRIVATE PRESS/PERFECTION SOUND RECORDS
PLP-5447
1980s?
STEREO





SIDE A:



Does Jesus Care?
The Fire
He Knows What's Nest For Me
Whatever It Takes
Jesus Led Me All The Way

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SIDE B:



Peace In The Midst Of The Storm
It's Worth It
He Will Carry You
God Makes No Mistakes
What A Day That Will Be

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Editor's note: not to be confused with the less-than-nimble ex-Detroit Lions quarterback who was known for his bumbling, fumbling and statuesque (not in the aesthetic sense but literally!) ways and also as a mental cripple (am I allowed to say this word anymore?!?!) for being afraid to take a hit. How dare him! Of course that other Scott Mitchell is most likely sitting on a beach somewhere with his model wife enjoying the reaped rewards of his football cowardice. This Scott Mitchell has a dog, a decent singing voice, a record released and his Jesus so he's not doing so bad himself. If only he had a dog who sang about Jesus then I could feel as lucky as him to be part of the magic.

PS... I thought I was the first to discover this one in the record blog world but it seems that the Baikinange blogger precedes me in that notable distinction.

THE SOUND OF THE SUN

by The Westland Steel Band


NONESUCH RECORD
SH-72016
1968
STEREO





SIDE A:



Sixty-Nine 3:59
Patsy 3:37
Co-che-oh-co 3:49
Erica 3:25
Landlord 2:32
Mama, This is Ma's 3:46

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SIDE B:



Mambo Lake 3:50
Love in the Mist 2:46
Linstead Market 3:10
Limbo 3:03
Highlife 2:55
Maria 4:37

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Editor's note: maybe it's just me but every fricking song on this record sounds basically the same. I understand that you can only do so much with a steel/kettle drum but for God's sake you could slow the tempo down here and there or interject pauses, pregnant pauses, stops and whatever device there is to make music sound different from one song to the next.

ALBUM TWO

by The 4th Edition


CENTURY ADVENT RECORDS
USR 8351
1972
STEREO





SIDE A:



JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS
SUMMER WHEN WE WERE YOUNG
HELLO YOUNG LOVERS
SECONDHAND MAN
MY LITTLE LADY MAKE BELIEVE
HAVE A NICE DAY

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SIDE B:



IF I HAD YOU
HAMMER OF HOPE
ROCK-A-BYE YOUR BABY WITH A DIXIE MELODY
WHERE IS LOVE
FUNNY GIRL MEDLEY

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Editor's note: back by popular demand are the queens of barbershop! From 40 years ago. Does barbershop still have an active scene? I imagine that casinos and Elks Clubs still dust off the old singers and bring them to your banquets and weddings. Nothing goes quite as good with banquet chicken and mashed potatoes than crooning sisters X4.

THE EMPEROR AND HIS HAREM

AUDIO FIDELITY RECORDS
AFSD
1969
STEREO





SIDE A:



DARDANELLA 2:30
ROSIE O'REILLY WALTZ 2:15
ST. LOUIS RAG 2:30
OVER THE WAVES WALTZ 3:25
TRAIL OF THE LONESOME PINE 1:25
WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 2:25
QUEEN CITY MARCH 2:25

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SIDE B:



RED RIVER VALLEY 2:10
THE MERRY WIDOW WALTZ 4:05
TEASING 1:40
CRUISING DOWN THE RIVER 1:55
WEARIN' OF THE GREEN 1:35
SOMEWHERE MY LOVE 2:20
AFTER YOU'VE GONE 3:00

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Editor's note: I thought this was another Middle Eastern record sans the dancing girls on the cover but I am sorely mistaken. The Emperor is actually a huge organ. A Mortier Organ to be precise and apparently these things are room-sized monsters from the golden era of the organ craze. That said, it's just an ordinary recording with nothing special to offer other than the fact it's a Mortier. That should be enough for somebody.

SIMPLE GIFTS

by Benjamin Luxon and Bill Crofut


TIOCH RECORDS
TD 1011
1983
STEREO





SIDE A:



The Fox 1:44
Four Loom Weaver 3:37
The Foggy Dew 2:03
Turtle Dove 3:03
Old Paint - The Carter 4:27
Johnny I Hardly Knew You 5:07

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SIDE B:



October Winds 2:36
She Moved Through the Fair 4:11
Get up and Go 2:10
Old Joe Clark 2:31
I Gave My Love an Apple - I Gave My Love a Cherry 3:48
Simple Gifts - Lord of the Dance 5:19

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Editor's note: I've had this record for at least a year and recorded it for the blog at least 6 months ago but have held off until now. Why? Simply because I could not get the back cover to film in a legible manner. Which never seemed to stop me before but since I've gotten the new camera and gone back and retook many of the pictures that sucked the blurry ones just won't do. Plus I don't like to use flash because it leaves a farking sunspot on the cover at to me that kind of defeats the whole purpose of posting. I caved in today and took a natural light shot and a flash shot so that the sleeve could actually be read. It's not perfect it fits the sullen tone of the record. Which by the by is a pretty good listen. It seems to be many traditional songs stripped down to their original intent. Now I can sit out on the porch and drink my throwback Mountain Dew made with real sugar and whistle while I don't work.

THE UN-TYPICAL POLITICIAN

FOLKWAY RECORDS
FH 5501
1966





SIDE A:



Introduction
1928, F.D.R., 1933, Huey Long, Henry Wallace, La Guardia, Al Smith
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
F.D.R., Robert A. Taft, Frank Knox

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SIDE B:



POST WAR II
Thomas E. Dewey, Harry S. Truman, Harold Stassen
THE SOUTHERN FACTION
NOMINATIONS
HUMOR IN POLITICS
ANIMALS IN POLITICS Some bad predicitons
MUSIC AND POLITICS
CAMPAIGNS
Wendel Wilkie - F.D.R., Thomas E. Dewey - Harry S. Truman, General Eisenhower - Adlai E. Stevenson (1952)

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Editor's note: a fairly interesting political backwash of clips of speeches, commentary and opinion. "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss". Precisely! Imagine that people can repeatedly and forever told the same lies and believe them. Then again, you believe your woman when she says you have the biggest package since the Maytag wash machine and your kids when they say "Dad, you're the best." Lies are necessary or people become too glum with the reality that this is a breeder's planet and not a platform or entry into next-world redemption.

BIG BIRD'S LULLABY B/W THE SNUFFLELULLABY

by Big Bird & Snuffleupagus


SESAME STREET RECORDS
CTW-99047
1977





SIDE A:



BIG BIRD'S LULLABY

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SIDE B:



THE SNUFFLELULLABY

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Editor's note: if a kid can ever sleep again after listening to these frighteningly gruff songs then by God your child might be a spawn of Satan. The Big Bird Lullaby is sickly drab and the Snuffy Lullaby is gravelly, flat and wholly unmusical! Seriously, what a horrid record! Just imagine having to restart the record player over and over as your dear child's red eyes began glow red and demon-like as they transformed during this demonic music!

THE LITTLE MAN WITH THE BIG VOICE

by Hal Kennedy


CANAAN RECORDS
CA-4619/CAS-9619
1960s
STEREO





SIDE A:



Full Up--No Vacancy 2:30
That Same Road 3:11
The Answer's On The Way 1:49
Remind Me, Dear Lord 2:41
Wanted, One Mother 2:53
To My Mansion In The Sky 2:12

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SIDE B:



I See A Bridge
Prisoner Of Love 2:23
My Mother Prayed For Me 2:53
The Breaking Of The Day 2:05
Don't Take My Cross Away 3:02
It'll All Be Over But The Shouting 2:09

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Editor's note: I don't know if this guy is as diminutive as the moniker and the picture suggests or if he just plays an awfully large guitar and is positioned as such to make the name ring true. Either way this guy can perform. Even you non-theists can tap your foot along with these ditties.

PABLITO AND HIS PACHANGA

PALACE RECORDS
PST-668
1960s
STEREO





SIDE A:



Chapanecas 2:53
La Paloma 2:58
Glow Worm 2:18
La Cucaracha 3:17
Adios Muchachos 2:45
El Caminito 2:46

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SIDE B:



Mexican Hat Dance 2:54
Pachangito de Torres 2:57
Cielito Lindo 2:36
Ay-Ay-Ay 2:26
Media Luz 2:41
La Cumparsita 2:49

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Editor's note: this sounds like a soundtrack for all of those familiar but unknown keyboard horn reproduced melodies played at sporting events to rouse the fans in between action or when the home team is on the verge of accomplishing something. As it should be since these are festive songs and people are lured into dancing to forget about the world spinning 'round us. If this sounds like an upbeat review it's only because I have a splitting headache and can barely open my eyes to type let alone listen to the music. This is definitely summer music meant for kicking through the sand and planning a coup or your next adventure with Pablita the dancing girl with bananas in her hair.

In Cuba in 1955, Los Papines fused the violin-based music of charangas and the trumpet-based music of conjuntos Eduardo Davidson's La Pachanga (1959), recorded by Orquesta Sublime, introduced Cuba to a Colombian dance (which was confusingly called "charanga" in the USA). But, as Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba (1959), the epicenter of Latin music moved to other islands and then south. Charanga and pachanga became brief fads in the USA, while the "son" left Cuba and migrated to Puerto Rico.

As a dance, pachanga has been described as "a happy-go-lucky dance" of Cuban origin with a Charleston flavor due to the double bending and straightening of the knees. It is danced to the downbeat of four-four time to the usual mambo offbeat music characterized by the charanga instrumentation of flutes, viollins, and drums.

NATURALLY!!

by the 4th Edition


CENTURY ADVENT RECORDS
USR 6010
1973
STEREO





SIDE A:



GOODY GOODBYE
DRAW ME A CIRCLE
MAMMY O'MINE
NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP
AMAZING GRACE
LULLABY OF BROADWAY

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SIDE B:



PURLIE
TIRED OF ME
LITTLE GREEN APPLES
I WILL NEVER PASS THIS WAY AGAIN
HERE'S THAT RAINY DAY
SUPERSTAR MEDLEY

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Editor's note: when a quartet of dudes sing in harmony it's considered "barbershop". When the same is said of four dames it's referred to as which: 1. boutique 2. salon 3. day spa 4. just plain old harmony 5. barbieshop? If you guessed "harmomy" then you are correct, sir! I think. Seeing as they are called the "Queens of Harmony" on an international scale then that seems official enough to me even though the following news clippings showcase them as barbershop. Barbieshop will do then.