"THE MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET" IS A RUMOR UNTO ITSELF , SAYING ALL FOUR OF THEM ACTUALLY PLAYED TOGETHER (LATER IN LIFE , JOHNNY CASH CLAIMED HE PLAYED A LITTLE RHYTHM GUITAR , BUT THERE'S NO PROOF OF THIS.) ,AND PLAYED ALLTHEIR HITS ( ABOUT THE ONLY HIT WOULD'VE BEEN ELVIS APING JACKIE WILSON'S VERSION OF "DON'T BE CRUEL"). NATURALLY , SAM PHILLIPS IS PORTRAYED AS A NORMAL PERSON , AS IN ALL THE OTHER FICTITIOUS BIOPICS. I WOULD HAVE RATHER SEEN A PLAY IN WHICH ACTOR/MUSICIANS JUST PLAYED THE SONGS AS THEY WERE RECORDED.

I was at that signing. Lux and Ivy , and Slim (I think Harry here , too) were very gracious. Those signings at Tower in Chicago did'nt always have a set closing time. Sometimes they HAD to keep it going longer than expected , because some artists drew so many people.  But,
I saw Lux and Ivy after the show the night before , and they gave me a rough idea of where their hotel was (HA HA) , and asked if they could walk to Tower from there. I said , it was about 10 blocks ,but ,knowing they were power - walkers , I figured they'd get there OK. They showed up late  , and I guess there was a time limit. There's someone like that in every crowd , with too much shit to sign. Some of their signings had a limit - I was allowed to get one item signed by Alice Cooper , but , Tom JONESwas signing anything you brought. Lux AND IVY WERE VERY COOL with fans , even ones that stepped over theline

Some frat boys snuck in backstage , the night before . Lux told THEM "You know you're not supposed to be here . But , I'll sign your stuff , and then , would you please go , quietly?".

i remember a cramps signing at tower in chicago where some dude and his girlfriend not only pissed off the band but the entire crowd by hogging half of the allotted time they had by bringing boxes of crap to get signed. the band was too nice to tell them to screw off and wouldn't let the store employees do it either. the offenders seemed oblivious to their idiocy.

You're gonna move your house? You got a few cents to throw in for pot? Maybe you should drink some Red Bulls (If only they worked!)
  instead.  Well , Keef admitted it was just a joke to piss off the press. But  , of all people, I would'nt put it past him.

Hey John & others...Excellent thread! I see I'm a bit late to the party. Woohoo! (and just as we're set to pick up & move-house). Well, i spent the morning catching up to speed...I've gotta few cents to throw in the pot...

The way I heard it...is that he *snorted* (not smoked) his dad's ashes. I believe this story to be true. I mean, we're talking Keef, here! In the following interview, he says he did it, and I believe him - it doesn't seem like a 'put-on' or a lie. And really, it goes with Keith's philosophy, right?

http://youtu.be/nk1PceITYvM

John Battles said:

BTW , We forgot the greatest rumor in recent Rock'n'Roll history.....Keith Richard smoking his Dad's ashes. He even had the press believing it , momentarily.
 

i remember a cramps signing at tower in chicago where some dude and his girlfriend not only pissed off the band but the entire crowd by hogging half of the allotted time they had by bringing boxes of crap to get signed. the band was too nice to tell them to screw off and wouldn't let the store employees do it either. the offenders seemed oblivious to their idiocy.

retrection(?) - I'd HEARD that Larry Page , who's still alive , was Gay. I could have been thinking about Larry Parnes (Shillings , Pence.) , who was openly Gay.   I did'nt mean to suggest that Joe Meek was'nt mentally ill ,nor that he never killed anybody. He did. His Landlady , then himself. But , was he able to create innovative sounds without Phil Spector's gazillion dollar budget? Yes.

You have to remember that , while Dave Davies did confirm this story about Gacy , the movers and shakers in the British Rock scene were largely Gay men , not sick motherfuckers like Gacy , of course , but , people like Larry Page , Brian Epstein , Joe Meek , earlier on , and so forth.......The Davies Bros. must have known about Page , and others they came into direct contact with , but could maintain a strictly businesslike relationship with them , even if they were'nt always entirely businesslike , themselves.
 Dave probably had a lot of men hitting on him at the time. Ray implied that Dave was on the "Bordeline" , which , really , if that were true , it would have been his business.

I did talk to a guy , just before they executed Gacy,who said he knew one of his victims  , noting "That was just too close to home".
Psycho*Davy said:

Re; The Kinks in Champaign, IL with Gacy c.'64 (first tour, pre-US-banning)...I read about it from a fairly reputable source maybe about 8 years ago (perhaps it was Mojo referred to, below) (i'll try to find the Mojo piece, or if someone else has it, please post it)...

It's a freaky story, for sure! that I completely can see really happening. (I can imagine Gacy being attracted to the young Dave Davies, long hair - kinda pretty, young....YIKES!) Of course this was years before his killing spree & so it didn't blow their minds until many years later when JWG was caught.

In addition, from what I read: JWG might have helped organize the show which was in a gymnasium of a school. (U of I?) and afterwards, he came up to the boys (Kinks) and asked if he could help transport them to their motel. So they did and Gacy talked them into having a few drinks at his apartment. They soon realized (at the apt), after being "plied with drinks" that Gacy was clearly infatuated with the young, Dave...and so they bailed. Creepy!

Btw, John Battles & I grew up really quite near Gacy's neighborhood. I think where I grew up was 6 or 7 miles away. John & I didn't know each other until much later, but I know he was from the same area.

-------------------------

http://tiptopoftheworld.blogspot.com/2009/06/thats-kink-y.html?zx=b...

"I ran into my ex-father-in-law at the gas station this morning. When I was married to his daughter we shared a love of motorcycles, classic horror movies and rock n roll records. He's a very cool guy and we are still friends, though we don't get to spend much time together as we used to. 

In the mid 60s when he was a young man starting his career as a news photographer he got an assignment to film the Kinks on their first American tour as they swung through his home state of Illinois. He still has an unseen reel of the Kinks performing live in (I think) Champaign, IL. I've asked him about it a couple times. He always describes Ray and Dave Davies as complete asses; two English pricks who were always (fist) fighting with each other and generally making everyone else miserable.

A couple summers ago I read a great piece in MOJO about that very tour. As it turned out, the promotor for central Illinois was none other than John Wayne Gacy, the infamous pederast and serial killer. It seems Mr. Gacy took a very unnatural liking to young Dave Davies and wasnt shy about telling him so.

I asked my father-in-law if he remembered Gacy. His initial reply was no, not specifically. But he did remember a very odd, greasy American man who was attached to the band and seemed to always be on right on their heels. That's not all he wanted to be on I'd reckon. I lent him the copy of MOJO. After reading the article it all came back to him and he confirmed the whole story. Crazy stuff, I thought him just meeting the Kinks was amazing by itself!"

Saville was everywhere , I mean , I know that and I've never even been to England (A few failed attempts...). Of course , he co - compered the NME's Pollwinners shows , hosted the "Go Go Mania" (I forget the English title.) movie , and just turned up , everywhere. Seems he was seen as a somewhat older chap who dug Rock'n'Roll , or could make a few Pounds off it ,without insulting the kids.   I only heard all this stuff you're talking about in the last year or two.            I guess the first pedophilia (we don't use the "a".) scandal was about 20 years ago , or more?

Wow! I though Jimmy Savile compering The Beatles shows was bizarre, especially when he was recently revealed to be a nonce and morgue rat.

Re; The Kinks in Champaign, IL with Gacy c.'64 (first tour, pre-US-banning)...I read about it from a fairly reputable source maybe about 8 years ago (perhaps it was Mojo referred to, below) (i'll try to find the Mojo piece, or if someone else has it, please post it)...

It's a freaky story, for sure! that I completely can see really happening. (I can imagine Gacy being attracted to the young Dave Davies, long hair - kinda pretty, young....YIKES!) Of course this was years before his killing spree & so it didn't blow their minds until many years later when JWG was caught.

In addition, from what I read: JWG might have helped organize the show which was in a gymnasium of a school. (U of I?) and afterwards, he came up to the boys (Kinks) and asked if he could help transport them to their motel. So they did and Gacy talked them into having a few drinks at his apartment. They soon realized (at the apt), after being "plied with drinks" that Gacy was clearly infatuated with the young, Dave...and so they bailed. Creepy!

Btw, John Battles & I grew up really quite near Gacy's neighborhood. I think where I grew up was 6 or 7 miles away. John & I didn't know each other until much later, but I know he was from the same area.

-------------------------

http://tiptopoftheworld.blogspot.com/2009/06/thats-kink-y.html?zx=b...

"I ran into my ex-father-in-law at the gas station this morning. When I was married to his daughter we shared a love of motorcycles, classic horror movies and rock n roll records. He's a very cool guy and we are still friends, though we don't get to spend much time together as we used to. 

In the mid 60s when he was a young man starting his career as a news photographer he got an assignment to film the Kinks on their first American tour as they swung through his home state of Illinois. He still has an unseen reel of the Kinks performing live in (I think) Champaign, IL. I've asked him about it a couple times. He always describes Ray and Dave Davies as complete asses; two English pricks who were always (fist) fighting with each other and generally making everyone else miserable.

A couple summers ago I read a great piece in MOJO about that very tour. As it turned out, the promotor for central Illinois was none other than John Wayne Gacy, the infamous pederast and serial killer. It seems Mr. Gacy took a very unnatural liking to young Dave Davies and wasnt shy about telling him so.

I asked my father-in-law if he remembered Gacy. His initial reply was no, not specifically. But he did remember a very odd, greasy American man who was attached to the band and seemed to always be on right on their heels. That's not all he wanted to be on I'd reckon. I lent him the copy of MOJO. After reading the article it all came back to him and he confirmed the whole story. Crazy stuff, I thought him just meeting the Kinks was amazing by itself!"

Hey John & others...Excellent thread! I see I'm a bit late to the party. Woohoo! (and just as we're set to pick up & move-house). Well, i spent the morning catching up to speed...I've gotta few cents to throw in the pot...

The way I heard it...is that he *snorted* (not smoked) his dad's ashes. I believe this story to be true. I mean, we're talking Keef, here! In the following interview, he says he did it, and I believe him - it doesn't seem like a 'put-on' or a lie. And really, it goes with Keith's philosophy, right?

http://youtu.be/nk1PceITYvM

John Battles said:

BTW , We forgot the greatest rumor in recent Rock'n'Roll history.....Keith Richard smoking his Dad's ashes. He even had the press believing it , momentarily.
 

"slave girl" 

Dig it. Refer to the only video on my page for demonstration of lo-fi recording circa 1988. Sounding more '67-'68.

 
Alison said:

tha' Hell?  "Garage Music" by definition is LO-FI!  It literally refers to kids playing music in their G A R A G E S!  You can hardly get more lo-fi than that! Its the whole spirit of the genre! Sheesh...lame-os up in this mug...

yep

Alison said:

tha' Hell?  "Garage Music" by definition is LO-FI!  It literally refers to kids playing music in their G A R A G E S!  You can hardly get more lo-fi than that! Its the whole spirit of the genre! Sheesh...lame-os up in this mug...

tha' Hell?  "Garage Music" by definition is LO-FI!  It literally refers to kids playing music in their G A R A G E S!  You can hardly get more lo-fi than that! Its the whole spirit of the genre! Sheesh...lame-os up in this mug...

I agree with you. You need to find a balance between lo-fi and clarity. When I recorded my 45 in the basement I just went for the sounds I was looking for and didn't settle until I had them. No baffles, deadening, gtrs and amps mic'ed except bass went direct to board since you can be clean with bass and not have it be noticeably different from the rest of the recording. Drums with one mic, then mic'ed to the mixer thru small ghetto blaster playback to get the sound I was looking for. The a-side drums were recorded in a drum room at a friends' house because I needed better drummer than me for that side and sounds from about 1968 with more umph to 'em. It is a matter of taste. You can be lo-fi w/o sacrificing clarity if you want but too clean will get you the wrong sound sometimes. Lo-fi is definitely cheaper. This was a solo project except for the better drummer on the top deck. Recording a band live can be done well too in a lo-fi way. We've done some decent stuff in the basement on 4 track. Just have to tweak the knobs right. I guess you need the right audience who knows how the music you play is supposed to sound. Reminds me of the idiots who can't tell a great song they never heard before and dismiss it because it wasn't a hit so it "can't be good". 
 
Nic Rodriguez (Gloom Merchants) said:

It's frustrating to me that most people seem to care more about the quality of a recording than the composition and performance. Sure, I love the sound of good instruments, good equipment and a good audio engineer, but I would rather be a lo fi shitty recording of Jimmy Hendrix than a clean and clear Jonas Brothers. It may just be the mix but sometimes clean rnr/punk just sounds boring. I like it when garage, blues and punk bands got that live sound. I think its a matter of taste and the music style. 

In the case of my band, the vocalist often times wants more distortion. I would like more clarity but we can't afford it, we don't have the equipment, time or money. We record everything live, we do one takes. My interface has 2 inputs, and there are 4 sources of audio when we record; a shitty little line 6 amp for guitar, an identical line 6 amp for the vocals, a snare and floor tom. So, there's 2 mics for 4 instruments. We never get to jam so when we do we just record new songs as we go almost improvised, then I overdub bass guitar and keys/lead guitar when my band mates are not here. Sure I would like to have more control of the mix but we still like the product even know we know the vast majority of people will not give it a listen after 3 seconds just because of quality alone. It's what it is. 

I think it's a matter of taste. It depends on the style of music. An orchestra would want every single detail and the full spectrum of dynamics. A psychedelic rock band may want enough clarity to hear the harmonics and psychedelic overtones. But for punk rock, garage and blues rock the recording, more often than not, sounds better live; the level or rawness is up the artist. 

It's frustrating to me that most people seem to care more about the quality of a recording than the composition and performance. Sure, I love the sound of good instruments, good equipment and a good audio engineer, but I would rather be a lo fi shitty recording of Jimmy Hendrix than a clean and clear Jonas Brothers. It may just be the mix but sometimes clean rnr/punk just sounds boring. I like it when garage, blues and punk bands got that live sound. I think its a matter of taste and the music style. 

In the case of my band, the vocalist often times wants more distortion. I would like more clarity but we can't afford it, we don't have the equipment, time or money. We record everything live, we do one takes. My interface has 2 inputs, and there are 4 sources of audio when we record; a shitty little line 6 amp for guitar, an identical line 6 amp for the vocals, a snare and floor tom. So, there's 2 mics for 4 instruments. We never get to jam so when we do we just record new songs as we go almost improvised, then I overdub bass guitar and keys/lead guitar when my band mates are not here. Sure I would like to have more control of the mix but we still like the product even know we know the vast majority of people will not give it a listen after 3 seconds just because of quality alone. It's what it is. 

I think it's a matter of taste. It depends on the style of music. An orchestra would want every single detail and the full spectrum of dynamics. A psychedelic rock band may want enough clarity to hear the harmonics and psychedelic overtones. But for punk rock, garage and blues rock the recording, more often than not, sounds better live; the level or rawness is up the artist. 

i posted this to my Facebook page.

rocking!  I like.

any way to see some of those docs on the Akron scene?

Rich Coffee (There were two - Tommyknockers , Thee Fourgiven. And, the other , Gizmos.)

Johnny Thunder(s) - You know the main man , Low Numbers  , and the "Loop De Loop" hitmaker.

There was a Bob B. Sox in  the Spector stable , and another one on the early Chicago Rockabilly scene.

Paul Ramon. He was in a band that was so Punk , the Guitarist set a condom on fire in their own hotel room.

Keith Richard(s) . Has to add the "s" back to his name when he was standing trial in Canada. Also , he feared his remarkable reseblance to Cliff Richard would throw people off.

Woggles - Dan Electro , Manfred , Buzz Hagstrom , (The Late ) Montague.

Pere Ubu / Rocket from The Tombs - Crocus Behemoth (David Thomas).

Chicago area Punksters - Skitz o'pHRENIC , Klaus Trophobic , Special ED ,  LARRY (The Mentally Ill - underrated as fuck , especially compared to - ) Tutu .   Frankenstein (J. Henry Timmis IV.) , Chris Piss , Todd Killings , Iggy Yoakum , Bloody Mess , Sluggo , Bosco , Brad Elvis , Patti Elvis , Gary Elvis , Graham Elvis , Chuck Uchida (His real name . Sounds like "Chuckie Cheetah" ), Cat Chow , Sho Nuff , Velcro Lewis , Mara Mars , Lee Buddah , Mark Blade , Andy Rampage , Randy Revenge , Hans Tantrum , John Battles (But , that's my real name !).

Rich Crook (Lover!, Lost Sounds)

Elvis Wong Reatard (The Reatards, The Wongs, Destruction Unit)

Ari Up

That is true. I scored it cheap  saying , what's the hell , and there's some great stuff on there.Have'nt heard many other groups doing "Group Grope" or "FRENZY" by The Fugs. Southern Culture on The Skids did a great job on "I Could'nt Get High".
 
Ali Want said:

I just pulled out that Songs We Taught The Fuzztones double and even though I'm not a Fuzztones fan as such you have to put your hands together in praise of their good, good taste.

John Battles said:

OK ,WE'VE ESTABLISHED THAT....BUT , IT'S TOO EASY TO TAKE SHOTS AT THE FUZZTONES. NOT MANY OF THEIR PEERS ARE STILL AT IT , AND MAKING GOOD ALBUMS NOW AND AGAIN (PARTICULARLY "SALT FOR ZOMBIES").....Since their first US releases , we've had The Makers , Mono Men, Mortals , The Go , Mooney Suzuki , Deadbolt , Reigning Sound , Mummies , and a zillion others I'm supposed to worship , apart from buying some of their records , then finding they had a short shelf life , I don't get it.  

I just pulled out that Songs We Taught The Fuzztones double and even though I'm not a Fuzztones fan as such you have to put your hands together in praise of their good, good taste.

John Battles said:

OK ,WE'VE ESTABLISHED THAT....BUT , IT'S TOO EASY TO TAKE SHOTS AT THE FUZZTONES. NOT MANY OF THEIR PEERS ARE STILL AT IT , AND MAKING GOOD ALBUMS NOW AND AGAIN (PARTICULARLY "SALT FOR ZOMBIES").....Since their first US releases , we've had The Makers , Mono Men, Mortals , The Go , Mooney Suzuki , Deadbolt , Reigning Sound , Mummies , and a zillion others I'm supposed to worship , apart from buying some of their records , then finding they had a short shelf life , I don't get it.  

Playlist 06/15/13