Psychobabble's Psychedelic 500: #50 - 26

Welcome back to Psychobabble's Psychedelic 500, in which I count my personal fave psych songs from 500 all the way down to #1! Today, let's see what's got the munchies from 50 to 26...

50. Nazz- "Forget All About It" (1969), in which if you haven't got time to rest then take the record off now... NOW!!

Review: 'Muddy Waters At Newport 1960' (Chess Acoustic Sounds Series)

The Newport Jazz Festival had always had a somewhat rocky history. A lot of (racist) locals didn't want a jazz fest in their neighborhood. This sometimes made it difficult to find a venue. Certain musicians took issue with the choice of performers, feeling that there should be more of a focus on artistry than luring in punters with popular entertainers, some of whom didn't even play jazz. Nevertheless, the NJF went down without too much incident from 1954 through 1959, and provided the music world with such transcendent events as Dizzy Gillespie's 1957 appearance and the classic 1959 concert film Jazz on a Summer's Day.

Review: John Lee Hooker's 'The Real Folk Blues' (Chess Acoustic Sounds Edition)

Earlier editions of Chess Record's Real Folk Blues series had been singles compilations. John Lee Hooker's installment of 1966 was a freshly recorded clutch of nine songs that flew in the face of the series' name. There's little folky about Hooker's steamy, electric blues numbers, several of which he stretches like he's burning midnight oil at some wee-hours club. He starts at full fire with the enthralling "Let's Go Out Tonight" and barely lets up from there. Even when he brings the tempo down a bit on things like "Stella Mae" and "You Know and I Know" or way down on "Peace Lovin' Man" and "I Put My Trust in You", the band sounds uncontainable and Hooker sounds infatigable. Only on the closing track, the gorgeously serene "The Waterfront", does he truly relax, sounding like he's still playing as the staff finally starts placing chairs atop tables for the night.

Psychobabble's Psychedelic 500: #75 - 51

Welcome back to Psychobabble's Psychedelic 500, in which I count my personal fave psych songs from 500 all the way down to #1! Today, let's see what's picturing itself in a boat on a river from 75 to 51...

75. The Pretty Things- "S.F. Sorrow Is Born" (1968), in which S.F. Sorrow is born.

Review: Muddy Waters's 'Muddy, Brass & Blues' (Chess Acoustic Sounds Edition)

With his third proper album, Muddy Waters shifted into very different territory, which was signaled to anyone who bothered to look at the record's title. Waters fattened his usual arrangement with a beefy horn section for Muddy, Brass & Blues. The prominent brass and woodwinds, plus the way producers George Barge and Ralph Bass pumped Willie Smith's drums and Calvin James's electric bass up in the mix, give the record a soul flavor, though the songs stick close to the blues formula. 

Review: 'Looney Tunes Collector's Vault-Volume 3'

Looney Tunes shorts have been repackaged and repackaged on DVD and Blu-ray, and it can be a real task trying to make sense of the various golden collections, platinum collections, showcase collections, spotlight collections,  collector's choice collections, and on and on. There's a lot of overlap, although many of these sets will also draw in fans of animated wise-assery because they offer some unique cartoons. 

Review: 'The Hammer Horror Omnibus'

Hammer horror was always more about aesthetics and the enthralling presence of the studio's big stars than story. What is Hammer without all of that crimson house-paint blood, those lush Victorian sets, the decayed Gothic castles and cemeteries, and the enthralling presence of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee? 

Review: 'Howlin' Wolf' (Chess Acoustic Sounds Edition)

Like his first album, Howlin' Wolf's second was a collection of singles, but Moanin' in the Moonlight's tracks were culled from a near-decade of recording. His self-titled sophomore (often called "The Rockin' Chair Album" because of its cover photo) featured tracks from a much tighter time period: 1960-1962. Ironically, there's more of a diverse spirit on Howlin' Wolf than there was on Moanin'. This is immediately apparent as the record zips from the frenetic clattering of "Shake for Me" to the slow grind of "The Red Rooster" to the intense chugging of "You'll Be Mine" to the rustic bop of "Who's Been Talking?" to the romping "Wang Dang Doodle" and on through other major classics like "Spoonful", "Down in the Bottom", "Back Door Man", and "Tell Me". All this makes for a livelier listen than Moanin' in the Midnight, a terrific album in its own right but one that feels a bit grey in light of Howlin' Wolf's multi-colors.

Review: 'Punk in 50 Pieces'

Speaking as someone who has written one, books with titles like The Story of (insert band, genre, medium, era, etc.) in (insert number) Songs/Albums are often driven by ulterior motives. In my case, I had about 700 album reviews and used this format to shape them into what I hope was a fairly cohesive history of the rock LP called 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute. I don't know how successful I was, and I do know that the storytelling wandered off course pretty regularly, but I did make an effort to maintain that historical aspect throughout the book even though my real motivation was to turn all those reviews into a book. 

Psychobabble's Psychedelic 500: #100 - 76

Welcome back to Psychobabble's Psychedelic 500, in which I count my personal fave psych songs from 500 all the way down to #1! Today, let's see what's behind the Joke Wall from 100 to 76...

100. The Monkees- "Long Title: Do I Have to Do This All Over Again?" (1968), in which Peter Tork feels it's necessary to state the obvious.