Saturday, October 25, 2008

Fluville Gazette Vol. 1 No. 1



I've been getting a little static lately from the readers of this blog about the lack of posting frequency here. This is a blog. It's not my job, but it feels like it. A few months ago I had to explain this to my son. He's kind of impressed at how many people actually read this (and I am too) but confused at how much time his Dad spends doing it. Today, on the phone, he asked me how to download the songs here.

So, rather than compose another one of my long winded and angular diatribes combining conspiracy theories of relativity with songs we love so much and the people who record them, I thought I might bring you all up to speed on some exciting new developments here at the Fluville Chamber of Commerce.

Well, not really. But that was fun to say.

Let's see.

Yesterday, I went to the dentist and left with one less tooth in my mouth. It's a drag, because I really liked that tooth. It reminded me of this song which I saw The Feelies perform last month, it was one the best shows I've seen by anyone in recent memory. It contains the following lines:

Next day I went to the dentist
He pulled some teeth
and I lost some blood

"Sedan Delivery" mp3
by Neil Young, 1979.
available on Rust Never Sleeps

"Sedan Delivery" mp3
by The Feelies, 1986.
from No One Knows EP
out of print

They also played a semi-obscure number by The Modern Lovers.

"I Wanna Sleep In Your Arms" mp3
by The Modern Lovers, 1976.
available on The Modern Lovers

When I got home, a little lighter in the jaw, I saw that I had received a package from the nice folks at Rhino containing the new batch of Replacements reissues. After you listen to these teaser tracks, just go and buy the damn things if you don't have them already. They are that good. I contributed a photograph to the Pleased to Meet Me reissue, and you can see and read all about it HERE and listen to one additional track.

"Waitress In The Sky" (alternate) mp3
by The Replacements, 1985.
available on Tim

"Tossin' and Turnin'" mp3
by The Replacements, 1987.
available on Pleased to Meet Me

"We Know the Night" (alternate) mp3
by The Replacements, 1989.
available on Don't Tell a Soul

"Attitude" (demo) mp3
by The Replacements, 1990.
available on All Shook Down

Okay, so then I went upstairs and and ate some very soft food in my very sore mouth, and watched the very excellent Johnny Cash's America on the A&E Biography Channel produced and directed by friends of Fluville, Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville. You can buy the DVD next week HERE

In the meantime, enjoy this:

"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" mp3
by Johnny Cash, 1975.
from John R. Cash
out of print

Oh, there are some very good interviews in the film by a number of artists including these people:

"Violin Bums" mp3
by James Luther Dickinson, 2006.
available on Jungle Jim and the Voodoo Tiger

"Killing Him" mp3
by Amy LaVere, 2007.
available on Anchors & Anvils

"Marching To The City" mp3
by Bob Dylan, 1997.
available on Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8 (Deluxe)

"In The Jailhouse Now" mp3
by Steve Earle & The V-Roys, 1996.
available on Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Tribute

Also featured in the film is 'Cowboy' Jack Clement. He wrote a lot of songs for Sun artists, and produced and engineered a lot of records recorded there.

Here's a few of the songs that he's written:

"I Like It" mp3
by Roy Orbison, 1956.
available on Rocker

"It'll Be Me" mp3
by Jerry Lee Lewis, 1957.
available on All Killer, No Filler: The Anthology

"Guess Things Happen That Way" mp3
by Johnny Cash, 1958.
available on The Essential Johnny Cash 1955-1983

"Miller's Cave" mp3
by Gram Parsons & The International Submarine Band, 1967.
available on Safe at Home

This weekend, I'm going to the WFMU Record Fair. It's a lot of fun, but I'm going to try and practice some restraint and try not to buy too many records. My tooth is not the only thing I'm missing these days, and when I'm not sharing all this fabulous music with you folks, I've been out trying to find another more lucrative gig. You can direct any reasonable offers to me here.

Last year I picked up this one up at the fair:



"Susie-Q" mp3
by Dale Hawkins, 1956.
available on Oh! Suzy-Q: The Best of Dale Hawkins


In related webosphere news, I've been posting mp3's and some of my photographs at East of Bowery, a fantastic new blog that my good friend and writer Drew Hubner (that's pronounced Huebner) and I are collaborating on. Check it out. Drew is posting stories of his misspent early days in New York City. I didn't know him then, but it seems we were in the same place at the same time. Life is sweet.

Also on the Interweb, artist and fellow blogger Steve Roden graciously plugged the Boogie Woogie Flu, at the web version of The Wire magazine last week. You can see it HERE.

And recently, I recieved a letter from a reader who lives on an olive farm in Catalan, Spain, who was so excited by the music here on the Boogie Woogie Flu, that he decided to start a Boogie Woogie Flu listeners page on Last FM. I'm not sure how that thing works, and I'm a little over-saturated with this web stuff, but if you use Last FM, join him, his name is Pault and he goes by the tag r_seven. He's very nice.

Okay, that's it for now. Have a good weekend.



Photographs: Lincoln Barron by Ted Barron © 2008

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry about the tooth. As a kid, I had an extra set grow in and had to have all the old ones pulled out, so I can commiserate. Readers are a wonderful thing, it's great when they can't get enough, but blogging is a part time job without pay. For me, it's no problem if the time's available.

I'm loving East of Bowery, thanks for bringing it to our attention. Story telling is where it's at, Mr. Hubner has some good ones.

Unknown said...

That photo of the kid (YOUR kid?) with the record player.

Gives me much hope. Perhaps the world isn't broken after all.

Unknown said...

Screw 'em, just post when you want, Ted. If they don't like checking the site all the time and not finding a new post, they can learn how to subscribe to an RSS feed and then they'll alway know.

Or they can have their money back!

Great post.

Anonymous said...

Good luck at the fair - sorry about the tooth!

rogue46 said...

I'm glad to see you are a Feelies fan. I've been a fan since the early '70s and once played in the band. I got to see them at Maxwell's for their reunion show. What a fantastic time! Best wishes for your blog!

Timmy said...

Now, I am confused. That young fella in the photos is cute. He's a genius in the making. But why can't I imagine the unergonomicalities of the interior of that room? That is a bathroom I see behind the record enthusiast, correct? (I won't even ask why you would ever place records so close to humidity) Firstly, why is the shoer head in front of the shower stall? Also, whyis the shower head above a toilet seat?

Ted Barron said...

Well Timmy,
I can only assume you are not from New York City, and are not familiar with the quirks of tenement architecture such as the one from which this operation is headquartered. This a "railroad apartment," similar to what is known as a shotgun shack in other places. Four rooms in a row, with a small bathroom in the back. You are indeed looking at the bathroom behind the boy, and what you do not see is the open door that separates this corner of my kitchen (where is better to listen to old records?) and the bathroom. The shower head is above the claw-foot tub next to the toilet. You are not looking at a shower curtain (it is open), but at a curtain liner on the back side of the tub. The record is "Come To Me Baby" by Howlin' Wolf, and yes I agree the boy (my son) is cute and a genius in the making.

CLAJR said...

Modern Lovers reccid is maybe my favorite one of all time so it's great to hear that particular cut.

Thanks!

AC'63 said...

great post ... nice music