5/21/99 to 6/23/99

Title:  Mick Ronson - Just Like This

Label:  Burning Airlines/New Millennium (UK import) PILOT50

Comments:  Mick Ronson always made a great guitar foil for somebody to rock
with - Bowie, Dylan and Ian Hunter notably. As a solo artist he never quite
gelled. His guitar playing was incredible, but his voice was merely
serviceable. Sadly, the best record he ever put out was after his death
(Heaven And Hull). His first two Mainman LPs were at least interesting and
so after reading a description of this new CD (calling it his lost third
record ) it seemed like a listen was in order. Well, it's not the great lost
third LP though again some of the songs are worthwhile. Generally this
sounds more like unfleshedout sessions for an LP. The most maddening thing
about this release is that you can almost imagine what and Ian Hunter would
have done with Mick on these songs. "Hard Headed Woman" is a real stomper
and would have been great for Hunter. Even better would have been a fiery
ballad version of "I'd Give Anything To See You" which starts off slowly here
then builds to an incredible Ronson guitar solo that is worth the price of
admission. The Ricky Fataar song "(I'm Just A) Junkie For Your Love" rocks
hard as does the version of Moby Grape's "Hey Grandma" (missing the guitar
lick from the original, though, oddly). The T Bone Walker song "Just Like
This" is also pretty tough, but the sound of all these is not polished enough
for an LP to have come out back in 1976 when they were recorded. It is
maddeningly almost great, however. Early copies of the disc come with a
bonus eight song second disc containing demos that don't sound a heck of a
lot different than the other versions. If you don't get the bonus disc,
don't sweat it - Play, Don't Worry.

Posted by:George W. Krieger DDS, the rock and roll Dentist 6-23-99

Title:  Badfinger - Airwaves

Label:  Permanent Press PPCD 52712

Comments:  There was a time in the early '70s when the Rock and Roll Dentist's
favorites were the three B's: Beatles, Bee Gees and Badfinger. Badfinger's
pinnacle arguably came with "Day After Day" which to this day can still tear
your's truly's heart out. That Pete Ham wrote and sang that (and the other
hits for Badfinger) is significant in that Pete Ham hanged himself in mental
agony over the sheer horror of having nothing financially to show for his
success due to the dishonesty of his band's manager. Dan Matovina wrote a
wonderfully bittersweet book about Badfinger entitled Without You: The Tragic
Story Of Badfinger (which is highly recommended) that details how the
Airwaves LP came about in 1979 several years after Ham's death. Basically,
local LA musicians Joe Tansin and Ken Harck hooked up with former Badfinger
guitarist Joey Molland in a project that was mostly Tansin, but managed to
become a new version of Badfinger with the addition of Tommy Evans and at one
point Mike Gibbons (both from the earlier version of that band). First Harck
than Tansin left the new Badfinger (the latter just prior to the release of
this LP on Elektra) which resulted in Molland and Evans getting their
photographs solely on the cover. This new version of that 20 year old LP
seeks to reinsert Tansin into the band with mixed results. Included are
pictures of the sessions taken by Mrs. Tansin which take pains to show Mr.
Tansin with Molland or Evans as equal members. Not only that, the five bonus
tracks are mostly all solo recordings by Tansin that have nothing whatsoever
to do with the original LP which is weird. The one shining light bonus track
is a very Beatlish acoustic guitar song "One More Time" sung by Tansin. His
voice is pleasantly poppy, but let's face it; without Misters Molland and
Evans nobody would have an interest in this LP. The original LP was a mixed
bag with two incredible singles in Evan's "Lost Inside Your Love" and
Molland's "Love Is Gonna Come At Last." These came on the radio and showed
that a Ham-less Badfinger actually could cut the mustard, but didn't set the
charts on fire. Other standout tracks are the rocker "Look Out California"
and the pretty ballad "Sail Away." The rest of the songs are decent if
undistinguished. This Badfinger era would come to a close with a final LP on
Radio that also needs to be reissuied Say No More . Evans would later hang
himself leaving a horrifying note for Molland informing him that he was next.
Thankfully, Molland was not next and continues to ply the hardwoods to this
day (Gibbons has also continued to record). Boy, this was a long review, but
I love these guys and feel an incredible sadness over their history and even
a kinship with the tortured Ham, so buy the CD and keep their legacy alive.

Posted by:  George W. Krieger DDS, the rock and roll Dentist 6-20-99

Title:  Mrs. Miller - Ultra Lounge Artist Series Vol. Three

Label:  Capitol CDP 5 20334 2

Comments: That a 21 track Mrs. Miller CD exists at all is cause for
celebration in the Rock and Roll Dentist's waiting room, but that the folks
at Capitol seem to have decided to make it a jokey thing of kitsch with an
abysmal cover gives one pause. OK, Mrs. Elva Miller had a brief moment in
the sun in 1964 with a weird version of Pet Clark's "Downtown" done in an odd
vibrato with little sense of timing to the delivery and a beezare quaver of a
whistle thrown in for good measure. That she managed to hang on for four LPs
is testament to the difference of the world we all lived in back then.
Frankly, a straight reissue of her first two LPs (Mrs. Miller's Greatest Hits
and Will Success Spoil Mrs. Miller) would have served just as well and
hopefully would have reproduced those LP's covers which this package fails to
do. On those covers we see a sweet Aunt Bee-ish lady (she bears a pssing
resemblance to my Grandmother for heaven's sake which I believe was part of
the appeal to all of us back then - we had family members who we loved that
couldn't sing, but did so anyway with all the gusto that a love of life could
muster). The liner notes make fun of her which is probably fair, but lumping
her in with freaks like Tiny Tim and Michael J. Pollard (both from a few
years later which the notes fail to notice) is not fair. The notes scream
of a missed opportunity. While there is some background info given, other
questions remain forever unanswered such as was she 'in' on the joke or did
she really believe that she was a great singer? Memory also fails as to
whether this was the same Mrs. Miller always recognized in Jack Paar's studio
audience on the old Tonight show - it would have been nice to know. A few
years ago there was a bootleg reissue of all but her first LP (including the
horribly rare, but weak LP Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing which showed her as a
psychedelic granny and not at all in the same image) on the Amaret label.
The sound on that bootleg was poor, yet at least they had the decency to
reproduce in color the old LP covers and gave credit to her producer and
arranger Lex De Azevedo and her orchestra leader Fred Bock. Why didn't they
get even a mention on the Capitol CD? At any rate, the music is weird and
features Mrs. Miller doing either standards like "The Shadow Of Your Smile"
or big hits of the day like "My Love" where she totally loses the band a few
times. Is it possible that the reason was because she was never given any
rehearsal time and simply was unfamiliar with the songs? Again, the notes
let you down. Her third LP was all country and isn't well-represented here
("This Ole House" and "May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose" would have
been nice), but frankly that really doesn't matter since at least there is
finally a legit Mrs. Miller release, so Capitol: thanks, with reservations.

Posted by:  George W. Krieger DDS, the rock and roll Dentist 6-20-99

Title:  Swingin' Creepers! A Tribute To The Ventures

Label: MuSick 0010

Comments:  The rock and roll Dentist loves rock instrumentals (check out the
July 1999 issue of Discoveries as a matter of fact for an article by yours
truly about Colorado's great Astronauts) and is there any doubt that the
Ventures where/are the kings of the genre with zillions of LP sales and
international acclaim. The MuSick label doesn't put out bad music and this
is no exception, however of the 23 tracks here there is none that bests or
even equals the greatness of the original versions by the Ventures. While
it's fun to hear the Space Cossacks tackle "Journey To The Stars" you are
left going back to the original version to hear it properly. Do you really
want to hear the Fathoms do "Walk Don't Run" rather than the Ventures? The
old recordings are all out on CD so buy them first, but you can still buy
this CD just for fun. Nokie Edward's great lead lines are hard to recreate
so these bands can be forgiven, but the biggest failing has to be in getting
Mel Taylor's drum part down. The only band that at least tries, here, is the
Saturn V on their version of "Yellow Jacket." They sort of get the
signature 4/4 beat right with a pause on beat one, two wacks on beat two, a
pause on beat three and a single wack on beat four. The late great Taylor
also delivered his fills with power which most of these drummers simply
can't. There are still good moments delivered since the lineup included
heavyweights like Davie Allan, the Boss Martians, Jon&the Nightriders and
Eddie Angel (Los Straitjackets) & the Omega Men. Another qualified, buy it
(after the Venture's CD).

Posted by:  George W. Krieger DDS, the rock and roll Dentist 6-20-99

Title:  Bobby Darin - Swingin' The Standards

Label:  Varese Vintage VSD 6004

Comments:  Bobby Darin must certainly have been one of the most schizophrenic
performers the rock generation had to offer. He was equally adept at rock
and roll ("Splish Splash"), folk ("If I Were A Carpenter") and lounge music
("Mack The Knife") which in many ways worked to his detriment. Witness the
era this CD was taken from. After a time of little chart action, Darin
recorded two albums of standards from which the bulk of this collection is
taken. Both LPs (The Shadow Of Your Smile and In A Broadway Bag) came out in
1966 just before his surprising hit in the folk/rock realm with "…Carpenter."
Then, just as quickly as he became a folky, Darin returned to lounge with
the third LP represented here, Doctor Dolittle. The only other artist who
has been successfully schizoid in his musical choices is Neil Young yet Young
is seen as a visionary while Darin is largely thought of (if at all) as a
Sinatra wannabe. More is the pity. Heck, if anything Darin seems to share
more with the energetic Sammy Davis Jr. than the smooth Sinatra. This set
won't win any new converts, but there is some fine music among the 18 tracks.

Keep in mind, right off the bat, that Varese has decided the mono mixes
are better than the stereo, so everything is mono rightly or wrongly. When
these sets were recorded, many of these songs where new and fresh which is
not the case anymore. It's unfortunate that "Talk To The Animals," for
instance, sounds at best charming, at worst hackneyed. That's not Darin's
fault. There are no chart hits here as only "Mame" hit the top 100 (at #53).
Perhaps the best songs are "It's Only A Paper Moon" and the Gershwin/Kahn
number "Liza All the Clouds'll Roll." Without great arrangements, Sinatra
would have been just another singer. Luckily he had greats like Gordon
Jenkins, Billy May and Nelson Riddle to write his charts. On this CD, the
arrangers are Shorty Rogers, Roger Kellaway, Richard Wes and Perry Botkin Jr.
The last two mentioned supply the best backgrounds while Rogers' sound oddly
tame. A non-LP single turns up on the set and is most welcome "Breaking
Point"/ "Silver Dollar" which makes this a nice package to own along with the
CD debut of many other titles. The booklet has some attractive photos and
tells a brief story of a man who died far too young and far too unappreciated.

Posted by:  George W. Krieger DDS, the rock and roll Dentist   5-31-99

Title:  Jerry McCain - Good Stuff! The Siegel-Schwall Band - The Best Of

Label:  Varese Vintage VSD-6022 VSD-6006

Comments:  What we have here is the black and (mostly) white sides of the
blues. McCain is a black Alabama blues harpist/singer close to age 69 while
the Siegel Schwall Band were (/are; they have reunited with black drummer Sam
Lay taking over for the diseased Shelly Plotkin) three white guys with a
black bassist playing the blues starting in the late '60s. There is not
racial bias with this reviewer when it comes to the blues; Muddy Waters
easily can coexist with Johnny Winter in my mind, but here the black side
easily wins. Siegel-Schwall couldn't feature the powerful players their
contemporaries like Canned Heat, the Electric Flag and Brit bands like
Fleetwood Mac and Savoy Brown could. The recordings always sounded thin and
the singing only passable. Oddly, perhaps the most interesting part of their
history isn't even represented in their main catalog of recordings as the
recorded one side of a classical LP with Seiji Ozawa and the San Francisco
Symphony Orchestra in 1973. On this CD you get 16 tracks from their four
Wooden Nickel albums dated 1971 to 1974 when they first called it quits as a
band. There are some fine songs such as "(I Wish I Was On A) Country Road"
and "Out-A-Gas?" which sound better than the old LPs. If you are a fan, this
is worth owning and has a nice booklet included.
The McCain disc starts off very strongly with his 1960 signature song
"She's Tough" which the Fabulous Thuderbirds covered note perfectly back in
their heyday. The next track here is the B-side of that Rex single "Steady"
which pretty much is a harp instrumental version of the A-side. Indeed the
first six songs are all '60s recorded single sides and they all sound great.
A personal favorite is the 1965 Continental single "Ting-Tang-Tagalu" which
loops along sorta Slim Harpo like and would be a good cover by someone like
Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Things start getting a bit iffy with an ok version of
"Welfare Cadillac Blues" and get even more questionable with the inclusion of
several songs from '80s LPs that don't measure up to the earlier sides. One
assumes that the rights to his other singles on Okeh, Jewel, Excello,
Trumpet, etc. were not available or else they would be here, but they would
have been nice. Still there is some good music here and a rarity McCain
played on in the 1965 Shindigs single on Esco "Pussycat A-Go-Go" which it is
rumored to have actually been Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs. Well, maybe
(though the vocalist sounds like Roy Head and none of Domingo Samudio's Vox
Continental chords can be heard) but it's still fun to have on CD along with
the other 15 tracks.

Posted by:  George W. Krieger DDS, the rock and roll Dentist 5-31-99

Title:  The Irving Klaws - The Pervasonic Sound Of…

Label:  Get Hip GH-1083CD

Comments:  This was one of those Get Hip releases that the rock and roll
Dentist was going to ignore for review purposes. Sure, it has a few nicely
sleezy guitar (with farfisa organ) instrumentals like "Irving Met Shirley"
and there is a decent (if faithful) cover of the Trashmen's '60s hit "Bird
Dance Beat", but the lead vocals generally don't grab you. Not to mention
that the titles promise stoopid sex lyrics ("The Fetish King" and "Hot Little
Number") which yours truly thinks are annoying. Then after the second
listen, one of those stoopid sex numbers bored itself into my braincells and
demanded that a review come forth. "Loveslide" is so dumb that you actually
have to supply the rhyming dirty verse for the clean ones in your mind (this
is a family review, but suffice it to say an example is "baby baby please
don't throw a fit, don't say nothin' when I'm playing with your _____"). It
actually gets dumber than that and the song isn't even good, but you will be
drawn to it like a moth to a flame - so if you buy it, skip directly to track
#8 and play it for your friends (you can snicker to it just like Nilsson's
old song "You're Breakin' My Heart (You're Tearin' It Apart So F____You"
from the Son Of Schmilsson LP). I'm so embarrassed.

Posted by:  George W. Krieger DDS, the rock and roll Dentist 5-27-99

Title:  The Mullens - Go Where The Action Is /The Loons - Love's Dead Leaves

Label:  Get Hip GH-1085CD / GH-1074CD

Comments:  OK, if you've been reading the rock and roll Dentist's reviews
you'll remember that if it's on the Get Hip label you're gonna get a band who
like to recreate the garage sounds of the '60s (some better than others).
These two new discs are no exception. They represent different sides of the
garage, however. The Mullens are the harder edged Chocolate Watchband meet
the Ramones side of the equation while the Loons give the vibe of Arthur
Lee's Love (mix in a little "Too Many People" style Leaves perhaps - say, you
don't suppose that's why the disc has Love and Leaves in the title do you?).
The hardest part for all these bands is to come up with the songs and to sing
them well. The Mullens have come up with at least two pretty cool songs in
"Future Days" and "Lockjaw, Ohio" with there use of madly scrubbed guitars.
Vocally they sound sorta like a cross of Joey Ramone and the dude from the
Romantics which works on this kinda material (but don't expect anybody to
stay in tune for very long). On the other hand, the Loons score with the
psychedelia of "Flying Up Into The Floor" and "Ballroom Of The Unaware" and
vocally pay homage to Arthur Lee without being quite as distinctive as Lee
(sorta like if a bunch of high school kids in Iowa bought Forever Changes and
decided to use that as a touchstone-'cept this was recorded in San Diego, but
you get the gist). By the by, when we do reviews like this of CDs not listed
in the Discollector ads, don't let that stop you from asking Mike or Pat to
order them in for you.

Posted by:  George W. Krieger DDS, the rock and roll Dentist 5-25-99

Title:Barry Adamson - The Murky World Of …

Label:Mute 9093-2

Comments:A collection of some of the best work done by this ex-Magazine/Bad
Seeds player who tends to work in a loungy Naked City kind of world with '90s
sensibilities thrown in. Frankly, Adamson has never topped the lead-off
track "The Man With The Golden Arm" (from his Moss Side Story disc) which
sounds like it comes from the world of Mike Hammer if he would have been in
the movie Blade Runner. While there are other decent tracks on here
("Something Wicked This Way Comes" and "The Big Bamboozle" come to mind), the
only other track that comes close to "Arm" is the newly recorded "Saturn In
the Summertime" that sorta sounds like it could have been used as a theme for
The Dating Game on the planet Zontar. Both these fine tracks feature some
cool trumpet playing which brings to mind: with all these bands trying to
copy '60s sounds, when is somebody gonna do a Tijuana Brass take-off? (I'd
buy it).

Posted by:  George W. Krieger DDS, the rock and roll Dentist 5-25-99

Title:  The Spotnicks - Millenium Collection

Label:  Digimode 20.4028-MI (import)

Comments:  If the biggest instrumental combo of the '50s/'60s on the other side
of the Atlantic (the Shadows) couldn't crack America, what luck could a
similar band from Sweden expect? The Spotnicks were able to crack European
charts for several echo-laden treble-heavy goodies, but the US couldn't be
bothered (frankly, we did have the Ventures after all who did have a lot more
cajones to their sound). Well, these guys were pretty good at plucking up a
tune and a best of would be well worth seeking out. This, however, is not
it. Don't let the title or the corny cover photo of 4 young guys wearing
goofy astronaut gear fool you as it did me. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I
own it and I am gonna recommend it, but unless you read the fine print on the
back you wouldn't have a clue that these are recent recordings till you hear
them. Disc one is a 1997 recording of classic Spotnicks by leader Bo Winberg
in a style not unlike the originals with more modern keyboard sounds on
occasion. Out of the 16 tracks, they are generally all midtempo winners such
as "Hava Nagila" and "The Rocket Man" (not Elton John's hit). This disc is
worth the price of admission. Disc number two, however, would make a fine
cold drink coaster - just don't play it. These 17 tracks eminate from a 1987
band reunion and feature a cheesy '80s sound to the music on such classics
(?) as "Nikita" (the Elton John hit) and "The Entertainer." If you buy it
for disc one you won't be disappointed if you like Shadows-like
instrumentals, but do not play disc two under any circumstances!

Posted by:  George W. Krieger DDS, the rock and roll Dentist 5-23-99

Title:  The Ventures - In the Vaults Volume 2

Label:  ACE CDCHD 716 (English import)

Comments:  26 tracks of totally unreleased prime Ventures instrumental await
the purchaser here, so don't hesitate. Vol. One was not as essential as this
new disc as most of the tracks were included as bonus tracks on the reissue 2
on 1 CDs. This one is stunning, however, as it is amazing given the huge
legit output of these guys during their heyday that there is this much
unreleased material in the vaults. OK, generally you can see why the songs
were left in the can as some of the arrangements aren't A+ or the tuning
could have been better, but out of 26 cuts there are bound to be lapses. The
only gripe I have is that the majority of the tracks come from the early era
of the band when Nokie Edwards was on bass and Mel Taylor was not manning the
skins. You can argue with me, but Nokie was one of the top lead players of
the '60s and frankly Taylor vied with Hal Blaine for drum honors at the same
time. Most of the songs are covers like the Duals' "Stick Shift" and Ricky
Nelson's "Travelin' Man." There is even a vocal version of "Sugaree"
(Shakin' Stevens' version is still the penultimate one however). The only
song that harkens to the mid-60s heavier sound is the final one and it is a
stunner - "Harlem Nocturne." ACE should be commended for this one. Now is
there any more in the can guys (and when are you gonna get serious about
putting out our Colorado '60s rock CDs, huh)?

Posted by:  George W. Krieger DDS, the rock and roll Dentist 5-23-99

Title:  The Neanderthals - The Modern Stone-Age Family

Label:  Sundazed SC 11071

Comments:Disc number two by these wacky roots rockers. While it is a welcome
release, frankly it doesn't measure up to their debut on Get Hip (The Latest
Menace To The Human Race) which this reviewer highly recommended (and you
hopefully bought). Eddie Angel of Los Straitjackets fame (?does this mean
that the 'jackets' are history? - say you haven't hung up your Mexican
wrestler's hoods, guys!) still supplies some sleazoid originals (check out
"Mastodon"), but the sound just isn't as wild and crazed. Perhaps the blame
should go to the use of a studio in Vermont (?) rather than the legendary Toe
Rag studios in England that they used to record LP number one. At least the
studio gets remembered in another Angel original "Toe Rag Twitch." It seems
like everything recorded at Toe Rag (check out the Kaisers' discs, for
example) sound just like classic '60s garage releases. Heck, perhaps Dave
Edmunds might be coaxed to record one more classic LP there some time. But I
digress - this is still a cool LP and one you should own, but buy their first
one first, ok? They do a fine crazed version of Neil Sedaka's "I Go Ape" and
Mickey Lane's "Shaggy Dog." You also get a Link Wray cover "Remember The
Twist" and something named "Do The Pig" (don't ask). Johnny Rabb still sings
(?) and Cheese Blotto still thumbs the bass, but there also seems to be an
NRBQ connection this time with Tom Ardolino and Terry Adams of drums and
keys respectively (plus Adams produced). If Britney Spears did the
"Neanderthal Twist" with these leopardskin clad crazies, the world would be a
better place.

Posted by:  George W. Krieger DDS, the rock and roll Dentist 5-21-99

01/20/09