Hank & Carol-Leigh (Mindlin). [Inquire Within.] Honolulu, HI: Sounds of Hawaii Records, [n.d.].

The recordings collected here are artifacts of a media universe that no

longer exists. They were created, against very high odds, in a world
in which both the means of production and the means of distribution
were held as near-complete monopolies by the record industry. The
reality of that is very difficult for those who didnt experience it to get
their heads around. Its a smaller, more subtle exercise in imagination
than trying to grasp what the world was like prior to audio recording
(I recommend everyone try that at least once) but it leads to as foreign
a place. In order to make these recordings, their creators had to
overcome very considerable inertia. Cash had to be put down, or studio
operators convinced to take an extremely unlikely chance. One had to
get oneself, and ones musicians, into a room, prepared to perform the
opus. Today, the inertia these brave souls overcame for the sake of their
music no longer exists. In a digital universe, much that was formerly
difficult becomes merely gestural. We await the deeper curators of
YouTube, collecting equivalent eccentricities. They are there, surely,
but are they really equivalent? I dont think so. I think the difficulty
made the difference, the inertia of the culture, the heavy industry fix.
Once any of these recordings were pressed, the chance of their finding
appreciative listeners, of course, remained virtually nil. There was no
platform on which to distribute them. Today, the outsider records and
puts the recording on YouTube. And there it is, virtually in a single
gesture: recorded, distributed. If not literally distributed, then certainly
and globally available. Theres something else going on with the
tracks assembled here, but the recordings, as recordings do, speak for
themselves. And indeed I will allow them to, other than to say that I fully
expect that the medley of Elton John covers will forever remain my very
favorite Elton John.

William Gibson

1. Intro [Excerpt] The Muzzy Band, from

How Was It? Live Album Too Hip!
Hey Eddie, is the tape on? Wed like to dedicate
this album to all our friends. First of all, lets
start with the Manasquan Dead End Kids: Mike
Henry Angelo Tony Robbie Carl Angelo Tommy
Ro. Headliner people: Bill Sue Jennie Barney
Louie Donny Bob and that stupid trickArt
Star. And we got Ginger and Jeanette, Marion,
all our great friends, Cindy and Ellen, and
Carmen and the Romanellis Ay! And we got
Vinnie and Billy Nell and Judy over there at the
fountain, Tony Serenbella, D., Johnny Maggs,
the whole gang over there. Gammarelli, Tone,
Robin, Tony Fettucini, Sandy, Joey Frambizz,
Rudy and Jean DePaul Lou Steve and Cap Ay!
Theres so many so many names but if you give
a listen, and how was it, to our little album
this album is just for you, our friends. And we
certainly hope its not too hip for the highway.
2. Spacing Out The Invaders, from Spacing Out

The Muzzy Band. [How was it? Live Album Too Hip!] [N.p.: 1975]. The Invaders. Spacing Out.
[N.p.]: Duane Records, [n.d.]. Myrna & Sherry Emata. The Winners. Woodland Hills, CA: Lift
Music Company, 1973. Ray Torske. Armageddon. Hollywood, CA: Accent Records, 1974.

While there exist privately pressed funk

albums that have become more desirable in
recent years, theres not one that is anywhere
near as over the top as the solitary offering

from this mysterious combo. Spacing Out

influenced entire cadres of new musicians:
the collector Phillipe Lehman, driving force of
the retro-funk Desco label that spawned the
now ubiquitous Daptone, is perhaps the only
person who can claim to have been ahead of
Paul Major in discovering this album; The
Whitefield Brothers In The Raw, released
first on Lehmans Soul Fire imprint, borrows
heavily from Spacing Outs tense atmosphere
and punishing rhythms.Based off of the
transcendent reverberations of the Space Echo
slathered like gravy atop the horns, and,
in some cases, the rhythm section we get a
taste of what could have been in comparing
the 45 and album issues of the title track. The
45 version, removed from the Space Echos
analog wash, is good garage-funk but isnt
a masterwork. Under the Echos influence,
this Bermuda by way of Louisiana album has
passed hands from seekers of psychedelic
oddities to goofy funk nerds and back again.
Its a holy grail of funk collecting and could
have only arisen from the untethered genius
of a maverick in this case, the producer
Eddy Demelo working privately, indulging
fantasy and creating the fantastic.

Eothen Alapatt

Seldom seen islands jammer with doses of

funky undercurrent, spy film cool cinematic
jive, wah wah, flute, spaced out horn lines that
echo/reverb over the rhythm like fog thru a
tropical pick up bar. Addictive personal fave.
Gets you off every time.

Paul Major
3. Heaven On Their Minds Sherry and
Myrna Emata, from The Winners!
This is really it: The sound that cant come from
anywhere except these amazing homemade
records. Sherry Emata, one of two teenage-sister-keyboard-competition winners, transubstantiates this watery Jesus Christ Superstar cover.
We lift the chalice and chug away at the bizarrely delicious nectar contained, with a half-assed
Dr. Pepper meets Sgt. Pepper of vanity pressing
tracks, as a constipated metaphor to entice you.

Johan Kugelberg
Often was the case in decades gone by that
an instrument manufacturer would hold a
highly publicized performance contest. These
contests would not only promote young and
hitherto unknown musicians, but also highlight
the glory of a given instrument. It is through
this context that the young Emata Sisters,

Yamaha Electone Organ virtuosos, released The

Winners! a 1973 split LP. Featuring an original
Myrna composition and covers of pieces such
as Song of India, Moonlight Serenade,
Sh-Boom, The Continental, and in this case
Sherrys cover of Heaven On Their Minds,
the instrumentals range from whimsical lounge/
exotica tones to overtly melancholic moments
and raw and evocative passages. Side 1 features
performances by Myrna and Side 2 is Sherrys
offerings. After releasing The Winners!, Sherry
and Myrna would go on to join their brothers
and sisters and record the 1977 LP The Emata
Family In Concert.
Sherry and Myrna moved to Lawndale, California with their parents when they were two.
They had been born in Cebou, Philippines.
Sherry was first born, followed by Myrna, then
Lorna, then Gil, Jr., and finally Lionel and
Randy.
Though they were to be known as a musical
unit, the Emata kids began as part of a
motorcycle family. Gil Emata, the father, was a
great motorcycle enthusiast, applying the same
drive he would later put towards the musical
development of the family. Sherry Emata
remembered, When I was 10 my dad bought

the three of us girls mini-bikes. Even our 7 yearold sister I cant believe he did this! And my
Dad got my mom a Kawasaki 250. He thought
she needed to learn how to drive.
At some point thereafter, Gil switched gears, and
fully applied himself to raising a musical family.
He was demanding, too, for family talent didnt
come about by sheer luck. He wanted for the
Ematas the same success that found The Jackson
5 and The Osmonds. It was a big change for the
kids. Most depressing day of my life he sold
all of the mini bikes to buy our first organ. He
always wanted to play. But I saw that organ and
I thought you sold our mini bikes. He never
asked our permission! Never told us. Of course
we had no say in anything, Sherry laughingly
recalled. But we were already taking piano
lessons at the time. We had two grand pianos,
a regular upright, three full size organs, seven
synthesizers, three accordions, including a 60
pound electric one, that I would have to close
shut and play like that, three trumpets, a drum
set and a lot of PA systems. We had to extend our
living room the length of the house to become a
music room.
Gil was a hardliner, and TV was a luxury not
often afforded to the children. When they were

allowed to watch TV, their options were limited

to programs like Ed Sullivan or The Lawrence
Welk Show. Each child had three private music
teachers. Everyone took organ and piano, and
then a third teacher schooled in an elective
instrument or voice.
The Winners! is the fruit of back-to-back wins
at the Yamaha Electone E-5 Organ Contest by
Sherry and Myrna. The liners detail, Myrna,
14, won the contest for her age group in 1972
and Sherry, 16, repeated the victory in 1973.
In addition to a cash prize, an all expense
trip to Japan was given to Myrna, her father
Gilbert Emata and her advanced instructor
Bill Thomson. The all-expenses paid Japan
trip provided the girls with an opportunity
to compete in the International Electone
Festival on a peninsula within the Ise-Shima
National Park.
Several different stages had to be won before an
organist could reach Japan. There was first a local
contest, followed by a regional contest, and then
finally a deciding national contest. Big names
and bright lights graced the Yamaha National
Festival in Chicago, Sherry remembered.
Yamaha spent a lot of money, she said. The
judges for Sherrys national performance

included Elmer Bernstein, Jimmy Smith, Sarah

Vaughan, David Clayton-Thomas, and Steve
Allen as MC. Myrnas judges included Henry
Mancini, Quincy Jones, and again Jimmy Smith.
The girls met and took photos with Mr. Smith
while seated on an organ bench. It was the
heyday of Yamaha, said Sherry.
The celebratory LP The Winners! was the idea of
their instructor Bill Thomson, aka the teachers
teacher. Thomson, a pilot, was able to teach up
and down the Golden State by flight. Sherry
explained, Bill flew his own plane sometimes
and he would go to different areas along the west
coast teaching, so if he was in SF, he would have
a studio there, to teach at, or at Saratoga thats
where my teacher introduced us to him we
would take lessons there, or when he couldnt
come up north we would come down.
The record was cut in Glendale in an edition
of 1000 copies. We thought it was the coolest
thing ever. Wed never been in a recording
studio before. LPs were sold at performances.
The family band played an assortment of venues,
from organ clubs to talent shows, Filipino
Clubs, convention centers, cable stations, and
makeshift concert halls. We would create our
own concerts, Sherry commented. We had

two vans. Wed haul seven synthesizers and a

Yamaha organ with us we were an all keyboard
band. Sometimes wed have a synthesizer atop
the manual organ. We were our own roadies.
My brothers work hard because they know what
its like to load things and get ready.
Their biggest stage was the San Jose Convention
Center, where Sherry remembered fondly
playing a mix of traditional Filipino tunes, disco,
and lounge music. The highlight of that show
was when Sherry and Myrna performed the
traditional tinikling, a percussive bamboo dance
in 3/4 time that then segued seamlessly into a
4/4 disco version of MacArthur Park. While
Sherry was 19, they toured the Philippines for a
month. Other times, while in residence at organ
societies, the sisters and family played more
standard material. So there was no ambiguity
as to who was an Emata family member, the
drummer of the group was always caucasian.
The drummer always had to be non-Phillipino.
So it would be, like, a white guy. So that it was
clear he wasnt in the family.
Most of the Emata kids pursue music
professionally, in some form or another, to this
day. It looks like Gils efforts werent for nothing.

Michael P. Daley

4. 666 Ray Torske, from Armageddon

Top-shelf Christian private press centered
around the hot trumpet licks of Ray Torske,
who trades them off with a mixed gender
choir, adding to the millennial cult flavorings
of the torchy/loungey lead vocals intoning
repeatedly that 666 is very near to maximum uncanny effect. The 24 karat win truly
kicks in when the lead vox start blending with
the choir and a scorching trumpet solo, all
together now: 6! 6! 6! You cause all destruction! You dont really care!

Johan Kugelberg
Little is known about the early life of gospel
trumpeter Ray Torske. According to the liner
notes to his first album, Armageddon, he was
discovered at a Youth for Christ rally in San
Francisco, where gospel composer Audrey
Mieir heard him perform. I sat spellbound
at first, Mieir reports, and then I gradually
realized I was hearing something more than
a tremendous trumpeter! This young man
was causing his horn to almost speak the
words of the familiar hymn he was playing.
Mieir encouraged the young performer,
whose debut Armageddon was released by
Hollywood-based Accent Records in 1974.
Armageddon combines horn-based pop-rock

with low-key jazzy instrumentals, frequently

with doom-laden lyrics about the Tribulation
and the Final Judgment.
By 1977, Torske was affiliated with the Youth
Crusades of America, a youth organization
connected to Demos Shakarians Full Gospel
Business Mens Fellowship International.
Through the late 70s and early 80s, Torske
toured as a performer and speaker, appearing
primarily at Baptist and Pentecostal churches
in Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, and Indiana.
An announcement for a performance in
Colorado Springs describes his performance as
a family night of miracles. He also performed
secularly, playing a 1979 concert of music
from the swing era, rock, jazz, and disco with
the Chadron State College Jazz Lab Band
and Chorus in Santa Fe. Torske released two
additional albums, Rise Shine (Sandy Records,
n.d.) and My Tribute (Privately pressed, n.d.), a
collection of instrumentals. His last recorded
performance was at the Sword Womens Jubilee
in Garland, Texas, a 1983 gathering organized
by the fundamentalist Baptist publishing house
Sword of the Lord. He now lives in Reno,
Nevada.

Gabriel Mckee

5. Inquire Within Carol-Leigh and Hank

Mindlin, from Inquire Within
Sum greater than its parts: This husbandwife new age duo are solidly on the showtune
tip even tho the lyrics cover all kinds of
astral plane/reincarnation/mystical Veda type
stuff. There is however a consistent exotica
sensibility, possibly derived from the Hawaiian
location. The languid, liquid and stonery hip
hop groove of the title track echoes at a few
other places on the album, and the cover art is a
crude psychedelic masterpiece of sorts.

Johan Kugelberg
6. Cast Your Fate To The Wind & The Breeze
& I Gary Schneider, from Just For Fun Just
For Friends
On one hand, this is a raging minimal synth
krautrock masterpiece, worthy of a $1000
price tag at a particularly drool-covered
record fair booth, but where it gets truly,
really great and lands in that sacred recordcollecting other place is when the recognizable
keyboard licks of this lounge/exotica standard
start shimmering in silvery flourishes, leading
straight into Mr. Schneiders completely
bananas vocoder lead vox.

Johan Kugelberg

Gary Schneiders birthplace is unknown, but

he has been a longtime resident of the Bay
Area. He was a fixture on the 1970s and 80s gay
nightclub and lounge scene in the Polk District
of San Francisco; however Schneider himself
was a straight-laced nerdy type, avoiding the
drug-addled party scene of the era. His musical
roots rested more comfortably in the olden
times of Tin Pan Alley.
An avid electronics tinkerer from a young age,
Schneider fell in love with the electric organ,
its workings and maintenance. Synthesizers
and Sonovox filled out his sound on tunes like
Cast Your Fate To The Wind & The Breeze
& I.
DJs were to be the death of many live acts,
and Schneider bemoaned their onset. By the
end of the 1980s, he had stopped performing
publicly.
Gary Schneider has cut two LPs, Just For
Fun Just For Friends and Very Easy, a jazzy
collaboration with friends. Additionally, he has
released one 45, Cast Your Fate To The Wind
& The Breeze & I, along with one cassette
from the mid-to-late 80s, and a number of CDRs from the 90s and 2000s.
Will Louviere with Michael P. Daley

7. Diska Limba Man Mdico Doktor Vibes,

from Liter Thru Dorker Vibes

Outside of space and time, like all the records

we hold most dear, and that the record
dealer prizes most dear, this proto-techno
masterpiece stands alongside either of the
Cybotron singles, or Sharevari as the very
sounds of a future genre being pre-discovered.
This is one of those records that is so naturally
inspired/gifted/communicative that anyone
Ive played it for has had their eyes light up,
whether they are seasoned record collectors,
friends, colleagues or family members.

Johan Kugelberg
Bill Russell, otherwise known as Mdico
Doktor Vibes, is from Guyana, and seems to
be the nations only known musical export
besides Eddy Grant. Early influences on the
future musician included Elvis, Nat King
Cole, the Beatles, and his own musicallyinclined family. At some point in the 1970s,
he moved from his homeland to Los Angeles
and enlisted in the U.S. Army. While serving
overseas, Russell watched his Army friends
recording music with their own equipment,
no fancy studios, no label backing, and by the
time he returned to the U.S., he had decided to
create his own album. Russell invested large

amounts of money into the promotion of the

1979 LP, Liter Thru Dorker Vibes. The record
was issued in a single edition of 100 copies.
He considered it a demo record, and sent a
few out to friends, a local library, and one to
a radio station. So far as is known, Russell
never performed live. The sounds on the LP
were produced by a Fender Telecaster and a
Korg Mini, and was recorded in an outfitted
garage. Russell stated that his influences at
this point were Santana, Hendrix, Sly Stone,
and Dixieland Jazz.
The album is highly conceptualized, from the
striking stock photo on the cover and abstruse
title information to the musical themes
that exist throughout. The title, Liter Thru
Dorker Vibes, was a politically correct way
of commenting on American race relations.
Through Liter, Russell hoped that light and
dark-skinned people could vibe off of the
same music. Liter being a cloaked version
of lighter and Dorker meaning darker.
Russell found the colors on the Golden
Gate Bridge stock photo complimentary to
his music. There is no Bay Area connection.
Liter Thru Dorker Vibes is Bill Russells only
recorded output. Companion Records will be
reissuing the full album in the upcoming year.
Will Louviere with Michael P. Daley

8. Monkey Bridge 33 1/3, from 33 1/3

33 1/3 is one of many guises for Kalassu Kay and

Johnn Wintergate, wedded lovers who also go
by Lightstorm and Teeth. Though their primary
interest is esoteric spiritual music, inspired
by their experiences with Sai Baba and with
efforts that bear descriptions like, A musical
journey, which probes the ultimate mystery of
Self-inquiry, they also play party jams and are
known best for producing the no-budget video
horror movie Boarding House in 1982. The
movie, which is described by the band as a spoof
gone awry so that you dont know whether to
laugh or to cry, exhibits a video-grain laden
kaleidoscope of cheap gore, sun bunnies,
telepathy, and a fantastic 33 1/3 score and
performance by the band at a wasted pool party.
Lyrically, the track Monkey Bridge lands
on the spiritual side of things with lines like
shatter your illusion and a refrain which cries:
Follow me, be free. However, the monkey
yelps and the rocking jungala of the music is
on the Boarding House pool party side of the
spectrum. YouTube has some crushing cuts
of them playing, as Lightstorm, in someones
living room from back in the day, too.

Michael P. Daley

9. ESP Switch Michael Farneti, from Good

Morning Kisses
The Michael Farneti album, in my opinion,
is one of the true masterpieces of the selfreleased, self-produced LPs that were released
in the 70s/80s. The range of this album is hard
to grasp: Farnetis straight-faced execution of
songs in the outer reaches of Camus absurd
man like In The Jungle, Come To Europe
or Movie Star stand in counterpoint to the
sublime beauty of ESP Switch or The River,
songs as immediate and natural as, oh, Sound
Of Silence or Little Doll.

Johan Kugelberg
Michael Farneti has his sound and skills together,
highly developed and realized. Many of the more
obvious special private pressing LPs are enhanced
by limitations, unintentional but fascinating
gone wrong aspects, glorious amateur aplomb,
even the tricky so bad its good designation that
often accompanies surface appraisals. Detecting
that real people specialness in private press
LPs by more accomplished deliberate musicians
like Michael Farneti, those who have their sound
fully together is a more subtle affair, as the line
between a unique original and an imitation of
some popular sound can be deceptive, even

now you see it, now you dont elusive. But once
you do hear it, get it, it remains undeniable.
New ground has been broken. As hardcore
longtime fans of private pressings know, back
in the 70s and 80s every big used record store
in every locality had totally unknown private
pressings, usually in the cheapest section of the
shop. Only a handful of people were obsessively
looking for the personality driven self made
albums as compared to genres like garage,
psychedelic, progressive, etc. so they ended
up in the junk piles. Then people got more
connected, started trading the good spare copies
they found to get stuff they needed... and then
inevitably reissues abound for years of great stuff
but the well dries up, the really special ones
nearly all known or buried forever.
So it is more special when a great one emerges
from ultra obscurity, for me my copy was so
obscure I dont recall when or where I got it,
didnt tune in to it after I got it, but could see
why I would have grabbed it with the moody
pic on the back cover and a song titled ESP
Switch, something could be up. And was
up when I finally did drop the needle... the
first four tracks are a wild ride, a sequence
starting with a surreal trip to Rio, then
through a swirling Movie Star crescendo of

sounds which gets hallucinatory with the lyric

movie screens... on your blue jeans weirding
me out nicely, then the ESP Switch is flipped
on and expansive, then chill out with 19th
Summer haunting moody edgy music.
Include Michael Farneti in that special section
where you are not only listening to a record, you
are hearing life itself, the singer in your room,
your room in your head, the songs creating this
personality you customize to your own view in
sound. One personal thing about my enjoyment
of these sorts of albums with such intimate
force of personality like this one is that I get a
twilight zone sense, an underlying warm but
surreal eerie feeling, demonstrating the superior
inscrutable strangeness of reality and people
over supernatural imagined worlds as being the
more rewarding, mysterious and miraculous way
to perceive existence. I say this in spite of the
fact that the very premise I just stated implies
all music is strange (which it is, of course if so
you choose), but more as a matter of taste for
me, the real people music self-illuminating, the
people fascinating in the image they make my
mind create of them. Its also about mysterious
treasure from the past, the enhancement of
having a period being lost in time and then
rediscovered to have a timeless voice being so

communicative in a way that is his own, thats a

high standard and Good Morning Kisses gets
it right to you. [The reissue of Good Morning
Kisses is available from Companion Records:
companionrecords.com]

Paul Major
10. 6.4 = Make Out Gary Wilson, from You
Think You Really Know Me
When Chris Simpson, proprietor of the
legendary Philly Record Exchange introduced
me to the Gary Wilson LP in the early nineties,
it was a game-changer for sure: Wilsons
effortless Steely Dan-muso gone NY No Wave
was infused with an absurd monomaniacal
artistic vision so highly original that the album
has inspired WFMU DJs and breakbeat cultists
and connoisseurs of bizarre/illuminated poetry
alike. Perennial hepcats William Gibson and
Jack Womack rate this album oh so very highly
in their personal pantheons.

Johan Kugelberg
For years, Gary Wilsons You Think You Really
Know Me seemed to have erupted from a mid70s intellectual nowhere land between jazz
fusion and the rock scene coalescing in New York
dives like CBGBs. That Wilson sang poignant,
troubling, unhinged lyrics most surrounding

unrequited high school crushes added a heady

emotional content. It took a bit less than a full
listen to suppose that Wilson was either one
troubled man, or doing a damn good job of
making it seem that way.
By now, Wilson has not only seen You Think
You Really Know Me reissued twice but hes
been the subject of a documentary and has seen
thorough investigation of the his pre- and post-You
Think You Really Know Me work anthologized.
Analyzing You Think You Really Know Me with
knowledge of his oeuvre leads to some interesting
assessments. That same basement his parents,
in Endicott, one hundred and eighty miles north
of Manhattan that looks like it could be in
Silence Of The Lambs? It looks positively groovy
on the cover of Wilsons Another Galaxy jazz
album, an offering that wouldnt have sounded
out of place on the storied Strata East imprint.
And, you know what: turns out he is a bit off, but
not in the fuck-he-might-be-a-pedophile-stalker
way which you might assume, after listening
to 6.4=Make Out but in the way that your
weirdo uncle, who you can have totally normal
conversations with before he says a bunch of
obnoxious shit at the dinner table, is. In person,
Wilson is charming and fun, and evasive when
you try to get to the bottom of all of the crazy
shit hes singing about. (When asked about the

creepy overtones running through 6.4=Make

Out and its refrain Shes only sixteen he
responds with Well, the original version went
Shes only thirteen, so I thought that was an
improvement. And I was only 21 or so when
I wrote it.) In the dark room where Wilson
records his vocals, all bets are off.
Wilson was a product of the psychedelic 60s and,
by the early 70s, was equally as obsessed with
the New York Dolls and The Stooges as he was
with Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Don Cherry. You
Think You Really Know Me was the product of
that synthesis and Wilson, an obsessive recording
technician and accomplished musician, played
most every instrument on the album. He turned
in a well-mixed set of tapes to the QCA custompressing plant in Cincinnati for mastering and
lacquering. He refused at least two sets of test
presses and returned one finished run of records
before accepting the final product and seeing
his masterwork, all six hundred copies, disappear,
unloved for years, into the American expanse. It
was a strange time, a dreary time, Wilson now
reflects. Thats all I can think of. I wasnt happy
musically. On one particularly sad day in 1979,
Wilson, broke, brought his last twenty-five copies
of You Think You Really Know Me and sold them
for a dollar apiece to a Manhattan record store.

Eothen Alapatt

11. Elton John Medley Silk & Silver, from

Holiday With Silk & Silver
A lot of us yearn for experiencing the uncanny
through music: This drums/piano duo tour-deforce is something out of M.R. James. It is crazy,
it is creepy, and then you realize that it is also
pastorally beautiful, so the true testimonial is
that we here experience the downright uncanny.
Where we can but pretend that we spy cracks
in reality as we spill self-described psychedelic
music on the turntable, Silk & Silver present
musical otherness a la Lovecraft or the
aforementioned M.R. James.

Johan Kugelberg
Silk: Robert Baldwin (piano, vocals). Silver:
Delroy D. Williams (drums). Recorded: 1976.
According to Robert,S&S was all Delroys idea.
Delroy was an out of work insurance adjuster
andRobert (who was 10 years younger than his
band mate) was playing in a Salem-area rock
band called Choice, as well as a couple of
other rock-oriented projects. Delroy recruited
Robert for a lounge act, which played weekends
for maybe only one summer. They played a lot of
Ramada Inns and almost scored a permanent gig
at a Red Lion, which would have been a big deal
for them (it fell through).

Robert HATES the S&S album. He compares it

to the old Bill Murray SNL skit and nowplays it
for friends asa torture device.He also wrote:
I hope you will explain to all potential listeners
that I really am not all that proud of the album
on many different fronts. As I told you I was
experiencing laryngitis at the time of the
recording and I had no say so in the mixing
except for the ooohs in the background of Fire
& Rain.Once again I do thank you for your
uplifting comments and admiration of my old
piano playing skills and going forth with this
type of genre. Robert is alive and well. Delroy
passed away several years ago.

Will Louviere
12. Music Slave byJade, from Jade
Larry Kindred wasnt a founding member of the
Norfolk, Virginia band Jade he joined in 1971
when the ensemble, then called Master Jade,
performed at Shaw University in Raleigh, North
Carolina. The band asked Kindred, a percussion
major, to sit in. Now, I represent them well, I
guess you can call it that! he laughs. Everyone
except for the drummer Harrison Robinson, is
still alive. And every one of them, except for
Lucius Goodson, who found religion and doesnt
want anything to do with the music, is excited
that people are into the stuff we did.

That stuff springing from a medley of

college and garage-band kids as Kindred
describes them was largely rock music. We
rock, rock, rock: ready to rock out the world,
he states. We played predominantly white
clubs, even though we were an all black
band. Keyboardist and bandleader Vernon
Goodson was fond of Miles Davis, Earth
Wind & Fire and Kool & The Gang but his
brother Lucius brought a strong appreciation
of the heavier and the funkier side of the rock
spectrum, favoring Led Zeppelin and Grand
Funk Railroad. Not surprisingly, their first
recorded effort, the Paperman 45, issued in
1974, is a sweaty psychedelic funk workout.
That single was issued on entrepreneur Joe
Rileys Pesante imprint. The band met Riley
through their manager Sarge Arnold Lee.
Riley returned the favor by signing the band
to an exclusive recording and management
contract and sending Lee back to bootcamp.
The next logical step, an album, was to be an
all-out rock affair. Thats what Paperman was
for, Kindred recalls. And we had a song we
recorded called The Funk of Rock Music.
But this album was not to be.
Riley possibly unhappy with the
unsuccessful launch of Paperman farmed
out production duties to keyboardist William
Smitty Smith. Smiths resume was strong

he was a member of regarded Canadian

garage-rock band Grant Smith and The Power,
had fronted the funk-rock band Motherlode
and served as arranger for onetime Power
member David Clayton Thomas Blood,
Sweat and Tears ensemble.
Smitty brought us up to Sound Ideas in New
York and we spent two nights laying down
what you would call a foundation, Kindred
recalls. And then Smitty took our master
tapes, went back up to New York after we
returned to Virginia, and brought in musicians
to fix what wed done wrong, embellish the
songs, and mix the final version.
He continues: We got the finished product and
we had to go out and relearn our own songs!
It was disheartening. We were a young rock
band. This soul album was a real shocker to our
fans. Still, Kindred recalls spotty support in far
flung locales like St. Louis and Los Angeles. He
maintains that the band would have managed
a breakthrough if they were able to record
a follow up for Pesante, but, in the midst of
preparations for a USO tour at the turn of 1980,
Riley suffered a brain aneurism, collapsed and
died. Thus, this album and an album the band
recorded for blind vocalist Carmen Lindsey never materialized.

The band maintained, remaining a viable show

band until 1985. But, by that point, we were
just performing commercial stuff, Kindred
laments, though he and Greg Termite Rich,
the vocalist on Music Slave and the majority
of their solitary album, did try to record some
then-current boogie demos. Looking back,
I think we made a great album, it just took some
time for us to realize that there were great songs
on it, he reflects. We were proud of the album.
We really needed to have just done another
one.

Eothen Alapatt

13. Come On Sign Joe E., from Love Got In

The Way
When people reach for Scott Walker or Brian
Wilson, I reach for Joe E. The kind of touching
honesty in a blue-eyed soul singer that usually
gets veneered over by studio-tan can be found
here: Paul Majors real people description is
curiously apt. One gets such an overwhelming
sense of the beauty of the human spirit in its
unfiltered, confused and urgent desire for
communication here. The Joe E. album is easily
worthy of comparison to the Beach Boys Surf s
Up and is vastly superior to Scott 4. Order the
album reissued on CD at eabla.com
Johan Kugelberg

Joe E. Neubauer was a South Florida construction worker and part-time stock car racer
whod grown up listening to singers who came
out of nowhere and took the charts by storm.
He was interested in singing from an early age;
as a child, hed sing in a tunnel under a bridge
and marvel at the sound of his own voice. I
used to get up underneath the damn bridge
and sing to myself out there, because the echo
was so good.

ive dad decided to put up the staggering sum of

$20,000 for a chance at stardom.

Soon, Joe decided he wanted to take things a

step further. I wanted to make an album, so I
tried singing along with instrumental tracks on
the radio. It wasnt working out. Clearly, it was
time to start looking for a studio.

In the recording studio, Joe laid down his vocals

over the course of a few days, singing over a
minimal backing track. A very short time later,
Joe was called in to listen to his completed and
pressed album. He was amazed to find that
the tracks had gone from sketchy guitar-andvocal demos to fully realized songs, complete
with elaborate horn and string arrangements.
I was very, very happy with it, Joe says. They
definitely earned their money.

In April of 1974, Joe signed a contract with

SRS, essentially hiring them to produce one
record album including all musicians, studio
facilities, tape stock, and to select all songs to
be recorded. Unlike most vanity labels of that
era, SRS put a remarkable amount of care and
talent into its projects. They took complete
control, jettisoning Joes regular crew of musicians in favor of their own in-house band. More
important, they insisted that Joes record would
have a fighting chance only if it contained original material, which they would choose and arrange. After talking it over, Joe and his support-

They supplied him with publishers demos of

songs by local writers, including an upbeat,
mildly risqu soul number entitled Come On
Sign. It was by Wayne Carson, an associate of
theirs whod previously written The Letter for
The Box Tops, among other hits. Joe was told to
take the songs home and learn them.

When Joe asked them what the next step would

be, he was astonished by their response. They
told me wed have to go to England! I was just
flabbergasted. They said, Thats where you
want to start. Youll get the best reviews over
there and thats what we gotta do. Two weeks
before the trip was to begin, Joe dropped by SRS
headquarters and got the shock of his life.

The doors were locked and all I could do was

bang on the door. I went next door to a welding
shop, and I asked them what was going on.

in midstream. The few copies that made it out

into the world were promos that somehow
found their way into used record stores.

To his dismay, he learned that SRS had packed

up and left suddenly under cover of night.
The guys at the welding shop knew that
they were moving because they saw trucks
out there. Theyd never seen someone move
so fast in their lives, and they were throwing
things in the dumpster. So I looked through it
and found my tapes. Joe pulled his master
tapes out of the garbage and took them home,
feeling absolutely crushed.

Taken as a whole, the album suggests nothing

less than a poor mans Elvis taking aim at a Pet
Sounds for the middle-aged melancholic, and
coming up with a masterpiece that, to borrow
a phrase from Theodor Adorno, comprises
a kind of training for life when things have
gone wrong.

I thought everything was going perfect until

I found out that they had left town. Thats
all it took and my heart fell to the floor. I lost
everything I thought I had. Joes family was
also very upset by the news. If words can come
out of someones mouth, they came out of my
dads mouth when he found out. It was a big
letdown, a big letdown. Joe soon returned to
the construction business, abandoning not just
his hopes for the album, but also his performing
career.
The album never had a chance to find its
audience. It was never distributed to shops, and
its eccentric promotional campaign was aborted

As for Joe, he still lives in Florida, still works

in the construction industry, and still singsas
a hobby. Hes cut numerous private CDs for
friends and family, using Karaoke tracks as a
backing.

Brandan Kearney
14. Gettin Keyed Ray Harlowe & Gyp Fox,
from First Rays
Talk about outsider loner loser bands, this is the
stuff! THE monster acid drenched backwood
seedy barband Deadish jammer with bent
outlaw biker vibes. Drugged up noir acid seamy
trailercamp jamerica with outlaw mystique
amplified by bonafide bar denizen local squalor
redeemed tripping on the beach in the FLA keys
once a year amazing northern-southern meld.

Gary Schneider. Just For Fun, Just For Friends. [N.p.]: Schmaltzy Records, [n.d.]. Mdico Doktor Vibes.
Liter Thru Dorker Vibes. Compton, CA: Bi Russell Records, 1979. 33 1/3. [s/t.] W. Hollywood, CA:
Blustarr, 1980. Michael Farneti. Good Morning Kisses. Riviera Beach, FL: Full Moon Records, [n.d.].

Gary Wilson. You Think You Really Know Me. Endicott, NY: 1977. Silk & Silver. Holiday With
Silk & Silver. Eugene, OR: Tri-Ad Studios Limited, 1976. Jade. In Pursuit. Norfolk, VA: Pesante
Records, 1975. Joe E. Love Got In My Way. [Ft. Lauderdale, FL]: Soul Deep Records, 1976.

Russ Saul. Begin To Feel. Los Angeles, CA: Tribute Records, 1977.

Circuit Rider. [s/t.] [N.p.: No label, 1980.]

Ray Harlowe & Gyp Fox. First Rays. Minneapolis, MN: Waterwheel Records, 1978. Cleo
McNett. [All of Me.] Dallas, TX: McNett Records, [n.d.]. The Silhouettes. Conversations With The
Silhouettes. [N.p.]: Segu, [1969]. Arcesia. Reachin. [Hollywood, CA]: Alpha, [1971].

Boa. Wrong Road. Detroit, MI: Snakefield, [n.d.]. Stephen David Heitkotter. [s/t.] [N.p.]: Ego,
[1971]. Dennis The Fox. Mother Trucker. [N.p.]: MusArt, [n.d.]. Bob Harrison. Yellow Moon.
[N.p.]: BOBco Records, 1975.

Its a cabin fever seedy storied nightlife freak barband of messed up sinners from MN who seem
to be off on some gothic Caribbean hallucination
amidst the smoky dim rooms they vibe... use
gothic spook go-go strip joint organ, weavy acid
lyrical Garcia leads, get wasted grooves going
with a singer you have to hear to believe... the guy
has bent loungelizard acid moves in the songwriting. Bent vocals full of characters & tales of losers,
wicked women, drugs & booze, one-night stands,
scummy cracked toiletbowls in roadhouse rural
pickup bars, cheap perfume, ashtrays heaped
with butts, lowlife cosmic smoky places that are
almost a parallel dimension to ours, stoned partying in the twilight zone of US local debauchery
absolute priceless killer of the night!

Paul Major
15. Snap Cleo McNett, from All Of Me
Dallas eccentric Cleo McNett recorded and
released a host of 12 EPs and albums on the
McNett imprint. He looks like he might have been
your high school algebra teacher, yet somehow he
managed to find a bevy of late 70s and early 80s
bobby-pinned babes to pose next to him in promo
photos many of which were hand-pasted onto
his records white jackets. His music is universally
funky, in a post-disco, pre-boogie sort of way, and
is all a bit off. McNett, like Gary Wilson, played

every instrument on most all of his releases, which

leads to magical moments like Snap, used as the
basis of DJ Shadows Why Hip Hop Sucks In
96 from the private press enthusiasts lauded
Entroducing LP.

Eothen Alapatt

in his garden. Its two hundred thousand square

foot building, in a forty-three acre industrial
park, houses the remnants of the companys
film, video and audio gear and a few hundred
copies of jazz records released on Segue, the
imprint Napor helped found in the late 60s.

16. Lunar Invasion The Silhouettes, from

Conversations With The Silhouettes

Segue released but three albums, all produced

at least in part by jazz saxophonist Nathan Davis,
who took residence in Pittsburgh, and a job at
the University of Pittsburgh, in 1969. The first,
Conversations With The Silhouettes, came about
as a follow up to the jazz combos psychedelicjazz 45 Red Snow, and features the same
deep grooves that flautist, saxophonist and
songwriter, the late George Bacasa developed
for the bands second recorded foray (their first,
a cover of Monday, Monday hints at little that
the band was to achieve). Recorded on site at
WRS, the album shines with a bright fidelity
not often heard on private pressed jazz albums.
George was working at WRS, producing
and putting film together, Davis recalls. He
called me and said Why dont you come over
to WRS - it would be interesting if we put
together a record company. When I got there,
I saw Jack, George and Olaf Kunstler. It was
Georges idea to call the company Segue. At
that point, we became officers of the label, for
what it was worth.

Top level item for a cool lounge band almost

surreal at times & enhanced by red & black
negative image cover that would be perfect for
an acidrock LP! Mix of the real dinner/easy club
schlock sound & some exotic international type
instros with almost fuzz-piano, cool guitars, lotta
percussion like Hashi Baba, Lunar Invasion,
Sesame, Sallys Tomato. A case of real people
doing their thing with the charm that makes this
a fun change of pace.

Paul Major
Jack Napors WRS Motion Picture Laboratory
served Pittsburg for sixty years before shutting
its doors this year, a victim of changing mediums
in film formats. Though it had swelled from three
employees in 1952 to over three hundred in its
heyday, now, as it spirals through bankruptcy,
it only counts two Napor and his wife. And
Napor, in his seventies, would rather spend time

Conversations With The Silhouettes is, for the

most part, fine Pittsburgh-jazz, and sits well
next to local luminary Frank Cunimondos
Mondo Records albums. But one song, Lunar
Invasion, follows the footsteps of Red Snow
and encompasses psychedelic rock and heavy
funk over the course of a five minute jazz
workout. A standout track on the album, its
a singular example of what jazz might have
become, had more labels like Segue existed
to properly record and invest in - talented
ensembles like The Silhouettes.
According to Davis, Segue itself would have done
well to continue its jazz trajectory. Coloring the
demise of the imprint in the early 70s, he recalls:
Some guy came in and said to Jack that he could
make more money if he stopped messing with
the jazz and put together some rock records. But
those rock records broke em: the rock stuff cost
more to make and was more to deal with than the
jazz thing we were doing. We were simple, but
Jack got greedy and the next thing you know he
was out of the record business, period.

Eothen Alapatt

17. White Panther Arcesia, from Reachin

Arcesia
Following the death of his wife in 1970, John
Arcesi, a crooner of some note (hed been signed
to Capitol Records in the 50s, having spent
much of the 30s and 40s recording in a variety of
big bands and smaller combos), partnered with
Los Angeles producer Al Firth and psychedelic
upstart Johnny Greek and Greeks band to
record the album Reachin Arcesia in 1971. He
was 54 years old. When three hundred copies of
his album were released in late 1972, they barely
sold Arcesi himself seems to have kept most
of them to use as personal gifts, having believed
that hed managed to record and release
something that would take the interested years
to wrap their heads around. He was right he
died in 1983 without seeing any real interest in
his pice de rsistance, even though hed selfreleased a single from the album in 1979 in a last
gasp attempt at a breakthrough.
This album could have only come together in the
ad-hoc environment of the private record label,
in this case Firths Alpha Records. Well never
know how Arcesi and Firth met, as Firth passed
away years ago (his wife, a doctor, now deceased,
told Mike Vague, one of the few Angelenos who
quizzed her about her husbands label, the only

thing we had in common was the bed we slept

in.). But Alpha was an established, well known
concern. Starting in the late 50s, anyone could
walk into their Hollywood studios and record
and release a 45 on the label. Vague estimates
that hes seen at least forty, perhaps as many
as 50 unique Alpha releases. Hed be the one
to know: Firths wife showed him stock copies
of each of the 45s she saved for her children,
including the City Jungle 45 released first
on Alpha as More Beautiful Daze and later
released on Spread City and RPR under the
Beautiful Daze moniker.
A Firth relative teamed up with Johnny Greek
for that More Beautiful Daze release. Greek,
an outcast white rocker as interested in funk as
psychedelic rock, bounced back between Lou
Bedells Dore and Alpha and, its assumed,
dozens of other smaller concerns while still
finding time to feature as a member of the
garage punk band Sacred Cow on the Get Smart
TV show. It was his band that concocted the
backing tracks for Arcesis outlandish musings,
including the Doors meets Take Five exercise
White Panther.
Hank Porter, singer and principal of funk outfit
4th Coming, the most notable black band to
record on Alpha, remembered the process of

recording and releasing a project on Alpha

well: his band managed at least nearly ten.
He confirms that, indeed, Firth would record
anything, that he had what was then a state of
the art sixteen track studio, and that artists could
be as involved in the production process (or
pressing process, as Firth shared a symbiotic
relationship with local pressing plants) as they
wanted. But one thing Porter made clear: there
was no distribution to be found at Alpha. Each
artist, Arcesi included, was offered his final
product, wished the best, and sent out into the
Hollywood wilds to fend for himself.

Eothen Alapatt
18. Never Come Back Boa, from Wrong Road
We move on to the Detroit suburb of Auburn
Heights where, in 1971, a group of very talented
and determined musicians scraped together
what equipment they could and, with a small
amount of money, released one hell of a great
album called: WRONG ROAD! This music is
fresh, vibrant, arrogant, and a bit on the punk
side. But whatever your thoughts may be as you
sit back and listen, be reminded it was recorded
in 1971, not 1966 as so much of the music is
reminiscent of.

THE STORY OF BOA AS TOLD BY BOA:

The band known as Boa was formed back in
1969 when Ted Burns contacted Bob Maledon
in the hall at his senior high school. Ted had
seen Bob in a jam session at a mutual friends
house. They jammed in Bobs garage on guitar
and organ. From out of nowhere a guitar player
appeared and heard them he said, She-yit.
It was then decided Paul Manning would join
the group to improve the sound. The three
went about making noise until they decided it
was time to add other members. Bob said to his
friend Jim Go and find us an organist! Enter
Brian Walton. Bob said to Ted Lets try to make
a good impression on Brian so hell want to join
the group. When Brian first walked through
the door to practice, the screen door fell upon
him. The impression which was made can still
be found on his head today!!
A series of drummers came and went. Then one
day, a small being with drumsticks in his hands
entered Richard Allen and said No one
will give me a chance because Im so young.
Kindhearted Ted replied We will! That
Saturday at practice, Richard brought over his
makeshift drum kit painted like a psychedelic
barber pole. He was the best drummer they had
tried and was given the job.

Henceforth, the completed band became known

as Anvil. Their first performance was January
30, 1970. Besides the usual cover songs and a
few originals, they also performed a rock version
of the Anvil chorus, and a Hamms beer commercial. (Paul said l gotta take a Schlitz!).
Since they had written some original tunes, they
decided to record an album. The mono recording
took place on March 7, 1970 at Northwest Sound
Studios in Detroit. The album was not released,
as only a few acetates were made of the sessions.
But the Anvil sessions are a story for another
time, another place. Soon afterwards, musical
tastes forced the band to go their separate ways.
In 1971, the band decided to try another album
and the five original members got back together
again. This time, Ted played bass part of the
time, so Bob could concentrate on playing piano.
They wanted to change the name of the band,
when from out of nowhere a burp arose which
said BOA! Paul suggested The One Eyed
Boa. After laughing about this for awhile, the
band decided the name Boa sounded cleaner.
The album was recorded live in a Tupperware
warehouse, in Auburn Heights, Michigan, on
a two-track tape machine owned by Brians
parents, and was previously used by the band as
a practice facility. All of the tracks were recorded

live, so if anyone made a mistake, they had to

record the whole song over. All engineering was
done by whatever friend or girlfriend happened
to be there. The LP, known as Wrong Road,
contained nine songs. The title song was the
only one they had ever performed before. After
recording the songs, it became apparent that
one song would have to be omitted because of
timing problems. Cant Be Real did not appear
on the LP because of this. When Paul heard
the finished tape for the Wrong Road album, to
the amazement of all, he did not say She-yit
(HOWEVER, ANOTHER FOUR LETTER
WORD WAS USED!). Paul did not want anyone
to know he was on the album (he was jamming
with another band at the time), so he used the
alias and dressed up as Captain Hook for the
photos. The others, however, were content and
decided to release the album themselves on May
20, 1971. The group once again broke up and the
members all went on to other musical ventures.
Ted Bums, Bob Maledon, and Richard Allen
are still active in music today. Ted has played
bass in concert with oldies legends the Tokens,
Little Eva, and Bobby Lewis. Richard was
named best rock drummer in Michigan in a 1995
competition. Ted and Richard teamed up in 1995
to record a CD of Teds new material, including
a couple of old Boa favorites. Bob is playing

keyboards in a country band. Brian Walton works

for Disney. Paul Manning changed his name to
Paul James and faded out into the night.
Special note from Ted: I would like to dedicate
my work on this album to Paul James, who was
my mentor and friend. Without him, none of this
would have been possible.
[A version of these notes originally appeared
with the Gear Fab reissue of Wrong Road. Bob
Maledon also published the book Wrong Road:
The Story of Boa.]

Roger Maglio
Whoa this is wicked messed up hi-school
druggie debauch of the top level... Utterly
berserk and semi-conscious teen mania, one of
the most primitive sounds ever, a brain blitz of
drugged hi-school garage punk & psych. So
authentic: the puke in the distance, beer breath,
dirty needles, speed, acid The Doors and
Cream are some influences, as crude as you
can imagine! Intense deranged downer rants
with a total loser vibe murder, death, losers,
getting fucked over by everything Right off
the bat the singer kills his girlfriend & her lover
in bed & is running thru the swamps quicker
than the Mississippi Murderer with a swampy
desolate sound, murky & drunkenone look at

the cover pic will tell you these guys were the
most degenerate bunch at their high school...
One of my favorite covers ever on any 60s LP.
Crude stereo basement sound & a funky press
but the power of this band blows thru the walls of
a million late 70s punk era blasters One of the
ultimate hi-school druggie midwest rants ever,
to my mind an astonishing crude flashback to if
the first freaks in your neighborhood made an
LP at their wildest moment. Dark & fucked up
to the max Incredible!

Paul Major
19. Cadillac Woman Stephen
Heitkotter, from Heitkotter

David

Stephen David Heitkotter was the drummer

for Fresno, Californias well-regarded Road
Runners garage rock band. A handsome kid,
loved by his German family especially
doting older brother William Heitkotter who
remembers the beginning of the bands rise to
regional acclaim. Back then there, there were
mains to drag, dances to go to there were no
drugs then. Worst thing you could do is drink a
beer and smoke a cigarette, Wiliam remembers.
I used to drive Steve to his dances, haul his
drums over in my car. Steve would get out of the
car [in] that little suit he wore, everyone would
be looking at us, and wed take the drum in.

He pauses, reflectively. Everyone in the valley

knew who the Road Runners were. Their 45s
were in all of the jukeboxes in town.
The band cut three 45s, one for the Miramar
imprint, and two for Morocco. Their third,
Pretty Me, is Stephens first known
composition. Steve Heitkotter and I were best
friends during our high school days and before
I went into the military in 1966, Ross Dwelle
reflected in a Garage Hangover message board
post in 2010. During my four years in the Air
Force I lost contact with Steve and it appears
that drugs played a big part of his life during this
time. His brother concurs. Drugs: thats the
only thing that could be it. He oded on speed,
twice, in the 60s, William states. He was up
late, thats why he did a lot of speed. Their [Road
Runners] manager was into drugs, and he got
Stephen hooked.
By the turn of 1970, Stephen married Nancy
Taylor, a blonde beauty and moved into a
sizeable house on Kerckhoff Avenue. While
its not clear when, he began showing signs
of paranoid schizophrenia. Dwelle: The first
time I arrived at Steves house, I thought, wow,
here is a guy that had a great musical career, a
beautiful wife and a great house in Old Fresno.
But it didnt take long to realize something was

not right with Steve. He didnt want to play

drums anymore. He was experimenting with
the guitar and thought he was going to be a
great artist in music and on canvas. Williams
ex-wife Madeline recalls him throwing himself
into painting under the moniker Black Orchid.
Both she and William suggest that it was his
uncle Dons star-turn as friend Clint Eastwoods
portrait artist in the 1971 film Play Misty For Me
that encouraged Stephen to pursue his painting.
When he wasnt painting mainly paintings
of outer space, according to William he
was writing songs that he planned to record.
Sometime in 1971, at the age of 24, Stephen
enlisted Dwelle and Dwelle recommended a
sixteen year old bassist, Greg Youngman, whose
brother had played with Dwelle in the local
ensemble The Group to record his ideas in his
home.
Dwelle recalls the proceedings, which Stephen
documented on a Sony multi-track tape
recorder: Here we were, three guys, a 16 year
old innocent kid, a rusty drummer who hadnt
played in almost 5 years and a novice lead guitar
and singer, jamming and trying to play five songs
written by a man losing his mind. I dont know
about Greg, but I know that Steve and I were
probably stoned the whole time.

The sound is loose and woozy, at times veering

into territories not normally witnessed by normal
mortals. Madeline agrees that Stephen was
accessing a plane not easily traversed in songs
like the epic I Dont Mind, which sounds
something like Cans You Doo Right might
have become, had Malcolm Mooney decided to
ramble atop the funky grooves in his American
backyard rather than over those of polished,
intellectual Germans. Then there is a song like
Cadillac Woman which transcends its humble
beginnings and chugs happily from start to finish.
Ross had real good tempo and a knack for funky
syncopated grooves, Youngman attests; Dwelle,
for his part, downplays his contributions to the
album that would see release as the untitled
album now known as Heitkotter: I knew that
was me on the drums (stoned) because Steve
wouldnt sound that bad even stoned. We were
just having fun and it felt good to play again even
though we thought Steves songs were kind of
strange.

collector Geoffrey Weiss.) And then, according

to Madeline, he went straight to Lake Tahoe and
rented himself the biggest suite he could find
waiting for those who hed beckoned to come
calling. He soon ran out of money and his mother
brought him home to Fresno.

Its assumed that Stephen handmade twenty to

fifty copies of his album and distributed them
amongst family and friends before mailing copies
to major record labels and publishers. (The first
copy of this album to surface in the 1980s came
from a stack of discarded demos submitted to
A&M, sourced by the ahead-of-the-curve Angelo

His brother William still sees Stephen once

a month, usually around the middle of the
month, and hes happy that people appreciate
Stephens music as he knows that Stephen would
appreciate the attention though he is incapable
of fathoming his current surroundings. Stephens
story is cautionary, but his music is truly as close

This would be the only documented Stephen

David Heitkotter recording; though Dwelle and
Youngman recall multiple sessions recorded on
seemingly endless supplies of blank tape, none
have surfaced. The 70s werent kind to Stephen,
as his schizophrenia worsened. By the late 70s,
he disappeared for six months before surfacing in
Southern California. He became argumentative
and his parents, loving yet exhausted, called the
police numerous times to save their son from
himself. In a story familiar to many of those for
whom mental illness runs in the family, they
eventually caved and called the state. At some
point in the early 80s Stephen became the states
ward, and he has remained so ever since.

to the sublime as American rock music has ever

ventured. Yet, to his brother and family, the pain
and suffering is great. It doesnt matter anymore
he cant even play the drums anymore,
William laments, before mock-questioning,
Steve, you think you can still play? The kids
had more things to do back in Steves age now
again they cant even drag the main. The kids
gotta stop messing with drugs. Theyll screw
themselves out of a lot of fun.

Eothen Alapatt
20. Piledriver Dennis the Fox, from Mother
Trucker
Seattles Dennis The Fox Caldirola made one
of those altogether bizarre American private
press albums that works as well as a myth as
it does a stand-alone musical statement. Paul
Major, an early proponent of The Foxs unique
brand of rock n roll, wrote that listening to
Mother Trucker was like seeing God in a
burst condom stuck to the tailpipe of a rusty
pimpmobile, finding out Jesus stole your mama,
looking for the meaning of life in a puke pile
by a truckstop motel before proclaiming that
Caldirola was one of those smart literate guys
attracted to funky situations. When asked if this
is true, Caldirola laughs. Yeah! On occasion.
And then he says no more.

Fact is that Mother Trucker, Calidirolas only

album released under his nom-de-guerre,
consisted of a series of demos he recorded for
local audiophile and producer Dave Clark.
There was no rhyme or reason behind the songs
picked and recorded for MusArt Records MA
801. It wasnt a unified statement, but the
emotions that went into writing the songs were
real, Caldirola reflects. I was just trying to be
a rock star. I wrote songs to play em.
He cobbled together a talented bunch of
musicians including the thundering drummer
Robbie Straube, whose groove anchors
Piledriver to record his ideas. We were
trying to get a record deal so we cut all of
these tapes, of various songs, in various styles,
to show how versatile I could be. Caldirola
states. Then we traveled down to L.A., and
spent three months in Hollywood. Until we ran
out of money. I still have the reject letters from
ABC, So we said Damn it, lets put out our own
album.
Youd think that might have been the end
of the road for The Fox and his skulk but
no. Caldirola: Im one of the lucky ones I
never worked in any group that got famous,
but I made a living at music into my 30s.

Id play in dive bars, wherever but in Italy, in

my rockabilly band Dennis and The Jets, wed
play one thousand capacity venues. Caldirola
toured the old country between 1982 and 1985
before settling into a gig running Seattles long
running Italian festival, Festa Italiana Seattle.
Hes contrite about Mother Trucker: It was a
legitimate musical effort on my part, but never,
in my dreams, when I started that project in
1971, did I think that all of those songs would
come out on the same record.

Eothen Alapatt
21. Why Dont You Do Right Bob Harrison,
from Yellow Moon
Does not rock hard, but has this creepy
groovin reverby flashback to the 50s zone
moves that is totally in the twilight zone, basic
creepy action, real people moves, awesome
vocals. The closest I can compare this to is
a garage version of that haunted Chris Isaak
minimal spooky zone.

-Paul Major
Like most Irishmen born in [sic] under the
Cancer sign, BOB is full of love and he shows it
through his music. He has written over 200 songs
in his short life.

Bob Harrison hailed from Grass Valley, California. Though he always had music in his heart,
he reportedly spent a good while as a salesman,
real estate business owner, and then President
of the Chamber of Commerce, presumably all
in Grass Valley. These local successes didnt satiate his ambitions however, for the four-octave
man of many voices took it upon himself to
transition into a full-time musician, resulting in
the debut LP Yellow Moon, released on his own
BOBco Records. According to the liners, Bob
recorded the album primarily because of the
overwhelming response from his friends who
watch[ed] him perform his songs in night clubs
and concerts.
The brief, good-humored liner notes do not
communicate the essence of this mysterious,
highway traveler who possesses a distinct
rockabilly croon, a sound Paul Major so acutely
compared to that haunted Chris Isaak minimal
spooky zone. And indeed when listening you
can picture the lone headlights that glimpse
fragments of cactus and neon silhouettes of
ramshackle roadhouses imbued with tragic
romance. As opposed to Chris Isaak, however,
one gets the notion that Bob Harrison was
actually indigenous to this loner world and
never left, by destiny more likely than choice.

Bob Harrison has released at least two LPs,

Yellow Moon and Lil Elvis, and one 45 Elvis Is
Gone b/w Yellow Moon. A reissue of Yellow
Moon will be released by Circadian Press.

Michael P. Daley
22. Old Time Feeling Circuit Rider, from
Circuit Rider
Awesome MU-bent biker-Howl from the edge...
listen to it after gobbling a bottle of No-Doz and
tattooing love & hate on your fingers outlaw
style squirming tense parts mix with desolate
desert despair, lonely moans like wolves crying
across the moonlit rocks! A real twilight zone
Harley rampage through sleazy bars, messed
up babes, drugs, booze, and fiery observations
throwing out a big and-you-thank-Im-fuckedup! to the world. Mixes acoustic and electric
guitars in bluesy ways, some crazy effects
and surprises sorta like Mu and Beefheart
in places, definitely outlaw and on the edge.
Some heavy monster psychedelic fringe jams
like Limousine Ride... Mostly guitars, from
lonely desert bluesy acoustic rambles to intense
acid echo freakouts, all with his amazing images
and observations overflowing like a beat era
nightmare. Twilightzone Harley ride on NoDoz squirming inside the toadbrain of the
killer on the road, it...is WAY out there. All thru

it a ripping mad humour dark as the sinister

cover art of a crucified snakean absolute
ten in my book...I talked to him back when
& it emphasized the reality that Circuit Rider
rides with the likes of the two Jerrys, Tweddle,
Grudzien, Heitkotter, Higney etc... but with his
own thing. This is the real stuff...

Paul Major
Although Paul Major talked to Robert Thorn
Oehrig, the man responsible for Circuit Rider,
way back when and assumed his kinship
with bonafide outsiders Peter Grudzien and
Stephen David Heitkotter going so far as to
call the album the real stuff... awesome MUbent biker-Howl from the edge... sorta like...
Beefheart in places he was conned.
Hailing from prosperous Westport, Connecticut,
the Circuit Rider was largely Oehrigs assumed
identity: at least the particulars are fictional. A
poet rather than an outlaw, Oehrigs outsider
status was largely self-inflicted.
Oehrig was self-aware, not some idiot savant
ignorant of the work of Captain Beefheart (that
he was clearly indebted to). As crude press kits
attached to copies sent to radio stations reveal,
he was not without sincere ambition. As the lead
guitar player on the session recalls, Thorn was

at once out-of-control and attentive to every

detail. Although he was too drunk sometimes
to manage to sing into the microphone, and
occasionally his instructions to the hired
musicians were to just make something up,
the polished final result was intentional. The
players were not a gang of ruffians briefly
setting their sawed-off shotguns aside to pick
up the instruments for these sessions, but were
pros working for union rates (albeit uncredited
on the cryptic original packaging). The primary
guitar sound featured here comes courtesy of
Brian Keane, better known for his work with
notorious scoundrels like Paco de Lucia, Spyro
Gyra, and Bobby McFerrin (his website, as of
this writing, neglects to mention his work on the
Circuit Rider LP).
Just as perplexing, when considering Circuit
Riders anachron-istic sound, is the presence of
punk and new wave players: session drummer
Doug Baun was currently touring with Iggy Pop
and bassist Robert Albertson was simultaneously
in Voidoids-offshoot The Outsets. At least ten other
players were involved on the sessions overall, and
its no small feat that Oehrig managed to maintain
not only a consistent sound over the course of the
long player, but never revealed that its no longer
1971. Circuit Rider was neither the beginning
nor the end for Thorn Oehrig. He purportedly

boiled the album down from hundreds of preexisting poems and claims to have recorded
three more full lengths in the ensuing years
(some of which has been verified) and over sixty
unpublished novels and hundreds of paintings
(all while remaining gainfully employed as a rare
book dealer.) If only Circuit Rider had emerged
readymade from, as Major originally had hoped, a
Twilightzone Harley ride on No-Doz squirming
inside the toadbrain of the killer on the road. But
the truth is just as interesting.

Rob Sevier with Eothen Alapatt
23. Just to Say Goodbye Russ Saul, from Begin
To Feel
This bizarro-world George Jones-style country
masterpiece is what we should all imagine that we
hear whenever Pink Moon by Nick Drake shows
up as hold music when you are calling your bank.
Johan Kugelberg
A faded stock photo of a seashore, a few vague
sentences masquerading as liner notes, and
possibly the most careless mastering job in the
history of vinyl pressingRuss Sauls Begin
To Feel appears upon initial examination to
be a record produced without care, delivered
without hope. Deeper examination reveals an
even direr situation.

Not a true vanity pressing at all, Begin To Feel

was in fact, part of a complicated tax-scam
scheme perpetrated by a few record labels in
1977, after which time the short-lived loophole
in the tax code was closed. In order to make
this peculiar scam work, actual dummy stock
had to be pressed and stored in a warehouse,
though none of it was intended to be actually
heard or distributed. The reason for Tributes
cavalier attitude as to how the records looked
and sounded was simply that these records
didnt need to be entertaining in any way
all they had to do was take up space for a set
amount of time. Tribute Records was never a
functional label, it was the bogus subsidiary
of a larger label set up solely for this purpose.
The music itself likely came from discarded
demo tapes sent in to the parent label by noname aspiring artists, whose names and song
titles were changed to prevent anyone finding
out that their music was being used in this
way. Russ Saul does not exist; this fraudulent
pressing was essentially a con mans prop.
The best songs on this album have an incongruous
per-sonal intensity to match the works of some of
the most well-respected tortured songwriters.
In fact, Russ whoever the hell he is, or was
comes across at times as a small-time Hank
Williams: soused on even cheaper liquor, drawn

in and battered by even worse women, his lifes

work rendered anonymous by tax cheats. This
album, with the woeful distribution plan in which
its intended destiny was a local landfill, is the
vinyl equivalent of the question, If a tree falls
in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does
it make a sound? For those discerning listeners
who have somehow procured an escaped copy of
Begin To Feel, the answer is a firm yes!

Gregg Turkington
24. Ah, Music Vinny Roma, from Vinny Roma
Sings

Produced by Sinecure Books.

Annotated by Johan Kugelberg, Eothen Alapatt,
Paul Major, Michael P. Daley, Rob Sevier, Will
Louviere, Geoffrey Weiss, Gregg Turkington,
Brandan Kearney, Jack Womack, William
Gibson, Gabriel Mckee, Jack Streitman, Douglas
Mcgowan, Rich Haupt, Mike Ascherman, Keegan
Cooke, and Roger Maglio. Vinyl transfers by Josh
Bonati Mastering and Will Cameron. Restoration
and remastering by Dave Cooley for Elysian
Masters, Los Angeles.
Design by Will Cameron and Leigh Graniello.

It just pops in my mind, that some of these

records probably make the most convincing
statement about what music is. And Im thinking
of Vinny Roma, right hereAh, Music. When
you hear that, the pleasure you get out of
listening to music when you hear that song, you
dont even have to think about it, you just go, Ah,
okay. Thats beyond the words. That is the real
people. That is, like, Ah Music. It just says it, in
a totally non-intellectual way. That I dont you
know as much as I like all the famous groups
and everything like that, theres just something
that hits me more immediately with people like
this and its something that almost never happens
to me, that personal thing like that.

Paul Major

Thanks: Larry Clark, Sasha Frere-Jones, J.Rocc,

Nemo at Time Lag, Gear Fab, Eabla Records,
Gerald Short and Jazzman Records, Roger
Boykin, Josh Davis, Mike Vague, Madeline Glenn,
William Heitkotter, Jr., Swobo International, Jon
Beacham/The Brother In Elysium, Bill Hayden,
Jesper Eklow, John Zorn, Mike Davis.
Due to the obscurity of some of the recordings
contained within this compilation, we were
unable to locate the owners of select master
recordings. We have created an escrow account
for royalties that come due, and hope that the
owners will find out about this compilation and
contact us. This approach, though not desirable
by any means, is the only way by which we can
present some of the music contained here.
If you have any information about any master
recording owners, please contact:
info@sinecurebooks.com

In traditional ourobouros style each century makes the culture which makes
the century. The 20th is the only one whose popular global culture in toto
exists simultaneously, and whose span continues to become ever-more
accessible (if never ultimately recoverable).
Most everyone feels the need to create something if not a family then a
business, a chest of drawers, a painting, a song. In the popular art of the 20th
century lies not its raison dtre but its secret aspirations, its unconscious
fears, its buried desires: never entered into the diary but informing every
action. The more personal the art, the more revelatory of its era.
These discs are a magnificent collection of lost sounds. Organ-fronted
orchestras that make you wish Washington Phillips had gone electric; a
few songs imaginable as hits which still never neared any chart, western
yodels that somehow become confrontations with other dimensions a la
Dormmamu, bouncy numbers reveling in the forthcoming, blood-soaked
apocalypse, lounge singers appearing each night at ever-more Nabokovian
Holiday Inns. Singularly unforgettable interpretations of hit songs; medulladeep explorations of a really real cosmos; music seeming to emerge directly
from the singers Mark of the Beast all here.
Hard gem-like Walter Pater tells us all art constantly aspires toward the
condition of music, for its emotional effect on the audience is immediate
(e.g. Heroin, Billy Dont Be A Hero, etc.). Hearing these songs, I think
of two things. One, Dr. J.C. Rupps famous quote once again, we have
graphically illustrated the fact that we know very little about some aspects
of human behavior.*
But mostly: Ah, Music!


Vinny Roma. Vinny Roma Sings. [N.p.: No label], 1972. [No cat. no.] Album 1.

Jack Womack

*Journal of Forensic Sciences, Vol 18, No. 3, July 1973, The Love Bug.