EPIC! TUESDAYS!

Oh, SNAP peeples! What time is it?!?

This here be gold. A Brobots exclusive (sacrilege?… depends on yr point of view). Lee Moses’ classic track “Bad Girl” in extended mode… parts 1 & 2 together at last. When they string me up just remember I did it out of love.

Lee Moses is yet another poster child for the value of diggers / digging. Lee dropped pure audio treasure back in the late 60’s / early 70’s… all of it massively snoozed on until being dug up and finally given its due respect. Sadly Lee passed in 1997… before he could take his hard-earned victory lap. (anyone notice a theme here?)

This track captures Lee at his most raw… sandpaper voice in front of a rag-tag but determined crew destroying in some long-lost Atlanta basement. I love how the drums are barely holding it together and yet at the same time laying down a ridiculous beat. Horns are out of tune. I think you can hear a mic drop at the start of the song. In short, it’s the most beautiful mess you could ever expect to hear. Yet more proof that all you need is soul.

Artist: Lee Moses
Album: Time and Place
Year: 1971 / 2007
Label: Maple / Castle Music UK

Do whatever you can to get this ASAP. Dusty Groove. Amazon. Etc. Go… NOW!

…Like there’s anything I can add to this?

Mr. Dogg (AKA Jerry Williams Jr.) has been making music now for some 55 +/- years. He got his start making 78s and went on to be a fairly prolific (if not well-known) producer / songwriter churning out almost-hits for Doris Duke, Gene Pitney, Irma Thomas,  Inez & Charlie Foxx, Dee Dee Warwick, Arthur Conley and many others…

NPR has a great round-up / history.

Some damn fool once dared proclaim this as the worst album cover ever made. I say it’s the greatest.

NOW TAKE ME HOME WITH THE DING-DANGs!

Deets:

Artist: Swamp Dogg
Album: Rat On!
Year: 1971
Label: Elektra

Looks like they reissued this one along with “Total Destruction to Your Mind” (which we’ll be talking about soon enough). Amazon has the CD & MP3s…

Ever stumble across a record that just completely baffles you? Yea…I know…they’re the best ones….Well I have one to add to your list.

Chico Magnetic Band were formed in Lyon, France in 1969 originally as Chico and the Slow Death (they changed to the magnetic band a year later). Their self-titled debut was released in 1971 on a small subsidiary of French label Disques Vogue called Box Office. The album is a heavy, freaked-out mess (and I mean that in the best possible way). Chico and the boys sound like they love drugs first and foremost and while they were busy getting high they listened to alot of Amon Duul, Hendrix, Deep Purple, Funkadelic, Beefheart, Can and maybe even some Zepplin. Chico’s vocals are definitely a highlight. I’ll buy a box of donuts for anyone who can decipher a whole song let alone a couple phrases. My man sounds like he just burned a spliff bigger than a baby’s arm then cooled his throat off with a bottle of Tussin….and it WORKS! I honestly don’t wanna know what he’s saying…the delivery is MORE than enough. The Magnetic band are not to be trifled with either….searing wah’d out guitars abound….tight-heavy drums and studio fuckery that would make most “psych” bands of the time piss their flares.

I chose to post “My Sorrow”…one of the more straight-forward rockers on the album. Driven by a sick beat complete with copious cowbell, howling guitars and Chico conjuring Ozzy on the sizzurp. Seems like a Brobots no-brainer to these ears. I urge you to hunt down the whole album. If you are into any of the bands I mentioned above you will certainly be a Chico freak in no time. The Portuguese label No Smoke “reissued” the album in late 2008….you can get the CD at FE or your favorite shop….the LP is sadly out of print but I’m sure could be found on ebay or the likes. Good luck if your into the original pressing…I’m sure she fetches a pretty penny.

ARTIST: Chico Magnetic Band
TRACK: “My Sorrow”
ALBUM: S/T
YEAR: 1971
LABEL(s): 1971 - Box Office / 2008 - No Smoke

Friends, I’m happy to announce a new sporadic series here on thebrobots.com:

EPIC! TUESDAYS!

Because apparently Tuesday is pretty fucking epic.

Here’s how it works: Every Tuesday (maybe) I’ll post a track (if I can) that aurally slays dragons and rescues maidens and generally towers over the average song (unless I run out of qualifying material). Trust me, you’ll know what I mean when ya hear it. In exchange for this service, you agree to only listen at maximum volume. Again, trust me here… the effect is lost otherwise.

To kick off this poorly thought out series, I present to you: Ruth Copeland’s TRULY! EPIC! cover of the Rolling Stones classic “Play With Fire.”

I discovered Ms. Copeland while researching my Parliament post. Apparently she had a hand at producing their “Osmium” masterpiece, sang backups, etc. In return the Funkadelics backed her on her two solo outings - “Self Portrait” & “I Am What I Am.”

So basically this is Funkadelic covering the Rolling Stones with Ms. Copeland fronting.

In the immortal words of the legendary Gleaming Spires: IT MIGHT EXPLODE YOUR MIND*.

Artist: Ruth Copeland
Album: I Am What I Am
Year: 1971
Production: Ruth Copeland or Jeffrey Bowen
Label: Invictus

This reissue is probably your best bet… but it looks like it’s out of print. Honestly though, there are maybe one or two other decent cuts (“Don’t You Wish You Had” & “The Silent Boatman” come to mind) so don’t knock yrself out.

* Yes, I realize I’m the only person that will find this funny. People need to catch up.

A bit of a dogleg here but such is the way of Brobots! I first got wind of this via the fabulous WFMU Blog. Thanks dudes! (Take it easy on the weird shit ok? Yr starting to turn into Dr. Demento). Ehrm…

“Link Wray” was something of a comeback album for the trail blazing axeman and also a bit of a departure from his signature sound. Legend has it he recorded it on a 3-track (!?) in a converted chicken coop on the rural Wray family farm in Maryland. While this particular track retains some of his fiery fuzzed up guitar action, for the most part this collection is a rootsy, down-home affair.

My cut finds Link recounting advice he got from the wind: Son, come out west…

Ever notice the wind never says things like: Fuckit, here’s nice…

Stupid wind! Anyway, Deets:

Artist: Link Wray
Album: S/T
Label: Polydor
Production: Steve Verroca & Ray Vernon

Thankfully, this one was recently reissued and seems pretty easy to get. Amazon has the CD & MP3s. It’s worth picking up - the CD nicely reproduces the original vinyl artwork and the album has a number of really nice cuts including: “La De Da,” “Fire and Brimstone,” “Black River Swamp,” & “Juke Box Mama.”

So this here gem is a recent discovery of mine and wowsers….it was like getting teabagged by Sasquatch! I’m a HUGE fan of all things proto-punk and how this band managed to elude me thus far is a mystery….but I’m glad we found each other ‘cause this sounds like the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship.

The Edgar Broughton Band were part of the London “underground” in the late sixties. They palled around with the likes of Hawkwind, The Pretty Things, The Pink Fairies et al. How TEBB didn’t achieve the mythical status of their contemporaries is downright astounding. I’m guessing they were just a bit too “punk” a bit too early.

This track sees the boys channeling Captain Beefheart and the Shadows creating a fusion-cover of “Dropout Boogie” by Beefheart and “Apache” originally written by Jerry Lorden and made famous by The Shadows in 1960. The original track was released as a single by EMI subsidiary Harvest in 1971.

“Dropout Apache” starts out innocently enough with a standard cowbell count in then proceeds to barrage you with this face-meltingly heavy yet punk riff with Rob Broughton doing his best (and to these ears bestING) Beefheart…commanding us to turn on, tune in and…you got it…dropout. This slaying riffage is then followed by the familiar “Apache” guitar line….just GENIUS!

Our hero ladies and gents…..

I could do without Peter Jenner explaining the reasons why they created this aural assault at the end of the track….but I’ll look past it because the song is so fucking AWESOME….this is the only version I’ve gotten my grubby lil’ mitts on so far. I ripped this from the re-issue of TEBB’s second album “Sing Brother Sing”….which is solid as a rock in it’s own right. “Dropout Apache” appears as a bonus track and is not included on the original album.

ARTIST: Edgar Broughton Band
TRACK: “Apache Dropout (Peter Jenner Version)” *
ALBUM: “Sing Brother Sing” - EMI/Harvest re-issue w/ bonus tracks
YEAR: 1970/2004

*Originally released as a 7” single in 1971 on Harvest (sans Peter Jenner) b/w “Freedom” (HAR 5032)