B-Side

Released 60 years ago: “Dirty Water” by The Standells. Titled after its #11 Billboard hit single, this was the debut LP by the L.A. garage-rock band. Dirty Water (the song) was written by album producer Ed Cobb (28) who also penned 3 other tracks here. Four songs are cover versions and two are band originals. The album reached #52 Billboard. Fun fact: Singer, keyboardist Larry Tamblyn (23) was the brother of actor Russ Tamblyn (West Side Story / Twin Peaks) and uncle of actress-director Amber Tamblyn (General Hospital / The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants). More in Comments.

This week’s New Releases: Modest Mouse; Death Cab For Cutie; Of Montreal; The Red Clay Strays; Old Crow Medicine Show; Vince Staples; Evanescence; Slippers; Widowspeak; Niall Horan; Nine Inch Nails ‘Tron Ares: Divergence’; The Green Pajamas; Slift; Bedouine; Deer Tick; 21 Savage; Converge; Tara Clerkin Trio; Swallow; Zoh Amba; Haylie Davis; Jalen Ngonda; Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry + Mouse on Mars; Lizzo; Rosa Walton; Fatoumata Diawara; Mekons ‘Horrorble’ dub

June 5 Birthdays: Specs Powell b.1922; Pete Jolly b.1932; Misha Mengelberg b.1935; Floyd Butler (The Friends of Distinction) b.1937; Gary DeCarlo (Steam) b.1942; Michael Davis (MC5) b.1943; John Du Cann (Atomic Rooster) b.1946; Tom Evans (Badfinger) b.1947; Frank Esler-Smith (Air Supply) b.1948; Jerry González b.1949; Ronnie Dyson b.1950; Don Reid (Statler Brothers) is 81; Freddie Stone (Sly and the Family Stone) is 80; Laurie Anderson is 79; Ellen Foley is 75; Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden) is 74; Peter Erskine is 72; Richard Butler (The Psychedelic Furs) and Mick Hutton and Kenny G are 70; Robert Lloyd (The Nightingales) and Michael Winans are 67; Karl Sanders (Nile) is 63; Brian McKnight is 57; Marky Mark Wahlberg is 55; Aaron 'P-Nut' Wills (311) is 52; Aesop Rock is 50; Christian Martucci (Stone Sour) is 49; Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy) is 47; Sébastien Lefebvre (Simple Plan) is 45.

Notice: B-Side is OPEN Mon-Thurs 10-6 / Fri+Sat 10-7 / Sunday 11-5. Email [email protected] or message here to support our shop with any Vinyl, CD, t-shirt or gift card orders, for pickup or shipment to your home. Thank you for shopping local 🙂

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Released 50 years ago: “Mark Twang” by John Hartford. This eleventh studio LP by the 48-year-old folk-bluegrass songwriter features several tunes examining life on the Mississippi River and its riverboats such as depicted on the cover (art by W***y Matthews). Hartford grew up in St. Louis and worked on riverboats, so he had life experience to draw upon. This LP earned critical & fan acclaim plus won a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Recording. It is completely solo, John sings and plays banjo, fiddle, guitar plus a plywood plank for clogging percussion. More in Comments.

June 4 Birthdays: Britt Woodman b.1920; Chuck Thompson b.1926; Teddy Kotick b.1928; Morgana King b.1930; Oliver Nelson b.1932; Freddy Fender (Texas Tornados) b.1937; Simeon Coxe (Silver Apples) b.1938; Jack Wilkins b.1944; Gordon Waller (Peter and Gordon) b.1945; Jimmy McCulloch (Wings / Thunderclap Newman) b.1953; Raphael Ravenscroft (Gerry Rafferty) and Mikey Dread b.1954; Ted Daniel is 83; Roger Ball (Average White Band) and Michelle Phillips (The Mamas & the Papas) are 82; Anthony Braxton is 81; Toni Wine is 79; Les Thompson (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) and Paquito D'Rivera are 78; Dagmar Krause (Slapp Happy / Henry Cow) is 76; Reeves Gabrels (David Bowie) is 70; Steve Grimes (The Farm) and Tinsley Ellis are 69; Selwyn Brown (Steel Pulse) is 68; Warner Hodges (Jason & The Scorchers) is 67; Paul Taylor (Winger) is 66; El DeBarge is 65; Winard Harper is 64; Chris Kavanagh (Sigue Sigue Sputnik) is 62; Al B. Sure! is 58; Richie Hawtin (Plastikman) is 56; Mikael Jorgensen (Wilco) and Nikka Costa are 54; Stefan Lessard (DMB) is 52; Kasey Chambers is 50; Benjamin Booker is 37; Zac Farro (Paramore) is 36.

Notice: B-Side is OPEN Mon-Thurs 10-6 / Fri+Sat 10-7 / Sunday 11-5. Email [email protected] or message here to support our shop with any Vinyl, CD, t-shirt or gift card orders, for pickup or shipment to your home. Thank you for shopping local 🙂

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Released 30 years ago today: “Feed Me Weird Things” by Squarepusher. This 66-minute, 12-track “drill‘n’bass” IDM debut album by the 21-year-old English electronic music DJ, fretless bassist and multi-instrumentalist (born Thomas Jenkinson) was compiled from over 50 tracks and released by Aphex Twin (24) on his Rephlex Records label. Feed Me Weird Things earned considerable critical acclaim and while it might be too jazzy and abstract to be considered “danceable,” it reached #10 on the UK Dance Albums chart. The Wire magazine included this on its 1996 Top 50 Albums list. More in Comments.

June 3 Birthdays: Tom Brown b.1888; Memphis Minnie b.1897; Josephine Baker b.1906; Al Harewood b.1923; Jimmy Rogers b.1924; Boots Randolph b.1927; Dakota Staton b.1930; Lillian Briggs b.1932; Ted Curson and Grachan Moncur III b.1935; Eddie Willis (Funk Brothers) b.1936; Charles Fizer (The Olympics) b.1940; Curtis Mayfield b.1942; Jack Wilkins b.1944; Michael Clarke (The Byrds / The Flying Burrito Brothers) b.1946; Mickey Finn (T. Rex) and Dave Alexander (The Stooges) b.1947; Florian Pilkington-Miksa (Curved Air) b.1950; Billy Powell (Lynyrd Skynyrd) b.1952; Ian Hunter (Mott the Hoople) is 87; Eddie Holman is 80; Fred LaBour (Riders in the Sky) is 78; Suzi Quatro and Deniece Williams are 76; Dan Hill is 72; Danny Wilde (The Rembrandts) is 70; Ed Wynne (Ozric Tentacles) is 65; David Cole (C+C Music Factory) is 64; Kerry King (Slayer) is 62; Mike Gordon (Phish) is 61; Matt Pike (Sleep / High on Fire) is 54; Kelly Jones (Stereophonics) is 52; Lyfe Jennings is 48; Corey Wilkes is 47; Sam Amidon is 45.

Notice: B-Side is OPEN Mon-Thurs 10-6 / Fri+Sat 10-7 / Sunday 11-5. Email [email protected] or message here to support our shop with any Vinyl, CD, t-shirt or gift card orders, for pickup or shipment to your home. Thank you for shopping local 🙂

If you enjoy our human-written (no AI) daily posts celebrating historic albums, songs & artist birthdays, please invite your friends to follow the B-Side page, thanks

55 years ago, Ash Ra Tempel released their self-titled debut LP (our copy here). Led by 18-year-old composer Manuel Göttsching (guitars, synths, vocals), this Berlin-based ‘Krautrock’ / space-rock trio featured Hartmut Enke (bass, 18) + Klaus Schulze (drums, synths, 23). The 45-minute album consists of two side-long, gradually-building space jams. Ash Ra Tempel is considered influential on the space-rock genre; reviews are excellent. Krautrock scholar Julian Cope declared this “One of the greatest rock’n’roll LPs ever made.” Engineered by Conny Plank (Cluster). Cover art by Bernhard Bendig. More in Comments.

June 2 Birthdays: Edward Elgar b.1857; Valaida Snow b.1904; Othar Turner b.1907; Marty Napoleon b.1921; Gildo Mahones b.1929; Sammy Turner b.1932; Johnny Carter (The Flamingos / The Dells) b.1934; Jimmy Jones b.1937; Charles Miller (War) b.1939; Irene Schweizer and William Guest (Gladys Knight & the Pips) and Charlie Watts (The Rolling Stones) b.1941; Marvin Hamlisch and Antone Tavares (Tavares) b.1944; Otis Williams (The Charms) is 90; Pierre Favre is 89; Johnny Badanjek (the Detroit Wheels) is 78; Steve Brookins (.38 Special) and Dave Flett (Manfred Mann's Earth Band) are 75; Michael Steele (The Bangles) is 71; Lydia Lunch is 67; Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet) is 66; Dez Cadena (Misfits / Black Flag) is 65; Þór Eldon (The Sugarcubes / Unun) is 64; Jason Falkner (Jellyfish) is 58; B-Real (Cypress Hill) is 56; Alasdair MacLean (The Clientele) is 52; Tim Rice-Oxley (Keane) is 49; Fabrizio Moretti (The Strokes / Little Joy) is 46; Leela James is 43.

Notice: B-Side is OPEN Mon-Thurs 10-6 / Fri+Sat 10-7 / Sunday 11-5. Email [email protected] or message here to support our shop with any Vinyl, CD, t-shirt or gift card orders, for pickup or shipment to your home. Thank you for shopping local 🙂

If you enjoy our human-written (no AI) daily posts celebrating historic albums, songs & artist birthdays, please invite your friends to follow the B-Side page, thanks

Released 45 years ago today: “Odyshape” by The Raincoats. This second album by the London art-folk / post-punk trio (Ana da Silva; Gina Birch; Vicky Aspinall) arrived 18 months after their groundbreaking debut. This one features even more challenging song structures and a wider variety of instrumentation; it earned excellent reviews. Guests include Georgie Born (cello, Henry Cow) plus drummers Robert Wyatt (Soft Machine), Charles Hayward (This Heat), Ingrid Weiss + Richard Dudanski. Cover painting “Peasant Woman” by early 20th century Ukrainian artist Kazimir Malevich. More in Comments.

June 1 Birthdays: Nelson Riddle b.1921; Herbie Lovelle and Hal McKusick b.1924; Hazel Dickens b.1925; Lennie Niehaus b.1929; Wayne Kemp b.1941; Stefanie Sargent (7 Year Bitch) b.1968; Pat Boone is 91; Paco Peña is 84; Jim McCarty (Cactus / Buddy Miles) and Linda Scott are 81; Ronnie Wood (The Faces / The Rolling Stones) is 79; Mike Levine (Triumph) is 77; Wayne Nelson (Little River Band) and Tom Robinson are 76; Bob Walkenhorst (The Rainmakers) and John Ellis (The Vi*****rs) are 74; Ronnie Dunn (Brooks & Dunn) is 73; Michael Landau is 68; Alan Wilder (Depeche Mode / Recoil) is 67; Simon Gallup (The Cure) and Jesse Johnson (The Time) are 66; Mike Joyce (The Smiths) is 63; Damon Minchella (Ocean Colour Scene) is 57; Michael Sandison (Boards of Canada) is 56; Mindy Smith is 54; Alanis Morissette is 52; Brandi Carlile is 45; Mike Protich (Red Sun Rising) is 39.

Notice: B-Side is OPEN Mon-Thurs 10-6 / Fri+Sat 10-7 / Sunday 11-5. Email [email protected] or message here to support our shop with any Vinyl, CD, t-shirt or gift card orders, for pickup or shipment to your home. Thank you for shopping local 🙂

If you enjoy our human-written (no AI) daily posts celebrating historic albums, songs & artist birthdays, please invite your friends to follow the B-Side page, thanks

50 years ago, Steely Dan released “The Royal Scam”. Co-led by songwriters Walter Becker (guitar, bass, 26) and Donald Fagen (vocals, keys, 28), this fifth LP by the jazz-rock / funk band (now comprised of a large rotating roster of studio musicians) reached #15 Billboard ( #11 UK) while seeing reviews ranging from mid to very good, though retrospective assessments trend better. Singles: “Kid Charlemagne” “The Fez” + “Haitian Divorce”. Produced by Gary Katz, cover art by Charlie Ganse & Zox, typography by Tom Nikosey. More in Comments.

May 31 Birthdays: Otto Hardwick b.1904; Jimmy Shirley b.1913; Red Holloway b.1927; Albert 'Tootie' Heath b.1935; Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul and Mary) and Johnny Paycheck b.1938; Augie Meyers (Sir Douglas Quintet / Texas Tornados) b.1940; John Bonham (Led Zeppelin) b.1948; Vicki Sue Robinson b.1954; Wesley Willis b.1963; Louis Hayes is 89; Junior Campbell (Marmalade) and Greg Abate are 79; Karl Bartos (Kraftwerk) is 74; Tommy Emmanuel and Marty Ehrlich are 71; Danny Pearson (American Music Club) is 67; Corey Hart is 64; Wendy Smith (Prefab Sprout) is 63; Scotti Hill (Skid Row) and Darryl McDaniels (Run-D.M.C.) are 62; Steve White (The Style Council / Paul Weller) is 61; Patrick Dahlheimer (Live) is 55; Christian McBride is 54; Andy Hurley (Fall Out Boy) is 46; Waka Flocka Flame is 40; Shaun Fleming (Foxygen) is 39; Noah Gundersen is 37; Azealia Banks is 35.

Notice: B-Side is OPEN Mon-Thurs 10-6 / Fri+Sat 10-7 / Sunday 11-5. Email [email protected] or message here to support our shop with any Vinyl, CD, t-shirt or gift card orders, for pickup or shipment to your home. Thank you for shopping local 🙂

If you enjoy our human-written (no AI) daily posts celebrating historic albums, songs & artist birthdays, please invite your friends to follow the B-Side page, thanks

Released 65 years ago: “A Night in Tunisia” by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Sessions recorded August 7 + 14, 1960, led by the 40-year-old hard-bop jazz drummer featured one of his seminal young groups: Lee Morgan (22, trumpet); Wayne Shorter (26, tenor sax); Bobby Timmons (24, piano) + Jymie Merritt (33, bass). Produced by Alfred Lion at Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey, this album earned excellent reviews. It features two Lee Morgan compositions, one each by Timmons & Shorter, plus the Dizzy Gillespie title track. Issued by Blue Note Records. More in Comments.

May 30 Birthdays: Benny Goodman b.1909; Armando Peraza (Santana) b.1924; Johnny Gimble b.1926; Dave McKenna b.1930; Pauline Oliveros b.1932; Gladys Horton (The Marvelettes) b.1945; Marie Fredriksson (Roxette) b.1958; Lenny Davidson (The Dave Clark Five) is 82; Klaus Flouride (Dead Kennedys) is 77; John Hagen (Lyle Lovett) is 75; Topper Headon (The Clash) is 71; Stephen Duffy (The Lilac Time) is 66; Michel Langevin (Voivod) is 63; Wynonna Judd and Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine) are 62; Stephen Malkmus (Pavement / the Jicks) is 60; Tim Burgess (The Charlatans) and Sven Pipien (The Black Crowes) are 59; CeeLo Green (Gnarls Barkley) and Kevin Barnes (of Montreal) are 52; Devendra Banhart is 45; Tom Teslik (Pollinators) is 38; Gena Rose Bruce is ??

Notice: B-Side is OPEN Mon-Thurs 10-6 / Fri+Sat 10-7 / Sunday 11-5. Email [email protected] or message here to support our shop with any Vinyl, CD, t-shirt or gift card orders, for pickup or shipment to your home. Thank you for shopping local 🙂

If you enjoy our human-written (no AI) daily posts celebrating historic albums, songs & artist birthdays, please invite your friends to follow the B-Side page, thanks

Released 45 years ago today: “Heaven Up Here” by Echo and the Bunnymen. Fronted by 22-year-old singer Ian McCulloch, this second LP by the Liverpool post-punk band arrived ten months after their debut “Crocodile”. Reviews are generally excellent; it reached #10 UK but only #184 Billboard. Singles: “A Promise”+ “Over the Wall”. NME crowned it 1981’s Album of the Year and later 39th greatest of the ‘80s. In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked it 463rd Greatest Album of All Time. More in Comments.

This week’s New Releases: Kurt Vile; Violet Grohl; Paul McCartney; All Them Witches; Underscores; Eleni Mandell; Eric Bibb; Eric Andre: Blarf; Greg Mendez; Villagerrr; Joe Lovano; Joe Hisaishi; Willie Nelson; Behemoth; Manchester Orchestra; Avishai Cohen Trio; Tyshawn Sorey ARCHIVAL: Allen Toussaint songbook; Roland Burrell; Camper Van Beethoven II + III deluxe; Floating Points ‘16; Tony Rice ‘76; Adrian Belew ‘89-’92 box

May 29 Birthdays: Carl Story b.1916; Eugene Wright (Dave Brubeck Quartet) and Harry Smith b.1923; Freddie Redd b.1928; Sandy Mosse b.1929; John Eaton b.1934; Sylvia Robinson b.1935; Gary Brooker (Procol Harum) b.1945; Hilton Ruiz b.1952; Mike Porcaro (Toto) and Mars Williams (Psychedelic Furs / NRG Ensemble) b.1955; Irmin Schmidt (CAN) is 89; Roy Crewdson (Freddie and the Dreamers) is 85; Joey Levine (Ohio Express) is 79; Francis Rossi (Status Quo) is 77; Rebbie Jackson is 76; Ron Levy is 75; Karl Bartos (Kraftwerk) is 74; Danny Elfman (Oingo Boingo) is 73; La Toya Jackson and Larry Blackmon (Cameo) are 70; Jim Snidero is 68; Mel Gaynor (Simple Minds) and Steve Hanley (The Fall) are 67; Melissa Etheridge is 65; Wycliffe Gordon and Noel Gallagher (Oasis) are 59; Chan Kinchla (Blues Traveler) is 58; Patrick Connaughty (Squarewave) is 54; Scary Spice (Spice Girls) is 51; Dave Buckner (Papa Roach) is 50; Pelle Almqvist (The Hives) is 48.

Notice: B-Side is OPEN Mon-Thurs 10-6 / Fri+Sat 10-7 / Sunday 11-5. Email [email protected] or message here to support our shop with any Vinyl, CD, t-shirt or gift card orders, for pickup or shipment to your home. Thank you for shopping local 🙂

If you enjoy our human-written (no AI) daily posts celebrating historic albums, songs & artist birthdays, please invite your friends to follow the B-Side page, thanks