Link Wray - Ace of Spades/The Fuzz!

Here's another one from my recent record haul. It features one of my favorite instrumentals of all time on the b-side. The Fuzz. The guitar tone on this one gets me every time. It's a great mid-tempo throbber of a song.

The a-side aint too shabby either. I think this is the dirtier, fuzzier version of Ace of Spades. It also has some harmonica which makes it a lot different than the other versions of Ace of Spades. I think Link recorded this song 3 times (4 if you count fatback). I like this version a lot since it ends like a 60's garage punk tune.

Think Link.

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Hasil Adkins - She Said/The Hunch (ARC)

Sheesh, its been 5 years since Hasil died (I'd say murdered, but that's me). And just knowing he's not down in West Virginia hunching away in his shack makes the world a sadder place.

Hasil's music literally IS music to my ears. Some people recoil from it; it's too raw, it's too noisy...whatever, every time I hear his music a smile crosses my lips. The fact that Billy and Miriam from Norton Records rescued this guy from obscurity is one of the great music stories of modern times.

Be sure to check out my post over at the ichiban blogspot where you can download the Hasil Adkins tribute show that FOOL'S PARADISE broadcast back when Hasil past away. There are some great stories about Hasil from Billy and Miriam themselves as well as Joe Coleman, and others who knew Hasil. Plus some great Hasil tunes as well (including some unreleased stuff from the Norton Archives).

I was lucky to see Hasil play a few times. Once great, once not so great.

The great show was at the House of Blues in Cambridge Mass back in the 90's. I had gotten Hasil's autograph earlier in the day at a Tower Record performance (where hasil played a few songs, then threw down his guitar and walked out of the store for a cigarette. Seeing Hasil play guitar and sing right near a Madonna cardboard pic was kind of surreal!).

The thing I remember most that night was this FAT BLUES DUDE (tm) getting all uppity and almost starting a fight with a girl in the front row. The show was part of the FAT POSSUM blues tour. Hasil was the only, uh, "non-traditional" blues guy on the tour. So all of the other artists were, shall we say, more listener friendly than Hasil.

Hasil eventually get's cookin' and the crowd is jumping, hunchin' and generally getting wild. Said FAT BLUES DUDE (tm) leans over to me and shouts something along the lines of; "I've never seen anything like this at a blues club, it's unheard of!" His shocked admonishment shocked me more than what Hasil was up to on stage. I shouted back, "....then what the fuck are you doing here?!" He gave me a look and began elbowing this tiny girl who was right up at the stage. I guess she must have "hunched" into his enormous FAT BLUES DUDE GUT (tm).

So here I am seeing Hasil Adkins play, something I never thought in a million years I'd see, mediating a fight between a tiny rockabilly girl, and a FAT BLUES DUDE (tm). After a while things calm down, and wouldn't you know it, before long the FAT BLUES DUDE (tm) was bopping along to hasil's beat. I think he even apologized to the Rockabilly Chick.

Hasil Adkins: bringing FAT BLUES DUDE's (tm) and tiny Rockabilly Chicks together thru his music.

Here are two Hasil classics on his own ARC label. I think this came out in 1976. Basically a reissue from some of what Hasil was pushing back in the 50's.

Thanks Hasil for all the great music....

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Hasil_Adkins_-_The_Hunch

Link to Ichiban post - http://wfmuichiban.blogspot.com/2010/04/hasil-adkins.html

The Giggler!

Here's a little preview of what I'm calling "RECORD HAUL 2010".

This is (apparently) a hard to find record. There is a brief mention of it on the INSTROMANIA website, and I can only see that the b-side has been comped before (on the great cd-r series THE DOG'S BOLLOCKS OF AMERICAN ROCK AND ROLL INSTRUMENTALS). The b-side is a nice take on green onions, but the a-side is the winner here.

It's "The Giggler!" The song starts with a creaking door sound, and then a great high pitched giggle. The music just throbs and pulses with some great guitar. The only thing that could make it better is if there were some deep throated narrator saying; "THE GIGGLER" at certain points of the song.

The Giggler was apparently used on Ghoulardi's show, but i've never seen it listed as a tune he used (either online, or in the Ghoulardi book). I have it on good authority from a Ghouardi fanatic, that the Giggler was indeed used on the show at one point. That's good enough for me.

This is a killer 45 that has to be somewhat rare, since the song has NEVER been comped that I can tell, and an internet search reveals almost nothing.

My copy of the 45 has a few clicks and pops, but you can probably live with that since the song is so amazing! Play it again and again and start giggling!

More from "RECORD HAUL 2010" coming soon...

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