Today's Lost Music is a fantastic single circa 1966 by the Talon Brothers, I Think There Is Something Sleeping In My Refrigerator! I first came across this gem of a song on one of my favorite radio stations, WFMU.
This particular single offered up scant info on the band. However, I came across something posted on the Rate Your Music sight: “Though there was at least one member of the group named J. Talon (A-side song writer and vocalist), the band's name seems to come from two historical brothers who were members of French explorer LaSalle's ill-fated expedition to locate the mouth of the Mississippi river in the gulf of Mexico toward the end of the 17th century. Most of the search party was massacred by native Americans, though some of the children were spared and adopted by the tribe. Among these were the two French Canadian Talon brothers.
The musical group's first of two releases was this single from late '66 which seems to be about the aftermath of an LSD trip in which the singer thinks he hears noises coming from inside his ice box. It's a mid-tempo semi-garage/pop number with some mild novelty elements and perhaps even a few nascent bubblegum vibes. It features a strong bass line, semi-psychotic sounding vocals and vocal harmony on the chorus. The other side is mid-slow garage/folk/pop with more vocal harmony on the chorus and vocal duet on the verses and featuring some mild guitar accompaniment. Both songs are good, though the A-side is clearly the star of this show. It may have been a promo-only release, as no stock label copies can be located anywhere on the web.”
B-52's
A slide show of lobsters on a grill played as Schneider thought, “Rock this, rock that … rock lobster!” He brought the idea to the band, and they jammed on the song for hours before splicing the final arrangement together in the studio.
The Jayhawks
Suddenly sounds creep in slowly. On track four, suddenly a drum machine kicks off Somewhere in Ohio.
Somewhere in Ohio
Scarface, you were out of place in Ohio
Too bad, you were out ahead, and you're slowin'
You were feeling like a bomb without a target
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba
Look out, Joe, I think the sky is fallin'
Seems that all the clouds have turned to stone
I'm callin' you from somewhere deep in Ohio
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba
Skin-tight, you were up all night, and it's showin'
So tough, you were breakin' up over the wire
Well, I saw you headin' up a muddy river
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba
Look out, Joe, I think the sky is fallin'
Seems that all the clouds have turned to stone
I see the flashin' lights along the highway, uh huh
You sounded lost and desperate on the phone
Look out, Joe, I think the sky is fallin'
Seems that all the clouds have turned to stone
I'm callin' you from somewhere deep in Ohio
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba
Geoff Muldaur
Chevrolet / Big Alice
Geoff Muldaur's Chevrolet / Big Alice has always been a favorite track of mine most probably because it channels a definite New Orleans groove. There is a wild energy about this track that just won't go away.
Geoff Muldaur, alumnus of Jim Kweskin & the Jug Band and Paul Butterfield's Better Days, came back in 1998 with his first solo album in several years, and the self-assuredness that permeates Secret Handshake was well worth the wait.
Muldaur, always an eccentric interpreter of other people's material, takes on a batch of his favorite old country-blues tunes and adds a couple of atmospheric originals to the mix as well.
But rather than the standard, reverent solo acoustic approach, Muldaur definitely puts his own touch on each and every obscure chestnut that's here, with nary a one resembling the original version.
Recorded over the course of a year in a variety of studios across the U.S.A., he has assembled a first-rank cast of players including Turner Stephen Bruton on guitar, Bill Rich on bass, and Larry Thompson on drums, with Hal Ketchum, Sean Hopper, Lenny Pickett, David Grisman, Amos Garrett and John Magnie all making guest appearances.
Muldaur has created something unique and original with this song.
Bruce Hornsby
Sneaking Up On Boo Radley
Sneaking Up On Boo Radley is a track on Bruce Hornsby's Spirit Trail album. The song was obviously inspired by Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
One of the things I like the most about this particular track is that Hornsby employs some tasty imagery featuring the kids creeping around the Radley house, trying to catch a brief glimpse of the mysterious Boo Radley.
SNEAKING UP ON BOO RADLEY
Crawl up the back steps
Up to the back door
Reach up in the dark
Turn the handle a little more
Open up real slow
So the door won't creak
Look ahead, look behind
Don't shuffle your feet
Hey - They say he's crazy, they say he's gone
We play our tricks, make up funny songs
Sneaking around, feeling badly
Sneaking up on Boo Radley
Hear the caterpillar crawl
Hear the bedbugs bite
Hear the crickets scream
All the sounds of the night
Hear the sound of footprints
On the ground I think I see
Don't step on the lightning bugs
Watch the crack in your knees
They say he's crazy, they say he's gone
We play our tricks, make up funny songs
Sneaking around, feeling badly
Sneaking up on Boo Radley
They say he's funny, got a loose screw
Stay away, he's a threat to you
Give him a break, what do we know
Might turn out we would like him so
We fear what we just don't know
I heard he served a long time ago
Saw some things we'll never know
We laugh and sneak around in the night
Fun and games but I know it's not right
Both scared and fascinated
Ignorant we castigate him
Both scared and fascinated
Ignorant we flagellate him
They say he's crazy, they say he's gone
We play our tricks, make up funny songs
Down the street, walking sadly
My little sister, loves him madly
I'm feeling like the Man From Gladly
Sneaking up on Boo Radley
Sneaking up on Boo Radley
