New England Music Scrapbook Newsletter
Alan Lewis, Editor

Our Corner of the Rock 'n' Roll Life

June 20, 2009
Issue 2009:332
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We've got Thrills, chills, Dirty Water
: : : What more do you need?
When the big beat hits ya
Comin' from your transistor
: : : Like the T at full speed
When the big beat hits ya...

"Boston Lullaby," Dudick/Naihersey.
: : : Copyright c. 1980 by Camaraderie Music, BMI.
: : : All rights reserved. Used with permission.

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BRATTLEBORO, VT, June 20 - This may not be our very slowest time of year, but
most years it is plenty slow enough.

With relatively few news e-mails this week, it may make the report of the first
round of our New England essential record releases survey the big story. It is
a preliminary, tentative, provisional, and just-for-starters sort of thing.
More suggestions should be coming our way over the next few weeks. Anyone
conversant with this topic ought to be able to see that the holes in our list,
in its present form, are big enough to fly the entire United Federation of
Planets fleet of starships through. At the moment, for instance, we have no
suggestions of records by such acts as Aerosmith, Boston, the J. Geils Band, Tom
Lehrer, Phish, The Remains, Donna Summer, folk perennials such as Tom Rush,
Maurice Starr's numerous discoveries and managees, or any of the "Boston Sound"
bands. We've got a way to go on our list. But as starts go, this one is pretty
good.

The present list is surprisingly different from the one generated in the fall of
2006. Time will tell whether this trend continues.

Our new list, so far, appears below. We hope it inspires and suggests more
responses.
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What you see in this issue of our newsletter, with the exception of a few items
I would not have minded adding in, is basically all we've got.
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To our newest subscribers:

Depending on how one found one's way to our subscription link or address, a
person might not necessarily realize that this newsletter ordinarily
concentrates on contemporary music and current acts. If this newsletter is not
what you bargained for, please feel free to unsubscribe or we could unsubscribe
your address. We have people come and go all the time, and it is simply not a
problem.
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Special thanks to Brian of New Hampshire's Peterborough Town Library.

(I used to go to church in the Peterborough Town Library. In the early 1970s,
the Monadnock region's Friends meetings were held in its downstairs.)
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READ WHAT INTERESTS YOU, scroll right past whatever doesn't.
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RECORD RELEASES THIS WEEK
Listed by Newbury Comics, Excerpted by Us

New CD Releases Available Tuesday, June 16th

BECK - Sea Change (Limited Gold CD)-$29.99
BERGONZI, JERRY - Simply Put - $10.88
BIG STAR - #1 Record/Radio City-$11.88
COLDPLAY - Tour Pack (4 CDs)-$29.99
HARRISON, GEORGE - Let It Roll - $12.88
HENLEY, DON-Very Best Of-$9.99

MAJOR LAZER - Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do - $9.99
<> Major Lazer is another act I know nothing about, though we are sent a fair
amount of Major Lazer publicity. (Print publicity goes a lot further once one
has actually heard an artist's music.)

O'CONNELL, MAURA - Naked With Friends - $15.99
PERRY, LEE SCRATCH - Return From Planet Dub (2 CD)-$17.99
SPINAL TAP - Back From The Dead - $9.99
TOWNSEND, DEVIN - KI - $12.88
WAIFS - Live From The Union Of SoUL - $11.88
WALLFLOWERS - Collection: 1996-2005 - $11.88

<>

featured dvd new release Available Tuesday, June 16th

061509_whatgoesupThe Transformers
The Complete First Season: 25th Anniversary Edition
$19.99

SOURCE: Newbury Comics, "June 15 Newbury Comics Gifts for Father's Day and New
Releases," June 15, 2009.

Jerry Bergonzi
"Simply Put" (CD, 2009)

:: george harrison, don henley, major laser, maura o'connell, lee scratch
perry, devin townsend ::
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NEW ENGLAND ESSENTIAL RECORD RELEASES
The First Answers to Our Reader and Correspondent Survey

<> Here are our first round suggestions, followed by the present version of
instructions for those who may subsequently respond to this query. Our list
begins with an innovative reply.

Boston: Favorite Songs

: : : 1. Loretta, Nervous Eaters
: : : 2. Lonelyhearts, Atlantics
: : : 3. All Kindsa Girls, The Real Kids
: : : 4. Knock Me Down, The Outlets
: : : 5. What Does Sex Mean to Me, Human Sexual Response

Cars
"The Cars"

5 Satins
"In the Still of the Nite (I'll Remember)" [single]

Aimee Mann
"Lost in Space"
[Attention was called to the Special Edition]

Erin McKeown
"Distillation"

Peter Mulvey
"The Trouble With Poets"

Ric Ocasek
"Nexterday"

Robert Ellis Orrall
"Fixation"

Gene Pitney
"(I Wanna) Love My Life Away" [single]

Pixies
"Surfer Rosa"

Ramrods
"Bright Lit Blue Skies" [single]

Josh Ritter
"Golden Age of Radio"

Swinging Steaks
"Southside of the Sky"

Tribe
"Abort" [the album]

Dar Williams
"End of the Summer"

Peter Wolf
"Sleepless"

- - - - -

We at the New England Music Scrapbook Newsletter are seeking suggestions for a
list of New England music record releases that may be judged to be essential
listening matter: records of great beauty, artistic expression, skilled
performance, emotional power, historic significance, or just plain must-hear
music for whatever reason.

A record only needs to be truly essential in your view. It does not need to be
the MOST essential. We certainly do not need dozens of people all recommending
the same titles by the same acts.

Recordings need not necessarily be really old, and the acts that issued them
need not be all veterans. An essential recording could have been issued by an
emerging artist or could have come out this year or even this month.

To make a suggestion, e-mail it to us at

: : : FredRemainsLost At Yahoo Dot Com

only convert this into an all-lowercase conventional e-mail address.

Please make one suggestion, name the record and artist you favor, and use
Essential Record for your subject line. If your recommendation is something
other than an album, please explain what it is. An EP? Soundtrack cut? Concert
videocassette? We may not necessarily know.

We value your knowledge and crave your thoughts. Please send us an essential
record release suggestion.

= = =
= = =

ALAN WILLIAMS
No Longer Knotted Nor Crossed

<> Our listening matter this week has been made up mostly of recordings
suggested in our essential record releases survey and its 2006 counterpart. The
major exception has been a new album by Alan Williams, formerly of the Maine
trio - and one of my all-time favorite groups of any sort - Knots and Crosses.

Alan Williams' current ensemble is called Birdsong at Morning. The new record
is

Birdsong at Morning
"Bound" (CD, Blue Gentian Records 001, 2009)

The Knots and Crosses compilation, "There Was a Time," is one of the greatest
1990s albums to come out of New England; but it is short on Williams' songs.
The back and forth between pieces by Carol Noonan and Alan Williams was one of
the best things about Knots and Crosses, and this feature is mostly missing from
"There Was a Time." Emphasis is fairly heavily on Noonan.

"Bound" will bring Williams' music back into a lot of living rooms and music
spaces.

The new record picks a tempo and a mood and pretty much sticks with them. This
can be a liability on many albums, but it is an asset here. "Bound" benefits
from its focus.

Back in his Knots and Crosses days, Williams' sparest arrangements still had
about them the hint of a grand production. It is no less so on "Bound."

Williams compositions and performances are often romantic in the sense of being
fanciful or fabulous, as in a fable. The word, "ethereal," would be apt.

Birdsong at Morning is a together, focused group effort of Williams, Greg
Porter, and Darleen Wilson. We will be giving it more spins.

= = =
= = =

SAL BAGLIO
The Creative Process

<> We will always think of Sal Baglio mainly in the context of his fun 1980s
band, The Stompers. But he is a diverse talent. Lately a chilling example came
up, bringing to mind his song, "Pumpkin Man." On talk radio, a recent
conversation turned unexpectedly to the subject of an unexplained phenomenon
evidently called the Pumpkin Man around a Brown Hill somewhere or other.

We have received several announcements of workshops, led by Baglio, on the topic
of the creative process. Here is the latest. I didn't notice until just now
that this event is already past. But I will leave it in as a plug for next time
he presents one of these.

Songwriting: The Creative Process Workshop with Sal Baglio
Saturday June 20th 11AM-1PM
The Cellar Studio
Boston Road
Salem, Massachusetts.

Baglio's mailing ended with this:

"For Stompers fans, stay tuned for more announcements!"

[Will do.]

http://www.thestompers.com

SOURCE: Salvatore Baglio, "June 18 and June 20," June 15, 2009.
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BRIEF ITEMS :

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JOAN WASSER
Joan as Police Woman

For those who hoped that ex-Bostonian, ex-Dambuilder Joan Wasser would stop
fiddling around with law enforcement and get back to the music...

<> "I am touring with an amazing new all star band that blow my mind
every night and will do the same for you, I'll bet.

"Looking so forward to filling your summer with more love."

SOURCE: Police Woman Joan, "Joan As Police Woman: Summer in Europe," June 16,
2009.

THE JULY DATES INCLUDED . . in this Joan as Police Woman announcement are all
for European locations. We are including this item here because of Joan
Wasser's mention of her great new band, which may be of some reader interest,
along with a hope for United States tour stops later this summer or later in the
year. - Ed.

:: the dambuilders ::
.


MOTION SICK
We Can Work It Out

Boston's The Motion Sick has a musical spot on a new workout DVD, calling to
mind a book, based on and named for a great idea, "Punk Rock Aerobics."

Members of The Motion Sick, in addition to music for fitness, are thinking ahead
to their own next record release.

<> "The band has been holding top-secret meetings in a secret, undisclosed lair
inside a volcano to work out the details of our forthcoming album. We plan to
post some demos and some peeks into the songs along the way so that you can be
part of the whole process. Be sure to keep an eye on our blog at

http://www.the-motion-sick.com/

for those updates."

SOURCE: The Motion Sick, "Download All Our Music Free!" June 16, 2009.
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GEORGE LEH
Still Rockin'

<> It seems to me my e-friend Susan Green may say the early 1970s large rock
band, Swallow, was based in New York City. I really don't remember, but this
easily could be. I always count Swallow as a Boston outfit, though, because of
its various members who were former and future members of Boston bands. Leh
(Rockin' Shoes, etc.), Vern Miller (The Remains), Jeff Baxter (a late Ultimate
Spinach lineup) leap out from the debut album's credits. Management was listed
as being out of Warwick, Rhode Island.

Brian of southern New Hampshire has lately caught up with ex-Swallow George Leh
in Swampscott, Massachusetts, according to a June 15 e-mail.

These days Leh has regular bookings into the Red Rock Bistro in Swampscott,
Jake's Roadhouse in Waltham, and the Georgetown Grille in Georgetown, all in
Massachusetts.

The latest George Leh record release appearance that comes to my mind is a Geoff
Muldaur album which featured Leh on harmony vocals. Interesting and, one might
think, inevitable pairing.

Rockin' George Leh may be found online via

http://www.rockingeorge.com/

George Leh's music has not come my way in many, many years, but I used to really
like this guy's singing.
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ODDS AND ENDS

<> The John Sheldon band, Bluestreak, plays its last show of the summer at the
Route 63 Roadhouse in Millers Falls, Massachusetts on Saturday, June 27, 2009.

<> Erin McKeown has four live webcasts set for July. Perhaps we can post
details next issue.

<> Rose Polenzani is sharing a stage with The Coming Grass' Sara Cox this
evening, Saturday, June 20, 2009, at the North Star Music Cafe in Portland,
Maine. Interesting musical pairing.

<> Lissa Schneckenburger takes part in a Richard Thompson Tribute night on
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at Banjo Jim's in New York City.
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SMOKEY GREENE
The Compact Disc

<> My cataloguing project continues to dig up many compilation LPs and CDs,
mostly concentrating on Boston acts. A lot of these records were unknown to me,
a few I did know about but forgot, and most of them appear not to have
circulated at all widely. A real shame.

This same project turned up the following CD by Northeast country music and
bluegrass pioneer Smokey Greene.

Smokey Greene
"The Friendly Voice of Smokey Greene:
Celebrating 50 Years of Music"
(CD, Pinecastle Records PRC 1051, 1996)

It has been a long time, so I don't remember details; but Smokey Greene was a
relative of my old friend, Michelle Sanderson. I had some really good Smokey
Greene singles that Michelle had not heard, so I once put them on tape for her.
It was a pretty neat cassette, but it seems to me a Smokey Greene CD would
totally eclipse it. Here's hoping Michelle has the disc.

Greene was not only a performer: he had his own bluegrass festival, and I
believe it ran for many years.

Though I don't know this for a fact, I surmise from data about the CD that
Smokey Greene's last known address was somewhere in Florida.
.


INCREDIBLE CASUALS
"World Championship Songs" CD

Incredible Casuals
"World Championship Songs, 1980-2007"
(CD, Akers Recording Co. Iddy Biddy 7675-2, 2007)

<> This is another record that we heard nothing about at the time it was
released. It is really surprising that we were sent nothing about this album,
but I am glad we are learning about it now.

"Iddy Biddy," which in the data set we have seen appears to be part of the
catalog number, may refer to the compactness of the compact disc.
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GARY SHANE AND THE DETOUR
"Johnny's Coaltrain"

<> Last issue I made highly favorable reference to a noteworthy Boston local
music hit single, "Johnny's Coaltrain;" but things were rushed and, in haste, it
did not occur to me to include a source of that recording. "Johnny's Coaltrain"
is on the following Gary Shane retrospective:

Gary Shane
"In Perspective"
(CD, Oddlot Records, Pure and Easy Records 94102, 1994)

People looking back for the first time, and even some folks reminiscing, might
get two acts crossed. There was a band - a Boston band, as I recall - called
The Detours. But "Johnny's Coaltrain" was by Boston's Gary Shane and the
Detour.

Gary Shane, with David Champagne, had another amazing Boston local music hit.
The band was called Shane Champagne and the song was "Shadow World," which also
appears on the "In Perspective" disc.

Worth knowing.

Burning, burning, burning black
Burning, burning like a smokestack...

:: johnny's coal train, burning like a smoke stack ::
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YAHOO MUSIC NEWS HEADLINE
Friday Afternoon

Jury rules against Minn. woman in download case
AP – Fri Jun 19, 12:03 pm ET
FILE - This Oct. 4, 2007 file photo shows Jammie Thomas-Rasset...

MINNEAPOLIS - A replay of the nation's only file-sharing case to go to trial has
ended with the same result — a Minnesota woman was found to have violated music
copyrights and must pay huge damages to the recording industry.

YAHOO MUSIC NEWS . . seems to be experiencing the same slowdown we normally
experience this time of year. Pickings were slim on the Yahoo Music News table
of contents. - Ed.
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YAHOO MUSIC NEWS HEADLINE
Friday Morning

Bon Jovi among those inducted in songwriters hall
AP – Fri Jun 19, 11:05 am ET
Singer Jon Bon Jovi, right, and musician Richie Sambora attend...

NEW YORK - Jon Bon Jovi considers writing classic songs as a way of being
remembered throughout time.
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end BRIEF ITEMS

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NEMSnews

New England Music Scrapbook
Brattleboro, Vermont

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<> If you have friends who would be interested in any of the items in this
issue, please forward this newsletter to them. Thanks! We believe this is one
of the main ways we pick up readers.
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<> As a rule, we do not post SHOW LISTINGS. The reason is quite simple. Though
our name is the NEW ENGLAND Music Scrapbook, probably an easy majority of our
readers are based outside the six New England states. The great majority of
show listings would be of no interest at all to the great majority of our
readers.

We make exceptions when show listings are part of an item of more general
interest. CD-release events are great examples. For us, the main point of an
item of this sort is that an act has a new record. The show being announced is
of secondary interest to us - if that - as far as the contents of our newsletter
goes.

In the very few, truly exceptional instances where we post show listings...
.

... Shows can be canceled, sold out, or even moved to another date or location.
We recommend checking the Web, calling ahead or otherwise confirming details.
.


E-MAIL us via
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conventional e-mail address.
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NEWSLETTER's Yahoo Groups Home Page:
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To SUBSCRIBE to this newsletter:
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Issue 2009:332

Published no less often than monthly.
We're guessing eventually we'll settle
into an every-other-week schedule.

Copyright © 2009 by the New England Music Scrapbook. All rights reserved.

: : :