Originally released on 1966’s Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme by the great Paul & Art, Harpers Bizarre, Santa Cruz, CA’s own pop-rock (and Mt. Dew) favorites, staked their claim in the soil of hip-tified-radio-extravaganza with their cover of 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) from their debut album, 1967’s Feelin’ Groovy. Feelin’ Groovy? No, seriously… feelin’ pretty damn far-out? Hip your lobes to some Harp Biz, my friend.
Author Archives: The Prudent Groove
The Moog Strikes Bach
Back in 1969, Hans Wurman released The Moog Strikes Bach… for RCA Red Seal Records, which is a bit of a strange title considering that ½ of the electronic interpretations derive from the master works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. What the hell… it’s Dr. Robert Moog’s toy, and it’s a gift to all ear-kind, or some type shit. IT’S CLASSICAL MUSIC REINTERPRETED IN 1960’S ELECTRO, PEOPLE! Get on board!
Sincerely,
(starting to get sick and my head is as congested as a Verizon Wireless store in Westwood, CA) Mr. PG
Truckstop
Lagwagon. Yes, it’s pop punk, and yes, it is a defining and monumental element of my past, but it sure mother (expletive) beats the living (expletive) out of anything Red Hot Chili Peppers ever produced, up to and including 1991’s Blood Sugar Sex Magik. I knew I moved back to California for a reason. Thank you, quality underground.
In Search of the Red Headed Stranger
I’m not sure why the local brick & mortars in and around the Los Angeles area haven’t stocked the 1975 Willie Nelson classic, Red Headed Stranger (you know, the one with Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain on it). There are currently 1080 owners of this album on Discogs, and there are 19 copies on sale starting at $0.99, yet I’ve still never seen one among my multiple hunts throughout the last 12 hunting months. “Just order it on Discogs, then, and stop wasting my time!” I just can’t justify paying more for shipping than the item being shipped, Mr. and / or Mrs. Mud Stick.
The search continues, for the elusive, Red Headed Stranger.
Pronounced
In dedication to a man whose company and friendship I miss on a weekly basis, I offer the gate(un)folded art of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s 1973 debut, (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd). “Randall, my dear friend, you are drunk.” At which you would reply, “Yeah, but at least I’m not stupid.”
Have a good Saturday, kids.
Skeew Lartsa
Famous covers are not unlike priceless pieces of contemporary art (be that yesterday’s contemporary, or today’s). Very seldom, however, does an album’s backside (album ass?) get its proper notoriety. Subtle yet compelling posterior album art often goes unnoticed, as is the case with the poem featured on the back of Van Morrison’s 1968 classic Astral Weeks. Displayed here is a composition by the man, with no title, and no indication of its inspiration. I dig its almost throwaway inclusion on Astral Weeks, taking up such invaluable real estate, and it has inspired me to look much more closely to the array of hidden treasures just an album flip away.
Blues Mood
I’ve been saving this guy, and because of its nostalgic significance, or the glazed remembrance thereof, I’ll leave the heartfelt discharging for another, more thought-out hour. Today’s intentions are only to mention that my personal connection with the Moody Blues don’t reside within the rhythmic walls of Days of Future Passed and In Search of the Lost Chord, but instead, throughout 1986’s The Other Side of Life.
When in first grade, my father would drive me to school, and in 1986, he had this album on cassette. Day after staggering day, I was exposed to Your Wildest Dreams… so much so that its contagious melody never really left my mental jukebox.
I was lucky to find this album on vinyl while attending University school in Milwaukee some several years ago, but it’ll never replace the reeling spins of the original… my father’s cassette copy of The Other Side of Life.
Survive Sick
Bridging the gap between the end of Refused and well, the return of Refused, lead singer Dennis Lyxzén of both the (International) Noise Conspiracy (featured here) and well (again), Refused, busied himself pushing melodic, left-wing, anti-capitalist rants over a bed of garage-rock, and this, Survival Sickness, (really, ANOTHER comma… yup), was their best installment.
Released in 2000, The (I)NC rivaled then hip-cats, The Hives, in the dingy streets of quality indy rock. Take what little money is in my wallet, and place it squarely on the (International) Noise Conspiracy winning over the half-witted (yet commercially prevalent) Hives. Do it. Now… and listen to the rhythms of truest propaganda.
Kiss Your Ass Goodbye!
The Blue Meanies headlined a show in Madison, Wisconsin back in 1996-97. The New Loft maybe? The Something Union? The venue escapes me, but the experience never would.
Telegraph was the opening act… a few bright-eyed months after they’d manifested themselves from their previous moniker, The Skolars. Same band, new name. I’m going to say it was a Friday night. Cold. Wisconsin winter cold. There was a line. And a $5 cover.
It may have been the bullhorn glued between the microphone and lead singer Billy Spunke’s face, but the invitation from a now deceased friend to attend this particular show seems to strike a chord much louder now, than it did then… and at the time, I could hardly hear myself breathe.
The Blue Meanies, the ska-revivalist-post-hardcore bastions of late nineties yesteryear are no more, but the flame that fuels their legend will forever shine, if only within the pages of nostalgia. I miss my friend, and if he were here today, I’d thank him for introducing me to this astonishing band.
Source Tags & Codes
Trail of Dead (aka …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead) scored an instant classic with their first full-length for Interscope Records (and third overall), 2002’s Source Tags & Codes. Their first of three for the label, Source Tags & Codes is widely considered the band’s most accomplished, and critically honored effort, and is number 1 in my “next to spin” pile (followed by The Million Dollar Quartet and Kiss Your Ass Goodbye! by Blue Meanies). Although I’m partial to So Divided, the band’s fifth album, Source Tags shows what an already talented band can do, given respect, and major label luxuries. Give it whirl.
The Air is Getting Clear and the Time is Getting Near for Us to Roll
Pop punk enthusiasts, and Solvang locals, Mad Caddies, overshadow their freshman effort (1997’s Quality Soft Core… many the adolescent soundtrack to my, quote, unquote, Wonder Years) with this, their 1998 follow-up, Duck and Cover.
Elegance and rage harmoniously combine within a cloud of aggravated rhyme. She’s a hell-of-a listen, and a necessity for anyone with a cross to bear.
Many thanks, Mad Caddies.
Pinch Another One Off
Lately, I’ve been starting to acquire “youthful albums” I’d previously owned on compact disc. The Offspring’s Smash, Blue Meanies’ Kiss Your Ass Goodbye!, and now, Green Day’s Dookie. Limited to 1000 on transparent green vinyl, and offered as a Hot Topic exclusive, I’d been hunting down this green vinyl copy for more than a few years. I haven’t given it a proper spin, yet, having just received it in the mail today, but I’m happy to welcome the ol’ guy into the “wall of fame.” One by one, I’ll eventually own my original CD collection on vinyl. Next up, I’m thinking, may be Cypress Hill’s Black Sunday.
Sincerely Yours
Mr. Robert Goulet (pronounced gool-ay, and not, goal-ayt), wants you to have a fan-fuggin-tastic day after Thanksgiving… I mean, look at him! All seductive, and turkey-like, sitting on an elevated apparatus atop a floor of Reynolds wrap. We here at the Prudent Groove (along with the fanbase of Robert Goulet, and the Joan Wilder Book Club Members of Cartagena) wish you a happy, healthy weekend.
Sincerely yours…
PG
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and BRINE
(Thanks to the SO for the title… 😉 ) Happy-ily (for those of you who are Vacant Lot fans) Thanksgiving!! The lady had to work today, so tomorrow we’ll be celebrating the Day of Thanks. Currently listening to Johnny Cash’s Greatest hits Volume 1, and yes, “house wives and little girls” aside, (Bruce McCulloch), I hope ever-body done had them-selves a damn-good day! (23.95 lbs this year, btw…) 
A Reason to Believe in the Songs of Tim Hardin
If there ever was a reason to believe, it would be based in the intellectual knowledge and overall creative fortitude of the exalted Tim Hardin. A Record Store Day exclusive back in 2013, and limited to 1000 copies, Reason to Believe – The Songs of Tim Hardin is a collection of elegant covers boasting a sad, yet respectful tribute to the self-proclaimed black sheep boy.
I’ll admit that I was a little underwhelmed on first spin, having been wet from the clouded storm of Tim Hardin songs performed by Tim Hardin, but once expectation fell asleep, these sumptuous covers stand their ground, and act as a reverent accompaniment to the vast Hardin library. It’s a pleasurable listen, and worthy of a proper, clear-headed spin.
What’s in A Name, Anyway?
The Ric Ocasek produced Weezer (the band’s third album, which is not to be confused with their first… or their sixth) was released in May of 2001, and sported three, summer singles (AKA the soundtrack to the 2001 summer) with Hash Pipe, Island in the Sun, and Photograph. I was living in Milwaukee at the time, and not that one tried, but one could not escape the constant one-two punch of Hash Pipe and Island in the Sun, the latter being featured in the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen film, Holiday in the Sun. I feel I must add here, that this Holiday in the Sun knowledge is present only because I was working at a Hollywood Video at the time, and not a frequenter of anything Mary-Kate or Ashley Olsen.
The Green Album, as it is often referred, was a return to form (not only in name) of the blueprinted pop classic, 1994’s Weezer. Pinkerton, the band’s second album, still remains a personal fav, but for the summer of 2001, everyone was seeing green.
It’s In Your Face But You Can’t Grab It
Released in June of 1989, Faith No More’s third studio album, The Real Thing, is chiefly known for its funk metal classic, Epic, as well as being the first album from the band to feature newly crowned frontman, Michael Allan Patton. Although not as complete a Patton-led Faith No More album as their 1992 follow-up, The Real Thing remains one of the most successful funk metal albums ever released.
“You want it all but you can’t have it,” exclaims Mr. Patton. Fans would only have to wait three years for the opportunity to have what they wanted: 1992’s Angel Dust.
Hidden Riches
Many thanks to the previous, and anonymous owner of my copy of the Sun Records released, The Million Dollar Quartet, for mummifying this 1986 magazine article, shining light upon, arguably, the most prolific, and storied combination of talented musicians the modern age has ever witnessed. Celebrated evening reading material, for sure. Perhaps I’ll transcribe it someday… perhaps.
Saffron
If it’s uncouth to double up on back-to-back days worth of Dillinger Escape Patton (even though it’s still spinning, much to the chagrin of my patient and tolerating significant other), then let’s gaze upon the mystic wonders of this beautiful promotional sleevsert (sleeve + insert) touting the many achievements of Mr. Donovan Philips Leitch.
Irony Is a Dead Scene
Question: What do you get when you mix deadlocked precision (executed perfectly within a tightly-wound hardcore package) and the vocal talents of the guy recently deemed the greatest living singer of all time? Answer: Irony Is a Dead Scene.
Although not casual listening material for that Sunday drive with the kids, The Dillinger Escape Plan with Mike Patton assassinate any and every breathing organism in their vigorous wake over these four fits of ferocious fury. What’s disappointing, however, is the unfortunate length of this EP. Clocking in at only 18 minutes, Irony Is a Dead Scene leaves the listener sprawled out on the floor, desperately pleading for more. This is a perfect album from every approachable angle.
The Prudent Groove 