Screamin' Jay Hawkins - At Home With Jay in the Wee Wee Hours (Midnight, 1988)

Screamin' Jay Hawkins - At Home With Jay in the Wee Wee Hours
(Midnight, 1988)

Here's Screamin' Jay Hawkins live at Jack the Ribber's in 1984. Just Jay and the piano and he's got a lot of cheesy jokes and limericks to share with you between tracks. A welcome guest at our little Halloween party we've got going here. Enjoy.

01. Lawd, Lawd, Lawd
02. Hong Kong
03. Downstairs
04. Cherry Pie
05. In Her Room
06. Constipation Blues
07. I Need Your Love
08. Feast Of The Mau Mau
09. Let It Roll
10. Make The Blues Rock/Bite It
11. I Put A Spell On You (A Curse Of The 80's)

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Sunburned Hand Of The Man - Earth Do Eagles Do (Manhand,2007)

Sunburned Hand Of The Man - Earth Do Eagles Do
(Manhand,2007)

224 cbr
Includes: m3u, front cover

Anyone even remotely interested in the whole "Neo-Psychdelia" craze that's been going pretty strong over the past several years are no doubt familiar with the Sunburned folks. They've amassed more than 100 albums amongst their dozens of offshoot bands (around 30 releases in 2007 alone!) on several different labels (including the likes of Fuck It Tapes, Ecstatic Peace, Smalltown Supersound and their own Manhand label) and have a sound that touches on experimental, psych, folk and beyond. With each new release, you never quite know what you're going to get - but you can guess that it's gonna be one helluva trip.

Earth Do Eagles Do is my personal favorite (that I've heard so far anyway, which really isn't all that much compared to all of the stuff they've done) - as it tends to stick to a more traditional psych rock oriented style. This album in particular is from a live show (recorded in Finland, though I don't know the year) and the energy as well as the groove are definitely present, not to mention there are vocals on most of the tracks as compared to several of the other albums I've heard where they're pretty scarce.

As with probably 80% of their material, this is long sold out as far as I know so this is probably one of your few chances to give it a listen.

Favorite Tracks: Don't Get Burned, Gateway Circle

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Sam Cooke -Live at Harlem the Square Club, 1963 (RCA, 1985)

Sam Cooke - Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963
(RCA, 1985)

LAME V0

Everyone knows a Sam Cooke tune. Even if they don't know who sings it, they've at least heard "Cupid," "You Send Me," or any of the other twenty-nine Top 40 Hits Sam had between 1957 and 1965 playing over the grocery store speakers. Y'know what I have to say about that? I have to say, "It's not enough! They need to hear more!"

This is no obscure record, it's a classic and I think it's a damned shame that there are ears on this planet that haven't had the pleasure of listening to it straight through. The studio versions of these classic tunes are a delight, that's sure, but they can't hold a candle to the power of this live performance. It's not polished and clean, it's a little rough and raw and I like it that way. It's as though you can hear the sweat on Cooke's brow along with his every guttural "Ha!" and every howl of approval from the crowd. Sam's amazingly passionate, sometimes even desperate, vocals are so convincing and moving on tunes like "Bring It On Home" that it's easy to forget that he was only a young thirty-three years old when he died in 1964, a year after this performance was recorded.

It's my understanding that this album wasn't actually released until 1985, if I'm wrong on that, someone drop me a line and let me know. I'm only including one preview track because you've got to hear the whole thing, to really appreciate what is easily one of the greatest live albums ever made.

PLAY IT LOUD AND SHAKE WHAT YOUR MOMMA GAVE YOU!!! : )

Favorite Tracks (click to play): Bring It On Home

01. Feel It
02. Chain Gang
03. Cupid
04. Medley: It's All Right / For Sentimental Reasons
05. Twisting the Night Away
06. Somebody Have Mercy
07. Bring It On Home to Me
08. Nothing Can Change This Love
09. Having a Party

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