Nathaniel Mayer 1944-2008

Nathaniel Mayer, one of the greatest rock'n'roll singers of all time passed away on Oct. 31st, he was 64 years old and died after having a stroke, his second. Nathaniel, like yesterday's subject Andre Williams started out on Detroit's Fortune label where he recorded the all time classic "Village Of Love" which went top 40 in 1962 under the name of Nathaniel Mayer and the Fabulous Twilights, although I don't think there really was a Fabulous Twilights. For Fortune he cut killer sides like -- "Hurting Love" "I Had A Dream", "My Last Dance With You", "Well I Got News", "Leave Me Alone", the live garage-soul "Going Back To The Village Of Love", "I'm Not Gonna Cry", a Christmas record "Mr. Santa Claus", "A Place I Know", winding up his Fortune recording career with the super funky  "I Want Love and Affection (Not The House Of Correction)".  In all he cut nine singles and one LP for Fotune, all great. His voice always seemed on the verge of cracking, giving  him a unique sound quite unlike any other singer I can think of.

 I didn't know Nate but we had lots of mutual friends and he had suprised virtually everyone in Detroit by staging something of a comeback in recent years, recording an LP for Fat  Possum (I Just Wanna Be Held) with members of the Dirtbombs and Black Keys as well as touring. Norton two singles, one recorded in 1968--"I Don't Want No Bald Headed Woman Tellin'  Me What To Do" and a live re-make of  "Mr. Santa Claus" He's seen below performing I think in Spain. The only good story I have is from the late Cub Koda whose band the Del-Tinos were backing Nathaniel at a high school sock hop in the early sixties. At showtime Nathaniel was no where to be found, finally after checking all the bathroom stalls they found  him, Cub said it was the first time he ever saw anyone shoot up. Later, Nathaniel got into crack before cleaning up and making a comeback.  Rest in peace Nathaniel.

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Andre Williams-- Bacon Fat and other delights....

On Nov 1st Zephyr Andre Williams will be 72 years old. Or 74, or 76, or maybe 70.

Math isn't Andre's best subject. The first time I heard him was on an R&B station out of Miami when a DJ named Butterball who would come on at midnight played "Cadillac Jack" every night for a week. I bought the single, on Chess which I loved, along with it's b-side "Girdle Up". Later as I got caught the dreaded disease called record collecting I became familiar with his earlier sides on Detroit's legendary Fortune label-- "Bacon Fat", "Greasy Chicken", "Pass The Biscuits", "Andre Is M-M-Movin'", "Jailbait", "Going Down To Tia Juana" and the rest. These were life defining records, the reason why a person spends their life digging through piles of dusty old records at flea markets, junk stores, and yard sales, loses their eye sight reading auction lists. They were rock'n'roll in it's purest, greasiest, and most unadulterated form. Everything about them was perfect from the sly lyrics to the distorted guitars, the primal slop beat, the guttural saxophones. Andre became an obsession and not a week went by when I didn't spin one of his records on my radio show. In the late 80's I met Andre for the first time, this was in Miami where he had holed up briefly. He was drunk and not in the best shape. I attempted to interview him for Kicks magazine, he spent most of the evening passing out in his rum and coke.  I didn't see Andre again until the late 90's when courtesy of the folks at Norton Records Andre staged one of the greatest comebacks in history.

     History, Andre's got one, to say the least. Born in Bessemer, Alabama, probably in 1936 his family relocated to Chicago. His mother past away when he was six leaving the kids to live under a stairwell until they were taken in by various aunties. By age sixteen Andre was in Detroit where he joined his cousin Little Eddie Hurt's vocal group the 5 Dollars who had cut such classics as "So Strange" and "Doctor Baby" for the incredible Fortune label, perhaps the most unique of all the "indies". Soon Andre was leading his own group-- the Don Juans and was given top billing, his first Fortune release, or more aptly escape, was called "Put A Chain On It",
then recording the aforementioned classics records, they were too raw for the top forty, soon they were too raw for the record business in general and as the fifties became the sixties Andre was on the move.
     The sixties saw Andre hustling back and forth from Chicago where he scored big hits with the 5 Du-tones "Shake A Tail Feather" (a tune that would go on to be recorded by Ray Charles, Ike and Tina Turner and Hanson) and "Twine Time" by Alvin Cash and the Crawlers, back to Detroit where he cut some sides with the Contours for Motown (Andre would be hired and fired by Berry Gordy over twenty times), to Houston where he produced sides by Bobby Bland at Duke. He still recorded under his own name, now adapting a boog-a-loo style best exemplified by "Pearl Time" on Sport and "Sweet Little Pussycat" on Wingate. After a brief stint and some minor hits at Chess (see above) Andre hit a dry streak, broken only by Bull & the Matadors' "Funky Judge", a minor hit covered in the 70's by the J. Geils Band. By the 1980's Andre was living on the streets of Chicago, smoking crack and living the life of a derelict.
I think it was George Paulus of St. George Records who first brought Andre back into the studio to cut a CD (Norton issued a much different version of the sessions on the LP Greasy) backed by a band that featured the Pretty Things' Dick Taylor on guitar and the Eldorados on backing vocals. Andre came to New York in 1997 to promote Greasy a trip that would do Homer's Ulysses proud (he would return home many years later, after many adventures and many countries, circumcised). In what would become one of the most unlikely comebacks of the century, Andre would tour the world, using various back up groups and sometimes pick up bands, building an audience amongst hepsters who hadn't been born when "Bacon Fat" was released. This is about the time me and Andre became reacquainted. It started with Andre recording a station ID for my radio show ("anything with an antenna is important"). I began booking Andre to play in New York at the Lakeside Lounge (it started as a Camel cigarette sponsored one nighter, he ended up playing a dozen shows including a New Year's Eve blow out that was probably the only time I really had fun on a NYE). We also booked him into the Circle Bar in New Orleans (we had a great backing band for one of those shows with Mr. Quintron on organ and the Royal Pendletons' Mike Hurt on guitar). Hanging out with Andre was always a blast. Once at the Lakeside he invited his new wife (a Jewish, New York lawyer, hence the circumcision, he never bothered to divorce the first wife in Chicago) and her old aunties. Andre decided he was going to do the whole set without cursing. It got off to an auspicious start with the opening number "Pussy Stank" when on the P in "pussy", Andre's dentures came flying out of his mouth, ever the pro he caught 'em on a bounce and had 'em back in his kisser in time to come back in on the "stank".
     Once in New Orleans, at Mardis Gras time the 9th Ward Marching Band decided to make Andre it's grand marshall. I was up on the balcony over the bar when they came marching down St. Charles Ave, Andre seated on a float like a Sultan. The entire marching band, bass drums, tubas, everything, took a right turn and marched into the bar, still playing (the Circle Bar is tiny, like a half of a subway car with a 10' x 10' room off to the side). When I got downstairs they whole band was inside, still playing, marching lockstep as Andre was carried in over their heads. I've never seen him happier.
     On the day George W. Bush was elected (or whatever that was) Andre and I flew from New Orleans to New York City. First we had to stop at a liquor store to get a bottle of rum to stop his DT's (it was 8:30 am). When we got to the airport Andre dropped the bottle, leaving a pile of broken glass and Bacardi all over the floor. The bar was closed. Andre soon found the woman with the keys to the bar and sweet talked her into selling him a new bottle. On the flight 'Dre soon had made friends with everyone else on the flight. It was the only time I've ever flown that I would describe as fun. He predicted Bush would steal the election, predicted 9/11 and the war in Iraq, and predicted the financial meltdown-- eight years before it happened. This guy doesn't miss a trick. Our fellow passengers were bemused but time has proved Andre a keen observer of things and the way they work.
     For the last twelve years Andre's toured the world, gotten involved with countless women, many a third his age or less, recorded for a bewildering variety of labels including Norton (Bait & Switch is my favorite of all his post-comeback discs, Robert Quine plays on two tracks, it was one of his proudest moments), In The Red. Bloodshot, St. George, and others I can't remember. He's also seen his sixties sides re-issued by Night Train (Rib Tips and Pig Snouts is a must), and many
bootlegs of his Fortune sides (the offspring of Jack and Devora Brown, known as the "Wig Brothers" because of their ill fitting hair pieces, being too stupid to do the job themselves and unwilling to lease the stuff to those more competent than them, although before she died Devora issued an LP of Andre's stuff-- Jailbait that featured some great unreleased stuff like "Is It True" and "Tossin' & Turnin' and Burnin' All Up Inside"), leaving the field wide open to bootleggers.
     The past few years have been rough for Andre. His wife (the real one) passed on and he's been in and out of public housing and cheap flop houses. He had to quit drinking due to some serious health problems. Yet good things are happening too. Tricia Todd's documentary-- Agile, Hostile, Mobile: A Year With Andre Williams played at SXSW to great acclaim and should have a distribution deal soon. The trailer can be seen here. You can't keep a guy like Andre Williams down for long. At 72, despite the hard miles he's put on his body, he's still better looking (and better dressed) than Bill Wyman. I hope he lives to be a hundred. Friendship with Andre isn't always easy (or cheap) but I'm honored to know the guy. 
Captions for the above photos from the top:
top) Fortune Records poster that's a bit too big for my scanner. 2nd down) Note from Andre for you handwriting analysis freaks. middle) Outside the Lakeside Lounge, summer 2000 (left to right): Hal Wilner, Anita Pallenberg, Andre Williams. 2nd from bottom) Andre steals a kiss from the late Bill Pietsch. bottom)  Andre with the 5 Dollars, 1956.

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Ron Asheton- R.I.P.

It's Tues. Morning, Jan. 6th, 10 AM NYC time. I just got word from my friend Michelle in Michigan that the great Ron Asheton passed away. Age 60. I'm in total shock. I'm reposting my Oct. Stooges posting because it's got some rare photos and rare tunes. One thing I mixed up back in Oct.  In the bottom photo it's Bill Cheetam on the far left, Zeke Zettner second from left.  Give a listen to the two takes of Jr. Kimbrough's You Better Run posted below.  Pull out the Funhouse box.  He changed the world with three chords and a maltese cross.  R.I.P.



     Halloween marks the forty first anniversary of the first Stooges show. As unlikely as it would have sounded at the time of their first show, they're still out there and despite a 29 year sabbatical, still the best rock'n'roll band on the road.

     Rock'n'roll re-unions, at best are disappointing (the Velvet Underground), and usually just plain suck (the Byrds, New York Dolls), but the Stooges are always the exception to the rule, Hell, I've seen 'em three times since they've reformed and they were no less than great each time. Who would have imagined it? Hearing them on TV commercials doesn't bother me, I don't begrudge 'em a cent, hell Ray Charles, Bo Diddley, Little Richard and Jimmy Reed all did commercials. Good enough for Jimmy Reed, good enough for anybody.  I even like the Stooges last LP The Weirdness which nobody likes, but nobody ever likes their albums until they're twenty years old. There's not much left to say about the Stooges, but here's some rare sounds and pics for you. First off are two takes of Junior Kimbrough's "You Better Run" recorded for a tribute to Junior Kimbrough LP (which I've never seen, was it even released?). First one is here and the second take is here. Iggy really sounds like he's having fun, especially on the spoken part which he copies from Kimbrough's original verbatim.

     If you missed the Funhouse Sessions seven CD box you really missed something great. I bought three copies but gave two of 'em away. From the first session for that classic disc here's the very first take of "Down On The Street" and here's the first take of" Funhouse". There's more than twenty takes of some tunes, even two takes of "LA Blues". How did they decide which one was the keeper? Even the studio chatter is interesting.  The box is worth killing for in my opinion. It's nice to have the whole mess on the hard drive so the various takes show up when I leave the box on shuffle. I'm constantly getting up to check the computer screen-- "Loose take 17", gotta remember that one", then I forget which take it was and what was different it. The weird thing about the box is that since Ron overdubbed a second guitar part on the first three tunes, we never actually here the issued versions of "Down On The Street", "Loose" and "TV Eye". The issued takes are present but without the overdubs.

More Stooges tidbits-- The first LP has been re-issued with the John Cale mix thrown in as bonus tracks. Iggy's mix is better but it's fun to hear. I'll post some of those tunes some day. Speaking of mixes, Sundazed has re-issued the 45 version of "Search & Destroy" b/w "Penetration" which is still the best mix. I hated Iggy's remix of Raw Power (at least one band member whom I leave nameless agrees with me), all he did was remove the effects from Williamson's guitar and make his own voice louder (and let the fades play through to the endings). I thought the one thing Bowie got right were the vocals and guitars, all Raw Power needed was for the bass and drums to be turned up. So you still need your old vinyl copy. The bass and drums are audible on the WABX tapes but the sound quality on those bootlegs are so lousy I can't recommend 'em.  

Paul Trynka's bio Iggy: Open Up and Bleed (Broadway Books, 2007) is a hoot and well worth reading. Much better than Joe Ambrose's awful bio (the first edition of which was pulled from the market due to plagiarism, he literally stole about 1/3rd of it from Please Kill Me, uncredited). Ambrose hates Funhouse, so why bother writing an Iggy bio? He's practically illiterate, did none of his own research and has awful taste in music. It may be the lamest book ever published about a major musical figure, and that's saying something. Trynka's book however is extremely well researched and full of fun gossip, my favorite parts are Iggy's crazy sabbatical in Haiti, and the entire story of the recording of New Values (Williamson producing at gunpoint!).

The video clip of course is from the tv show Midsummer's Night Rock which aired in 1970. I saw it then, at age 11, and it was a galvanizing, life changing moment. It took a couple of years to track down their first two  LP's (which I eventually got for .39 cents in a department store bargin bin along with the first Mc5 album) but from

that first glimpse of them on TV I knew the Stooges were what rock'n'roll was all about.

The two above photos show the Stooges in odd line ups. The top photo is the Stooges in '71 with James Williamson (center) and Jimmy Recca (second from left) added to the band on guitar and bass respectively. Recca would later play with Ron Asheton in a band called New Order (not the English disco group). Williamson (who came into the Stooges from a band called the Chosen Few with a detour to reform school in between) would make a power play and force Asheton to bass when they reformed the band in '72. The bottom photo shows the group in late 1970 with members of the road crew, the late Zeke Zetner and Bill Cheetam in the line up. I'm not sure which one played guitar and which one played bass but Zetner is on the far left, Cheetam second from left. Since my wife got the photo framed before I could make a copy I re-shot it through the frame. We have another photo from the same session that's not framed that I may post some day. Since we seem to have the only copies of these photos that exist if you use them without permission I'll know where you stole 'em from.

Back in the early 70's in wasn't so much that the Stooges were unknown so much as they were utterly hated. If you met another Stooges fan back then chances are you'd be friends for life. Most of my oldest friends were people I bonded with over the Stooges.

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Halloween part one

Halloween, like everything else in this city used to be a lot more fun. There were always parties, like the one I saw Steven Kramer (the first artist to show at the Fun Gallery and later a member of the Contortions) fall off a window ledge while doing the old soft shoe-- he landed on the roof of an abandoned building several stories below having shattered both legs and his face. There were great gigs-- usually Iggy or the Cramps played (one year they did a double bill together at the old Academy Of Music, in the same building that housed Julians Pool Hall, now torn down to make way for NYU dorms that look like they were designed in post-WWII Eastern Bloc style)
Take the Halloween parade for example. When it started out it was just a bunch of crazy drag queens on acid. It had no set route, it would wind through the through the streets of the West Village, stopping at bars and bodegas for booze, going every which way until the paraders were to drunk to walk and then kind of peter out. Now it's run by the city, a million mall refugees from the suburbs show up pushing their $2500 baby strollers violently through the crowd, yelling into their cell phones trying to find each other. The parade itself goes straight up Sixth Ave. and is full of smarmy politicians smiling their greasy smiles (there's an election coming up!) and the streets are full of cops just waiting to bust heads. Pop open a beer can and you're hauled off to the pokey. Not much fun at all, just another reason to stay in an watch TV. I stopped going out on Halloween in the early 90's, usually leaving town for New Orleans where they still knew how to throw a good party-- but we know what happened to New Orleans.

Having spent a good portion of my life hanging out on the stoops of New York City I still find it a thrill to own my very own stoop. And despite it all, I still love the idea of Halloween. So my wife decided to combine the two, and now for the sixth year we will spend Halloween sitting on our stoop as I watch my wife and friends give out ridiculously overstuffed bags of Halloween treats. The above photos are from last year.

Halloween past has also produced some great records. Good rock'n'roll thrives on novelty, and Halloween being an ancient pagan ceremony probably has the same roots as rock'n'roll so they go great together. Here's a few favorite Halloween discs for your pleasure.

First some great guitar instrumentals with a Halloween theme:

the Cre-Shells- Dracula

the Shades- Strollin' After Dark

the Phantom 5- Graveyard

the Ventures- The Bat (notice the similarity to the Frantics' Werewolf)

on the R&B side, here's an odd one-- Bill Dogget's Monster Bash

Now here's Bo Diddley's rarest single, and the only one I don't own an original copy of (anyone got a 45 or 78 to sell or trade):

Bo Meets The Monster

like all of Bo's Checker sides, it's great. On the rockabilly shelf, I've always loved this one by Jackie Morningstar-- Rockin' In The Graveyard

and also this here one- Rod Willis' The Cat.

Good one, no?

Brian Walker's Trick Or Treat is a peculiar disc, he truly sounds insane. Speaking of insane, it wouldn't be Halloween without Hasil Adkins, here's his version of Haunted House.

Another guy who like the Haze, I had out to my old WFMU radio show was Jack Starr who not only cut great rockabilly and garage records but made his own horror movies, now sadly lost. Here's one that has aspects of all three--Halloween Party.

Some more great records-- Freddie & the Hitchhikers-- Sinners is one of that rare genre, rockabilly records with theramin on them. Another must for your Halloween bash is Gary Warren's classic Werewolf. A good doo-wop side is the Symbols- Do The Zombie.

Must not forget Screamin' Jay Hawkins. This one has one of the best lyrics of all time-- "I long so much to be/the way I was before I was me". It's called I Hear Voices.

One last record, a bit corny but not without charm-- Casper & the Ghosts' Rockin' Round The Tombstone.

I guess the above photos need some captions so I'll put 'em here.
Top- Screamin' Jay Hawkins, not sure who took this one. 2nd from top: Cute kids from down the block. 3rd down: Danny Fields and Legs McNeil man the treats basket. 4th down: Legs compares costumes with Space Kid. Bottom: Tyke with Slut costume and friends.

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TV Movie alert!

I wanted to mention some stuff I overlooked on my Oct. 1st posting about Turner Classic Movies. Set your timers, tonight TCM is showing a Tod Browning double feature (see older posts: Oct 1st for a nice snapshot of Browning and pals). Midnight tonight (or 12 AM Monday EST) is The Blackbird (1926)with Lon Chaney, which I've never seen. Following that at 1:30 AM Monday is The Unknown (1927) with Chaney and Joan Crawford in one of her first roles. Like many of Browning's best films it's set in a carnival side show and is both twisted and beautiful. Chaney plays an armless knife thrower. It's one of my favorites. If you're still up at 2:30 AM you can catch Carl Theodor Dreyer's Vampyr (1932) a beautiful, atmospheric vampire flick that's not quite as good as Nosferatu but well worth watching. Two Boris Karloff vehicles follow that with  Roy Williams Nell's The Black Room (1935) at 3:45 and Nick Grinde's Before I Hang  (1940) at 5 AM.  The latter is  particularly good. That's five in a row!   Nice work who ever is programming this trash. It's a great way to get in the Halloween spirit. Tivo (or DVR or whatever the hell your cable company calls it) really does make life easier. 

I'll be posting some Halloween theme rock'n'roll and R&B tunes this week so be sure and check back.

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