Posted by Bettie Wilson on December 02, 2000 at 14:51:19:
In Reply to: Re: Calling All 60s Western Maine Vinyl ! posted by Theresa PcClan on December 01, 2000 at 17:31:49:
Greetings again!
Thanks so very much to everyone who's been calling and writing with tunes, stories and contacts. You Western Mainers rock! Alvin, your Fed-Ex package arrived this morning, and we are totally blown away. The boys are in the studio having a dub frenzy even as I type. Great, groovy sounds coming through the wall! Gee, we thought we already had a lot of material, but you folks are demonstrating the old garage rock rule that it's ALWAYS just the tip of the iceberg.
To answer a few of your questions and comments...
Theresa: Wonderful to hear from you. I think you'll be thrilled by the acetate we dug up of your pop's band covering "Willy & The Hand Jive."
Willard: Please call me so we can talk to you about your Stepping Stones days! I can understand your reluctance to send your goodies out here, but I'm sure we can work something out. BTW, we do have Thee Jolly Rogers LPs, so that's covered! Isn't their song, "Incense From The Indies" a total mind-blower? How did they do that one live?
Rod: If you can't find that Troy Vernfle LP elsewhere, we found the Silver Shadows' keyboard player down in Burbank, and he's been flogging leftover copies for years, having won a ton of them in a law suit (don't ask him about it -- touchy subject, Chester found out the hard way). I'm not sure if it's the navy blue pressing though. It might be the swirly pressing.
Bob: Sorry, but Shades Of The Sixties cannot finance and release your "Portraits" project, as you are several decades out of our "beat." Maybe you should try Arf Arf Records -- they're well into eccentric outsider music. Good luck!
Barry: Loved your What story. Priceless! And yes, that is the same Cap'n Barnacle you know and fear. We've learned enough to do an album just on him, except the single is the only thing that ever made it to wax. He's almost like a Roky Erickson figure, only a lot more violent... and with that pirate thing, which seems pretty genuine. We still haven't worked out where he came from, or his real name, just that he hits land every now and then, wreaks havoc and heads back out to sea. On a "shore leave" in '65, he fell into the "Walk The Plank" session pretty much by drunken accident, but it turned out to be a big regional hit. Now believe it or don't, we've actually seen some clips from a local TV show, "Cuzzin' Claude's TV Dance Party" (including The Tillermen totally TEARING UP "Hey Joe" -- Hey Willard!) -- so we've seen for ourselves that fabled incident where Cap'n Barnacle flipped out when Claude tried to interview him after the song. Really whupped on the poor dweeb (funny thing... the crew seemed more interested in getting good shots of the bloodletting than in stopping it). He high-tailed it back out to sea and never bothered with music on his later returns. Too bad, he was kind of like a cross between Screaming Lord Sutch and Long John Silver. Really unique and powerful. Chester could tell you a lot more Cap'n Barnacle stories, even wilder, like the rumors from Amsterdam. E-mail me and I'll hook you up with him.
Oh yeah, if any of you are ever in LA, be sure to visit the Hollywood Museum of Regional Television and ask to view those "Cuzzin' Claude" clips. They're pretty chopped up, but you'll see some amazing stuff. And it's a hoot watching that goopy Claude character trying to hit on all the chicks and getting shot down cold.
Jan: I don't think we can get away with the "wee wee" story, but you had us all crying with laughter. Unbelievable. Chester just says, "There were giants in those days!"
Benjie: Stop calling me. I mean it. If you keep it up, you'll be looking at a court order.
Thanks everyone, and keep those amazing tunes and stories coming!
rockarockaroll!
Bettie Wilson
btw@shadesot60s11.com
213-555-9492
Shades Of The Sixties Records
P.O. Box 1385
Oxnard, CA 93030-1385
attn: Vol. 13