Doin’ Their Own Damn Thing Vol. 1
Okay so a couple of short mixes for you. Doin’ Their Own Damn Thing is a collection of mostly album tracks that define themselves.
I have been thinking about doing this mix for a few years but never got around to it until now.
I have no idea what Tags to use for them. It may not be liked by everyone. But to my ears they are all utterly beautiful in their own unique way.
From the sublime Scott Fagan to the ridiculous ? . . . Perhaps, perhaps not . . . let me know what you think !
04 2018 : What Am I Doing Here?
Crying – Scott Fagan
What hasn’t already been said about this record… From the LP Scott Fagan – South Atlantic Blues released in 1968 on ATCO.
Another record I think Peter Beaver tuned me on to. A lover, collector, seller, maverick, friend – check out his masterful selections on Mixcloud.
Credo – David Amram
Taken from the 1973 album called Subway Night.
David Amram (born November 17, 1930 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA) is an American composer, musician, and writer.
He has collaborated with several artists such as Thelonious Monk, Willie Nelson, Charles Mingus, Leonard Bernstein, and Jack Kerouac.
Lazy Days – Rick Grossman
The album Hot Romance the label Thunderbolt Productions the year 1978.
This album get’s some trolling on the interweb but I love this track even with the slightly wonky vocals.
What’s Going On – Justin Rees
In 1969 Justyn Rees released How Can I Tell Them on the Xian label Prophet Records.
An absolute gem and one of the best of it’s kind. If you can’t track down the vinyl I think it’s on iTunes now…
Two Keys – Michael Dobbins
The deep baritone of Michael Dobbins from the Xian album The Seeker – a Private Press on BCC Musical Services.
Just For Today – Charles Martin
Spoken word gorgeousness from the album Desiderata.
Released on Ambassador Records the budget label of the Synthetic Plastics Company, Newark, NJ
I’d Walk a Mile for My Girl – John Angaiak
A strange ditty from the recently re-issued John Angaiak album I’m Lost In The City.
I’m Lost in the City (1971) is the sole vinyl LP offering from Yup’ik singer-songwriter, John Angaiak. Born in Nightmute, Alaska, in 1941, Angaiak began playing guitar at a young age, quickly learning the basics before serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. Stationed in Vietnam and far away from home, Angaiak forged an astute outlook on his region, his country, and the world itself. Upon his return, Angaiak enrolled in the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, where he became active in the preservation of his native language as part of the school’s Eskimo Language Workshop.
Inspired by the program’s work and a friendship with music student Stephen Halbern, Angaiak recorded I’m Lost in the City, a project that helped to document and promote the previously oral Yup’ik language into a written one through a series of songs. Each side of the album, which showcases John’s intimate vocal and guitar style, shares a part of Angaiak’s culture and history: Side One is sung in Yup’ik, while the material on Side Two is delivered in English. Both are equally emotional, deeply personal and extremely affecting.
Over 13 songs, Angaiak speaks to his community and also to the world. “Ak’a Tamaani,” for one, became a regional hit in Alaska and reached as far as Greenland where Angaiak later performed in concert. Though I’m Lost in the City garnered a small mention in industry bible Billboard, regardless of the album’s cultural value, it sold poorly outside of Alaska and other northern communities, never finding a broader audience. In addition to his work as a painter and author, Angaiak is a proud family man and a source of great knowledge of his people and the changes they have faced over the years, shifting from a subsistence hunting, fishing, and sharing lifestyle to an increasingly urban influenced cash-based existence. An important statement on indigenous life and the human condition, I’m Lost in the City showcases Angaiak’s first hand perspective on this challenging transition, something that we can all learn a great deal from.
Come on, let’s go home…
Upside Downside Up – Gulliver
Self titled LP on Rosebud Records released as late as 1980!
Huggy Bear – Dave Porter
A sort of loungey affair is this LP with moments of genius – self titled and self released from around 1975.
I have the 45 of this track as well and it’s a real different production check it out on my YouTube channel.
Lonely Place – Hamilton Camp
The album is Hamilton Camp – Here’s To You and released 1967.
Hamilton has released around 6 or 7 albums but this is the only one I own.
I love the atmosphere on this production, the flute and reverb !!!
Strange Change – Jerry Scott
The album is Chuck Senrick – Dreamin’. A Peach Production from 1976 and now going for big bucks.
The Minnesotan singer/songwriter Chuck Senrick released his only long player Dreamin’ in 1976 and privately pressed only 200 copies! His recordings, mainly created in friend’s apartments, feature Fender Rhodes and a Doncamatic rhythm machine. The beautifully obscure jazzy and soulful songs are a musical journey through the life of the 21 year old Chuck Senrick. Dreamin’ has similarities to Shuggie Otis’ Inspiration Information and is a must for fans of Michael Franks or Bob Dorrough. The LP features the soulful pearl Don’t Be So Nice. An album with an irresistible pure and minimalistic jazzy sound that needs more listeners now and in the future.
Luckily for us re-issued on Notes On A Journey – check them out
http://www.notesonajourney.com/noaj004-chucksenrick-dreamin/
A Message To Mankind – Paul Ott Carruth
A gem of an album warning us that we are ruining the planet, released in the early 1970’s.
Paul Ott Curruth is lifelong conservationist and outdoorsman. Many days and nights of his life have been spent in the tranquil enjoyment of outdoor living. He is a dedicated sportsman and a student naturalist; a self taught musician and a talented producer. This album is an original idea; conceived, engineered, written and produced by him; an idea recognized as necessary long before President Nixon’s state of the union message of 1970 awakened a nation to thought of ecology and conservation. Paul was able assisted in this production by noted ornithologist W. H. “Bill” Turcotte, who furnished many bird sounds; by Journalist-Songwriter Paul Robertson and by author, sportsman Air Force Major Ben Williams.
Just click here to be magically whisked away to my Mixcloud profile
Comments always welcome.
Music Is Love
