Happy X-Mas - War Is Over (If You Want It)

Happy X-Mas to you all!

We want it!

R.I.P, John!

Holy Modal Rounders - Alleged In Their Own Time (1975)

The Holy Modal Rounders were almost the very definition of a cult act. This isn't a case of a group that would be described by such clichés as "if only they got more exposure, they would certainly reach a much wider audience." Their audience was small because their music was too strange, idiosyncratic, and at times downright dissonant for mainstream listeners to abide. What makes the Rounders unusual in this regard is that they owed primary allegiance to the world of acoustic folk -- not one that generates many difficult, arty, and abrasive performers.
"It wasn't until 1970 that we started Rounder Records but one of the reasons for the name was the Holy Modal Rounders. It was they who introduced us to Charlie Poole. Since we started, 'Rounders On Rounder' was one of the things we wanted to do the most. Another is a Ramblin' Jack Elliott record. It gets kind of confusing when both sets of Rounders are together since everybody's talking about the Rounders but it's not always clear about which set. We wanted to do a Stampfel and Weber album but Robin was there and he wrote Euphoria and was legendary, and Peter brought friend Luke Faust up and it grew and grew. Weber was kind of out of it most of the time, unfortunately. Well, it's finally here. We don't have much else to say right now, at least about this."
- The Rounder Collective

Tracklist:

01 Low Down Dog
02 Don't Seem Right
03 New Reuben's Train
04 Voodoo Queen Marie
05 Chitlin' Cookin' Time In Cheatham County
06 Nova
07 Sally In The Alley
08 She's More To Be Pitied
09 Rocky Road
10 Across The Alley From The Alamo
11 Synergy
12 Red Rocking Chair
13 Random Canyon
14 Monday Morning
15 Shoot That Turkey Buzzard


Holy Modal Rounders - Alleged In Their Own Time
(224 kbps, complete cover art inlcuded)

The New Orleans Rhythm Kings - The Cradle Of Jazz

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"The New Orleans Rhythm Kings" were a big influence on many of the white bands and musicians of the 1920s.

In 1920, Paul Mares and George Brunies were working on the Mississippi riverboat S.S. Capitol when it stopped in Davenport, Iowa, where they teamed with Leon Roppolo on clarinet. They eventually added Elmer Schobel on piano, Frank Snyder on drums, Alfred Loyacano on bass and Louis Black played banjo.

They got a gig at the Friar's Club in Chicago in 1922. At first they called themselves "The Friar's Society Orchestra", after the club the Friars Inn at 1834 Wabash Street at Van Buren in Chicago, but they changed their name to "The New Orleans Rhythm Kings" in 1923 after losing that gig.

Unlike Nick LaRocca, the leader of the "Original Dixieland Jazz Band", Paul Mares did not try to deny the African-American roots of Jazz. The New Orleans Rhythm Kings were heavily influenced by "King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band" and became the first group to put out a "racially mixed" Jazz record in 1923 with "Sobbin' Blues", featuring Jelly Roll Morton. Morton went on to record five more tunes with the band. "The New Orleans Rhythm Kings" were in existence from 1922 to 1925 when Paul Mares left the music business and went back to New Orleans to work at the family fur business. In 1934 and 1935 two recording sessions took place that revived the "New Orleans Rhythm Kings" name, but George Brunies was the only original memeber of the band to take part in the sessions.

Here´s a compilation of some of their fine recordings:

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