Carl Dobkins Jr. - Lucky Devil

It's crazy to think that it's been a year since we started posting tunes here @ the devil's music but it was last x-mas time that the devil got his mp3 turntable and was able to start posting music (vinyl only thank you). so with that in mind and with the holiday season winding down i'd like to give some thanks for my wonderful family & friends for what amounts to a pretty lucky life. It's not always easy and i can lose sight of the fact that i am indeed a lucky devil overall and i do realize it. So in honor of what i lucky devil i truly am, here is Mr. Carl Dobkins Jr. w/ Lucky Devil. This goes out to all my family & friends and mostly the JJB for putting up with me over the last year and then some....

Carl Dobkins Jr. was a purveyor of mild-mannered rock & roll similar to Johnny Tillotson or Ricky Nelson who managed four Billboard hits in 1959-60, the biggest of which was the Top Five "My Heart is an Open Book." His second-biggest hit, "Lucky Devil" (also recorded by Frank Ifield around the same time) peaked at number 25 is here for you now.

Here is the Dobkins low down:

Carl Dobkins Jr. is one of those rockabilly legends who won't quit, even decades after his last chart entry. From a number three hit in 1959 with "My Heart Is an Open Book," he maintained a decades-long career that delighted audiences for generations on both sides of the Atlantic. Dobkins was born into an Appalachian family that had transplanted themselves to Cincinnati in search of a better life. The family was filled with amateur musicians — both of his parents sang, and his mother played guitar — and at age nine Dobkins was given a ukulele by his parents. He quickly learned the instrument and moved on to the guitar, learning first the country and hillbilly songs that his family favored. While Dobkins was in high school, he started writing songs of his own and cut a demo record of two of them, which led to a meeting with disc jockey Gil Sheppard, who offered to manage Dobkins in a potential music career. Rock & roll was breaking nationally and Sheppard saw Carl Dobkins Jr. as a potential star. Thus, he became "the Teenage Rage," and began singing at local dance parties and record hops. Every record label was looking for the next Elvis Presley or Carl Perkins, and Dobkins was signed to the Cincinnati-based Fraternity Records, which released "Take Hold of My Hand" b/w "That's Why I'm Asking." It failed to chart, and he next moved to the much larger King Records for a recording session, but Sheppard sold the master to the still larger Decca Records label. Issued on Decca, "If You Don't Want My Lovin'" became a regional hit on its initial release, and did well enough to justify Decca investing more time in Dobkins. He cut his first sessions for Decca in Nashville under the aegis of Owen Bradley. The result was "My Heart Is an Open Book," Dobkins' lasting claim to immortality in the field of rockabilly. One of the better crossover records in the field, it rocked hard with a solid guitar sound and a great beat, and featured the artist backed by two of the Anita Kerr Singers. Ironically, the record took six months to take off, requiring two rounds of promotion by the label. When the smoke cleared, Dobkins was making appearances on national television behind "My Heart Is an Open Book," including Dick Clark's American Bandstand the day after his graduation from high school. He toured nationally and worked in six months of army reserve service in the infantry as well, as "My Heart Is an Open Book" soared to number three nationally in the spring of 1959, earning a gold record in its 24-week chart run. A follow-up, "Lucky Devil," reached number 25 in a 17-week run late in the year, and even "If You Don't Want My Lovin'" made it to number 67 when it was reissued nationally around the same time. Dobkins also got to number 62 the next spring with "Exclusively Yours." Carl Dobkins Jr. made all of the usual moves that a young rock & roller did in those days, going into more lyrical, romantic sounds as the public's taste for rock & roll seemed to retreat in the early '60s — by 1961, he was even cutting versions of movie themes, such as "Pretty Little Girl in the Yellow Dress" from the western The Last Sunset, starring Kirk Douglas and Rock Hudson. In all, he cut 18 singles and an LP, and remained active in the business for years, touring with Bobby Freeman, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Vee, Buddy Knox, Frankie Avalon, Jan & Dean, Frankie Ford, Freddie Cannon, and Jimmy Clanton, the Drifters, and the Crickets.
allmusic.com

Anywho, i hope a few folks enjoy and thanks to the few of you out here that continue to return here so i can justify my vinyl addiction by telling myself i am doing a service by sharing old 45's that almost no one scares about.... happy 2009 i never thought i'd live this long...

Carl Dobkins Jr. - Lucky Devil

Christmas w/ the Devil & Thor vs Satan.... Happy X-Mas Everybody!

What better way to spend Christmas than w/ the Devil....???

Also this x-mas eve my gift to you is the greatest epic battle ever fought!

The Mighty THOR verses yours truly SATAN!



Merry Christmas everybody!

Little Archie - I Am A Carpet

a few years ago i was selling 45's for "the old man" on ebay and this was one on the better ones i sold for him. I personally don't sell anything. I am a troo))) collector so when i sold this great 45 i knew someday i had to find my own copy. It took me a while but i tracked one down not too long ago and here it is for anyones cares that wants to hear a really nice and tight and funky soul 45 of the highest caliber. I certainly don't claim to be a soul expert but i know what i like and i like this!

i did a search on the interwebs for little archie but mostly came up with this; so i can't paint an accurate description of mr. little (not that anyone cares) but i have a feeling that despite being "little" and a carpet, he probably got laid a lot more than any of us...

Little Archie - I Am A Carpet

Wallace Brothers - Precious Words

Some mid week 60's soul and another one of the faves here @ the devil's music:

I usually dig my soul on the heavy & funky side of things but when i dug this little gem up a few years back i really fell in love with it. The raw emotion and feeling in this cut really hit me hard. From 1964 here are the Wallace Brothers with Precious Words.

The Wallace Brothers, who were actually cousins Ervin Wallace and Johnny Simon, started in the music business as young teenagers and were among the first black artists to record at Fame Studios. Their early recordings were raw, unpolished soul and although the production values weren't necessarily the highest, their uninhibited vocals were highlighted by that very lack of sophistication. The emotion and intensity in the tracks come through as strongly now as they did some 30 years ago when they were cut. Their later Jewel 45s were more sophisticated – classic period Muscle Shoals music – but still had that same vocal intensity.

The guys came from Atlanta, attending the Archer High School there, and if you can believe the info on the back of their only US album, by the ages of 14 and 16 respectively they were apparently on the road with their own 6-piece band, not only sharing the vocals but with Simon playing sax and Wallace trying his hand at guitar. But much of this may be marketing tosh as these "facts" are accompanied on the sleeve of a picture of 3 smiling young teenagers in tuxedos and four similar gents on the back!

Their first disc was cut locally in Atlanta for the tiny Royal concern and, as its name “Faith” implied, heavily sanctified soul. A funeral slow number featuring an organ and a meandering sax, its the young harmony vocals that grab the attention, as the uninhibited gospel phrasing very much set the tone for their subsequent recordings. It obviously caught the ear of Russell Sims in Nashville as he picked it up as part of his increasing interest in R & B. Their next 45, “Precious Words” was, if anything, even more church based than their debut, and may well have come from the same initial Atlanta session. This had good chart success and was built on by “Lover's prayer” which became their biggest 45.
http://sirshambling.com/artists/W/wallace_brothers.htm

Wallace Brothers - Precious Words

Nolan Strong and the Diablos - You Are

Nolan Strong & The Diablos were an R&B and doo-wop vocal group best know for its hit songs "The Wind" and "Mind Over Matter." The group recorded for Fortune Records, a small label in Detroit starting in the the 1950s.

Nolan Strong, the lead vocalist, had an etherially high, strong tenor voice. Strong's smooth tenor, influenced mainly by Clyde McPhatter, in turn, was a primary influence on a young Smokey Robinson.

The group formed in Detroit in 1950 and originally consisted of Strong (lead tenor), Juan Guieterriez (tenor), Willie Hunter (baritone), Quentin Eubanks (bass), and Bob "Chico" Edwards (guitar). Nolan Strong named the group the Diablos after a book he was read in high school called "El Nino Diablo." In 1954 The Diablos began recording with Fortune Records, releasing a handful of 45rpm records. By late 1956, changes were made to the Diablos line-up. Scott decided to leave the group about this time to join Hank Ballard & the Midnighters — and again the Diablos were in need of a bass. Enter Jay Johnson, who was introduced to Strong through fellow Fortune artist Andre Williams.

Their first recording for Fortune was the Devora Brown-penned "Adios My Desert Love," a cha cha-flavored tune. Nolan Strong & The Diablos biggest hit was "The Wind" (Fortune 511, 1954). "The Wind" was their only national hit, though most of the group's other hits were huge local successes in Detroit (including "Mind Over Matter," (Fortune 546, 1962) which went to #1 on local radio station playlists in 1962). Other local hits, such as "Daddy Rockin' Strong" (Fortune 516, 1955), "The Way You Dog Me Around" (Fortune 518, 1955), "If I (Could Be With You Tonight)" (Fortune 532, 1959), "Since You're Gone" (Fortune 536, 1960). The group's last few records by the were credited only to Nolan Strong, although The Diablos continued to perform on the recordings up through the final 45 rpm released by Nolan Strong in 1965.

Nolan's career tapered off after '65, rumors of Fortune Records having him locked in a unprofitable contract is a rumored reason for his lack of recordings in the late '60s and '70s. Jimmy Strong passed away January 29, 1970, at age 34. His brother Nolan would join him on February 21, 1977, at age 43. Hunter, Edwards, and Eubanks are also deceased.

Nolan Strong and the Diablos - You Are

The Devils Music: Devil Dick Mix Vol. 5 - X-Mas Beer & Doo-Wop Mix 2008

I'm sittin' here drinking from a fine mixed case of Christmas beer the lovely JJB bought and with my half an x-mas buzz put this little doo-wop mix together. It's been a few months since i did one of these little mixes and this is a perfect starter to the weekend. This is the devil's 5th such mixie:

If you dig old school, and i do mean old school doo-wop & R&B & Rock N' Roll, sink your teeth into this mix and please enjoy and drink responsibly! Don't drink & drive stay home and listen to my mix!

1. Moonglows - I've Been Your Dog
2. Spaniels - I Need Your Kisses
3. Russel Jaquet & His Orch. - After Everybody's Gone
4. Vocaleers - I Walk Alone
5. The Balintineers - Tears In My Eyes
6. Pretenders - Part Time Sweet Heart
7. Spaniels - I Lost You
8. Starlarks - Send Me A Picture, Baby!
9. The Cherokees - Brenda

The Devils Music: Devil Dick Mix Vol. 5 - X-Mas Beer & Doo-Wop Mix 2008

Bob Scott - Fast Suds

I couldn't find anything about Mr. Scott here but this 45 is a nice little guitar rocker. The R.E.F. label out of Indiana PA is a mystery too. Anyone?

I did find that he cut another 45 on R.E.F in 1960 - R.E.F. 106, with this record being 107 so i guess that dates this to 1960 or 1961. I found that info on a 45 web site that specializes in records pressed in the Ohio Valley called 45 RPM Records.com

Bob Scott - Fast Suds

Charles Bevel - Porcupine Meat - Sally B. White

Porcupine meat, too fat to eat, to lean to throw away…

Man what a cool 45 from a guy I knew nothing about until fairly recent when I found this 45 in a pile of rotten old vinyl.

Mississippi Charles Bevel, multi-media artist and lecturer began his professional career in 1973. From 1973 through 1983 he performed intermittently as a musician, including a self terminated one year stint as a recording artist on the A&M record label. During that ten year period the most meaningful of those years of Mississippi were spent performing as a duo with another songwriter/performer, Chic Streetman. They also worked as an opening act for such artists as Taj Majal, Richie Havens, Hoyt Axton; Sonny Terry and Brownie Mcghee, Doc Watson, B.B. King, Third World, Albert King, Gil Scott Heron, etc.

Not sure why he terminated his contract with A&M bit it’s a bit of a shame because these 2 tunes are pretty damn cool and I had no idea who he was until I stumbled upon this 45 a while ago. Maybe if he stuck around more folks would know who he was. Or maybe they do? Now I have to find his full length album and see if the rest is as cool as this 45…

MY EVOLUTION

An Autobiographical Sketch
by Mississippi Charles Bevel

I was born the fourteenth of seventeen children, to cotton-plantation parents in the Delta of Mississippi.

For a time covering some thirty years after my birth, in periods of one month to less than two years, I had spent time in Mississippi counties like Sunflower, Leflore, Tunica and Choctaw; on cotton plantations like Joe Perry's and Joseph Pugh's; in small towns like Wier, Itta Bena, Swifttown and Greenwood. Then it was out of Mississippi and on to big cities like Memphis, St. Louis and Cleveland. And then, on to military bases in Illinois, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Hawaii, Japan, Kwajuluen Island, Midway, Alaska and California.

Working, always working; as a cotton picker, a shoeshine, stock clerk, dishwasher, grocery clerk, aviation electronics technician, naval in-flight radio operator, electrician, steel mill laborer, television engineer and ICBM missile test technician. To all of that--the places and the jobs--there are those who can bear witness.

In May of 1968, I returned from Africa, where I had lived for three and one-half years. That three and one-half years in Monrovia, Liberia was the longest that I had ever lived in any one place in all those thirty years.

During those many years there was no one, other than myself, who could have borne witness to the artists gestating inside of me; artists barely kept alive, but who could sing, write, act, and create visual art. At thirty-one the musician was born; at forty, the writer; at forty-eight, twins, the actor and the visual artist. Giving birth to those mysterious personalities, my bumbling attempts at nursing those babies, was not only an unnerving disruption to my own life, but extremely confusing and disturbing to family and friends as well.

At sixty, there is some disquiet in my life, but hardly about death. Life has showered me with too much sweetness to leave me fretting over when death will appear to gather my bones. Any uneasiness is about the illusion of time; not enough time left to divulge my revelations; my mysteries. Not those places mentioned above or the people met along the way--the world is well acquainted with those places and faces. Sure, I've been to forty seven states and ten foreign countries. But do you really want to read another personal travelogue? How about some real biography; the feelings, the thoughts, the uncommon visions and singular experiences that we all have had but which few of us can find the courage to share. There is the powerful hope that someday through my "other children"-- those half nourished artists that I have given birth to--you will get to taste, see, hear, touch, smell, and even balance against your own, my mysteries--the real biography of Mississippi Charles Bevel.

An alone life, yes. But hardly a lonely one!

Charles Bevel - Porcupine Meat
Charles Bevel - Sally B. White

E. Rodney Jones & Larry & the Hippies Band - Right On , Right On - Chicken On Down

Ok, here is a little something to get your weekend started and something the devil really digs. Funky psychedelic tunes!

Chicago's E. Rodney Jones who later went on to be a successful dj cut this 45 with Larry? & the Hippies Band? and this 45 is right up my alley with some fuzzy funky wah-wah guitar and a real groove on right on that reeks of incense & peppermint while chicken on down is a bit more of a traditional instrumental soul cut that is still nice and breezy with a certain slow walking jazz vibe.

This is just the thing to get your mind set ready for the weekend so please enjoy.

Thanks!
dd

E. Rodney Jones & Larry & the Hippies Band - Right On , Right On
E. Rodney Jones & Larry & the Hippies Band - Chicken On Down

The Galaxies IV - Don't Lose Your Mind - Piccadilly Circus

Something to rev up your Saturday, by way of Trenton New Jersey! Some really cool psychedelic garage music by The Galaxies IV!

The Galaxies IV formed at Catholic school in Trenton in 1964. Members were T.J. Tindall on guitar, Chris Holmes on guitar and vocals, Charles Brodowicz keyboards, Len Demski bass, and Alan Fowler on drums. T.J. Tindall left the band early on when his family moved to Pennington; he eventually joined the Edison Electric Band.

The first Galaxies IV 45 was Let Me Hear You Say Yeah/ Till Then You'll Cry recorded at Regent Sound studios in New York City and released on the Veep label.

This was followed with two 45s on the Mohawk label, first Don't Let Love Look Back, and then Piccadilly Circus / I'm Goin' For Myself.

Piccadilly Circus is a version of the Rolling Stones' 2120 South Michigan Blvd, often covered by 60's bands and usually retitled (other versions include Sly Stone's Buttermilk and Thee Midniters Whittier Blvd).

Piccadilly Circus was picked up by RCA for national release with the Chris Holmes' wild original Don't Lose Your Mind on the flip.

Winning a huge battle of the bands at Lambertville Music Circus judged by Phil Spector and Cousin Brucie Morrow led to features in the NY Times and Reader's Digest.

Adding a lead vocalist, Steve Shier they changed their name to Galaxie V and then Alexander Rabbit, releasing an lp on Mercury. Afterwards, Chris Holmes took the stage name Duke Williams and led his own band throughout the '70s.
Info courtesy of garagehangover.com

The Galaxies IV - Don't Lose Your Mind
The Galaxies IV - Piccadilly Circus

Earth and Fire - Maybe Tomorrow, Maybe Tonight

Ok, once again proving that everything and anything goes, here is a really strange cut by "Earth & Fire" minus the "Wind".

This a really odd track that sounds kind of like a psychedelic ABBA! Odd pounding tribal drums over effected heavy organ sounds, wah-wah guitar and a wild guitar solo that sounds if Yngwie himself were were playing, all over this kind of syrupy sweet vocal line and chorus = strange. The even stranger thing is is that i really dig it...

Not sure what that says about me. But take a listen and tell me what you think...

i may just be out of my mind on this one....

Anywho, this was a Hit in the Netherlands where these guys and gal were from which accounts for some of the oddity here i would assume.

This hit #7 in NL and was their 7th Top 10 Hit in NL....
Started in 1967 with twin Brothers Chris (Guitar) and Gerard (Keyboards) Koerts, Hans Ziech (Bass) and Hans Kalis as a group called "Opus Gainfull" also female singer "Manuela Berloth" was in the band at this point but became sick at the beginning of 1969... They changed the name of their band to "Earth & Fire" and Jerney Kaagman was added as the new singer, who apparently is now a judge on the Dutch version of "American Idol"...

Earth and Fire - Maybe Tomorrow, Maybe Tonight

Forward To the Caves Play List 12/4/08

www.wlfr.fm


here's what were playing:

skullflower - celestial highway I-III
bloodfarmers - bullet in my head
dinosaur jr - poledo
loot - baby, come closer
robot dicks - black tank
masters apprentices - death of a king
stray - crazy
wall of voodoo - ring of fire
daisycutter - pull
the worst - i don't know / going to new york city
fatal rage - i'm appalled
social decay - banished

quintain americana - one way out
clinch mountain boys - drunkards hell
melvins - night goat
steel mill - get on the line
scab cadillac - explain this
corndog - morning of love
j.d. blackfoot - epitaph for a head
cochran brothers - open the door
bl'ast! - schools out
kanibal komix - nuerotic reaction
cynics - she fell
snakefinger - smelly tongues
the weirdos - rhythym syndrome

jonah jones - i dig chicks
daniel johnston - mind conorted
johnny horton - honky tonk hardwood floor
fats noel - ride daddy ride
marvin rainwater - so you think you got troubles
tiny bradshaw - high ballin' daddy
the stoneman family - black dog blues
rev. charlie jackson - wrapped up and tangled up in jesus
Missing Foundation - Pistol Archive
washboard sam - gonna keep my hair parted

rush - working man
fatso jetson - corn on the macabre
instant death - the enabler
gene clark - no other
sam gopal - cold embrace
freak scene - a million grains of sand
beacon st. union - my love
src - secret destination
aorta - sleep tight / cataclyptic
j.d. blackfoot - the ultimate prophecy
tomorrow - revolution
the deep - choas
blackfeather - at the mountains of madness

Johnny Fortune - Dragster

There is nothing like hot rod music. Any tune that has wheels screeching, gears shifting and engines revving has a certain place in the devil's heart and this one is no exception. This thing really cooks with some sweat rocking guitar, pumping bass and a driving beat that never quits and car sounds mixed in throughout the whole song make this a grade a checkered flag winner!

Johnny was born March 18, 1943 in Warren, Ohio. At age 12 he picked up his first guitar. At age 16 recorded recorded"Soul Surfer." It quickly became a #1 hit. He wrote it in the back seat of the car on the way to the studio.
Johny played guitar on Sam Cooke's "Chain Gang" and Barbara George's "I Know." He was offered a chance to tour England with Johnny Burnette. He had to decline because he was under age.
Johnny went on to play with such notables as: Terry Stafford, Glen Campbell, Barbara Stanton, Al "The Snake" Wilson, Jerry Hopkins, Harry Belefonte, Eddie Downs, Fabian, Ricky Nelson, Jerry Reed, Willie Nelson, Barbara Mandrell and The Drifters.
He also performed with The Rondell, The Cornells, Dick & Dee Dee, The Standells, Brian Highland, The Crystals, Freddie Wheeler & The Petersons, The Tornadoes, The Three Beats and The Blenders. Televison appearances included: "Solid Gold." "The Lloyd Thaxton Show" and "The Dinah Shore Show."
When Johnny was playing with a well known artist or unknown, he always played to enhance his musicians' performance. No venue was too big or too small. Johnny gave it his all.

Sadly Mr. Fortune died in 2006.

Johnny Fortune - Dragster

The Smith Brothers - Sinner's Dream

To Prove that anything and everything goes here at the devil's music and after a few great funky soul cuts from The Triumphs & Alvin Cash, and then some blistering heavy psych, we now switch it up even further with some fine hillbilly country gospel music with The Smith Brothers from 1953.

The Smith Brothers, Smitty and Tennessee, were born in a small town called Oneida, Tennessee into a musical family. The boys learned to sing the gospel and folk tunes that were familiar to the local folks back then. The Smith Brothers were a gospel duet team. They did numerous personal appearances in the Southern region of the United States as well as recording for Capitol records.

They were at first with the group called the Sunshine Boys.

The Smith Brothers found themselves in Hollywood for a time. During their four years, mostly with the Columbia studio, they appeared in 17 films. They were said to especially be proud of their work with Charles Starrett in the "Durango Kid" series.

But television was coming onto the scene and the brothers wanted to see what it would offer them. They heard that WSB-TV was to become Atlanta and the south's first television station. In fact, it went on the air in September 1948. The Smith Brothers made a favorable impression with the station manager and program director and became the first musical act and thus, the first "live" television show in Atlanta.

Soon, Atlanta had a new station - WAGA-TV. Smitty and Tennessee put their heads together again and thought they could have a bigger and better show. Evidently they couldn't convince the folks at WSB-TV, so they switched to WAGA-TV. They went on the air with folks such as Boots Woodall, Paul Rice and announcer Jon Farmer, doing a 75-minute daily show called "TV Ranch". The show gained immediate popularity with the fans and in 1952, the folks who read Atlanta's "TV Digest" voted "TV Ranch" their favorite local music show.

Around this time, they recorded four sides for an independent record label. The records sold well and word got back to Ken Nelson of Capitol Records who convinced them to sign a recording contract with Capitol.

Their popularity continued to gain momentum in Atlanta. WAGA-TV gave them another daily show at 5:45pm which they did alone, singing their familiar duets and gospel melodies.

A 1954 article notes that the brothers were well qualified and talented enough to play Western swing and popular music, but their real interest was in the Gospel songs.
http://www.hillbilly-music.com

The Smith Brothers - Sinner's Dream