Wes Wilson, one of the original psychedelic rock poster artists in the late 1960s, died on January 24, 2020.
I had one of his posters when I was a teenager in the 1960s. I didn’t take good care of it and ultimately threw it out. Fortunately, I got another copy a few years ago at Wolfgang’s Vault online and framed it. See art for sale at the Vault here.
Warren Zevon’s album Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School will be 40 years old in a month. I was listening to it this afternoon. Here are some of my favorite songs on the album.
I know of Innes mostly through the Bonzo Dog Band. They mixed comedy with music that was obviously English with a rock influence. They reminded me of the Mothers of Invention.
Wes Freed has done many terrific covers for Drive-By Truckers albums and their concert posters. A new book of his art is available from his web site wesfreed.com
I must admit that I did not know much about the Flamin’ Groovies during their creative peak in the 1960s and 1970s. I only started listening to their old music in the last few years, prompted by “I’m Drowing” which made an appearance on a Rhino anthology. They were from San Francisco but they sure did not sound like other San Francisco bands like Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead. The Flamin’ Groovies were more like power pop.
Wild Honey was the Beach Boys album after Smiley Smile which had the singles “Good Vibrations” and “Heroes and Villains”. Wild Honey is less ambitious but still had two great singles – “Wild Honey” and “Darlin'” (although lyrics to “Darlin'” are clichés sometimes). I have also included their cover of Stevie Wonder’s “I Was Made to Love Her”. Carl Wilson has the lead vocal on all three songs and pushes the limits of his voice.
Pitchfork on 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow which includes the first stereo mix of Wild Honey
“U Li La Lu” by Poi Dog Pondering from 1990 has a great reference to Van Morrison:
“If I should die in a car wreck
May I have Van Morrison on my tape deck
If I should die in a car wreck
May I have Van Morrison on my tape deck”
Uncle Meat by the Mothers of Invention was released in 1969. Compared to their earlier albums, it was much more focused on music with little focus on social issues. This post includes information on the artist who did the cover and how you can get a giclée print based on it. I have also included links to several songs. “The Air” shows the influence of doo-wop which was prominent in early Mothers records. “King Kong” is more representative of the album. I saw one of their concerts in 1969 and it was largely instrumental.
Meat Light is an expanded version.
Cal Schenkel has a web site where you can purchase a giclée print based on his Uncle Meat cover. The picture is of my copy of the print.
One of my favorite Nilsson songs:
This is an excellent article on what master recordings are and a large fire that destroyed thousands of them in 2008.
Sad! 