The World's Strangest Record!

JSngry · May 24, 2003

Or so claims http://home.teleport.com/~jfitz/music/oddb...allarchive.html

I don't know about "strange", but there's SOMETHING going on here, and I think I like it.

From the site, w/links to mp3 files provided

Wee Willie Shantz

Kings Bros. Trio

Hush Puppy Hush http://jfitz.laughingsquid.net/audio/oddba...shPuppyHush.mp3

Wm. Shanks ©19?? Spot Pub. B.M.I.; (mono 45rpm Mark Twain (St. Louis 18, MO.) 79568)

Coo Coo Bird http://jfitz.laughingsquid.net/audio/oddba...-CooCooBird.mp3

Sax. Leroy Harris

Wm. Shanks-H. Dixon ©19?? Spot Pub. B.M.I.; (mono 45rpm Mark Twain (St. Louis 18, MO.) 79569)

— Friends, you are in for a treat. This record is truly beyond description but I'll try. Can you imagine John Cage jamming with Negativland inside a moving boxcar full of victrolas... or perhaps an old backwoods codger, swigging mash whiskey from a facejar, has been working on these songs for 40 years and he finally got a chance to record them, but the only band he could find was a family of occultists who live at the junkyard. Anyway this record has it all -- prepared sound objects, recording manipulation, sing-speak vocal somewhere between nursery rhyme and shaman ritual, semi-aleatoric stringed instruments, and even a sublime saxophone solo.

Even the handwriting on the label tells a story. I can see the original owner writing her name on the label, and then putting the record on her turntable. After listening for about about twenty seconds, she tears the record from the player and slashes two marks on the label, to remind herself "Never play this record again!" She then stores the record in the kitchen and uses it to grate Parmesan cheese. Eventually, after the grooves loose their edge, she props open the screendoor with it. In other words, the condition of this vinyl is saddening. Add that the recording session and process were very noisy and chaotic. However, I did digitally repair the worst of the vinyl damage. Just be prepared to "eat your fried mush", OK?

If you know anything about Wee Willie Shantz and company, please contact me. I would love to learn any details.

If you know a slab of vinyl stranger than this one, please contact me, because until then, I declare this to be The World's Strangest Record!

JSngry · May 25, 2003

No takers? The things are really well put together audio-collages and wouldn't be at all out of place on SMILE, a Turtles B-side, or a Firesign moment of extremity. Pretty damn interesting if you ask me.

NOBODY'S listened? C'mon...

Claude · May 25, 2003

Tom Waits' grandfather?

Alexander · May 25, 2003

The vocalist's voice reminds me of Richard Nixon! Hey! Maybe these are part of the missing Nixon tapes! No wonder he refused to hand them over to congress.