Spitball Army

So, yeah, there was a lot of junk down there in the basement.  But, also, there were some treasures (like that ViewMaster reel).

[Please notice that I used the words “also” and “there” in immediate proximity, just like Governor Palin!]

One bittersweet discovery was a cardboard box of cassette tapes that must have been in the trunk of my car at one time.  There was a Sting mix tape without even one Police song (huh!?!) and a Fats Waller mix tape (hooray for Fats!!), and four really mixed-up mix tapes titled “Fred FM,” volumes 1, 2, 4 and 6.  This was a sad discovery because the tapes themselves were humidified beyond the point of use; the inserts were quite well preserved, however.

So, in true self-absorbed fashion, I decided to turn the spotlight on my own musical tastes.  Not like that’s never happened before here.  Below, you will see the insert for the cassette tape titled “Fred FM 1.” I made it using Microsoft Publisher and some fancy color ink cartridges, on an inkjet printer that is now possibly rotting in a landfill in southeast Asia (according to the latest report from “60 Minutes“).

Now that a copy of that piece of paper has been made, I can throw the musty-smelling version away.

The first thing about the contents of Fred FM 1 that struck me was that I don’t even own half of the songs on this tape today.  Twelve and one-half years later.  That really surprised me, as I constantly feel that I – and my house – are completely overrun by CDs.  Also, this tape was made the day after my birthday, according to the date stamp.

I do not recognize some of these artists by name: Barbara Dinnerlein, Houra Aichi.  I was going to add the Brno Chamber Orchestra to that short list, but I seem to remember attending a concert by them at Samford University in the early 1990s.  I bought a compact disc at their performance, and the Biber-composed track is from that CD.  I think.

During this period of the ’90s, there were a handful of female singers that I was really into.  Rory Block was in this bunch, along with Lynn Miles, Shawn Colvin and Catie Curtis.  Curtis’ warm, folksy style always struck me as honest and kind and, after I met her one year at the City Stages Festival, I became a follower for life.  A gentler, friendlier person I have yet to meet (and that includes all of you gentle, friendly people out there that I already know!).

[audio:Catie_Curtis___Everybody_Was_Dancing.mp3]
“Everybody Was Dancing” (1996), by Catie Curtis

Ben Vaughn – he’s a crack-up.  I seem to remember that “Big House with a Yard” is about a prison but, not having a copy of that song anymore, can’t immediately verify it for you.  It’s funny to think that it is a peppy rock and roll song about living in prison.  Certainly beats a hard-core rap song on the subject.  Besides, Ben would have played it with lots of reverb and a rockabilly or skiffle beat.

Terry Evans was/is half of the singing duo of Bobby King & Terry Evans.  King & Evans provided the backing vocals for many a classic-period Ry Cooder album, and they are especially prominent on Ry’s live Show Time album.  But their albums as a duo alone never stirred the public much.  They are great fun, even without Ry on the masthead.  The Terry Evans song on this mix tape was from a project he did without Bobby King, and it suffers without that classic collaboration.  That said, I remember that there were still some good single tracks on that solo album, “In This Day and Time” being one off them.

The more I think about the contents of this mix tape, this lifetime of a pre-teenager later, the more I realize that there is some music represented on Fred FM 1 that I currently listen to with regularity and enjoy greatly. Not much, though. For example, that Show Boat cast recording with John Raitt and Barbara Cook is among the best Broadway albums I’ve heard, then and now. I don’t listen to very many, but when I reach for one, it’s generally Show Boat. The Blood Oranges’ tragically short life as a band (only two albums and one EP) is still criminally overlooked by practically everybody – if you are a fan of what has been called “No Depression” or “Alt-Country,” you owe it to yourself to track down the few recordings made by this trio. And I still look forward to new releases by classical violinist Gil Shaham. It is oddly coincidental that the track by Gil on this just-found mix tape is a piece composed by Sir Edward Elgar; Gil’s new CD, released this month, is of Elgar’s concerto for violin. Cue the eerie-coincidence music.

[audio:John_Raitt_and_Barbara_Cook___Make_Believe.mp3]
“Make Believe” from Show Boat (1962), by John Raitt & Barbara Cook

[audio:Blood_Oranges___Fire_Escape.mp3]
“Fire Escape” (1992), by Blood Oranges

[audio:Gil_Shaham___Elgar’s_La_Capricieuse.mp3]
Elgar: “La Capricieuse,” by Gil Shaham (1986)

And, of course, there is Jackson Browne, who seems to be everywhere in my life.