Pat & Lolly Vegas

Artist: Pat & Lolly Vegas

LP: Pat & Lolly Vegas at the Haunted House

Song: "Here I Go (Falling In Love Again)"
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Song: "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
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This 1965 LP by the Vegas brothers is another one of the treasures I picked up at Daybreak Records a few weeks ago. After being persuaded by Jimi Hendrix to embrace their native roots, Pat & Lolly went on to form Redbone in 1969...and the rest, as they say, is Wikipedia entry. I've just gone and picked up a truckload of foam rubber, six gallons of red food coloring, 24 white party hats and a fog machine. I'll be spending the rest of the weekend re-creating that fantastic Haunted House bandstand in the bedroom of my apartment!

[ Pat & Lolly Vegas ]

Princess Ramona and Buddy Kemp

Artist: Princess Ramona and Buddy Kemp

LP: Talk About Jesus
Song: "His Name Is Jesus"
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Song: "I've Got It Bad, That's Good" 
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Song: "A Tribute to Mom and Dad"
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As you may have guessed, I've been cleaning out my LP bins again to make more room. I was about to tell Buddy and the Princess to hit the road since their "Gospel Liner" motor home was taking up three parking spots in the religious music section. But then when I heard them perform—especially Princess Ramona's whispering in "His Name Is Jesus" and the yodeling in "A Tribute to Mom and Dad"—I decided to let them stay. Music pays the rent around here. 

I was excited that I'd found an autographed copy of Buddy and The Princess' 1978 "Talk About Jesus" LP...until I realized that all copies of this one were equally autographed by the time they left the printer. There's some interesting information about Princess Ramona and Buddy Kemp—along with links, videos, and more music—on the Clean, Nice, Quiet blog here. And if you're wondering where in the world Trail, Oregon is, you can find out here. 

[ Buddy Kemp and Princess Ramona ]

Hank Williams

Artist: Hank Williams

LP: Hank Williams Sings Kaw-Liga and Other Humorous Songs

Song: "Nobody's Lonesome For Me"
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Since I'd visited Hank Williams' grave the previous day and had also stayed in the haunted Birmingham hotel where Hank reportedly spent his last night on earth (actually, Wikipedia says Hank spent his last night at the Andrew Johnson Hotel in Knoxville, so maybe I stayed at the hotel where he spent his next-to-last night. I wonder: Can a ghost choose to haunt anyplace they want, even if it isn't where they died?) Anyway, because of all that, it seemed fortuitous that I found one of Hank's LPs at Dr. Music Records in Fairhope, Alabama, a small and super-cute town across the bay from Mobile.  "Nobody's Lonesome For Me" was initially the B-side of "Moanin' the Blues," one of three #1 singles Hank released in 1950. "Kaw-Linga," this LP's signature tune, was released in 1953—the first of Hank's two #1 singles that were released posthumously. I would have posted that one too, but the lyrics aren't really appropriate for anyplace outside of FedEx Field in Washington, DC. Extensive notes from the back of the "Kaw-Linga and Other Humorous Songs" LP are included below, and you can read all about Hank Williams (the first one) on Wikipedia here and find his discography here.

[ Hank Williams: September 17, 1923 — January 1, 1953 ]

[ Dr. Music Records — Fairhope, Alabama ]

Jorgen Ingmann

Artist: Jorgen Ingmann

LP: Apache

Song: "Pepe"

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Somehow it seems a tad less offensive when a Scandinavian person dresses up like a "ferocious-looking" Native  American chief than when folks here in the USA do it. Jørgen Ingmann took the title track of his 1961 "Apache" LP all the way to #2 on the American charts, and "Pepe," which perpetuates an entirely different set of ethnic stereotypes, peaked at #15 on the singles charts in Germany. You can read more about the life and career of guitar virtuoso Mr. Ingmann, who'll be celebrating his 87th birthday next month, on Wikipedia here.

Kay Starr

Artist: Kay Starr

LP: 7" single

Song: "Allez-Vous-En, Go Away"

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This 1953 4-track "compact album" features Kay Starr's #1 hit "Wheel of Fortune," but I actually prefer "Allez-Vous-En, Go Away." I just love it when Midwestern Americans sing in French! Born on a reservation in Dougherty, Oklahoma in 1922, Katherine Starks' father was a full-blooded Iroquois Indian. Katherine began her music career by serenading Texas chickens, which led to radio work...and the rest, as they say, is history. You can read that history  here, see Kay being honored by the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters in 2009 here, and find the official Kay Starr website here—with discography, biography, photos, and more! Kay has been married to six different men (so far), and has this to say on the topic: "I've had the best time!"

Rita "Matoka" Thielmann

Artist: Rita "Matoka" Thielmann

LP: Come On and Live!

Song: "God Speaking to You"

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After spending the night in an old motel bungalow just south of Akron, stumbling into the Football Hall of Fame parade in downtown Canton, checking out the amazing carvings of Ernest "Mooney" Warther at his museum in Dover, and then having breakfast in a large, reportedly haunted mansion, I decided to visit the paperweight museum in the quaint little town of Cambridge. Sadly, the museum isn't open on Saturdays, so I drove down the street to the Wags to Riches Thrift Shop to look for records instead.

There's lots to enjoy about this 1970 Rita "Matoka" Thielmann Christian pop record—like the groovy, organ-heavy tunes, the white knee-high boots Rita's sporting on the cover, and the cautious praise and slightly misguided liner notes and reviews on the back. For example: if Rita is indeed a genuine "Indian Princess," then why the quote marks? Dr. Paul Weaver raves—"Rita is perhaps the most exciting soloist I have heard in several years." But then again, perhaps not. Congressman Don H. Clausen says Rita "has one of the most beautiful voices I have heard in a long time." I said ONE of the most. Only composer, arranger, and reviewer Audrey Mieir seems to recognize that, despite Rita's obvious personal talent, ambition, and charm, she's just another in a long list of young and naive minority women who've ended up being taken advantage of by powerful white men. One of my favorite things about the album is how, at the very end of "God Speaking to You," it sounds like God actually reaches down, grabs Rita by the hair, and suddenly yanks her up to heaven.

 [ Wags to Riches Thrift Shop — Cambridge, OH ]

Blue Swede

Artist: Blue Swede

LP: Out of the Blue

Song: "Half-Breed"

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Somehow I find it unlikely that Swedish pop sensation Björn Skifs has ever been harassed for being half Cherokee. More likely he's been ribbed good-naturedly for providing the voice of Woody in the Swedish versions of TOY STORY and TOY STORY 2. You can find out more about Björn Skifs here, read about Blue Swede here (just lay off of their shoes), and below you'll find I've arranged the Blue Swede group member photos according to overall sex appeal—judging solely on what can be seen on the outside. Everyone knows it's what's on the inside that really counts.