The South Spotlight: Dr. Spec's Optical Illusion - Tryin' To Mess My Mind/She's The One

The final day of our regional Battle of the Garage Bands for the South Region. Today we are in New Orleans, Louisiana where we get the unique-named band, Dr. Spec's Optical Illusion. This very rare record was released on the not infamous Flambeau Records in the Summer of 1967. The band had gone by the name of the Illusions but when it came time to make a record the label owner's wife and business partner changed the name on the pressing to make it sound more psychedelic. The singer, Kris Sherman, his brother, drummer Scott Sherman, guitarist Marshall Clyburn, bassist Bryce "pinky" Hatchett and organ player Rick Stelma had no idea this name change had gone down. And, apparently, their parents weren't too hip on how things went down and didn't trust the manager, James Miglaccio. Being that not all in the band were old enough to sign, some parents refused to sign the contract. That means the record never got a release beyond it's initial pressing from the plant and never made it's way into stores. Very few of these records are thought to exist today. 

Both songs, Tryin' To Mess My Mind and She's The One, were written by the Kris and Scott Sherman as well as Marshall Clyburn. Somehow they spelled Clyburn's name two different ways on either side of the record. 

Both sides are ravers in the first order. The A-side, Tryin' To Mess My Mind, is ultimately a soul number hidden under a Psych-Rock coat. I dig Pinky's bass work on this number. She's The One starts with a nice bass line and warbly guitar that hint at a slightly earlier era in garage rock. The reverb drenched organ and Kris Sherman's raging vocals put the number right back in 1967.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Songs The Yardbirds Taught Us (#1): Enrie K-Doe - A Certain Girl

We're going to spend the week going under the covers by looking at the original versions of songs that were covered by The Yardbirds. In many cases we learned of the artist or the particular song FROM The Yardbirds. In most cases, actually. 

We'll start today with Ernie K-Doe (born as Ernest Kador) of New Orleans, Louisiana. Ernest struck it big in early 1961 with the Allen Toussaint composition/production of Mother-In-Law. In October of that same year Ernie K-Doe reached his bucket into the deep, rich music well that was Allen Toussaint one more time. Toussaint produced and wrote A Certain Girl under the name of Naomi Neville and it was released by Ernest K-Doe on the great local New Orleans label, Minit Records.

The song became a staple of early Yardbirds sets and was dedicated to wax with Eric Clapton laying down a fiery lead guitar part as the Flip-Side of their amazing debut single in May of 1964. It turns out we wrote about The Yardbirds' version in 2012. You can hear their version right here. 

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Song of the Week: Irma Thomas - It's Raining

It's been a difficult week here at On The Flip-Side HQ in Boulder, Colorado. The rains have been relentless and the floods devastating. Today we have to tip our hat to nature and say "you win". Irma will be doing the hat tipping for us. Here is Irma Thomas performing It's Raining, the Flip-Side of an August, 1962 single she released for the Minit Records label out of New Orleans (that town knows something about rain, eh?). Written by a Neville Brother. 

Until next time, we'll either see you On The Flip-Side or on a life raft. Cheers and stay dry. 

Busker Days: "For a Ton of Gold" Vinnie 'Blue' De La Pruce

Vinnie, or Blue to his friends, is the first busker I recorded who relied greatly on his take. Hailing from New Orleans, he was displaced by the devastating flood of October 2005 we've come to know as Katrina. Somehow he ended up in San Francisco and he aint going back. To be precise, lately he finds himself laying down some blues right in the epicenter of SF, the Powell Street cable car turn-around. (That's right, he's street level to where I recorded the African musicians which can be heard here). Vinnie parks himself right next to the end of the line of Euro-touros eager to hop on a cable car, and maybe its because they've already endured the onslaught of mega-loud raptap dancers or the silver painted robo-mimes atop the milk cart, but these touros are mostly holding on to the green when they see Blue. He says lately money is slow and hard, the same I've heard from others. And I've watched them. Most pass by Blue, just another curiosity. I say, throw him some coin!

Blue plays a harp and sings through a combination of a small amp and a speaker phone, all powered by battery. Enjoy his minimalist blues tune, For a Ton of Gold, here.