Juke Box Jury

The real story of rock & roll is recorded on singles, as anyone who tries to put together a decent collection soon discovers. The best R&R of the 50s came out on small independent labels because the majors were in a total fog when it came to understanding what this music was about, and few of these independents could afford to issue albums, even in the wake of a hit single. In the 60s there were few independents left but the majors still had little confidence in their rock artists and frequently decided against releasing all sorts of material, even when top groups were involved. Thus a fan of the Who, the Kinks, the Yardbirds or the Stones could never hope to get all the recordings of these groups without collecting a large stack of singles. In the 60s a hit single was always followed by an album, the not-so-big singles were as often left off.

Nowadays 45’s are practically superfluous. Any group that can stay together long enough to rehearse one song is snapped up by one of the big companies, and we are soon treated to an album from which hit singles will later be released. The remaining independent companies scrabble after the groups that are too lousy to land a decent contract, and the results are rarely worth listening to. There would seem to be little reason for anybody to listen to singles anymore.

But there are occasional exceptions, and these exceptions will be covered in this column as often as I can get together a good pile of them.

“TELL ME YOU LOVE ME”/“WILL YOU GO ALL THE WAY FOR THE USA?” BY FRANK ZAPPA -BIZARRE REPRISE 0967

Ever since he disbanded the Mothers last year to “give the public a chance to catch up” to his “advanced ideas”, Zappa has only proven that his true creativity ran out some time between We’re Only In It For the Money and Lumpy Gravy, and that everything since then has been a welter of rehashed ideas and increasingly irrelevant satire. “Tell Me You Love Me”, possibly an attempt to pander to what he considers the 9-year-old taste of the rock audience, is merely an ugly song. The other side is an embarrassingly childish put down of some guy who goes to a USO dance. I could understand if Zappa were satirizing the hippie teenagers who think they’re better than everyone else because they have long hair, but I’m afraid that’s a little ... advanced ... for Frank. Both sides are utterly uninteresting, musically, just about as, uninteresting as Frank Zappa’s philosophy at this point.

“SOOKIE SOOKIE”/‘‘SOUL STIRRER” BY DAN COVAY & THE JEFFERSON LEMON BLUES BAND ■/' ATLANTIC 45-2742

This disc, produced by Steve Cropper, makes Steppenwolfs hit version look so lame it’s pitiful. The band lays down a simple, solid bottom, and everything else from Covay’s singing to the inevitable horn section is conducted with a restraint that’s thoroughly refreshing. Good show, boys! The other remarkable thing about this record is that it’s the first time I’ve seen a soul singer allow his name to be connected in any way with a “blues band”. The dropping of such intramural prejudices is a welcome sign indeed.

“TOMMOROW NEVER KNOWS”/“LADY MADONNA” BY JUNION PARKER - CAPITOL P-2951

The album is already out, but in case you missed it you should be aware that Junior Parker is getting really desperate.

A respected blues and R&B artist since the early 50s when he started out on Duke Records, he’s now with Capitol, and has apparently been reduced to pursuing a formula that failed even Fats Domino. The absurdity of Junior Parker singing “Tomorrow Never Knows” is happily not borne out by the recording, which features a moody vocal over a simple guitar line, but the incongruity of it is still glaring. Junior brings to “Lady Madonna” none of the charm that Fats did, and altogether this record, his first for the company, proves once again that Capitol Records knows nothing at all about producing its artists.

“ HAVE YOU SEEN MY BABY”/ “MAKE ME BELONG TO YOU” BY FATS DOMINO - REPRISE 0891 ‘‘NEW ORLEANS AIN’T THE SAME”/“SWEET PATOOTIE” BY FATS DOMINO - REPRISE 0944

Speaking of Fats, he’s about due for a new album. Since Fats Is Back, a critical if not a popular success, Reprise has released several new singles by The Fat Man, all of them fine, if anything better than the stuff on the album. The first, produced by Richard Perry, has a Randy Newman song on the A side, and F ats handles it beautifully. As the album demonstrated, Fats Domino has a new style, thanks to Perry, that successfully modernizes his sound without compromising the relaxed, good-natured feeling he radiated so well in the 50s. These 4 sides show he can maintain his sound without compromising the relaxed, good-natured feeling he ratiated so well in the 50s. These four sides show he can maintain his level of quality, for there’s not a poor cut among them. Somewhere between 0891 and 0944 Perry was replaced by Fred Smith, but Domino’s sound hasn’t changed noticably. Though marred by the addition of strings, “New Orleans Ain’t i the Same” is an ace song, reminiscent of the numbers Dave Bartholemew used to write for Fats. “Sweet Patootie” is a bit cute, but it’ll sound good on an album. I think there’s a couple more new Domino singles floating around, so there’s no excuse not to put together an album. If they like, I’ll be, glad to send Reprise a list of groups they can do without a new album by, if only they’ll give Fats another chance.

“EIGHTEEN”/“BODY” BY ALICE COOPER - WARNER BROS. 7449

Well, this is the best I’ve heard from Alice Cooper in a long while. Alice makes no secret of his admiration for Iggy Stooge, and “Eighteen” is built on a basic Stooge theme. “Well I’m 18 and Pm so confused/Eighteen and I dunno what to do”. This message of universal adolescent frustration is screamed over a raw, electric blast from the band, again ala the Stooges. On the flip side our teenager can be found trying to come to terms with his body . . . not as interesting musically, but maybe you can get behind the lyrics as you dance cheek-to-cheek with your steady girl.

“HIPPIE FROM OLEMA”/“MISTY ROSES” BY THE YOUNGBLOODS -WARNER BROS. 7445

No record in recent months has generated as much self-righteous posturing on all sides as Merle Haggard’s “Okie From Muskogee”. None of the parodies has captured the feelings of the young as effectively as Merle expressed

the mood of his contituents, and none has shown half the musicianship of the Strangers. Big Brother’s “I’ll Change Your Flat Tire, Merle” at least exhibits a sense of humor and tolerance, but the Youngbloods fall flat as they try to champion the lazy, stoned life of a Marin County hippie. Olema, a very small town a few miles down the road from where I live, supports a couple of hundred very old citizens, some of whom were pioneers when this land was all wilderness. The town church and many of the fine old houses were built by hand before the turn of the century, The Youngbloods, who moved in recently along with a crew of affluent dope dealers, have no roots there or anywhere, and if they’re really proud to be “hippies” I feel sorry for them.

“QUEEN SWEET DREAMS”/“TOTAL DESTRUCTION” BY STONEGROUND - WARNER BROS. 7452

Stoneground is Tom Donahue’s new discovery. In the past, he’s produced Bobby Freeman, the Beau Brummels, and Sly Stewart, among many others. This group is so good he reportedly sold them to Warners for $200,000. Sal Valentino, formerly of the Brummels, sings lead over a tough, rocking backup. The plug side, his own composition, is a real knockout. It’s not £ totally new sound — they remind me of C.J. & the Fish at times — but it’s a solid, commercial sound that should place Stoneground right up there at the top. “Total Destruction” (Swamp Dogg’s song) is an atrocity, completely unsuited to Valentine’s voice. I’m still waiting to hear “Spanish Harlem Incident.”

“I AM THE HUNTER”/“WARWICK COURT AFFAIR” BY SHADOWS OF KNIGHT - ATCO 45-6776

Some things never change. You’d think a group that imitated Them four years ago would be into imitating Van Morrison or something now, but not so with Shadows of Knight. After all this time they haven’t changed, probably the only group still into that gross, hard-edge punk sound now that Paul & the Raiders have gone soft and all those great San Jose groups like the Standells, the Chocolate Watchband and Count Five have disbanded. It’s little things like finding this record that make living in 1971 tolerable.