various artists: The World's Worst Record Show (Yuk, LP, UK, 1978)
various artists: Rock-A-Billy Boppin' (White Label 8842, LP, Holland, 1982)
various artists: Desperate Rock 'N' Roll, vol. 3 (Flame LP 003, UK, 1987)
various artists: The Bop That Never Stopped, vol. 53 (Buffalo Bop 2069, LP, Germany, 1988)
various artists: Busy Rock And Roll (White Label 8927, LP, Holland, 1988)
Pep Lester & His Pals: The Mathematical Genius Of Pep Lester (Forced Exposure 010, 2-LP, 1989)
various artists: Boppin' Hillbilly, vol. 23 (White Label 2823, LP, Holland, 1991)
various artists: Preachin' The Gospel: Holy Blues (Columbia/Legacy 46779, CD and cassette, 1991)
various artists: Desperate Rock 'N' Roll, vol. 15 (Flame 015, LP, England, 1992)
various artists: Rebel Rockabilly Rock, vol. 6 (Jim Jam 8996, LP, Holland, 1994)
various artists: Early Canadian Rockers, vol. 2 (Collector 4427, CD, Holland, 1995)
various artists: Drive-In A GoGo!, vols. 1-3 (Collectables 0656-0658, CDs, 1995)
Ellery Eskelin & Andrea Parkins: Green Bermudas (Eremite 02, CD, 1996)
Norridge Mayhams & The Blue Chips: 1936 (Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order) (Document DOCD-5488, CD, Austria, 1996)
various artists: Rock & Roll With Piano (Collector 4435, CD, Holland, 1997)
We The People: Mirror Of Our Minds (Sundazed 11056, 2-CD, 1998)
various artists: Black Secular Vocal Groups, vol. 3 (1923-1940) (Document DOCD-5604, CD, Austria, 1998)
various artists: Tzadik Radio Hour (Tzadik, CD, 1998; promo only)
various artists: Rock & Roll With Piano, vol. 4 (Collector 4455, CD, Holland, 1999)
various artists: Yeah Yeah Yeah (Cheep! Cheep! 075, CD, 1999)
The Nightcrawlers: The Little Black Egg (Big Beat CDWIKD 203, CD, UK, 2000)
various artists: Songs In The Key Of Z (Which? 2367, CD, 2000)
Claudia Ann Reame: Afraid To Love Again And Other Songs (no label, CD, 2001)
various artists: The Stafford Story (Goldmine/Soul Supply 146, CD, UK, 2001)
various artists: Rare Male Group Northern Soul, Vol. 4 (Serious Soul 20, CD, UK, 2001)
various artists: Songs In The Key Of Z, Volume 2 (Gammon, number unknown, CD, 2002)
various artists: Stompin', vol. 10 (Stompin' 310, CD, UK, release date unknown)
Ike Perry & The Lyrics: eponymous (Music City/Ohio 1001, CD, release date unknown)
Hasil Adkins
Research assistance provided by Terry Gordon /Rockin' Country Style, Michel Proost, Ellery Eskelin, John Fitzpatrick, Michael Greenberg, Claudia Ann Reame and Irwin Chusid.
A novelty collection compiled by popular English DJ Kenny Everett, which includes the Halmark release My Feet Start Tapping, written by veteran song-poet Adolph J.G. Babel. Unfamiliar with Halmark's strange song credit policies, Everett lists Babel as the singer, and for the songwriting credit patronizingly construed his name into "A. Barbell." Yuk was an imprint of K-Tel International.
Includes seven selections from the Cowtown label: Rock & Roll Fever (Cowtown 677); Thermostat Baby (700); I'm Going To Hollywood (802); Too Old To Rock And Roll (806); You Gotta Show Me (811); Bartender's Blues (819); Get With It (832).
various artists: Rock And Roll Girls (White Label 8866, LP, Holland, 1983)
various artists: Hot Boppin' Girls, vol. 7 (Supersonic 1175, LP, Germany?, 1991)
Both include Going Going Gone, by Colleen Carson with music by Sandy Stanton & The Swinging Strings (Abbey 202).
various artists: Scum Of The Earth (Part 2) (Killdozer 002, LP (also on CD), 1984)
various artists: Desperate Rock 'N' Roll, vol. 2 (Flame CD 002, UK, 1992)
various artists: Born Bad, vol. 5 (Born Bad 005, LP/CD, UK, LP: 1991, CD: 1998)
These include Kai-Ray's single I Want Some Of That, one of the greatest records ever made, from Brite Star 2267 (the flip of which, "Trashman's Blues," is listed below on this page). The song was made famous in a cover version by The Cramps. Also on the Desperate Rock 'N' Roll LP and CD are W.L. Horning's crazed Rockin & Rollin, originally released on Spin-Out. Since Spin-Out was Horning's own label, that track belongs in the vanity rather than song-poem category, but he released a song-poem version as well, by Frank Perry & The "Sweet Strings," also on Spinout (this time minus the hyphen). Additionally, Horning's "Kiss Me Baby" was comped on Desperate Rock 'N' Roll, vol. 8, but as far as we're aware that one has no song-poem relationship.
various artists: Desperate Rock 'N' Roll, vol. 6 (Flame LP 006, UK, 1988)
Both include Rock Moon Rock, by Daniel James (Allstar 7163).
Includes Teenage Party Line, by Curtis Wilson (Canary 6417).
Pep Lester was the 1980s musical alter ego of AS/PMA curator Phil Milstein. His Mathematical Genius album, a mélange of assorted nonsense some of which he doesn't even appear on, included a song-poem created from a lyric he wrote and sent to Nashville song-poem company Music City Songcrafters, checking off the "soul" box on their submission form. The resultant track, My Girlfriend Lives Like A Redneck (a parody of Half-Japanese's "My Girlfriend Lives Like A Beatnik"), might be the best thing on the album.
Includes five selections from the Fable label: I Don't Want Your Address Anymore (Fable 505); I Want To Be A Lover (507); Cincinnatti Woman (546); Knock On Wood (573); Ol' Jack Hammer Blues (584).
Includes two selections by The Blue Chips, both of which also appear on The Blue Chips collection 1936, listed below.
various artists: Elvis Mania II (Live Gold Productions 120012, CD, "Czechoslovakia," 1992)
This collection of Elvis-related novelties includes three song-poems: Rod Rogers, I Can't Decide If It's The Beatles, Elvis Or Rick (Film City 1052); The Real Pros, In Love With Elvis (Cinema 7516); and Mary Kaye, I Don't Want A Bracelet Or Diamonds, I Just Want Elvis Instead (Blue-J 3).
various artists: Wildsville! (Monsieur 1003, CD, Australia, 2000)
Both include Kai-Ray's single Trashman's Blues, from Brite Star 2267 (the flip of which, "I Want Some Of That," is listed above on this page). Revered Minnesota bashers The Trashmen took their name from this record.
various artists: Rockabilly Hoodlums, vol. 2 (Collector 4453, CD, Holland, 1999)
Both include Railroad Stomp, by Eddie Carter & The Sunset Ramblers (Preview 1506). Latter package depicts the Preview label art.
Includes Cold Feet, by Rod Barton (Rodeo Int. 315). Rodeo Int. was a legitimate Canadian label, which for some reason in 1962 or '63 snuck this song-poem recording into their release schedule.
Three CDs of recordings from Bob Quimby's central Florida studio, home of the Tropical and Carellen labels, covering sessions from 1960 to 1968. The set's documentary value is hindered by the scarcity of release information, with no songwriting credits or catalogue numbers given, but for pure listening pleasure there is a lot of fun to be found here. Despite the implication that the presented songs are sincerely groovy recordings made in a variety of '60s modes, in fact most everything on here gives off that vaguely queasy song-poemish aroma, and those who've heard other Tropical and/or Carellen releases will immediately recognize Quimby's distinctive touch. The collection is highlighted by such nutty, teen trend-oriented tracks as "Psychedelic Baby," "LSD," "Carnaby Street" and "Groovy Chick," all by The Surftones, The Earthmen's "My Girl Go-Go" and The Fastbacks' "2+2=4 On The Floor," as well as promos for the since-lost drive-in (forming the tenuous connection to the series title) flicks Daytona Beach Weekend, for which Quimby served as music director, and Hell's Playground, with The Bytel Lums' (?!) "Do You Know What It's Like" also from the latter picture. The entirety of vol. 3 plus a half-dozen numbers on vol. 2 are reserved for Johnny Red (aka Redd), a cult rockabilly star whose fans are likely to be as flummoxed by his four twist numbers (including "Turkish Twist" and "Twist Pie") and Quimbyesque sound as they are delighted by his smokin' guitar solos. Only four tracks in the series match releases previously captured in our discographies, I Lied / Marie by The Mixed Emotions (Tropical 18591/18592), and Red's I Flipped My Top / Bubble Gum (Carellen 11). All three CDs are available, at just $11 apiece, from Collectables' website: vol. 1 / vol. 2 / vol. 3.
A whomping great album by Rodd Keith's son Ellery Eskelin on tenor sax and his frequent collaborator Andrea Parkins handling sampler duties. Andrea threw at Ellery the remnants of four song-poems, including This (Rodd Keith, Preview 1436), Mary Jane Is A Woman Of The World (origin unknown) and Green Bermudas (Rodd Keith, Preview 1362), to which Ellery saxophonically responded. This album is more thoroughly documented on our Not Quite Song-Poem page. Available on-line from Eremite's website.
Just as he would in the later, self-released phase of his career, this 23-track collection of early Mayhams material finds the Troubador already engaging in a confounding hodgepodge of styles, lineups and songwriting sources. It's not often that one encounters gospel rousers back-to-back with double-entendre jass and blues with no trace of irony, but then again this is the same man who would, some 30 or so years later, flip a gospel single with a surf side, and have the Jesus track rock a lot harder. In, again, typical Mayhams fashion it is unclear which of these recordings he wrote himself (several are covers of now-familiar tunes; his version of "Let's Get Drunk And Truck," already well-known from recordings by Tampa Red and Harlem Hamfats cut earlier (?) in '36, was recorded just one day after Lil Johnson's, lending a rare aura of currency to his work without losing its usual funky stench of trend-hopping), which might feature Mayhams singing and/or playing an instrument, and which (if any) might be song-poem in origin. Tony Russell's liner notes offer about as much authority as can be gleaned from the labels of 78s, and drop the tantalizing lead that "there's also an obscure post-World War II connection between Mayhams and the saxophonist Earl Bostic." Available on-line from Roots & Rhythm.
various artists: XMas 15 From Eddie G! (no label, cassette, 1997)
For nearly two decades, Hollywood writer/producer Eddie Gorodetsky has sent out as a Christmas gift to his friends an annual compilation of his favorite Christmas recordings, selected from the hepper end of that vast and strange genre. Eddie's 15th collection included two song-poem recordings, Sonny Cash's Merry Christmas Polka and Kay Weaver's Daddy, Is Santa Really Six Foot Four?, both originally from Columbine.
Includes Early One Morning by James Arline, from Brite Star 6767.
The Florida garage band responsible for the brilliant 45s "You Burn Me Up And Down," "Mirror Of Your Mind," "My Brother, the Man" and "In The Past" had earlier, with a slightly different lineup and under the name The Offbeets, recorded some of their (non-song-poem) material for Bob Quimby's Tropical label, a song-poem/vanity/semi-legit trybrid. This collection includes two Offbeets tracks, the previously-unreleased Drivin' Me Out Of My Mind and one side of Tropical 109, She Lied. Besides sorting out We The People's complicated early history including their Quimby sessions, Jeff Jarema's liner notes discuss the band's appearance in the beach movie Daytona Beach Weekend, with which Quimby also had some involvement. Jarema quotes guitarist David Duff as recalling that "Jim Robertson, the bass player in the band, went to see this movie in a theater. He said he was so embarrassed that he wanted to hide under one of the seats!" The back cover of this album's booklet depicts portions of the label art for "Double Trouble" (one of the Offbeets other Quimby recordings) and "She Lied."
Includes four Norridge Mayhams sides released by Decca in 1938, one record credited to Norris the Troubador (in what is almost certainly the first appearance of that venerable moniker) and the other to The Hipp Catts & Norris. Available on-line from Roots & Rhythm.
Radio appearance cum promotional CD for Tzadik's catalogue, hosted by company honcho John Zorn, which includes Do The Pig (orig. Preview 1450) from the label's all-Rodd Keith compilation I Died Today. The existence of this item was revealed by a copy having been posted on eBay, where it eventually sold for nearly $40.
Includes She's My Honey by Gus Colletti, from Tin Pan Alley 213, and Rockin'-Chair Blues by Steven Ray, from Ann 102.
Includes Mama Wears The Pants a stunningly crude garage screamer by The Sophamores (Air), documented more fully our News page. What has never before been revealed is that this record, originally discovered in a pile of Air 45s generously donated to the AS/PMA by the widow of label founder Jack Curry, featured in its grooves two bizarre drop-outs, probably acquired during the mastering phase, which were digitally patched (and quite skillfully) during preparation for this compilation. While we can understand the rationale for restoring the track to its pristine state (if you can justifiably call a recording that sounds like it was made underwater "pristine"), had the choice been in our hands we probably would have the left the drop-outs intact, not for the sake of documentational purity but because we like the record better that way.
Charlie Conlon, a member of Florida's great Nightcrawlers and the writer of their brilliant one-chord epic "The Little Black Egg," also did some song-poem studio work for Bob Quimby's Tropical label. While this collection of the band's recordings does not include any of those sessions, in the liner notes Conlon tells a few anecdotes about his song-poem career, including the story of how one of his Tropical releases went to #1 on a local radio station. Available from CDNow and other on-line sources, or order directly from Ace/Big Beat.
This companion CD to Irwin Chusid's book on "outsider music" includes Virgin Child Of The Universe, an outstanding number from the renowned Halmark song factory. Still widely available; for more information see the Songs In The Key Of Z website.
Three of the four songs on this no-frills CD-R are taken from records on Hardie W. Daniel's Endeavor label. Afraid To Love Again and They Ask Me What I See In You, from Endeavor 1-203, were originally recorded with Sandy Stanton in 1977, and Your [sic] The One also appears to have emanated from Stanton's studio. Its original release, Endeavor-Panorama HD 1-200, featured Claudia duetting with Rodd Rogers on the A-side, an alternate version of "Afraid To Love Again" not included on this CD, and Rodd may be playing Chamberlin on "Your The One." The fourth song, Share Your Love With The World, is a Hardie Daniel number recorded by Claudia in collaboration with Phil Coley's song-poem studio, but the details of its original release are unknown to us. The CD is available directly from Claudia's own Web talk radio site.
This collection of "Northern soul" -- that is, upbeat American soul music adopted by habitués of dance clubs in the north of England -- includes a Rodd Keith track, Like The Lord Said (Preview 1296). We discuss both the album and the song on our Updates page (scroll to 4-4-01), and provide an MP3 of the entire track on our MP3 page.
various artists: Jesus Made Me Do It (Melbaworld TFR L 99-JMD, CD, 2001)
A collection of fucked-up Christian favorites, including Little Marcy, The Mormon Kids, and crazed evangelical gems such as The Prophet Omega, the infamous Pissed-Off Preacher, and Cousin Jimmy Swaggart fulminatin' on the Kennedys. The song-poem inclusion is Mad Danny Ashwander's The Will Of God, recorded by Keith Bradford but billed here to "artists unknown." Same version as found on I'm Just The Other Woman, MSR Madness vol. 4. Jesus Made Me Do It is available from Melbaworld.com.
A record from our discography is included on this Northern Soul comp. However, this one -- Cry Like A Baby, by The Versatiles, from Staff 210 -- may not be a song-poem record to begin with, so we'll withhold any excitement unless and until we find out that it is.
Volume 2 of Irwin Chusid's outsider music series (see above) includes Five Feet Nine And A Half Inches Tall, a Dick Kent classic (MSR 3002). (Contrast to "Is Santa Really Six Foot Four?," also above.) Still widely available; for more information see the Songs In The Key Of Z website.
various artists: Only In America, Volume 2 (Arf! Arf 092, CD, 2003)
The second installment in Erik Lindgren's series of recordings coughed up from the bowels of Weirdo America includes four song-poems. Two of these -- the backwards version of I'm Just The Other Woman (MSR LP 212) and William Howard Arpaia's cranky (in both senses of the term) Listen Mister Hat (Vandalia 106) -- can be found on other reissue compilations. But, short of scoring a copy of the original plastic, this is the only place you can hear Rodd Keith's catchy The Green Bug (Preview 1373) (which now joins "Green Bermudas" and "Green Fingernails" in the canon of emeraldish song-poems (and to those you might add the radio serial Green Hornet, which did a song-poem episode)), as well as Roger Bailey's massively pathetic Did She Break Your Heart (Air 1521) (whose handwritten notation "Jim Nabors' cousin from Birmingham, Ala" we'll let speak for itself). Other remarkable finds included in this collection are Tangela Tricoli's "Stinky Poodle," Nora Guthrie's deathless "Emily's Illness," Harry Burgess's "Chicago Policeman," Phil Phillips's "The Evil Dope," and Earl Coleman's "Hippy Heaven." The phrase "must-have" has rarely been more applicable. For ordering, consult the Arf! Arf! website.
Includes Norris The Troubadour's Rock 'N' Rollin' Honey [sic; actual title excludes the central 'N'], from Mayhams 1598 and 1958.
Ike Perry was a legitimate, if minor, itinerant performer who in the late '50s and early '60s associated his undernourished R&B and doo-wop sounds with an untold number of fly-by-night record companies. It's a bit out of place to be listing him here, since he is not known to have made any song-poem records, but among the labels for whom he did record were a couple -- Ann (which Perry himself was reportedly the owner of) and Cowtown -- which also put out song-poem records, so Perry gets swept up our dragnet along with them. Making sense of his career is not made any easier by this collection as, apart from a single label scan which reveals an "Isaac Perry" to have been the writer of "My Honey Sweet Pea," it lacks any historical or discographical information whatsoever. Although it's doubtful Perry's records exactly sparkled in their original states, the mastering of this CD has added both a sibilance to the high frequencies and a processed, metallic sound to the bottom end of many of the included tracks, the latter so prominent it sounds like an additional band member. Available on-line from Roots & Rhythm. Disparaging comments aside, "The Side Wind," "At The Party" and She's Got His Nose Wide Open are smokin' little ass-wrigglers, and don't suffer as much as some of the others from the pisspoor mastering.
You're on your own here. Many of Hasil's tracks were originally released on song-poem labels and later appeared on either a various artists or Hasil-only compilation album (or both). Although we know of no definitive, up-to-date Adkins discography to direct you to for a rundown of this information, neither are we prepared at this time to untangle the knotted web such an undertaking would present.
All design and uncredited content of this website ©2004 Phil Milstein