From what was undoubtedly a tiny label, Vellez, comes an irresistible bit of hillybilly rock song-poemetry. The label slogan - "The Songs They Play Are on Vellez" - seems exceptionally unlikely, as much as I wish it had been the case. There's a lot to love in "I'd Be a Fool to Keep On Loving You", from the start stop arrangement, to Ray Phillips' vocal, to the sound of the band, to the name of the author, the fantastically named Jimmy Manship. This sounds a bit like something Country Dick Montana of the Beat Farmers might have done, if he'd been around in the '50's. I am particularly fond of the no-doubt unintended noise captured right at the end of the song, after the last drum beat.
As a bonus, here's a link to my post today at WFMU's blog, which is of another, far more ridiculous song-poem.
Play:
The flip side, "Our Tomorrow Ended Today", has charms of its own. I noticed in passing that the sound of the band, particularly the pianist, reminded me of the record I recently posted by The Allison Sisters (on the Blue Hen Label). I was amazed, then, when I went to see if this record was listed at the American Song-Poem Archives, and found that the very next record released by Vellez, in sequence after this one, was by the Allison sisters! While that Blue Hen Allison record contained originals, the Vellez record by the Allisons contained what are likely song-poems, as one of them was written by - you guessed it - Jimmy Manship. I wonder if "Strong Chords of Love", on Blue Hen, was recorded at the same sessions as this record and the Allisons' Vellez single.
As a bonus, here's a link to my post today at WFMU's blog, which is of another, far more ridiculous song-poem.
3 comments:
None of these links are working.
Oh man, finally listening to these mp3s.....that A-side is crazy! Love it! And the b-side is real nice! That's eerie about the Allison Sisters thing! The world of Song-Poems is filled with goose-bump inducing stuff like that right? Thanks for putting up this great 45!
Ala Ernest Tubb.
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