Nearly two and a half years into this project, and it's taken me until now to feature a record on the giant Columbine label. There are a few reasons for this, but the two biggest are: First, that Columbine primarily released albums, which I don't generally sample here, and second, I'm not a fan of their typical sound, or of the singing style of most of their singers. Although Gene Marshall made some Columbine releases (under the name John Muir), they released many more records featuring Ralph Lowe, for whom the word "unctuous" could well have been coined, and Kay Weaver, who is a genuinely terrible singer.
But today's EP is worth sharing, for a couple of reasons. The main one is that the lead track, "I Have the Right", featuring Ralph Lowe, contains some lyrics which manage to be both spectacularly pedestrian AND logically baffling. The songwriter in question apparently believes that the fact that one has the ability to engage in a variety of free, open activities, which do nothing to disturb anyone or anything, means that one also is entitled to have his or her feelings returned, from the object of affection.
Seriously: because "I have the right to walk the narrowest trail" (ooh, pinch me), it follows that "you have no grounds to protest my affection, you have no grounds to hurt me"? Really?
Sing it, Ralph! Download: Ralph Lowe - I Have the Right
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Next up is the otherwise unknown Linda Bain (who is a terrible enough singer that I wonder if this isn't actually Kay Weaver), singing a piece of fluff titled "Listen to Me".
Download: Linda Bain - Listen to Me
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The first track on side two is particularly appropriate today, when there are plenty of people who believe that the world may be ending (and if you're among them, thanks so much for making the trip to my site while preparing for the end). It's a song about judgement day, titled "Oh Lord, I Am Not Worthy", sung again by Ralph Lowe:
Download: Ralph Lowe - Oh Lord, I Am Not Worthy
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The final track, "Passes By", is sung again by Marie Bain, and is notable mostly for the rhythm guitarist, who appears to be doing his best to imitate a duck with gastric distress:
Download: Marie Bain - Passes By
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