Yours Cruelly, Mrs. Suds

Well, I haven't been posting much, what with a quadrennial visit from the accreditors, and the unexpected need to replace my car as quickly as possible. Hasn't left much time to do a lot of other things. And there still isn't a lot of time now, so although I'd hoped to respond to a couple of questions today, that will have to wait until next time.

As a reward for your patience, I'm going to offer up a full song-poem album, one that is so new-to-me that I haven't actually had a chance to listen to it yet - in fact, if there are glitches here, please let me know, because I literally didn't have the time to listen to this while the file was being created, or to the file, once it was done.

With one exception.

I bought this album despite the facts that I 1.) have almost no patience for the output of the Columbine label, and 2.) very rarely find anything to enjoy in the work of Kay Weaver, who dominates this album. And the reason I did, as soon as I saw it on eBay, was the presence of the song title you see up there at the top of this post, "Yours Cruelly, Mrs. Suds". I HAD to hear what that was.

And so, here is it. It does not disappoint.The lyrics do not contain the title phrase, and are instead concerned with the narrator of the lyrics seeking a "1-1-8". My friend Stu found a reference to this phrase meaning "drunk", and that could certainly be the meaning here, judging from the remainder of the lyrics. Lee Scott, in her only vocal on the album, gives a full bodied reading of those lyrics. And oh, those lyrics. Someone is having an issue with alcohol, and it doesn't sound like the rest of his life (the lyricist is male) is going that well either. I'll let you experience the joys of this song for yourself - it's certainly one of the more esoteric song-poems I've heard in recent months. Or years. And that may well be my favorite song-poem title phrase ever.

Download: Lee Scott - Yours Cruelly, Mrs. Suds

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And now, for your edification and enjoyment, the entire album. "The Now Sounds of Today" (which is the name of virtually every Columbine album), edition CRH - 81:

Again, I have not listened to these, so you all are actually going to get the chance to enjoy this collection before I do. As was often the case, the good (?) folks at Columbine included two public domain songs that nearly everyone would know, in order to make this look like a legitimate release. Kay Weaver handles 16 of the 18 tracks, with Ralph Lowe and the aforementioned Lee Scott each handling one. Enjoy!

Download: Columbine Records: The Now Sounds of Today (CRH-81), Side One

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Download: Columbine Records: The Now Sounds of Today (CRH-81), Side Two

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A Columbine EP

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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