Zero to 180 – Three Minute Magic

Discoveries of a Pop Music Archaeologist

Category: Columbia/Epic

45 sides +/- obscure tracks
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Curly Chalker’s Dutch-Only 45: Party Game for Steel Guitar Fanatics

Zero to 180’s summertime celebration breezes right along with this parlor game for music nerds: First, launch a new web browser and point it at 45Cat — www.45cat.com(go ahead, I’ll wait)   Next, type the name of ace steel guitarist, Curly Chalker, in the search window(and press Enter)   Curly

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"Come Back to Me"
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Streisand’s “Experimental” LP

Just for fun, find a casual fan of Barbra Streisand‘s music, and study her/his reaction closely when you play a fairly obscure track – “Come Back To Me” – for his/her virgin ears: “Come Back to Me” by Barbra Streisand (1973) Believe me, Zero to 180 is just as stunned

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"Another Woman's Man"
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Seymour Stein & King Records II

Henry Stone on Seymour Stein of Sire Records: “When I left King Records about 1956 I guess, Seymour Stein ended up interning there with Syd Nathan.  He was a young kid.  He must be about 10 years younger than me, must be about 75, or 80 by now. He fell

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"Money, Marbles and Chalk"
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King Records Meets “Big Red” – Seymour Stein (Pt. 1)

In May, 2015’s piece about Guitar Crusher, it was pointed out that Seymour Stein, along with fellow Sire Records co-founder, Richard Gottehrer, had done production work on a Columbia recording in 1967, having formed Sire Productions the year before.  As Billboard would note in its chronology of the music industry

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"Washita Love Child"
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“Washita Love Child”: Jesse Ed & Eric Whatsisname

In The World of Indigenous America, Brian Wright-McLeod writes of the “powwow style” and its influence in popular music, as exemplified by such artists as Jim Pepper, Peter DePoe, and Jesse Ed Davis: Jesse Ed Davis (Comanche-Kiowa) began his work as a leading session guitarist in the early 1960s when

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"Tonight My Baby's Coming Home"
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Top 10 Trucker Tune from ’71

Zero to 180’s previous piece about a surprisingly decent truck driving song by The Archies – “Truck Driver” – makes a pretty persuasive case for 1968 being pop’s peak for the dieselbilly artform.  1971 might be no match for 1968, however, yesterday’s featured song – “I’ve Come Awful Close” –

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"Call D. Law"
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Hank Garland: Lost Album of ’60

Fascinating that a musician of the caliber of Hank Garland (who was signed to Columbia, for cryin’ out loud) would release a companion album of sorts – Subtle Swing – to the groundbreaking (and previously discussed) Jazz Winds From a New Direction, and yet so little information to confirm its existence,

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"Devil's Dream"
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The Cherokee Cowboys: Proven Band

Thanks to the late, great Charlie Coleman for singling out Ray Price’s redoubtable backing band, The Cherokee Cowboys and their 1965 Columbia debut (and sole) release — check out Buddy Emmons’ hot jazz steel guitar solo on “Devil’s Dream,” the kick-off tune from Western Strings: “Devil’s Dream” The Cherokee Cowboys

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"Ham 'N Grits"
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“Ham ‘N Grits”: LP Track Only

Check out the opening fuzz bass lines on this tasty album selection – “Ham ‘N Grits” – that never got singled out for release on a Les Paul 45: “Ham ‘n Grits” Les Paul & Mary Ford (1963) Issued on 1963 Columbia album, Swingin’ South – and nowhere else.  Recorded in

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"Maria Magenta"
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Donovan’s Color-Your-Own Cover

Artsy-craftsy types might find connect-the-dot album covers to be a bit stultifying — where’s the creativity?  Connect these dots – and in this precise order, commands the album cover.  Sorry, I prefer to make my own decisions. One Donovan album I have had a hard time finding in second-hand shops

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