American Heritage Brands- Timeless Style and Function in Yer Face!

We don't make a lot of things in this country anymore. Big corporations discovered long ago that it was cheaper to move operations to countries like Korea and China, where workers are paid peanuts(sometimes literally, I'd imagine)and working conditions are not supportive of healthy human life. The fact that this takes jobs away from U.S. citizens, exploits workers from other lands, hurts the U.S. economy in the long run, and reduces the quality of their product does not ever seem to have phased these people, when there was more money to be made. More, more, more. More to the point of gluttony, more to the point of over saturation. That is how most modern business men have interpreted the American Dream.

But it wasn't always that way, was it? America, this great rugged land of ours, was once a place of innovation, and quality, and pride. Pull up a chair, crack open a beer and let me tell you about some cool-ass stuff you can still get made here in North America that isn't (always) mass produced cookie cutter crap.

SCHOTT LEATHERS, NYC
Irving Schott was the son of Russian immigrants. In the early 1900's, he started working in pattern making for various clothing manufacturers in NYC. In 1913, he and his brother Jack decided to open their own factory and leather company in a run down basement in the slum that was then Manhattan's lower east side. Schott Bros first product was a sheepskin lined raincoat, which they sold by literally going door to door. They started attaching their fancy new "Perfecto"label to their finest coats. The label itself was inspired by the logo on boxes of Irving's favorite cigars.
Irving and Jack were not bikers or car racers, in fact Irving never even learned to drive. Motorcycles were brand new technology in the early 1900's, but the name Schott would become forever tied to images of bikers, punk rockers, outlaws, rockabillies, and daredevils. Irving had a friend, who was part of the Beck family, who had become one of the nation's largest distributors of Harley Davidson products.At the time, since the motorcycle was a new invention, there was no clothing made for riding specifically. At Beck's behest, Irving and Jack began to make rough, thick leather jackets for cyclists, with a zipper (zippers were also brand new tech at the time) on one side of the jacket, rather than down the middle, to make it easier for riders to unzip the jacket with one hand while steering with the other. Irving was the first person to put a zipper on a commercially available piece of clothing.
In 1928, the garment that we now universally recognize as the motorcycle jacket was officially born. The Schott Perfecto. It cost $5.50 then, and will now run you around $600.
Over the years, the Perfecto has become an icon. Marlon Brando, James Dean, Sid Vicious, the Clash, the Sex Pistols, Bruce Springsteen, the Stray Cats, the Ramones...the list of icons who have famously donned a Schott Perfecto is long and star studded. The list of companies who copy the Perfecto is five times as long as that. I've had many of the copies, and now that I own the real thing (I have a Perfecto that was produced between 1968 and 1970, and I found it in a vintage store for a very reasonable price. And you can, too!) I can tell you that there is nothing like a real Schott. Save up for one, it is worth it.
MOST (but not all) Schott leather jackets are still made in America (and the somewhat shockingly high price reflects that), they are still made from hand cut pieces of leather, and the machines used to put them together are run by human beings. They are the same machines from the old Schott factory, dating back to the turn of the (19th-20th) century. Yes, they are beyond the reach of most people financially. As I said though, you can find gorgeously broken in used ones on eBay and in thrift stores. Sometimes these can be had for around $200.My Schott Perfecto is magical. I found it by accident, it's around the same age as I am, it fits perfectly, and I got it for under $250. Get a Schott, I'm telling you. Just get one.

At Right: Here's the author and his beloved late '60s/early '70s Perfecto. I don't ride bikes, but I do fall down a lot.

LEVIS JEANS, SAN FRANCISO- Still an Icon
In the early 1990's, when the Clash's "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" appeared in a UK TV advert for Levi's jeans, a lot of old punks bristled at the inclusion of a tune by one of the iconic anti-establishment punk bands in a commercial selling blue jeans. This was kind of silly, of course, because the Clash were signed to one of the biggest corporations in the world (CBS/Sony) and had always ridden the line between selling out and rebelling, like all "rebel" bands do once they get big. Mick Jones, the Clash's guitarist and one of my fave people ever, simply had this to say about the furor: "Everybody's got a pair of Levi's. They're alright."
Alright, indeed.
Levi Strauss invented the bluejean in the late 1800s. Again, like the Schott company, it was a family affair, run by Levi and his two brothers, all Bavarian immigrants. Along with Jacob Davis, they introduced the Levis bluejean, which would become known (after several design mutations) as the 501, in 1890. As most people know this story, I'm not gonna waste time by repeating more detail. Instead here is a fantastic video about Levi's history and a very pleasant-seeming woman who has the coolest job in the world.



Levi's, of course, does not produce the bulk of it's product in the USA anymore, to keep costs down. You can buy some very expensive Historic Collection garments (the 1954 501 jean, etc) which painstakingly replicate the historic designs of the past that are made in the USA. These cost two to three times what you would pay for a foreign made pair of Levi's. However, my suggestion is that you do as I do: seek out the garments made in Levi's factory in Mexico. It's still North America, from what I can tell workers are treated fairly, and the product is always of far greater quality than the ones produced elsewhere. Just look inside the jeans for an origin tag, which should say "Made In Mexico", or "Product Of Mexico". Like Fender Guitars' Mexican operation, Levi's Mexico produces higher quality product at a very reasonable price.

THOROGOOD BOOTS, MILWAUKEE- Tough, Stylish, Reasonably Priced, and made in the USA.

Thorogood boots have been made in Wisconsin since 1918 by the Weinbrenner company, which was started in the late 1800's by Albert Weinbrenner, the son of a German immigrant who had a shoe repair business in Milwaukee. During WW2, the factory, by then very successful, dedicated 100% of it's production to the military effort. If you see an old pic of US soldiers in the 40s, chances are they are wearing Thorogood boots. Like the Schott Perfecto and the Levi's 501XX, the basic designs of the boots have changed very little over the years. They are still made in America, they are not as expensive as their biggest (and trendiest) competitor (Red Wing), and the quality is very, very high. These are tough, cool looking, working class boots. Wear them to work, wear them to school, wear them to the punk show, just wear them. Thorogood does make more modern designs, but for my money it's the American Heritage Series that does the trick.

Where a pair of Red Wings will cost you $200.-$300, a very similar pair of Thorogoods will cost you around $150, maybe less if you luck out on eBay. The quality is undeniably the same, but Red Wing has become a trendy name in hipster fashion, where Thorogood is still known mostly to people who need work boots, and people who really like work boots, like me and you, buddy! Comparing with the great guitar companies, if Red Wing is Gibson, and Wolverine is Fender, then Thorogood is probably G&L. If that helps you.
Sadly, I do not own a pair of these beauties yet, but they are most definitely on the ol' Xmas list. Here's a pic of some douchebag who has the boots I want.

GIBSON GUITARS, KALAMAZOO- An Icon Gone Horribly Wrong

The story of Gibson is very similar to the story of Schott, Thorogood, and Levi's. Immigrant comes to America. Forms company that boasts a combination of high quality craftsmanship and innovation. Product becomes wildly popular and changes first American culture, then the world. The difference is, today in 2014/2015, I cannot recommend that you buy a Gibson. In fact, with a few exceptions, I would not advise you to buy a Gibson made after 2005.
Orville Gibson began selling instruments out of his small workshop in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1894. Word got around about the quality of the instruments, especially in the musical hotbeds of Detroit and Chicago, which were both fairly close by. Orville died in 1918, but the company grew and grew. In 1944 it was sold to Chicago Musical Instruments. Gibson was responsible for the first hollow body electric guitar, popularized by Jazz guitar great Charlie Christian. The innovations kept coming, with the birth of the Les Paul line of guitars in the early 1950s, then as the 1950s progressed into the 1960s, the ES-335, the Flying V, the Explorer, the Firebird, the SG and more exploded out of Gibson's Kalamazoo factory and into the hands of famous and working class musicians alike, who used these rock solid slabs of mahogany to change pop culture, and the world.

Between 1974 and 1984, production was slowly moved from Kalamazoo, Michigan to Nashville, Tennessee. Some people will tell you that this was the beginning of the end, and I agree. However, everyone seems to draw the line at a different place, and I think that the company still continued to make amazing guitars up until very recently.
Recent years have seen Gibson make some very public, and very stupid mistakes. From suing every small guitar company (and some large ones, too) whose guitars had even a slight resemblance to 60 year old Gibson designs, to being raided by the feds for using illegal and endangered woods, to raising prices to absurd levels, to letting quality drop to an unprecedented low, Gibson has been pissing on it's legend for years now. The most recent development is their policies regarding their 2015 line of products. There is an overall price hike, again (whereas Fender's prices have held steady for several years now), and they've announced that ALL Gibson guitars from 2015 onwards will be fitted with the company's latest unnecessary and ridiculous "innovation", the "Robot Tuner" system. This is a strange, awkward looking box mounted to the back of the headstock that tunes the guitar for you, so you don't have to. This piece of crap, which has inspired very little besides derision since it's introduction a couple of years ago, will now be on every guitar Gibson makes, whether you want it or not. In fact, if you don't want it, you'll have to take it to a tech to get it removed, like a mole on your ass. Gibson's 2014 is full of charmless, ugly, and overpriced guitars, and it's 2015 line, while showing a slight return to more traditional designs, is ruined by the "Robot Tuner" fiasco. If the company's decidedly non-rock'n'roll CEOs and owners would recognize that musicians WANT the elegance of Gibson's traditional designs, and stop trying to re-invent the wheel with absurd gizmos and dubiously "fresh" re-designs, I think they'd win our trust back after a couple of years. They'd also need to lower prices, but hey,one step at a time, man.
A lot of people have pointed to 2005 as a loose point in time where quality went to shit, and some would say it was much earlier than that. I can only tell you that I have two Gibsons that I dearly love, pictured below. On the right is my 2003 Melody Maker Junior, also sometimes referred to as the Melody Maker P-90. It's a Melody Maker body and neck with Les Paul Junior pickup and electronics. It's got a thick, chunky "baseball bat" 1950's style neck that feels great. I added a Bigsby to it a few years back, and it is just a fabulous guitar. It was made in Nashville, Tennessee and oozes mojo. A lot of people hated the "satin" or "faded" finishes that Gibson introduced as a cost-cutting method in the late '90s/early 2000s, but I love the way it looks and feels on this guitar. On the left, I have an "SG Junior 60's" model from 2012. While most recent Gibsons I've played have been shoddy to various degrees, I really lucked out with this one. It's design is a combo of a few different 60's era SG designs. It's got a larger late 60s headstock, but the body, pick guard and controls are more similar to the early 1960's models. The volume and tone controls are placed in a straight row, more like an LP Junior than the usual 60's SG control placement. It's got a glossy finish, very nice visible cherry mahogany grain, and a fairly substantial neck. It's a good guitar. To get a good Gibson these days, I'd scour eBay, used guitar stores and pawn shops. That's what I did.

So there you have it...some great American products. Some that are still great, some that have fallen from very lofty heights. All worth your time, and all great inspiration to get you dreamin' about this country's glory days.

How to Be a Well Dressed Man about Town, Spring 2014 Edition

A few years ago I did a blog entry that ended up being read by over 2,000 people, making it one of my most popular posts. I suppose it could have been one guy reading it 2,000 times. But I don't think so. The piece also got picked up and re-posted on the "Rocker" website for an even larger audience.

The article was about fashion for working class dudes. Especially guys past 30, who want to dress well and stand out in this world of baggy sweat pants, over sized Wal-Mart T shirts and chunky white plastic running shoes.

Now, I must explain that when I say "fashion", I don't mean catwalks and runways and "Zoolander" haircuts. I am not referring to "blue steel" here, folks. Nor am I talking about the skinny-fit, "metrosexual" look. I am talking about timeless, classic clothing for work or play that won't ever go "out of style". I know this because the designs of much of the clothing I'm talking about originated 50 or more years ago, and are still commonly worn today.

(Photo: Anonymous, well dressed middle aged dude found on the internet.No idea who he is, but he "gets it".)

I wanted to do another piece about this, for guys looking to buy some items to wear this Spring (if it ever stops snowing). I wanted to emphasize low cost alternatives to the high end, fancy boutique men's store stuff. There are companies charging huge amounts for their high quality reproductions of classic mid century work wear and casual fashions. Alot of these are great, and they're also made in America, so you are supporting small businesses and helping to provide jobs for Americans.HOWEVER. If you just cannot afford to pay premium prices for these items, don't worry. I will show you how to get the classic, timeless look you want on the cheap.

Before I start, let it be known far and wide that a man does not need a huge closet full of clothes, unless he wants to have that. What most guys need for Spring, really need, is the following:
SIX SHIRTS:3 long sleeve and 3 short.
ONE HAT
THREE PAIRS OF PANTS: One blue jean, one black jean, and one dressier pair of slacks.
ONE LEATHER BELT
SIX PAIRS OF SOCKS, SIX PAIRS OF UNDERPANTS
A PAIR OF GOOD LEATHER BOOTS
A PAIR OF GOOD SHOES (sneakers, brogues, what have you)
ONE LEATHER JACKET (with removable lining)
ONE LIGHT SPRING JACKET (such as a Harrington or Eisenhower).
That's all you need. I personally have a drawer full of pants, two leather jackets, three pairs of boots, five or six pairs of sneakers, etc...but I'm just like that, you don't have to be. Now that you know what your basic needs are,let's get specific, gents. We're gonna start at your coconut head and eventually get down to your stinking feet nubs. Are ya with me? Let's go!

BRIXTON HEADWEAR: One thing every guy needs for those colder Spring days is a good hat. My choice is the Brixton Brood newsboy cap. It has a nice retro feel, like the newsboy caps of the 20's, 30's, and 40's. It's rugged and warm, and it goes with almost anything. Brixton has a great website full of good hat options, but remember one thing. Frat boys, "Jersey Shore" meatheads and "Mad Men" wanna bes have ruined the Fedora for everyone. Stay away from the Fedora at all costs.

RAY BAN GLASSES/SUNGLASSES: Whether you are slowly going blind as a bat like me, or you just want to keep the cursed sun out of your eyes, or you'd like to creepily check out girls without them being sure that you are staring, Ray Ban glasses/sunglasses are the way to go. The Ray-Ban Aviator was developed in 1929 to keep the glare from the sun and shiny plane metal out of the eyes of our fighter pilot boys in the skies. The regular Joe on the street wanted to look like the flyboy heroes too, so eventually these iconic shades became available for public purchase. In 1952, the ultimate icon of cool was introduced: The Wayfarer. You've seen these on the noggins of everyone from James Dean to Chet Baker to Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Elvis Costello and Huey Lewis, not to mention every rockabilly and punk rock rocker that ever lived. Ray-Ban recently introduced a "modern" take on the Wayfarer, and although it is usually an absolutely awful idea for iconic companies to "update" their eternally popular,classic designs, these are actually pretty great. Ray Bans tend to be on the expensive side, but check eBay for hundreds of cheaper copies, some of which are probably just as good.

WRANGLER WESTERN SHIRTS: It's Springtime. Some days are warm, some days are cold. You'll need a good short sleeve option as well as a long sleeve. For the long sleeve, go with a Wrangler western shirt. These things have never been trendy. These are American working class icons. They look good on almost everyone. They come in endless variations of colors and patterns. They are inexpensive and will last you for years. If you have the time and patience, look them up on eBay. You can likely pick up five of these used for the price of one new shirt. Now, there are hundreds of companies making shirts like this. Some are very, very cheap and some are ridiculously expensive for a piece of work wear. I'm telling you, go with Wrangler. If you are a larger man, do not tuck these in. If you are very tall and thin, you can tuck them in if you like. If you are of smaller build, like myself, tuck them in. They tend to be very long, so if the shorter fellas leave them untucked, it looks like we're wearing a dress. No dresses allowed here.

WARRIOR BUTTON DOWN SHIRTS: I usually recommend short sleeve shirts by brands like Fred Perry and Ben Sherman for that classic Ivy League springtime look. Those are great items, but they can be quite expensive. As always, check eBay. Many of my FP and BS shirts were purchased that way, for less than half of their original cost. If you want a crisp new shirt that has never known another man's arm pit...go with Warrior. Warrior is a Brit company that makes affordable reproductions of classic '60s button down shirts. Timeless, sharp plaids and checks, with button down collars and really nice details. You can find these in America at Angry Young And Poor, Sourpuss, and other in the know online shops.

NOCONA LEATHER BELTS: So many companies make good, affordable belts. The aforementioned Brixton, for instance, has great belts. But if you, like me, like to incorporate iconic tough guy western items into your wardrobe, please know that it's now safe. Madonna and Brad Pitt have stopped wearing these things, and they are no longer trendy. You may don them once again. I usually go with a brown belt for blue jeans and a black belt with black jeans. For your dressier pants, go with the brown for a dark pair of pants and the black for a lighter pair. If you are only going to have one belt, go with the brown.

LEVIS 501 ORIGINALS: Denim is a huge fetish item for a lot of people. If you start delving into the world of denim, you'll hear terms like "selvedge", "Japanese selvedge", "Neppy", "Vintage cut", and endless discussions of which thickness or weight of denim is the best. Even Levis themselves has gotten into the game of super expensive selvedge denim and re-issues of their iconic jean cuts from the past. That stuff is fun to look at, but you really only need one thing, and it's not expensive. A classic, iconic 501 original jean. This is something I would try to buy new if I were you. Get the raw, dark denim. If you buy the "Shrink To Fit" variety, know that you should buy about two waist sizes bigger than your normal size, and about three inches longer than usual for the inseam. They shrink. Hence the name. The idea is that they conform to your body as they shrink, which they do. But in order to get them to do that, you have to wear them wet. if you don't have that kind of time, simply go with the 501 Originals. Get your regular waist size, and a few inches longer on the inseam, because you will want to cuff them (fold them up) on the bottom. Either go for the chunky three or four inch rockabilly cuff or the sharp, two inch tight 60's style mod/ skinhead cuff. AVOID the modern "skinny jean" look. It is way too trendy these days, and looks terrible on anyone over 25. You want slim, clean lines, yes. You do not want to look like you are wearing denim pantyhose.

DICKIES 873 SLIM STRAIGHT PANTS: Dickies are always great. You can wear them to work, or with a nice button down as dress pants. Just make sure they're clean, dummy. A lot of guys feel that the original Dickies flat front work pant is a very baggy and unflattering cut, and I tend to agree. Again, you don't want anything skin tight. But you also, and I really have to emphasize this, do NOT want to wear baggy clothes. It tends to make a person look sloppy and out of date. My Motto: "Take the Time to Find Shit That FITS". Dickies makes a new "Slim Straight" option, the 873. These are perfect. In the photo I've chosen, the model is wearing a very new, unwashed pair of these, and he is also wearing them a bit long. This is making his pants look a little baggier than you'd want. If you buy a pair with a slightly shorter inseam than you'd normally go for, or cuff them with a nice two inch turn up, they will look great. Dickies also makes a "skinny" trouser for those so inclined, but again, it's not really our thing.

So let's sum up what we've learned so far:
Classic, timeless work and casual wear is ace
There are expensive options, but they are not necessary
SLIM is good, TIGHT is not
BAGGY leaves you saggy

For your jackets, you cannot go wrong with two old standards. 1)The Levi's Trucker Jacket, and 2) The leather bomber jacket. Shoes or boots by Doc Marten and/or Red Wing. The thing to remember is have fun, tailor your personal style to your interests and what appeals to you, and wear it confidently. Ladies be likin' that!

Staring Into Damnation's Hole: The Ghastly Love Of Johnny X!

A few months back, I was clicking through the great wasteland of cinematic detritus that you may know as "Netflix", looking for either something "good" to watch (unlikely) or something that would be horrendously bad enough that I would enjoy it for it's very ridiculousness (possible). I did not expect to find a new movie which I had no previous knowledge of that would instantly take it's place among the very finest of the campy kitchsy classics that I hold so dear. When I found Paul Bunnell's "The Ghastly Love Of Johnny X", I found just that.

I'm tempted here to describe at length the concept of the B Movie and detail the plots of some of the greatest. Having nixed that, as I'm writing a blog not a novel, I started to think I should write about Ed Wood, Roger Corman, other geniuses of the low budget, low production value, trash-schlock film making of the 1950's and 1960's that is an American treasure and an absolute joy to be obsessed with. Again, that would take a year long series of blogs. I'm also going to assume that since you are reading my blog, you are most likely aware of these things already. What I will say is that "The Ghastly Love Of Johnny X" is in the fine, fine, tradition of these cinematic bursts of passion and frivolity. It both epitomizes and lovingly parodies this great underbelly of American cinema in a way that's sure to warm the hearts of anybody who loved movies like "Plan 9 From Outer Space", "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", or even later John Waters stuff like "Cry Baby" and "Hairspray". Much like the great Ed Wood, Paul Bunnell (despite his relatively young age) is a true Golden Age Hollywood Eccentric. Possibly the last of a dying breed.

This movie is an obvious labor of intense love for the genre, and the aesthetics of the 1950's juvenile delinquent era. It was shot rather gorgeously on black and white film...yes, FILM. Just in case you don't know, they don't make movies like that anymore. It was shot, in fact, on the very last of Kodak's B&W "Plus-X" film stock. The film has a thick, stark, black white and grey creamy dreaminess to it, utterly crisp and clear.

The plot is a convoluted and never fully explained Sci-Fi/Juvenile Delinquent coming of age love story, if you get my planetary drift. There is a classic "James Dean vs. neglectful Daddy" situation going on. There is a crazy jump suit that gives it's wearer the power to re-animate the dead. There are leather jackets and cuffed Levi's. There is hair grease and doo-wop. There are 35 year old juvenile delinquents from outer space. There is a mix of 1950's and 1960's automobiles, fashions and music forms. In short, everything that is great in life crammed into one glorious, classic, perfect mess of a movie that looks like it was as much fun to make as it is to watch.

The gang of alien JD's in the movie are called "The Ghastly Ones". When I saw this, I wondered if anyone had approached the legendary California Surf-punk/Horror surf band The Ghastly Ones and asked them either for permission for the use of their name, or for the use of their music. THAT would have made a great movie greater. Alas, there is no Ghastly Ones music in the flick, a missed opportunity if ever there was one. The soundtrack is comprised of orchestral theme music, surf-rock background tunes, and the musical numbers sung and danced to in the movie. The orchestral stuff is awesome. Booming 1930's-1950's Film Noir/Universal Monsters type stuff with a spookily wailing theremin. The surf-inspired backing tunes by the Moon Rays are just OK, and I'm going to have to re-iterate that the (real) Ghastly Ones should have been involved. As for the musical numbers throughout the movie, they're fun, goofy and catchy, but totally not authentic to the '50s period. Sure, I'd prefer to hear these characters singing some authentic rockabilly or '50s R&B, but what we have here is an audience-friendly pastiche that works in the fun spirit of the movie.

There are several minor celebs in the film, mostly in cameo roles, such as 1970's icon Paul williams in the role of smarmy talk show host "Uncle Quilty", Reggie Bannister from the '80s horror classic "Phantasm", and 1950's movie star Kevin McCarthy in what would be the final role before his death. Most impressive though is Creed Bratton (of the American version of "The Office"), who plays washed up 1960's rock'n'roll star turned zombie Mickey O'Flynn. This is a great role for the underrated actor, who imbues this character (who is sort of a mash up of Screamin' Lord Sutch, Alice Cooper and maybe a white, dead Screamin' Jay Hawkins) with a sort of dazed, lost humanity which is both funny and sad. The musical numbers that he sings/performs are some of the best in the movie. The other actors in the film, while being less familiar faces, all deserve a shout out, especially Will Keenan as the angry alien "teen" Johnny X and Deanna Joy Brooks , who is quite alluring as the breathy-voiced femme fatale Bliss.

I could babble on all day about how fun and cool this movie is, but sadly, I have a life. A life which was greatly inproved for a couple of hours by this movie. If you're at all intrigued, get on Netflix and give this baby a spin. Also check out the Youtube clips and reviews, as well as the always kooky and entertaining interviews with director Paul Bunnell and various cast members. It's not every day you find a new classic in a much maligned and much beloved meta-sub-sub-genre like this. I'll leave you with the film's trailer. Enjoy.

Sailing Sideways Up the Back Hole of Not Sane-ness: Best Records Of 2013, Says Me.

If you've ever read my Blog before, you know I'm way into several different genres of music. I'm not even going to go into a long disclaimer again this year. Suffice it to say that this will be an eclectic list. Music is music, you like it or don't. Labels are for bottles of pills. Furthermore,these are in no particular order. Ranking is for Roger. Let's DO this, sexy internet warlocks and witches!

GIUDA- Let's Do It Again
70s inspired, bell bottom wearing, soccer playin', chant along, sing along, bombastic guitar glitz from the way back machine. Stumbling along the same gutters as Slade, Gary Glitter, Bay City Rollers, Cocksparrer. Oh, you best get to buyin' this.It's makin' all the skinheads fall in love!

JOHNNY MARR- The Messenger
While his former partner Morrissey has made consistently good records since the break up of the Smiths, Johnny Marr has flitted about, joined other people's bands and formed his own(Pretenders, Bryan Ferry, Modest Mouse, The Cribs, The The, The Healers etc), experimented, mucked about, made money and changed his hairstyle multiple times. He's always been interesting, but he's never lived up to his legend for shit. Not playing wise, not any-wise. Clearly, getting away from his legend was what was important to him in those years. All that changed rather abruptly and violently with the release of his newest solo album "The Messenger" this year. It's catchy, rockin', emotive, dark, perfect. Lurching about the same atmospheric, anthemic, dark alleyways as Echo And The Bunnymen, Joy Division, The Smiths, The Church, etc.

NIKKI HILL- Here's Nikki Hill
Wow. Just wow. This very classy, very raunchy, very inspiring lady came out of nowhere in the last year or two and already she's being touted as the next Tina Turner. Her husband and guitarist Matt Hill is the perfect foil for her soulful, raspy and sweet as-needed vocals. Matt keeps it raw and bluesy, slashing at his beat up Fender slab like Ike Turner. You've now noticed two Ike and Tina references, but I'm not talkin' about fisticuffs. I'm talking about very obvious true love and fated partnership. These kids are formidable and adorable together, and this record is fuggin' brilliant.You like Otis? Early Ike and Tina? Early Black Crowes, Small Faces, Little Richard, late 60s early 70s Stones? Who doesn't love that stuff? You'll love this.

IN SOLITUDE-Sister
Sweden's In Solitude are probably the greatest young metal band to come along in 20 years. Less gimmicky and silly than their more popular counterparts Ghost,they nonetheless share that band's gift for haunting melody and punchy guitar dirges. This record dips into 80s UK Goth territory for sure. There is a definite Sex Gang Children/Ausgang/Birthday Party-esque quirkiness to some of the guitars, and the melodies are darker, catchier and more coherent on this album. "Sister" on the whole is also slower and more atmospheric than the last. For fans of Sisters Of Mercy, early Iron Maiden, NWOBHM, Ausgang, Joy Division, King Diamond,etc

LION'S LAW- A Day Will Come
This album punched me in the very taint! IN MY TAINT! Anthemic, catchy, sing along boot boy rock and roll played by a bunch of prole Skins from Paris (of all places). Really strong, solid songwriting with a sing along in every tune. Hard as nails, rocking Les Paul and Marshall Half-Stack guitar wallop throughout, and melodic but raw throated vocals. Punk ain't dead, it just shaved it's head. Kicking big Doc Martens down the same violent streets as Cocksparrer, Angelic Upstarts, Sham 69, The Clash, 4 Skins, Cockney Rejects, etc. OI!

NIKKI HILL AND DEKE DICKERSON-Soul Meets Country
Nikki Hill makes a second appearance in my countdown, yes ma'am. She is that awesome. Paired with the extremely personable Deke Dickerson, she shines blindingly on this four song EP of country-inflected soul tunes. Her soulful wail sits nicely next to Deke's warm, calming country drawl. One definitely misses a kick-ass Matt Hill guitar solo here and there, but other than that I hear no flaws on this frickin' superb vinyl platter. As great as Deke is on this, if Nikki ever decides to duet with Dwight Yoakum I will soil my undergarments (and yours) in utter drooling joy. So if you collect Stax and Sun singles with equally insistent grabby-fingers, you will enjoy this 'un, boogie chilluns.

SATYRICON- Satyricon
Norse Black Metal legends Satyricon return with this stripped down, pummeling, slinky temptress of an album. It's perfect for the bleak winter with its brittle icy guitars and blasting, freezing rain drum beats. For fans of Norse BM (which does NOT stand for Bowel Movement, in this case)and classic NWOBHM.

ANYTHING THAT CAME OUT ON WILD RECORDS THIS YEAR.
The best roots music label in the world right now. Special props for releasing Aussie rockabilly/r'n'b prodigy Pat Capocci's brilliant record "Call Of The Wild". Pat's gonna be the next JD McPherson if he gets half a chance. The label also dropped incredible sex bomb platters by The Black Mambas, The Hurricanes and more this year. Rockabilly, garage rock, classic punk, blues, you name it, they are cornering the market on it. Seriously, dummies, Wild Records. Google it.

UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS-Mind Control
This would make my list just for the brilliant Beatles meets Sabbath style pop dirge "Poison Apple" alone. Inventing a new, more specific meta-genre with every release, Brit garage-pop-metal-biker-horror-glitter-doomsters Uncle Acid are part of a new wave of accessible, classic sounding hard rock/metal bands that appeal to non metal heads and metal heads alike. For Fans of early Black Sabbath, The Beatles, "Man Who Sold The World" era Bowie, MC5, early Alice Cooper, Blue Cheer, The Sonics, The Cramps, Electric Wizard.

JD WILKES AND THE DIRT DAUBERS-Wild Moon
The hipper among you may remember JD Wilkes from his former band Th' Legendary Shack Shakers, who were a powerhouse punk-blues-rockabilly juggernaut of a live act in the early 2000s. His lyrics have always been filled to the brim with backwoods good'n'evil, every song a scintillating story of sin, hellfire and redemption snatched away. He has lightened up a bit with his newer outfit the Dirt Daubers, who have always been a sort of Shack Shakers Lite, incorporating more folksy, acoustic, bluegrass style sounds. On the new Daubers platter "Wild Moon" however, the band has amped up the Chicago Blues style tube overdrive on the guitar and turned in a rocking disc full of darkly compelling tunes. The secret weapon here is Jessica Wilkes (JD's wife) who lends her sultry vocals and thump-heavy doghouse bass playing, among other things, to this slinky blues-devil of an album. For fans of scratchy old blues and bluegrass 78s, Legendary Shack Shakers, The Cramps, etc.

That's it, people. I'm sure I forgot something, but I grow weary, and require a sandwich. Please support the artists I've named here, and for your sake and mine, check out more independent music. Remember, folks...your next door neighbor could be a better songwriter than Lady Gaga (and probably is)...who would you rather support? -CM

The Wildest Sounds Around: Wild Records gives Rockabilly a new lease on life!

Rockabilly is an old, old beast. It was created when our society was more innocent, at least on the surface. It broke down racial divides and changed pop culture forever. Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Billy Lee Riley, Jerry Lee Lewis, the list of legendary names goes on and on. This is true American music, and while it was entirely of it's time, it has outlived the 1950s by six decades. Sure, it's changed, morphed, mated with other beasts along the way (surf music, punk rock, new wave, even heavy metal)but it has remained recognizably, defiantly Rockabilly.

Yes,there are lame 1950s copyists who, in the mindset of Civil War re-enactors or Renny Fair geeks, want everyone involved to be wearing 1950s underpants and not to ever use microwaves or cell phones because Elvis didn't have those things in '57. This kind of attitude makes Rockabilly a joke to some.

Every decade it seems we have another rockabilly or 1950s style revival in fashion and music, and it's been happening very obviously in the last few years, sparked by the TV show "Mad Men" and it's take on '50s style. This has led some people to do more than just get the haircut, and it seems that 1950s/early 1960s music has made quite the "comeback" as well.

Out in Los Angeles, California however, an Irish Ex-Pat named Reb Kennedy has employed his life long love of the genre to reinvigorate rockabilly to a new level of throbbing, hiccupping, hip shaking intensity. Upon moving to L.A., he immersed himself in the Mexican Rockabilly scene and began releasing records by the young (sometimes teenage) rockabilly and garage bands he found there. Wild Records was born, and there isn't a finer Rock and roll label in the country as of 2013.

Artists like Luis and the Wildfires, the Dragtones (both bands featuring the "Mexican Billy Childish", Luis Arriaga on vocals),Omar and The Stringpoppers, Santos, R&B chanteuse Gizzelle, The Rhythm Shakers, The Hurricanes, etc are all performing an absolutely electric, stunning version of traditional 1950s or '60s music laced with punk rock fire, creating a fresh and vital music out of old traditional components. The video below should give you an idea.



Wild Records has become such a cult in L.A. and indeed the world, that an independent filmmaker, Elise Salomon, made a documentary about Reb Kennedy and the musicians on his label called "Los Wild Ones". I haven't seen the film yet but I have watched the trailer at least 100 times. Here it is, because it says more about the greatness of this label and the people involved than I could ever write.



If you can watch that trailer and hear that music and not be instantly obsessed with this label, then you just ain't rock'n'roll, bub. Me, I am in love with Wild Records.
www.wildrecordsusa.com

More Fun Than A Flaming Yule Log; My End Of Year Blog

I'm going to be 42 years old in two days. That makes me older than almost everyone who reads this Blog. How do I know? Google stats, bitches. They see you when you're sleeping, they know when you're awake, they know when you've been looking at my blog and touching yourself so stop that. Uh, for goodness sake.

So I was going to write my usual "Ten best records of the year" shit sandwich, but I care not for such ass-clownery at this point. I couldn't find ten new records I liked, really, so I decided to just prattle on about stuff that I did like this year.

Now, forgive me, because it's been a rough year and I could possibly be a bit grumpy. My Mom died this year, I embarked on yet another life changing move to yet another new city (Chicago, land of subway crappers and drive by shootings, not sure if I like that yet), I got a new job that I absolutely hate, have had no time to write or record any new music at all...eh, whatever. You've probably had it rough, too. Nobody's had it rougher than Justin Bieber, who has grown people plotting to kidnap and rape and kill him, all on account of the fact that his music is the equivalent of warm, stuck together gummy bears.

"So what DID you like this year, Chuck Matthews?" I hear you saying out there in the night like a bunch of rude grasshoppers rubbing their hairless leg-stalks together.

As the great Gene Vincent once sang, "Weeellllllllllll....."

NATIONAL TREASURE #1: The GREAT EL VEZ. You may have noticed the photo at the head of this blog post of one very pretty girl, one El Rey De Rock And Roll, and one very drunk guy in a stripey shirt. That's my wife Faith, El Vez "The Mexican Elvis", and me, your humble procrastinating genius. This was taken the other night in Chicago after yet another life affirming X-Mas extravaganza performance by El Vez, his band the Memphis Mariachis and his lovely backup singers, The El Vettes. This man has improved my outlook on life every single time I've seen him play (this was maybe the fifth or sixth time, can't remember). How does he do it? He uses a complex gumbo of political satire, Mexican pride, a mental library of every great song, move, joke, look and sound in rock'n'roll, and of course, the legendary coat tails of Elvis Presley. It's not Xmas until this guy pulls his bag of spangled jumpsuits into town. His show has not changed much in several years (he could probably benefit from including some more recent references musically), but it is the most fun holiday rock and roll show ever. One that doesn't skimp on the jokes, the theatre, or the actual rock and roll.

NATIONAL TREASURE #2: THE GREAT JD McPHERSON. I've been championing this cat since I first heard his record a few years back. Those of you who actually read and pay attention to my rantings here (and Google stats tells me that there's several thousand of you drooling internet weirdos) know that his disc "Signs And Signifiers" was my fave record of the year 2011. His combo of Little Richard/Larry Williams style vocals, jumpin' blues and rockabilly and "aw, shucks ma'am" nice guy-ness has been blowing people away all over the country while he and his band tour their many asses off playing every dive in the nation six times a year. This has all worked out very well for him, as he is now getting rave reviews from national big wigs like Rolling Stone Magazine, and appearing on every talk show in TV land (Leno, Conan, Letterman). JD and his amazing Chicago based band (who don't have a name, and probably should...) are an inspiration. His record, "Signs And Signifiers" is a couple years old now, but it never gets old for me.

GRAVEYARD: "Lights Out"
Everybody knows I'm a big fan of everything from the golden age (you'd call it "retro"), but most of you may not know that for me that includes not only the 50s and 60s, but the 70s as well. Graveyard are a Swedish rock and roll band that combines the best of obscure 1970s occult rock with howlin' blues riffs, a very bleak lyrical outlook and a singer that can shriek and howl like a wide eyed, straining, male Janis Joplin. alot of people say he sounds like Soundgarden's Chris Cornell but I don't give a crap about that. "Lights Out" is their new record and it's amazing. It rocks, it rolls, it's a bit of a downer, but in a great way. It's kind of like listening to Black Sabbath in Jimmy Page's recently renovated 1,000 year old castle in the bleakest of Swedish winter time forests while high on the pot drugs. You like that, don't you?

COCK GREASE POMADE:

I first saw advertising for this stuff on the walls of a bathroom in Austin, Texas at the Continental Club while I was taking a hurried pee-break in the middle of an awesome honky tonk set from Junior Brown. There were stickers that said "Cock Grease" on the walls and mirrors, and being the modest sort of old fashioned fella that I am, my cheeks sort of reddened in slight embarrassment. Then I laughed, then I peed. Then I went on with my life. Later I realized that Cock Grease was indeed a brand of pomade, and having spotted some in Chicago's "BROKEN CHERRY" shop, I bought a tin of it. My verdict? It's the stiffest pomade I've ever tried, in fact a little too stiff if you use the amount you'd normally use of another brand. If firm hold is your thing, look no further. And also, it smells AMAZING. Like honey and sugar cookies and candle wax. Mmmmm. Screw putting it in my hair, I'm going to put it on toast and eat it.

DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR:

"Color Me Obsessed: A Film About The Replacements"
This is a long awaited fan made doc about one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time. Minneapolis power pop/rock/punk/alternative band the Replacements have influenced pretty much everyone who picked up a guitar since their reign as indie rock kings in the late 80s and very early 90s. This documentary features 1)No Replacements music 2) No Replacements live footage and 3)No interviews with actual band members. Despite that, it does have a lot of famous faces and many hilarious and awe inspiring stories. After watching it, you'll want to listen to their music, though, or better yet, just play one of their records while the DVD is playing. Essential.

DIG THE BRAND NEW BREED: Kurt Baker's new record "Brand New Beat" on Jolly Ronnie Records is a modern day revisionist history of power pop that favors the populist (Rick Springfield, Butch Walker, The Knack) as well as the cult (Big Star, Paul Collins, The Jags) sides of the genre. A new classic and you heard that here first.

That's my year end wrap up. I can't think of anything else right now that I actually liked this year. There are a few things I could mention like LAURIES PLANET OF SOUND RECORD STORE in Lincoln Square, Chicago. They're my new fave record store in my new fave neighborhood in Chi-town.

Let's kiss this year goodbye as it shimmies it's rotten stinking way out the door, and hope the next year is better, shall we? Toodles, kids.

That Greasy Kid Stuff-- All about Pomades!

Back in the day, when men took pride in looking smart and sharp for their work day, it was unheard of to be seen in public without a fair amount of grease in one's hair. A man's hair was meant to be neatly combed, slicked back and shiny. This is one of the many great male traditions that have fallen by the wayside since the late 1960s. The "hippy" look (long unkempt hair, baggy dirty clothes, pit stains on virtually everything) might have been a reaction against the overly stuffy, dressed up look of the previous thirty years, and perhaps it was a relief to some people.

But most people, once they "let their hair down" never put it back up again. As a result, the sharp neatness of a man's appearance has gone the way of the Victrola and the Edsel. Sweat pants, baseball caps, terrible white plastic running shoes, shapeless haircut,baggy jeans, sports T shirts. This is what a "man" looks like today. If, heaven forbid you are into the very retro idea of looking sharp, then you sir must be a homosexual. Sure, I love the idea that gay men have kept the retro look alive for years, but that's not my subject here. I'd like your basic straight man on the street to start giving a crap about his appearance again, and I'll bet alot of you ladies and fellas would enjoy that as well.

Lately, largely because of the success of retro themed TV shows like the brilliant "Mad Men", the hipster on the street is now (at least in small numbers) starting to sport nicely cut hair and the slick, pomaded look is coming back amongst the clued in. Not so much among the Bud Lite and Nascar crowd, but you can't have everything. NOT that I have anything against Bud Lite or Nascar, as I know some fine people who are into those things, but it just isn't for me.

Of course, the Rockabilly and Swing communities have been all about this all along.

I've been greasing up my head grass since around 1994, when I first starting getting deeply into rockabilly. My tastes have grown and matured, and I have had different looks over the years, but I have always returned to the pompadour. I cut and styled my own hair for years, but since moving back to Michigan I found a great Detroit area barber shop (The Chop Shop in Berkley), who specialize in period haircuts.



People ask me about it sometimes. "How do you get your hair like that?" and "What's that goop on your head?" If they seen genuinely interested I'll give them advice on what to use. As you might guess I've used alot of different varieties of "greasy kids' stuff" over the years. Here are a few of my faves.



POMADES:

Murray's Superior Pomade(Known as "The Orange Can")--
Here is where the rockabilly journey begins, for nearly everyone. It's either this, or Dax (known as "The Red Can"). Dax is getting harder and harder to find these days, so most greasers go right to the sticky stuff, The Orange Can. Sticky it is. a handful of this stuff will last you a week or so of regular every day wear. That's right. Put it in your hair on Monday, and don't wash your hair til next Sunday. Even if you'd like to wash your hair, this stuff ain't coming out. Rain, sleet, snow, a hurricane: your hair ain't going anywhere, cat. Yes, it is greasy and sticky and it will end up on everything you own. Your clothes, pillowcases, doorknobs, faucets, your cat, your wife or girlfriend or boyfriends' face, the Murray's will find it's way there. Having said that, it smells great, really masculine and clean, with a slight honey-like undertone. And it holds. Man, does it ever hold.



Murray's Nu-Nile-- Another great Murray's product. Murray's is a hair care company out of Detroit, Michigan that started in the mid to late 1940s. they initially catered to African American men for the most part, but the 1950s greaser trend found them a new and very loyal clientele, which stands to this day. All Murray's products can still be found in the African American health and beauty section of any drugstore anywhere. Nu-Nile is a great pomade. Ever so slightly lighter than the Orange Can, and smelling much the same, Nu Nile gives you a wetter, less waxy look while still providing the really super strong hold. It's also a bitch to wash out, but it does wash out with a couple of tries, unlike the Orange Can stuff, which just gets harder and harder the more water you put on it. It isn't *quite* as greasy and sticky as the orange can, but it's close. This is what my barber recommended to me and I use it regularly.

There are several more expensive, "boutique" pomades marketed directly to the rockabilly crowd. Hawleywood's Layrite, Mr Ducktail, Cock Grease, Voodoo Brew, American Greaser Supply Co, etc all make nicely packaged, fun and collectible pomades that are pretty much versions of the above two Murray's products with varying scents and thickness.

GREASELESS HAIR CONTROL:

As a rule, I do not ever endorse hair gels. These products are for the Ryan Seacrests of the world, with their fake spiky haircuts and their stupid trendy clothes. However, there is one, and one only, exception to this rule. American Crew Classic Firm Hold.



I hate to even describe it as a "gel", because of the unpleasant images that word puts in my brain-pan. Club hopping Jersey Shore types using handfuls of fruity smelling, bubbly pink goop to spike up their badly cut fades. As you can see though, Am-Crew is not pink, it's packaged in a classy and masculine brown bottle, and it smells fresh and clean, like a barber shop. This product is actually used on the TV show "Mad Men", for outdoor scenes where hair has to stay in place. I personally use it when I'm sick of having so much grease in my hair. Every few weeks it's good to wash all the pomade out, use a different product and give your scalp-astrotrurf a break. One of the drawbacks of pomade is that it will in some cases give you acne on your scalp and hairline. It does occasionally do this to me. So when I get a flare up, and I'm tired of all the grease, I'll go back to American Crew for a couple of days. Now, this product does dry hard like a gel. You can re-animate the slick look with just a little water, but if you do that too many times over the course of a day you will wash the product out and end up with a huge puff of hair on top of your head instead of the slick bad ass-ness you started off with. So use with caution.



Groom And Clean and Brylcreem---

Neither of these can really be called pomades, nor are they really gels. They are both traditional hair products that have been used for years and years. Neither is found in the hair styling section at your local drugstore. They are actually found, in most stores, in the shaving and/or men's toiletries section, near the "Just For Men" hair dyes and the shaving creams and razors.

Brylcreem is a super traditional, ages old product. It's packaging will claim that it's "never greasy", but that is not at all true. Basically it's a light hold pomade/grease in a tube. It smells good and is uber-traditional, but does not have the hold of a pomade or gel.

Groom And Clean is a different matter. It also comes in a tube, and usually sits right next to the Brylcreem at your local Walgreen's, CVS or Rite Aid. However the stuff that comes out when you squeeze the tube looks like toothpaste, and smells like a delicious cinnamon pumpkin bread. It's a clean, sweet smell that people either love or hate. I love it. I suppose what it actually is is an early version of a gel. When the Groom and Clean box tells you that the product is "greaseless", it's not lying. It holds well and washes right out, while giving you a bit of the "slick" look you're going for. Again, I use this when I'm tired of the grease, and when I want more hold and shine than the Am-Crew gives me. I've been using it alot lately.

Here's a great 1950s Brylcreem commercial. I'm not sure I agree with it's claims, but it has the exact mood you want when you're doing your hair. Ain't that jingle catchy? Almost makes me want to give Brylcreem another chance!
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif


In short, if you are interested in looking sharp and clean like real men did in the 1930s-1960s, the above guide is a good start for you. And if I haven't presented you with enough choices, here are a couple of links to help you out.

Slickville: This is a site all about pomades, retro hairstyles, and anything goopy you can use in your hair. I love it!
http://www.slickville.com

The Rebel Rouser: Here is a great blog with Pomade Reviews and commentary. This guy collects pomades and knows pretty much everything there is to know.
http://therebelrouser.wordpress.com

I guess in closing, the thing I want y'all to remember most of all is to have fun with it, and find your own personal style. It ain't easy bein' greasy.

Flat Top Cruiser: The Legacy of the Gibson Les Paul Junior

Tailfins, hair grease, B-Movie Sci-Fi, Kerouac, Elvis, James Dean. I love the 1950s. It's my favorite era of American history, and one that produced an absolute overload of groundbreaking movies, music, literature, fashion, ideology, design and style.

In the world of guitars, the 1950s era still looms largest. The innovations that blasted onto the still new and untested electric guitar field in that decade are still the biggest leaps forward made in the guitar business. The Fender Telecaster, Stratocaster and Precision (the first electric bass guitar) were all invented in the 1950s and are still made, virtually unchanged in design, to this very day, 60 years later. Ditto for Kalamazoo, Michigan's Gibson Guitars,who had been in the guitar business since the 1800s. Gibson is world famous in perpetuity for Gibson Les Paul, SG, ES-175, ES-295, The Byrdland,and my absolute favorite guitar of all time, the glorious Gibson Les Paul Junior line of guitars, which includes all variations of the Melody Maker, Les Paul Special, and Les Paul Junior.



The original single cutaway Junior was developed when Gibson saw the need to compete in the lower end electric guitar market, as Fender's Telecaster as well as several other guitars made by upstart companies were selling huge numbers in the wake of the first appearance of rock and roll music on the mainstream national scene in 1954. Gibson knew that in order to compete in this market they needed an affordable but high quality instrument that would appeal to young rock and rollers and student guitarists. They looked to basically develop their own version of the Fender Esquire (the single pick up version of the Telecaster) but price it even lower.

So the LP Junior was born. A slab of mahogany for the body, another for the neck, a rosewood fretboard, a single P-90 pick up, and a simple, brutal bar of metal for the bridge. It was initially finished in two colors. One, introduced in 1954, was a gorgeous tobacco sunburst, like Leo Fender's first Stratocasters. The other, which appeared the following year, was a limed mahogany, called "TV Yellow" by Gibson's marketing wizards. Some say that this finish was called "TV" because it was meant to "look good on television". The real reason was the Fender Telecaster. The buttery yellow color, which ranged on different guitars from a dark mustard tint to a full on screaming banana yellow, was meant to compete with Leo Fender's early butterscotch Teles.

The Junior was similar in shape to Gibson's popular Les Paul series of guitars, but without the extra frills, carved cap and aesthetic pleasantries that made the LP a more expensive guitar. There was no drop in quality here. This was a well made, solid as a rock and virtually indestructible guitar with a bright, full throat-ed sound that was surprisingly versatile for only having the one pickup, one volume, and one tone in it's electronic circuit.

The guitar was almost immediately Gibsons' biggest selling electric. Students, young kids, and even old pros gravitated to this guitars' combination of low price point and high quality. The guitar sold for $99.00 dollars in 1954, as opposed to the Les Paul Standard which went for just over $200. Funnily enough, if you'd like to buy a vintage, original LP Junior from 1954 in good condition, you should be prepared to shell out upwards of $5,000.



Four years later, Gibson decided to up the ante with it's double cutaway version of the LP Junior, which for a time replaced the classic single cut. These are highly sought after guitars, mostly because of the punk rock guitarists who began buying them in pawnshops and used guitar stores in droves in the late 70s, in emulation of the NY Dolls Johnny Thunders, who famously played one.



In 1955, Gibson also introduced the LP Special, a two pickup version of the Junior which sold for slightly more, and was meant to be an upgrade, or a gateway guitar to a more upscale LP Standard or Custom. This too was a popular and fantastic guitar, available in single cut in 1955 and double cutaway by 1958. Original LP Specials, depending on condition, can fetch as high as $30,000. on the collector's market now.



In 1959, diminishing guitar sales prompted Gibson to introduce an even more affordable, even more stripped down, even more Fender-sounding instrument: The glorious Melody Maker. This guitar had an even thinner mahogany body, a slimmer headstock, and an option of one or two very Stratocaster-like pickups. A double cutaway version was introduced a bit later.




In 1961, the Junior line was revitalized with a new shape, similar to Gibson's newest offering, the SG, (or "Special Guitar", not to be confused with the Les Paul Special, an entirely different beast). This shape actually replaced the original LP Junior shapes, as the SG replaced the Les Paul. By the 1970s, interest in vintage Gibsons prompted the company to begin to re-issue all of the various shapes. At present all of these variations are being produced by the Gibson Company. At the time though, Gibson was very concerned with staying fresh and changing their guitar line completely every few years. New designs were not added to old ones, they were introduced to completely replace them.



Gibson's re-issue series were not, initially, period-correct replicas. They were new versions of the old guitars, with modern conveniences such as Grover tuners and Tune-o-Matic bridges. They were also offered in finishes not on offer for specific models back in the 50s and 60s. These early re-issues are also prized collector's items in the present day and are highly sought after at price points just a bit below the originals. Some purists bemoaned the modern "upgrades", but aesthetically these re-issues were a welcome blast from the past and at least a partial return to what used to be known as "Gibson Quality".

They also saved Gibson from losing sales of new guitars, as it was clear that most players would rather buy the old designs. By creating new versions of the classics sold at a cheaper price than the highly sought after, collectable originals, Gibson was able to capitalize on the reputation of their older guitars (see '75 LP Special advert below). Later, Gibson's Epiphone line started producing even more affordable versions of these guitars with the Epiphone headstock in place of the Gibson "open" book shape. These were produced in China and varied greatly in quality from guitar to guitar.



My own love of LP Juniors started with my early worship of Mr. Johnny Thunders. The tragic NY Dolls/Heartbreakers guitarist rarely played anything but a '58 double cut TV Junior and I wanted one badly. This really started my obsession. The first one I got was a black Epiphone singlecut Junior, with a bolt on neck and P-90. this was around 1998, and I played this guitar on most of my band's (Dimestore Haloes) releases and live shows in this era. It was not a bad little guitar. I wasn't psyched with the Epiphone headstock and bolt on neck, but it sounded great and held up well on stage and in studio. Below is a pic of me holding the guitar onstage with the Dimestore Haloes in 1999.



I bought a double cutaway TV Yellow Epiphone Junior around a year later as a backup guitar, and this guitar looked amazing, but the neck was a piece of crap, the pickup sounded thin and weird and I soon traded it in on what was to be my favorite all time guitar (see pic below). It was a 2001 single cutaway, sunburst LP Junior, a 1955 re-issue. This guitar was just disgusting, it was so great. The finest guitar I have ever owned. I played it onstage and in the studio during the recording of the Haloes' last album, "The Ghosts of Saturday Night", and it was the only guitar on my 2005 solo disc, "Amazing Graceless", despite the fact that I'm holding a Grestch on the cover and an LP Special DC on the inside panel.



In 2004 I bought the aforementioned 2002 TV Yellow DC LP Special. It was a great guitar, but had a much mellower sound than my '55 reissue Junior. Much less biting and throaty and much more fat and warm.

Because I am an idiot, I sold both of these guitars in 2006. Traded them in on a 2005 Gibson SG with classic brown leather case. This was a nice guitar, but a bad decision. It wasn't long before I needed the money and sold that, too. I had a 1954 Reissue Fender Strat in daphne blue at that time, and a couple of Gretsch Electromatics. Which I also sold eventually. I've owned well over 50 guitars in the last ten years. None of them has been as perfect for me as that '55 reissue LP Junior.

I've also owned several LP Junior copies. One by Dillion, which was a great copy of a late 50s cherry double cutaway Junior. I put a Bigsby on that and it was even cooler. See an earlier blog here for pics of that guitar and a rundown on that process. I ended up selling that guitar to Tim from the Hormones, who has the same guitar acquiring/selling disease that I have. He, of course, sold it. It was a great little axe.

I also had a Melody Maker/ Junior combo copy by Agile, who import pretty good quality chinese guitars. It was a good little axe and they actually still used my review of it on their website until recently. I've also had a re-issue 1959 Melody Maker, in worn white. Also a groovy guitar, and also one that I should have held on to. I have also owned an Epiphone Custom Shop TV Yellow '55 Junior re-issue, and an Epiphone Custom Shop LP Special re-issue. Both really, really great slabs o' wood. Of course, I sold them eventually. I also seem to recall a Xaviere Lp Junior singlecut copy in cherry sunburst that I had for about three days before I traded it in. It, unfortunately, was a fresh piece of elephant dung.

Speaking of holding on to things, I'm keeping this one (pic below). It is a rare bird of sorts, a real sleeper, and a guitar that is pretty much perfect for my needs.

In 2003, Gibson re-issued the Melody Maker, but with a difference. They took the Melody Maker's super thin slab body and thinner headstock, and coupled it with a hot p-90 Les Paul Junior pickup, thick, chunky 50s style neck, TV finish and newer LP style tune-o-matic bridge. This became the Les Paul Melody Maker Junior, an amazing hybrid that was sold from 2003-2006. They went for about $500. in 2003, and used ones are still fetching that price now, nine years later. I managed to score mine on eBay for around $475. It sounds and feels amazing.



Many players don't like the "worn" or "satin" finishes that Gibson produces these days, but I actually do. Every guitar that I've had with this finish was louder, brighter and felt better under my hands than sticky, thick nitro finish jobs.

Gibson began using this finish for a couple of reasons. One, it is cheaper to produce than their traditional thick, glossy finish jobs, and can bring the price point of a great guitar down enough so that a regular joe like me can afford it. Number two, it resembles the worn away, time-thinned, broken in finish of a real vintage, 60 year old guitar. Not exactly, but close. Purists will tell you that this is blasphemy, but I'm not a purist. And the way this satin finish allows the wood to breathe and brings out the tone of the instrument is so awesome that I can't argue with it. In fact, Gibby now uses this finish on all of their mid-price Melody makers, LP Juniors, LP Specials, SGs, etc. And while it's said that the satin finish doesn't last as long or wear as well, you'll be able to afford to re-finish it down the line if needed.

Thanks for reading my very personal and subjective account of the legacy of the LP Junior. These are beautiful and sonically superior guitars, and every guitar geek should own at least one. Collect them, drool over them, admire them, buy them, sell them, but most of all, PLAY 'em.

Living In The Past: Why Retro?

When I was 12 or 13 years old, I listened to (and taped everything off of) the radio. Everything. I loved music. I loved how it took me outside of the tiny Western Michigan town that I lived in and promised a world that I knew I wanted but couldn't even conceive of. At that time, I had no idea of what genres I preferred or what type of music I liked. I wanted everything. This was in the early 80s, so the songs i taped off the radio were pretty much what you'd expect. "Come On Eileen", "Sweet Dreams are Made of This", "Tainted Love", "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me", "Every Breath You Take", "Jessie's Girl", "Private Eyes", etc. But there was one song that always made my tapes that struck me in a wholly different way. It was called "Sexy And 17" by a group called the Stray Cats. That song was something else entirely.

Even at my young age, with my untutored musical ear, I could tell this song sounded nothing like the rest. And I saw pictures of the band in my rock magazines that I'd started collecting. They looked a little like the other bands of the time. Duran Duran, Soft Cell, etc. all had members with high hair and leather jackets, but there was something different about these Stray Cats guys. They sort of reminded me of Elvis, whom my mother loved, a young Johnny Cash, who my father loved, and the movie Grease, which my mother and sisters loved. They also reminded me of the Sunday afternoon infomercials I'd seen on TV. We only got three channels where I lived, no cable, no MTV ( a new music channel that I wouldn't actually see for another couple of years), so whatever was on, we watched. Sunday afternoons there was always this commercial for a huge set of vinyl records by Time Life called something like "The Golden Hits Of The Fifties". I absolutely loved the songs they'd play, and the grainy black and white video clips they'd show of the performers. These people looked like they were from Mars to me. I also remember that my Mom would sometimes sing along to some of the songs. I was amazed that she had ever had anything to do with anything this cool. My Dad even bought me a Chuck Berry tape at a truck stop one day, trying to get me into the real stuff. It didn't really work. Not yet.


After awhile I'd collected all the Stray Cats' hit songs on a tape: "Rock This Town", "I Won't Stand In Your Way", "Stray Cat Strut". Like a lot of things when you're that age though, my Stray Cats love sort of faded. I got into Def Leppard and Motley Crue and Ozzy and all the other hard rock stuff of the day, like every other kid my age. Predictably, I grew my hair long and bought a pointy guitar. But not for long.

By the time I was 25, I was a full fledged music obsessive. I had become pretty decent on the guitar, collected hundreds if not thousands of records, tapes and CDs, played in several bands, and moved to the big city (Boston) to "make it". I had grown out of hard rock and delved deeply into the world of punk rock. I had become obsessed, utterly with another favorite band. One who would inform my musical tastes and change my life, my hairstyle, the types of guitars I played, my politics, the movies I watched, the books I read, my morality, my clothes...I'm talking about the only band that matters. The Clash.



In reading about and obsessing over everything that Joe, Paul, Mick and Topper had ever done, I ran into a few words that excited me and sent my young imagination afire. "Rockabilly", "Quiff haircuts", "pompadour", and I said aloud as I read, in hushed and reverent tones, the names of the saints: "Gene Vincent". "Eddie Cochran". "Chuck Berry". The Clash also got me into Ska, reggae, pub rock and Kerouac, but that's another story.

I started wearing an old raggedy bowling shirt, cheap fake doc martens, and combing my hair into a huge dyed black pompadour. Construction workers would point at me and laugh as I walked the streets, shouting "hey Elvis!", snickering into their greasy Burger King lunches. I knew I was on to something.




The other band that I was excited about at that time was Social Distortion. This is the band that really re-ignited an obsession with the rebel rock of the past, in the consciousness of Gen-X punk rock types like myself. Mike Ness and co covered Johnny Cash, greased their hair, played vintage instruments, and acted tough and bad ass in that time honored 1950s way. I loved them, still do.


My own band at that time (mid 90s), the Dimestore Haloes, made records and toured and were fairly well known in punk circles for adding, like the Clash, The Cramps, and Social D. did in various ways, that 50s aesthetic to three chord, fast punk rock. Lots of bands did this at the time, and I wish more did today. I'd probably be more interested in modern punk if the kids still had a clue.


In the 90s I also discovered something that would further drive home and inform my 1950s /1960s obsession. Norton Records and Kicks! Magazine. The irreverent, hilarious, intelligent and informed writing in the mag, and the music put out on the record label (both owned by Billy Miller and his wife Miriam Linna)was, and still is, perfect. The mag no longer exists, and good luck finding copies, but the label is still going strong.

Unlike other phases in my life, the love of the 40s, 50s and early 60s never went away. I'm 41 now, and more obsessed with learning about those eras than ever. I own a 1954 kitchen table and chairs, as well as a '50s coffee table. My wife and I go to antique and vintage stores every chance we get,looking for old records, toys, photos,clothes, just to see them if we can't take them home.

I can't afford tons of expensive antiques (and '50s stuff is remarkably pricey), but if anything looks remotely mid century I want it. I buy new guitars and modify them to look like old ones. I watch black and white movies and read books by 1950s writers. I go to a 1950s style barber shop to get my hair cut. I obsess over Elvis, Sun Records, Meteor and Starday releases, Hank Williams. Link Wray, Esquerita, Howlin' Wolf. Old cars, old motorcycles that I'll probably never be able to afford.



I'm not a collector, I'm not an antiques dealer or mid century historian. I just want the feeling. I know you can't buy it or own it. I just want to touch it. The past. It's a different world. Cars were works of art, clothes were durable, comfortable and stylish. There were new innovations in design, art, and politics as well as music, movies and literature. Tradition was still respected. It was not a perfect world, I know. But it's a world that we've lost entirely in this age of technology, instant gratification and moral decline. Those old movies, records and ideas aren't dated or boring to me. Those days jump off the screen and come alive.



There is, for the vintage obsessive, also the feeling that we'll never quite touch the object or idea that we love. We can't know what it was to be alive back then, because we weren't, or if we were, we were too young to remember much. I totally admit, however, that if I woke up tomorrow morning suddenly transported back to the 50s, I'd probably be extremely annoyed at not being able to use my cell phone, and having to actually drive into town to check out that new Carl Perkins or Billy Lee Riley or Little Richard 45, instead of just punching it in on eBay and having it sent to my home, or failing that, just downloading it. I know I've romanticized a period that will never return and is wholly gone, and I do so because it seems to suit my personal aesthetics more than the time I actually live in.



Nevertheless the obsession remains. I guess some guys watch football, some guys play video games, some guys work out and wax their armpits, I hang out in antique stores, make new guitars look old, and read enough books on Elvis to numb the very mind and ass of the average person. I own three books about Eddie Cochran. Three. One, apparently, was not going to cut it. I buy every worthless repro 1950s toy I find in novelty stores. Doesn't matter if it's reproduction. It looks right. It's cheaper and in better shape. I get that feeling from it. That's what I'm after. At this point, I've been into this for well over 20 years. The interest has never really waned, and I hope it never does.