Category: Get This!

Get This!, Sampled

Heavy Soul

Craig McAllister

Just the one track for now, but it’s a belter. I first heard How You Like Me Now? by The Heavy on Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show one Saturday night a while back on BBC 6 Music. I’ve mentioned this show before. Charles plays a heady mixture of bona fide stone cold soul classics and wilfully obscurist talc-dusted rattlin’ northern soul groovers, with the odd disco-tinged track flung in for good measure. It’s terrific!

When I first heard How You Like Me Now? I assumed The Heavy were one of those long-forgotten bands who last played together in 1975. How You Like Me Now? sounds like Led Zeppelin gettin’ it on with Stevie Wonder. The st-st-st-staccato James Brown guitar riff. The low-end horns. The rubber band Bootsy bass. The drum groove that kicks the whole thing up a gear just after the first line is sung. The white man sings the blues vocals. The wee pause just after he sings “remember the time” at the start of the second verse. The piano and guitar break down half way through before the inevitable groove kicks in again. I could go on and on. Suffice to say, never have a band been more aptly named.

You can imagine my surprise then when I discovered that The Heavy were actually a real-live modern day group, recording, gigging and releasing records in the here and now. Not only that, but the vocalist is actually a black man who really can sing the blues. I think they’re from the Birmingham area. I’m sure many of you are more familiar with them than I am. I mean, they’ve played on the David Letterman Show and everything. I might just possibly be the last one to this particularly funky party. Do yourself a favour and download How You Like Me Now? Then head out and buy yourself a copy of Great Vengeance and Furious Fire  or The House That Dirt Built. That’s clearly what Letterman did, judging by his reaction after they appeared on his show in January last year.

ng News! Update! Breaking News! Update! Breaking News! Update!

OK, maybe not as groundbreaking a story as the Bin Laden’s Bin Killed news that’s currently got everyone in a frenzy, but breaking news nonetheless. As pointed out by sharp-eared reader Clawthing in the Comments section below, the horns and guitar riff in The Heavy track are lifted lock, stock and groovy barrel from Dyke & the Blazers Let A Woman Be A Woman And A Man Be A Man. This is a record I’ve been totally unaware of until now, but it somewhat justifies my belief that The Heavy’s record had a great deal of 70s whiffiness around it. I did know though (and no doubt you’ll also probably be aware) that Prince borrowed the Let A Woman Be A Woman And a Man Be A Man line for his Gett Off single. That’s what I love about this internet thing – you learn something new every day. Well spotted Clawthing. Your prize is in the post.


Get This!, Hard-to-find

Come In, Come Out Triple-Whammy

Craig McAllister

Come in, Come Out originally appeared on the b-side of The La’s There She Goes 12“. It’s the slinkier, groovier progeny of Captain Beefheart playing Ian Dury’s Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll and personifies that La’s Rattle ‘n Roll tag that they were fond of banding about around 1988.

Come In, Come Out is one of only 20 songs officially released by The La’s – (count ’em!) – 12 on the album plus 8 assorted b-sides, but thanks to a combination of fans with magpie-like tendencies, generous studio engineers and the Go! Discs not-quite warts ‘n all box set from last year, there are numerous versions available to even yer casual La’s enthusiast. Of course, yer casual La’s enthusiast might struggle to hear the difference between any of the versions, but yer proper fully signed-up card carrying Dole Pay Me So Far La We Go La’s enthusiasts like myself can spot every little minutae of detail between the riffs. Slow versions. Fast versions. Frantically scrubbed skiffly acoustic versions.  Who-rockin’ electric versions. Live versions. Abandoned studio versions……..

Of course, The La’s abandoned just about everything they ever put to tape. But you knew that already. It’s good to know though, that even the stuff they considered below par is still a whole lot better than many of their contemporaries’ output. Hey, it’s better than many bands’ output, full stop. Just be thankful those fans with the magpie-like tendencies and the studio engineers with the pile of C90s at the ready were around at the time. Here’s three versions. All different. All slinky. All groovy. All good in their own way.

Come In, Come Out Mick Moss acoustic version, recorded April 1987. An early take. This‘ll be one of those the frantically scrubbed skiffly versions – it’s less than a minute and a half long. No Ian Dury riff yet, but it’s ace!

Come In, Come Out John Leckie mix. Fast, frantic and full of r’nb riffing and skittery Keith Moon-esque drums, this is a right proper knee-trembler behind the bike sheds, the sound of The Marquee in 1964. The percussion sounds like it was played on a selection of kitchen pots and pans. Listen out for Mavers’ skirling percussive guitar trills, frills and fills towards the end. What a rhythm player!

Come In, Come Out Steve Lillywhite mix. Slow, bluesy, druggy and fuggy. Or just plain half-arsed. You decide. Any musos out there are sure to appreciate the nice percussive ‘clunk‘ on the off-beat. Rather uniquely for a Lillywhite recording, this doesn’t feature any backing vocals from his his estranged wife Kirsty MacColl.

…….I don’t need any encouragement……

Get This!, Gone but not forgotten

The Flaming Hips

Craig McAllister

James Brown. Mr Dynamite. The Godfather of Soul. Funk Brother #1. The Hardest Working Man in Show Business.

In the 1950s, long before he had earned any of these tags,  he was a Little Richard-worshipin’ R’nB performer, playing drums and dragging his band of black musicians around the safety of the chitlin’ circuit in the southern states of America. The influence of Little Richard on the young James Brown cannot be underplayed. James idolised Little Richard. He copied his shiny black, oil slick-pompadoured quiff, perched atop his head like a Mr Whippy ice cream. When Little Richard gave up Good Golly Miss Molly for the Good of our Great God Almighty, James inherited some of his backing musicians, transforming his own group into a crack blues/soul/r’nb/gospel-tinged outfit that had an unmistakable groove beating at it’s heart. Shows were now billed as James Brown and the Famous Flames, the Famous Flames being the smooth-voiced backing singers who provided the foil for James’ more impassioned drop-to-the-knees moments. They also provided an understated dance routine that would allow the super-flash Camel-Walkin’, Mashed Potato jivin’ Brown to show off in his own unique hip-swivellin’ style. He might not’ve been the Godfather yet, but he was certainly the Boss at this point. It was said that Brown carried around an old napkin on which the words ‘Please Please Please‘ had been scrawled by Little Richard and that the young James was determined to turn those 3 words into a song….

….which he certainly succeeded at. In 1956, Please Please Please was James Brown’s first ever recording and went on to sell over one million copies, although interestingly it didn’t even make the Billboard Hot 100, stalling at #105. The pop audiences didn’t yet know about James Brown. In fact, they wouldn’t ‘get’ him until much later, although James has the distinction of having the most-ever hits on the Billboard Hot 100 without ever hitting number 1. *Pop quiz time – who holds that unique record for the UK charts?

Brown acknowledged the importance that Please Please Please held in his grand scheme of things and peformed it throughout his career. It was usually during this song that he would do his famous ‘cape routine‘, where he would fake to collapse, emotions exhausted, and his manager would come on from the side of the stage and usher him off, soaked in sweat, seemingly spent and severly in need of resuscitation. Pure vaudeville for sure, but I for one lapped it up on the only occassion I saw him live, inbetween the costume changes and the magician who sawed someone in half. But if you’ve been reading Plain Or Pan for a while, you’ll know all that already.

Those early James Brown records are electric. Full of rolling guitar riffs and call and response Famous Flames vocals, brass stabs act as musical full stops that allow James to simply breath, or drop to his knees and holler, yelp or let out one of those involuntary phlegmy grunts that Lenny Henry thinks he’s good at doing. He’s still finding his musical feet here but I bet this is when he had the idea for fining his musicians who missed a beat or played a bum note. His band on those early records are water-tight and pompadour-slick, playing yakkety-yak sax and the one-chord groove unperpinned by a solidly swinging backbeat. Hip huggin’, finger clickin’ soul, they’re the sort of mod-sharp records that would have me reaching for a 3 button mohair suit, if only the girth that has crept up on me over the past few years wasn’t there. If all you know of James Brown is Sex Machine, Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag and I Feel Good, dig deeper brothers and sisters, dig deeper. The tracks below are all from his first three albums and are a very good place to start. No fake emotions here, just pure, raw uncomplicated soul. You dig?

Please Please Please

Try Me

There Must Be A Reason

Why Do You Do Me

I’ll Go Crazy

This Old Heart

Bewildered

*Pop Quiz Time

I think this honour goes to Depeche Mode, who, according to Wiki at any rate, have had 49 of their 56 singles released to date make the UK Top 75 wthout once having had a Number One single. I’m sure if I’m wrong though, someone out there will correct me.

Cover Versions, demo, Get This!, Gone but not forgotten, Hard-to-find, Most downloaded tracks, Studio master tapes, studio outtakes

Olaf, You’re Playing Catch-Up!

Craig McAllister

Going For Gold was a quiz show that ran for about 10 years between the mid 80s and mid 90s, broadcast usually after the lunchtime episode of Neighbours. Contestants came from all corners of the European Community to be asked general knowledge questions (in English) by genial Irishman Henry Kelly – “Who am I? I am an inventor. I was born in Scotland in 1869.” etc etc. What always amazed me about the show was that all contestants could understand and answer the questions in English. Indeed, Olaf from Finland and Gretchen from Germany always, always had a better grasp of the English language than Sue from Sussex and Karen from Coatbridge. In the final round, one contestant had control of the board and Kelly would always say to their opponent, “You’re playing catch-up!”

Once a year I like to round up some of the best music on Plain Or Pan and put it centre-stage for a second time. I like to think all the music I put on here is fantastic in it’s own way, but there are some things that are downloaded/searched for/requested far more regularly than others. The search facility about half-way down on the right there works fairly well (try it!), but I appreciate that sometimes it’s nice to have things put on a plate for you. If you’re a relative newcomer to this blog and you’re not sure what you may have missed out on, this post is for people like you. As Henry Kelly would say, “Olaf, you’re playing catch-up…”

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Who am I? I am a singer-songwriter. I started out my career singing doo-wop with a vocal group known as The Moonglows. When they broke up I began playing as a session drummer at Motown Records before stepping out from behind the kit and standing in front of the microphone. In my time at Motown I added an ‘e‘ to the end of my name, recorded many memorable solo tracks and duets, changed the way the record company viewed the merits of albums and married and divorced the boss’s daughter, resulting in one of the bitterest break-up albums of all time. Who am I? I am Marvin Gaye. And these are the unedited studio master tracks for I Heard it Through The Grapevine. Original article here.

How about some more Motown vocal-only tracks? Get them via here. Want more of this sort of stuff? Search ‘studio master tapes‘ in the ‘whityeherefur?‘ box over there on the right…

What am I? I am another studio outtake. I am a famous song by a famous band, some say that band’s best track (although you could easily argue the case for many of their other records.) Rolling Stone magazine (there’s a clue right there) put me at #38 in their list of Greatest Songs Ever in 2004, which makes me just better than Buddy Holly’s That’ll Be The Day but not quite as good as No Woman, No Cry by Bob Marley. My lyrics predict rape and murder and are a fitting epitaph on the death of the 60s which is just a shot away.  What am I? I am Gimme  Shelter by The  Rolling Stones. Here is the astonishing Mick ‘n Merry vocal-only track. And here is Keith’s rather groovy lead guitar track. Original article here. Sit down before listening, you may just be blown away.

There’s some terrific Curtis Mayfield stuff via here and here. And there’s some excellent Sly Stone stuff here and here. There’s a whole lotta soul on Plain Or Pan. Whiteyeherefur? Use it!

It’s well documented that Led Zeppelin didn’t so much re-write the blues as nick it riff by riff. Rape and murder, indeed. Compare Jimmy Page’s Dazed and Confused to the relatively-unknown Jake Holmes’ version here. I often contrast and compare the merits of originals v covers v blatantly plagiarised words and music. Type ‘double whammy’ or ‘triple whammy‘ into ‘Whiteyeherefur?‘ and see what you can find…

I could go on and on. Or you could use the ‘Whityeherefur?’ facility. Or you could just go through month-by-month, year-by-year. It’ll take you a while. But then, it’s taken me a while too. Last year’s round-up of all things good about Plain Or Pan can be found here, including links to Johnny Marr’s Dansette Delights, The Ronettes vocal-only version of Be My Baby and the now-legendary Plain Or Pan Compilation CDs. So much to choose from, so much to grab. Go! Go! Go!

Cover Versions, Get This!, Gone but not forgotten

Groove Me, Baby!

Craig McAllister

I’m often torn between the two hemispheres of soul. Some days I’m all for the Northern variety, dripping in elitism, dusted in talc, and rattling away through the speakers like an AM radio being beamed in from Brazil at 100mph, the tinnier the better. Other days I’m a sucker for its Southern sister, with its killer guitar riffs, songs-as-stories and basslines boiled in the deep South, Great God almighty gargantuan and gumbo-like.

I had planned tonight to post a few Southern Soul tracks, but while deciding on the tracks to post I got kinda sidetracked and set sail down crazy river with a headful of disco and no paddle to get me back to southern soul central. So instead, here’s two versions of Groove Me.


Groove Me is a belter of a southern soul track. With its juddering, stuttering groove, it’s like a laid back James Brown backing track, almost bluebeat reggae in feel thanks to its off-rhythm keyboard riff and hi-hat action. It was initially recorded in December 1970 by King Floyd who at the time was working for the post office. As is so often the way, it was actually a b-side before tuned-in DJs spotted its potential and turned it into a million-seller for Atlantic Records, when it reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Unsurprisingly, Floyd quit his day job and settled into a career of touring his one hit,  management fallouts, ever-decreasing returns and relative obscurity. Sadly, he died 5 years ago.

Groove Me is also a belter of a disco track, but you probably knew that already. You also probably knew that I am unashamedly disco, so I have no qualms about posting this, the 9 minute disco workout cover by Fern Kinney. Fern is yer classic one hit wonder, though not with this track. Together We Are Beautiful reached the very toppermost of the poppermost here in the UK in 1980 and while I have always been aware of her version of Groove Me, I was unaware that it did diddleysquat in terms of chart placings here in the UK (according to my Guiness Book Of British Hit Singles at any rate). Shame, as I think its magic. Have a listen, wait till the groove kicks in then think, “Wouldn’t Happy Mondays have done a brilliant version of this?”

Fact! Fern actually sang backing vocals on the original King Floyd version.

Cover Versions, Get This!, Gone but not forgotten

Seductive Barry

Craig McAllister

John Barry died today at the age of 77. Without him, the Sixties wouldn’t have swung quite as bold or nearly as brassy. You don’t need me to tell you of his work on 11 Bond films, or that his musical scores packed full of stabbing brass, sweeping orchestration and exotic leads (dulcimer! vibes!) often conjured up images of carefree playboys at the wheel of a Jaguar, speeding through the Swiss Alps with a Ray Ban-ed and mini-skirted female for company (although that sounds a lot like a spoof scene from Austin Powers, but you know what I mean.)

Barry ‘n Birkin

John Barry was a bit of a real-life Austin. He was married 4 times, once briefly to Jane Birkin until, in 1968, she went off to work with Serge Gainsbourg and, well, I’m sure you know what happens when old Gauloises ‘n garlic Gainsbourg takes a shine to a lady…

In a career that took in amongst others big band jazz, neo-classical orchestration, easy listening croon and off-beat quirky pop instrumentation, his music can be equal parts mesmerising, life-affirming and downright seductive. Indeed, Pulp put a track called Seductive Barry on their under-appreciated This Is Hardcore album. A brooding 8 and a half minute paean to seedy lust, it’d be great to think that Jarvis was singing about an ordinary northern lothario called Barry, or maybe even Barrys White or Manilow, but it must surely be some sort of tribute to John Barry – Jarvis is a gen’d up scholar of music and had Barry play at the 2007 Meltdown he curated. I can remember reading how Jarvis liked to walk around Sheffield with John Barry playing on his Walkman, as the music transformed his city into a magical place.

Here’s some of my favourite John Barry tunes. Play them as you take the journey into work tomorrow and pretend you’re some sort of libidinous Cold War spy. That’s what I’ll be doing.

Into Miami/Alpine Drive/Auric (a suite, if you like, from Goldfinger)

The Girl With The Sun In Her Hair

Midnight Cowboy (my favourite instrumental ever)

*Bonus Track!

Another Barry, Mr Adamson formerly bass player with Magazine, has released a good half dozen records filled with the sort of arrangements and instrumentation that could’ve had John Barry reaching for the nearest copy of Plagiarism Monthly. Adamson’s ska version of the 007 tune is a belter.

Get This!

Reel Music

Craig McAllister

Peter Salett was an artist I was enirely unfamiliar with until last summer. I was up late and found myself engrossed in ‘Down In The Valley‘ – a movie where cop’s daughter good girl (Evan Rachel Wood) meets cowboy drifter bad boy (Ed Norton) with predictably disastrous consequences. I’m no Mark Kermode ( I’m not even any Claudia Winkleman) but for what it’s worth, I think it was a pretty good movie. Standout for me was the music that plays over the beach scene, as the two main characters coyly get it on.

The track wasPeter Salett’s Sunshine. Low key, lo-fi and sung in the kind of hushed tones that rival Elliott Smith at his most fragile and introspective, Sunshine had me. I had to find out more.

I got myself a copy of In The Ocean Of The Stars, Salett’s 5th release from 2008. I’m not exaggerating here when I say this album is a stone cold lost classic, up there with Gene Clark’s No Other, Dennis Wilson’s Pacific Ocean Blue and other such since-discovered diamonds. Equal parts Elliott Smithish folk introspection, Randy Newmanesque melancholy and Brian Wilsonish simplisticness, In The Ocean Of The Stars never fails to disappoint. Every time I listen to it I hear new things. That world-weary Randy Newman reference is all the way through the opening track Magic Hour, bathed in pathos with it’s backwards-masked rhythm, wonky accordian and woozy country psychedelia. Really! The ghost of Gene Clark’s alt Americana is all over the title track, rich drop-tuned guitars, sweeping strings and a breathtaking “Starry, starry night” vocal.  Anglophiles may spot shades of Ed Harcourt or even, in I Miss You (Thought You Should Know), a bit of Richard Hawley. I can’t believe I’ve never heard of it or it’s creator until now.

A bit of internet digging reveals Salett has contributed quite a lot to movie soundtracks over the past decade. There’s every chance you’ve heard him already without realising. You might even have heard his stuff and gone on to investigate more, as I’ve done.  For all I know, everyone knows about him except me and I’m last to the party, arriving just as the best bit’s over and everyone’s moving on to the next hip thing. I don’t know. But I do know that In The Ocean Of The Stars is worth 40 minutes of anyone’s time. Go here to hear the album in full. You might even want to buy it afterwards.

Cover Versions, demo, Double Nugget, elliott smith, Get This!, Gone but not forgotten, Hard-to-find, Kraut-y, Most downloaded tracks, Peel Sessions, Sampled, Studio master tapes, studio outtakes

Four Play

Craig McAllister

Amazingly or not, ye olde Plain Or Pan is now 4 years young. This year saw the double-whammy milestones of reaching one million visitors and, on a personal level, having my writing recognised to the extent that I was invited to interview Sandie Shaw in advance of her appearing at the summer’s Vintage At Goodwood festival. My interview was subsequently published in the hardback Annual that festival goers could buy at the event. Which was nice.

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As has been something of a tradition at the start of a year, I’ve put together a compilation of the most downloaded tracks over the past year – 2 CDs worth of covers, curios and hard-to-find classics. I like to think of it as a potted representation of what Plain Or Pan is about.

Tracklist Disc 1:

Jackson 5 I Want You Back acapella

Dean Carter Jailhouse Rock

Frankie Valli Queen Jane Approximately

Chris Bell I Am The Cosmos

Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson I Am The Cosmos

Scott Walker Black Sheep Boy

Tim Buckley Dolphins

Sandie Shaw I Don’t Owe You Anything

Big Maybelle 96 Tears

Patti Jo Make Me Believe In You

Curtis Mayfield (Don’t Worry) If There’s Hell Below We’re all Gonna Go (takes 1& 2)

Brinkley & Parker.  Don’t Get Fooled By The Pander Man

Sly Stone Time For Livin’ (early version)

Maggie Thrett Soupy

Sheila and B. Devotion Spacer

Happy Mondays Staying Alive

Aretha Franklin / Duane Allman The Weight

Funkadelic Maggot Brain (alt mix)

 

 

Tracklist Disc 2:

Spiritualized Can’t Help Falling In Love

Serge Gainsbourg Melody

Stone Roses Something’s Burning (demo)

Can I’m So Green

Alex Chilton My Baby Just Cares For Me

Elliott Smith I’ll Be Back

The Czars Where the Boys Are

Peter Fonda November Night

Beach Boys Never Learn Not To Love

Charles Manson Cease To Exist

Wedding Present Happy Birthday (Peel Session)

Penny Peeps Model Village

The Stairs Woman Gone And Say Goodbye

Kinks Sittin’ On My Sofa

Ramones Judy Is A Punk (1975 demo)

Capsula Run Run Run

White Stripes Party Of Special Things To Do

13th Floor Elevators Slip Inside This House

Jake Holmes Dazed & Confused

White Antelope Silver Dagger

Arcade Fire Poupee de Cire, Poupee de Son

The Velvelettes Needle In A Haystack acapella

Each disc comes packaged as one big downloadable .rar file, complete with artwork.

If you’re new here, welcome and happy downloading! If you’re a regular here, you may have some or all of these tracks already, so why not download anyway and burn a CD for someone who might appreciate it?