Hey friends, it's Your Old Pal Will here with another episode of Vinyl-O-Matic. This time around, we continue our journey through albums with titles that begin with the letter B as in Bravo. This voyage begins in the company of fellow Sonoma county citizen Tom Waits and a selection from his 1978 album Blue Valentine. And I think I'll make this week's listener challenge an easy one... let's go with Top 3 Favorite Tom Waits Tunes. Feel free to select ones covered by other folks too. Leave a comment in the show notes, which can be found at vinylomatic(dot)com(slash)s05e11. Now let's find out what happened to Romeo.

Welcome back, friends. We just heard some groovy psych bop from Eddie Jefferson with his song "Psychedelic Sally" from his 1968 Prestige album Body and Soul. Before that, something else from 1968. Bobbie Gentry and Glen Campbell brought us the Gentry-penned song "Mornin' Glory". Before that, we had one that I will dedicate to my feline friend Kitsune. Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys performed their 1946 hit Roly-Poly. Starting the show off, we had Tom Waits and his gritty groove "Romeo Is Bleeding". Next up we have track one from side one of my most favorite EP ever.

If you cast your minds back to the top of that last set, you will recall that we got things started with The Clean and "Billy 2" from their 1981 EP Boodle Boodle Boodle on Flying Nun Records. That was followed up by Booker T and the MGs bringing us their fine interpretation of the Sly Stone classic "Sing a Simple Song". That is from their silvery Stax release The Booker T Set from 1969. We heard some unintentional creative anachronisms masquerading has history from a Peter Pan Records release called "Boom! Boom! Crack! Ping! The Sounds of Early America". I don't even know where to begin with all of the sonic and narrative shenanigans, but I will offer you this fun fact: The crew of the Mayflower referred to the Puritans as psalm-singing puke-stockings. Finally, Kris Kristofferson sang about a "Little Girl Lost" who is evidently of loose moral character but also broke his heart. That is taken from his 1972 Monument album entitled Border Lord.
And now, everyone's favorite New Jerseyian.

Woof. Sorry about that, but you know... it's in the collection so I have to play it. Despite the fact that rock radio has played this highly varnished 70s nugget so much that it has lost its luster, it is possible that somewhere someone has never heard the self-titled first Boston album from 1976. If that person is you, well I hope it added something to your audio consciousness. Prior to that, we had a double dose of bossa nova. The Dave Brubeck Quartet hitched their bandwagon to the bossa nova craze with their 1963 album Bossa Nova USA, and the song "Cantiga Nova Swing". We also heard Charlie Byrd and his rendition of Gilberto's "Bim Bom" from his album Bossa Nova Pelos Passaros. "Bim Bom" is arguably the first example of a bossa nova song. Getting that last set started, we had Bruce Springsteen with "I'm Goin' Down" from his multi-platinum 1984 opus Born in the USA. Up next, let's take the edge off with a bit of desert rock.

Hot-cha. Way up at the top of that last set, we had a fine herky-jerky number from Davis CA's own Thin White Rope and a track called "Waking Up" from the 1987 Zippo Records EP entitled Bottom Feeders. To follow that up, I decided that "Sleep the Clock Around" would be the best choice from Belle & Sebastian's 1998 Matador release The Boy with the Arab Strap. From the early 80s Down Under, Divinyls brought us the angsty rocker "Boys in Town". Rounding things out, we got down with Brooklyn funksters Brass Construction and their song "Ha Cha Cha" from their 1976 album Brass Construction II. Where is Brass Construction 1, III, IV, 5, and 6? Presumably in a bin somewhere, waiting to be found.
We now find ourselves at the end of this episode. As always, if you have any questions or comments feel free to drop me a line: will(at)vinylomatic(dot)com. You can find show notes, archived episodes, and signup for the Vinyl-O-Matic Amplifier newsletter by pointing your browser in the direction of vinylomatic(dot)com. When next we meet, we will continue our journey through albums that begin with the letter B as in Bravo. Join me, won't you?