Wednesday MidDay Medley
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org

Chris Hazelton & The Freedom Affair
+ Blair Schulman talks about Brigid Berlin

1. “It’s Showtime Folks”
from: Orig. Motion Picture Soundtrack All That Jazz / Casablanca / Dec. 20, 1979
[WMM theme]

2. The Jayhawks – “Living in a Bubble”
from: Xoxo / SHAM – Thirty Tigers / July 10, 2020
[11th studio album from alternative country and country rock band that emerged from the Twin Cities music scene during the mid-1980s. Since the departure of John Jackson as a full-time member, the current lineup of the Jayhawks consists of: Gary Louris on guitar, lead vocals, backing vocals; Tim O’Reagan on drums, backing vocals, lead vocals; Karen Grotberg on keyboards, backing vocals; Marc Perlman on bass, backing vocals, lead vocals. Originally led by vocalists, guitarists and songwriters Gary Louris and Mark Olson, its country rock sound was influential on many bands who played the Twin Cities circuit during the 1980s and 1990s like Uncle Tupelo, the Gear Daddies and the Honeydogs. They have released eleven studio albums with and without Olson who left the band in 1995, including five on the American Recordings label. On hiatus from 2005 to 2009, the 1994–1995 lineup of the band reunited, releasing the album, Mockingbird Time, in September 2011. After the tour, Mark Olson again left the band. After another hiatus in 2013, the 1997 lineup led by Louris reunited to play shows in 2014 to support the reissue of three albums released between 1997 and 2003. The band has remained active touring and recording since, including the release of the albums Live at The Belly Up in 2015, Paging Mr. Proust, produced by Peter Buck in 2016, Back Roads and Abandoned Motels in 2018 and XOXO in 2020.]

3. Jake Wells – “Habit”
from: Sunday Morning – EP / Jake Wells Music / February 29, 2020
[Second EP from Kansas City based indie folk singer songwriter. Jake Wells was born in Florida grew up in Colorado. Jake studied Music Composition at University of Northern Colorado. “Jake’s sound evokes an emotionality and maturity much deeper than his age of 22 would imply.” He was named one of Spotify’s top 20. He has performed on stages since he was a teenager. His single releases are currently gaining radio play in the Midwest on several FM stations. In 2018 he was featured on the nationally televised NBC reality – competition program The Voice.]

[Jake Wells plays live on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020, 7:00 PM with Noah Davis & Heavy Electric at Lemonade Park, a limited capacity socially distanced outdoor venue created in partnership between recordBar, Voltaire, and Moxie Catering, 1628 Wyoming (NW corner of Wyoming & 17th St.), behind Voltaire.]

4. Crystal Rose – “Renegade”
from: Arena EP / Crystal Rose / September 18, 2020
[Crystal Rose is a singer song-writer based in heart of Kansas City. Last year she was featured on the nationally televised NBC reality – competition program The Voice. At a young age she was Influenced by powerhouse vocals like Whitney Houston, Celine Dion and Christina Aguilera. She has since drawn much inspiration from blusey and folk centered artist like James Bay, James Vincent Mcmorrow and Johnnyswim. Crystal Rose released her debut single “Come Alive” on May 6, 2016. Earlier this year Crystal released the single “Not Leaving (Stripped)” on January 30, 2020.Crystal is a Kansas City based singer songwriter and UMKC journalism student who has played solo and also with Paige Turner on guitar. To listen to more Crystal Rose please visit: http://www.crystalro.se]

5. Suzzy Roche & Lucy Wainwright Roche – “I Can Still Hear You”
from: I Can Still Hear You / StorySound records / August 23, 2020
[Suzzy Roche and her daughter Lucy Wainwright Roche shed some light on our troubled times on their third collaboration, I Can Still Hear You. Recorded from their New York City homes during the quarantine, this 11-track album showcases soul-searching, thought-provoking originals and perfectly chosen covers, along with guest appearances by Amy Ray and Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls. The 11 tracks, 8 original and 3 covers, explore themes of good and evil, youth and mortality, the absurd and the serious, the real and the imagined, and the connection between what is present and what is gone. Each of their albums together have documented a specific time and this one, according to Suzzy, “probably is the darkest, but at the same time, it’s the most fanciful too. This time, there seemed an extra urgency about it.” Lucy Wainwright Roche is the daughter of singer-songwriters Loudon Wainwright III, a Grammy Award winner, and Suzzy Roche, who, along with her sisters (Lucy’s aunts) Maggie and Terre Roche, made up the vocal group The Roches, known for their original harmonies. The couple split when Lucy was two years old and her father spent much of his time in the UK, so Lucy did not often see her father during her childhood. The Loudon Wainwright song “Screaming Issue” is written about Lucy. Lucy is also the half-sister of singer-songwriters Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright (whose mother Kate was half of the Canadian folk duo Kate & Anna McGarrigle). She has toured with Rufus throughout the years. Through her father, she is a niece of singer-songwriter Sloan Wainwright. Suzzy Roche was born September 29, 1956), originally from Park Ridge, New Jersey, is best known for her work with the vocal group The Roches, alongside sisters Maggie and Terre. Suzzy is the youngest of the three, and joined the act in 1977. She is the author of the novel Wayward Saints and the children’s book Want To Be in a Band? Roche is also an active associate member of The Wooster Group and has appeared in a number of the group’s productions as well as composing original music for the group’s performances.[6] She was briefly a member of Four Bitchin’ Babes, appearing on their album Some Assembly Required. In 2004 Roche appeared on Crash Test Dummies album Songs of the Unforgiven. In addition to singing, she is an actress, having appeared in the 1988 romantic comedy Crossing Delancey, as well as a 1982 film, Soup for One. Roche also appeared with her siblings (playing themselves) in the 1996 comedy A Weekend in the Country.]

6. Krystle Warren & The Crew – “Gimme Some Truth”
from: The Crew EP / Parlour Door Music / September 15, 2020
[Through isolation came unity. The Crew is Lakecia Benjamin, Matthew Silberman, Jacob Snider, Joe Blaxx, Solomon Dorsey, Zach Djanikian, Cassorla, Krystle Warren, and Ben Kane. They have recorded unique versions of classic songs with the hope of encouraging the rallying cries of The Moment: the movement of the people. // In the lockdown of their homes, they sewed together their interpretations of “Bein’ Green” (based upon Ray Charles’ rendition); “Gimme Some Truth” (a mighty John Lennon composition); “Dear Landlord” (a scathing indictment from the blistering pen of Bob Dylan); and “Rhythm of Life”, (a timeless statement originally performed by Oleta Adams). // A portion of the proceeds from The Crew. EP will be donated to the various causes and organizations The Crew. support. From Billboard.com: Singer-songwriter Krystle Warren has made a powerful statement about the struggle for Black equality with the help of Kermit the Frog’s iconic song “Bein’ Green” (written by Joe Raposo). // The moving five-minute clip, over which Warren sings her rendition of the 1970 song — since recorded by Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra and others — sprang from a covers EP she recorded during the pandemic with a group of musicians known as The Crew. Warren embarked on the project after her forthcoming album with her regular group, The Faculty, was put on hold due to COVID-19. The EP, which tackles themes of racial injustice in the wake of nationwide Black Lives Matter protests this summer, also includes a cover of John Lennon’s “Gimme Some Truth.” // The “Bein’ Green” video weaves in footage of this year’s Black Lives Matter protests, and also includes a heartbreaking montage of young Black children choosing white dolls over dark-skinned ones. It additionally features archival footage of such transformative Black figures as James Baldwin, Angela Davis, Malcom X, Nina Simone, Marsha P. Johnson and Al Sharpton, as well as victims of police brutality including Sandra Bland, George Floyd and Eric Garner. It ends with a clip from a speech by civil rights activist Ella Baker. // “‘Bein’ Green,’ it’s such a gorgeous song, and it says so, so much,” says Warren. “I began thinking about what I wanted it to express visually before we started [recording the song]. Essentially — it’s not easy being Black. That’s what Ray Charles was saying, and we felt it needed to be said again.” // Warren, who now resides in Paris, began performing in her native Kansas City at the age of 16 before moving to New York City, where she started busking on the streets and later formed her regular band, The Faculty. She and the group have recorded several full-length albums, including 2009’s Circles, 2012’s Love Songs and 2017’s Three the Hard Way. Her next album is slated for release this winter. // A large percentage of proceeds from sales of the EP — which is available for digital downloads via Warren’s website now and released on all streaming platforms next Friday — will be donated to the ACLU.]

7. Joel Kraft – “Breathe”
from: Gold In The Bargain Bin / Honeyjar / 2003
[Joel Kraft is a curious animal that grew up among the rolling hills of Missouri. Climbing trees and walking through tunnels of Brush Creek, his head swam with all kinds of notions he could only just pin down and understand by singing them out loud over and over again. At first he sang them to himself, then into microphones he found at coffee shops and bars around the US. There were other people then, who would listen while sitting, or dance or sometimes sing along. What were those songs about? I don’t think Joel himself knew all the way. Were they about someone in particular? About an event? His songs are built with impressions, one stacked upon another to arrive at something new, perhaps the same way each letter in our alphabet was once a symbol for a thing or action, but now can be arranged in strings to mean all kinds of different things. This fascination with language and experience begins every moment of Joel’s performance, which often feels like more like a series of discoveries than a broadcast. He likes people very much (especially singing people), and his favorite part of performing is discovering new moments with them. Joel followed “Gold in the Garbage Bin” with the album “Big Ideas” (May 9, 2006) and then “Computer Geniuses”(June 20, 2008).]

8. Khruangbin – “Pelota”
from: Moredechai / Dead Oceans / June 26, 2020
[Khruangbin is a trio from Houston, Texas, with Laura Lee on bass, Mark Speer on guitar, and Donald Ray “DJ” Johnson Jr. on drums. The band has also released 3 albums. The band is known for blending global music influences, classic soul, dub and psychedelia. Their debut studio album, The Universe Smiles Upon You (2015), draws from the history of Thai music in the 1960s, while their 2nd album, Con Todo El Mundo (2018), has influences from Spain and the Middle East. Follow up to their 4th EP release Texas Sun with Leon Bridges. Speer and Johnson met in 2004 while playing in Rudy Rasmus’ St. John’s Methodist Church gospel band in Houston, Texas. The church employed Speer as the guitarist and Johnson as the organist. “When we first started the band, we wanted to have a formula,” he says. “It’s like, ‘This is what we do, and we’re not gonna try and go outside the box too much. We’re gonna explore the box we’re in. I’ve always been a big fan of that. I used to be in bands where was like, ‘Man, we’ve gotta think outside the box!’ And all I’m thinking is: ‘You guys don’t even know.’ Music should never be just for the sake of being experimental. Before you even start, you have to know what you’re experimenting with first.” Speer said. In 2007, Speer met Lee through friends, where they initially connected over a shared love of Afghan music and Middle Eastern architecture[disambiguation needed]. In 2009, Lee started to learn the bass with guidance from Speer. After playing for six months, she auditioned and got the gig to be the bassist for Yppah on his upcoming tour. Speer already had the gig as guitarist for Yppah and had encouraged Lee to audition. In 2010, both Lee and Speer went on tour with Yppah who opened for Bonobo. The tour motivated the two of them to make music together more seriously, leading them to form Khruangbin. Speer and Lee went to a barn where they developed the bass-heavy, psychedelic sound that became the basis of the band’s aesthetic. Upon their return, they asked Johnson to join the band as drummer, to play simple break-beats under the guitar and bass. The barn, located in the 300-person town of Burton, Texas, would become the site of all future Khruangbin recording sessions. The band has a longterm working relationship with Houston-based engineer Steve Christensen. When asked to play their first gig, Lee, who was learning to speak Thai at the time, decided they should use her favorite Thai word “khruangbin”, which means “flying engine”, literally, or “aeroplane,” as their name. Speer said that, had they had the foresight to predict the band’s success, they might not have chosen a name that was so difficult to pronounce. The band’s name symbolizes the international set of influences that shaped the band’s formation. A notable part of the band’s visual style is the black wigs that Lee and Speer wear on stage, and during promotional interviews and photoshoots. Originally this was to help them move from the stage to the merchandise stand without being recognized during early tours]

10:28 – Underwriting

9. The Freedom Affair – “Rise Up”
from: “Rise Up” – Single / Colemine Records / June 21, 2019 [7″ Vinyl Release]
[The Freedom Affair is a project of Chris Hazelton of Sunflower Soul Records and Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7. The band includes members of the Boogaloo 7 with members of Instant Karma and three of the KC area’s leading vocalists. The Freedom Affair is: Misha Roberts on vocals, Seyko Groves on vocals, Paula Saunders on vocals, Cole Bales on guitar, Branden Moser on guitar, Chris Hazelton on bass, Dave Brick on drums, Pete Carroll on trumpet, and Brett Jackson on saxophone. The Freedom Affair and their track “Rise Up” were selected to be part of Colemine Records 3xLP box set, “Soul Slabs Vol. 2” a Record Store Day Exclusive, released April 13, 2019. Colemine Records writes: “The Freedom Affair is a freight train of Kansas City soul! Dirty, funky drums, gritty horns, and the combined vocals of Misha Roberts, Seyko Groves, and Paula Saunders to put this band over the top. Politically charged soul music for the dancefloor!”]

10:33 – Interview with Chris Hazelton

Chris Hazelton is with us to share the details about KC’s soul supergroup, The Freedom Affair and their debut album, Freedom is Love, to be released September 25, 2020 on Sunflower Soul Records. The album explores themes of love, heartache, empowerment, and togetherness. The Freedom Affair features three powerhouse female vocalists: Misha Roberts, Paula Saunders, and Seyko Groves in front of a dynamic six-piece band: Cole Bales on guitar; Branden Moser on guitar; Chris Hazelton on bass guitar & organ; Dave Brick on drums; Pete Carroll on trumpet; and Brett Jackson on tenor sax & baritone sax. The album was recorded and produced by Chris Hazelton.

Chris Hazelton, Thanks for being with us on WMM.

“Rise Up” (1 of 10 songs on the new album) was selected to be part of Colemine Records 3xLP box set, “Soul Slabs Vol. 2” a Record Store Day Exclusive, released April 13, 2019. Colemine Records writes: “The Freedom Affair is a freight train of KC soul! Dirty, funky drums, gritty horns, and the combined vocals of Misha Roberts, Seyko Groves, & Paula Saunders to put this band over the top. Politically charged soul music for the dancefloor!”

Earlier this year The Freedom Affair released their version of John Lennon’s Imagine as a single on March 20, 2020, Arranged, produced, recorded & mixed by Chris Hazelton

“Freedom Is Love” to be released September 25, 2020 is the debut album from KC’s newest soul supergroup, The Freedom Affair. The album explores themes of love, heartache, empowerment, and togetherness through a varying landscape of hard-hitting funk, luscious soul, and everything in between. The Freedom Affair is a unique collective featuring 3 powerhouse female vocalists in front of a dynamic 6-piece band. On “Freedom Is Love”, each of the ladies get their time to shine individually, but the magic is on full display when all 3 come together in unison and harmony, symbolically embodying the messages that they sing about. The album was recorded and produced by Chris Hazelton, utilizing the best of vintage and new recording technologies to create an authentic experience, befitting of a soul record that would have been relevant 50 years ago as much as it will be 50 years from now.

The Freedom Affair:
Misha Roberts – Vocals
Paula Saunders – Vocals
Seyko Groves – Vocals
Cole Bales – Guitar, Sitar (Track 3)
Branden Moser – Guitar
Chris Hazelton – Bass Guitar, Organ (Tracks 1, 2, 9, & 10), Tambourine (Track 1), Glockenspiel (Track 3), & Chimes (Track 4)
Dave Brick – Drums
Pete Carroll – Trumpet
Brett Jackson – Tenor Sax, Baritone Sax (Tracks 1 & 5), & Tambourine (Tracks 5, 6, & 8)

Additional Musicians:
Pat Conway – Congas (Tracks 1, 3, & 6)
Alyssa Bell – Viola (Tracks 3, 4, & 7)
Elizabeth Codd – Violin (Tracks 3 & 4)
Matt Bennett – Violin (Tracks 3 & 7)
John Wickersham – Timpani (Track 4)
Pamela Baskin-Watson – Piano (Track 10)
Nick Howell – Tambourine (Track 10)
The Freedom Family Choir (Track 10) – Misha Roberts, Erica Hazelton, Seyko Groves, Paula Saunders, Jordyn Saunders, Cole Bales, Chris Hazelton

All Horn & String Arrangements by Chris Hazelton except:
“Heartaches Don’t Come Easy” and “Give A Little Love” by Pete Carroll & Brett Jackson
“Don’t Shoot” by Chris Hazelton & Allyssa Bell

Produced, Recorded, & Mixed by Chris Hazelton
Assistant Produced by Dave Brick

Rhythm Section on Track 10 recorded by Chad Meise // Mastered by JJ Golden

Cover Artwork by Matthew “Mo” Manley

Front cover photograph of civil rights protesters in Kansas City, MO (April 9th, 1968) provided courtesy of LaBudde Special Collections, UMKC University Libraries.

1. Heartaches Don’t Come Easy
2. Make Me Surrender
3. Outta My Mind
4. I Know Better
5. Move On
6. Rise Up 02:59
7. Don’t Shoot
8. Give A Little Love 03:45
9. One Nation
10. Love Liberates (Featuring Dr. Maya Angelou)

Chris Hazelton oj the Sept. 16, 2020 editions Wednesday MidDay Medley on KKFI.

The new album was recorded and produced by Chris Hazelton, utilizing the best of vintage and new recording technologies to create an authentic experience, befitting of a soul record that would have been relevant 50 years ago as much as it will be 50 years from now.

Sunflower Soul Records

Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7
Singles for Los Santos Caballeros, Hi-Lux, SUNU, and The 238s.

Chris Hazelton Thanks for being with us on WMM.

“Freedom Is Love” to be released September 25, 2020 is the debut album from KC’s newest soul supergroup, The Freedom Affair. https://sunflowersoulrecords.bandcamp.com or https://thefreedomaffair.bandcamp.com/album/freedom-is-love

10. The Freedom Affair – “Give A Little Love”
from: Freedom is Love / Sunflower Soul Records / September 25, 2020
[“Freedom Is Love” is the debut album from Kansas City’s newest soul juggernaut, The Freedom Affair. The album explores themes of love, heartache, empowerment, and togetherness through a varying landscape of hard-hitting funk, luscious soul, and everything in between. The Freedom Affair is a unique collective featuring 3 powerhouse female vocalists in front of a dynamic 6-piece band. On “Freedom Is Love”, each of the ladies get their time to shine individually, but the magic is on full display when all 3 come together in unison and harmony, symbolically embodying the messages that they sing about. The album was recorded and produced by Chris Hazelton, utilizing the best of vintage and new recording technologies to create an authentic experience, befitting of a soul record that would have been relevant 50 years ago as much as it will be 50 years from now. The Freedom Affair is: Misha Roberts on vocals; Paula Saunders on vocals; Seyko Groves on vocals; Cole Bales on guitar, sitar (Track 3); Branden Moser on guitar; Chris Hazelton on bass guitar, organ (Tracks 1, 2, 9, & 10), Tambourine (Track 1), Glockenspiel (Track 3), & Chimes (Track 4); Dave Brick on drums; Pete Carroll on trumpet; Brett Jackson on tenor sax, baritone sax (Tracks 1 & 5), & tambourine (Tracks 5, 6, & 8).]

11. Fantastic Negrito – “Chocolate Samurai”
from: Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? / Fantastic Negrito – Cooking Vinyl / August 14, 2020
[Follow up to his June 15, 2018 release, Please Don’t Be Dead on Blackball Universe – Cooking Vinyl Records that was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. His 2016 album The Last Days of Oakland won a Grammy award for Best Contemporary Blues Album at the 59th Grammy Awards. In 2019, his album Please Don’t Be Dead won the same category for the 61st Grammy Awards.Fantastic Negrito was raised in an orthodox Muslim household. His father was a Somali-Caribbean immigrant who mostly played traditional African music. He was the eight of 15 children. When, at the age of 12, Negrito’s family moved from Massachusetts to Oakland, California. Oakland in 1970s was a million miles from Negrito’s conservative childhood. He went from Arab chants to Funkadelic in one day. By the time he was 20, Negrito had taught himself to play every instrument he could get his hands on. He was recording music, and after some difficulties on the streets he packed his bags and headed to LA, armed with a demo on cassette. Negrito signed with a million dollar deal at Interscope. The record deal was a disaster. Gangsta rap was ruling the airwaves and Negrito was in the wrong place at the wrong era. Negrito came out of the deal with a failed album and his confidence gutted. In 2000, Negrito was in a near fatal car accident that put him in a coma. For four weeks it was touch and go. Because his muscles atrophied while bedridden, he had to go through months of frustrating physical therapy to regain use of his legs. Rods were placed throughout his body. And worst of all, his playing hand was mutilated. Back in Oakland, Negrito forgot about life as a musician. He got married, he planted vegetables, raised his own chickens, and made money growing weed. He also settled into being a man, on his own, clear of the distractions of wanting to be a star. And then his son Kyu was born. He began recording without the hindrances that come with chasing trends. Negrito turned to the original DNA of all American music, the Blues. The beating life had given him primed him to channel his literal and musical forefathers: the Blues musicians of the Delta]

11:00 – Station ID

12. Bedouine, Waxahatchee & Hurray for the Riff Raff – “Thirteen”
from: Thirteen – Single / Spacebomb Records / September 9, 2020
[From Variety.com: It feels like ages ago that Bedouine, Waxahatchee and Hurray for the Riff Raff toured together on a sort of monsters-of-indie triple bill (it was actually 2018). While the three acts make dramatically different music, they complemented each other well on this tour and share some influences as well — as evidenced by this belated cover of Big Star’s classic “Thirteen” (which is often more readily recognized by its opening lyric, “Can I walk you home from school?”) that found its origins during the tour, when Bedouine (above, right), Waxahatchee singer Katie Crutchfield (left) and Riff Raff singer Alynda Segarra (center) would sing it together onstage. // Big Star, of course, is arguably the greatest power-pop group of all time. Led by singer-songwriter Alex Chilton, they released just three albums in the early ‘70s, which were barely noticed at the time but their legend grew over the years — they were covered and feted by the Replacements, the Bangles, R.E.M., Teenage Fanclub and many more — until the group reformed in 1993. // Bedouine explains how their cover came together. “This all started in 2018 when I opened a three-bill tour for co-headliners Waxahatchee and Hurray for the Riff Raff,” she wrote. “We threw the idea around of doing a song together but weren’t sure what. I was backstage in Columbia, Missouri, when I realized it was the anniversary of Big Star’s ‘93 reunion show that had also taken place in Columbia. // “I was fiddling around with the song in my dressing room when Katie and Alynda walked in. Suddenly, I remembered there were three verses to split up. We played it as an homage that night and every night after. After the tour wrapped up, I think it was Kevin Morby that insisted we track and share it. Down the road, Katie wrote me that she would be in L.A., so I tracked the guitar and she came by to visit and put down her part. Down the road some more Alynda put down her part from New Orleans and sent it over the ether. Now, two years later, we’re finally getting to share it.”] [Katie Crutchfield who recently relocated to Kansas City to live with her boyfriend Kevin Morby released one og our favorite albums of 2020 so far. Saint Cloud was released on Merge Records on March 27, 2020. All songs written by Katie Crutchfield. Recorded & mixed at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, TX & Long Pond in Stuyvesant, NY. Produced by Brad Cook. Engineered by Jerry Ordonez. Additional engineering by Jon Low. Mixed by Jon Low. Mastered by Brent Lambert at The Kitchen. KATIE CRUTCHFIELD on vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, keys; BRAD COOK on bass, acoustic guitar, piano, keys, synth; BOBBY COLOMBO on electric guitar, acoustic guitar, keys; BILL LENNOX on electric guitar, acoustic guitar, keys, percussion; NICK KINSEY on drums, percussion; JOSH KAUFMAN on electric guitars, piano, organ, percussion. Katie Crutchfield’s southern roots are undeniable. The name of her solo musical project Waxahatchee comes from a creek not far from her childhood home in Alabama and seems to represent both where she came from and where she’s going. More info at: http://www.waxahatchee.com.]

13. Katy Guillen & The Drive – “Back To Normal”
from: Dream Girl [EP] / Katy Guillen / March 20, 2020
[New 7 song EP from Katy Guillen & The Drive, the latest project dedicated to Guillen’s songwriting that is founded on the creative spark and chemistry between Katy Guillen & Stephanie Williams. With Guillen on guitar & vocals and Williams on drums, the two sculpt a sound that recalls bands like Led Zeppelin, The Bangles, and Band of Skulls. In 2012, Guillen & Williams formed Katy Guillen and The Girls, and began to build a foundation of touring and recording that carried them through six years and produced three full-length albums: Katy Guillen & the Girls, Heavy Days, and Remember What You Knew Before. Between 2012 and 2018, they traveled the United States extensively, performed at the International Montreal Jazz Festival, toured Sweden, and supported major acts like The Doobie Brothers, Robin Trower, and Heartless Bastards. In these 6 years playing together, Guillen & Williams created a dynamic, sound informed by Guillen’s mesmerizing, emotive guitar style and poignant arrangements, and an equally captivating live show that showcased Williams’ technical, melodic style, resulting in a powerful on-stage chemistry. In addition to the compelling synergy formed by years of playing together, the two developed a method of working together on Guillen’s songs that only deepened their artistic connection, propelling them to forge a path to a new plateau in their music. KG & The Drive push ahead with a melodic, heavy, and soulful sound while maintaining the edge of the artist’s rock ‘n’ roll and blues roots. Guillen calls their genre-bending style “indie soul-rock.”]

[Katy Guillen and the Drive play live on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020, 7:00 PM with Men of Men, and Women of Women opening, at Lemonade Park, a limited capacity socially distanced outdoor venue created in partnership between recordBar, Voltaire, and Moxie Catering, 1628 Wyoming (NW corner of Wyoming & 17th St.), behind Voltaire. ]

14. Fred Wickham Caravan– “Town Without Soul”
from: Town Without Soul / Black Site Records / August 27, 2020
[The first single from the Fred Wickham Caravan’s upcoming debut LP tells of a place we all know, that city where something just ain’t right Fred Wickham on vocals & guitar, Marco Pascolini on pedal steel, Bart Colliver on piano & accordion & vocals, Richard Burgess on upright bass & vocals, Fred Wickham, Jr. on mandolin, Matt Brahl on drums & percussion. Music and lyrics by Fred Wickham. Produced by Fred Wickham Caravan. Recorded at The Nutthouse Recording Studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Engineered by Jimmy Nutt. Mastered by Chad Meise at Massive Sound Studios in Kansas City, MO. Fred Wickham is best known for his work with Hadacol, the Kansas City based quartet that released two critically acclaimed records and gained a national reputation for ferocious live shows across the country. The Caravan, formed to support the solo album, Mariosa Delta, blends country, soul and rock & roll into a sound that can only be called pure Americana. More info at: http://www.fredwickhamband.com]

[The Fred Wickham Caravan play an outdoor Picnic Party, Tuesday, September 22, from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM in the alley way of The Ship, 1217 Union Avenue, Kansas City, Mo in the West Bottoms. Bring your own chairs or blankets and set up where you like, keeping a considerate distance from others and masked as appropriate. Please respect your neighbors, be cool to each other, and let’s all stay safe. This is a FREE SHOW – no fence, no tickets, no admission ~ we just want you to have a good time and enjoy some good music, food, and drinks. Donations are very much appreciated and will help us pay for the incredible talent playing for you. Food and drinks may be purchased directly from The Ship at our walkup service counter or by using our online ordering at http://www.theshipkc.com. We’ll bring your order out to the pickup counter when ready – keep an eye on the chalkboard for your name. Clean outdoor restrooms with hand washing provisions will be provided. Online Donations may be made at https://theshipkc.square.site%5D

15. The Jubilee Mystics – “Jesus Take The Wheel”
from: In This World / The Jubilee Mystics / April 3, 2019
[The group was formed about four years ago by Alan Murphy, who’s been nominated for the Kansas Music Hall of Fame for his work in the legendary Lawrence band Ricky Dean Sinatra. The Mystics are a folk/country/skiffle/blues orchestra based in Lawrence, Kansas. The current members are Alan Murphy, lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Doug Byers, bass, mandolin, and vocals, Matt Falkenstien, lead guitar and vocals, Sue Ashline, accordion, Cotter Mitchell, electric washboard, Barry Lee, rhythm guitar and vocals. There are two albums, “The Jubilee Mystics” and “In This World,” the current release. It was recorded at Roll Away The Stone studios in Independence and produced by Dave Storms, who also plays drums on a few tracks and adds percussion and vocals to others. Most of the songs are composed by Alan Murphy but there are a few traditional tunes and covers. Special audio guests on the latest album are Robert Frost, Dwight D. Eisenhower and The Three Stooges]

16. Bill Callahan – “Breakfast”
from: Gold Record / Drag City Records / September 4, 2020
[22nd album release from Bill Callahan or Smog. Follow up to he 2019 released Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest. Bill Callahan (born June 3, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who has also recorded and performed under the band name Smog. Callahan began working in the lo-fi genre of underground rock, with home-made tape-albums recorded on four track tape recorders. Later he began releasing albums with the label Drag City, to which he remains signed today. Callahan started out as a highly experimental artist, using substandard instruments and recording equipment. His early songs often nearly lacked melodic structure and were clumsily played on poorly tuned guitars, resulting in the dissonant sounds on his self-released cassettes and debut album Sewn to the Sky. Much of his early output was instrumental, a stark contrast to the lyrical focus of his later work. Apparently, he used lo-fi techniques not primarily because of an aesthetic preference but because he didn’t have any other possibility to make music. Once he signed a contract with Drag City, he started to use recording studios and a greater variety of instruments for his records. From 1993 to 2000, Callahan’s recordings grew more and more “professional” sounding, with more instruments, and a higher sound quality. In this period he recorded two albums with the influential producer Jim O’Rourke and Tortoise’s John McEntire, and collaborated with Neil Hagerty. Callahan also worked closely with his then-girlfriend Cynthia Dall in his early career, and they contributed vocals to each other’s albums. After 2000’s Dongs of Sevotion, Callahan began moving back to a slightly simpler instrumentation and recording style, while retaining the more consistent songwriting style he had developed over the years. This shift is apparent in albums such as Rain on Lens, Supper, and A River Ain’t Too Much to Love. Smog’s songs are often based on simple, repetitive structures, consisting of a simple chord progression repeated for the duration of the entire song. His singing is characterized by his baritone voice. Melodically and lyrically he tends to eschew the verse-chorus approach favoured by many contemporary songwriters, preferring instead a more free-form approach relying less on melodic and lyrical repetition. Themes in Callahan’s lyrics include relationships, animals, relocation, nature, and more recently, politics. On the subject of voice in his albums, Callahan has said, “It’s usually one character per record. So, the character appears in all or most of the songs on one record and then is gone. Though it makes me feel weird to talk about. Because I don’t really think in clear terms of characters. My albums as a whole could be seen as one character with many voices.” His generally dispassionate delivery of lyrics and dark irony often obfuscate complex emotional and lyrical twists and turns. Critics have generally characterized his music as depressing and intensely introverted, with one critic describing it as “a peep-show view into an insular world of alienation.” Cat Power (Chan Marshall) recorded Callahan’s song “Bathysphere” on her 1996 album What Would the Community Think and also covered another Callahan song, “Red Apples”, on her Covers Record, released in 2000. In 2007, Callahan released Woke on a Whaleheart, his first solo album released under his own name, Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle followed in April, 2009. Both recordings were released through Drag City, worldwide. In 2009, Callahan contributed cover songs on four separate tribute albums to Judee Sill, Kath Bloom, Chris Knox, and Merge Records. In 2010, he released his first live album Rough Travel for a Rare Thing, which was recorded in 2007 at The Toff in Melbourne, Australia. Apocalypse, was released in April 2011 to favorable reviews. Critic Sasha Frere-Jones called it “my favorite of Callahan’s albums, not because it has better songs—those are scattered among at least five others — but because it does exactly what he wants it to do: it conveys an album’s coherence.” A tour film chronicling Callahan’s 2011 Apocalypse tour was released in 2012.][Bill Callahan plays the Lawrence Public Library Lawn, Friday, July 5, at 7:00 PM at the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St, Lawrence, KS with special guest Heidi Lynne Gluck.]

17. Fiona Apple – “Fetch The Bolt Cutters”
from: Fetch The Bolt Cutters / Epic – Sony / April 17, 2019
[The fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Fiona Apple. It is Apple’s first release since The Idler Wheel… in 2012. The album was recorded from 2015 to 2020, largely at Apple’s home in Venice Beach. It was produced and performed by Apple alongside Amy Aileen Wood, Sebastian Steinberg and Davíd Garza; recording consisted of long, often-improvised takes with unconventional percussive sounds. GarageBand was used for much of this recording, and Apple credited the album’s unedited vocals and long takes to her lack of expertise with the program. Rooted in experimentation, the highly percussive album resists genre categorization. While conventional instruments, such as pianos and drum sets, do appear, the album also features prominent use of non-musical found objects as percussion. Apple described the result as “percussion orchestras”. These industrial-like rhythms are contrasted against traditional melodies, and the upbeat songs often subvert traditional pop structures. The album explores freedom from oppression; Apple identified its core message as: “Fetch the fucking bolt cutters and get yourself out of the situation you’re in”. The title, a quote from TV series The Fall, reflects this idea. The album also discusses Apple’s complex relationships with other women and other personal experiences, including bullying and sexual assault. It has nevertheless been referred to as Apple’s most humorous album. Fetch the Bolt Cutters was released during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many critics found its exploration of confinement pertinent. Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and poet. Her accolades include one Grammy Award, and an additional seven Grammy Award nominations in various categories. The daughter of actor Brandon Maggart, Apple was born in New York City but was raised alternating between New York and her father’s home in Los Angeles. Classically trained on piano as a child, she began composing her own songs when she was eight years old. Her debut album, Tidal, containing songs written when she was 17, was released in 1996 and received a Grammy Award for Best Female Vocal Rock Performance for the single “Criminal”. She followed with When the Pawn… (1999), produced by Jon Brion, which was also critically and commercially successful and was certified platinum. For her third album, Extraordinary Machine (2005), Apple again collaborated with Brion, and began recording the album in 2002. However, Apple was reportedly unhappy with the production and opted not to release the record, leading fans to protest Epic Records, erroneously believing that the label was withholding its release. The album was eventually re-produced without Brion and released in October 2005. The album was certified gold, and nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. In 2012, she released her fourth studio album, The Idler Wheel…, which received critical praise and was followed by a tour of the United States and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 2013. Apple’s fifth studio album, Fetch the Bolt Cutters, was released in 2020 to widespread acclaim. She has sold over 10 million albums worldwide and has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Grammy Award, 2 MTV Video Music Awards and a Billboard Music Award.]

18. Sam Prekop – “Comma”
from: Comma / Thrill Jockey Records / September 11, 2020
[From his Bandcamp page: Sam Prekop’s boundless imagination is guided by his strong sense of melody. For more than 25 years, as a solo artist or as part of The Sea and Cake, Prekop creates a singular sound inventive and warm. His distinctive vocals, guitar playing and work on modular analog synthesizers are inventive, delicate, and always bear his signature sense of melody. Comma finds Sam Prekop for the first time working extensively with beat programming, focusing his enveloping synthesizer pieces around a newfound rhythmic pulse. // Prekop’s creative process is a combination of preparation and improvisation. Writing sessions for Comma began with an open-ended exploration of sounds and textures from which the first fragments of songs would reveal themselves. The introduction of drum machines and additional synthesizer units to his modular setup shifted things in surprising new directions as he worked to bend them into more traditional pop song structures. Drum tracks and emergent rhythms provided the frameworks and narrative sketches to be fleshed out with lustrous widescreen synth pads and ribboning melodies. In approaching his writing with a completely open mind and letting himself be guided by the music, Prekop maintains a delicate balance between composition and chance, control and spontaneity. Comma embraces the analogue synthesizer’s often unpredictable nature, imbuing the record with a decidedly organic feel even while working within the relative rigidity of beat architectures. // Prekop’s wide-eyed sense of discovery guides his exploration of beat-driven music, pushing him to use rhythm as a narrative tool and to embrace electronic music’s romantic and emotional qualities. “Park Line” and “Circle Line” evoke the relentless forward motion of public transit and commuter routine, one propelled by juddering machine-drums, the other illuminated in glistening neon. “Summer Places” and title track “Comma” are utterly transportive in their intoxicating tropical futurism, aqueous electronic loops cascading over melodic percussion. “September Remember” is notable precisely for its lack of drum track, opening up the field of sound and obliterating all but the faintest after-echoes of skittering percussion in its astral melancholy. “Approaching” achieves an incredible depth of sound and feeling using minimal constituent parts, interlocking synth-lines revealing surprising new sonorities with every repetition. With Comma, Prekop compiles an incredible breadth of ideas into a surprisingly coherent sound-world. // Comma is Prekop’s modern minimal pop album that taps into the experimental heritage of the synthesizer. The album places Sam Prekop’s work squarely in the tradition of electronic music pioneers like Brian Eno and Yellow Magic Orchestra who brought together the unrestrained ambition of the avant-garde with the immediacy and accessibility of pop music. ]

11:28 – Underwriting

19. The Velvet Underground – “Atlantic Release Promo”
from: Live At Max’s Kansas City / Atlantic Recording Group / 2005 Reissue (orig. 1972)
[Recorded on a tape recorder by Andy Warhol protege Briget Berlin.]

20. The Velvet Underground – “Who Loves The Sun”
from: Live At Max’s Kansas City / Atlantic Recording Group / 2005 Reissue (orig. 1972)
[Recorded on a tape recorder by Andy Warhol protege Briget Berlin. Live at Max’s Kansas City is a live album by the Velvet Underground recorded at the famous nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was originally released on May 30, 1972, by Cotillion, a subsidiary label of Atlantic Records. The Velvet Underground signed a two-album deal with Atlantic in early 1970 and released their fourth studio album, Loaded, in November 1970. By the time of its release, singer/guitarist/main songwriter Lou Reed had left. The rest of the band stayed together, with bassist Doug Yule moving to vocals and guitar and Walter Powers being drafted in to play bass. This line-up did a tour of the United States and Canada promoting Loaded. As the band still had a contract for another album, they wrote and played new songs eventually to be included on it. Atlantic had lost faith in the band’s commercial prospects and, wanting to cut their losses after the disappointing chart showings of Loaded, decided to release an archive live recording instead. The tapes that would later become Live at Max’s Kansas City were recorded on August 23, 1970, by Andy Warhol associate Brigid Polk on a portable cassette recorder. While they were recording Loaded, the Velvet Underground held a nine-week engagement (June 24 – August 28, 1970) at New York City nightclub Max’s Kansas City, playing two sets a night. Polk recorded almost everything happening around her at the time, and this happened to include her attendance of the last concert that Lou Reed played with the Velvet Underground. She recorded both the early and the late set. Later that year, Atlantic A&R employee Danny Fields heard the tapes and submitted them to his superiors, who accepted the recordings and in 1972 decided to make an album out of them. The line-up at the concerts consisted of Reed, Yule, lead guitarist Sterling Morrison and drummer Billy Yule, the younger brother of Doug Yule; regular drummer Maureen Tucker temporarily left the group several months earlier when she became pregnant with her first child, Kerry “Trucker” Tucker. Originally, Live at Max’s Kansas City was a single album distillation of both sets re-sequenced and edited by Lou Reed and Atlantic staff producer Geoff Haslam to reflect the band’s loud and quiet sides, respectively. On August 3, 2004, Warner Music re-issue label Rhino Records released a two-CD Deluxe Edition that contains both sets in their entirety in their original running order. The songs were recorded on a mono recorder using a simple ferro musicassette in a small venue, resulting in tape hiss and an audience often drowning out the quieter bits of music. Author Jim Carroll can be heard speaking on the album, ordering drinks and inquiring about drugs between songs as he was the one holding the microphone.]

Blair Schulman

11:33 – Interview with Blair Schulman

Art Writer Blair Schulman talks about Brigid Berlin aka Brigid Polk who passed away this year on July 12, 2020. She was the eldest daughter of Richard E. Berlin, chairman of the Hearst media empire for 32 years. Brigid was a prolific artist and Warhol Superstar who appeared in Chelsea Girls in 1966 and many other Warhol films. She also appeared in Serial Mom and Pecker for John Waters, and in the 1999 documentary film, Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story. Blair Schulman is an art writer/critic, sometime curator and occasional artist. He is Senior Editor of Informality, an online arts platform in Kansas City, Missouri. His writing is found in Art in America, Cupcakes in Regalia, Huffington Post, Vice, Kansas City Star, Hyperallergic, Juxtapoz, Temporary Art Review, Whitehot, and was a longtime contributor to Review magazine. More info at: http://www.blairschulman.com

Blair Schulman, thank you for being with us one Wednesday MIdDay Medley

From wikipedia:

Brigid Emmett Berlin was born September 6, 1939, and died July 17, 2020. She was an American artist and Warhol Superstar.

Early years – Berlin was in Manhattan in New York City. She was the eldest of three daughters born to socialite parents, Muriel (Johnson) “Honey” Berlin and Richard E. Berlin. Her father was chairman of the Hearst media empire for 32 years.[3][4]

As a child, Berlin regularly mixed with celebrities and the powerful: I would pick up the phone and it would be Richard Nixon. My parents entertained Lyndon Johnson, J. Edgar Hoover, and there were lots of Hollywood people because of San Simeon – Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Dorothy Kilgallen… I have a box of letters, written to my parents in the late 1940s and 1950s from the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

Her socialite mother frequently worried about Brigid’s weight and constantly attempted to get her to lose it through any means, from giving her cash for every pound she lost at age 11 to having the family doctor prescribe amphetamines and dexedrine. Berlin recalled, “My mother wanted me to be a slim, respectable socialite. Instead I became an overweight troublemaker.”

She was briefly married to John Parker, a window dresser. They married in 1960 and later divorced. As Andy Warhol observed in his book Popism: “When Brigid brought her window dresser fiancé home to meet the family, her mother told the doorman to tell him to wait on a bench across the street in Central Park. Then she handed Brigid her wedding present – a hundred dollar bill – and told her to go to Bergdorf’s and buy herself some new underwear with it. Then she added, ‘Good luck with that fairy.'”

She had three siblings, all younger: sister Richie, who was, for a time, the roommate of Warhol Films’ “It Girl” and superstar Edie Sedgwick; youngest sister Christina “Chrissy” Berlin, who was instrumental in engineering the defection of Russian ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov; and the youngest sibling, brother Richard Berlin Jr.[

Association with Andy Warhol – After years as a reluctant debutante and a failed marriage, Brigid Berlin met Andy Warhol in 1964 and quickly became a central member of his entourage. After moving to Hotel Chelsea, she took on the nickname Brigid Polk because of her habit of giving out ‘pokes’, injections of Vitamin B and amphetamines. These injections were available through ‘Doctor Feelgoods’ in NYC and perfectly legal.

Berlin appeared in several of Warhol’s films, including Chelsea Girls (1966), in which she is seen injecting herself while performing a monologue, and Ciao! Manhattan (1972), which starred Edie Sedgwick. Decades later, she appeared in minor parts in two John Waters’ films: Serial Mom (1994) and Pecker (1998). Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story (2000) is a documentary in which she tells her life story in intimate detail and breaks her diet by consuming an entire meal of key lime pies. In its review, Variety suggests “Berlin comes across as a rather sad character despite her colorful and provocative life.”

Brigid Berlin and Andy Warhol

She was known for her obsessive taping and photographing of everyday life. Selections from these tapes were later compiled by Anthony Ingrassia to form the play Andy Warhol’s Pork. Other tapes made by her were the basis for Live at Max’s Kansas City (recorded 1970, released 1972), The Velvet Underground’s first live album.

Berlin was complicit in one of Warhol’s more infamous pranks when, in 1969, Warhol announced that all of his paintings were the work of Berlin. Brigid enthusiastically followed this line when interviewed by Time. The prank led to a drop in the value of Warhol’s work, and both parties eventually retracted their statements. The question of authorship looms large in valuing Warhol’s paintings to this day.

In 1975, Berlin began work as a permanent employee for Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine, a position that she held until well after Warhol’s death. Berlin transcribed interviews as well as knitted under the desk. Patricia Hearst (a close friend of Berlin who began work at Interview in 1988) observed “On my first day at work, I noticed two small pugs who seemed to have the run of the castle. They belonged to a woman who sat behind the front desk every day from 9:00 to 5:00, but who never seemed to answer the phone. Instead, she compulsively knitted, ate bags of candy and tended lovingly to the dogs.”

Artwork – Berlin was also a prolific artist. Therein it has been argued by some that her artwork was both influential to Andy Warhol’s and simultaneously overshadowed by Warhol’s celebrity and output. Berlin’s “Tit Prints” were artworks created using her bare breasts. Berlin would dip her breasts into multiple colored paints and then create a print by pressing them down onto canvas/paper. The Tit Prints are arguably Berlin’s most infamous work and were exhibited by Jane Stubbs at a gallery on Madison Avenue in 1996. On occasion, Berlin would publicly create Tit Prints, integrating visual art and performance art that “is totally not about nudity, this is about, you know, art.” She performed this act live at the Gramercy International Art Fair. After experiencing the performance, filmmaker John Waters later said “I think that she’s the most unselfconscious nude person…[She has] great confidence for a fat girl.”

Berlin also compiled and maintained scrapbooks that she referred to as “trip books.”[15] Volumes of these scrapbooks collecting cartoons and sketches of male genitalia were known as “The Cock Book” and included the genitalia of artists such as Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Warhol. Three volumes of “The Cock Book” sold for $175,000 at auction to artist Richard Prince.

Both Berlin and Warhol used the medium of Polaroid photography obsessively, and are said to have been very competitive in the Polaroid film department, whether over the best equipment or the best film. In 1969–1970 German art dealer Heiner Friedrich did a small showing of Berlin’s work called Polaroids and Tapes and created a catalogue for the work of the same name. The experimental nature of Berlin’s double-exposed Polaroids transcend the static, emotionless “icon” Polaroids of Warhol’s, clearly showing the power of her personal vision and photographic style. Common subject matter of Berlin’s Polaroids are self-portraits, Warhol Superstars, other artists and celebrities, and Off-Broadway one-woman shows. A one-woman show of her Polaroid self-portraits titled “It’s All About Me” showed in 2015 at the Invisible-Exports Gallery in New York City. The New York Times review stated “Ms. Berlin’s prints seem less of a lark and more like a strident, celebratory statement by an artist who was never shy about exposing…well, anything.”

Berlin’s digital archives were published in 2015 as Brigid Berlin Polaroids with a foreword by John Waters. In the Wall Street Journal review it was noted that Berlin was the first person Andy Warhol allowed to photograph his body after the 1968 assassination attempt.

Brigid Berlin Filmography

Chelsea Girls (1966)
Tub Girls (1967)
Bike Boy (1967)
The Nude Restaurant (1967)
Imitation of Christ (1967)
Four Stars**** (1967) aka 24 Hour Movie
Lonesome Cowboys (1967) (originally Berlin was to play a leader of a rival gang)
The Loves of Ondine (1967)
Women in Revolt (1971)
Ciao! Manhattan (1972)
Phoney (1973)
Fight (1975)
Andy Warhol’s Bad (1977)
The Critical Years (1987)
Serial Mom (1994)
Pecker (1998)
Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story (1999)
Danny Williams and the Dream Factory (documentary, 2007)

Brigid Berlin aka Brigid Polk who passed away this year on July 12, 2020. She was the eldest daughter of Richard E. Berlin, chairman of the Hearst media empire for 32 years. Brigid was a prolific artist and Warhol Superstar who appeared in Chelsea Girls in 1966 and many other Warhol films. She also appeared in Serial Mom and Pecker for John Waters, and in the 1999 documentary film, Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story.

Blair Schulman, thank you for being with us one Wednesday MIdDay Medley

Blair Schulman is an art writer/critic, sometime curator and occasional artist. He is Senior Editor of Informality, an online arts platform in Kansas City, Missouri. His writing is found in Art in America, Cupcakes in Regalia, Huffington Post, Vice, Kansas City Star, Hyperallergic, Juxtapoz, Temporary Art Review, Whitehot, and was a longtime contributor to Review magazine. More info at: http://www.blairschulman.com

11:48

21. Nico – “Chelsea Girls”
from: Chelsea Girl / Verve / October 1967
[Chelsea Girl is the debut solo album and second studio album by Nico. It was released in October 1967 by Verve Records and was recorded following Nico’s collaboration with the Velvet Underground on their 1967 debut. It was produced by Tom Wilson, who added string and flute arrangements against the wishes of Nico. The title is a reference to Andy Warhol’s 1966 film Chelsea Girls, in which Nico starred. Much of the album features instrumental work and songwriting credits from Velvet Underground members Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison, and John Cale. The song “I’ll Keep It with Mine” was written by Bob Dylan, while three songs are by Jackson Browne, who contributes guitar. After collaborating as a singer with the Velvet Underground on their debut The Velvet Underground & Nico (recorded during 1966, released in March 1967), Warhol superstar Nico toured with the band in Andy Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable (EPI) multimedia roadshow. Before the EPI came to an end in 1967, Nico took up residence in a New York City coffeehouse as a solo folk chanteuse; accompanied in turn by guitarists, such as Tim Hardin, Jackson Browne, and also her Velvet Underground bandmates Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison and John Cale. Christa Päffgen was born October 16, 1938 and died July 18, 1988, known by her stage name Nico, was a German singer, songwriter, musician, model, and actress. She had roles in several films, including Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960) and Andy Warhol’s Chelsea Girls (1966). At the insistence of Warhol, she sang on three songs of the Velvet Underground’s debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967). At the same time, she started a solo career and released Chelsea Girl. Nico’s friend Jim Morrison suggested that she start writing her own material. She then composed songs on a harmonium, not traditionally a rock instrument; John Cale became her musical arranger and produced The Marble Index, Desertshore, The End… and other subsequent albums. In the 1980s, she toured extensively in Europe, United States, Australia and Japan. After a concert in Berlin in June 1988, she went on holiday in Ibiza to rest and died as the result of a cycling accident.]

22. Leland Palmer – “After You’ve Gone”
from: Orig. Motion Picture Soundtrack All That Jazz / Casablanca / Dec. 20, 1979
[Leland Palmer (born June 16, 1945 in Port Washington, New York) is an American actress, dancer, and singer who has appeared on stage, in motion pictures, and on television. She appeared on Broadway in Bajour (1964), A Joyful Noise (1966) Hello, Dolly! (1967 replacement Minnie Fay), Applause (1970 replacement), and Pippin (1972). Palmer received two Tony Award nominations: in 1967 for featured actress in a musical (Miss Jimmie in A Joyful Noise), and in 1973 for actress in a musical (Fastrada in Pippin). Palmer appeared as Viola in the rock musical Your Own Thing during a highly regarded run at the Huntington Hartford Theater in Los Angeles in August 1968, in the role that she originated in the original Off-Broadway production in 1968. She appeared in Dames at Sea which opened in September 1970 at the theater at Plaza 9 in New York City. She played the role of Ruby, with The New York Times reviewer writing: “Ruby… is played like a virtuous, squeaking mouse by a girl named Leland Palmer, who is delicious in a mildly frightening way.” She appeared in the musical Double Feature at the Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, Connecticut, which opened in November 1979. The show had music by Jeff Moss and was directed by Mike Nichols. Her U.S. television appearances include guest roles on Love, American Style; Laverne & Shirley; and Rhoda. She was also a regular on Dinah Shore’s summer variety television show, Dinah and Her New Best Friends in 1976. She played Aŕlene in the 1976 NBC television movie James Dean. Palmer is known for Bob Fosse’s All That Jazz (1979), in which she played Audrey Paris, a character believed to be modeled on Fosse’s wife, Gwen Verdon. Palmer is known now as Linda Posner. She was born Linda Palmer, and discovered many years later that the family name was really “Posner.” Although she no longer performs, she works with theaters in California. She taught acting classes at Mendocino Community College and was the Artistic Director, Director, Teacher, and Consultant for the Willits Community Theater (Willits, California). Pearl Marill, Posner’s daughter who heads a dance company, presented a one-time event “My Mother on Broadway” in October 2014 in San Francisco. She served as choreographer of the 42nd Street Moon, San Francisco production of Irma La Douce in 2008. The 1990-1991 U.S. television series Twin Peaks and its 2017 continuation featured a fictional, male character named Leland Palmer who was played by Ray Wise.

23. Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now”
from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]

Next week on Wednesday, Sept. 23, we play more New & MidCoastal Releases. Plus Krystle Warren calls in from the south of France to talk about the new 4 song EP she just released from The Crew containing unique versions of classic songs with the hope of encouraging the rallying cries of The Moment: the movement of the people. We will also talk with Kansas City jazz musician and band leader Eddie Moore about his band We The People‘s new album, Misunderstood.

Our Script/Playlist is a “cut and paste” of information.
Sources for notes: artist’s websites, bios, wikipedia.org

The Freedom Affair album cover is a photograph of civil rights protesters in Kansas City, MO (April 9th, 1968) provided courtesy of LaBudde Special Collections, UMKC University Libraries.

Wednesday MidDay Medley in on the web:
http://www.kkfi.org,
http://www.WednesdayMidDayMedley.org,
http://www.facebook.com/WednesdayMidDayMedleyon90.1FM

Black Lives Matter

Show #855