7/4/10

MAJOR LEAGUE NORTON NEWS!



OUT THERE HAVIN’ FUN! PLAY BALL WITH NORTON… in case some of you have been dwelling under a rock, you've come aware of the brain spraining fact that our beloved Dictators are now blasting out of television sets across America, setting the musical pace for the top ball players in the nation... this clip is the 2010 MLB All-Star Game TV ad! God Bless America, indeed... the Dictators 1973 demo version of California Sun was picked off the Norton collection EVERY DAY IS SATURDAY.... congrats, Dictators...

Norton super group the Ding-Dongs (Mark Sultan and Bloodshot Bill with Jared from the Black Lips on bass) are making their live debut today at the Sled Island Fest in Calgary, Alberta – knock ‘em dead guys! Be sure to pick up their fabulous Norton LP here.

WHO'S NEW AT NORTON, YOU ASK?

Super mega major thrill is an upcoming Norton release of never-issued 1966 recordings from guitar snarler JAMES WILLIAMSON... and his pre-Stooges teen band, the Coba Seas... our favorite 16 year old guitar blaster ignites a teenage rampage at an upstate juvie facility with pals Michael Adams, Andy Yood, and Michael Rosen.. the Coba Seas gore local zit-poppers with instro-mental anthemic shellackings of Louie Louie, Heart Of Stone, Gloria, and It's My Life, among others... our posh fall package will coincide with the year end issue of UGLY THINGS, which will feature a massive bio-story on the group...U.T. genius Mike Stax is tapped to scribble liners for the Norton album, as well... we are also proud to announce a posthumous release from conjoined twins Yvonne and Yvette, who have been a irrational obsession here at Nortonville for many years. Last year, we were privileged to mourn at their California gravesite, an odd occasion that led immediately to locating their elusive and effusive lone gospel 45. Now, with permission from their family, an authorized reissue of the impossible to find record will launch as Norton's first-ever gospel recording...the disc is due in the fall, with a print bio paperback on tap via Kicks Books... Rounding out the triple threat is a new trio of full-lengths on Sun Ra-- three albums of unissued prattlin' rattle and spine chilling incantations, set to stratospheric log-bompin'... poetic pounce you can't renounce... also due is a yet-untitled paperback original of Sun Ra space stories and out of this world poems... all with a science-fiction slant... due from Kicks Books, as is the sequel to Sweets... in the works from Andre Williams, as we speak... look for the return of major SWEETS characters Dandy Dan, Bruno, Goldie, Tank, and of course Mr Nobles of Nobles Funeral Home, who will be processing more than cocaine in his velvet-ensconced mortuary... look out Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed... Norton’s multi-volume EL PASO ROCK series continues now, after three volumes of early Bobby Fuller... scores of rare and unreleased 1958-66 West Texas recordings from the vaults of Yucca, Suemi, Exeter, Eastwood, Frog Death and other local labels... we recently pacted a deal to issue over a dozen incredible 1963 raw, rockin’ sides by Terry Manning and the Wild Ones – KILLER STUFF... Terry is known for his 1970 cult album HOME SWEET HOME and his work with Big Star, the Stax family of artists and his engineering work for Led Zeppelin and ZZ Top… but he got his start diggin' Bobby Fuller back in El Paso, Texas... one of Bobby's very earliest... and most ARDENT... disciples...he's a key witness for the forthcoming BOBBY FULLER BIO…by the way, we’ve recently logged in tapes for future Norton Rolling Stones cover singles – Brooklyn’s stompin’ blues kings Daddy Long Legs deliver a soul searing rendition of Cocksucker Blues produced by Andy Shernoff who also tackles Under Assistant West Coast Promo Man plus the Parting Gifts (featuring members of Reigning Sound, Greenhornes and Ettes) with Walkin’ Thru The Sleepy City... later this month, Davila 666 and Los Vigilantes are throwing a big blowout in San Juan, Puerto Rico to kick off the release of THEIR HISPANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST... see below... four bands.. four Stones covers... two records.. gatefold package... the latest technology... only at Norton... and dig this...the A-Bones teamed up with the Great Gaylord for their first studio venture since the 1991 classic Squat With Me Baby. Double G laid down an over the top version of El Pauling's Solid Rock at Montreal's Sin Studios with Bloodshot Bill "producing." It's Squattin' time again! Dig the press-ola!


JULY 20 RELEASES!


THE LONESOME DRIFTER – EAGER BOY (327) Seventeen song roundup on Thomas Johnson, the mysterious Lonesome Drifter culled from the vaults of Shreveport’s Ram Records. His 1958 single Eager Boy stands as one of the most sought after records of all time. The Drifter’s haunting vocals and stark instrumentation make him a truly unique figure in rockabilly and hillbilly music. This is real bone chilling stuff! For fans of Hasil Adkins’ MOON OVER MADISON and Charlie Feathers’ UH HUH HONEY albums. Eager Boy/Tear Drop Valley/Honey Do You Think Of Me/No Lovin’ No Rockin’ Blues/Ain’t Got Nothin’ But The Blues/I Want You Back/Eager Boy (alt. take)/I’ll Be Lonesome When You’re Gone/Tear Drop Valley (alt. take)/I’ll Take A Chance/This Old World Don’t Seem The Same/I’m Gonna Quit My Crying/Blues From A Broken Heart/I Wished It Wasn’t So/Your New Love/Tear Drop Valley (alt. take)/Eager Boy (alt. take)



HASIL ADKINS – WHITE LIGHT/WHITE MEAT (328) Celebrate Hasil’s 25 years as a Norton Records artist with fourteen 1958-65 hunchers and weepers recorded in Hasil’s Boone County, West Virginia shack! Roll Roll Train/Woke Up This Morning/So Tell Me Darlin’/Hot Dog Baby/Come On And Do The Shake With Me/Teenie Weenie Waddy Kiss/Turn My Coat Tails Loose/Donnio Boogie/Tomorrow You’re Gone/Somebody Help Me/You’re Gonna Break My Heart/Lonely Graveyard/You Don’t Love Me/Donnio Shuffle




THEIR HISPANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST (9666) Double 45 set (in posh non-3D gatefold cover) featuring four mucho loco Rolling Stones songs con carne - sung in Spanish! Los Peyotes Let’s Spend The Night Together/Davila 666 She’s A Rainbow/Luis and the Wildfires Get Off My Cloud/Los Vigilantes Paint It Black – arriba!



THE LONESOME DRIFTER – EAGER BOY/TEAR DROP VALLEY (877) Fired up alternate takes of both sides of the incredible Lonesome Drifter’s astonishing 1958 K label rockabilly masterpiece! Absolutely stunning! Of course, you can always buy an original…


IN THE PIPELINE... COMING SOON...

Here’s some upcoming summer releases from Norton! Mr. Excitable Foreigner – do not order these platters yet!




ROY HEAD AND THE TRAITS – LIVE IT UP! (358) Sixteen song roundup of the earliest recordings by inimitable Texas madman Roy Head along with the original Traits! These 1958 -62 sides include all the group’s wild TNT and Renner singles! One More Time/Don’t Be Blue/Live It Up/Yes I Do/ My Baby’s Blue/Here I Am In Love Again/Summertime Love/Your Turn To Cry/Walking All Day/Night Time Blues/One More Time/Don’t Be Blue/Little Mama/Linda Lou/Woe Woe/Got My Mojo Working

Don’t miss the phenomenal Roy Head at Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans
September 24 and 25!


THE GIRLS AT DAWN – CALL THE DOCTOR (361) A dozen heart stoppin' originals from the astonishing and fabulous Girls At Dawn, who sing and write and play in flawless combination. This album serves up a stellar stew that will stick to your ribs and keep you coming back for more. Four stars, say I... high praise when Billy says, “It’s like the Paris Sisters backed by the Churchmice…” Come Here To Die/When She Goes Away/Miss Me/I’m Alone/On And On/Evil One/They’re Waiting/Reach Me (Don’t Forget)/Most Terrible Thing/A Secret/It’s Getting Cold/Your Girl

THE GIRLS AT DAWN SUMMER TOUR
The band will have advance copies of their new Norton album CALL THE DOCTOR available only at their gigs!

July 31 Gooski’s, Pittsburgh, PA
Aug 1 Woodchuck’s, Toledo, OH
Aug. 2 Lager House, Detroit, MI
Aug. 3 Louie’s Trophy House Grill, Kalamazoo, MI
Aug. 4 Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL
Aug. 5 Cactus Club Milwaukee WI
Aug. 6 The Comet Cincinnati, OH
Aug. 7 Hi-Tone Memphis, TN
Aug. 8 Flying Monkey Arts Center, Huntsville, AL
Aug. 9 The Earl Atlanta, GA
Aug. 10 tba, Greensboro. SC
Aug. 11 The Summit, Columbus, OH
Aug. 12 The Union, Athens, OH
Aug. 13 tab, Philadelphia, PA
Aug. 14 Bruar Falls, Brooklyn, NY (early show)
Aug. 14 Silent Barn, Brooklyn, NY (late show)


VARIOUS ARTISTS– YOU TORE MY BRAIN! SIXTIES GARAGE ACETATES VOL. 5 (362) Clobberin’ fifth volume of brutal unissued garage crunchers by the Fanatics, Pharaohs, Invictas, IVbidden, Sir Winston and the Commons, mo’!

IVBIDDEN Sick And Lonely
SIR WINSTON AND THE COMMONS All Of The Time
BUNCH Do The Jump
UNKNOWN Palace Of Love
UNKNOWN Follow Her Home
JAMES STREET OVERPASS She Can’t See
UNKNOWN Poor Man Dreamer
INVICTAS Watusi
PHARAOHS The Isle Of Love
UNKNOWN I Won’t Play Your Game
JAMES STREET OVERPASS You Tore My Brain
SIR WINSTON AND THE COMMONS No Sorrow
FANATICS I Can’t Go On
UNKNOWN The Hunter

Be sure to pick up all the volumes in this series!



THE TANDOORI KNIGHTS – CURRY UP (363) A dozen curried treats from the remarkable King Khan and Bloodshot Bill featuring the hit single Pretty Please as well as soon-to-be Tandoori taste treats Into Her Arms and Bandstand and mo’ Hindu hi-jinx! Pretty Please/Bucketful/Roam The Land/Tandoori Party/Books And Ribs/Bandstand/Big Belly Giant/Into Her Arms/Dress On/Lovers Moon/Brown Trash/Beauty And The Feast

Billy says, “This is what Warren Smith would have sounded like if he recorded in Bombay instead of Memphis…”

VARIOUS ARTISTS - DADDY ROCKING STRONG: A TRIBUTE TO NOLAN STRONG AND THE DIABLOS (The Wind 002) Norton-distributed comp on The Wind Records dedicated to Fortune Records R&B giant Nolan Strong! Andre Williams has this to say in his liner notes: “Hearing these Diablos songs re-interpreted today just proves how timeless Nolan’s music will always be. I can hear the admiration and respect towards Nolan in each and every track.” LONG LIVE NOLAN STRONG! LONG LIVE FORTUNE RECORDS!

MARK SULTAN The Wind
DIRTBOMBS Daddy Rockin’ Strong
CUB KODA You’re The Only Girl, Delores
OUTRAGEOUS CHERRY (Yeah, Baby) It’s Because Of You
ANDRE WILLIAMS WITH THE A-BONES The Way You Dog Me Around
DANNY KROHA Do You Remember What You Did
REINING SOUND Mind Over Matter
WRECKLESS ERIC AND AMY RIGBY I Want To Be Your Happiness
A-BONES Real True Love
HENTCHMEN The Mambo Of Love
DEMONS CLAWS Try Me One More Time
GENTLEMEN JESSE AND HIS MEN Harriette It’s You
LENNY KAYE I Wanna Know



THE SONICS 2010 SUMMER EURO TOUR!
July 2 – Italy - Parma Festival Italy
July 8 Augsburg – Kantine 8 Germany
July 9 – Koln – Essigfabrik Germany
July 11 Finland – Ruisrock Festival Finland
July 15 – Tromsoe – Bukta Festival Norway
July 17 - Spain – Quente Festival Spain
July 18 – Belgium – Dour Festival Belgium

A-BONES EURO JUNKET!!





July 6 Norton Records DJ Party with Billy and

Miriam, Bar Loose, Helsinki, Finland

July 7 Tavastia, Helsinki, Finland

July 8 Klubi, Tampere, Finland

July 9 DBs, Utrecht, Holland

July 10 tba

July 11 Sjock Festival, Gierle Belgium w/The Jim

Jones Review and the Fleshtones


BACK IN THE USA...

July 16 Rebel Night Weekender, Warsaw, Brooklyn, NY w/the Trashmen, Hayden Thompson, Gene Summers, the A-Bones, Stompin Riff Raffs, Sit and Die, Twang Bangers and loads more! This is gonna be a total blast! Lotsa cool DJ's with Rex from Fool's Paradise leading the charge!

July 31 PONDEROSA STOMP AT LINCOLN CENTER: THE DETROIT BREAKDOWN! Just spoke with Question Mark and he is confident the Empire State Building will shine ORANGE after he sets the town on its ear at this wild bash.... and MELVIN DAVIS makes his NYC debut.... see you there! Eddie Kirkland, the Gories, Mitch Ryder, Dennis Coffey, the Party Stompers, the Velvelettes, Spyder Turner!!!!! SEE YOU THERE!

September 24 and 25 PONDEROSA STOMP IN NEW ORLEANS!

Thee Midniters, Thee Trashmen... Duane Eddy...Sugar Pie De Santo.... plus an unannounced cherry-on-top brain-blaster of a closer for Sunday night’s wild, wild top secret party! Be sure to stick around til Monday morn!


The newly ram-charged Norton website will be up soon... meanshilw, note a change of email address. In a grand attempt to rid ourselves of aol and other things, we are now operating (drum roll, please) from the norton website!


So replace your address book with our new address:


orders@nortonrecords.com

if that gives you pain, stick with

nortonrec@aol.com

until some kindly computer literate nortonian comes forth and hotwires the internet to drive everyone directly to nortonville!

5/29/10

NORTON NEWS • SUMMER 2010

Greetings from Nortonville, where we begin with a barrage of gossip and inside scoops before settling into serious business... international superpowers BLOODSHOT BILL, ANDRE WILLIAMS, AND KING KHAN, charmed the velvet rope papparazzi in Berlin, Germany... BB and KK are parts one and two of Indo rock sensations the TANDOORI KNIGHTS and of course Andre Williams needs no further introduction, he being, of course, MR. RHYTHM, grandmaster vocalist, producer, songwriter, author, and scentual perfumer.... did anyone say Greasy Tandoori Chicken?... meanwhile, the effervescent Mr. Khan is fresh from charming the pants (well, his pants) off of motion picture starlet Miss Lindsay Lohan!...Miss Lohan was apparently snubbed when she forced her way into at the unadvertised Iggy & the Stooges Raw Power blast in Brooklyn... an event muchly enjoyed by Nortonians who were not snubbed at all... did anybody say goodie bag?.... full report on seeing the Raw Power lineup in Cleveland January 1974 compared with seeing them in Brooklyn 36 years (gulp) later at kicksville66 blog... suffice it to say, they're UTTERLY INVINCIBLE... speaking of which, get the massive n' glamorous Sony reissues while u-can....splendid stuff... high marks to Nortonian SIR MICK JAGGER for his recent enthusiasm for the NORTON STONES SERIES which continues now with superb entries from THE GIRLS AT DAWN, THE WRECKED ANGLES, TANDOORI KNIGHTS, and the GAYE BLADES..... this brings the series to a humongous twenty-one split seven inchers, featuring forty-two of today's top hit makers covering Brian Jones-era Rolling Stones compositions... collect 'em all... be sure to leave some space in your NORTON RECORD TOTE for the anticipated GATEFOLD seven incher THEIR HISPANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST... scroll on for the scoop on this Norton first.... and all the upcoming June releases.. meanwhile, keep up with remarkable THE GIRLS AT DAWN and the GAYE BLADES ... both groups are busy recording debut Norton albums... due very soon... but not soon enough... catch TGAD with the A-BONES on the big June boat cruise to nowhere... dig dates and hep happenings below... but...before we get to new releases be sure to marvel at the excellence of the The Electrical Banana... fantastic footage from Vietnam 1967 ... as heard on Norton 289... ALIENS, PSYCHOS AND WILD THINGS LP... it will blow your mind... if you dig the properly revered BLACK LIPS and the sincerity of their message, you too will salivate at the sounds of the BANANA... and in case you haven't heard, THE MIGHTY HANNIBAL is celebrating his self-released new CD Hannibalism 2 on Wednesday June 30 at Mr. Finewine's fabulous Soul Night, downstairs at Botanica, located at 47 East Houston St (between Mulberry and Mott) in NYC. 10 PM til late. See you there! The insane and excellent Al Perry continues to hornswaggle all of Smitty Town a/k/a Tucson, AZ into complete Nortonian dominance with his foray into the airwaves. Dig it live 6-8 Tuesdays at KXCI.org Yes...yes...and yes, again... .... drum roll please....



JUNE 29 RELEASES!


THE LONESOME DRIFTER – EAGER BOY (327) Seventeen song roundup on Thomas Johnson, the mysterious Lonesome Drifter culled from the vaults of Shreveport’s Ram Records. His 1958 single Eager Boy stands as one of the most sought after records of all time. The Drifter’s haunting vocals and stark instrumentation make him a truly unique figure in rockabilly and hillbilly music. This is real bone chilling stuff! For fans of Hasil Adkins’ MOON OVER MADISON and Charlie Feathers’ UH HUH HONEY albums. Eager Boy/Tear Drop Valley/Honey Do You Think Of Me/No Lovin’ No Rockin’ Blues/Ain’t Got Nothin’ But The Blues/I Want You Back/Eager Boy (alt. take)/I’ll Be Lonesome When You’re Gone/Tear Drop Valley (alt. take)/I’ll Take A Chance/This Old World Don’t Seem The Same/I’m Gonna Quit My Crying/Blues From A Broken Heart/I Wished It Wasn’t So/Your New Love/Tear Drop Valley (alt. take)/Eager Boy (alt. take)



HASIL ADKINS – WHITE LIGHT/WHITE MEAT (328) Celebrate Hasil’s 25 years as a Norton Records artist with fourteen 1958-65 hunchers and weepers recorded in Hasil’s Boone County, West Virginia shack! Roll Roll Train/Woke Up This Morning/So Tell Me Darlin’/Hot Dog Baby/Come On And Do The Shake With Me/Teenie Weenie Waddy Kiss/Turn My Coat Tails Loose/Donnio Boogie/Tomorrow You’re Gone/Somebody Help Me/You’re Gonna Break My Heart/Lonely Graveyard/You Don’t Love Me/Donnio Shuffle




THEIR HISPANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST (9666) Double 45 set (in posh non-3D gatefold cover) featuring four mucho loco Rolling Stones songs con carne - sung in Spanish! Los Peyotes Let’s Spend The Night Together/Davila 666 She’s A Rainbow/Luis and the Wildfires Get Off My Cloud/Los Vigilantes Paint It Black – arriba!



THE LONESOME DRIFTER – EAGER BOY/TEAR DROP VALLEY (877) Fired up alternate takes of both sides of the incredible Lonesome Drifter’s astonishing 1958 K label rockabilly masterpiece! Absolutely stunning! Of course, you can always buy an original…


IN THE PIPELINE... COMING SOON...


Here’s some upcoming summer releases from Norton! Mr. Excitable Foreigner – do not order these platters yet!



ROY HEAD AND THE TRAITS – LIVE IT UP! (358) Sixteen song roundup of the earliest recordings by inimitable Texas madman Roy Head along with the original Traits! These 1958 -62 sides include all the group’s wild TNT and Renner singles!



THE GIRLS AT DAWN – CALL THE DOCTOR (361) A dozen heart stoppin' originals incl. Hideaway, Evil One, Your Eyes, I’ll Be Your Girl, mo’!

Be sure to catch the Girls when they come to your town on their big summer tour!


VARIOUS – YOU TORE MY BRAIN! SIXTIES GARAGE ACETATES VOL. 5 (362) Clobberin’ fifth volume of brutal unissued garage crunchers by the Fanatics, Pharaohs, Invictas, IVbidden, Sir Winston and the Commons, mo’!


THE TANDOORI KNIGHTS – TEMPLE OF BOOM (363) A dozen curried treats from the remarkable King Khan and Bloodshot Bill featuring the hit single Pretty Please as well as soon-to-be Tandoori taste treats Into Her Arms and Bandstand and mo’ Hindu hi-jinx!


DADDY ROCKING STRONG: A TRIBUTE TO NOLAN STRONG AND THE DIABLOS (002) Norton-distributed comp on The Wind Records featuring songs made famous by Detroit's all time greatest singer as interpreted by his biggest fans - Mark Sultan, Dirtbombs, Reigning Sound, Andre Williams, Dan Kroha, A-Bones, Hentchmen, Outrageous Cherry, Party Stompers, Cub Koda, Demons Claws, Lenny Kaye, Fondas and Wreckless Eric! LONG LIVE NOLAN STRONG! LONG LIVE FORTUNE RECORDS!!

A-BONES TOUR DATES

June 17 Montreal, Canada w/Great Gaylord,
Reigning Sound, Bloodshot Bill at La Sala Rossa


June 19 WFMU, live on Cherry Blossom Clinic with Terre T (3PM) wfmu.org

June 23 Booze Cruise aboard the Half Moon,

Skyport Marina NYC w/The Girls At Dawn; DJ Josh Styles at the wheel!









A-BONES EURO JUNKET!!





July 6 Norton Records DJ Party with Billy and

Miriam, Bar Loser, Helsinki, Finland

July 7 Tavastia, Helsinki, Finland

July 8 Klubi, Tampere, Finland

July 9 DBs, Utrecht, Holland

July 10 tba

July 11 Sjock Festival, Gierle Belgium w/The Jim

Jones Review and the Fleshtones


BACK IN THE USA...

July 16 Rebel Night Weekender, Warsaw, Brooklyn, NY w/the Trashmen



MORE GREAT STUFF THIS SUMMER & BEYOND! PONDEROSA STOMP!!


Gentlemen (and ladies), prepare to start your engines....


July 31 PONDEROSA STOMP AT LINCOLN CENTER: THE DETROIT BREAKDOWN! Just spoke with Question Mark and he is confident the Empire State Building will shine ORANGE after he sets the town on its ear at this wild bash.... and MELVIN DAVIS makes his NYC debut.... see you there!

September 24 and 25 PONDEROSA STOMP IN NEW ORLEANS!

Thee Midniters, Thee Trashmen... Duane Eddy...Sugar Pie De Santo.... plus an unannounced cherry-on-top brain-blaster of a closer for Sunday night’s wild, wild top secret party! Be sure to stick around til Monday morn!


4/16/10

Norton News • Spring 2010

Melvin Davis with fans Billy and Miriam

Welcome to Norton records, Melvin Davis! Melvin's Norton spinner is out in two weeks! Hey, that's me and Billy hanging out with Melvin at the Funtastic Dracula festival in sunny Spain... his show there with the Party Stompers backin' was totally supersonic...check new release info below... meanwhile, the train to Nortonville has had some interesting passengers lately. Yesterday, the phone rings and it's ELTON JOHN's manager who says he's sitting in the studio with EJ and LEON RUSSELL trying to locate the MIGHTY HANNIBAL. We start to yapping, and I tell him that me and my sis got locked in a record store in London with Elton in 1973. (True, Helen and I are browsing in a collector shop the summer of '73 and go to leave, but the door is locked. We hunt down a clerk who tells us that Elton is in the back room stacking up wax and would we mind if we were locked in while he shopped! The guy had one tall cool stack of wobbly wax going before they released us into the wilds of Wardour Street.) So anyway, I call Hann to see if he wants to take a call from these upstarts and he says okay and next thing you know, they are professing to have recorded Hannibal's fabulous HYMN NO. 5 for their upcoming album, steered by T.BONE BURNETT (T. Bone is already a Norton artist-- dig this snap of him in 00 shirt in his 1966 band The Loose Ends are on Norton's Fort Worth Teen Scene Vol. 3!) and including guests NEIL YOUNG, BOOKER T and JIM KELTNER. Hann says Elton got on the horn with him and started playing and singing over the telephone at him. T-Bone, A-Bone, it don't make no never mind.. but Hann's excited and we're wigged out along with him... who knew?
King Khan, Mighty Hannibal, Miriam, Billy, Mr Finewine at Hannibal's Big 7-0 birthday basheroo!
... speaking of my sis Helen, check out a couple of Helen's fantastic never-seen-before-in-print Stooges photographs of IGGY and JAMES WILLIAMSON, in the boss new Sony RAW POWER sets due out this month... you mad dog Englishmen may want to pick up the latest slick and hip issue of LOOPS (#2) from Domino/Faber... they've picked up Chapter One of my rambling, scrambling seventies kicksville66 blog and splattered it onto shiny, shiny, shiny hi-gloss pages... this weekend means a wild and wiggy three-day CHILLER THEATRE convention in Parsippany, NJ with special meet & greets including our own rockin' rollin' film star icon ARCH HALL, JR, plus our top fave lady superstar TURA SATANA... if any of you doubt our raves about Arch Hall, you can watch the best low-budget fictional rock bio/doc, the sensational WILD GUITAR on the Debbie D's essential Ichiban site... congrats to the SONICS whose latest escapades in Europe have resulted in riots and rave reviews.. when can we see them on our shores, is what we right coasters want to know now... watch for our announcement about our new NORTON ONLINE STORE... coming to a computer screen near you very, very soon. A couple THOUSAND limited stock 45 RPM spinners will be up with shopping carts in the first go-round, followed by LP's, CD's, posters and ephemera... see you in the checkout line... and big news indeed is that I'm thrilled to be working, officially and absolutely, on I FOUGHT THE LAW, the authorized bio of BOBBY FULLER, with the fantastic RANDY FULLER (one of our all-time heroes himself), brother and bandmate of BF. Randy is writing about his brother for the first time ever. We're keeping mum about details, but rest assured that no stone will be left unturned. We have added tons of info, photos and details to the 1988 KICKS mag extravaganza, all stuff that has not been explored or noted in the reams of subsequent ill-informed, repetitive, and incorrect flotsam that has circulated since Bobby's death in '66. This is truly the last call-out to anyone who feels they have worthy anecdotes, addendum, or death bed confessions. Randy and I can assure confidentiality and anonymity. Phone, scribble, skywrite or leave your anonymous tip at our basic Bobby Fuller blogspot All right then, now that our random fandom has cleansed your palates, let's get on with...

NEW RELEASES FROM NORTONVILLE... DUE MAY 4...

BOBBY FULLER – EL PASO ROCK VOL. 3 (318) The long awaited third volume of Texas-era recordings from Bobby Fuller & the Fanatics, including a mess of sensational unissued live recordings and rarities! CD only

THE DING-DONGS (357) Introducing the modern day Rat Fink and Boo Boo (yes, they are THAT great!), Montreal mega-monster talents BBQ and Bloodshot Bill, each the greatest young vocalists to erupt from the the City of Smoked Meats! Snap the shackles of your mind with this unparalled debut album! LP/CD

MELVIN DAVIS – I WON’T COME CRAWLING BACK TO YOU/I DON’T WANT YOU NO MORE (45-155) Wicked Detroit soul stomps! Top deck’s an unissued mover cut in 1962 at the Fortune Records studios while the flip is Melvin’s rare 1961 Jack Pot label debut! These Motor City dance floor monsters will stun fans of Nathaniel Mayer and Gino Washington!


May 15 (Detroit) 9 PM Melvin Davis & the Party Stompers show and dance at the Park Bar, 2040 Park Ave, Detroit (313) 962-2933
WFMU's own Mr Finewine and pals to DJ!

Norton’s Rolling Stones cover series is back! Here’s our last chance to plug that we’ve issued 19 Nervous Breakdowns in this series as we get set to gather more moss with two hot platters…

TANDOORI KNIGHTS – GOMPER/WRECKED ANGLES – 2120 S. MICHIGAN AVENUE (45-9660) The world’s spiciest duo, King Khan and Bloodshot Bill offer a currified romper of Gomper (clocking in at 5:09 – the exact time of the Stones version!) on this New Dehli platter! All they ask in return is that you please remove your shoes. Turn it over and dig Scotland’s least likely hit makers as they blaze through everyone’s favorite Nanker Phelge floor packer!

GAYE BLADES – RUBY TUESDAY/GIRLS AT DAWN – THAT GIRL BELONGS TO YESTERDAY (9661) Lose your dreams and lose your mind as Atlanta’s Gaye Blades, (featuring members of the Black Lips, Gentleman Jesse and his Men and the Carbonas) clobber the Stones’ lilting chart buster! Brooklyn’s Girls At Dawn turn Gene Pitney’s overblown ’64 Jagger-Richards tune into a hauntingly original opus. Beautiful!

COMIN’ SOON…
ROY HEAD AND THE TRAITS – LIVE IT UP! (LP/CD), THE LONESOME DRIFTER – EAGER BOY (LP), THEIR HISPANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST (double gatefold 45 featuring LOS PEYOTES, DAVILA 666, LUIS AND THE WILDFIRES covering the Rolling Stones con carne) plus monster LPs by KING USZNIEWICZ and THE SOUTH BAY SURFERS, HASIL ADKINS tons of 45s.

IN THE WORKS…
THE GIRLS AT DAWN are finishing their first Norton longplayer, due for an August release... Erin, Ana and Sarah have been making a lot of noise lately with their astonishing, original sound that's somewhere between early Pink Floyd and the Crystals... fabulous...be sure to catch them around town....

Also due in August on Norton, the debut vinyl vindaloo from the TANDOORI KNIGHTS (King Khan and Bloodshot Bill) featuring the hit single Pretty Please as well as soon-to-be legendary Tandoori taste treats Into Her Arms and Bandstand - a dozen curried treats!

Norton has inked a deal with The Wind Records to distribute the upcoming tribute album to Detroit R&B kings NOLAN STRONG AND THE DIABLOS. Featured on this deluxe set are exclusive tracks by the Dirtbombs, Reigning Sound, Mark Sultan, Hentchmen, A-Bones, Demons Claws, Party Stompers and more including Nolan’s good friend and Fortune Records labelmate, ANDRE WILLIAMS. More info as it develops!

Saturday April 24 ALARM CLOCKS PITTSBURGH! The Alarm Clocks blast Pittsburgh for the first time ever! YEAH! w/Mt Mckinleys, Triangle & Rhino DJ Max Terasauro spinning your fave raves at 31st St. Pub (31st at Penn Ave, Strip District, Pittsburgh (412) 391-8334
$8 Doors 9PM

Friday April 30 WANG DANG DOODLE All instrumental night! Norton’s Billy Miller joins Phast Phreddie for several sets of loud, manic teenage rippers and other Northern Soul repellents. If you're lurking around under the El, stomp on over! Trophy Bar, 351 Broadway, Brooklyn 10PM-4AM

A-BONES DATES Summer means a full on attack on the Northern hemisphere by THE A-BONES! THE GREAT GAYLORD is coming to show Montreal how to do le squat and also will be on the booze cruise. Hello girls! See you here, there, or anywhere...

• Thursday June 17 TEENBEAT TAKEOVER! The A-Bones , the GREAT GAYLORD, Reigning Sound, Bloodshot Bill and WFMU DJ Debbie D at the swankeroo Suoni Il Popolo festival! Sala Rossa, 4849 St. Laurent, Montreal

• Wednesday June 23 ROCKS OFF BOOZE CRUISE The A-Bones , THE GREAT GAYLORD, and The Girls At Dawn Sail into the sunset at top volume to destination nowhere, rollin' on the river at fast as the little boat will go-go. Delicious snacks and frosty hi-octane beverages available, along with spectacular views and wild sounds! Skyport Marina E. 23 St., NYC Boarding at 7PM, ship sails at 8PM

• A-BONES SUMMER EURO TOUR (full-on itinerary in next newsletter, meanwhile check the band myspace!
July 6 Norton Records Platter Party with Billy and Miriam, Helsinki, Finland
July 7 Tavastia, Helsinki, Finland
July 8 Klubi, Tampere, Finland
July 9 Eindhoven, Holland
July 10 Utrecht, Holland
July 11 Sjock Festival, Gierle, Belgium
July 12 tba
July 13 tba


• July 16 and 17 REBEL NIGHT WEEKENDER The A-Bones will be supporting the Trashmen (who will perform A-Bone!) on the Friday show! Super bill includes Norton label rockers Hayden Thompson and Gene Summers plus Floyd Dakil! Warsaw, 261 Driggs Ave., Brooklyn

UNTAMED YOUTH SPAIN TOUR
Cars, girls, surfin’, beer!

2/16/10

Dale Hawkins 1936-2010


It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our dear friend and hero, Norton artist Dale Hawkins.

Rock and roll instigator Dale Hawkins-- Delmar Allen Hawkins on certificates of entry and exit-- was born to set the world upside its head, and he shot that rattlin’ noggin down the alley like a dolemite bowling ball that caught fire halfway down the lane. Such was the infernal, unquellable energy of Dale Hawkins.

Louisiana- hatched and bred Dale grew up dredged in music, black and white. His father was in a country western band—that alone could account for influences, but it was Saturday night patrols with his sheriff grandfather that ignited the flame. Hearing rough, raw blues in the flesh on one hand, country on the other, and both black and white spiritual mayhem throughout, young Dale’s head fast became a cauldron, stewing a signature sound born of the swamps, a unique and staggering blast that would soon set the national charts on red alert with the brain bashing Susie Q, his second record. (The first was the effervescent See You Soon Baboon—an answer disc to Bobby Charles' Later, Alligator—cut at local radio station KWKH and released on Checker. Dale believed that the Chess Brothers issued it, believing from the sound of the recording that Dale was black.) Five-star records followed on the Checker label – Little Pig, Baby Baby, Tornado, La-Do-Dada, My Babe and one of the greatest albums of the fifties OH! SUZY Q.

Dale picked guitarists like they were winning race horses. James Burton, Roy Buchanan, Kenny Paulson, Scotty Moore, Fred Carter, Jr. (who would go on to play in Dale's cousin Ronnie Hawkins' band the Hawks) and Carl Adams all blasted on his Checker recordings.

He continued in the music business long after his first fricasees, producing a slew of records, notably the Five Americans’ smash hit Western Union. Susie Q would continue to resound throughout the sixties with versions by the Rolling Stones and Creedence Clearwater Revival (who’d reprise the riff again on Green River). Dale worked promotion for RCA in the seventies, helping along the careers of Mike Nesmith and Harry Nilsson. In recent years, Dale was featured on countless rock and roll festivals, offering his original Checker sides with the spark and drive of a teenager.

In 1987, we connected with Dale and interviewed him for our KICKS magazine. Our friendship with Dale resulted in the Norton release of DAREDEVIL, a collection of unreleased material featuring the original 1956 demo of Susie Q. Plans were underway at Norton for an album of all new material pairing Dale with the Flat Duo Jets, but the project was scrapped when Dex and Crow signed with Geffen Records. (Dex Romweber wrote Baby Are You Hiding From Me, which appears on the Flat Duo Jets RED TANGO album, for Dale to record with the Jets. It was not to be.)

In 2006, Dale was diagnosed with cancer, but bounced back several times over the past few years. His final major appearance at the 2009 Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans reunited Dale with his original guitarist James Burton for their first full set in fifty-two years and the pair turned in a powerhouse set backed by Deke Dickerson’s Ecco-Phonics.

Billy and I spoke with Dale at length by telephone a few days before his passing. He was in pain, obviously, but the tearful words spoken were also about his frustration in realizing that his days of participating in music were drawing to a close, that he would not be making the funny joke phone calls to Nortonville any more, that he wouldn’t be planning the next big moment that would send everyone into orbit, that we would not all rock 'n roll and make a joyful noise together... again.

Dale was energy incarnate. To say it was a joy and a privilege to work with him would be an understatement. It was an honor to have him as a friend, and we are all so supremely fortunate to have his music in our lives forever.

God bless Dale Hawkins. Dale, we love you, always.

(Dale Hawkins appears on the Norton label on DAREDEVIL (LP/CD 256) and Number Nine Train/On Account Of You (45-055)





Susie Q

Little Pig




Dale Hawkins in New Orleans at 2009 Ponderosa Stomp
Photo by Jacob Blickenstaff 33-13.com

2/11/10

FEB • MARCH NEWS FROM NORTONVILLE!


Happy T. Valentine’s Day, all you heartbusters out there! A crew of Norton pals will be celebrating with fine romantic dining at our favorite restaurant, WHITE CASTLE! This holiday event is available to all Nortonians (and other people) by making reservations with the White Castle people! WC takes on a VD mood with sophisticated presentation, soft music, teddy bears, tablecloths, candy, candles, souvenir photography, table waiters, and specially printed menus. Naturally, the fine fare remains top notch!

ANDRE WILLIAMS • KICKS BOOKS KICK OFF! A posh new line of “hip pocket paperbacks” has hit the racks with SWEETS by Andre Williams. The Bacon Fat man joins the Norton Scribblers Assn. with his sensational tome SWEETS, which is causing a regal ruckus wherever it is read! Dig the full report on Andre’s NYC launch blasts at Kicks Books. Be sure to also pick up bound editions by fellow Norton artist/hero Tommy James, (TJ will be signing copies of his must-git new autobio Me, The Mob, and the Music at 7:30 on Feb. 22 Barnes & Noble, 1972 Broadway here in NYC), as also Myles Connor (dig his action-packed autobio The Art Of The Heist from Collins), and Arch Hall Jr. (superb and spicy novel Apsara Jet is available from the books section on the Norton website in limited signed editions—Arch will be appearing in person at Chiller on April 16! Let’s all go see the Wild Guitar man!)

NYC’s own Binky Phillips has out-did his bad self with a detailed report at Sonic Boomers of Mr. Rhythm’s raucous reading with our generation’s literary Pied Piper Nick Tosches, which was introduced by our beloved Doc Rock, Lenny Kaye! Read this out loud and watch the words spring into action in your teeny tiny noggin! And keep up with Binky, whose sharp eye and keen wit keep us laughing (and crying!) Where have all the good times gone? Obviously they’re here right now—let Binky learn you so.

Many of you have learned via AOL Spinner that Andre has introduced a perfume alongside the book! Yes, Sweets comes to life with the inimitable essence of Bait & Switch, available as liquid gold at live events only. Postal regulations prohibit the mailing of fragrances, so BAIT & SWITCH will be available through the mail as a “sniffer”. Same fine bottle and packaging, with an aromatic plug which will instantly transport you to the mean streets of Sweetsville. Bewitching, yet absurd! Purchase at Sweets site.

All future hip pocket paperbacks from Kicks Books will launch with signature scents. Kicks Books readers, the "Glittering Illiterati”, will enjoy select access to olfactant options for the full tilt read-a-roma experience.

Dig it! While in the big town, Andre recorded a version of The Way You Dog Me Around for the upcoming tribute album to his great friend, the immortal Detroit R&B king Nolan Strong. This album will also feature tracks by Reigning Sound, Demon’s Claws, Mark Sultan, A-Bones, Fondas and many more and is due out on The Wind Records. Tune in next time for exciting details!

ANDRE WILLIAMS MIDWEST WEEKENDER! Andre and the stellar Party Stompers (Jeff Meier & Mike Hurtt’s wildass combo), blast Cleveland, Detroit and Ann Arbor in March. Dig…

Fri. March 19 (Cleveland) Andre Williams & the Party Stompers, plus the Hi-Risers, book signing and show and dance at the Beachland Ballroom, 15711 Waterloo Rd, Cleveland (216) 383-1124 8 PM doors, show at 9 PM sharp

Sat. March 20 (Detroit) Andre Williams book signing at the Book Beat, 26010 Greenfield Road, Oak Park (248) 968-1190

Sat. March 20 (Detroit) Andre Williams & the Party Stompers show and dance at the Park Bar, 2040 Park Ave, Detroit (313) 962-2933

Sun. March 21 (Ann Arbor) book signing at Cafe Ambrosia, 326 Maynard St, Ann Arbor (734) 929-9979

More details and late breakin’ Andre updates at Kicks Books blog!

NEW NORTON RELEASES COMING SOON!!!

Feeling the mid-winter blues? Spending quality time with your Five Royales want list for the third time today? Declaring once again, “Hope I die before I see another Super Bowl half time”? Then dig what we have in store for you…


THE DING-DONGS (Norton 357 - LP/CD)

“Ding Dong!”

“Who’s there?”

“Mark Sultan and Bloodshot Bill!”

BBQ and BB sweat out thirteen action packed party stompers about girls, werewolves, gypsies and toilets! These Canadian titans have teamed up for a flat out WILD round of rock n’ roll insanity! Prepare to get stuffed with the Ding-Dongs! Still not convinced? Take the Ding-Dong taste test in this snazzy infomercial…


THE LONESOME DRIFTER – EAGER BOY (Norton 327 - LP) Sixteen song vinyl roundup on Tommy Johnson, the legendary Lonesome Drifter culled from the vaults of Shreveport’s Ram Records. His 1958 single Eager Boy stands as one of the most sought after rockabilly records of all time. The Drifter’s haunting vocals and stark instrumentation make him one of the truly unique figures in rockabilly and hillbilly music. This is real bone chilling stuff! For fans of Hasil Adkins’ MOON OVER MADISON Charlie Feathers’ UH HUH HONEY albums.

ROY HEAD AND THE TRAITS – LIVE IT UP! (Norton 358 - LP/CD)

Dig this! Norton has rounded up the earliest recordings by the inimitable Texas mad man Roy Head along with the original Traits! These sixteen 1958-62 sides (including one unissued cut) were waxed for the TNT and Renner labels long before Roy hit the big time with Treat Her Right! Tracks like One more Time epitomize wild early Texas rock n’ roll! Live it up indeed!!

BOBBY FULLER – EL PASO ROCK VOL. 3 (Norton 318 - CD) Yes, the long overdue third volume chronicling Bobby’s early studio, home and live recordings is coming very soon! Rounds out the three volume series into the ultimate set.


MELVIN DAVIS – I WON’T COME CRAWLING BACK TO YOU/I DON’T WANT YOU NO MORE (45-155) Wicked Detroit soul stomps! Top deck’s an unissued mover cut in 1962 at the Fortune Records studios while the flip is Melvin’s rare 1961 Jack Pot label debut! These Motor City dance floor monsters will stun fans of Nathaniel Mayer and Gino Washington!


KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE – BIG TEARS/THE KNIGHTS IN SHINING ARMOR (45-877) You dug our two monster Kim Fowley comps, ONE MAN’S GARBAGE and ANOTHER MAN’S GOLD, now here’s two more stunning productions by the man himself! Thrill to two early soul workouts featuring moonlighting members of the Coasters!

Norton’s Rolling Stones cover series is back! Here’s our last chance to plug that we’ve issued 19 Nervous Breakdowns in this series as we get set to gather more moss with two hot platters…

TANDOORI KNIGHTS – GOMPER/WRECKED ANGLES – 2120 S. MICHIGAN AVENUE (9660) The world’s spiciest duo, King Khan and Bloodshot Bill offer a currified romper of Gomper (clocking in at 5:09 – the exact time of the Stones version!) on this New Dehli platter! All they ask in return is that you please remove your shoes. Turn it over and dig Scotland’s least likely hit makers as they blaze through everyone’s favorite Nanker Phelge floor packer!

GAYE BLADES – RUBY TUESDAY/GIRLS AT DAWN – THAT GIRL BELONGS TO YESTERDAY (9661) Lose your dreams and lose your mind as Atlanta’s Gaye Blades, (featuring members of the Black Lips, Gentleman Jesse and his Men and the Carbonas) clobber the Stones’ lilting chart buster! Brooklyn’s Girls At Dawn turn Gene Pitney’s overblown ’64 Jagger-Richards tune into a hauntingly original opus. Beautiful! Be sure to catch the Girls At Dawn on tour in March!


...plus stay tuned for THEIR HISPANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST double 45 set (in posh non-3D gatefold cover) featuring four mucho loco Stones songs con carne – sung in Spanish by Davila 666, Luis and the Wildfires, Los Peyotes and one more group that seems to have forgotten the importance of answering e-mails. In any event, more info and more platters next time!


LOCAL SWING-DINGS TO SHING-A-LING AT!


Sun. February 21 WANG DANG DOODLE BIG TEN INCH 78 RPM SPINNING PARTY Join a slew of local platter pushers on an all shellac attack, wailin’ tunes at the fastest speed known to man! Face it, nothin’ spells chick magnet more than Jimmy Myers and his Happy Highway Gang’s Ding Dong Mama From Tennessee revved up at 78 RPM! The Bell House, 149 7th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Aves,), Brooklyn


Sat. February 28 BROOKLYN RECORD RIOT The Riot is back at the Warsaw Polish National Home! Records! Kielbasa! DJs! Peirogis! Tons of wax – see you at the Norton table! 12-8 PM Warsaw 261 Driggs Ave. in Williamsburg

Sat. March 19 ALLENTOWN 45 RECORD EXPO Records, records, everywhere, plus a Waffle House enroute! Swing by the Norton table for flipped sides – we’ll have boxes and boxes of seven inchers!




12/28/09

Greasy Greets from Nortonville!


Date Line Count Downs for Nortonians (and other people!)

• Dec. 27 Alarm Clocks and Party Stompers at the Beachland (Cleveland)
• Dec. 29 Trophy Bar (Brooklyn) Capricorn caper!
• Dec. 31 Dave The Spazz WFMU radio party!
• Dec. 31 Detroit Cobras/A-Bones/Underthings New Years Eve Mercury Lounge, NYC
• Dec. 31 Roky Erickson at Maxwell’s (NJ)
• Jan. 1 Roky Erickson at Southpaw (Brooklyn)
• Jan. 2 Roky Erickson back at Maxwell’s (NJ)

The countdown is on for the new decade, and boy, is it frantic! We want to thank all our Nortonian pals for being da coolest, and we’d like to guarantee a coming year full of insane new releases, so stay tuned for major new developments!

Be sure to mark your calendars for the Feb. 5 arrival of ANDRE WILLIAMS in NYC for his city debut as pen-wielding author, as he reads from SWEETS at the esteemed Poetry Project at St Marks Church! After the hilidays, we will serve up all the details on Andre’s appearance. Very excited about this! Meanwhile, catch up! Kicks Books blog

Thanks again, everyone!

Hope to see you all at a few of the festive fracases below!


Sunday Dec. 27 THE ALARM CLOCKS AND THE PARTY STOMPERS!
Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland 8:30 pm - $8 Yeah! Double whammy snarl & stomp as Cleveland’s Clocks host Detroit’s Stompers!

Tuesday Dec. 29 WINTER BIRTHDAY SWING-DING AT TROPHY BAR!
Sophie Thunder (a/k/a Mrs. Josh Styles) and Phast Phreddie (a/k/a Soul Club’s Boogaloo Omnibus) may share birthdays but they don’t share records! Hear each spin their best alongside anybody burning a candle this week! That accounts for Norton honcho Billy Miller, who will drive by and blast a bag of burners himself. Noise starts up at 9 PM. Free. Trophy Bar, 351 Broadway at Keap, Brooklyn.

Thursday Dec 31 THE DETROIT COBRAS, THE A-BONES AND THE UNDERTHINGS Join us at this all night Rock & Roll New Years Eve Party Basheroo! Noisemakers? We are the noisemakers! Come count down the decade all night long! Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston St, NYC Getcha tickets now! (212) 260-4700

Thursday Dec 31 DAVE THE SPAZZ'S NEW YEAR'S EVE ALL-STAR CAVALCADE of DJs Spazztacular! Music to Spazz By with Dave the Spazz will be blastin' into 2010 with SIX FREAKIN' HOURS of rock n' roll noise! There'll be special guest DJs (Rex, Gaylord, Debbie D, DA the DJ) PLUS extra-special surprise entertainment personalities! Don't miss this over-the-top soundtrack for your hedonistic New Year's Eve drunken rock n' roll monkey orgy! Tune in 8PM-2AM wfmu.org

Thursday Dec 31/Friday Jan 1/Saturday Jan 2 ROKY ERICKSON RETURNS TO NEW YORK!
Catch the great Roky Erickson at one or all of these fab area blasts! Don’t forget to pick up Roky’s two Norton albums DON'T KNOCK THE ROK! and HALLOWEEN! Our pals the Fleshtones are on the Southpaw show Jan. 1 – see you there! Rocky's website!

And to cap off the holidays, Merry Krishna wishes from the exciting and fabulous new Tandoori Knights…
The Knights have been recording furiously! Catch more posh previews on youtube!




Norton website! nortonrecords.com