Pop Culture Roundup: Hobbits; So long Bill Schelly

ITEM! Did J.R.R. Tolkien misogynistically base one of his hobbits on an early women's rights campaigner?


ITEM! Bill Schelly, the foremost chronicler of comics fandom of the 1960s and 70s, passed away this week. Schelly was a regular contributor to Alter-Ego mag and the author of several books focused on comics fandom and creators, including James Warren, John Stanley and Joe Kubert. He'll be much missed. Mark Evanier has a tribute here. And here's another tribute, from Nick Caputo.

New Comics Day: Batman - The Caped Crusader; EC Comics Library; Silly Symphonies

Our picks this week. Click the links to order items from Amazon.

This new collection of 1990s Batman stories takes the Dark Knight behind the Iron Curtain to battle the mysterious Demon. Then, the Penguin exploits a disfigured genius for his latest evil scheme, but Batman helps turn his tech skills to the side of good. The Joker goes on a new killing spree--but is it really the Clown Prince of Crime, or is this a case of a copycat killer? And the Riddler returns in the three-part story "Dark Knight, Dark City." 
Collects Batman #445-454, Detective Comics #615 and Batman Annual #14.

This book collects all of the legendary comics stories that Craig and EC great Al Feldstein collaborated on under the pseudonym F.C. Aljon. Of special interest to collectors, we present two stories for the first time since their initial publication more than 70 years ago. "Moon Girl," EC's first (and only) superhero and one of EC's earliest horror stories, and "Zombie Terror," both scanned from the original art. Plus "Edna Sunday," the story of a vicious woman murderer, restored for the first time ever with its original, never-before-printed shocking splash panel. Twenty-six stories in all, with essays and commentary by EC experts. Black & white illustrations throughout.

This concluding volume of the series features an adaptation of Bambi, plus the rarely seen Sunday pages featuring The Three Caballeros stars José Carioca and Panchito from 1942 to 1945. With these stories, the complete Silly Symphony newspaper strips are collected for the first time! It's a symphony of fun and adventure from Disney's classic period.

Coming Up: Gene Clark "No Other: Deluxe Edition"

 
Finally, a reissue of this long-out-of-print classic by the former Byrds lead vocalist. Looks like it's done right, too.

Out Nov. 8. Order from Amazon now.

Details:
Gene Clark’s 1974 masterpiece gets the reappraisal it’s long overdue. On the eve of what would have been American singer-songwriter and Byrds founding member Gene Clark’s 75th birthday comes the reissue of one of his finest works, No Other.
Released in 1974 on Asylum Records, a year after the Byrds' short- lived reunion, Gene reached for the stars with No Other; a psychedelic rock, folk, country and soul record that famously cost a small fortune to make.
Although received warmly by critics, it flopped and was soon deleted, a failure Gene never came to terms with.
However, as The New York Times wrote around the record’s 40th anniversary in 2014, “hindsight has burnished No Other, as it has redeemed other albums that went on to be reconstructed as rock repertory, like Big Star’s Third/Sister Lovers and Lou Reed’s Berlin,” with the album now being increasingly recognized as one of the greatest of its time, if not all time.
45 years on and recently remastered at Abbey Road, 4AD are giving No Other the reappraisal it deserves. The original eight track album is being released on both CD and LP, while a limited run double CD edition in a hardbound book cover is also coming which includes a bonus disc of alternate studio versions of each track plus a recording of “Train Leaves Here This Morning” (an Eagles hit in 1972, written by Gene and Eagles founding member Bernie Leadon).
Excitingly, the deluxe box set edition fans have been waiting decades for has also been lovingly curated. An extremely limited item, the box contains the LP, three SACDs (the original album in an authentic Japanese vinyl replica sleeve plus two more discs of session mixes), an exclusive 7”, a comprehensive Blu-Ray disc which includes HD versions of all tracks, a stunning 5.1 surround mix of the album, the original 1974 vinyl master and an exclusive documentary by Paul Kendall (the director responsible for the acclaimed 2013 film, The Byrd Who Flew Alone: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Gene Clark), and a hardbound 80 page book which features essays, extensive liner notes and previously unseen photos.
“One of the greatest albums ever made. Initially celebrated for its obscurity, No Other is now celebrated for its magnificence. It was in every way a magnum opus: epic, sprawling, poetic, choral, rococo.” -The Guardian UK 

Saturday at the Movies: "Crossroads"







Coming Up: Book T. and the MGs "Complete Stax Singles Vol. 1 - 1962-1967"


Out Oct. 11. Order from Amazon now.

From Real Gone, here are the MG's first 27 singles of the sixties, A-sides and flips, including chart hits like "Green Onions" and "Hip-Hug Her."

Per the label: "we have very carefully vetted these songs to make sure they are the correct mono single versions, with mastering by Dan Hersch at d2 Mastering, and tape research and sourcing by Mike Johnson and Aaron Kannowski with help from Bill Inglot. Ed Osborne has contributed detailed notes and discographical information, too, and the set's produced by Real Gone's own Gordon Anderson."

Track list:

  1. Green Onions
  2. Behave Yourself
  3. Jellybread
  4. Aw' Mercy
  5. Home Grown
  6. Big Train
  7. Chinese Checkers
  8. Plum-Nellie
  9. Fannie Mae
  10. Mo-Onions
  11. Tic-Tac-Toe
  12. Soul Dressing
  13. MG Party
  14. Can't Be Still
  15. Terrible Thing
  16. Boot-Leg
  17. Outrage
  18. Be My Lady
  19. Red Beans and Rice
  20. My Sweet Potato
  21. Booker-Loo
  22. Jingle Bells
  23. Winter Wonderland
  24. Hip Hug-Her
  25. Summertime
  26. Groovin'
  27. Slim Jenkin's Place
  28. Winter Snow
  29. Silver Bells




Time Capsule: Vintage ad - Rolling Stones "Through the Past, Darkly"

Big Hits, Vol. 2, released on this day in 1969.


Pop Life: Prince; Khruangbin; Comedians in Cars

What I've been reading, watching, hearing, etc.

The Book of Prince. Fascinating article in The New Yorker this week from the co-author of Prince's upcoming, incomplete, memoir. We get a portrait of an enigmatic and brilliant artist, thinking deep thoughts on art and race and how he might use his planned book to change the world and upset the social order. His sudden death surprised his co-author just as much as anyone.


Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mundo. Surfy/psych/exotica that sounds indeterminantly ethnic but is made in America. On repeat on the kitchen stereo. They have newer stuff. Need to get that, too.


Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Cruising through the new season on Netflix. The Eddie Murphy episode is brilliant. He recently announced he's getting back into standup. Judging from this he's ready.

Rolling Stones announce "Let it Bleed" 50th anniversary edition - video preview


Out Nov. 1. Order from Amazon now.
The Rolling Stones’ groundbreaking multi-platinum selling album Let It Bleed was released in late 1969, charting at #1 in the UK and #3 in the US. The Rolling Stones, at this point already a critically and commercially dominant force, composed and recorded their eighth long player (tenth for the U.S.) amidst both geopolitical and personal turmoil. The second of four Rolling Stones albums made with producer Jimmy Miller (Traffic, Blind Faith), Let It Bleed perfectly captures the ominous spirit of the times with “Gimme Shelter,” the opening track. The 2019 remaster has been engineered by eleven-time Grammy®-winning mastering engineer Bob Ludwig.  
Let It Bleed (50th Anniversary Limited Deluxe Edition) includes the remastered album in Stereo and Mono on both vinyl and Hybrid SACD, and a reproduction of the 1969 7” mono single of “Honky Tonk Women”/ ”You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” in a picture sleeve. The box set also comes with three 12” x 12” hand-numbered replica-signed lithographs printed on embossed archival paper, a full-color 23” x 23” poster with restored art from the original 1969 Decca Records package, and an 80 page hardcover book with never-before-seen photos by the band’s tour photographer Ethan Russell and an essay by journalist David Fricke.
Track list:

LP 1 - Stereo Side 1 1. Gimme Shelter 2. Love In Vain 3. Country Honk 4. Live with Me 5. Let It Bleed 

Side 2 1. Midnight Rambler 2. You Got the Silver 3. Monkey Man 4. You Can’t Always Get What You Want 

LP 2 - Mono Side 1 1. Gimme Shelter 2. Love In Vain 3. Country Honk 4. Live with Me 5. Let It Bleed 

Side 2 1. Midnight Rambler 2. You Got the Silver 3. Monkey Man 4. You Can’t Always Get What You Want 

Hybrid Super Audio CD 1 - Stereo 1. Gimme Shelter 2. Love In Vain 3. Country Honk 4. Live with Me 5. Let It Bleed 6. Midnight Rambler 7. You Got the Silver 8. Monkey Man 9. You Can’t Always Get What You Want 

Hybrid Super Audio CD 2 - Mono 1. Gimme Shelter 2. Love In Vain 3. Country Honk 4. Live with Me 5. Let It Bleed 6. Midnight Rambler 7. You Got the Silver 8. Monkey Man 9. You Can’t Always Get What You Want 

7” vinyl single - (Mono) Side A – Honky Tonk Women Side B – You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Coming Up: Marvin Gaye "What's Goin' On Live"


Out Oct. 18. Order from Amazon now.

Details:
What’s Going On Live’ features Marvin Gaye’s legendary concert – the only live performance of his iconic 1971 What’s Going On album in full – recorded in February of 1972 at the Kennedy Center in his Washington, D.C. hometown, & notable as Marvin’s first concert after a 4 year hiatus. After being shelved for decades, the recording was eventually released on CD in 2001 within Motown/UMe’s expanded deluxe edition for the What’s Going On album. Never before issued on vinyl or as a standalone CD, What’s Going On Live is newly mixed for its 2019 release by John Morales at M+M Mix Studios and mastered by Alex Abrash at AA Mastering. Packaging includes rare photos from Gaye’s performance and a new liner notes essay by Marvin Gaye biographer David Ritz.

Coming Up: James Brown "Live At Home With His Bad Self"


Out Oct. 25. Order from Amazon now.

Details:
October 1, 1969, in Augusta, GA, was a homecoming for James Brown. His and his band's smoking performance at the city's Bell Auditorium was captured on tape, with an intention to make an album of the show the cornerstone of a move back to his roots. Live at Home With His Bad Self was scheduled as a lucrative holiday release.
But JB and that band broke up. Soul Brother No. 1 called in a new, young band, featuring Bootsy Collins, and within a few weeks they recorded the funk anthem 'Sex Machine.'
With the single flying up the charts and no album to promote along with it, JB scrapped the planned Live at Home album. He instead doubled down on a Sex Machine album, a part-live 2LP set that included a portion of the Augusta show.
Now, finally, as James Brown intended: the full show with his celebrated '60s band. Live at Home With His Bad Self arrives on its 50th anniversary newly mixed with seven unreleased performances that even include two actual live instrumentals, 'Lowdown Popcorn' and 'Spinning Wheel,' that were on the original LP in studio recordings with fake applause. The package includes an essay by former James Brown tour manager and publicist Alan Leeds, a Grammy-winner who is also the co-producer of the album.

New on Video: Echo in the Canyon; Scars of Dracula

Our picks. Click the links to order DVDs or Blu-rays from Amazon.


Coming Up: "Psurroundabout Ride" by XTC (as the Dukes of Stratosphear)


Out Oct 18. Order from Amazon now.

Details:
XTC as The Dukes - From Psychedelic Pswindon - the complete recordings in stereo and 5.1 Psurround Psound / 25 o Clock and Psonic Psunspot newly mixed in stereo by Steven Wilson, with mixes approved by Andy Partridge (CD & Blu-Ray) / Both albums + 2 extra tracks also newly mixed in 5.1 surround by Steven Wilson on Blu-Ray (with a final song up-mixed to surround using the Penteo audio system) / All 19 songs appear in their original mixes in hi-res stereo (Blu-Ray) / 18 songs appear in their new mixes in hi-res stereo (Blu-Ray)] / Complete demos from both albums & instrumental versions of album songs also feature in hi-res stereo on the Blu-Ray. Produced by John Leckie (Swami Anand Nagara) and The Dukes.
Sometimes it pays to be a studio band... Between 1980 (when they were still performing live) and 1989, XTC wrote, recorded and released a series of albums from Black Sea to Oranges & Lemons that cemented the band's reputation as songwriters and recording artists almost without parallel in the UK. They may not have sold as many as some and they tended to sell more in Japan and America than on home soil. They may not be as famous as other bands of the era but, to many of those with discerning ears, they're rated among the very best, the select few who rise above their contemporaries...
As if six stellar albums in ten years including two double LPs, in an era when the advent of digital technology and CDs left many artists struggling to issue one or two albums in the same period, wasn't enough, the band also issued two albums under completely different names as The Dukes of Stratosphear, an unashamedly psychedelic ensemble which phased and flanged in and out of existence in 1985 and 1987 respectively... (Though rumours continue to circulate of an earlier proto Merseybeat/Brit Blues incarnation of the band under yet another name..)
Psurroundabout Ride gathers all of the Dukes' material, with both albums remixed in stereo and 5.1 surround by Steven Wilson and mixes approved by Andy Partridge. No need for mushrooms, simply position yourself between 6 speakers, play the blu-ray, relax and float downstream, as the music takes you to places un-imagined, even in the original summer of love...
Tracks:

Disc: 1

  1. 25 O'Clock
  2. Bike Ride to the Moon
  3. My Love Explodes
  4. What in the World?
  5. Your Gold Dress
  6. The Mole from the Ministry
  7. Psonic Psunspot
  8. Vanishing Girl
  9. Have You Seen Jackie?
  10. Little Lighthouse
  11. You're a Good Man Albert Brown (Curse You Red Barrel)
  12. Collideascope
  13. You're My Drug
  14. Shiny Cage
  15. Brainiac's Daughter
  16. The Affiliated
  17. Pale and Precious
  18. Open a Can of Human Beans
  19. Black Jewelled Serpent of Sound (Radio Caroline Edit)

Disc: 2

  1. Tin Toy Clockwork Train
  2. 25 O'Clock
  3. Bike Ride to the Moon
  4. My Love Explodes
  5. What in the World?
  6. Your Gold Dress
  7. The Mole from the Ministry
  8. Psonic Psunspot
  9. Vanishing Girl
  10. Have You Seen Jackie?
  11. Little Lighthouse
  12. You're a Good Man Albert Brown (Curse You Red Barrel)
  13. Collideascope
  14. You're My Drug
  15. Shiny Cage
  16. Brainiac's Daughter
  17. The Affiliated
  18. Pale and Precious
  19. 25 O'Clock (Demo)
  20. Bike Ride to the Moon (Demo)
  21. My Love Explodes (Demo)
  22. What in the World?... (Demo)
  23. Nicely Nicely Jane (Demo)
  24. Susan Revolving (Demo)
  25. Psonic Psunspot
  26. No One at Home (Vanishing Girl Demo)
  27. Little Lighthouse (Demo)
  28. Collideascope (Demo)
  29. Shiny Cage (Demo)
  30. Brainiac's Daughter (Demo)
  31. The Affiliated (Demo)

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