Holy Modal Rounders. Classic or dud?

i prefer michael hurley, but even he gets old fast.

Who will keep your bed warm when I'm gone?
(When I'm gone?)
If you let the fire go out
Better know what you're about, my baby
But you say, but you say
My bed's warm enough?
Well I ain't holding still for none of that stuff!

Who will mind the children when I'm gone?
(When I'm gone?)
When you want to get away
Who will take them out to play, my baby?
But you say, but you say
Kids are my whole life!
Well I ain't holding still for none of that stuff!

Who will feed you peaches when I'm gone?
(When I'm gone?)
Your new lover may be cute
But will he bring home the fruit, my baby?
But you say, but you say
Peaches make me fat!
Well I ain't holding still for none of that stuff!

Don't you treat me like no Viet Cong!
(Viet Cong!)
Don't you know I'm from Da Nang
I just want to let it hang my baby
But you say, but you say
We gonna drop the bomb!
Well I ain't holding still for none of that stuff!

Well, on a wagon traveling down your road!
(Down the road!)
Well, you say I'm just one more
That it really ain't a bore, my baby
But you say, but you say
Your road's worn and rough
Well I ain't holding still for none of that stuff!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkjJs5gKtFs

I only know them from their first Prestige album, so this was something (not sure what).

^Waht

I loved the first two albums, where it was just Weber and Stampfel goofing (and sometimes even playing it straight) on all that Anthology stuff. And their contribution to the Fugs' first album (originally on Folkways! if you can imagine) make it IMO their best.

I love that the Moray Eels record exists, even if I never want to listen to it (outside of once in a while "Half a Mind" when I'm feeling particularly garagey). Anything later I've found unbearable. And that Hee Haw thing, jesus.

The ESP album is excruciating.

― Tim Ellison, Monday, May 31, 2004 11:29 AM (9 years ago)

Just, you know, acquired this. It's a mess, for sure. A couple of songs partially succeed--most of "Sky Divers" is
pretty (unnecessary intro and coda), and I like the drony folk half of "The I.W.W. Song." And "The Second-Hand Watch" sort of reminds me of the Velvets' "The Murder Mystery." Don't think I'll save anything, though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDSziYQ2tDY

Peter Stampfel's "Holiday For Strings" out 11/11 on Don Giovanni Records

This fall, Don Giovanni Records will release Holiday For Strings, a new album by psychedelic folk hero, Peter Stampfel (Holy Modal Rounders, Fugs, and so on). As with his previous album Tony Millionaire did the beautiful cover art.

Listen to "New Johnnie Get Your Gun" HERE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG7MKdsnFK4

Peter Stampfel on Holiday For Strings:

As I said in the liner notes to this album, Welcome to the latest stage of my Great Blindfolded Vision Quest as I blunder sideways ever sideways towards wherever the hell I think I’m going. Which tends to be some other place then I thought it was. For which I remain constantly grateful.

The premise of this album was that when three fiddles play at once, the harmonics sort of hook up, producing a bumble bee buzz. I discussed this with violinist Jenny Scheinman, who I met when she was playing with Bill Frisell, and she said, yes, it takes at least three, and it sounds like a Swarm! Of bees! Exactly! Thank you, Jenny! Swarm! Bees! Yes!

But when push, as is its tendency, came to shove, as it tends to do, a bunch of mandolins bumrushed the recording session, via the Holy Spirit, which tends to be behind musical bumrushes, and has (Holy Spirit) a tendency to surprise me. For which I remain constantly grateful.

Fear not however though! The Swarm shall manifest not here (where it’s two or three-ish on a scale of ten), nor on the subsequent album, Peter Stampfel and the Atomic Meta Pagans, The Cambrian Explosion, which is being mixed in Louisiana by Mark Bingham as we speak (September ’16), but on the one after that, Peter Stampfel and the Atomic Meta Pagans, The Ordovician Era. Upcoming liner notes will provide more clarity. That’s where you’ll hear the goddamn swarm, dammit! In the one after the next one! Don Giovanni said, record whatever you want as often as you want, and we’ll put it out, to which we say, Yessir! Our albums will be coming atcha at warp speed. All but two tracks here were recorded in about three hours, total. And our band-skill-set is about in third or fourth grade. Our crazy dance has barely begun. Just you wait.

Hopefully, Tony Millionaire will be doing ongoing covers, as he has for the last two, for my ongoing releases on the Don Giovanni (straight out of New Jersey) label. The prospect of him drawing critters from ongoing ancient geological time periods has me quivering. The plan is for the AMPs and geological eras to march on, era after era, album after album, hand in hand. Y’all come!

I’ll go ongoing about my learning curve, which keeps getting more perpendicular, for which I remain constantly grateful. Specifically, each album I make has a ton of mistakes and wrong turns in general, which I tend not to repeat, but I always find new wrong turns, somehow. I fear the day I make no more wrong turns, because if that day comes, surely, my ass will fall off.

Meanwhilst, don activity-appropriate garb and join us, in a Holiday For Strings!

RIP Steve Weber

Source?

thanks for posting :(

RIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsQNRcKoIfc

xp Stampfel posted about it earlier

oh no... rip!

Aw, man. The one Holy Modal record I own, Good Taste is Timeless, is tamer than what came before, but it holds a special place in my heart. I got it from a mail order record club when I was a lad getting into Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and other Americana, and I have played it countless times. And now my band covers "Spring of '65." RIP, Steve.

I wonder if Andy Merrill modeled Brak's voice at all on Stampfel's. No disrespect meant in that, I love Stampfel's singing. Anyway, his 20th Century in 100 Songs is terrific fun. (I'm about halfway through my first listen.)

on his bandcamp:
Not In Our Wildest Dreams
by Peter Stampfel & The Dysfunctionells

The Ds are Rich Krueger, who makes some pretty wild albums of his own when away from his bigtime medical duties--read all about his music on xgau's site---and five other guys, incl. multi-instrumentalists, and a couple of others show up on some of these selections from four live sets, in '94 and '96, Grab a coffee and vitamins and headphones.
Likewise for his latest opus, even more years in the making---at least, yearrrs in the occasional emails from Mark Bingham (cool!), here is indeed the aforementionedhttps://louisianaredhotrecords.bandcamp.com/album/peter-stampfels-20th-century in 100 Songs, no more, no less.

Quite a few albums on his bandcamp: I like all that I've heard, except maybe this "Bottlecaps demo tape," as Jeffrey Lewis IDs it, which came out last year--maybe not as good overall as the finished products? Will listen more: https://peterstampfel.bandcamp.com/album/demo-84

Just listened to the first half of this on Bandcamp--take it away, Louisiana Music Factory:
Louisiana Red Hot Records release “Peter Stampfel’s 20th Century” is an epic 100 song collection. The 5 Disc box set is augmented by an impressive 30,000+ words in an 88 page booklet that outlines the history of each selection alongside tales from the singular life of the artist, with pithy production notes from producer Mark Bingham added for good measure...Features Mark Bingham, Michael Cerveris, Jonathan Frelich, Michot’s Melody Makers, Alex McMurray, Amasa Miller and Sarah Quintana
Seemed a bit too much like faded sheet music imagery, wall paper at first (hey, he should do Statler Bros' "Flowers on the Wall," also Sahm-Dylan duet "Wallflower"--maybe next time--could happen, given the range here), with singing close to a groan, just a little slow strumming for his bed---but pretty soon he and the music perked up, in bloom when it's the right time , sprouting and shedding and grafting instruments and styles(I won't tell you where the drums and wah-wah show up), also happiness and sadness and excitement and reveries and diving and rolling and popping up again, gracefully shadowing words and bridges and intros I didn't know about (a lot of old songs have intros rarely played later on), and I never know quite what he and helpers will go and do next, though it all hangs together.
I do recall during maybe the first 20 thinking that there might be some duplication of effort, that I might end up just liking 50 or so. But so far I like almost that many, and pretty sure will be more keepers in the second half (it's not divided up on Bandcamp, I just ran out of listening time 'til tomorrow).
https://louisianaredhotrecords.bandcamp.com/album/peter-stampfels-20th-century

diving and rolling and popping up again,, like Ishmael and Melville and RIP Dave Hickey, getting high on what they know and can still do, back in the saddle again. And again. ("Once more, with feeling.")

I knew there would be some gaps between further listening sessions, but had to jump more than expected,so right now I can't remember exactly which ones I'm likely to start skipping from last week's sessions, the first 42 or so.
But right now, I'm tempted to begin again with 12. "Ragtime Cowboy Joe"----then, for continuity x momentum's sake, skip some of the good 'uns along with duds, and jump to 50. "It Isn’t Fair" and maybe
51."Jezebel"--then def. 53."Tennessee Wig Walk," and proceed from there for quite a ways---he reinvents Roundery folk-rock, with itchy warm blankets, corn cobs, corn plasters, potbellied stoves, bear breath, bear everything---eventually, in the late 70s-80s-90s-etc. material, the music becomes more like it was then, but not (when it's good) too close to original effect: he's still turning up aspects I'd forgotten about or never noticed, as in the reeely olde stuff he started with.
For inst.,(skip 74. "September Gurls" and 75."Tangled Up In Blue, " go to 76.) the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" is no longer nerf pop, it's a slowed, gathering, electric bluesy approach, trying not to scare her away---and that along with several varied but compatible reworkings soon after, overall gives me a flashback to youg weirdo romanitc Jonathan Richman---then Stampfel goes on to other things.
Skip 81. "Dancing With Myself" (voice totally inert there). Skip 86. "My Hometown" and 87. "Don’t Dream It’s Over"---then everything else is fine!!
I'm sure I'll find more keepers; this was just a single playlist.

And as xgau indicated, damn if Stampfel and "Earth To Grandma" don't seem genetically bonded, via Wussy's Chuck Cleaver, ditto "Yellow," with clouds of Chris Martin vocals cleared away--lovely compatibles also incl. "Loser," "Tubthumping," "I Will Survive," and Prine-DeMent homage "In Spite of Ourselves."A duet with Lilli Lewis on the 2nd vocal. No runny eggs on this track

"Both Ways" - the great, lost 2017 double-LP!
The recordings for this Stampfel/Lewis magnum opus were wrapped up way back in 2018 but remained in a top secret vault...
EAR! Perhaps the final full-voiced recordings of the great Peter Stampfel before his pipes were diminished by dysphonia.
HEAR! The Lewis/Stampfel Band live favorites "Black Leather Swamp Nazi" and "Cajun Polka" and others which were such hits on our tours of 2013 and 2015!
HEAR! Our audacious acoustic attempt at Marquee Moon, and other such hubris!
HEAR! Many other and sundry sonic gems herein! Four sides of 10-zillion-karat gold!
Download comes with full liner notes PDF.
credits
released August 26, 2021
https://jeffreylewis.bandcamp.com/album/the-jeffrey-lewis-peter-stampfel-band-both-ways-the-great-lost-2017-double-album

Just bought it on Bandcamp. Fine flac. and it really is both ways, frequently at same time: funny and srs, purty and not, really is the, really is great, really is lost, like all thangs, really is 2017, really is their *band*, really is their double-*album*, not just a bunch o tracks. More to say later probly.

xgau sez Stampfel's voice is back:
https://robertchristgau.substack.com/p/peter-stampfels-latest-miracle?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

speaking of xgau, did y'all ever see his visit to the Stampfels' loft? It was originally acquired for part of a monster book collection space by Betsy's pioneering Dad, Donald A. Wollheim. x remynds us that he was

the first person to edit a collection designated "Science-Fiction"--the hyphenated cover is framed on their wall.

Unholy Modal Rounders, Unholier Than Thou: 7/7/77 (2024)

“Our crowds were happy crowds, our music was happy music. We would evoke a dozen moods in the course of a set, but we always left them happy. Our last gig was July 7, 1977. Here it is."

While every good band is more than a sum of its parts, it’s rare that a really good band plays together for two years and doesn’t record something––at least once. The Unholy Modal Rounders have been that rare really good band, playing in and around New York City from 1975 to 1977, with no history, no promos and no record––until now. “Unholier Than Thou” captures the band's energy and improvisation on the last two nights the Unholies ever played together, July 6 and 7, 1977, at Greenwich Village’s Bottom Line, sounding like they’re right next door, right now, inviting you to come in and listen.

The Unholy Modal Rounders had regular gigs and a following who liked to dance to their on-the-go versions of traditional songs, classic blues and American freak. They also had a few far-out bookings and some extraordinary fans, the band once being sought after by futurist Buckminster Fuller, who joined them on stage in Philadelphia. The Unholies consisted of rhythm guitarist Charlie Messing, bassist Kirby Pines, lead guitarist Paul Presti and fiddler Peter Stampfel, the four becoming five when joined by drummer Jeff Berman. They all went on to make their way musically––playing, writing and composing––except for Paul Presti, who gets brought back to life, as everyone’s messed-up best friend, in the album’s liner notes. In those notes, Charlie Messing says, “Our crowds were happy crowds, our music was happy music. We would evoke a dozen moods in the course of a set, but we always left them happy. Our last gig was July 7, 1977. Here it is.” Come on in. Be Happy

Tracklist, order info etc. https://dongiovannirecords.com/products/unholy-modal-rounders-unholier-than-thou-7-7-77-2xcd?_pos=1&_sid=8c3488e64&_ss=r

Good thing the opening info is here, because no notes on Bandcamp (but all the music is):
https://peterstampfel.bandcamp.com/album/unholier-than-thou-7-7-77

Yeah, that's a wonderful release. Peter Stampfel is among my absolute favorite figures in music. There's a record of new songs (and old radio adverts) coming soon, called Song Shards, it was up on Bandcamp for a minute but then got taken down and the official release delayed until December -- anyway, it's just the most wonderful thing.

Prayers, and snippets from the stoics, and little mystical reflections, set to outrageously catchy melodies. And some of the most soulful singing Peter has ever done.

Wow, thanks for the tip! Will be checking for that. He's also got this self-titled album by another of his bands, the Wildernauts---rice on rice, and he's got his voice back---still sounds old, nacterly enough, but he can do stuff,like those turns on "Slow Poison"---and dig these closing instrumentals:
https://peterstampfel.bandcamp.com/album/wildernauts
He talks about them and some others coming up, again on Don Giovanni:

Wildernauts

Folk supergroup lead by Peter Stampfel and including Walker Shepard. Stampfel (Fugs, Holy Modal Rounders) likely needs no introduction. Walker Shepard is the son of Sam Shepard, world renouwed beatnik actor and playwright, and of course original drummer of The Holy Modal Rounders. If you’ve heard Patti Smith’s Smells Like Teen Spirit, that’s Walker Shepard on banjo.

The story of how we got together is a pretty cool story.

I was playing with John Cohen, Jean Scofield and some other people around 2006. I first heard John on the first New Lost City Ramblers album in 1958. We originally met in the ‘70s. When we got together again in the aughties, John was saddened by the loss of several close friends he had been playing with for decades.

I heard that Sam Shepard and family had moved to New York, so I called and asked if he wanted to come over and do some music. He asked, “Can I bring my kid?” and I said, “Sure”. I had read that he had two kids and they had all been living in Minnesota. Walker was the kid he brought, a 17-year old, a few months younger than my daughter Zoë. It turned out Walker had been playing banjo less than a year, and could do some stuff that I couldn’t and I’d been playing for almost sixty. If you’ve heard Patti Smith’s Smells Like Teen Spirit, that’s Walker on banjo.

Here’s where the cool part comes in: Walker had been learning a bunch of Roscoe Holcomb songs, and had an uncannily similar High Lonesome voice (yes, it’s a style) as Roscoe Holcomb. John Cohen was the person who found, filmed and recorded Roscoe Holcomb in Kentucky, in the late ‘50s. When John heard Walker singing Roscoe–– nailing Roscoe, actually––he was deeply moved.

Shortly afterwards, I met Eli Smith, who joined the band that had recently been joined by Walker and Sam. Walker had been playing with a fiddler named Craig Judelman at Bard, where they had been attending school. Eli joined them to form a trio, the Dust Busters, which ended up touring with John Cohen for several years. Both Eli and Walker, along with John, were more deeply into traditional music than I was. In the early ‘60s I became more interested in popular music than traditional, although my love of trad has remained strong, as this album attests.

Eli, Walker and John recorded with me as members of the Ether Frolic Mob, and Eli and Walker were also on Have Moicy! 2: The Hoodoo Bash. We have started work on another project: Let’s Swarm Smith! The Brooklyn, Lower Manhattan and Louisville Fiddle/Mandolin Swarm. Regarding Let’s Swarm Smith!––after seeing Jenny Scheinman perform her violin magic with Bill Frisell, I talked to her about that sound that happens when a minimum of three or even more violins play together. “Yes,” she said, “The Swarm. Like bees.” “Yes,” I said. “Perfect! That’s the word I’ve been looking for!”
Hence our albums Holiday for Strings, The Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan Fiddle/Mandolin Swarm and the upcoming Let’s Swarm Smith!, which will mainly be a trad-yet-modern take on the seven fiddle tunes on the Harry Smith Anthology, which to me remains the best collection of fiddle tunes I’ve ever heard. Seven songs were not enough for an album, so we will be rounding out Let’s Swarm Smith! with some cool surprises. This time around Walker could only squeeze in two days to record before he went back to Louisville, so next time we’ll be sure to block out at least a week for a more fine-tuned effort.

Some last thoughts: I really love playing with these guys, and recording with Dok Gregory. Walker and Eli are sort of idealized sons to me in a strange and nifty way and, in the same strange and nifty way, Dok is sort of my brother. And all the bands I/we have going now––the Wildernauts, the Ether Frolic Mob, the Atomic Meta Pagans, the Jeffrey Lewis & Peter Stampfel band, as well as the upcoming duo + group with Jane Gilday–– are extended family, multi-generational entities. Originally everyone was in their teens, twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, sixties and seventies (Walker to John Cohen), and now they’re in their thirties to eighties, with each decade in between represented. I’ve always liked playing with peeps from all age groups, as the multi-generational prospective does a much better job of, metaphorically speaking, covering the musical/cultural waterfront.

Musically speaking, I’m a serial polygamist. I like people I can play with long-term. The longer people play together, the deeper the intuitive bond becomes. For additional details about my general musical approach, for those who give an actual fuck, go to the Perfect Sound Forever site and read my piece on Freak Folk. Freak Folk is a dumb phrase, like hippy and hipster––ever meet anyone who says, “I’m a hipster?”. Those all generally describe, however vaguely, things that sort of actually exist.
-Peter Stampfel