who has felt the mighty influence of red krayola?

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and what's up with all these weirdo texan bands as-of-late?

― doomie x, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 18:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Big Flame, for one. Which is why I thought it was weird that other people thought it weird that Drag City released that Big Flame comp.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 18:40 (twenty-one years ago)

ps. weirdo Texan bands go back further than the Red Crayola's first incarnation, even. It ain't a recent development.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 18:41 (twenty-one years ago)

i am reviewing the drag city singles comp and well, how the fuck do you fit red krayola's thirty year career in two hundred words and make the kids want to seek it out? the challenge! oh god jesus the challenge!

― doomie x, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 18:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I really want to hear (and possibly own) that singles comp.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 18:46 (twenty-one years ago)

it's amazing. red krayola own genre-bending now.

― doomie x, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 18:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Doomie, which current Texas bands are you referring to?

I honestly can't think of any bands that seem to have been influenced significantly by the Red Krayola. I mean, I guess Gastr del Sol were.

― Tim Ellison, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 18:50 (twenty-one years ago)

doomie - could you post a tracklist? For some reason the Drag City site doesn't have one (although they do hint at things in the last newsletter).

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 18:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Tim - how many Rough Trade bands did Mayo Thompson produce?

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 18:51 (twenty-one years ago)

it's in the stack of cds. hold on.

mayo produced primal scream -- am trying to find an angle so the kids can go fucking right on i need to buy some proto-noise comp of a fringe sixties band you see.

― doomie x, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 18:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Lots. I don't know how much I think that any of them resemble the Red Krayola, though.

Raincoats, Cabaret Voltaire, Blood Ulmer...I'm forgetting.

― Tim Ellison, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 18:54 (twenty-one years ago)

CORKY'S DEBT TO HIS FATHER. can you get kids to run out and buy this?

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 18:55 (twenty-one years ago)

I wish. That's a great album.

Mayo also produced Felt and the Fall. And I'd say he (and the Red Crayola) (and Pere Ubu) had a sizeable influence on the Rough Trade bands. Hell, "influencing" is a producer's basic job requirement.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 18:58 (twenty-one years ago)

woof
old tom clark
pig ankle strut
yik yak
wives in orbit
micro-chips and fish
the story so far
born in flames
the sword of god
an old man's dream
the milkmaid
rattenmensch
gewichtswachter
zukunftsleiger
the red crayola is on forty-five
your body is hot
4teen
stink program
chemistry
farewell to arms
come on down
still de grain brun

― doomie x, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 18:59 (twenty-one years ago)

ha. no lauren. i am pushing the envelope as is and am really happy with my forthcoming reviews: david hemmings to daniel johnston tributes to red krayola! hooray! don't want to push it.

― doomie x, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 19:01 (twenty-one years ago)

It wasn't all rosy though, apparently some of the Rough Trade bands hated working with him. The 1979 South Bank Show Rough Trade documentary has good footage of Mayo working with the Raincoats in the studio.

Much of David Grubbs style of songwriting seems to come directly from the beginning of Oyster Thins from Corky's Debt.

Welcome back, Lauren.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 19:01 (twenty-one years ago)

h, right, but I still don't know how much they ended up sounding like the Red Krayola. You know what record sounds genuinely influenced by the Red Krayola? Lora Logic's Pedigree Charm LP from '82 (after her stint in the Red Krayola, I think). That is a great, unheralded album! I wonder if that's ever been reissued...

― Tim Ellison, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 19:04 (twenty-one years ago)

daniel. didn't you, at one point, promise to burn me another copy of cdthf since something tragic happened to my first one?

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 19:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Dan, you gotta reissue the Lora Logic album!

― Tim Ellison, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 19:08 (twenty-one years ago)

laura logic was reissued last year.

― doomie x, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 19:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Pedigree Charm was reissued? What label?

― Tim Ellison, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 19:10 (twenty-one years ago)

The 1979 South Bank Show Rough Trade documentary has good footage of Mayo working with the Raincoats in the studio.

I'd like to see that. Do you have a copy, Dan?

h, right, but I still don't know how much they ended up sounding like the Red Krayola.

I dunno if influencing a band means they then sound like you, necessarily. And I would argue that a lot of those RT bands influenced the Red Crayola right back.

doomie, thanks for the tracklist - will have to pick this up soon.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 19:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, are you saying, then, that they were influenced conceptually somehow by the R.K.? (I mean, you're right that if Mayo produced a record, he presumably had some influence.)

― Tim Ellison, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 19:13 (twenty-one years ago)

laura logic? not sure. but last year alot of pr emails were going round the houses about it being reissued. i think it originated from leaf. try google?

― doomie x, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 19:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, nothing comes up. I don't think it's been reissued.

― Tim Ellison, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 19:15 (twenty-one years ago)

i once read a really blisteringly great review of mayo thompson's career which i can no longer track down, and which i'm now quite sure was in a dream.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 19:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, are you saying, then, that they were influenced conceptually somehow by the R.K.? (I mean, you're right that if Mayo produced a record, he presumably had some influence.)

yeah, I'd say both.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 19:20 (twenty-one years ago)

let me rephrase: why would a sixteen year old kid go mad for red krayola? err. i suppose that is my job.

― doomie x, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 19:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I kinda wish I hadn't gone on that "tracking down Red Crayola/Mayo singles" spree a few years ago, now that this CD is out. Oh well.

Anyone heard the other CD they're releasing - the "Japan in Paris in L.A." soundtrack thing? (Of course I'll get both.)

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 19:22 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm pretty sure the 2 CD Essential Logic/Lora Logic CD Fanfare in the Garden is all there is, not a complete reissue of the LPs.

hstencil is hereby invited to come over and watch the Rough Trade documentary and other awesome videos I have, including much no wave goodness. more off-list.

what would get a 16yr old into Red Krayola? maybe some talk about the "freeform freakouts" and druggy psychedelicness of the first record?

lauren, I will burn whatever you want, just remind me and I'll do it prior to our next real life encounter.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 20:09 (twenty-one years ago)

I think I really wanted to hear the Red Krayola at 16, but didn't until about 18 or so.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 20:09 (twenty-one years ago)

when is this drag city thing coming out?

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 20:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Spacemen 3 and Galaxie 500 both covered Red Krayola songs.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 20:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Although I've often wondered why they call Transparent Radiation a cover, given that it's nothing like the original.

In fact I've wondered this a few times... "Woodstock" by CSN&Y doesn't sound anything like Joni Mitchell's song. A few new words and it would have been theirs. Just think of all that lovely lolly.

― Keith Watson (kmw), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 20:59 (twenty-one years ago)

The Dwarves did a cover of Hurricane Fighter Plane. Parable of Arable Land is probably my favorite American 60s psych record.

― sherm, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 21:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Keith, not sure why you think the Spacemen 3 "Transparent Radiation" is nothing like the original. Slower tempo and different arrangement, I guess, but same chord progression and melody and, if I recall correctly, they were at least making some effort to get the words right.

― Tim Ellison, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 21:42 (twenty-one years ago)

the spies/the and band/the puddle

― duane, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 21:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Roy Montgomery's old band the Pin Group did Hurricane Fighter Plane, I think on a later 7".

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 21:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Tim, well, I only listened to it once a good while ago and when I did hear it it sounded nothing like Spacemen 3's version.

Maybe I'm mistaken. I'm sure one of these days I'll hear it again...

― Keith Watson (kmw), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 22:09 (twenty-one years ago)

i think 'fanfare in the garden' only misses out two tracks from 'pedigree charm'

― a, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 22:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Can anyone suggest which reissue of "Parable" (whether on vinyl or CD) sounds particularly good? I have a single disc with both "Parable" and "God Bless...," and "Parable" is recorded from a somewhat scratchy vinyl copy. I've been wondering if one of the other (more recent) reissues is better.

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 23:55 (twenty-one years ago)

i'd suggest getting the cd re-master of Parable put on Sunspots Iabel I think, comes in a nice mini-gatefold and it sounds/looks better than the Collectables one (haven't heard the double album cd)

― sherm, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 01:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Thanks!

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 01:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Some of the tracks on the Folk Implosion's "Take a Look Inside" sound very much influenced by early Red Crayola.

― yyyygrr, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 04:13 (twenty-one years ago)

- David Nichols (Cannanes, Huon, Driving Past, etc, etc, etc) is one person who cites RC/RK as a major influence, and whose recorded projects almost invariably exude a similarly, erm, ramshackle charm.

- That Collectables version of Parable must surely break some sort of record for substandardness in CD reissues.

- News of this Drag City comp has made my day. Cheers. :)

― Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 06:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I think I'd have loved the Red Krayols when I was 16. I love this compilation right now, more pertinitently.

Doomie if you mention "shrooms" or similar in the review I will burn your house down

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 08:32 (twenty-one years ago)

burning-down-the-house...!

― doomie x, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 08:49 (twenty-one years ago)

The Spacemen 3 cover of "Transparent Radiation" references the version from an International Artists double lp compilation called EPITAPH FOR A LEGEND. It's just guitar and voice and sounds a lot more similar to the Spacemen version than the Parable of Arable Land take. The collection has a whole side of Red Krayola tracks (which I think are demos) and a side of Elevators tunes (with a great excerpt from a radio interview with Roky), a side of the other Psych bands on IA (Bubble Puppy, Lost and Found, etc), and a side of IA blues artists. Worthwhile comp.

― Sean Witzman (trip maker), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 11:49 (twenty-one years ago)

whoa, I always assumed those tracks were just the LP ones. Dang.

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 13:04 (twenty-one years ago)

That Collectables version of Parable must surely break some sort of record for substandardness in CD reissues.

i second that, and could not wait to replace it with a better version! have you seen the other Collectables reissues? they're just as bad, on par with those ugly Cleopatra Guru Guru compilations. good taste in music, but yeesh....

Sean - has that Epitaph For A Legend has been reissued on cd? been interested in getting it for a while now.

― sherm, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 15:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Never seen it on cd. I got a Get Back vinyl reissue of it a few years ago.

― Sean Witzman (trip maker), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 15:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Sean, that would probably explain my confusion.

Cheers, Keith.

― Keith Watson (kmw), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

just did a search and it tuns out Epitaph For A Legend is available on cd, but it alas it's on the dreaded... Collectables.

― sherm, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 15:36 (twenty-one years ago)

The Cramps covered 'HUrricane Fighter Plane' early on, but I think its only available on bootleg stuff.

Perhaps you could convince a 16-yr. old that God Bless... and Corky's Debt... might drive their parents completely insane.

― John Bullabaugh (John Bullabaugh), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 15:51 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah...tell the kids that back in the day people listened to punk to piss off their parents. now their parents are punk and no amound hair dye is gonna upset them, so they better start listening to some REALLY weird music.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:06 (twenty-one years ago)

I've been listing to the Red Krayola w/John Fahey live album from 1967 and man has it been kicking my ass. They take the "free form freakout" to the hippie folksters and the results are... interesting.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 18:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Some of the tracks on the Folk Implosion's "Take a Look Inside" sound very much influenced by early Red Crayola.

Thats interesting I would have never thought of that. I really like that Folk Implosion disc.

― artdamages (artdamages), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 18:58 (twenty-one years ago)

the cannanes are so extraodinarily charming that i actually called myself a fan for a long while just on the basis of this and their very evident underdog/self-deprecating sensibilities. but i don't think they've really made any particularly memorable music. :(

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 19:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Amazon also lists a "special edition" CD of Epitaph on Sunspots, interestingly... (I've always wanted to hear those Crayola tracks, but have never felt like ponying up for the whole thing.)

As for the 16 yr old... if they're the kind of 16 yr. old who likes the feeling that they're tapping into something really smart and clever and absolutely cool, the albums with Art & Language should really do the trick.

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 19:34 (twenty-one years ago)

*I meant 'funny' instead of 'clever' - since the humor is a big part of what makes those albums so great (and smart covers clever).

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 19:38 (twenty-one years ago)

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