Hymie's Vintage Records

“Looks Like Fun!”

admin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 05:35:42 +0000

This jacket was so popular when we posted it on Facebook, I thought people would like to hear a track – It’s far less offensive than the World’s Greatest Obscene Phone Calls from last week, but more offensive than Marmaduke. The best laughs come from innuendos like in the track below (usually ending with similar punch lines).

indoor sport

(“Indoor Sport” by Cliff Ferré)

And he musta been really tough

admin — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 07:14:40 +0000

Y’ever wonder if Slim from “Don’t Mess with Jim” and the jealous husband from “Bad Bad Leroy Brown” were the same guy.

you dont mess with jim

(“Don’t Mess with Jim”)

bad bad leroy brown

(“Bad Bad Leroy Brown”)

A visit to the zoo!

admin — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 04:16:40 +0000

Guaranteed to be the most fun you’ve ever had!

Let’s start here at the aquarium. Here, look at those funny frogs…

frogmen

(“Underwater” by the Frogmen)

There are so many fish to watch in the aquarium…

the enchanted sea

(“The Enchanted Sea” by Martin Denny)

The next stop on our visit is the petting zoo. One of my favorite animals here is the rabbit…

mr rabbit pete seeger

(“Mr. Rabbit” by Pete Seeger)

What a charming little fellow. Another fun animal to visit at the petting zoo is the goat. We can buy some treats to feed to him…

the goat

(“The Goat” by Freddie and the Kinfolk)

Boy, that goat is full of energy! See you later goat, we’ve run out of morsels to feed you. Not far from the horse is the wood where the moose live.

03 I’m Proud To Be A Moose

(“I’m Proud to be a Moose” by Dave Van Ronk)

Let’s look through the paddock fence and watch the horses run…

the gallop

(“The Gallop” by the Chevelles)

It’s such a long walk past the horses, who could be all the way back here? Oh, yes, it’s the lonely bull…

the lonely bull

(“The Lonely Bull” by the Ventures)

Let’s walk back a ways and visit the monkey house…

ape call

(“Ape Call” by Nervous Norvus)

monkey see monkey do

(“Monkey See, Monkey Do” by Cliff Crofford)

This zoo is so special that it has animals you cannot see anywhere else. Here, for instance, is a panther of a different color altogether and the sabertooth tiger, an animal you may have thought was long ago extinct…

10 the pink panther theme

(“The Pink Panther Theme” by Oranj Symphonette)

sabertooth tiger

(“Sabertooth Tiger” by Breathe Owl Breathe)

Dreams almost come true

admin — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 02:45:00 +0000

Last fall we listened to some tracks from an album of Aaron Copland’s compositions for piano, and I remarked that I would like to hear the pianist, Michigan-native James Tocco, perform transcriptions of Copland’s ballets (the album included a piece titled “Four Episodes from Rodeo“).

While one can certainly find piano transcriptions of Appalachian Spring and Billy the Kid, the quality of their interpretations are dubious – evident by the fact they have not been recorded by recital pianists of note. In fact, good recordings of Copland’s work as performed on piano are few and far between – so there was little hope I’d find one of James Tocco playing a ballet or anything else.

But it turns out that Leonard Bernstein ones wrote a piano transcription of Copland’s symphonic suite El Salón México. James Tocco performed it at the end of an album of Bernstein’s works for piano.

El Salón México is not my favorite piece by Aaron Copland (although I must be missing something – it was also transcribed for piano by Arturo Toscanini), but it is an excellent demonstration of the composer’s ability to adapt folk melodies into a seamless program. El Salón México is also the first in a series of works that would distinguish Copland and also ensure his ongoing success and artistic freedom.

Tocco’s performance is light-hearted and celebratory, with an occasional darkness that is perhaps drawn from his experience performing Bernstein’s maudlin “Anniversaries”. At times it really captures the liveliness of Copland’s suite and the feeling of a saloon.

So while it’s not a recording of the pianist performing one of the composer’s famous ballets, it is awfully close:

el salon mexico james tocco piano

Three videos of one of the Twin Cities’ best purveyors of traditional American music

admin — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 05:09:53 +0000

Here are three songs performed by Jack Klatt, who will be performing here at Hymie’s today at 3 pm with his group, the Cat Swingers:

Jack Klatt comes referred by our friend Jack and Page, the Cactus Blossoms, but he is less an Opry-style country singer than those wonderful lads. Jack Klatt is most handily described as a folk singer, although his repertoire runs through nearly every strain of traditional American music. You may hear some Jimmie Rodgers, Sleepy John Estes or country gospel. All we can guarantee is that the music will be gooooooood!

Jack Klatt and the Cat Swingers will perform here at Hymie’s Records today at 3pm

Steel Guitar

admin — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 03:03:31 +0000

terra nova

(“Terra Nova” by Red Rhodes)

A sweet pedal steel album with a funny cover, and a song for our little girl Nova – A gift from Jake Hyer.

Buffalo Moon

admin — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:18:39 +0000

Jonathan Wetzler

the enigmatic Preston Smith Holm

The Moonies were great on Wednesday, as were Is/Is, National Bird and Tyler Haag. You can get records/discs of everyone at the shop except Tyler, who just recorded a new live album but he’s too lazy to bring copies to Hymie’s. Or too fancy.

Buffalo Moon is still one of our favorite bands in town, and – for the third year in a row – joining us for Record Store Day (April 21st)! Who else will be perform at the Hymie’s Record Store Day Street Festival? Announcements coming soon as we work out the scheduling of 12+ bands, stay tooned…or clicked in, or whatever…

Joelus Erectus

Records are your best entertainment value

admin — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:11:29 +0000

The Ballad of Spiro Agnew

admin — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:54:45 +0000

Yesterday’s post took a remark by our 39th Vice President, Spiro Agnew, out of context for a humorous purpose. I regret denigrating the Vice Presidency and Mr. Agnew’s memory for a cheap laugh, and I hope that his family will accept my apologies. To make amends I have found a song called “The Ballad of Spiro Agnew” by folk singer Tom Paxton which will surely present the immense scale of this great man’s contribution to our nation:

the ballad of spiro agnew

Probably not the two best records in the store

admin — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 03:40:39 +0000

The records in today’s post may be offensive to some readers. Sensitive? I suggest you read this Marmaduke comic instead.

the telegraph

(“The Telegraph”)

aural sex

(“Aural Sex”)

And now a rebuttal from former Vice President Spiro T. Agnew:

moderate stimulation