(Released on 7/30/2016)
Firesign Theatre plus George Harrison, Richie Havens, Rolling Stones, Lenny Bruce, and more. Part five of five.
Audio production by Phil Fountain
Graphics design by Phil Fountain
Produced and distributed by Tom Gedwillo, Chromium Switch Industries
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Weekly radio show “The Hollywood Nite Shift” (1978, KROQ, Pasadena) with Phil Austin, Michael C. Gwynne, and Frazer Smith. Featuring characters The Duck, Johnny Hunkmaster, Atomic Wimp and Stunky and Hutch. Hosted by Laura Quinn.
Phil Austin article (PDF) courtesy of Fred Wiebel’s Firezine magazine.
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George Gerdes (1948-2021) spent over 30 years playing bit parts on television series, including “X-Files” and “NYPD Blue,” as well as taking on small roles in films, such as “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” and “Amistad.”
Prior to all of this, George cut a couple records in the early 1970s that went largely unnoticed in the United States while making a slightly bigger splash in England. Released on United Artists, Gerdes first album, Obituary, was unveiled via a live performance in England by the man himself right before a screening of UA’s most recent picture, Frank Zappa’s “200 Motels”. The album received enough critical praise and overall “buzz” to justify UA funding a follow-up release.
Gerdes, working with producer Nick Venet (The Beach Boys, Bobby Darin, Sam Cooke, Linda Ronstadt, Karen Dalton, The Walker Brothers, Lou Rawls), requested that the instrumental personnel for his sophomore release be none other than the session musicians from Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde. The times afforded this luxury to be so, and in summer of 1972, Gerdes found himself in Nashville recording Son of Obituary with legendary Area Code 615 session players such as Charlie McCoy, Henry Strzelecki, and Kenny Buttrey.
The result was a record quite ahead of its time, a brand of country rock/pop that veers a bit more toward eccentric than early country rock musicians like Gram Parsons and Michael Nesmith.
(Released on 7/23/2016)
Continuing with Peter’s early days on Radio Free Oz in 1967. Featuring archival audio from Taylor Jessen, and music from Hal O’Dali.
Audio production by Phil Fountain
Graphics design by Phil Fountain
Produced and distributed by Tom Gedwillo, Chromium Switch Industries
(Released on 7/16/2016)
Continuing with Peter’s early days on KPFK’s Radio Free Oz in October 1966. Featuring archival audio from Taylor Jessen.
Audio production by Phil Fountain
Graphics design by Phil Fountain
Produced and distributed by Tom Gedwillo, Chromium Switch Industries
(Released on 6/30/2016)
The Oz Firesign Theatre begins part two of the Chromium Switch Radio salute to 50 years of Firesign, featuring the music and sounds of 1966. Exclusive archival Radio Free Oz audio from Taylor Jessen, including Peter Bergman discovering Ken Nordine.
Audio production by Phil Fountain
Graphics design by Phil Fountain
Produced and distributed by Tom Gedwillo, Chromium Switch Industries
Nancy & Lee Again
Light in the Attic Records, 2023
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The years that elapsed between Nancy & Lee (1968) and the follow-up Nancy & Lee Again (1972) saw a lot of change for the duo. Sinatra’s star faded and she gradually retreated from the spotlight, while Hazlewood moved to Sweden and cut a series of albums that weren’t popular or well received. Both were looking for two things: to reconnect with an old friend and to possibly squeeze out another hit. Although the album didn’t deliver on the latter, hearing them reconnect and recapture the spirit of their early work is satisfying.
The record is made up of a mix of Hazlewood-penned songs and covers. The blend of their voices and sensibilities is still magical, though, and for the most part, the album is a success. The opening tearjerker “Arkansas Coal (Suite)” leads right into the rip-roaring goof “Big Red Balloon.” There’s a tonal shift that happens throughout the record, with songs as bleak and brutal as their take on Dolly Parton’s “Down from Dover” balancing precariously next to the country novelty track “Did You Ever?” Highlights include “Paris Summer,” which captures the psychedelic swoon of earlier duets, and “Friendship Train,” which could be seen as Hazlewood’s apology to Sinatra for moving to Sweden without so much as a goodbye. Overall, Nancy & Lee Again may not be quite the equal of their first album of duets, but it’s better than if they had never patched things up at all.
[The audio tracks above are from the 2023 reissue by Light in the Attic Records]
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An interview with the Firesign Theatre’s Proctor & Bergman from 2010. Hosted by Richard Metzger, known for his TV show Disinformation (Channel 4 UK, 2000-01), and his regular contributions to the website Dangerous Minds.
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Station Break/Forward Into The Past is a 45 RPM single (Columbia Records, 1969, #4-45052). Produced by James William Guercio, it was distributed as a radio station/promo copy. It appeared in album form for the first time on Firesign’s 1976 anthology Forward Into the Past.
(Released on 6/23/2016)
Bergman’s Radio Free Oz begets The Firesign Theatre in the year 1966. Featuring exclusive Firesign audio from TFT archivist Taylor Jessen, plus a collection of tunes from host Hal O’Dali.
Audio production by Phil Fountain
Graphics design by Phil Fountain
Produced and distributed by Tom Gedwillo, Chromium Switch Industries
