The Murderer Vine: a new Mangmade guitar

Here's the latest model -- a solid-body electric "cigar-box-style" guitar.  She sounds as wicked as she looks.



Bolt-on neck, four strings tuned to Open G, single-coil pickup, volume and tone controls. 

Emblazoned with the cover of a Hard Case Crime novel, The Murderer Vine by Shepard Rifkin and art by Ken Laager. 

Volume, tone and input jack cover from an old wind chime.  Knobs cut from an old curtain rod.

 

Pickup and fret wire from CB Gitty, tuning keys from Elderly Instruments.  The bridge is left over from an upgrade I made to my SX Callisto JR.  The nut is cut from a dog bone purchased at Petsmart, which was not fun to cut and grinding was very stinky.  Extremely stinky.

Rewinding comes to audio

 

SOUND ON A SPOOL (Aug, 1945)

The Satisfactions 1966

A clipping from the Toledo Blade, January 22, 1966 noting my dad's and his buddies' bands from Lake High School.

To see this clipping in its historical context, click here.

First electronic drum machine

SUPER RARE Early Chamberlin Rhythmate. ALL TUBE from PHONOGRAPH VIDS on Vimeo.

This is an early model 35 with el84 tube amp, 12 inch speaker and 16 track tape loop. This IS the one! These were Chamberlin's first designs and the predecessor to the Melotron. This is a must for any Chamberlin, Melotron, Optigan collector or avid fan...

The Chamberlin Rhythmate has the distinction of being the first drum machine ever produced.

Love that ViP

From Fabulous Fifties

Boo Boo Davis - I'm So Tired

Phantom Lady - latest cigar box guitar

Finished this week:

You've given me a wah-wah

Cry Baby: The Pedal That Rocks The World from Joey Tosi on Vimeo.

Soviet Fantasia, 1946

Earliest known single lens motion picture, 1888

Nearly as amazing as watching movie footage (inch-age?) from the time of Jack the Ripper is reading the not-so-subtly sarcastic IMDB comments about Roundhay Garden Scene's epic cinematic story economically rendered within its two-second length.  The public demands sequels and Blu-ray releases post-haste. 

However, I believe the true measure of this film's power is that its shocking nature so gripped one viewer's mind that he was compelled to butcher Whitechapel prostitutes, going so far as to write to a local paper, "I shan't quit ripping them till I do get buckled."  Newspapers, then as today, hyped the belief that new technologies in mass media produce serial killers (which in turn sells more newspapers).

People are funny.

via IMDb :: Boards :: Roundhay Garden Scene (1888)

Here come the Judge...and the Raiders

Internet Archive: Carl Martin - Farewell to You Baby

Clicking around the Archive is time well spent.  In his formative years, Bob Dylan may have stolen some of his friends' records in the 60s because they contained extremely rare tracks.  Many are probably available now here for free.

This Carl Martin track reminds me a bit of Larry Johnson's Fast and Funky. 

"It's a dog eat dog world, Sammy

...and I'm wearing Milkbone underwear."

If you had given up on American Movie Classics when they started taking commerical breaks during movies that are only five years old, they may win you back online.  AMCTV B-Movie Classics makes available great trash from years gone by, on demand and shareable.  For instance, now you may land on planet Jayne Mansfield in 1966's Dog Eat Dog and discover a couple reasons for her popularity.

Una Pausa que Refresca

Universal Video: Mel Brooks' The Critic (1963)

New Heights Video: Lenny (1974)

"Lenny, baby, I love what you're doin' up there."

Motown's Burning Bush

Kevin Pyle sent this to me a while back and reminded me it was too cool not to share:  The Metro Times Century of Sound -- a Detroit music family tree.  It's no surprise the tree looks more like fire given the number of hot names aflame, each flicker crackling another to higher, brighter, smokin' heat.

Just look at all the great stuff here in this small sample:  Andre "Baconfat" Williams is not far from the MC5, Brownsville Station, Grand Funk, Iggy Pop, Ted Nugent, Seger, Mitch Ryder as well nugget-hatchers the Woolies, Unrelated Segments and ? and the Mysterians...Rationals, well, I don't need to name 'em all off.



Find the whole thing at the paper's website here.

Don't forget to read other print-related items at MangMade Print, too!

Yeah baby we made it, we're 52%

1968's Wild in the Streets is an old MangMade favorite. 

Some solid slideshows featuring soundtrack highlights:

As odd a time piece this motion picture is today, even more crazy is this version of its signature tune, "The Shape of Things to Come" by Roslyn Kind, Barbara Streisand's half-sister.

"Just too True to be True" - Scopitone

Mark Frauenfelder at Boing Boing describes the David Lynch-vibe coming off of this thing.  I can't disagree, with the red drapes and mix of lounge and sexbot action.  But further, Freddy Bee 4's (de)arrangement is so slow and fogged in narcotic splendor it would fit well as cutaways in the Midnight Cowboy freak scene, too. 

Except those were movies contriving creepy.  This was an authentic act, right?

Hit Bedazzled! for more Scopiton action.

No matter what shape (you're getting in)