Saturday, March 19, 2011

Randy Holland - Cat Mind (Mother Record Corp., 1972)


A lot of private press releases did not appear on commercial labels for good reason, but not this one. This is a very nice rock release, with some folk and country inflections, and a good loner vibe. It's not (contrary to some catalogues) psychedelic, but Holland dark and somewhat snotty delivery and some smokin' guitar make it stand out from the pack.
Most of the songs were writtne by Holland with the exception of a couple by Lew Alpaugh (who also did the arragements on the record), a nice Mickey Newburry cover ("I'll Remember the Good") and a rollicking "Muddy Water" by a F. Wright (not sure who did that one originally, or whether it appears here for the 1st time, although it sounds like it could have been a country song circa late 60s). The record was recorded in Bound Brook, NJ and the record company was located on George Street in New Brunswick, NJ (not far from Rutgers' radio station, WRSU, where I spent many an hour in Grad school).
This is the only album Holland recorded but you can read some of his poety on his blog. He ended up in Las Vegas, doing some kind of casino work and running an art gallery. Sadly, he passed away earlier this year--you can read the obit here.
Here's a track list (and can someone please tell me why I'm no longer to paste text into blogger post entries?!?!--guess I have to retype)
Side ONE
Bless the Nake Days
Colours of Sad
Song for a Rainy Tuesday
Make Me Flowers
Muddy Water
Side TWO
I'll Remember the Good
Cat Mind
Indian Blues
Ladybug
Take My Hand
I hope you enjoy the record.
I'm hoping this marks a return to regular blogging for me. I've got a stack of records I want to record for you, but my next post may be one of the records that have been "sitting" on my computer for a while (Tipico Nos Grandsea or the Freedom Singers, odd choices I know).

15 comments:

øשlqæda said...

thanks max. have a glorious weekend

Cy at Pck said...

Hi Max
Thanks for this...hope this comes out as I've left my glasses at home and can't read what I am typing...sure hope you post some more?
Best regards from Scotland
Cy at Pck

Anonymous said...

hi max
what a great come-back - thanks for this excellent surprise
this one was on my wishlist for quite a time
hope we'll hear from you very soon
regards

WillardsWormholes.com said...

Hey Max,

Sorry to clog up your comments.
NGOOTBRedux has got a new home.

Hope you can update your link for us.
You're posted at our new place, of course.

Willard's Wormholes
http://thewormhole1.blogspot.com/

Thanks as always for putting up with our exits and returns.

Cheers,
Willard

Anonymous said...

Hello very good blog! Thanks to you i meet Fuzzy folk cd - but only on Amazon 3seconds. Please could You upload this records? please

Lulu

Max said...

Sorry Lulu--I only post LPs that are not available on CD.

lolvalstein said...

Great record you've posted here! I've been looking for this in my record hunting for a while now. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Hello there:

I work for The Oxford American magazine and we're currently researching our upcoming Southern Music Issue. This year, we're focusing on the state of Mississippi. We're big fans of your blog, and were hoping you might have some pop/garage/bubblegum artists you think we should check out.

Thanks for your help with this, and keep up the good work!

Best,

Natalie Elliott
nelliott@oxfordamerican.org

openmirrors said...

very cool blog HELPFUL

www.openmirrors.com

Anonymous said...

Great blog. Thanks for the info. You might note that Mother Records also released a single from that album "Song For A Rainy Day" bw "Cat Mind". Sorry to hear about his death.

Ross On Radio said...

Came across this two years after the initial posting, because a friend sent me an aircheck of a St. Louis station playing a song he couldn't identify. Turned out to be "Song For A Rainy Tuesday."

Anonymous said...

3WK Classic Underground Radio now plays "Song for a Rainy Tuesday" in its rotation - and by mean rotation, their playlist must be in excess of 5,000 songs. Just the best radio station out there - and now that they play Randy Holland, it got even better.

Rich AfterSabbath said...

Thanks a lot man this one looks great and still seems to impossible to find anywhere else...
Rich
www.aftersabbath.com

Terry A. said...

Hi Max, Thanks for
posting this. I've never heard of it before. I guess you took down your extensive list of music blogs. All the best, Terry

Max said...

Unfortunately, when I updated my blog template--as Google was requiring--all my blog links disappeared. I'm slowly rebuilding the list & will try to repost soneday.