Cock-Eyed Jenny / Minnie The Flapper / Cut, Speech - Pts. I and II by The Barton Brothers (Apollo Records/1940s) - Four 78 sides of Yiddish musical comedy by the Barton Brothers (klezmer orchestra directed by Irv Carroll). Fun stuff, probably even more fun if one actually understands Yiddish.

Here’s a special post for the majority of our readership: the robots. Learn about your favorite reading material and check your very own social register. See what’s new with your hardware cousins. Are you a good bot or a bad bot? Be a good little bot, for bad bots burn forever in the bot-trap. And don’t follow this link, you’ll go blind.

Presenting another post category here: Record-Bin. Quick comments on music I’ve listened to… maybe full albums, maybe just individual pieces. The most recent posts will appear in the right sidebar beneath the Bookbag posts. You are warned.

Fall Of Man: Calypsos on the Human Condition 1935-1941 by various artists (Rounder Records) - A fat collection of Trinidad calypso 78s with lyrics speaking to “the human condition.” Well, that covers just about anything, no? Good stuff. A highlight: The Caresser’s Exploiting, with its chorus of: “Buy me a zeppelin, dou-dou darling / Buy me a zeppelin, you could believe / Or a steamboat and then I must / Be an exploiter like Columbus.”

Liberal Dose by The Skip Heller Trio (Skyeways/2006) - No nonsense live set of jazz organ trio grooving, led by Philly/LA guitarist, Skip Heller. I’m partial to Meydele (Khosene Megamix), a Southern barbecued Jewish wedding processional.

Up, Up And Away by The 5th Dimension (Soul City/1967) - The first album by this largely forgotten pop/soul vocal group. Part of the mid 60s to early 70s mini-genre I call ‘adult individualist pop’ — rock informed pop combined with an adult sensibility and an auteur approach to songwriting (Bacharach/David, Lee Hazlewood and Jimmy Webb being a few major artists in this area). Here, you get some sunshine pop fluff like the title track, as well as quirky narratives like Rosecrans Blvd. Plus the cream of 60s LA session players.

Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan (Columbia/1965) - The missing link between folk music and the Velvet Underground.

Krazy and Ignatz 1935-1936: A Wild Warmth of Chromatic Gravy by George Herriman - Fantagraphics’ ongoing collection of the full-page Krazy Kat Sunday comics moves into the color years, and what a treat for the eyes it is. I love this stuff. Mr. Herriman’s ageless creation is on my list of things which make life bearable. Along with the weekly strips themselves, there’s also a nice batch of extra material.

On March 24 and 25, Philadelphia’s Secret Cinema mounts a special two-day presentation of A Loving Tribute to Shemp Howard, honoring the thinking-person’s Stooge. Solo shorts, the early Soup To Nuts feature and a rare visit to The Stoogeum are all included. Full details and a few select photos in the link.

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