I (Who Have Nothing) b/w Stop Breaking My Heart by Tom Jones (Parrot/1970) - Another R&B gone Vegas power ballad, backed with a mid-tempo foot stomper from ‘66. Again, the vocals trump all else.

I’ll Never Fall In Love Again b/w Once Upon A Time by Tom Jones (Parrot/1967) - On the ballad A-side, Tom gives an amazing vocal performance, lost in a sea of variety show orchestral bombast. It is not the Bacharach tune you’re thinking of. The flip (from 1965, apparently) is up-tempo, small combo, and more agreeable all the way.

Midnight Confessions b/w Who Will You Be Tomorrow and I’d Wait A Million Years b/w Fly Me To Havana by The Grass Roots (Dunhill-ABC/1968, 1969) - Tailored hippie pop rock with funky basslines here and there. Tending toward minor keys, a bit of a garage sneer on Who Will You Be Tomorrow. Havana is a comedy number on the then current skyjacking theme — but why’s it have a Brazilian percussion break?!

Quick Joey Small (Run Joey Run) b/w (Poor Old) Mr. Jensen by Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus (Buddah/1968) - Joey is more swell pre-punk crunch from Super K Productions. The (intentionally) DJ repelling flip is a wifty ballad (with a sneer) which matches up more with that orchestral moniker.

I’ve Found Someone Of My Own b/w I Can’t Convince My Heart by The Free Movement (Decca/1971) - Representative early 70s R&B. A-side is a Hayesian epic ballad, B-side an up tempo groover.

Mongoose b/w I Couldn’t Dream by Elephant’s Memory (Metromedia/1970) - Mongoose is a quasi afro-beat acid-rock jazz-funk romp with silly mongoose vs. cobra battle lyrics. Fun stuff. Flipside is a satire of psychedelic song lyrics in a retro music hall setting.

O-o-h Child b/w Who Do You Belong To by The 5 Stairsteps (Buddah/1970) - Well-crafted pop soul from a family band out of Chicago. Nice drum and guitar work.

The Very Best Of Charles Mingus by Charles Mingus (Rhino/2001) - The “very best” of Charles Mingus? That’s either a hard pick among abundant greatness; or an easy compile — just grab some tracks from the vault, and it will all be good. And it is, either way. Why did I make a touristy buy like this? I was in a store, had the need to hear Haitian Fight Song, and this was the disc on hand which had it.

We Can Build You by Philip K. Dick (1962) - A PKD book I hadn’t already read, and it’s a low key gem. Small time businessmen build surprising simulacra of Abraham Lincoln and Edwin M. Stanton and come into conflict with a Gates/Trump-ish tycoon. But that all falls away from a tale of misplaced love and mental illness. Touchingly humane. It must have driven the sci-fi geekboys up the wall when it was serialized in Amazing magazine.

The History and Adventures of the Renowned Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (1605/1615) - My ‘antiquity read’ for this summer. Some classics are called a classic for good reason, and this is one of them. It also has a reputation as the first modern novel, and I would not be inclined to disagree. Besides its surprising meta-fictional games, the characters are more realistically rounded out and life-like than is usual in early literature. And then there are the projectile vomiting and poop jokes — modern box office gold. If you’ve ever wished that Shakespeare had written some novels (I know I have), this just might scratch that itch (and wouldn’t you know it — there are some conspiracy theorists with the idea that Cervantes and Shakespeare were one and the same). This edition uses the 1755 English translation by Tobias Smollett. Not having read any other translations, I’m really not a reliable judge, but I did enjoy this one.