Hey folks, thought I'd celebrate the Fourth of July with a compilation covering a very American Scene. I've heard the term "Paisley" used to describe a number of bands from all over, but I went with a pretty strict definition here.
I tried to stay close to Los Angeles or at least bands that were associated with LA. Green on Red were really from Tucson and Game Theory were from Northern California-- but they are generally lumped in with the Paisley scene. A couple of bands that aren't normally given the Paisley tag that I've included are the Plimsouls and the Gun Club. Not sure why that is. They were both doing a similar kind of thing. Of course that begs the question, where do you draw the line? Was X Paisley? How 'bout the Minutemen or Circle Jerks or Black Flag?
There are a couple of excellent articles on the internet that are good overviews of the period/scene I'm covering if'n yer interested: One Nation Underground (Magnet) and Paisley Primer (by Jim Derogatis). This last one is actually an excerpt from a cool book by Derogatis on Psychedelic music in general, called Turn on Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock. I read this years ago, under a different title and I'm currently rereading it. As you can imagine it has me listening to tons of great psyche music. Be on the look out for some more psychedelic comps here at Burn and Shine soon!
As for the Paisley comp, there are a few tracks on here that have not seen digital reissue (or at least that I'm aware of)-- the Clay Allison transfer is not the greatest, but I love the song. Speaking of which, Kendra Smith (pictured above) is pretty cussing underrated isn't she? Smith is the star of this disc singing three songs, not the least of which is the brilliant cover of "Flying on the Ground is Wrong".
Happy listening!
The Paisley Underground: 1981-1990
01. The Bangs, "Call on Me" [1981]
02. Green on Red, "A Tragedy" [1981]
03. The Salvation Army, "While We Were in Your Room Talking to your Wall" [1982]
04. The Gun Club, "Carry Home" [1982]
05. True West, "Hollywood Holiday" [1983]
06. Rain Parade, "Saturday's Asylum" [1983]
07. The Last, "December Song" [1983]
08. The Plimsouls, "Inch by Inch" [1983]
09. The Dream Syndicate, "Still Holding on to You" [1984]
10. The Long Ryders, "Ivory Tower" [1984]
11. Rainy Day, "Flying on the Ground is Wrong" [1984]
12. Wednesday Week, "You Wanted Me To Hang Around" [1984]
13. The Leaving Trains, "Leaving Train" [1984]
14. The Prime Movers, "Museum" [1984]
15. The Pandoras, "I Live My Life" [1984]
16. Clay Allison, "All Souls" [1984]
17. The Three O'Clock, "Mrs. Green" [1985]
18. Danny & Dusty, "Bend in the Road" [1985]
19. Game Theory, "Girl With a Guitar" [1986]
20. Pontiac Brothers, "She Knows It" [1986]
21. Broken Homes, "Yes, It's All Over Now" [1986]
22. Thin White Rope, "Thing" [1987]
23. Viva Saturn, "Old World" [1988]
24. Opal, "Empty Box Blues" [1989]
25. Mazzy Star, "Halah" [1990]
Total Time: 1:19:30
Download it here: The Paisley Underground: 1981-1990
13 comments:
That's great !
That's great.
Good choice too
Great stuff! I would also recommend hunting down the out-of-print book but still available direcly through the author 'Tell Me When It's Over' about this scene though it focuses less on the Psychedilic/poppy bands of the genre (3 O'Clock et al) and more on the Americana/Roots-inspired bands.
Thanks for the the tip G, but I can't seem to find the book online. What's the author's name?
Pretty nice list especially Ivory Tower by the Long Ryders.
It's Clive Jones - Tell Me When It's Over: Notes From the Paisley Underground
Direct email to him for orders: clivej@btinternet.com
I've been on a Long Ryders kick since picking up the Native Sons reissue a few weeks back. Right now I'm loving Two-Fisted Tales. Great work as always.
Thank you very much for this comp!
Sweet comp MJ. I'm just going through the archives on one of my periodic visits to your site. The Long Ryders' Native Sons reissue has been getting a ton of play in our house lately. Ivory Tower would be right at home on the first album ("Outskirts') by Toronto's Blue Rodeo – an institution in Canada but not that well known in the U.S.
thanks! this takes me back - especially the 3o'clock / salvation army. will have to dig out baroque hoedown, it was such a contrast to the squalling hardcore i was putting away at the time, i'm surprised i liked it!
love yr mixes
rock on
x c
Fantastic playlist! I've been looking for a good Paisley U. sampler and this hits the spot perfectly. I've been a big fan of the Dream Syndicate and Rain Parade but have known little else in this genre. I've just started to dig deeper into your site and it looks like there are a lot of great mixes to explore. Thanks for posting!
Great comp! Though it's a shame you forgot the Steppes. One of the great underrated bands of the 80's. They put out one record on Mystic and then 4 more or so on Bomp! Check them out if you can. Cool you included Thin White Rope.
Thanks Robyale, as I've said on this blog before, I do not claim to have heard everything. So thanks for the tip on the Steppes, I will investigate for sure!
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