Hell's Belles

Vintage sounds, dusty grooves, and 21st-century freaks.

You can’t beat a good song about chicken, especially one by a West Virginian one-man-band.  With influences like Hank Williams Sr, Jimmie Rodgers, Little Richard, and  Colonel Sanders and a vast catalogue of songs about love, heartbreak, police, death, decapitation, hot dogs, aliens and tasty, tasty chicken… well… sheeee-it, if you haven’t got down with The Haze yet, you done might as well be deaf.

NYC-based Norton Records has been keeping the fryer sizzlin’ since poor Hasil tragically kicked the KFC bucket in 2005.  This glorious nugget  can be found on the Out To Hunch collection.

Hasil Adkins – Chicken Walk by hells-belles

MP3: Hasil Adkins – Chicken Walk

…they was funky.  And just a wee bit psychedelic.  Between 1969-1971, The Sweet had a handful of unsuccessful singles.  Then they signed to Parlophone, dropped a definite article from their name, discovered shiny fabrics and made girls all over the world swoon.

“The Juicer” is the B-side to one of those unsuccessful* singles, 1970′s “All You’ll Ever Get From Me”.  The guitar groove is Deep Purple, with an extra side of Funk.

GROOVE.

The Sweet – The Juicer by hells-belles

MP3: The Sweet – The Juicer

* = one record label nitwit’s “unsuccessful” is our AWESOME.  Just sayin’.

At least for the US.  Can’t find any UK listings for the Runaways film yet.  Is it any surprise that all of Tits of Death are dying to see it?

MP3: The Runways – Cherry Bomb

(Of course.)

And here’s the film trailer.

Marva Whitney, along with Lyn Collins and Vicki Anderson, was one of the singers with the James Brown Revue.  She’s one hell of a belter in her own right, and released a string of stormin’ 45s, including this funkity-ass slice of funk in 1969.

MP3: Marva Whitney – Things Got To Get Better

I first heard this track thanks to the garagehangover.com blog.  Jack Bedient and The Chessmen were active mainly in the Pacific Northwest 1961-1972.  A large amount of their material veers towards the schmaltzy end of the crooners, and while I generally have  a lot of time for easy listening, I’ve never really fallen in love with The Chessmen’s take on it.  They played a lot of Vegas shows, weddings, and similar tuxedo-wearing gigs, so I suspect the schmaltz factor was borne out of necessity rather than desire.  For over the second side of their third LP, Where Did She Go? looms the shadow of a lurking frat-rock garage werewolf beast.  Or at the very least, Paul Revere and The Raiders.

Jack Bedient & the Chessmen – Glimmer, Glimmer, Sunshine by hells-belles

MP3: Jack Bedient and The Chessmen – Glimmer Glimmer Sunshine