Segment 69

There’s a two-way street leading to the Way Back Studios. A digital drive, paved with e-mail and I figured now was as good a time as any for shoutin’ back to the likes of Gary standing on a corner in Patagonia, Arizona, Ian in Canada who grooved on one of our Latin sets, and Steve in Las Vegas who keeps buying records no matter what Jo says. There’s Dave somewhere in Southern California, Neil in Indianapolis, and Andrew of the Deep South Radio Hour. We heard from Sneaky Pete’s pal, Lisa, Blake who enjoyed our Reefer Madness set, and Denise who swears she’s just another slave to rock and roll. Then there’s Steve in Illinois and Tim Crowe who both read “Pest Control” and got all my Bob Dillon jokes. Kevin’s listening in Hartford, Connecticut, Artie and Mary are sitting on the patio in Texas, I think, and Ron in the Netherlands listening on line. And let’s not forget Sweet as Pie Peggy down in Baton Rouge and Brenda at Johns Hopkins Dept of Neurosurgery where they don’t have any rocket scientists, just brain surgeons. There’s Lenny in Lake Mary, Florida, and the Reverend Mark Christian who swears he listens to the show religiously. Well, amen to that.

Every now and then I even get suggestions for segues. Scott in Cleveland always has good ideas, Michael delivered one we did with Wings and Rocky Horror, and my pal Kim at U.S. Fish and Wildlife? She’s the one who had the idea about Traffic and Leon Russell that turned out so good. Now, the suggestion that got me started on today’s batch of All Hand Mixed Vinyl comes from my friend Steve Larson. It’s a segue he used to do at KBPI-FM in Denver involving a riff that Deep Purple admittedly stole from It’s a Beautiful Day. After that we’ve got a Deep Track from Audience and an instrumental from Van the Man. But we’ll start with a little sorcery. Steeleye Span’s version of an English folk tune about the ugliest witch in the North Country. And as long as were singing about women with special powers, we’ll hear Donovan’s perplexing package of provocative paranoia from 1966. I keep waiting for some rapper to do a cover version of the song, probably call it, “Season of the we-atch.” Here’s Mr. Leitch.

If you’re looking at your radio for the song title and it says “Instrumental” and you’re thinking, duh, I can hear it’s an instrumental, what’s it called? It’s called “Instrumental.” Van Morrison with Georgie Fame and the boys from Too Long in Exile. Before that, going deep into the tracks, that was Audience swinging in the coconut trees and swimming in the sea. From their album Lunch, a track called “Buy me an Island.” Before that, testing the limits of heavy metal excess, and plagarism, we heard a part of Deep Purple’s “Child in Time.” According to the liner notes from one of their greatest hits collections, Deep Purple stole that organ riff from It’s a Beautiful Day’s “Bombay Calling” which explains why we heard that just before the purple. A segue I got from my pal Seattle Steve Larson. It turns out that organ riff wasn’t the only thing Deep Purple took from David LaFlamme’s Bay Area band. The instrumental line for Deep Purple’s “Wring That Neck” was, as they say, borrowed from It’s a Beautiful Day’s “Don and Dewey.”

At the top of the set we got all folked up with some Scottish and English troubadourism, starting with Donovan’s “Season of the Witch” followed by a traditional English folk tune about the ugliest witch in the north country, “Alison Gross.” Steeleye Span from 1973 and their album Parcel of Rogues. And, just so you know, if you’re looking for the set lists or the show commentaries I’ve got posted on my website, billfitzhugh.com along with lots of naughty photos and the truth behind all the rumors. And don’t forget, the beatniks are out to make it rich, the rabbits are running in the ditch, and you’ve got to pick up every stitch here in the Way Back Studios. We like to keep it neat. I’m Bill Fitzhugh, thanks for listening. I’ll be back again next time with another batch of All Hand Mixed Vinyl and I hope you can join us, right here in the Deep Tracks.