Arcade Fire meet Hieronymus Bosch...never thought I'd say that sober.

Sent by anon | 3:47 AM ET | 01-23-2008

EVERY TIME I listen to NPR or read your blog i end up spending money on itunes.

Which, even though I am a poor college kid, ROCKS and I can't think of a better way to spend all that dough I don't have.

So thanks Bob Boilen, for giving my consumerist tendencies positive direction.

Sent by M | 1:33 PM ET | 01-25-2008

i wonder if stephan pastis would like this music ?

Sent by dre | 1:34 PM ET | 01-25-2008

THERE WAS A NEW PEARLS BEFORE SWINE RELEASE TITLED "RADIO PEARLS" ON ESP,
WHICH WAS A LIVE 1971 CONCERT FROM WBAI STUDIOS. HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIND. E-MAILED ESP...NO RESPONSE. WAS IT EVER RELEASED? I ATTENDED THIS SHOW.

The Pearls Before Swine site has been down.
I don't know about this recording. There is some live recordings mentioned on the Wiki. Lucky you for having seen the band. I have a vague memory of seeing Tom Rapp at the Cellar Door in Washington, but it could be just a dream
Bob Boilen

Sent by GEORGE KOTZAS | 3:41 PM ET | 01-25-2008

Also on the album is that song 'Miss Morse' {"...This may strike you oddily, but I want you bodily;...'] with the
'Dit-dit-da-dit
dit dit da
da dit da dit
da dit da'
chorus, which spells, (in Morse Code) as I ascertained from a blushing sailor [mixed company]on an island cruise, what you might think it does!

Sent by George | 5:02 AM ET | 01-26-2008

A Band To Call My Own?????

A long time ago, in a city far far away, (I live in Hong Kong now, so New York City does seem far far away), my best friend and I went to CBGB to see a band called Orchestra Luna. We had been playing and playing and playing their LP for many months. And WOW, we had such a great time at that show. And of course returned home to replay and replay the LP again and again. A few years ago, I found a Japanese Label CD of it, and of course paid the 30 or so dollars it was going for on Amazon. And now, I play the CD over and over and over!! What ever happened to them??????? Oh, and by the way, Orchestra Luna opened for a band we had never heard of, yet, called The Talking Heads!!!!! That night will live with me till I die!!!!! Ahhhhh, Sweet Doris Dreams, Back In the Boy Scout camp!!!

Joe

Sent by Joe Hoffman | 5:11 AM ET | 01-26-2008

Love the folk/pysch genre and would love P.B.S., but the lisp kills me. Saw them open for Carly Simon at some college in NJ.

Sent by CB in NJ | 4:48 AM ET | 01-30-2008

John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats. Pure poetry.

Sent by moraine | 12:07 PM ET | 02-05-2008

As for the "Radio Pearls" album: I was the producer of that album, and long time friend of Tom Rapp, as well as administrator of his official archives. It was not officially released, due to a legal issue with a party who claimed rights to the original source material. It was a radio program, recorded in studio, so there was no audience present. This party is asking for a large amount of money to relinquish said rights, and frankly, I don't have it. Sometime in the future, that title may be released on our own label, as I am no longer affiliated with ESP-Disk. We also have a live concert album from the same era, "Live Pearls", which I hope to release as soon as I have the funds to pay for manufacturing. Truth be told, I had a stroke last Summer and am in financial trouble. No releases are forthcoming from WildCat Records until I can get my personal situation straightened out. The WildCat/Pearls Before Swine Web site should be back up in the next couple of weeks with updated news.

Sent by Joe Phillips - WildCat Recording USA | 3:12 PM ET | 04-10-2008

Well, you'd be right about seeing Thomas Rapp at the Cellar Door. He appeared with a road group version of Pearls Before Swine. They were the opening act for some mainstream band whose name i don't recall. but I do recall that the lead act complained about the audience not being properly "warmed up." I was the bartender there at the time and was pretty excited about the band's appearance having discovered them in prep school in 1967 while in a cloud of marijuana smoke. Problem was they were a terrible live act, especially in a mainstream club. PBS should have stayed with Cambridge coffee houses I think. Msr. Rapp was quiet, contemplative and didn't have much of a sense of humor as I recall. The crowd was bored, the waiters made lousy tips and everybody was glad to see the week end. Pity, he did write some moving lyrics.

Bartender at the Cellar Door??? I bet you have a few million stories to tell.
Did you see Patti Smith there when she was sick as a dog???and John Cale joined her for her encore???that was a memorable night???or Jonathan Richman doing one of his tunes, maybe Hey there Little Insect, while crawling around on the floor?

thanks for some memories.

bob

Sent by Harry Viens | 8:01 PM ET | 10-01-2008