gts194 “moojoosh”
Think this bucket’s got a hole in it.
01-01 Louis Jordan – Decca 9-27129 – Show Me How (You Milk The Cow) (1950)
— from Arkansas, at the time Jordan would have been denied entry, as a customer, to many of the venues he played as a bandleader. Only after a predominance of bigots were forced to admit the udderly clever lyrics were unabashededly fun, did he “cross over” music’s race barrier. Bill Haley (somewhat) invented Rock And Roll after hearing Louis Jordan 78’s.
01-02 George “Harmonica” Smith – …Of the Blues 103 – Milk That Cow (1969)
— like Louis Jordan, George Smith arose from Arkansas, picking up the harmonica at age 4. By age 17 he was using an amplifier while busking in Illinois, and by 30 he was playing with Muddy Waters and Otis Rush.
01-03 Public Enema – The Milk Song (1999)
— they are Ken Ferrier and Antoni Chan. We heard from these nutballs earlier on this show, in the middle of March with “Mathematical Pi” set to the tune of “American Pie” by Don McLean.
01-04 Painless Painless – Happy Dreamy 01 – Vitamin D (2025)
— out of right here, Rochester NY, lead track off their second EP.
01-05 Mouth Music – Mo-Di 04 – Milking The Cow (album version) (1993)
— this version of the ever-changing MM lineup was the ‘band leader’ Martin Swan, with voices of Jackie Joyce & Michaela “Kaela” Rowan. Critics hated the album, because critics are generally idiots. Straying from gaelic-rock, it topped the Billboard World Music chart, taking cues from Peter Gabriel and presaging the band Afro-Celtic Sound System.
02-01 Midwich Cuckoos – Death Or Glory 12 – Milk Tears (2022)
— sextet out of London UK, the sextet here features vocals by Tanzy Valayne.
02-02 Drink Small – The Blues Doctor 04 – Something In The Milk Ain’t Clean (1990)
— believe it not, that’s his real name. Started on his uncle’s 1-string guitar at 7 years old, a little later he made his own guitar. He used a shredded bicycle inner tube for strings. Still with us today, age 93!
02-03 Maddox Brothers & Rose – 4 Star 1185 – Milk Cow Blues (1947)
— born in 1925, Rose’s family literally hitch-hiked and hobo’ed freight trains from Alabama to Modesto California when she was 8 years old. At 11 years of age, she was singing with the family band. This is from their first recording session, after the Maddox Brothers had returned from serving in World War 2.
02-04 Massive Attack & Elizabeth Fraser – Mezzanine 08 – Black Milk (1998)
— one of 3 tunes Elizabeth Fraser did with MA on this album, though “Teardrop” was the bigger hit. Elizabeth is so cool, that she even did songs for the Lord Of The Rings movies.
03-01 Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen – 1973-06-10 Record Plant, Sausalito CA 07 – Milk Cow Blues (1973)
— broadcast on KSAN radio.
03-02 William Barnes Brown – Sesame Street S01E01 OST – Hey Cow (1969)
— he also did “Fireman Ready To Go” for Sesame Street S01E31 in 1970. When commissioning the song, the SS producers asked for something that “sounds like Simon & Garfunkel”. Mission accomplished.
03-03 Johnny Shines – Standing At The Crossroads 102 – Milk Cow’s Troubles (1971)
— going the other way from earlier artists this show, Shines moved from Memphis TO Arkansas in 1932, and soon paired up with the legendary Robert Johnson. First recorded for Columbia Records in 1946.
03-04 Esther Graf – vitamin (d)u (2024)
— from Austria, now Berlin-based, she didn’t start recording until age 21 (2019). Look up her pic, Esther is hot as all get-out.
04-01 Judy Garland – Over The Rainbow 411 – Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow
— unable to find info about when/where this live bit was recorded, she first did it for the film “Little Nellie Kelly” in 1940, released as a single on Decca the following year, as the B-side to “It’s A Great Day For The Irish” from the same movie. In the film, Judy also does “Singin’ In The Rain”, a decade before Gene Kelly made it famous.
04-02 Jerry Lee Lewis – Sun Records (unreleased) – Milkshake Mademoiselle (1958)
— not released until 1974, although bootlegged in Europe much earlier, thanks to a broadcast on Dutch radio. Reportedly, Sun declined to issue this as the B-side to “Breathless” because Jerry had another tune covering Roy Orbison (to which Sun already owned the rights). Pity: money over art.
04-03 Kelis – Tasty 03 – Milkshake (2003)
— a violin player since age 4, her first 2 albums tanked on Virgin Records, and they dropped her in 2001, after refusing to release her 2nd album in the US. Joke was on Virgin: her 3rd album “Tasty” took off, this tune hit #1 on the Billboard Dance/Club chart, and was nominated for a Grammy.
04-04 Go-Jo – Eurovision Song Contest Basel 2025 103 – Milkshake Man (2025)
— Australia’s entry to the 2025 songfest but earlier, his cover of “Mrs. Hollywood” hit a billion streams.
04-05 Three Barons with Tiny Grimes Quintette – Savoy 527 – Milk Shake Stand (1945)
— out of Cleveland Ohio, these guys were also the Three Riffs: Eddie Parton, Joe Seneca and Howard Green. This was their only release.
04-06 Robert Johnson – Vocalion 03665 – Malted Milk (1937-06-20)
— recorded in Dallas Texas. Supposed to have died in 1938-08-16 but there is strong evidence that the Robert Johnson who died in Greenwood Mississippi on that date was not the same fellow, with a credible report of someone who encountered Johnson in Tennessee in the 1950’s. Left one known child: Claud Johnson, who passed away in 2015.
05-01 Kev Russell’s Junker – Buttermilk & Rifles 08 – Milk & Tears (2002)
— aslo known as Shinyribs Russell, more famous for guit and mando for Austin Texas gadflies The Gourds, who we heard on an earlier episode of this show, covering Snoop Doggy Dogg’s “Gin And Juice”.
05-02 Fera – Psiche Liberata 04 – Milk Tears In The Hug Chamber (2024)
— concurrently a graphic artist, Fera is Andrea De Franco from Bologna Italy, describing himself as doing “RAT distortion, cheap loopers and toy synthesizers; hardware stupidity, primitive sequencing; 10 years of covert sleep concert activity.”
05-03 The Paladin – Cockroach Crusade 05 – Sweet Milk Of Our Tears (2024)
— out of Finland and described as Sludge Rock, this band is: Jean the Baron (guitar), Count Boogie (bass), and Lord Of The Groove on drums.
06-01 The Dead Milkmen – Death Rides A Pale Cow 01 – Milkmen Stomp
— obviously a live track, insufficient info to find out where/when. This compilation album was released in 1997, so recorded before then.
06-02 Elvis Costello – 1988-01-19 Eden Studios, London – Put Your Big Toe In The Milk Of Human Kindness (demo) (1988)
— finally released on the second disc of the “expanded” version of his album “Spike” in 2001.
06-03 Family Underground – Triple Cool Hang 04 – Milk Of Wonder (2026)
— Danish “noise” group debuted in 2000, this is an album pressed only 300 times, of forgotten early recordings. In particular, of this tune, it was “recorded at a freezing loft in an old Methodist church at Møllegade in Copenhagen, Family Underground’s first rehearsal place”.
06-04 Clifton Chenier – Frenchin’ The Boogie 104 – Le Blues De La Vache A Lait (1976)
— not just King Of Zydeco, but also “King Of The South”, hi9s uncle played fiddle and of course, his son is C.J. Chenier.
06-05 Herman’s Hermits – Herman’s Hermits 106 – No Milk Today (1968)
— 1964 Manchester UK, guided by management into being “non-threatening, clean-cut”. It worked, producing two #1 singles in the US.
06-06 Carlisle Brothers – Bluebird 7461 – When The Old Cow Went Dry (1937-02-19)
— Cliff on steel and Bill Carlisle on vocals, but uncredited on this track is the 3rd brother: Louis Carlisle on bass.
… and a bonus track…
07-01 Robert Dennis – Sesame Street S06 OST – Milk Song (1975)
— Dennis is more famous (infamous) for scoring the all-nude Broadway musical “Oh! Calcutta!” with Peter Schickele (aka PDQ Bach)