Reviews of Eugene Chadbourne by Robin B. James, circa 1984

REPORT ON PARACHUTE (2306 Sherwood, Greensboro, NC 27403) We have numerous cassettes from this chamber of horrors, hq for Eugene Chadbourne and his twisted hands (actually his hands are just fine). What do you think is possible to record onto a cassette? How far can the limits be tortured before the cassette tape itself bursts into spent petrochemical waste? With these questions in mind let us proceed.

As originally published in Sound Choice, Op, Transnational Perspectives and Ear magazines.

The Beat Goes On 2306 Sherwood Greensboro NC 27403 More than 1000 separate violations of the copyright laws! Sound collage, a journey like a strange dream, some family sounds which include a very stern mom, some singing and playing and good fun by the master, some original songs, some original sounding covers, lots of low-fi hissing tape. Shove It, Dirty Harry, The Lonely Voice of Youth Asking What is Truth?, some slowed down parts of Beatle songs, live performances, secret messages to me, a radio appearance (AM radio call-in talk show), a secret tape recording of an obscene telephone call from a threatening, angry rock promoter/club owner slime-thing. Strange unnatural sounds. This tape is one of the best from the Experience-Chadbourne, it shows off the fingers, the splicing block, his Mom (you can take your bath NOW), his daughters, the Beatles, a little harmonica music, video game sounds, smoking potatoes walking around in Texas or somewhere with the tape recorder on, some opera music intercut with a poppy overdriven organ.

Oh look out. Eugene Chadbourne (guitar wildman) has fired 5 new cassettes at us. Don't just sit there...These new ones come in bold and chique low budget packaging: a business envelope folded in half. So what do you want? He's got Chicken on the Way, He's Insane, Now Blues, Fake Fight and Ghost Legends. Everything sounds horrible. What are ya gonna do? Chicken and Insane feature Clint Eastwood and Bugs Bunny teamed up in different versions of Dirty Harry; Now is about Eugene's smart father; Fake is from the Rova Saxophone Quartet's tour of USSR altered by you-know-who in his basement in the USA (don't forget to register to vote); Legends is with Charles Tyler on baritone and clarinet, recorded by John Zorn. Chicken includes Potato Salad, the Thing, Shrimp Sauce, Folsom Prison Blues, She Said She Said, Life Insurance and Mendocino (which brings tears to my eyes). Not in that order. But even better is The Great Wall Around The Shopping Center, Psycho Birdcage, and They Warned Me Not To Go To Africa on Insane. Most tapes are still only $7/$8/$9 to US/Canada/elsewhere, except for Fake Fight for $10/$11/$12. Aren't you glad you live in America? Send away (to) Eugene Chadbourne, 2306 Sherwood St. Greensboro, NC 27403., X Op

The Collected Symphonies of Dr. Chadbourne (2306 Sherwood St. Greensboro NC 27403) a cassette of total complete utter blithering madness. A simple tour of Dr. Chadbourne's amazing career as a musical composer. No mercy. The cover photo really sets you up good. And on the inside notes there is a little momento from Mrs. Chadbourne "He is listening to it again and I cannot stand it ANY MORE.." Recorded in Europe, no doubt at one of the many institutes that recognize and protect Dr. Chadbourne. Some of the stuff reminds me of Vivaldi, Mozart, Bach, the Beatles for moments, then the sound is enhanced (drenched in basement gene-altering experiments). If I didn't know better I'd say this was destined for immorality. Each of the symphonies are psychologically distinguishable by the special voodoo that avant-guarde extremists tend to be altered by. Strange echoey voices and a warm human picture of the master artist.

Corpses Come To Life (C60) A folded envelope, a xeroxed page scrawled all over with a felt pen photos glued and then xeroxed, with Brian Ritchie and Vic Lorenzo of the Violent Femmes live in Chicago, Link's Hall Nov. 7 and 8 1986. Recorded right there on stage during 4 sold out shows. Mayor's New Law, Der Fuerers Face, Johnny Cash in the Phillipines, I'm Your Neighbor, Is There Anybody Here?, Happy New Year, Smoke on the Water (yag blork), Pol Pot (to the tune of On The Road Again), The Creator Has A Master Plan, Corpses of Foreign Wars, lots more you bet, including the Rake (audiences all DEMAND the Rake) The Rake still swells the speaker fabric with feedback.

Country Music of the World of Islam #7 + #8 Extended jam with Dr. Chad operating on some pretty fierce beasts. Not for the lighthearted. No songs, just hour after hour of jamming with electric guitar and loving it. Sure its strange and hard to follow. There are some ministries and stuff collected by M. Schaffer, gets tossed in there everyonce in a while with outrageous results. Cover scrawl packaging has the whole "Archie" gang smoking joints.

THE DINO CHICKEN (cassette, Parachute Tapes 2306 Sherwood Greensboro NC 27403 USA C60 $7) Eugene Chadbourne is a guitar wildman who plays a lot of different items, specially wired for sound, from a rake to a birdcage, he makes some unbelievable collages of his twisted blend of live and studio country-western SHOCKABILLY and avant garde performance humor, with a generous supply of old rock standards. A cultural asset of the United States. Features Sonny Barger sorta introducing the Wild Angels Theme "I Just want to ride my machine and not get hasseled by the man". Alphonse Mouzonski plays trash cans. Lots of Hank Gonzales work, with his Orchestra on this tape. There are a whole box-full of cassette releases from this basement lab, also a few records.

THE ENGLISH CHANNEL**NEW VERSION** ($7/$8/$9) A record was released around 1978 on Parachute, called The English Channel by a band called 2000 Statues and contains 18 free improvising musicians. On this cassette the tapes have been given more room to breathe and unwind. In comparison something is added. More stuff. Ringo Starr makes a guest appearance, but I doubt if he knows yet.

Eugene Stinks C90 (2306 Sherwood St. Greensboro NC 27403) a live performance cut up job with zesty and trippy odor-penetration. Singin sweetly ptthhhh in the way that a guitar-wildman can do, country-western kickin' music, with fiddle, with rake, with little horns, organ, like that: 6 o'clock jump, Keep'a'knockin' done chipmunk style (live!) Psychotic Reaction (yes again it really zings) peeeeeeeuuuuuuuuu. The Walter Mondale and Eddie Van Halen Duo, Wiffer Waffer Song, Dr. Chad's Lab (unspeakable odors) Breezin with the Chatterbox Benson duo, sorta climaxes with Aria from Dr. Chadbournes Opera Cantarska Nuclear Destrucition of the USA by Rik Rue, an Australian.

HE IS INSANE c60 $7 us/$8 canada/$9 other. Yep. This is proof. Exhibit a. Some acoustic guitar numbers, some electric guitar, electric rake (the rake has feelings), insane vocals, overall this is the best sampler.

Hot Air Baloon On-The-Way (C60) The last release of 1986 with the war cry IMPEACH PRESIDENT REAGAN once again boldly scrawled across the cover (the folded envelope variety) this cassette salvo has some great new songs: Ballad of Eugene (Hassenfuss), Big Brave Hunter, Fayette-Nam, Big Boys with Li'l Balls, Breaking the Law Everyday, TV Party and lots of Phil Ochs golden treasures. All recorded with an ordinary tape recorder so it sounds horrible. A totally original one-of-a-kind experience. There But For Fortune is such a nice song (sigh).

IT ASKED FOR YOU $10/$11/$12 Eugene and Kramer team up and reach out through the speakers to throttle you with their bare hands and with noisey effects. Serious challengers only, please. This cassette is 90 minutes of well recorded and reproduced onto hi-biased type II tape RACKET.

The Lost Eddie Chatterbox Session C90, 2306 Sherwood St. Greensboro NC 27403 A live non-stop recording of the acoustic phase of the Eugene Chadbourne experience Christmas of 1977 in San Francisco. Lots of Monk covers (Hackensak, Let's call this, Off Minor, In Walked Bud, 52nd Street, Monks Mood, Balue Boli, You go 2 my head, Light Blue) he sure plays well, but he sings like a geek along with his fiery fingers. The slide work and ease with which EC plays those jazz standards gives you the idea that everything is planned. Comes in a hard-shell cover with stickers stuck on the outside.

LSDCW ($7 usa/$8 canada/$9 overseas) The Amazing story of the Chadbornes in America. This is the best of the pre-Shockabilly stuff. Covers of Duke Ellington, Johnny Paycheck, Johnny Cash, Johnny Lennon and Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson, etc.; with world famous avant garde musicians Mark Kramer, Tom Cora, David Licht, John Zorn, Scott Manring and Toshinori Kondo. They like to fill up every minute of stage time with sound. Between actual songs (sometimes during) there are tapes of tv voices and ocassional guitar wildman soundings. Never a vacant moment.

My First LSDC&W TRIP (2306 Sherwood St. Greensboro NC 27403) Comes in the folded envelope variety of packaging. Live 1980 tapes cut to pieces. When Eugene sings he likes the mike reverb up all the way and tends to overdrive the sound. But you can understand what he's saying for the most part. Who cares? You are tripping like crazy anyway. Yes, he is reaching for his powerfully amplified non-guitar hardware (pre-rake I guess). Yes there is some problem with accountability. The Dentist (no Fred Frith around to do the bad solo) In a Sentimental Mood (psycho-blues style), Stand By Your Man, Set Up 2 Glasses Joe, Honey Don't: 5 songs with lots of rambling invention periods, maybe instrumentals would be a good word. With the guitar wildman Eugene Chadbourne is David Licht on drums, Kramer on Organ and M. E. Miller on drums and Robbie Link (I can't read it - the patterns are too strong now)

My New Life #6 Live recordings from (evidently) performance(s) in France, pretty well recorded, good mood, another good night for Eugene. Heard here are a United Nations Medley, an Anti War Medley, a cover of "The Times They Are A Changin'", "The Parade", "Strange Feelin'", a "Monk" Medley, a "Zappa" Medley, "8 Miles High", originals like "Rake vs Plunger Megadeath" and the "Secret of the Cooler". Covers the full range from careful instrumentals and sincere vocals to wild goofy noise like no one else can do.

New Solo Music 1983: The Secret of the Cooler and the Plunger ($7/$8/$9) Meanwhile, back on the fringes of the closer present, children squeal, laugh, and scream in some kind of adventure, apparantly hand-recorded, with something so horrible that most people cry out when they see it. He keeps them in a sack in an old cooler, but Melody the dog understands and is afraid of THE SECRET OF THE COOLER. Lots of fun. Then...a plunger, wired up like the rake (not capable of moments of lyricism like the rake, but it does have feelings), well, this little screamer shoots white noise into the air. Also does covers. Jenny Chadborne sings "Tomorrow"--her debut. Good luck, Jenny.

PEOPLE WANT EVERYTHING, Eugene Chadborne is using nuclear weapons again. It wasn't my fault, it wasn't my idea, but there he goes again, as the old saying goes. "There you go again!" This tape is some kind of collaboration between the USA and Australia, meaning Eugene somehow got to the great down-under lands, home of the kangaroo, and started the nuclear war in Canada. Hows that for elaborate recording effects-- with a guitar and an electric rake, normal gear, right? Anyway, that was what I heard. And they used to call it Country Western Music. "Pop." Parts of this tape are so thick with sound, the hideous mash comes oozing right into your room there, where you are now. Think about it. Awesome lineup: The Schwartz Saxophone Quartet ("In Prison For Twenty Years"), David Licht, percussion; Carlos Sandwich, George Bensen ("Shreve'in") Kaminsky, Eddie Van Halen playing back-up guitars (who else could?) with Idi Amin on bass and the Rev. Jim Jones on drums. Oscar Peterson on piano. Gary Burnout, vibes. Creme de la Creme, cheap organ (ooh lala!), all of Eugene's tapes played together by JR Ewing (don't tell anyone, but JR is really *); Rik Rue, the famous Australian radio personality, is heard on this tape. Also Jesse Helms. More. Eugene Chadborne 2306 Sherwood St., Greensboro, NC 27403 USA

People Want Everything Canadian Version (Parachute Tapes 2306 Sherwood Greensboro NC 27403 USA C60 $7) This is what is written on the cover: "You are holding an illegal recording in direct violation of legal relations between the United States of America and Canada. I am not responsible for anything that happens to you. But you knew that already." Featuring Eugene Chadbourne and friends of the famous German band "The Flying Undercups" in Vancouver BC. Very different from the other version of People Want Everything, which has connections in Australia. The same bizarre mix of real-life country western performance artistry, commercial television turned weapon, and avant garde politics, turned up real loud with distortion.

THE RAKE AS A WAY OF LIFE ($7/$8/$9) Imagine if you will, an almost ordinary garden variety rake. Imagine an ordinary sensitive electronic pickup that is designed to transduce acoustic or mechanical vibrations and send them into a powerful amplification system. Shake well. Numerous variations of this audio hell include solo, with a disco background, with an inexperienced audience cheering, with an experienced audience screaming and pleading for a power failure.

Solo Acoustic Guitar, Vol. 1 ($7/$8/$9) This is a tape release of an album recorded in 1975 in Calgary, Alberta. Eugene plays 6 and 12 string guitar and prepared fretless 12 string, with his hands. Great stuff--his first record and it shows a pre-crazed curiosity and sensitivity towards new sounds, non-ordinary acoustic guitar playing (with stuff stuck on the strings, etc)

Solo Acoustic Guitar, Vol. 2 ($7/$8/$9) Another tape release of a disc. We're getting a bit more daring, most noteable is the part with the guitar stuffed with seashells for an incredibly beautiful sound as they slowly shift. He actually plays the guitar strings at points too. With his hands.

Solo History (Pa 2nd) $10/$11/$12 Comes with funny essay. Spans selected peaks between 1969 and 1982 in the career of avant guard musician and demolitionist, Eugene Chadborne. A version of his song called "Love" is presented, an acoustic composition, lots of subtle harmonics and fancy chords, done very slowly and thoughtfully, but is shattered by some CBer yakking away. Also there is a breathtaking 22 minutes and 18 seconds of the Richmond Dobro Massacre, and "Das Ist Eine Kleinegast CBGBs", to name a few.

VENTURES WARM-UP ($7/$8/$9) Another pre-Shockabilly band. This is David Licht (percussion) and Eugene (guitar, rake, vocals, personal effects) recorded live. Lots of scorching twangy country style guitar licks and impossible percussion magic (more than boomchaka-boomchaka). PsyCHADelic. There are hayseeds in Hard Days Night, the Train gets rolling, and there is a version of Third Stone From the Sun with Popeye, Brutus and Olive Oyl joining in all the fun. Rocky and Bulwinkle and the Wizard of Oz folks might be heard in places too.

WOMBAT ON-THE-WAY (Parachute Tapes 2306 Sherwood Greensboro NC 27403 USA C60 $7) Guest soloist Spiro Agnew The greatness of the Republican party is summed up by this talented man, who left a successful career in politics behind in order to play avant-garde music. "I want to expore sound and all its implications" he told a meeting of the joint Chiefs of Staff. He is currently booked solid on the avant garde circut and we appreciate his time. Appearances of Eugene Chadbourne's legendary guitar with Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, Afghanistan National Radio, Elvis Presley, Prince Far-I and the Arabs, Fernando Lamas, unbelievable, doing Acoustic Purple Haze, Happy New Year, They Froze Jim Jones' Brain, Burl Ives Medley, Coltrane the Wombat, Chiltin Con Carne, the hits just keep on comin'.