All songs recorded at homes alone, Nashville TN 1975-76

I Wish I Could Sing taped Dec 3, 1975 I wish I could sing lullabys to you Can you teach me how? All I do is talk a melody But it don't come out a rhapsody Cover up your ears if you can You don't know how bad I am I wish I was Bing, young at 24 Entertaining now When I try to sing a melody They all throw tomatoes at me Listen to Sinatra and see God didn't give that to me I escaped the draft by my ear I told them I couldn't hear Tony Orlando won't teach me Nobody thinks they can reach me I wish I could sing on the radio I could teach me how All I do is talk a melody But it don't come out a recipe I wish I could sing lullabys to you I wish I could sing lullabys to you I wish I could sing just as good as you I wish I could sing harmonies for you. Theme from A.G. (Earle Hagen-Herbert Spencer) taped March 26, 1975 Copyright Larrabee Music (BMI) "Now when I play an A it sounds like this. Now when I play an E run on the bass it sounds like dis." She Don't Know What To Do With Herself taped May 3, 1975 There's a girl over there sittin' up in the chair I would not be caring if she didn't keep on staring at me hair Here she comes walking fast with her head in a cast I should be excited but I'm not all that delighted with her She don't know what to do with herself She don't know how to see She is boring and talks to herself She don't know a thing about me As she talks to my ear, I don't know why I'm here Everything she's stated is usually related to me hair Though she looks very nice, she could use some advice No one sees the glory of her formulated story, pity All she needs is a boy who can show her the ropes I hope All she needs is some dope All she needs is some hope Now she's gone back to school 'cause she hates ridicule I could see her crying as I shouted out "goodbye forever" She don't know what to do with herself She don't know how to see She is boring and talks to herself She don't know about me Goodbye Piano taped Nov 5, 1975 Goodbye piano You're too overweight for me to take you with me Into the hills, where rings are round the collar They tell me not to worry 'bout the dollars If it were not for you, I wouldn't bother, so Goodbye piano You're so out of tune that I assume you're dead Goodbye piano, cause you're so old I should have sold instead Goodbye piano, you're so out of tune that I assume you're dead "Goodbye piano! It was glorious knowing you the past month or two But as usual, they're sending me away because I cannot supply the money they want But wherever I go I know I'll meet your brothers and sisters And of course they would gladly let me play their boards all day long Now you rest right here, okay? You rest right here like a good little set of keys should And don't let anyone give you a whipping as long as you live, okay?" Copyright H.P. Music/Spunky Monkey Music (ASCAP), except AG.

FOUR FROM PHONOGRAPHY All Music Guide by Stewart Mason 2001 R. Stevie Moore's Phonography was a minor classic of pre-punk D.I.Y. pop, but its initial 1976 pressing was limited to a mere 100 copies, which meant its potential sphere of influence was rather limited. So the Nashville-born Moore pulled up stakes and moved to northern New Jersey, where his uncle Harry Palmer, then the president of Atco Records (sic), offered to reissue Phonography on his own HP Records. Prior to the full-fledged reissue, Palmer released the 7" EP Four From Phonography, a teaser that attracted a fair amount of attention in New York's burgeoning new wave scene, receiving excellent reviews in magazines like Trouser Press and New York Rocker and radio airplay on stations like the iconoclastic freeform WFMU. Four From Phonography distills the album into 11-and-a-half minutes, and wisely showcases not just Moore's knack for catchy power pop in the form of "I Wish I Could Sing" and the early Sparks-like "She Don't Know What to Do With Herself," but also his experimental bent. "Theme From A.G.," a witty recasting of the theme from The Andy Griffith Show, and the manic "Goodbye Piano" are nowhere near as weird as some of the other Phonography tracks, but they're a good sight more bizarre than anything you were going to get from Todd Rundgren, or even the Ramones. –S.M. 2019 Review at yeahiknowitsucks.wordpress.com

4FP at bandcamp

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