I posted not too long ago about the death of Fugs’s co-founder, Tuli Kupferberg. It must have been because of this that Smartz, for some birthday thing or something, picked up a copy of The Fug’s First Album for me. Thanks!

When I opened it, I must have gotten an “oh crap” look upon my face because she said, “you already have this, don’t you?”

And it’s true, I did. Or so I thought.

What she handed me was The Fugs First Album in Stereo. What I had was in Mono. Oh neat, right? Most folks really don’t care about this stuff, but I certainly do. I’m not a fetishist when it comes to record collecting, but different mixes always interest me.

So with a bit more digging, I found out some more things. So here we go.

The first Fugs’s release wasn’t The Fugs First Album. Not really, anyway. Their first release was called: The Village Fugs Sing Ballads of Contemporary Protest, Point of Views, and General Dissatisfaction. It was released by the Broadside record label as Broadside 304. It was also given a Folkways listing, but it’s not really clear if Folkways ever actually released it.

It was then, a few months later, re-released with a name change to The Fugs First Album by ESP Records as ESP 1018 (the first version may have been a blue-tinted cover). That was also mono and was probably the same mix as the Broadside release. After a pressing or two (no idea), the album was remixed, edited and used a different take of the song “Swinburne Stomp.” They also released a Stereo version of it, though three of the songs are “dual track monophonic.”

Other variations can be found here.

ESP also rereleased it again a few years later with a psychedelic wizard cover that looks pretty dumb, in my opinion.

I guess that makes five releases with three different mixes (first mix mono, second mix mono and second mix stereo). After a quick check, it turns out that my mono mix is the second mix mono. The first mix mono as released by Broadside (The Village Fugs…) is quite pricey. It usually goes for $200. I have found it for $75 and though it’s tempting, it really can’t be anywhere near justified at this time.

I was even hoping to post a couple of examples of the different mixes and the alternate take for “Swinburne Stomp,” but I can’t even find mp3s of the first mix. That’s pretty surprising. Even things labeled as “The Village Fugs” on file sharing sites are really just the second mix mislabeled.

Maybe someday I’ll round up the scratch to buy The Village Fugs…

The 150th anniversary of the American Civil War is next year. The war started in 1861 and lasted until 1865. That’s 150 years as of 2011.

I wanted to do something to commemorate that. I thought about visiting each major battlefield on its own anniversary, I thought about doing some big Civil War tour, I thought about a lot of fun ideas. And who knows, maybe I’ll even do some of them.

But still, even though these ideas were fun, it just wasn’t quite what I wanted. Then, while reading (well, listening to) Shelby Foote’s three-volume classic, The Civil War: A Narrative, I was amazed how so many events, large and small, happened on the same day. In fact, over the four years of the war, nearly every day held some heroic or tragic exploit.

Wouldn’t it be interesting to follow the war, day-by-day, as it unfolded, as it trudged bloodily through the years through victory and defeat? And wouldn’t it be even more interesting to write about it myself?

That’s when I decided to start (and try to keep) the Civil War Daily Gazette. It will be a blog follows the war, 150 years later. Each day’s post will be a recalling of what happened on that day during the war. This will be more than just a sentence or two with a few random battle names. Hopefully, this will give a better picture of how the war and time flowed.

I was unsure when to start. The first major battle was Manassas on July 21, 1861. That’s a logical start date. The firing upon Fort Sumter was even earlier, on April 12 – also a nice start date. But that would miss the build up, the secession, the election of Lincoln.

So maybe that’s it! Lincoln was elected on November 6, 1860. The day after that, all hell broke loose. Over that fall and winter, America was torn in two. The seeds of this rebellion were planted as long ago as the Revolution, it’s true. But the straw that brought it all down was the reaction to the election of Abraham Lincoln.

November 6, 2010 will be the 150th anniversary of the election of the 16th president of the United States. He would not take office until March 4th of the next year. These months are extremely important, not only to the war, but to the history of America. How can any study of the Civil War not include them?

And that is where I’ll start. November 6, 2010 will be my first (official) post on CivilWarDailyGazette.com. I’ve got research, organization, research, planning and research to do prior to that date.

My biggest concern is whether I’ll be able to keep it up until the end of the war.

There will be more about this as I go, I’m sure. But for now, I just thought you should know.

So in the middle of all this moving stuff, I attempted to start the Vespa (Ruby) only to find that she wouldn’t start. I would turn the key, hit the start button and nothing. The electronics were working fine, but the starter motor would not engage.

This sounds like a battery issue, however, it’s not. I got a new battery (which I needed anyway – I still had the original one from three-ish years ago), installed it and same problem.

We moved to the new place, leaving Ruby in the garage. Today, we had to clean the apartment in some vein attempt to get the security deposit back. I took the opportunity to get the scooter towed to Big People Scooters in south Seattle.

That’s where she is now. They need the master key from me – I only had a copy, which isn’t the matter. So now I have to mail them the key (Big People Scooters is about 30 miles away on the other side of Seattle, which is a very long drive due to traffic).

No idea how long it will take to get her back and even less of a clue what is wrong with her. It could be something as simple as the key. See, the master key allows you (well, someone, not me) to program stuff. The nonmaster keys allow it to start, etc. There are chips in all of them and if the nonmaster key becomes demagnetized (or whatever), it won’t work. I’m hoping this is the problem.

Anyway, I’m having another crappy riding summer. I’m basically not riding at all. Hopefully the move to Everett will at least change that a bit.

I’m dead tired after spending the past two days doing not much else aside from moving. Tonight was to be the big move. I got a 10′ truck from U-Haul, which turned out to be a bit too small. So now (at $1 a mile plus gas) we’ll have to head back to Seattle.

Everything is still on the truck and will be unloaded tomorrow morning, bright and early. Then it’s back to Seattle (25ish miles) to get the rest of the stuff and then back to Everett to unload it and then to the U-Haul place. All before 1pm.

I should have gotten a bigger truck.

Anyway, here are a bunch of pictures of the new place and some of moving stuff. Enjoy!

Relocation is a strange thing. We’re moving to a town called Everett. It’s north of Seattle and kind of like Williamsport. This is so that we don’t have to commute 25 miles to work everyday. That’ll be nice.

It’s exciting getting a new place. This one is bigger and will allow for office space and a separate TV room. The music (mostly records) will be in the living room. I like that a lot.

Right now, everything is in boxes. Well, not everything. Just the things we think we won’t need for a week or so. All of the records are packed up and in Sarah’s car awaiting an early morning drive up to Everett to unload them. Then it’s work and back to Seattle to load up more stuff and then back to Everett to unload. Then back to Seattle.

The final move will be on Thursday. We’re still debating on whether or not to hire people to help. I don’t want to, but even more, I don’t want to do all of this on our own. The little things are ok, but the furniture is the killer. Have you seen how big this couch is? We brought it home ourselves, so we should be able to do it, but I think it would be better with help.

Buck from work (every shop needs a guy named Buck – we have two) offered the use of his truck. That’s mighty cool of him and I’m hoping we take him up on the offer.

Things will be hectic for a while, from now till we get settled in.

It’s strange to see the apartment in such disarray.

We sign the lease on the new place tomorrow – everything is pretty much a done deal. Many pictures to come, plus a tour!

I’m not really a baseball fan. I think it’s generally boring and the professional players are paid too much. Ryan, however, loves it. I’ve always wanted to like it – yet another fun thing to do with Ryan is always great. So when I heard about such a thing as Civil War era Base Ball (yes, it was two words then), I wasn’t sure what to make of it. On one hand, I’m a huge Civil War buff, but on the other, I really don’t care for baseball. But if you combine the two, making it Base Ball instead of Baseball, perhaps I could at least sit through it.

And wow was I wrong. Apparently, I love Base Ball!

This vintage game is played twice a year on the Fort Vancouver grounds in Vancouver, Washington. It pits the Fort Vancouver Shermans against the Vancouver Occidentals – both teams existed in the 1860s.

The 1860 rules are a bit different than modern rules. First of all – no gloves. The teams had uniforms, of course, but those uniforms did not include gloves. Those came in the 1870s and 1880s.

Now, the rules… a striker (that’s batter) can be called “out” if the ball is caught, even on the first bounce. If there are runners on base and the ball is caught on the fly (before it bounces), no runners may advance, but if it’s caught on a bounce, they may advance one base.

Other fun rules are – no balls. Ever. The pitcher can throw what we’d call “balls” all day – there’s no walking (the 1864 rules changed that, allowing the umpire to decide if the pitcher is being a jerk). If a ball is struck, hits the ground in play and then rolls or bounces into the foul area, it is still a fair ball. There’s no catching the ball with your hat, either. Oh, and a striker can only “strike” if it’s a swing and a miss. If the pitcher throws good balls, the strikes does not have to swing at them (the ump can choose to override this, but has to warn the striker first).

There are other rules and you can read them here.

That brings me to my next point. There is a Vintage Base Ball Association. There are two such organizations, actually. Mostly east coast. In fact, on the same day as this game, there was a tournament in Gettysburg featuring six teams (one of the teams was actually called The Somerset Frosty Sons of Thunder!).

So anyway, with this game, I wasn’t sure who to root for. The Shermans had players with great names like “Tiny” (who was huge) and “The Coffin Maker.” The Occidentals, however, had great uniforms. Clearly, I was going to have to wait to see who would become the underdog.

After just two innings of play (just like today, there are nine), The Shermans were up 8 to 1. I guess it was time to root for the Occidentals. Good thing too.

Over the next few innings, the Occidentals got their crap together, stopping The Shermans from scoring so much and even scoring a bit themselves. By the 5th inning (I believe) the score was 9 to 5. Then, in the 7th, The Occidentals poured it on, scoring run after run with two outs on the board. Bully for them!

During the game, sometimes the crowd got a little rowdy, hurling a jib/jab at the players. A member of the Occidentals, being the recipient of such a remark, called out to the heckler’s wife, “Ma’am, may I ask where did you get your talking mule?” The mule spoke again and the player loudly remarked, “Now ma’am, I’ve seen a talking mule before, but never one quite so ugly!” Fun!

The score at the bottom of the 8th was Occidentals 12, Shermans 10. And with the Shermans at bat at the top of the 9th, striking three balls, all of which were caught on the first bounce, that’s how the game ended! (I could be a bit off on the scores.)

So there we go, my first Vintage Base Ball game. I was won over and excited! I’ve been to tons of Civil War reenactment and have never saw anyone play a game of base ball. Why not? What a great way to pass an afternoon.

There is another game this year, same teams, same field. It’s in August and I’m most definitely going.

You folks on the east coast, however, have it lucky. There are vintage teams all over the place. You can check that out here. Not surprisingly, it seems to be big in the Chicago area. New York also has some teams (hear that, Ryan?). Ohio too! There is (was?) a Pacific Northwest Vintage Base Ball organization, but the website seems to not have been updated in years. Such a shame! I admit, I have dreams of Ryan returning to Seattle, he and I putting on some floppy uniforms and playing some ball.

Well, either way, though I can’t enjoy it as often as those in the mid west and east coast, I’ll have to settle for enjoying it just as much, but only twice a year.

I took some photos of the game – you can see them here.

Way back when I was a young pup, I somehow found my parent’s tape of the first Fugs album from 1965. I guess my uncle had it and made a tape of it for my folks. I was probably 13. And to a 13 year old, songs like “Slum Goddess of the Lower East Side” and “My Baby Done Left Me [I Feel Like Homemade Shit]” were pretty much aimed right at me.

At this point in history, The Fugs had never rereleased their first album on CD. I had no access to more of their music and knew basically nothing about them.

Of course, with the internet existing, that’s no longer a problem. But even before that I was able to get a bunch of their albums (on vinyl!) and even a few on CD (their second album is actually really great – probably better than the first). But the first album had always had a wonderful little place in my heart.

Tuli Kupferberg was sort of like The Fugs’s Flava Flav. He was sort of the joker. Sure, they all were, but he was more so. He didn’t write as many songs as Ed Sanders (the other main member – though there were many over the decades). The songs he did write and perform were my favorite. Ed Sanders always had a serious and sometimes hokey feel. That’s all well and good, but Tuli seemed a bit more real to me.

Songs like “Nothing” (which is about nothing repeated), “The Ten Commandments” (literally) and pretty much everything in “The Rhapsody of Tuli” (a compilation of old Tuli Kupferberg recordings narrated by Ed Sanders) have stuck with me through the years.

This past week, Tuli died. He was 78. I never got a chance to see The Fugs play, but I’ve exposed many people to their music. And now I’ll expose you to some.

The aforementioned “Rhapsody of Tuli” is a great place to start…

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