My Pipe Yellow Dream
(Roaratorio - ROAR23) LP $15.50
The late, great genius whose prolific output was almost completely confined to the song-poem industry had a knack for turning sow’s ears into silk purses. “Song Poems Wanted” read the ads. “We need new ideas for recording!” The send-us-your-lyrics business was a borderline scam, taking whatever lyrics came their way from would-be songwriters and – for a fee – setting them to music. The second Roaratorio anthology of Keith’s work compiles fifteen previously unreissued songs from 1966 through his death in 1974, including a never-before-heard cover of “Choo Choo Train.” My Pipe Yellow Dream showcases the full range of his talents. From exquisite mid-60s pop balladry (“Deep Velvet”) to blue-eyed soul (“You Don’t Have To Alibi”) to folk-rock (“Tired Of Waiting”) to solo Chamberlain creations (“Red Sports Car”) to gospel testifying (“O Jesus My Savior”) to a pair of patriotic screeds (the all-spoken word “America The Not So Beautiful” and the bizarre world lounge funk of “Search Out Your Soul, American”), this collection continues the rehabilitation of Keith’s legacy from thrift-shop throwaway to celebrated cult artist. Gatefold jacket, liner notes by song-poem vocalist Dick Kent, digital download coupon.
Saucers In The Sky
(Roaratorio - ROAR10) CD $12.00
Rodney Keith Eskelin (aka Rodd Keith, Rod Rogers) would’ve certainly found the recognition during his lifetime that his talent demanded had he not chosen to work in the lowest depths of the music industry: the “send us your lyrics” field, known today as the song-poem genre. Saucers In The Sky gathers together twenty-six previously uncollected Keith gems from the hundreds upon hundreds of songs he recorded before he lept from a highway overpass in 1974. Packaged in mini-LP gatefold sleeves with liner notes from Del Casher (inventor of the wah-wah pedal and guitarist on many of Rodd’s early recordings), and Stacey Keith (his daughter).