“… Most of the best material from his early albums is present here, including ‘Spanish Stroll,’ ‘Mixed Up, Shook Up Girl,’ ‘Guardian Angel,’ ‘Cadillac Walk,’ ‘Steady Drivin’ Man,’ and ‘Soul Twist.’ He gives a memorable vocal performance on a number of these songs, especially, ‘Soul Twist.’ … By the late-1970s, he had formed his own band, entitled Mink DeVille, which operated as a group and as a musical foundation for the songs DeVille was writing and singing. They quickly gained acceptance by the punk and alternative music scene, which revolved around New York’s legendary CBGB club. After doing three songs on the indie compilation, Live At CBGBs, Mink DeVille was signed to Capitol Records and produced by legendary Phil Spector/Wall-Of-Sound arranger, Jack Nitzsche. DeVille had an affinity with the classic Spector recordings and the music of the Brill Building, and he also had a deep love of Latin, blues, and folk music. …”
YouTube: Full Concert – 06/07/78 – Winterland 40:59
Tag: Mink DeVille
A Conservative Impulse in the New Rock Underground
“August 18, 1975: Arabian swelter, and with the air-conditioning broken, CBGB resembled some abattoir of a kitchen in which a bucket of ice is placed in front of a fan to cool the room off. To no avail of course, and the heat had perspiration glissading down the curve of one’s back, yeah, and the cruel heat also burned away any sense of glamour. After all, CBGB’s Bowery and Bleecker location is not the garden spot of lower Manhattan, and the bar itself is an uneasy oasis. On the left, where the couples are, tables; on the right, where the stragglers, drinkers, and the love-seekers are, a long bar; between the two, a high double-backed ladder, which, when the room is really crowded, offers the best view. … Now consider the assembly-line presentation of bands with resonant names like Movies, Tuff Darts, Blondie, Stagger Lee, the Heartbreakers, Mike de Ville, Dancer, the Shirts, Bananas, Talking Heads, Johnny’s Dance Band, and Television; consider that some nights as many as six bands perform, and it isn’t hard to comprehend someone declining to sit through a long evening. …”
Voice
Willy DeVille – Cabretta (1976)
“Willy DeVille (born William Paul Borsey Jr., August 25, 1950 – August 6, 2009) was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five-year career, first with his band Mink DeVille (1974–1986) and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary music, including Jack Nitzsche, Doc Pomus, Dr. John, Mark Knopfler, Allen Toussaint, and Eddie Bo. Latin rhythms, blues riffs, doo-wop, Cajun music, strains of French cabaret, and echoes of early-1960s uptown soul can be heard in DeVille’s work. Mink DeVille was a house band at CBGB, the historic New York City nightclub where punk rock was born in the mid-1970s. … During three years, from 1975 to 1977, Mink DeVille was one of the original house bands at CBGB, the New York nightclub where punk rock music was born in the mid-1970s. Their sound from this period is witnessed by Live at CBGB’s, a 1976 compilation album of bands that played CBGB and for which the band contributed three songs. In December 1976, Ben Edmonds, an A&R man for Capitol Records signed the band to a contract with Capitol Records after spotting them at CBGB. Edmonds paired Mink DeVille with producer Jack Nitzsche who had apprenticed under Phil Spector and helped shape the Wall of Sound production technique. Assisted by saxophonist Steve Douglas and a cappella singers the Immortals they recorded the band’s debut album Cabretta (simply called Mink DeVille in the U.S.) in January 1976. Cabretta, a multifaceted album of soul, R&B, rock, and blues recordings, was selected number 57 in the Village Voice‘s 1977 Pazz & Jop critics poll. …”
Wikipedia
W – Cabretta
iTunes
YouTube: Spanish Stroll (Live), Venus Of Avenue D – 6/7/1978 – Winterland
YouTube: Cabretta – Full Vinyl 35:33
Various – Live At CBGB’s (1976)
“This is it, the classic double LP from CBGB’s that was instrumental in putting national focus on the ‘new wave,’ a brilliant handle comparing the next generation of garage and underground rockers to French cinema. Warren Stahurski may not be a household name, and the band that he fronted, Manster, shares the same fate, but Manster’s quirky cover of the Yardbirds‘ “Over, Under, Sideways, Down” is charming in this setting. Robert Gordon launched from the Tuff Darts, and his penchant for rockabilly lost him some of those fans who were turned on by ‘All for the Love of Rock & Roll’ or the even more notorious ‘Slash” — bookends that open and close the four sides comprising Live at CBGB’s: The Home of Underground Rock. Annie Golden put a voice to the highly experimental pop of the Shirts, and Capitol Records snapped them up along with Willy ‘Mink’ DeVille. The Shirts’ ‘Operetico’ is still novel today. They, the Tuff Darts, and DeVille get three songs each of the 16 spots available, and there are two each for Laughing Dogs and Manster, while Sun, the Miamis, and Stuart’s Hammer are fortunate with the inclusion of one track each. … Tom Verlaine‘s manager, Terry Ork, is thanked, but the exclusion of that band, as well as Patti Smith, Blondie, and other eventual stars, was a serious oversight. A minor act but potent force, Wayne County also deserves his/her 15 minutes for the sake of history. Maybe tapes that are sure to exist will surface and expand this amazing project. Until that time, one of the ultimate hate songs, ‘Slash,’ has Robert Gordon belt out the immortal line ‘I’d rather slash my wrist and cut my throat than spend the night with you,’ concluding this pioneering compilation. It was a historic moment in rock & roll, and this document is a time capsule treasure of the musical movement as it was evolving.”
allmusic (Audio)
Discogs
Spotify, amazon
YouTube: Tuff Darts / Robert Gordon – Slash, MINK DEVILLE – Let Me Dream If I Want To (Amphetamine Blues), Change It Comes, Cadillac Moon, Poe – The Shirts
Punk Scrawled Artist 