Dirty Shirt Rock 'N Roll: The First Ten Years

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 30, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Shout Factory!
• ASIN: B0037U9PW4
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #118,782 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

On stage and in the studio, Jon Spencer has destroyed and rebuilt American roots music with such ferocity and wild abandon it is hard to believe that there is anything left. The trail of musical destruction he created with his legendary group Pussy Galore still smolders in the avant punk blues and nasty garage grind of the Blues Exposion, whose incredible, innovative output remains an indelible totem to his enormous mojo spirit and red-hot power of deliverance. This first-ever JSBX collection spans their entire career, from 1992 s Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Crypt Style to the breakthrough Matador albums Extra-Width, Orange, Now I Got Worry, Acme, and Plastic Fang. Contains their greatest hits, including Afro, Bellbottoms and Wail and a whopping 19 other tracks. Also features rarities and stray tracks from the Japan-only live album Controversial Negro; A Ass Pocket of Whiskey (with R.L. Burnside), Sideways Soul (with Calvin Johnson), the Experimental Remixes E.P.; Xtra-Acme, and more. Includes a detailed 20-page booklet, containing an essay, rare photos and memorabilia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Bit For The Cause, July 3, 2010

By 

Paul Rayson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dirty Shirt Rock 'N Roll: The First Ten Years (Audio CD)

The release of Dirty Shirt Rock 'N' Roll cues up a plan to reissue (and remaster!) much of the Blues Explosion catalogue this year. The compilation is subtitled The First Ten Years, which means it features tracks from all the main studio albums apart from Damage. It also includes collaborations, singles, the relative rarity "Buscemi" and the "F*** S*** Up" cover from live album Controversial Negro.

Dirty Shirt's more obvious omissions include "Soul Typecast", "2 Kindsa Love" and "Sweet 'N' Sour". The selection and sequence nonetheless creates a coherent collection out of the releases from 1992 to 2002. The liner notes are insightful, too, and inspect the construction of that cacophonous sound from diverse angles (hardware info: Jon Spencer uses a standard Shure SM57 mic!*).

Dirty Shirt Rock 'N' Roll has been out for over three months at the time of writing. You'd hardly know it. Spencer signed copies for pre-order, but they're still for sale. He did it for a New England chain and online shop called N****** C***** (it only offered comics when it started in the late seventies but now mostly sells music). It has quite a stock of autographed albums and most of them should probably remain in stock. It's certainly right for the autographed Mark Ronson CDs to languish there for eternity. Even if Jon Spencer signed a hundred thousand, though, the pre-order Dirty Shirts should've sold.

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion will never be as big as Elvis, but then nobody will. FAT ELVIS JOKE GOES HERE. Still, Dirty Shirt deserves more attention from Amazon reviewers, music magazines, blogs and all that. This is my bit for the cause. Please, do what you can. Did you know that just a couple of listens to the distilled spirit of rock & roll helps ward off bands like U2?

*Just remembered that one of the songs on the Pussy Galore album Dial M For M*********** is called "SM 57".

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ALL YOU NEED IS RIGHT HERE, May 18, 2010

By 

Dogs of War (Depew N.Y.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dirty Shirt Rock 'N Roll: The First Ten Years (Audio CD)

Momma loves your stuff boys,Every song is very cool and groovy sounding, right down to your very soul.Amen!

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Blast from the recent past, July 23, 2011

By 

Dave T. (Florida, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dirty Shirt Rock 'N Roll: The First Ten Years (Audio CD)

The JSBE, hereafter styled "JSBX," was prob my favorite band of the Clinton era. I had even done a complete discography web page, since vanished. However I lost interest after the mediocre werewolf-themed release for Matador (but the subsequent effort on Sanctuary was not bad).

I see 2 issues with this one: a) generally the music has not aged well [in contrast to P.G. anyway] and b) it's not really a "greatest hits" type of outfit; get Extra Width or some version of Xtra Acme, if you like either of those you'll most likely enjoy the rest of the group's catalog.

Though this is actually a good comp: only three lame songs (first one; last one; also "Lap Dance") and a few inspired choices such as the 4th from the Calvin Johnson session, the closer from Orange, and "Buscemi"--the guys always did great b-sides, e.g. the UK single for 2 Kindsa Love (in copyright limbo I suppose) and each of the Acme outtakes was better than any of the album tracks.

Personally I'm more excited by the Year One re-release, having misplaced a prized 1+2 import of Crypt Style about a decade ago