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Mark Smotroff @marksmotroff.bsky.social · 10h

Woo!

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Mark Smotroff @marksmotroff.bsky.social · 12h

Found another #HankBallard & The Midnighters album today at a thrift. Sounds way better than it should given its very "well loved" condition. The mono cartridge helps here as well. Check out the song "Look At Little Sister" which has a terrific ripper of a guitar solo in it. #musicsky #music

Found another Hank Ballard & The Midnighters album today at a thrift. Its one of those amazing discs which sounds way better than it should given its very "well loved" status. The mono cartridge helps here as well. Check out the song "Look At Little Sister" which has a terrific ripper of a guitar solo in it.

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Mark Smotroff @marksmotroff.bsky.social · 13h

Curious. Never heard of him. He's amazing on this solo! Need to look him up... Thanks!

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Mark Smotroff @marksmotroff.bsky.social · 13h

Can anyone tell me who is playing the lead guitar solo here? #musicsky #music #HankBallard
youtu.be/srKlzozK3BI?...

Look At Little Sister - Hank Ballard ( 1959 )

YouTube video by Paul L Gaston

youtu.be

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Mark Smotroff @marksmotroff.bsky.social · 14h

For the price at least I can finally hear the music from an original source. And now I have two nice covers for this album in search of clean original discss (pretty sure I have an orphan mono cover in storage)

Mark Smotroff @marksmotroff.bsky.social · 14h

Later washing it I found it has some weird pressing anomaly towards the center, almost like it had been warped and flattened, but that isn't the case. It actually plays through pretty nicely.

Cont'd

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Mark Smotroff @marksmotroff.bsky.social · 14h

Excitement>Anticipation>Disappointment>Awe -- Found a 1964 era copy of this somewhat hard to find LP featuring #ElvinJones, #JimmyGarrison & #McCoyTyner at thrift for 2$.

Looked OK and for the price I just grabbed it. Cont'd

#musicsky #music #jazzsky #jazz

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Reposted by Mark Smotroff

Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 18h

BlinkRX, an online prescription drug delivery company, stands to benefit from proposed changes by Trump that would allow pharmaceutical companies to sell drugs directly to patients.

His son, Eric Trump, is on the company’s board.

Always follow the money.

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Mark Smotroff @marksmotroff.bsky.social · 23h

Recent flea market find: 1959 #JohnnyCash singing gospel 'n such. Musically better than expected. Neat white label promo. #musicsky #music

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Reposted by Mark Smotroff

Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 1d

It is pretty galling that the Supreme Court spent four years telling Biden "you can't do that without Congress" then allowed Trump to seize a once-unthinkable amount of power from Congress within nine months and concentrate law-making authority almost entirely in the executive branch.

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Mark Smotroff @marksmotroff.bsky.social · 1d

Doc Watson realness is getting me started today as I start to recover from effectively two days of allergy sneezing and hacking. Eric Weisberg is on this 1971 gem as well. Nice white label promo copy found in a bargyn bin. #musicsky #music #folkmusic #docwatson

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Mark Smotroff @marksmotroff.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks for sharing it here!

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Mark Smotroff @marksmotroff.bsky.social · 1d

I expected to hear exotic sounds on this 1967 compilation of recordings by Lata Mangeshkar, acclaimed singer for South Asian films. However, I did not anticipate hearing Pedal or Lap Steel slide guitar alongside Indian percussion & pop orchestration. Digging it. Recent thrift find. #musicsky #music

I expected to hear many exotic sounds on this 1967 compilation of recordings by Lata Mangeshkar, an acclaimed singer for South Asian films. However, I did not anticipate hearing Pedal or Lap Steel slide guitar alongside Indian percussion and pop song orchestration. Digging it. Recent thrift find.

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Reposted by Mark Smotroff

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 2d

Setting aside the absurdly xenophobic framing, once again, there is ZERO truth to any of this. Everyone qualifies for Emergency Medicaid equally. Hospitals do not receive more for treating undocumented immigrants in an emergency than Americans. Speaker Johnson is flatly wrong.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Mike Johnson: "If you're a young, pregnant American citizen women who shows up in an ER and you get treated and they pay the hospital less for treating you than some illegal rabble rouser who came in from some South American country to do us harm, that is wrong."

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Congresswoman Chellie Pingree @pingree.house.gov · 1d

🧵

Yesterday, Stephen Miller had one of the most terrifying Freudian slips I've ever heard.

He claimed Trump has plenary authority (absolute power)—before cutting himself off.

Today, Trump said Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson should be *jailed*.

This is how authoritarian regimes talk. (1/3)

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Reposted by Mark Smotroff

Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, indeed — what is Mike Johnson's
Grindr handle?

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 1d

Reverend David Black, other faith leaders, journalists, and protestors have joined a class action lawsuit alleging ICE violated their First Amendment rights during protests outside a detention center.

The brutality of this regime is on full display.

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Tim Edwards @timzero4.bsky.social · 1d

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Mark Smotroff @marksmotroff.bsky.social · 1d

Bay Area Allergy Peeps: how are your sinuses today? Mine went haywire yesterday afternoon as the weather changed.

Reposted by Mark Smotroff

Melanie D’Arrigo @darrigomelanie.bsky.social · 2d

I feel like this photo of masked, armed men pepper spraying a pastor protecting his community is going to be a defining picture of this moment in America for a long, long time.

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Mark Smotroff @marksmotroff.bsky.social · 2d

Somewhere in storage I have a beat up copy of this 1960 End Records early rock 'n roll compilation. Finding a near mint copy at Mill Valley Music last week, I couldn't pass it up. These old LPs don't show up often & when they do are often messy. So this is a treat. Sounds wonderful. #musicsky #music

Somewhere in storage I have a beat up copy of this 1960 End Records doo wop / early rock 'n roll compilation. Finding a near mint condition copy at Mill Valley Music last week, I couldn't pass it up. These old albums don't show up often and when they do are often pretty messy. So this is a treat. Sounds wonderful.

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Mark Smotroff @marksmotroff.bsky.social · 2d

Enjoying the super purty #flowers my sweety brought me this weekend...

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Mark Smotroff @marksmotroff.bsky.social · 2d

Had a pang of momentary remorse when I closely read the liner notes, seeing the presence of backing singers. Mostly they do “all carry biting & aggressive” style but appear sparingly and feel kinda like The Raelettes vs. Lawrence Welk. Wonder who they were?

Mark Smotroff @marksmotroff.bsky.social · 2d

Clean 1965 Donald Byrd LP from Amoeba for a tenner yesterday. Soul-jazz vibe. Solid line up: Herbie Hancock, Jimmy Heath, Grady Tate, Kenny Burrell, Ron Carter, Stanley Turrentine, Candido & Bob Cranshaw. Van Gelder engineered. Creed Taylor produced. Clause Ogerman arranged.
#musicsky #jazzsky 1of2

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Reposted by Mark Smotroff

Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 3d

Thanks to Trump’s tariffs on China, U.S. soybean farmers have lost their biggest customer and are grappling with higher prices for farming equipment.

Now, Trump has said he will bail out farmers — supposedly with the tariff revenue that caused the crisis to begin with.

Hello?

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