"Papa Don't Lay That Shit On Me" – Some great women's rights/empowerment music from original recordings (from the early 70's) of The Chicago Women's Liberation Rock Band, The New Haven Women's Liberation Rock Band, and some Le Tigre tracks. The tracks from the CWLRB are mostly blues/folk/psych inspired 60's/70's rock with vocals that have a folk/rock quality to them. Keyboards, guitars, and solid drums. The NHWLRB sounds similar but with the addition of some great horns, flute, and sax adding a funky feel to some songs. The overall sound is stripped down and a bit raw, but the recording quality is good and the musicians (all women) are definitely talented. Vocals are all female with lyrics that are powerful and tough. Check the extensive liner notes for more information on the women involved in these bands and why they formed these bands. It's a really interesting piece of history. The music is fun and highly enjoyable. One warning, there are several Fcc violations so watch out. FCC: 2, 4, 5, 10, 13
My Picks: 3, 6, 8, 11, 14
Katie P. 3/23/06

1)Short clip of audience applauding and asking for more.
2)Uptempo and bouncy with cute casio keyboard sounds. Simple walking bass line. Nice tough lyrics talking about how the women aren't going to take stereotypical crap from men. Fcc: says “shit” several times.
3)Slower and lowdown bass. Haunting vocals with a tinge of blues. Talking about how she's not going to marry anyone and that she'll be free to do what she wants. Keyboards come in along with drums. Nice.
4)Funny spoken word piece that you think is going to be some story about the power of a woman, but it's not quite. The ending is a little abrupt and not terribly empowering. Fcc: says “shit” and “fuck” a lot.
5)Short Choral piece singing “Fuck you...” See liner notes for lyrics. Fcc: obviously it says “fuck” several times.
6)Fun midtempo that has an almost afrobeat-esque feel. Nice organ and tom-tom drums. Nice layering of vocals. Again empowering lyrics about how women need to be strong and take care of themselves.
7)Solid driving beat. Fades in with guitars and drums and then organ. Cute vocals that are a bit indie pop/folk feeling. A little bouncy. Lyrics about how the government has let down women and not given them equal opportunities.
8)Bluesy piano with a slower midtempo beat. Vocals come in and it gets more of a folk style/60's rock feel. Sort of a call-to-action for all women. Nice tough lyrics.
9)Solid midtempo with a simple organ and guitar part. Nice vocal harmonies. Lyrics about the role of women in the workplace and how they were/are not looked at for their brains, but for their looks. Small break in the middle, but starts up again. Nice groover.
10)Le Tigre song. Starts off with a spoken clip and then goes into weird vocals and then eventually a midtempo electro-rock song. Horns come in at times. Spoken/sung vocals. Fcc: Lots of “shit” and “fuck” and a few others.
11)Starts with horns and a fun walking guitar line. Midtempo bouncy song about abortion. Obviously pro-abortion rights, how it's important for women to be in charge of their own bodies. Kind of an odd song, but also pretty cool. Few songs are this straight-forward on the subject.
12)Psych rock with a wah-wah guitar. Slower and laid back. Nice horn hits. Nice flute solo. About half through the vocals finally come in. Groovy.
13)Upbeat midtempo with a bouncy beat. Horns have a nice soul feel. Nice talking breakdown sections. Good empowering speech. Fcc: says “shit” during the talk break.
14)Starts with horns and drums. Tough angry song about women fighting back from being raped or being afraid of being raped.
15)Fades in with background noise. Then goes into a rockin' rendition of “I'm on my way” that has pretty lo-fi sound quality. Fades out and fades in with Le Tigre's electro-rock version of the song. Tough and fun.