For yourself and/or a friend - satisfaction guaranteed ..
Book signed & dedicated (to you or person of choice;
gift-mailed direct to recipient's address).

Price Perspectives:

Items purchased individually:
Book $35.00
DVD $25.00
4 CD Albums @ $12.00 = $48.00 (Taiyo Yuden CDs)
Priority Mail Shipping $10.00 (USA) Included with price
$39.00 (Abroad) Included with price



The BTG Companion CD features tracks from The Noblemen (1959), The Wayfarers, The Music Machine, the Bonniwell Music Machine, The Friendly Torpedos (Buff & Bonniwell), Green, Zebra, Bonniwell & Jett (Mike Jett Trio), The Chrome Throated Song Kissers (Santa Cruz 1973), My Cake & Eat Two (Chris & Bonniwell), Star Witness, and The BMM Live @ Summer Of love (1989).

Paypal: seanbmm@yahoo.com
Invoice: Book & DVD Gift Package

$38.00 (S&H Included) $61.00 (Overseas)
Invoice: Basic Book Offer
Paypal direct: seanbmm@yahoo.com


BEYOND THE GARAGE COMPANION CD FLIP/INSERT:
Song & Page Reference





Paypal: seanbmm@yahoo.com
INVOICE: Basic 3 CD BOOK OFFER



Paypal: seanbmm@yahoo.com
Invoice: 3 CD COLLECTOR'S BOOK OFFER

CHRISTIAN VISION
P.O. BOX 409
PORTERVILLE, CA 93258

$61.00 Shipping Included (USA)
$97.00 Abroad
Invoice: PRIVATE 5 CD BOOK OFFER
Paypal: seanbmm@yahoo.com




Please make check or money order payable to:

CHRISTIAN VISION
P.O. BOX 409
PORTERVILLE, CA 93258

$58.00 Shipping Included (USA)
$95.00 Abroad
Invoice: 5 CD "LIVE" BOOK OFFER
Paypal to: seanbmm@yahoo.com

Sean -- I gave a listen LOUD to the Euro live CD driving Interstate 84 from Hood River to Mosier (in Oregon) and back.

Whatever you did with the remixing is fantastic. The sound is tremendous, and the song choices are wonderful. If I were choosing the tunes, I couldn't have done any better. "Talk Me Down", "Masculine Intuition", "You'll Love Me Again", all were among my long-time favorites.

As you said, the musicians were flawless in capturing the MM sound. I am more convinced than ever that this live collection could be a rebirth; this could be a set from the late 1960s, it's that precise. Excellent work, excellent sound, excellent mixing. Let me know if a label picks this up, the live CD would seem to be a natural.

Best always, - D. C. Jesse Burkhardt/White Salmon, Washington

-------------

Euro CD Critique

THE BONNIWELL MUSIC MACHINE TURN ON EUROPE, LIVE ITALY/MUNICH/LONDON 11/04 CD (Uncle Helmet, PO Box 409, Porterville CA 93258 for $12 each inc. s&h in USA, overseas add $8.00 for postage and handling.


I had no idea what to expect from this reunion Cee-Dee featuring none other'n noted Music Machine singer Sean Bonniwell leading a whole buncha new members (including one Tim Ellison, a rockscribe of some notoriety) on a European tour from two years back... I mean, who knows what lurks in the minds of men trying to capitalize on their youthful fame and fortune this far down the line, especially those like Bonniwell who have been pretty much outta the limelight and supported by a small yet rabid cartel of over-rambunctious fans and fanzines during the classic era of the "garage band revival" in the early-eighties.

Well, if you're worried about Bonniwell going the oldies route and playing crankout hits and misses for flabbed-out aging teenyboppers like one might see at a few other oldies concerts, quitcher frettin' because this take on the Music Machine ain't more sixties fodder for the quick baby-boomer bux at all, and in fact it could only qualify as "nostalgia" if you're the kinda doof who's nostalgic about teenage highschool freakout psychosis!

And since I'm exactly the kinda doof who still has some not-so-friendly flashbacks regarding my own teenage mental breakdowns and general scrambled sense of reality (who only wishes that he had the Music Machine to guide him through such traumatic times -- even though he did have the Velvets, but I guess that wasn't strong enough), let's just say that this Music Machine is just as "relevant" to the situation at hand as it was four decades back, and having the likes of Bonniwell and company in the present is just as fine as back when they were being pumped into every teenage TV set via WHERE THE ACTION IS back when youthful self-pity/loathing was a healthy and normal lifestyle.

And what's undeniable is that the Music Machine sure influenced a whole passel of acts ever since "Talk Talk" became the teen anthem of '66 (OK, ..2 after "Hey Joe")...their "Sado Faena" (hope I got that right) image as Don Waller called it, was certainly nodded at by everyone from Blue Oyster Cult to the Stooges, and considering Bonniwell's present-day growl I wouldn't be surprised if Von Lmo himself swiped a few ideas from the guy as well!

And to top the icing on the cake, these new Music Machiners, especially Jana Caldwell's particularly acidic organ, add a specific dimension of fear to the recordings, which are particularly energetic live shows played for a sparse-yet-appreciative audience who were probably conceived when Bonniwell was hanging up his guitar strap and glove for what he probably thought was the last time ever!

Anyway, this one has "thee" hit "Talk Talk" plus select numbers from both TURN ON and the BONNIWELL MUSIC MACHINE and perhaps even BEYOND THE GARAGE (which I never did get and should have received gratis, an insult considering my, er, esteemed standing in this rock scribe/blogger community!), and thankfully no cringefest will be in store for you if you in fact decide to pick this one up for your very own (which you should, given you have the smarts to tune into this very blog!).

And I have the sneaking suspicion you too will be snuggling up to this live rave a lot more'n you do a few of the garage revival offerings heard o'er the past few decades -- which I find rotting away at least in my collection, for somehow Bonniwell has managed to make 2006 just as energetic as 1966 was, and for that he should get some sorta special prize!

--------------

Sean,

Got the [Euro] CD in the mail today. That was FAST. Thanks!

I was relieved when I heard it---I've noticed a pattern that bands who play live decades after their hey-day usually sound either far too slow, or far too tame. Not the Music Machine! I realize it's not the same people as back in the day, but still, it's aaaaaawesome to hear the songs played with so much vigor. Perfect.

Best tracks in that setting that I've heard so far (haven't listened to the whole deal yet)--"Mother Nature/Father Earth", "Masculine Intuition", and "Talk Talk". "Nature" just sounds great, "Intuition" has a certain punch to it that I think comes through better in a live setting, and "Talk Talk" is just positively brutal! Dig that low tuning! Dig that hi-speed hi-hat!!

Your voice is very strong as well, and even more ragged (not in a "shredded" way, but in an "aggressive" way). I like your line about "neurosis"---I always thought it was interesting how Music Machine tackled issues of personal despair and social alienation that nobody else was expressing.

Just thought I'd send off some praise and gratitude. Take care.

Zachary V. Sunderman

Sean Bonniwell/Guerilla Garage

Uncle Helmet's Music/Private Library Release


This collection of odds and ends from Sean Bonniwell's personal archive is the first in an ongoing series of CD's designed to accompany his "Beyond The Garage" autobiography. It covers material from sixties Music Machine through to his solo recordings from the 1970's and 1980's. One track is a vintage backing recording from 1966 with a newly written and recorded vocal, neatly bridging the decades.


Any CD that starts off with a reworking of a sixties garage classic appellated as a "Psyche Glam Version" is bound to set the alarm bell ringing. Surprisingly the late seventies re-workings of "Talk Talk" and "Trouble," with added guitar pyrotechnics and synthesiser, actually come across as valid updates whilst managing to remain faithful to the original recordings.


The remaining material from the late seventies and early eighties pursues the typical rock sound from those times but benefit from Mike Jett's guitar and Bonniwell's inimitable word play. Highlights are Jett's "Tommy Gun," Bonniwell's creationist paean "Out Of Darwin's Mind," and "Golden Sixties Boys" which manages to name check as many of the Music Machine's contemporaries as you could imagine.


From 1969 "Nothing's Too Good For My Car" is in the light-hearted mould of earlier Music Machine numbers like "This Should make You Happy" and "902" which turned up on the Sundazed Ignition CD. Bonniwell's soundtrack recordings are represented by the excellent title song from 1973's "Day Of The Wolves" and "Wolf Jazz," some self-explanatory incidental music from the same movie.


It's back to 1966 for the closer, an extended unedited Music Machine recording of the classic "Eagle Never Hunts The Fly." An interesting collection, but essentially one for the Bonniwell Music Machine completist.

Gray Newell

Dear Sean,

I received your CD's, your DVD, and your book. I find your book splendid. I'm reading it now. I find the CD's fantastic.

I'm discovering many songs I didn't know even existed before now, directly mailed by the hand of the songwriter I prefer. What a joy! In each new song I recognize your mystical inspiration.

I can't thank you enough for your career. I dig all the songs of the Music Machine without exception. Such genius: "Bottom Of The Soul", "No Girl Gonna Cry", "The Trap", "Discrepancy" (so beautiful); "Absolutely Positively", "People In Me", "Come On In" -- every song you've done is a gem of invention and originality.

I've recently had the joy to rediscover 'Close'. This LP help me a lot in my life. For me, there's already a Christian inspiration in this magnificent record. Your voice possess the power to make a tortured soul serene.

God bless you and yours and thank you again from the bottom of my young soul.

Philippe

Great idea! I've intended to buy the book for my aunt (an avid fan of the Wayfarers incidentally), for some time. I consider her a substitute mother anyway, since my mother (her older sister) is deceased, so giving it to her for Mother's Day is an inspired gift suggestion.

I've read a few excerpts from the book to her during marathon phone calls, knowing she was hanging on every word. She has said repeatedly, "I'd LOVE to read that book" and she has always followed that statement with unbridled appreciation for its gifted author, so it's about time I ordered her a copy. (You notice I've never offered to let her borrow my copy - I love her, but I don't let my signed and numbered copy out of my sight).

I can't wait for her reaction to hearing "Ticonderoga" on the Anthology CD, but I know she's also going to love 'Close' and my new favorite, 'Down & Doily'. I think she will enjoy 'Star Witness', too, and I suspect that she will be especially inspired and comforted by it.

The book offers are such a bargain, she's going to think I'm really spoiling her this year! I'll send payment and shipping info, knowing I'll soon feel great satisfaction since you've solved my latest shopping dilemma.

Thanks again - it IS the perfect gift!

Jeanie


-------------

hi sean :

I'm finally getting to REALLY listen to the Anthology CD and I love it.
ok ~ I've got to know YOUR feelings on the two versions of "Livin' For The Moment". When and who did you do the other one with? Of course I'm prejudiced, but the other version is very nice too.

I darn near didn't even recognize "Ain't That Good"... what a trip. It's SO different I can't even remember the way you sang it when The Chrome Throated Song Kissers were together. I can't quit listening to it. It's so neat to hear all the different, wonderful songs you've written.

I got an email from David today regarding your book:

"I got the book yesterday. What a scream. It is fun to read."

I can't put the book down till I fall to sleep. I wake up with it on my chest. I have to re-read a lot and work on some of the words, but eventually, I get it.

Take good care Sean, and give yourself a pat on the back from me for the whole package!
pam

-----------------------

Pam -- thanks for the good word re the Anthology CD ... after such a protracted time re-mixing/re-mastering, maintaining objectivity became an additional challenge.

"Livin' For The Moment" #2 was recorded with Chris in Florida (see liner notes), and is mentioned (the sessions are) in the book (you'll understand a great deal more about the how and why after reading the chapter referring to 'My Cake & Eat It Two').

I favor our version a bit more, but they're two completely different approaches to the song.
Both address understanding "Moment's" concept of 'now' (explained more fully in the book), which becomes overshadowed by the song's secondary meaning; the human heart's proclivity for idealizing relationships via initial expectations.

The tracks on the Anthology CD are sequential, but
it's doubtful all but a few reader/listener's will connect the
book's narrative with the songs.

The intended humor and irony of career colliding with life may slip by unnoticed as well. "So Long Ago" for instance(recorded for the 'Close' album but omitted due to artistic irrelevance), looks back with humor on the Music Machine from a songwriter's perspective, condensing hundreds of paragraphs and descriptive narrative as would a single frame from a rear-view mirror.

By virtue of limited space, the Anthology CD is a musical overview of this thematic intention. Whereas the remaining companion CDs reach into the full depth of this ambition, the Anthology CD abbreviates the musical overview of Beyond The Garage much in the manner of one looking back facing the past in full view, with hands on hips.

To what degree such a unique concept succeeds is unknown to me; artistically, the mere attempt of this musical/narrative intention was satisfaction enough.

More deeply significant is the way in which the Lord provided the means and materials for the completion of Beyond The Garage:
40 years of nomadic wanderings -- with as many years of memorbelia and recordings in tow and preserved, was by His design; ideal writing locations, an encrypted memory inspired by Devine laws of cause and effect, and a full decade to see the book and Companion CDs finalized -- is well beyond human engineering: It was a Blessed privilege to articulate the portrait of one life navigating His unbroken circle.

sb