Time to give the drummer some. Unfortunately, another one has passed. The great Mitch Mitchell died yesterday. He was the last surviving member of The Jimi Hendrix Experience. I never got around to doing an Earl Palmer memorial - although his drumming shows up here from time to time - and I rarely get a chance to post Hendrix, so that's what we'll listen to today. Download: "Fire" mp3 by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, 1967. available on Are You Experienced "Remember" mp3 [...]
Congratulations America. I was on 125th street in Harlem when the news broke. I think you could have been anywhere in the city and elsewhere in the country and experienced the same collected sigh of relief. It was the most joyous celebration I've ever witnessed. There was dancing in the streets. New York can be like that. But I haven't seen it for a long time, and this was something much bigger than us that we were all a part of. When the announcement came on the jumbotron, the crowd erupted. "He won!" I yelled. An older woman [...]
Download: "Vote" mp3 by Chris Stamey and Yo La Tengo Public Service Announcement "Time Has Come Today" mp3 by The Chambers Brothers, 1968. available on The Time Has Come "Stand!" mp3 by Sly and the Family Stone, 1969. avaliable on Stand! "Yes We Can Can" mp3 by Allen Toussaint, 2005. available on Our New Orleans: A Benefit Album for the Gulf Coast [...]
I've been getting a little static lately from the readers of this blog about the lack of posting frequency here. This is a blog. It's not my job, but it feels like it. A few months ago and I had to explain this to my son. He's kind of impressed at how many people actually read this (and I am too) but confused at how much time his Dad spends doing it. Today, on the phone he asked me how to download the songs here. So, rather than compose another one of my long winded and angular diatribes [...]
There's a joke about rock bands, that when they get too big and fall out of touch with their audience, they start writing songs about the trials and tribulations be being on the road. It's a cliche in 1980's rock videos. You know, being on the bus, looking wistfully out the window as you roll into another town. Whatever. Here's a group of songs by an array of artists, that look to their band as a subject for their song. This is almost, but not exclusively, the provenance of British bands. The idea of being in a band [...]
Her chariot is an empty hazel-nut Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub, Time out o' mind the fairies' coachmakers. And in this state she gallops night by night Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love... Mercutio, Romeo and Juliet , by William Shakespeare This week Sony unfurled the latest in the Bob Dylan Bootleg Series. Volume 8 contains unreleased and little-known tracks [...]
September has nearly gotten away from us. Things have been quiet here, I know. I've got a few posts up my sleeve - just no time to do them. So, with a few hours left in the month, a few versions of a simple and perfect pop classic. Download: "September Gurls" (Studio Rehearsal) mp3 by Big Star, 1974. available on Nobody Can Dance "September Gurls" mp3 by Superdrag, 1996. available on I Know the Score [...]
Download: "What A Crying Shame" mp3 by The Mavericks, 1994 available on What a Crying Shame "Maverick" mp3 Theme Song, 1957. available on Television's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
Another one done gone, son. Jerry Reed, who put the funk into country, died Monday in Nashville. The first time I heard him was on a family road trip in an Oldsmobile station wagon the early-seventies. "When You're Hot, You're Hot" was in heavy rotation on the Delco radio and resulted in instantaneous family sing-a-longs, much to my Mother's dismay. Flags in Fluville are flying at half mast. Download: "If The Good Lord's Willing" mp3 by Jerry Reed, 1955. available on Here I Am [...]
gets the worm. Charlie Parker would've been 88 today. This is his first session as a featured sideman. Guitarist Tiny Grimes put together this quintet of 52nd Street players for a Savoy date that was to feature him as a singer. Two vocal sides and two instrumentals. Bird had just arrived in New York after jumping ship from Billy Eckstine's Big Band. Download: "I'll Always Love You Just The Same" mp3 by Tiny Grimes Quintet, 1944. Tiny Grimes, Vocals. available [...]
All across America, something is stirring -Barack Obama In case any of you out there misconstrued my disparaging remarks about the DNC yesterday, I'd like to clarify my position on the matter. This blog supports of Barack Obama and is genuinely excited by the Democratic ticket this year. Folks, we have a candidate, and tonite's speech was electrifying. Download: "Yes We Can" mp3 by Lee Dorsey, 1970. available on Holy Cow!: The Very Best of Lee Dorsey
Tired of the goings on in Denver? Do you feel like you're watching an MTV sponored high school pep rally? Do you feel like kicking a hole in your TV everytime you hear the pundits on CNN talk about the convention? Do you frequently ask yourself "Is this the best we can do?" Are you mad as hell and can't take it anymore? If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, then you may have a soul. In which case, I direct you to immediately listen to today's musical selections. Lester Young, AKA [...]
Back in the early days of this blog, I did a post on Harold Arlen and his contribution to the American Songbook. In it, I included his version of "Stormy Weather" with Leo Reisman's Orchestra as well as one of my favorites by The Reigning Sound. After I posted it somebody pointed me to a link at the WFMU blog that contained a zip file with another 70+ versions. Here's a few of those as well as an unusually jaunty and swingin' version by Dave Bartholomew that I picked up recently. There must be hundreds of versions of this song. [...]
"When I first heard Elvis's voice, I just knew that I wasn't going to work for anybody, and nobody was going to be my boss ... Hearing him for the first time was like busting out of jail. I thank God for Elvis Presley." -Bob Dylan "My mouth feels like Bob Dylan's been sleeping in it." -Elvis Presley Today is the thirty-first anniversary of the King's rise from the throne to the brighter pastures. Unfortunately, it was (allegedly) the proverbial porcelain throne that Elvis was crowning when he [...]
by Laura Cantrell Folks, if you know me, you've heard this rant before. There is one fact that bothers me to death - the dearth of female artists in the Country Music Hall of Fame. I worked at the Hall of Fame and Museum as a tour guide right before I went to college. It's the place where my interest in country music shifted from a casual familiarity with the sounds of my home town (Nashville born and bred I am) to a more meaningful consideration of the people, history, and evolving styles of country [...]
Folks, I've got no time for blogging right now. I do however have the first four Replacements reissues sitting here that I've been thoroughly enjoying, and can't wait for the next round due in September. The thing that strikes me the most is how great they were right out of the gate. So with that said, I've compiled a little post here starting with the two tracks from their first single. The non LP b-side, "If Only You Were Lonely" was recorded late one night on the fly without the band. Paul Westerberg made several home demos on guitar and [...]
In the mid‑seventies, when he was red‑hot, Waylon played Memphis, and his one‑time rhythm guitar player and road manager, Curtis Buck, a/k/a Jerry McGill, came to the show in drag. McGill, who had a Memphis rock and roll band in the fifties and recorded for Sun Records, was eluding prosecution for various federal crimes. He had developed a problem traveling with Waylon when they put the metal detectors in airports. But there had been times when McGill's guns—he normally carried three, counting the one in his girlfriend's purse—had come in handy, like the time the cop had McGill's boss under [...]
One evening, a few weeks ago, I was sitting at the computer working and listening to itunes in shuffle when Iggy and the Stooges came up and caught me by surprise. I hadn't listened to this record in quite some time. "Search and Destroy" came out of nowhere, and ran through me like a shot of adrenaline, just as it has repeatedly since I was a teenager and bought the LP out of the cutout bin at Streetside Records in St. Louis. After listening for a few moments, I realized I was listening to the bastardized remix that Iggy decided [...]
The Fourth of July is almost here. I'm on hiatus until further notice. Download: "Almost Independence Day" mp3 by Van Morrison, 1972. available on Saint Dominic's Preview "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" (alternate take) mp3 by Bruce Springsteen, 1973. available on Genuine Tracks bootleg "Fourth of July" mp3 by Dave Alvin, 1987. available on Romeo's Escape [...]
My apologies to all our vegetarian friends. If it's any consolation, I didn't eat any of this pig, not because I don't like that sort of thing - more for health reasons. I'm under the care of Chinese doctor who's got me watching what I eat. But as soon as I feel better, its gonna be a free for all. In fact, I'm helpless around Bar-B-Q, and on my last trip to Memphis with my then girlfriend I ate so much pork, I actually made myself sick - maybe it has to do with being Jewish, but I don't [...]
Boogie Woogie Flu
Bison - Quill
Neutral Milk Hotel- Aeroplane Over the Sea
Shinichi Osawa – Big Beach Mix 2012
Mr Fogg - Eleven
