Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

Saturday Matinee – Tommy Makem & Liam Clancy, The Fenians, Gaelic Storm & The Pogues

Saturday, 17 March 2012

Tommy Makem & Liam Clancy singing “Mary Mack” at National Stadium, Dublin, February 1977.

The Fenians‘ “Token Whiskey Song.” We followed Terry Casey & Co. back when they were the house band at The Harp. Good peeps, all of ‘em. (Their version of  “Rattlin’ Bog” is one of my favorites because they added some verses.)

Gaelic Storm‘s Patrick Murphy tells the tale leading up to the classic Irish traditional song “The Night I Punched Russell Crowe In The Head.”

What’s St. Patrick’s Day without a Pogues vid? Dare you to figure out what Shane McGowan is, um, singing.

That should keep you set for a bit while I dodge out for some Harp Lager and Mulligan Stew. Have a great St. Patrick’s Day, see you back here first thing Sunday.

[Related posts here, and don't miss the story behind Nell Flaherty's Drake.]

Saturday Matinee – Slim Harpo, The O’Jays & The Persuasions

Saturday, 10 March 2012

Slim Harpo‘s “Scratch My Back.”

O’Jays stroll on Soul Train. [h/t Gwendolyn W.]

The Persuasions are one of the best a capella groups ever. Frank Zappa referred to bassman Jimmy “Bro” Hayes as “The Human Sub-Woofer.” (The Persuasion’s tribute to Zappa Frankly A Cappella is excellent, btw.)

And I’m out of time for tonight, so have a great weekend folks. See you tomorrow.

Cosmic Slop

Thursday, 8 March 2012

“Space Traders” was produced by HBO films and is based on a short story writhed by Prof. Derrick Bell, Barack Obama’s Harvard Law professor. Big Hollywood: “Bell eventually resigned from Harvard in 1992, and continued to stir controversy. He wrote a short story, “The Space Traders,” in which he imagined that Americans would sell blacks to aliens in exchange for gold to repay the national debt. He also implied that Jews would help blacks only out of a sense of self-preservation, turning Holocaust victim and diarist Anne Frank into “the symbol of Jewish hypocrisy.””

And, yeah, that’s the head of George Clinton, Commander of The Mothership, presented for amusement purposes only.

[For those of you who are following the 2012 US Presidential Elections, and regardless of your political affiliations, I strongly suggest that you check this site daily for important updates. --Bunk]

Saturday Matinee – Real Cold Stuff, Junior Brown, R.L Burnside, Zappa

Saturday, 3 March 2012

Preview.

Junior Brown [Found here]

R.L. Burnside – Long Haired Doney [Found here]

Redneck Wipeout [Found here]

Zappa’s version of “Whippin’ Post” is a great take on the Allman Bros. classic.

Dang. Too much getting in the way these days, and this post is late going up. Have a great weekend, folks.

Saturday Matinee – Sleepy Man Banjo Boys, Steve Karla & Rory Gallagher

Saturday, 25 February 2012

The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys. Start early, play late. [via]

Steve Karla’s “Black Swamp Blues” is original and awesome, and he’s a multi-talented bastard, too.

Rory Gallagher cranks some nice fat blues to lead us into another great weekend. See y’all back here tomorrow.

Beads, Beer, Boobs & Blues = Heureux Mardi Gras!

Tuesday, 21 February 2012

Mardi Gras Indians are the Mardi Gras most people don’t see. Modern Day Indians came from a time when African Americans felt left out of the traditional Mardi Gras krewes and parades. Residents from wards around New Orleans formed their own sort of Krewe and named them after their streets or wards. The Indians created elaborate costumes and names themselves after Native Americans- as tribute to the Native American tribes’ role in freeing the slaves. They designated someone to be the Spy, the Flag boy and the Big Chief and these tribes led processions through the streets. In the past, Mardi Gras Indians were violent, but today most tribes simply act out a scene when passing other tribes. Indians do not follow any schedule or parade route and a rare thing to see on Mardi Gras.

Of course there are also a lot of beads, beer, boobs and blues:

Everyone should experience Mardi Gras in New Orleans at least once. The parades are awesome, the music is great, and there are uninhibited  and inebriated college girls. There are also pickpockets, drug dealers and people who will fight you over a plastic necklace. The beer/drinks are cheap (since they deal in volume) and the streets and sidewalks flow with unmentionable liquids so you’ll need to burn your shoes afterwards. Again, everyone should experience Mardi Gras in New Orleans at least once.

[Top image and story found here; 2nd image found here. There are hidden bonuses, too -  click a pic.]

Saturday Matinee – FaceBook Etiquette, Carnival Cheats,Texting Scam, Bob Kuban & The In-Men and The Undisputed Truth

Saturday, 18 February 2012

We had to watch that in junior high school. We all snickered to ourselves and laughed out loud afterwards. Once school let out, we went trolling anyway:

“Hello, Mrs. Jenkins? This is Bob from Hi-Times Liquor. Your husband left his wallet and motel key on the counter.”

You Asked For It“  was an early television show that pulled in viewers by asking for requests. This one shows some old carnival gaffes, some of which are still employed.

Here’s a modern day fraud to be aware of. The Real Hustle was an interesting show. Here’s 90 minutes worth of bar bets that should keep you busy for a while.

Bob Kuban & The In-Men had their one hit in 1966 with “The Cheater” and the song fits. (Irony note: Kuban was killed by his wife’s boyfriend in 1983.) I couldn’t find a live version, but this works.

“Smiling Faces” was originally recorded by the Temptations, but was a hit with this cover by The Undisputed Truth in 1971.

That’s our collection for this episode of The  Saturday Matinee. Have a great weekend folks and we’ll see you tomorrow whether you like it or not.

Saturday Matinee – A Personal Protest, Miniatur Wunderland, Girl In A Coma, Bill Deal & The Rhondels

Saturday, 4 February 2012

For years Tacky Raccoons has posted a small collection of Utoobage videos every weekend just for fun, entitled “The Saturday Matinee.” The videos posted are those that amuse us, and often include oddities and obscure musical relics from the past. Innocuous stuff, for sure.

We like to post ahead of time, so we linked and gave hoops to the delightful and fetching Miss Cellanea for this and this, thinking that the vids she turned up would be entertaining for folks of all ages, good manners and proper posture, i.e., those who peruse Tacky Raccoons. However, if you click on the links to those videos, you’ll see something like this:

Here are the screencaps of two vids we intended to post that have since been squelched by the Great Squelchers of the YouTube:

If anyone reading this blog is offended by the destruction of washing machines or the herding habits of sheep, DO NOT CLICK HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, or especially HERE, and DO NOT enjoy the videos posted below the double-line of death.
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Yeah, so I went all caps. The YouTubers are out of line on this and they can bite me. Pass it on.

Update: Miss C has the story and forwarded new links.

Oh wow, I had no idea those were pulled! Luckily, I found replacements. Thanks for the heads up!

The guy who originally did the washing machine video was pissed that someone who copied him went viral, so that’s why that one was pulled. When I heard about it, I replaced the video at Neatorama, but neglected to update the one at Miss Cellania. The original video is here. http://youtu.be/6_PLnInsh7E

Now the sheep one is completely confuzzling. Harmful activities? That phrase isn’t even on the YouTube community guidelines page! But it’s probably a case of someone (or some group) flagging the particular copy that went viral. There are plenty of other copies. Like this one. http://youtu.be/pysET6UvN60

Official 2012 video [via]. It’s MUCH more intricate than what was shown in the  original advert. Pure awesome.


Girl In A Coma plays GoGos plays Ramones plays Ritchie Valens.

Bill Deal &The Rhondels. R&B rock steady and clogging makes for a great ending to the Saturday Matinee. Have a great weekend, see you here tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Mean Mary James, Sam Chatmon, Boyd Rivers, Larry Carlton & Robben Ford

Saturday, 28 January 2012

Mean Mary James burns through the traditional banjo standard “Cripple Creek.” Her bio is a jaw-dropper.

I don’t usually post two in a row from the same musician, but here’s Mean Mary and husband Frank James with “Joy,” an original song she wrote (with snippets from “Ode To Joy”).

The great Sam Chatmon plays Big Road Blues, That’s All Right & Sam’s Rag.

Boyd Rivers at the Mississippi Blues Festival 1980, introduced by Willie Dixon.

Ah, bullpoop. They’re not the greatest guitar players ever, but this is pretty good. Larry Carlton & Robben Ford jam the blues 2007.

That should do you folks for a while. Have a great weekend, see you tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Etta James, Johnny Otis, Contours, Ruth Brown & Illinois Jacquet

Saturday, 21 January 2012

Etta James passed away on 20 January 2012, and there aren’t many live vids out there on the Utoobage (this one’s from 1962). She was tough on the eyes, but gorgeous on the ears.

We also lost the great Johnny Otis on 17 January. Although I never saw The Johnny Otis Show on television, his 1990s radio show was great, playing old R&B and early R&R. (I spoke with him on the phone once about some trivia about The Contours.)

So here are The Contours live in 1963. I love early R&B, so we might as well continue with that theme.

Ruth Brown recorded “(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean” in 1953, and it’s a great example of “jump blues” that morphed, terminology-wise from “Race Records” into “Rhythm and Blues” and later into “Rock and Roll.”

According to the late Eubie Blake, the phrase “Rock and Roll” originated in the late 1800s. It described a ragtime piano style that kept the patrons of brothels moving along. (Even the name “ragtime” is bawdy, and you can connect the dots for yourselves.)

Jump Blues. From the Utoobage description:

Illinois Jacquet and his band in the “Jive Crazy” scene from the 1949 noir movie “D.O.A.” — at least, according to the movie publicity.

So that might not be Illinois Jacquet’s band, but it’s still a great scene. And that makes five jumpy and jivey vids for the Saturday Matinee. Have a great weekend folks.


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