The 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month

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Here’s to all Veterans, past, present and future.

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There is an excellent publication, Military, that should be read by all. It’s not a glossy rewrite of history, but a monthly newsprint pulp, with first-person accounts from WWII, the Cold War, Korea, Viet Nam, Afganistan and Iraq. It contains snippets of world events, past and present, not normally found in the newspapers, let alone TV, Radio, or the internest news services.

Military provides current non-classified information that the popular main-stream media typically overlooks and ignores. Well worth the admission price of $21.00 a year.

Click on this link [www.milmag.com] to get to the subscription page. I have no monetary connections or financial interests with this publication, aside from being a fan and subscriber.

The publication is proudly conservative and I recommend it highly. Regardless of your political affiliation, it is not insulting to those of differing opinions. Go for it. —Bunk

Saturday Matinee – Drums: JCB, CW, TB, GK, BR & MR

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Jimmy Carl Black 1938-2008

“Lonesome Cowboy Burt” was “Harder Than Your Husband (to get along with).”  Where’s my waitress?

He was one talented Mother drummer.

Speaking of Zappa’s drummers, here’s a beat-off between Chad Wackerman and Terry Bozzio, with a couple of absolutely ridiculous drum sets.

Don’t like them? Here’s Gene Krupa vs. Buddy Rich.

Don’t like them? Here’s Marky Ramone to explain it all.

Don’t like Marky Ramone?

Eh.

Fun.

It all starts on 20 January 2009, and, yeah, the guy is flexing his eel while he has window reflections in his sunglasses, as a diminutive sea bat circles a barely perceptible void in his skull.  THIS CARTOON IMAGE UNKNOWINGLY VOTED FOR SOCIALISM.

Hunker down my friends. We’re in for a long 4-8 year high volume/low velocity ride downhill on a gravel road with pre-engineered potholes and no brakes.  For those of you who still don’t get it, rent Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil.” Read “Animal Farm” again.  Find a copy of Thomas Sowell’s “Black Rednecks and White Liberals.”

Then spread out and teach an elected Republican about the tenets of Conservatism.

Lost battles do not equate to lost wars.

Cordially, Bunk

[Image from here, via Mogadonia.]

Saturday Matinee on Sunday: Jaco, John, Willie, T-Bone, Helen, Sonny, Brownie, John, Memphis & others (featuring Tom Waits)

Jaco Pastorius with John Scofield.  Not sure who is on drums.  Pastorius is my all time favorite bass player, (with Bootsy Collins a close second).

Willie Dixon was a classic bassman.  Not sure who is on the ivories, but it’s not Eubie Blake, Meade Lux Lewis, Albert Ammons or Pete Johnson.  Memphis Slim?

This has gotta be one of the greatest blues lineups in history:  Willie Dixon, Memphis Slim, T-Bone Walker, Helen Hume, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee and John Jackson.

Emotional Weather Report delivered by Tom Waits.

A POW STORY: John McCain

[Folks, I’ve decided to make this post “sticky” and it will remain on top of the daily posts until after the election. Regardless of your political affiliation, please take the time to view the video and read the article linked below. Meanwhile, daily posts will follow below this one as usual. –Bunk]

VIDEO AND MORE BELOW THE BREAK. Continue reading “A POW STORY: John McCain”

More Hot Covers

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What scares me about these is that they have SOUNDS. SOUNDS that someone liked enough to purchase, so that they could hear the SOUNDS over and over again.  (I completely understand wanting to have THIS compilation, and if I ever get a cell phone, the ringtone’s gonna be Leonard Emmanuel’s “Old Timey Holler.”)

[Strider has an excellent collection of crappy album covers, with commentary, here.  Related TR archive post here. New crappiness from here.]

Saturday Matinee: Levi Stubbs 1936-2008

Levi Stubbs & the Four Tops, on the American TV show Hullabaloo, singing “Just Walk Away.”

From the Wikipoodle:

“Levi Stubbs was an American baritone singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the famed Motown R&B group The Four Tops.”

From Billboard’s Top Pop Singles:

“R&B vocal group from Detroit formed in 1953 as the Four Aims.  Consisted of Levi Stubbs (lead singer), Renaldo ‘Obie’ Benson, Lawrence Payton, and Abdul ‘Duke’ Fakir.  First recorded for Chess in 1956, then Red Top and Columbia, before signing with Motown in 1963.  Stubbs was the voice of Audrey II (the voracious vegetation) in the 1986 movie ‘The Little Shop of Horrors.'”

Besides being a cousin to Jackie Wilson (!) Stubbs was also the voice of Audrey II in “Little Shop of Horrors.” I never made that connection until today.

Aretha Franklin’s tribute to Levi Stubbs, after his stroke and during his fight with cancer. Hard to watch.

RIP, Mr. Stubbs.

Saturday Matinee: LURCH!

Rock n Roll at it’s peak.  Check it out, yo!

But there’s more to his story. Besides being a household word for rock n roll and gettin’ hot babes, the late Ted Cassidy played TWO parts in “The Addams Family” TV Series.  Lurch was one of them… the other was “Thing.”

From the Wikipedialoids:

“Lurch (Ted Cassidy) is the household butler. Morticia and Gomez summon him by means of a bell pull in the form of a hangman’s noose, which rings the massive bell located in the mansion’s bell tower; the resulting gong shakes the entire house when the bell’s noose is pulled. When Lurch appears (usually immediately or within seconds thereafter), he responds with an extremely deep-voiced, “You rang?”

“According to IMDb, Lurch was intended to be a non-speaking part, as the Charles Addams cartoon character was silent; however, Cassidy improvised the line during his audition, and it was so well-received that it became a feature of the character. When questions are posed to him, Lurch’s primary response is a deep throaty rumbling and, at times, tremendously annoyed sound, which the family nonetheless interpret as spoken words. Superhumanly strong (he cleans the family car by simply lifting it and shaking it out like a rug), Lurch often plays the harpsichord (the music is actually played by The Addams Family composer Vic Mizzy).

“Lurch is very high-minded about visitors; when a plainclothes policeman (played by George Neise) visited the family, Lurch patted him down and regarded him suspiciously when he found his gun. Neise showed Lurch his badge, whereupon Lurch returned the gun.

“Lurch occasionally regards his employers’ activities with some dubiousness, but only as any servant might regard the idle rich, not because he does not share their macabre tastes.”

As far as the Addams Family goes, Lurch was my 2nd favorite.  Carolyn Jones (Morticia Addams), well, um, you know.  Cassidy also appeared in several episodes of:
Star Trek;
I Dream of Jeannie;
Wild Wild West;
and The Six-Million Dollar Man (as Bigfoot).

Y’all can forget his cameo on Batman, too… or not.

Cassidy ALSO appeared in the movie “Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid” in this Classic Scene.

As a completely unrelated aside, anyone curious about what the Sex Pistols’ Johnny Rotten is up to these days?  Seems he’s turned Shatner on us. Promise.

BONUS! For all of our loyal readers and supporters of Tacky Raccoons, please welcome our SPECIAL MYSTERY GUEST!

You Played a Real Cool Hand…

Paul Newman 1925-2008

Wow! What a Shine!

“Oooh, my face looks like a hamster in the side of THIS pan! Thank you, Prozac!”

[Image from the amazing Plan59.]