Underworld, Reg Guest Syndicate (1966)
Pianist, arranger and music director Reg Guest (aka Earl Guest) was Born in Birmingham, England. His album Underworld contains covers of crime/spy/drama themes: “The great Reg Guest captured that inimitable late-60s sound with some irresistible instrumentals which are covers of famous James Bond themes and so on. It was recorded circa 1967 and first released in England on the Fontana label. Instruments used here include an inconceivable 12-string electric bass guitar. An unforgettable sound.”
Soul / blues / R&B band Vintage Trouble formed in Los Angeles in 2010. Their debut album The Bomb Shelter Sessions (2011) hit number one on Amazon‘s music charts in the UK, and they won the Best New Band prize at the 2011 Classic Rock awards. In February 2024, the group announced an indefinite break “to focus on individual and family endeavors”.
Chicago bluesman Toronzo Cannon didn’t pick up a guitar until he was 22, but he picked it up fast. “Gary Clark, Jr. declared, ‘Toronzo is a beast. He lights the room up,’ and Joe Bonamassa rightly pronounced, ‘Toronzo’s a great guitar player, excellent vocalist and an amazing personality.’ ”
Jonathon “Boogie” Long
From his website: “He began his career at the age 18, invited by BB King to tour with him. Shortly after, he was awarded Guitar Center’s “King of the Blues”, besting over 4,000 other contestants. Since then, he’s taken the short road to Louisiana legend, already a member of the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, and Baton Rouge officially designating January 4th as “Jonathon Long” day.”
R.I.P Chuck Norris, sorry about your legacy Cesar Chavez, nice work Nick Shirley, Gavin Newsom is still a douchebag, and tomorrow is Porch Time.
See you there.
May I, Bill Deal & The Rhondels (1968) Blue-eyed soul band from Portsmouth, Virginia, formed in 1959 and had a 24 year run until Bill Deal left the group in 1983.
Tom Waits being Tom Waits. Video from 2012 is reminiscent of the digital animation template showcased here.
Eliza Stark & The Dappers: “The only rockabilly band based in Montenegro. A classic trio of guitar, drums and hot chick slapping double bass and regular guests of national TV and festivals, they also well-known for their true and original music far beyond the borders of Montenegro.” – ES & The D Facebook Page
One of the top ska bands of the UK, Bad Manners are still performing (and celebrating their 50th year). It appears that frontman Buster Bloodvessel chose to sit this one out.
I got the porch if you got the time. Be there or be an equilateral rhomboid.
Blues de Bernadette, Lost Bayou Ramblers (2012)Formed in 1999 in Pilette, Louisiana, LBR plays an eclectic mix of Cajun / creole / country swamp rock with an ear for traditional music preservation.
Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar are a soul / gospel / R&B / blues group from Toronto, whose musical influences come from way past the Canadian border. The full band consists of 10 members plus singer / songwriter / guitarist Samantha Martin.
Multi-instrumental blues / roots rockers Rebecca & Megan Lovell, aka Larkin Poe, are amazing. Multiple Grammy Award winners from Georgia, the sisters named their group after their great-great-great-great-grandfather, a cousin of that other Poe guy.
Selwyn Birchwood is an American blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter from Tampa, Florida. He was the winner of the Blues Foundation’s 2013 International Blues Challenge (band category), as well the winner of the Albert King Guitarist of the Year award. [Wiki]
From Boogie Beasts‘ website: “Dirty beats, hypnotizing slide, screaming harmonica riffs and plenty of fuzz: all of these will be served by this four man band from Liège-Limburg-Namur, Belgium. […] The drive is infectious, the noise is pure filth, yet highly irresistible.”
Stuff happened this week – some good, some bad, most of it just plain absurd. It’s also the time of year where we ignore resetting the clock in the dashboard and set our sprinklers and calendars ahead instead. As always, the change doesn’t affect porch time. Be there or be somewhere else.
From the website: Mark Hummel’s Golden State / Lone Star Revueis an all-star, cross-country melding of musicians from California – Mark Hummel (harp-blower, vocalist, bandleader and Grammy nominee), R.W. Grigsby (bassist) – and Texans Anson Funderburgh (guitarist and Rockets bandleader), Mike Keller (Double Trouble, Fabulous Thunderbirds) and Wes Starr (famed Austin drummer who has played with a who’s who of Texas music royalty).
German blues guitarist, singer-songwriter, producer and self-taught multi-instrumentalist from Wuppertal, Germany, Henrik Freischlader plays all flavors of the blues.
FUZZRIDER is a relatively new heavy blues super trio from Athens Greece: Jim Lord / guitars and vocals, Nick Giannoulis / bass and Brian Velentzas / drums.
Lotta news flying around and splattering all over the pavement. No point in listing it all here, you’ve heard most of the official contradictory reports by now. Seems like tomorrow might be a good time to watch dogs from the porch and let things sort themselves out. See you there.
Eric Johnson with Kyle Brock and Tommy Taylor in 1988. Lot of technique packed into a pretty instrumental.
Born in Serbia and now residing in the US, Ana Popović has earned seven Blues Music Award nominations and performed as the only female guitarist of the 2014 -2018 all-star Experience Hendrix lineup, a nationwide tour celebrating the music and legacy of Jimi Hendrix.
In 2015, The Sonics performed at the KEXP studio to record a set of their proto-punk garage band classics (along with some covers). Four of the five original members were there: Gerry Roslie / vocals, keyboard; Larry Parypa / Guitar; Andy Parypa / Bass; and Rob Lind / Saxophone. The entire session can be heard here and it’s pure awesome.
We had some actual weather this past week, with high winds, thunder and lightning, sheets of rain, avalanches, starvation, disease, pestilance. Now I hear that there are extra terrestrials on the way so we’ll have a surplus if we don’t waste them. I think there’s room in the shed.
See you porchtime-ish.
Tacky Raccoons 