Saturday Matinee – Good, Bad & the Ugly Showdown, Wildebeest, Iron Butterfly, Stan Kenton, Bunny Berigan & Jimmy Dorsey

Aside from the more serious rhetorical oratory of the GOP Convention (previously discussed on The Blogmocracy and elsewhere) Clint Eastwood’s performance was the perfect break. It would have been the perfect warm up act for any candidate running against Obama, and he nailed it. Addressing the Empty Chair:

“What do you want me to tell Romney?
[…]
I can’t tell him to do that.
I can’t tell him to do that to himself.”

He nailed it with wit, timing, and sarcastic humor. He’s an actor who knows how to ad lib when the situation requires it. How much of his presentation was scripted and how much was off-the-cuff doesn’t matter. It worked.

Now on to more lighthearted fun.

via Chiqui.

Papa Strutts had an unfortunate adventure recently that required us to donate most of his belongings. Among those was a vinyl record collection that included this:

I didn’t have that classic album. While I was collecting Zappa, Papa Strutts was collecting Aerosmith, and he was way ahead of me on jazz.

There’s some classic Stan Kenton, composing with bizarre rhythms and intentional dissonance. Yet he owed a great deal to his predecessors, like Jimmy Dorsey & Bunny Berigan.

Who was also  influenced by Red Nichols:

The interesting part of music, and jazz in particular, is that there is no single musician who can take claim for any particular classic. Everything is derivative until someone like Miles Davis comes along and rearranges the blocks.

Have a great weekend folks, and maybe we’ll rearrange some blocks tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Vince Taylor, Shakin’ All Over, The Specials & Rufus Thomas

Guess Who? It’s not Who you think it is. Vince Taylor & The Playboys.

Science declares 4 seconds of shaking removes 70% of the water off a wet dog, and 20% lands on you. Do aquatic mammals, like whales, orcas, dolphins & porpoises, shake off air? NEW STUDY! [Your tax dollars at work. Found here.]

The Specials revived ska in the 70s, and did the dog.

Rufus Thomas knew how to walk the dog decades ago, until his demise in 2001.

Due to some unfortunate happenings in the private sector, we’re going to cut this episode short. Have a great weekend, folks. Be back here tomorrow for more slices of the stupid pie. =)

Saturday Matinee – Playing For Change, Rolling Stones, Steppenwolf & Meatloaf

The Stones‘ “Gimme Shelter” by multinational conglomeration Playing For Change, created by American producer Mark Johnson, is very cool. (Watch for Taj Mahal.)

I find it odd that they would choose that particular song, as it’s forever linked to a free rock festival in 1969 that ended up in tragedy at Altamont Speedway, California, much of it due to the actions of the hired “police” – Sonny Barger & The Hell’s Angels.

The event is best known for having been marred by considerable violence, including one homicide and three accidental deaths: two caused by a hit-and-run car accident and one by drowning in an irrigation canal. Four births were reported during the event. Scores were injured, numerous cars were stolen and then abandoned, and there was extensive property damage.

From the same year, Steppenwolf had a hit with the greatest biker song ever – “Born To Be Wild.” Okay, where do we go from here? Oh wait. I know.

That’s for José from Spain who tutored me on cryptanalysis, and recently discovered the wonderworld of Meat Loaf.

Have a great weekend folks, and be back here tomorrow for Day 3 of our 6th Glorious Year of pure awesomenecessity.

Saturday Matinee – Computing Cams, 3D Sketch & Jacquelyn Adams

Simple mechanics: Cams!

Cool. More images  here.


While looking for a decent live version of “Welcome to The Machine” I found this. Jacquelyn Adams‘ tribute to Pink Floyd [“Dr. Jacquelyn, Mr. Hyde,”  Horn Day, 10 February 2012, York University, Toronto, Ontario] and it begins with that song.

Given the atrocities of yesterday, we might as well leave the number of vids posted at three, and the selections are in no way a commentary. Hug your kids and loved ones, pray for the victims, and we’ll be back here tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – 100 Rock Guitar Riffs, Ricky Skaggs, 16mm Clogging in the UK & Dan Hicks

So what if it’s a clandestine advert, it’s cool. I recobanized 95% until he got into No. 66 or so, but I got more than I expected after that. Now let’s talk about some serious pickin’.

That’s Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, playing in a cave in Cumberland Kentucky in 2010. “Salty Dog Blues” is a traditional song with traditional innuendo that dates to the early 1900s.

Imported from the UK ( and elsewhere):

Clogging is the official state dance of Kentucky and North Carolina and was the social dance in the Appalachian Mountains as early as the 18th century. [Wiki]

The Banjo Boy scene from Deliverance shows a local clogging at about 02:50 [link]. Although the movie was entertaining, it promoted the false and insulting stereotype of southerners as a bunch of inbred ignorant hicks.

Speaking of hicks, here’s one of the better ones.

Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks with “Milk Shakin’ Mama” from the Flip Wilson Show 1972.

And with that, we’re out of here until tomorrow. Have a great weekend, folks.

Saturday Matinee – The Channels, Little Isidore, The Hooters, Aswad & SRV

Earl Lewis & The Channels in 1997. “The Closer You Are” was a regional hit in New York in 1956. (It was covered by Frank Zappa in 1984 who made it sound kinda creepy.)

Little Isadore & The Inquistors’ early R&B style is spot on. Can’t find much about LI, and maybe that’s a good thing. A googoyle search provides little, except that it lead me to Rob Hyman and a band I’d forgotten about.

Hyman was a founding member of The Hooters. I have one of their CDs, but I don’t remember what caught my ear aside from the eclectic sound. “Karla With a K” would have fit my playlist in the late 80’s.

Lessee, what else was I listening to back then? A wide variety, including these guys:

Aswad live at Sunsplash 1984. No, I was never a stoner, but I liked de riddims.

Before anyone thinks I was some kind of pre-hipster indie weenoid back then, this was what I cranked after the sun went down.

Have a great weekend folks (and remember that real dads hate Fathers Day).

Happy Trails

Rhinehart’s Guitars are amazing. With this one you can play both kinds of music – Country AND Western. He’s got custom guitars for every genre you can think of including some that you can’t.

[Found here.]

Saturday Matinee – MMA Mismatch 1998, LogoRama, Brother Phelps, The Kentucky Headhunters & Roy Buchanan

600 lbs vs 169 lbs. in a match from 1998 – 431 lbs. was apparently the greatest weight differential in MMA history. Place your bets, then hit play. [h/t garycooper]

Great animation and concept, despite the not-so-subtle message. PG13 for language & violence. [h/t Internet Septic Tank Engineer]

UPDATE – Here’s the background from Wiki:

Logorama is a 16-minute French animated film written and directed by H5/ François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy and Ludovic Houplain, and produced by Autour de Minuit. The film depicts events in a stylized Los Angeles, and is told entirely through the use of more than 2,500 contemporary and historical logos and mascots.

Brother Phelps from 1995, with “Any Way The Wind Blows.” Naming the band after their Minister father, brothers Rickie Lee and Doug Phelps previously recorded with The Kentucky Headhunters.

“Honky Tonk Walkin’.” First I heard The Kentucky Headhunters was their electric version of Sons of the Pioneers‘ “Davey Crockett” and it cracked me up.

Bill Doggett‘s “Honky Tonk” was a classic instrumental hit in 1956 . Here’s the late Roy Buchanan‘s version.

Okay, that’s enough for today. Have a great weekend, be back here for more tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Doc Watson, Chet Atkins & Leo Kottke

Doc Watson, one of the most influential guitar pickers, passed away 29 May 2012. Blind before he reached the age of 1, he overcame his handicap with hard work and earned talent.  Here he is with Chet Atkins (d.2001) and a young Leo Kottke. I’m guessing the vid is from the late 70s.

[Personal gripe: Peeps who post these vids on the Utoobage should give some detail in the descriptions. Many do, but too many don’t.]

Here’s Chet Atkins, early 1960s, with “Black Mountain Rag.”

In 1982, Leo Kottke performed Tom T. Hall‘s “Pamela Brown” on a late night variety show.

Well I think three vids are enough for one post these days, so have a great weekend and we’ll see y’all pickin’ and flickin’ back here tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Savage Chickens, Rufus Thomas, Jaco Pastorius


Savage Chickens animation [via].

Rufus Thomas‘ “Funky Chicken” live at WattStax 1972.

Jaco Pastorius‘ “The Chicken,” live in Montreal. Bob Mintzer-sax, Randy Brecker-trumpet, OthelloMolineaux-steel pans, Peter Erskine-drums, Charles “Don” Alias-percusion.

As talented as Pastorius was, he was diagnosed as bi-polar, and despite medications, lived on the streets for weeks at a time. He died in 1987 at age 35 from head injuries incurred during an altercation with a bouncer at a nightclub in Florida.

Have a great weekend folks, see you back here tomorrow.