Saturday Matinee – Kid Ory’s Muskrat Ramble

Kid Ory was one of the greatest trombonists and band leaders of the 20th Century.  One of the early jazz pioneers, his career spanned decades and influenced uncountable others. From Wikipedia:

Kid Ory had one of the best-known bands in New Orleans in the 1910s, hiring many of the great jazz musicians of the city, including, cornetists Joe “King” Oliver, Mutt Carey, and Louis Armstrong; and clarinetists Johnny Dodds and Jimmie Noone.

For many years I thought King Oliver formed the band. Here’s Kid Ory’s band in 1959, playing “Muskrat Ramble,” a song he wrote in the 1920’s.  [Bonus: Interview with Kid Ory.]

Satchmo got his start playing 2nd trumpet in King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, later married the piano player Lil Hardin. Here’s Louis Armstrong’s version of “Muskrat Ramble.”

Country Joe MacDonald blatantly and unashamedly ripped off Kid Ory’s tune (probably without paying royalties) and warped it into a sarcastic war protest song.  Here he is in his blissfully ignorant glory (apparently without the Fish) at Woodstock 1969.

Here’s a kinda related video:  Small Faces’ “Tin Soldier.” There’s a reason they had few TV appearances and I don’t think Spinal Tap could’ve topped that spastic performance. [Found via Mogadonia.]

Just sealed it. I’m going to hell for connecting Kid Ory with Spinal Tap Lego animation.  I am very sorry and I promise that it won’t happen again as far as you know.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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Since we can’t post SeeqPod music on WordPress yet, I dropped a small load on Amy Oops.  Meanwhile, here’s a fightin’ song: The Pogues’ “Young Ned of the Hill.”

[Image from here.]

Saturday Matinee – Harp Guitar, Graffiti Removal, Paint it Black, Black Betty

That’s a harp guitar, folks, being played by Andy McKee. This is the same Larson-Dyer version that I learned on; it was my great grandfather’s, and I still have it.  It’s got a wide fretboard with 6 strings and 6 free bass strings above (hence the “harp” moniker).  I’d never heard one played properly until I saw this video.

The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal.  [Found via here.  Related post here.]

Okay as long as we’re still talking about painting…

RamJam.  Amazing one hit wonder, based upon Ledbelly’s classic.

Whoa. Meatloaf covers RamJam’s version of Ledbelly’s classic.

And, um, Tom Jones did it, too.  Whoa, whoa, whooaa…

Here’s Ledbelly speaking for himself.

You said, “Jaco WHO?”

Bonus video of Jaco Pastorius:

Saturday Matinee: Watchmen, Evil Rainbow Pollution, Weather Report

[Folks, I still got some computer glitches left over from earlier this week.  I had to go into safe mode just to uninstall Microdork’s Service Pack 3.  Unfortunately  the uninstall takes some stuff with it that affects FireFox as well as some other applications.  The computer was limping, now it’s walking. Tomorrow I hope to get it running again.  Guess I gotta buy more RAM.]

A friend “let” me read his cellophane-clad mint copies of the Watchmen twenty years ago. I was amazed at the level of artwork as well as the entire concept, but the final episode sucked donkeys big time.
[Karen found and posted this here.]

This video reassures me that people like her are allowed to vote.  And really now, what is oozing out of our ground?
[Video rediscovered at Wombat247.]

Weather Report was way ahead of their time jazzbo wise, or maybe they hit it at just the right time in order to get my attention.  Jaco Pastorius was amazing.

Saturday Matinee: Jerrie Thill, Ray McKinley, Gene Vincent & Clifford Stoll.

We have a very eclectic combination this weekend.  You’re gonna like ’em.

Oddness alert: Jerrie Thill, and  Allee Willis. [Found here.]

Ray McKinley‘s band with “Big Boy” (featuring Imogene Lynn) and “Jive Bomber.” These appeared in a 1942 short that included “St. Louis Blues.”

Gene Vincent & the Blue Caps’ “Baby Blue” from the 1958 movie “Hot Rod Gang.”  Oh yeah.

18 Minutes with Clifford Stoll, an amazing guy with a lot of things he’s not going to talk about.  (This is the same guy who more recently was mocked for a Newsweek article he wrote in 1995 regarding the future of the Internest… and was wrong.)  I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the inspiration for Dr. Emmet Brown,  played by Christopher Lloyd, in the movie “Back To The Future.”  This one is mandatory viewing here, so grab a snack and a beverage and watch the whole thing.

[Found at Neatorama.]

Saturday Matinee: Black Friday the 13th

Thinly veiled political commentary follows.

Steely Dan was (is?) one of those bands that Bunk enjoyed listening to but never bothered to buy their albums. (Note that the band took it’s name from a stimulus package described by this guy.)

[via here. Related post here.]

Couldn’t find a video of Talking Heads’ “The Swamp” but this’ll do. Hah.

Obama’s congress in action. Watch what happens to the U.S. economy.
[From here via here.]

On a lighter note, Happy St. Valentine’s Day!

Saturday Matinee: Rays

The Ray Beats had a great album, “Guitar Beat.”  Get it.

The Rays: Silhouettes, 1957.  Another great Chess Records group.

Ray Price. His Cherokee Cowboys included the likes of Willie Nelson, Roger Miller, and Johnny Paycheck, so quit snickerin’ y’all.

THE RAY.

Okay. This kinda stuff is obnoxious and completely unnecessary in Bunk’s opinion.  Sort of like taking your favorite beer, wine, champagne, brandy, whiskey, bourbon,  gin and tequila, dumping it all in a plastic trash can, and declaring the resulting cacaphony great.

But there ARE some greats on that stage, including  Ray Charles, James Brown, B.B. King, Little Richard (who tells everyone to go home), Bo Diddley, Fats Domino (?), and Jerry Lee Lewis (whose microphone should have been left turned off).

Who else did I miss in that awesome lineup?

Saturday Matinee: Planet Drum, Sirens, Spelling Bee Champ, Wright

Here’s Micky Hart’s Planet Drum from a few years back.  (I have one of the Planet Drum CDs that I play at full blast from my porch on Halloween.  I love the way it echoes around the neighborhood, even if Mrs. Strutts hates it.  When she’d complain, I’d switch to Tom Wait’s “Bone Machine.”  She doesn’t complain about Planet Drum anymore.)

The Sirens from “O Brother Where Art Thou” sang a song both pretty and dangerous.  Great movie.

Spelling Bee pro.  Great recovery.

Ferret nail trimming tips (via AAF.)

Steven Wright… well, you know what they say.  C’mon. You know.

Just One Look…

Doris Troy wasn’t singing about this.  Or maybe she was.

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