Pete Daily‘s “Over The Waves” from 1951: Daily on cornet, Burt Johnson trombone, Pud Brown clarinet, Skippy Anderson piano, Len Esterdahl banjo, Bud Hatch tuba and Hugh Allison drums.
Red Nichols & His Five Pennies rocked your grandparents, assuming your grandparents were entirely cool and bitchin’. (Of course they were.)
Have a great weekend, folks. Be back here tomorrow for more inanity.
Couldn’t make it through the original version. Then we thought we’d look for some recent retro bands and found this.
Japanese girl group Oh!Sharels cover the Chords’ 1954 classic Sh-Boom.
Contrary to popular belief, doowop (aka R&B aka Rhythm & Blues) was not the only form of early rock and roll, so let’s kick it up with some Retrobilly.
Molly Sue Gonzalez (And The Mean Mean Men) “Bad Example” is just the thing to wrap up this edition of The Saturday Matinee. Have a great weekend folks, be back here tomorrow.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe‘s version of “Didn’t It Rain” (Manchester, England in 1964). She exemplified the musical connection between gospel, blues and rock and roll. The song first appeared as piano sheet music in 1927, but I’d guess it dates to the 1800s [h/t Bunkessa].
What a treasure trove this is [via]. In the early 1960s The Blues was largely ignored in the U.S., yet many classic artists found a receptive audience in Britain. From the Utoobage description:
“Recorded live for TV broadcast throughout Britain, these historic performances have been unseen for nearly 40 years. Filmed with superb camera work and pristine sound, 14 complete performances and 4 bonus performances are included by Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, Lonnie Johnson, Big Joe Williams, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Sugar Pie DeSanto, Howlin’ Wolf, Big Joe Turner, Junior Wells, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.”
Spotted Willie Dixon on bass in that vid, so let’s post this:
Yeah, he stuttered in real life, yet Dixon wrote and performed an incredible amount of classic blues tunes.
This compilation should hold you for a while. Have a great weekend, folks, and may you never be nervous.
Four shorts in under 90 seconds, with balloon animals.
What a happy guy. After those two vids, we gotta walk it down.
Here’s Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band (1974) with “Upon The My O My.” We’re not quite at ground level yet, and since we neglected to honor Mardi Graslast week, let’s amend and repair the accidental and unintended oversight with this:
Bizarre, and with a great soundtrack. Oorutaichi [via].
Pokey LaFarge performing “La La Blues” at Music City Roots live from the Loveless Cafe on 20 April 2011 [via]. So what should follow that? Maybe something in C Am F & G…
The Crows‘ “Gee” from 1953 may have been the first R&B crossover hit, and it was a B side experiment. Ike Turner earned the prize for the first rock and roll hit “Rocket 88” in 1951, recording as Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats . Y’all have heard that classic, or should have by now, and James Cotton did a kickass version.
More recently Dan Akroyd took a shot at it and pulled it off.
Leon Russell & Friends’ “Trouble In Mind.” The song dates to 1924 at least, and was recorded by Chippie Hill and Louie Armstrong in 1926 (and no, we’re not going to discuss the double entendres of the lyrics).
Here’s another great tribute to that classic song, featuring Barney Kessel, Tal Farlow, Charlie Byrd, Joe Byrd & Chuck Redd from 1988.
Have a great weekend, folks. May all your troubles be little ones, and all your little ones be trouble.