Leon Redbone was an iconic performer who reinvigorated the music of the late 19th to early 20th century, including blues, ragtime, dixieland jazz and country. That he pulled it off in the mid 1970s is an interesting commentary of the state of music of the time (mainstream rock was sucking donkeys). You couldn’t get more retro than Leon Redbone at that time, and he stepped right into the mix.
Rolling Stone described his repertoire as “so authentic you can hear the surface noise of an old 78 rpm.” During a 1974 interview (prior to release of any album) they asked where he first played in public. Redbone responded, “In a pool hall, but I wasn’t playing guitar, you see. I was playing pool.” Apparently he was pretty good at it.
I learned of the song “Ain’t Misbehavin‘” via some sheet music my late grampa had, and I liked the tune. I’d never heard of Fats Waller before I heard Leon Redbone’s version.
In the early ’80s I saw Mr. Redbone perform at The Golden Bear (a small but famous venue with no bad seats). His props were a rattan chair, a side table with a lamp, and his guitar. He was in the middle of a song when he saw the flash of a Kodak Instamatic camera. With lightning speed, he stopped, grabbed a Polaroid Swinger and took a photo of the photographer, then sat quietly humming until the image appeared. He held it up to view.
“Ahhh. Not a bad likeness.”
Then he resumed the song exactly where he left off.
I wasn’t aware of this until today, but there is a documentary on Leon Redbone. Here’s the trailer:
“He was always mysterious, he was always coming and going. It was almost like he was there one second and he’d be gone the next… and you never knew where he’d gone or why or how he’d even left, but suddenly he wasn’t there anymore.” – Jane Harbury, Publicist.
Here’s a link to the full documentary if you’re interested. It’s only 16 minutes, but it’s worth it.
Leon Redbone, you were a breath of fresh air into the stagnant late 70s music scene. May You Rest In Peace.
Ken Nordine’s “Colors” was the basis for an artistic game using paint.
Democrat Senator Dick Durbin blames Republicans for Chicago’s horrific gun violence, but there’s just one little problem. Chicago’s last Republican Mayor was William Hale Thompson (who served from 1927-1931). James Woods begins his reply with “Dear Nimrod.”
From the You Get What You Pay For Department: In construction, you can only pick two of the following three:
(A) Low-cost, (B) High quality and (C) Fast completion. Brad Pitt’s well-meaning charitable foundation chose A and C, and the houses are falling apart after less than a decade.
From the Bad Acting Department: Weather reporter can barely stand up to the winds of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Florence while other pedestrians were immune. Reminds me of the classic Today Show blowzit.
Cyriak outdoes himself creepy-wise, with “Indigestion.” [Found here.]
Frank Zappa‘s final live performance (with backup by Pražský výběr) 1991, Prague, Czechoslovakia, shortly after the collapse of the USSR. Long intro, but worth the listen.
Traffic, 1971. We played their albums in college so often that if you held the vinyl to a light you could see through the grooves.
A great cultural icon passed on this week. She possessed one of the greatest voices in the business, singing and performing gospel, blues, R&B, jazz, soul and pop. Multiple generations grew up listening to her recordings, myself included.
“That was the time I was most frightened, waitin’ for my turn. I’ll never put on a life jacket again.” –Shark hunter Quint [Robert Shaw] in the 1975 film “Jaws.”
Quint was referring to the tragedy of the USS Indianapolis, torpedoed in 1945:
Recently the USS Indianapolis, missing for 72 years, has been found in the Philippine Sea approximately three and a half miles below the surface. Story w/ pics here.
Woody James was 23 at the time of the attack and lived to tell about it. His story of horror is very understated:
“Sunday, the 29th of July was a quiet day. The sea was runnin five or six feet waves, just a beautiful day out. Didn’t do too much, read a book, did a little tinkerin as usual. Had the 8:00 to 12:00 watch and just got off at midnight. A guy relieved me about a quarter to twelve. I went down through the galley and had a cup of coffee. Then went to my compartment and got a blanket off my bed and went back up on deck. I slept under the overhang on the first turret. My battle station was inside it so in case general quarters sounded, I slept underneath it. Just got laid down good, using my shoes for a pillow as usual and the first torpedo hit. I was up and down between the deck and the overhang of the turret like Yankee Doodle Dandy. And, I wondered, ‘what in the hell is goin on?’
I got out of my blanket and started to roll out from underneath the turret and the other torpedo hit. Another Yankee Doodle deal, all over the place. I started to walk forward to see what I could see and what I seen was about sixty-foot of the bow chopped off, completely gone. Within a minute and a half, maybe two minutes at the most the bow is startin to do down. It filled up with water that fast. Everything was open below deck and the water just flooded in and we were still under way, just scoopin water. Complete chaos, total and complete chaos all over the whole ship. Screams like you couldn’t believe and nobody knew what was goin on. The word got passed down, “ABANDON SHIP”! It was maybe five minutes and we were really down in the water so we proceeded to abandon ship.”
This Funk Bass Slapfest is awesome, and the girl’s smacking a six-string. I’m guessing that this how Julliard students settle their differences and go busking at the same time.
Wow. What a legend. No reason for me to do a write up for someone so well known for so long, but I’ll admit this: I didn’t care for his music that much when I was young. Although I appreciated his talent and his importance in the early days of R&B / R&R, the songs sounded the same to me.
In 1972 someone gave me a copy of “The London Chuck Berry Sessions.” It impressed the hell out of me, and I became a true convert. I played that album so many times that light showed through the grooves.
Like an old song said, “If there’s a Rock and Roll heaven, it’s gotta have a helluva band. Hail, hail, indeed.
“You cannot take any people, of any color, and exempt them from the requirements of civilization — including work, behavioral standards, personal responsibility and all the other basic things that the clever intelligentsia disdain — without ruinous consequences to them and to society at large.” – Dr. Thomas Sowell
Everyone who saw the Superb Owl L Half-Time Show with the abhorrent tribute to The Black Panthers must read this.
Tacky Raccoons 