Category: Obituaries

819 Yonge (SE corner of Church)

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https://twitter.com/Barbie_Sandwich/status/666855646625558528

[Found here, and the Twitter hashtag‘s still up.]

Saturday Matinee – R.I.P. B.B. King (1925-2015)

BB King

The Blues had fallen out of favor in the U.S. recording market in the 1960s, as it was considered retro and passé. Many talented blues musicians from the ’40s and ’50s were left with few options until British rock bands took notice and revived the genre by covering various classic American blues songs, often without credit, which fomented a resurgence of interest in the original recordings. The British were largely responsible for restarting the careers of such notables as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. Even early blues-based rock and rollers Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Bo Diddley got career boosts, and all were more popular in England than they were in the United States at that time.

Riley B. “Blues Boy” King was one of the greatest bluesmen of all time, known for his roaring vocals and understated guitar solos. He paid the cost to be the boss, and this BBC documentary from 1972 is amazing. There’s no posing, no strutting or preening, just straight talk about influences and style in a refreshingly honest manner. There’s no point in posting other B.B. King videos here because this one covers it all.

https://youtu.be/mqUhdBAJfsk

R.I.P. Mr. King. That’s one hell of a legacy you left us.

Saturday Matinee – Tributes to Ben E. King, Johnny Cash & The B-52’s

Tribute to a great singer Ben E. King, who passed away 30 April 2015, as performed by an a cappella group featuring Grandpa Eliott Small.

Prior to his solo career, Ben E. King was a key member of The Drifters, a doo-wop group founded in 1953 and fronted by Clyde McPhatter. King replaced McPhatter as lead singer in 1958, and the New Drifters were born. Most of King’s hits were written by the team of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, prolific songwriters of the time.

Tribute to Johnny Cash (1932-2003) on beer bottles [via].

Tribute to the B-52s by Full Blown Cherry. Yeah, it’s a crappy video, but watch what they pull off. They’re not amateurs, and by 02:50 a roadie has to hold the amp down. Any three-man band that can pull off a Rockabilly Tribute To The Ramones gets my full respect.

Have a great weekend folks, be back here in a few minutes.

RIP Robin Williams (1951-2014)

Robin Williams RIP

Here’s a classic Williams routine: “How The Scotts Invented Golf.” [Language warning – NSFK].

Heaven’s now got Robin Williams, Jonathan Winters, Sid Caesar and others, and you can bet that God is laughing his ass off right now… about golf.

Nanu Nanu, Mork.

Saturday Matinee – Johnny Winter (1944–2014)

Johnny Winter 1944-2014

Johnny Winter, legendary guitarist and one of the most recognizable icons of Texas blues and rock passed away at the age of 70 earlier this week after a long career.

In a documentary released this year entitled “Johnny Winter Down and Dirty,” he laughed, “Made my first record when I was 15, started playing clubs when I was 15. Started drinking and smoking when I was 15. Sex when I was 15. Fifteen was a big year for me.”

According to Wiki, at age 10 he and his 8 year old brother Edgar played on local TV in his hometown of Beaumont Texas.  Johnny Winter performed for an astounding 60 years, and he died while on still on tour.



RIP, Johnny. You made our roadtrips a hellalotta fun.

O Happy Day

Funeral

Dead man’s party to the left. It’s a FUNeral.

[Found here.]

Saturday Matinee – George Jones, Caravan Palace & Acoustic Alchemy

R.I.P. “The Possum” George Jones (1931-2013).

Caravan Palace “Rock It For Me” [h/t to Bunkarina].

Acoustic Alchemy, led by Greg Carmichael and Miles Gilderdale on guitars, Fred White/keyboard, Greg Grainger/drums and Gary Grainger/bass, Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz, CA.

Looks like that’ll do for this edition of The Saturday Matinee. Have a great weekend.

Saturday Matinee – Jonathan Winters, Manu Chao, Gnarlemagne & Billy Cobham/George Duke Band

Jonathan Winters (1925-2013) was the most talented improvisational comedian ever. R.I.P.

Manu Chao, Live Baionarena – Dia Luna Dia Pena. Chao’s got an interesting background that explains a lot of  his leftist politics.

Gnarlemagne‘s “Funky New Orleans” is some fun nasty ska.

“The Red Baron” by The Billy Cobham – George Duke Band, live at Montreax Switzerland in 1976. Very cool funk groove, featuring George Duke, John Scofield, Alphonso Johnson and Billy Cobham.

That’ll do for another edition of The Saturday Matinee. Have a great weekend folks.

RIP Smokey

“I bite my tongue at you.”

Our old gray cat finally passed away last night after suffering a stroke. Kinda saw it coming, as she’d been acting abnormally recently – a bit more clingy, not eating as much, not wanting to go outside, crouching with her head held over her water bowl. Then yesterday her tail and hind legs wouldn’t work and she slowly drifted off.

Here she is in 2009, one of the few “Cat Posts” we’ve shown here:

Bunkessa and Bunkarina had adopted Smokey as a stray. She needed very little training, suggesting that she’d been abandoned by a previous owner. She loved the missus and the kids, but couldn’t stand me, at least for the first few years we had her.

Smokey knew to go outdoors to do her business and would paw the frame of the screen door to tell us. She figured out how to “knock” at the front screen door by pulling on it and letting it bang shut when she wanted to come back in. She’d bring us “presents” occasionally, including a live terrified mouse that she dropped on the living room floor.

RIP Smokey 1995(?) – 2012

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.