King Sunny Adé popularized Nigerian juju music during the “World Music” meme of the 1980s. Didn’t hurt that he was awarded the title of Minister of Music there, either.
Oh ya mon. Me got de steel drum reggae.
Adjust your volume up and groove it.
Great Googly Moogly! Here’s The Sonics “Anyway The Wind Blows” from 1967 – and all these years I thought it was a Frank Zappa composition. Woof.
[Update: Maybe I was right after all. On the Wiki list for “Cruising with Ruben & the Jets” the song is credited to Zappa.]
Have a great weekend folks. See you back here tomorrow.
“Space is the Place” featuring the music of Herman Poole Blount, aka Sun Ra and his Arkestra. The description on that vid is, um, well you’re on you’re own:
“Sun Ra – space-age prophet, Pharaonic jester, shaman-philosopher and avant-jazz keyboardist/bandleader–lands his spaceship in Oakland, having been presumed lost in space for a few years. With Black Power on the rise, Ra disembarks and proclaims himself “the alter-destiny.” He holds a myth-vs reality rap session with vblack inner-city youth at a rec center, threatening “to chain you up and take you with me, like they did you in Africa” if they resist his plea to go to outer space. He duels at cards with The Overseer, a satanic overlord, with the fate of the black race at stake. Ra wins the right to a world concert, which features great performance footage of the Arkestra. Agents sent by the Overseer attempt to assassinate Ra, but he vanishes, rescues his people, and departs in his spaceship from the exploding planet Earth.”
Before you dismiss him as a kook, check this out. It’s from the awesome LP record “Stay Awake,” where various artists were invited to interpret their favorite Disney songs:
Now on to something completely different.
That one was suggested by Bunkessa, who said that it’s been around for a while, but “most of your peeps haven’t seen it.”
I’d forgotten all about The Steve Gibbons Band until I remembered his cover of that Chuck Berry song. Not bad rock and roll for a Brit.
Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here tomorrow.
[Update: This just came to my attention via DoD, just hadda post the video below.]
Before you get all humpy like this is just a last minute hodge-podge throw-it-together post for the Saturday Matinee, chill. It’s all good, and it’s all connected in an odd sort of way…
Above: The Hav-Mor Family ca. 1947. They performed at county fairs advertising fertilizer produced by The Tennessee Corporation. (Jack “Pop” Pettett is on the right blowing smoke; Ray Courts on banjo.)
The Foxfire Project began in the early 1970s to preserve the folklore and knowledge of elderly rural Appalachians. Through taped and written interviews, high school students amassed enough stories for several volumes of pure Americana. They’re available in .pdf format here, other sources here. (The files are huge, might take some time to download.)
“Hail Fredonia,” written and performed by Frank Portolese with Brian Sandstrom (Bass) and Rusty Jones (Drums).
Now for a completely unrelated vid, here’s Joe Cocker and Leon Russell from 1970 – “Cry Me A River.” Lotta noise, but a lotta fun.
Here’s CCR‘s “Ramble Tamble from 1970, pasted onto a time lapse cross-country roadtrip. The tune reminds me of The Chips‘ greatest hit (sorry, no video action except for a spinning 45):
