Category: Retro & Vintage

Saturday Matinee – Nobody Like Me + Slide City: Cooder, Raitt, Hooker, Block & Coetzee (and then the B-52s)

Before we get to our main feature, I found this at the last minute.  For those of you that think the “Summer of Love” was all hippies and beads and tie-dye and bell bottoms and pot, check this out:
IT’S 1967 AND PITTSBURGH ROCKS!

(Note that the Dickies covered “Nobody Like Me” in 1983, George Thorogood covered it in 1982, which had been covered by the Human Beinz in 1967, originally recorded in 1962 by the Isley Brothers.  As if you didn’t know.)

Ry Cooder is considered the greatest slide guitarist of the last 30 years. Here’s his version of “Jesus on the Mainline.”

The great Bonnie Raitt (also considered the greatest slide guitarist of the last 30 years) sleazes it up with the great John Lee Hooker (considered to be the greatest slide guitarist of the last 1,000 years) on “I’m in the Mood.”

Nice slide from Rory Block with her cover of Robert Johnson‘s “Terraplane Blues.”

Hannes Coetzee: No bottleneck git-fiddle here, just a soup spoon.  [If it doesn’t play, try here.]

Who doesn’t like the B-52s, especially a catchy song with no rhymes at all?  [Found here with lyrics.]

First Known Earth Fart Discovered (and Ignited); Gas Burns for Decades


DARVAZ’ HELLFIRE
Soviets found an earth fart and lit it.
Uzbekistan, Ukraine – (Strutts News Services)

According to various reports, a massive gas vent was discovered and subsequently ignited in 1973 by Soviet geologists in search of other stuff.  Some sources indicate that the global flatulence may have been ignited earlier than was initially reported.  From the amazing website English Russian:

“This place in Uzbekistan is called by locals “The Door to Hell”. It is situated near the small town of Darvaz. The story of this place lasts already for 35 years. Once the geologists were drilling for gas. Then suddenly during the drilling they have found an underground cavern, it was so big that all the drilling site with all the equipment and camps got deep deep under the ground. None dared to go down there because the cavern was filled with gas. So they ignited it so that no poisonous gas could come out of the hole, and since then, it’s burning, already for 35 years without any pause. Nobody knows how many tons of excellent gas has been burned for all those years but it just seems to be infinite there.”

Local immigrant resident Joey “Boris” Catawba summed it up.  “I’ve lived here for almost 10 years.  Everything always smells like burnt cheese and vinegar.  Someone should do something.  This really sucks.”

[More images here.]

Saturday Matinee: Ukeleles, Hair & Drums

Jake Shimabukuro makes his Uke Weep. Amazing.

Kaje. Nice hat. Nice Uke.

Nice animation.  Nice Uke.

Nice hair, no Ukes, but wait ’til you see their cantalopes. (Found it on this guy‘s website. The B-52’s are always cool.)

Not sure where these folks are from, but I’d love to hear ’em play this:

Todd Rundgren’s ska more than makes up for last week’s lack of Saturday Matinee offerings.  (Here’s Bad Manners’ take on “Bang the Drum All Day.” Unfortunately, no video, but Linerider rocks out here.)

[Image of headbangers via email from Grampa Strutts. More Ukelele here.]

Saturday Matinee: Mama Strutts

To my dear Mama Strutts.

The .Gif Friday Post No. 37 – Cleaning the Attic

Kirk vs. T vs. Norris: Battle of the Titans (Part 3)

Chuck. You don’t even have to say his last name before he roundhouse kicks you for even thinking that he might be not be invincible. Chuck vs. Jim vs. Mr. is an awesome conundrum, mainly because all three are good guys who wouldn’t be pounding each other down for the count. They’d join forces and pound ME down for even suggesting such an absurdity. They would, but they won’t. They’re good guys, just like me.

IF there was a three-way match up between Captain Kirk, Mr. T, and Chuck Norris, CN has a definite edge.

Firstly, he’s got all THE FACTS on his side. THE FACTS are a formidable weapon by themselves, and basically negate any argument regarding the possibility of Norris being somewhat inferior to Kirk and T.

Secondly, he’s still got all THE FACTS. No argument.

Thirdly, all THE FACTS are true.

Looks to me like Chuck Norris wins the tournament, as he’s standing right behind me as I post thIN NO WAY COULD CAPTAIN KIRK OR MR. T BEAT ME EITHER INDIVIDUALLY OR IN A TWO-ON-ONE MATCH SIGNED CHUCK NORRIS. TYPE IT AND POST IT. NOW. GET AWAY FROM YOUR KEYBOARD. I’LL HIT SEND.

[Related posts here and here. Related archive here.]

Kirk vs. T vs. Norris: Battle of the Titans (Part 2)

Mr. T., heh. There’s no one quite like the T-man, but that’s not what this post is about. It’s about whether or not he could take out Captain Kirk and Chuck Norris. Tough assignment, to be sure.

T’s strong points:

He don’ take no jibba-jabba from no foo. Kirk takes jibba-jabba from foos, and so does Norris. No one really knows what Mr. T does with that jibba-jabba, and since he don’t take none, my guess is he be give it back right away.

Secondly, he’s got little South Vietnamese flags stitched into his denim vest thingy. Neither Jim nor Chuck could pull that off without embarrassing criticism.

3rd advantage: Mr. T has more merchandise on the market than Kirk and Norris combined. (To keep this a fair competirion, generic “Star Trek” stuff doesn’t count. Has to be Captain Kirk paraphernalia.) There is so much T stuff that I can’t name them all, as they include cartoons, “T” shirts, posters, metal lunch boxes, crayons, cookie jars, bathtub toys, breakfast cereal, toothpaste, socks, underwear, baby spoons, floor wax and snow tires.

Yeah, I know he can punch sharks, but so could Fonzi. Cheez.

Strong suit: Well, HE IS MR. T. He’s got serious in-your-face attitude, and could conceivably turn it up to 11 when facing Kirk or Norris, and get them to back down without throwing a punch.

Mr. T is clearly the winner in the merchandise category. He’s got the wire brush mohawk going for him, and he’s got the foos (Kirk and Norris) seriously pitied.

Because of these strong points, Mr. T is a top-notch candidate for the Big ‘Ol Gold Belt.

[Related posts here and here. Related archive here. Coming up tomorrow: Chuck Norris.]

Kirk vs. T vs. Norris: Battle of the Titans (Part 1)

Let’s start with Captain James Tiberius Kirk and his dilithium-powered toilet plunger with crystalline scrubbing bubbles.

He wasn’t even born when Chuck Norris and Mr. T came along, so there’s a definite age-gap. If Chuck and Mr. really wanted to take him out, they’d have to chase down and crank on Kirk’s present-time direct lineage ancestors. Of course, maybe just taking out a few of Kirk’s ancestors would be enough, and Captain James T. Kirk’s pedigree would be sufficiently damaged to make him a non-combatant by default.

But Kirk has one great advantage: worm holes. He can travel back in time and kick anyone’s butt if he really wanted to. He could conceivably find Norris and T while they were still in grade school, beam them up and drop them off with Flash Basbo on the Planet of the Mind Gobblers. Honestly, I don’t believe Kirk could pull it off. He’s got more integrity than to do something that despicable.

Even if he could, he wouldn’t do it on his own… at least three more have to beam down with him. The guy with the red shirt is gonna eat it (whereupon Dr. McCoy, aka Captain Obvious, will declare “He’s dead, Jim”). The other two are regulars who might be injured, but will eventually be beamed up with the rest of the party and the cadaver’s remains if any.

Armed with his signature “Drop ‘n Roll” all-purpose defensive move, Captain Kirk is definitely a strong contender.

[Image from here. Related posts here and here, and we’ve got a related archive here. Coming up tomorrow: Mr. T.]

Saturday Matinee – SpinCycle, Howlin’ Wolf, Howlin’ Lou,Henry Mancini & Roy Buchanon

[Found at Arbroath.]

 

Twilight Zone-ish.

 

Interesting documentary… Interviews of some of the patrons of the “Spin Cycle” laundromat somewhere in St. Paul, Minnesota.

 

Oh, yeah. “Ya ya ya aya…” Gotta post some music. Do not mock those who try. [Also found at Arbroath.]

Howlin’ Wolf’s classic “Smokestack Lightning.”

[UPDATE: The bass player in this clip is Willie Dixon. THE Willie Dixon. Sorry I missed giving him credit. Dixon wrote a number of songs that later became rock standards. He recorded some albums himself, and didn’t stutter when he sang. More after the break below.]

“Theme to Peter Gunn.” Here’s Henry Mancini’s live version, introduced by Steve Allen. (The horn section rocks, whether you like it or not.)

Last Post on THIS Spin Cycle: The Late Great Roy Buchanan‘s explosive take on Mancini’s “Theme to Peter Gunn.” (This one’s for all you Aussies – Thanks for the hula-hoops, mates!)

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