Category: Saturday Matinee

Saturday Matinee – Les Claypool & Buckethead, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Frank Zappa and the Ensemble Modern & Spike Jones

I could do without the silly mask gimmicks, but Les Claypool and Buckethead jam it down your throat. Sounds like it was partially derived from an old Zappa groove.

Béla Fleck and the Flecktones are nothing less than amazing. “Sinister Minister” was performed at Mountain Jam VII on 3 June 2011.

This is reported to have been Frank Zappa’s last public performance, directing the Ensemble Modern, Alte Oper, Frankfurt, Germany, 17 September 1992. Zappa died less than two years later, days shy of his 53rd birthday. From the UToob link:

It was his last professional public appearance, as the cancer was spreading to such an extent that he was in too much pain to enjoy an event that he otherwise found “exhilarating”. Recordings from the concerts appeared on The Yellow Shark, Zappa’s last release during his lifetime.

And now for something completely different.

Have  a great weekend, folks, see you back here tomorrow.

 

Saturday Matinee – The Marshall Tucker Band, Sam The Sham & James “Super Chikan” Johnson

In the late 70s, there was a shift away from hard rock, pop, disco, and other over-produced gag-inducing genres, and I took a liking to Country Rock Jazz fusion. The Marshall Tucker Band caught my ear with “The Last of the Singing Cowboys,” one of the prettiest songs ever written, featuring one of the greatest country rock vocalists ever: Doug Gray (and yeah, that’s one silly-ass hat on the guitar player.)

Domingo “Sam” Samudio is still live and howlin’ in this vid from 2000. IIRC, Sam took his nic “The Sham” because he only knew 3 chords. “Little Red Riding Hood” is probably my favorite STSATP song – even in elementary school we got the innuendo. “Oh, That’s Good” was fun due to our juvenile misinterpretation of the lyrics: “He operated on my 3rd leg…”

Okay, um, let’s move on.

Never heard of James “Super Chikan” Johnson? Crank it up.

Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here tomorrow for more inanity.

Saturday Matinee – Captain Beefheart, BeauSoleil & George Thorogood

Complete Captain Beefheart concert, possibly in Toronto 1974 [via]. I saw CB and his Magic Band live in the early 80s at The [famous but now defunct] Golden Bear in Huntington Beach California. Bizarre tribal rhythmical poetry during his “Bat Chain Puller” tour.

BeauSoleil undated and completely awesome.

George Thorogood‘s vid from 1982 included cameos by pool sharp Wiilie Mosconi and the late great Bo Diddley.

Have a great Labor Day weekend, folks.

Saturday Matinee – Cyriak, Zappa, Traffic & Aretha Franklin

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.

What a natural. Only 22 years old in 1964, and she was already amazing. Respect indeed.
R.I.P. Aretha Franklin (1942-2018).

Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Byron Ferguson, Raúl Malo & The Mavericks, Merle Haggard, The Big Town Playboys with Jeff Beck

“The center of an aspirin tablet is the exact same size as the center of a beach ball.” – Master Archer Byron Ferguson.
[Found here. Not sure what the target distance is, but it’s still impressive.]

The Mavericks (Raúl Malo / vocals, guitar; Paul Deakin / drums; Jerry Dale McFadden / keyboards, vocals; Eddie Perez / guitar) crank out some big band boogie woogie in Austin, 2004. It’s a cover of Merle Haggard‘s classic 1966 country hit “The Bottle Let Me Down.”

 

Let’s go one more. In 1993, British retrobilly band The Big Town Playboys teamed up with Jeff Beck to record “Crazy Legs,” a collection of Gene Vincent songs. Here’s what happened:

Have a great weekend, folks.
See you back here tomorrow, same Bat Time, same Bat Channel.

[Note: Facebook no longer supports WordPress Publicize connections to Facebook Profiles. Facebook Zucks.]

Saturday Matinee – Howlers, Howlers, Howlers, etc.

Very cool trio from Williams, Arizona, not to be confused with the Midnight Howlers of Madera, California.

Very cool trio from unknown regions, not to be confused with Ivory Joe & the Midnight Howlers of Nashville, Tennessee.

Very cool party band from Nashville, Tennessee, not to be confused with the inane and expensive Halloween costume called the Midnight Howler.

Inane and expensive Halloween costume called the Midnight Howler, not to be confused with Midnight Howler.

Okay, I’ll stop. Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here in a few short hours.

Saturday Matinee – Jared Dines, Hillbilly Moon Explosion, The Baboons, Howlin’ Wolf with Willie Dixon

Jared Dines commissioned the design of a 17-string guitar, paid $1,200 for it, then learned that it was made in China for $400. Pissed him off, so he destroyed it. He then ordered this 18-string from a legit Australian company. Nice catchy tune…

Hillbilly Moon Explosion is interesting. Not too many bands feature Wednesday Addams teaching Lurch how to do The James Brown (at least I think that’s the dance).

The Baboons‘ “It’s Dark” has a solid (but unattributed) Howlin’ Wolf groove, so let’s go there.

That’s Willie Dixon on bass. He wrote, arranged, produced, played and sang on some of the most influential blues standards in modern history, so it’s really a Dixon Groove.

Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here when you’re ready.

Saturday Matinee – John Holeman & Dom Flemons, Tony Joe White, D.L. Menard & Kent Gonsoulin

Hambone was an early precurser to diddley-bow and Rap. Here’s a demonstration featuring John Holeman & Dom Flemons found here. Related posts here.

BTW, that’s “Poke Salat,” not “Polk Salad,” and everyone who heard that song thought Tony Joe White was a black cajun guy.

That’s classic D. L. Menard. Might as well keep rolling with the theme.

Like this.

Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here tomorrow with more victimization and undeserved personal grievances. =D

Saturday Matinee – God’s Cricket Chorus, The Steve Gibbons Band, Amy Helm & Third World

God’s Cricket Chorus is awesome. I want that played at my funeral, by humans, followed by “Holiday For Strings.” played by crickets. [h/t Octopus]

Here’s Tom Waits‘ response when asked by NPR, “What is the most interesting recording you own?”

“It’s a mysteriously beautiful recording from, I am told, Robbie Robertson’s label. It’s of crickets. That’s right, crickets. The first time I heard it … I swore I was listening to the Vienna Boys Choir, or the Mormon Tabernacle choir. It has a four-part harmony. It is a swaying choral panorama. Then a voice comes in on the tape and says, “What you are listening to is the sound of crickets. The only thing that has been manipulated is that they slowed down the tape.” No effects have been added of any kind, except that they changed the speed of the tape. The sound is so haunting. I played it for Charlie Musselwhite, and he looked at me as if I pulled a Leprechaun out of my pocket.” [via]

In 1977 The Steve Gibbons Band covered Chuck Berry‘s 1969 recording of Tulane and did a decent job of it.

Amy Helm can wail, and her band jams it down your throat.

Third World‘s classic “96 Degrees In The Shade” seems appropriate given this week’s heat wave (and not for the political message).

Keep cool, folks, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – THE Interview, Pro-Bubbles, The Blues Brothers & Junior Wells with Buddy Guy

I love this interview.

Melody Yang is a Professional Bubbler [via].

Yeah, The Blues Brothers gave it a good cover in 1979, but this one is better. Junior Wells with Buddy Guy at the 1974 Montreux Jazz Festival is nothing less than killer.

Here’s Junior Wells’ original version from 1960.

Have a great weekend, folks, see you back here tomorrow whether you like it or not.