Category: Videos

Saturday Matinee – Slinky Workout, Eating Wood Grubs, Judex, Ruin & The Cowsills

[Found here.] And speaking of slinkys…

…be sure to watch this, especially if you’re squeamish. [via]

Apparently this was from a French 1963 remake of a 1914 film about a crime fighter who wears masks. [Found here.]

Ruin is an animated action short film set “way in the future” in a green post-apocalyptic universe. Directed by Wes Ball, who has been working in Hollywood for 8 years doing graphic work for HBO and DVD/Blu-ray featureetes.  Described as his “passion project”, Ball has been working on Ruin off and on for the last two years.

[Found here.] And now we’re gonna rock.

This last one made me wanna puke, too, and I’d rather overwork a slinky, eat a giant wood grub, don a cockatiel head and ride the Road to Ruin than hear that again. Have a great weekend folks. See you back here tomorrow for palate cleansers.

Saturday Matinee – Tommy Makem & Liam Clancy, The Fenians, Gaelic Storm & The Pogues

Tommy Makem & Liam Clancy singing “Mary Mack” at National Stadium, Dublin, February 1977.

The Fenians‘ “Token Whiskey Song.” We followed Terry Casey & Co. back when they were the house band at The Harp. Good peeps, all of ’em. (Their version of  “Rattlin’ Bog” is one of my favorites because they added some verses.)

Gaelic Storm‘s Patrick Murphy tells the tale leading up to the classic Irish traditional song “The Night I Punched Russell Crowe In The Head.”

What’s St. Patrick’s Day without a Pogues vid? Dare you to figure out what Shane McGowan is, um, singing.

That should keep you set for a bit while I dodge out for some Harp Lager and Mulligan Stew. Have a great St. Patrick’s Day, see you back here first thing Sunday.

[Related posts here, and don’t miss the story behind Nell Flaherty’s Drake.]

Saturday Matinee – Slim Harpo, The O’Jays & The Persuasions

Slim Harpo‘s “Scratch My Back.”

O’Jays stroll on Soul Train. [h/t Gwendolyn W.]

The Persuasions are one of the best a capella groups ever. Frank Zappa referred to bassman Jimmy “Bro” Hayes as “The Human Sub-Woofer.” (The Persuasion’s tribute to Zappa Frankly A Cappella is excellent, btw.)

And I’m out of time for tonight, so have a great weekend folks. See you tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Real Cold Stuff, Junior Brown, R.L Burnside, Zappa

Preview.

Junior Brown [Found here]

R.L. Burnside – Long Haired Doney [Found here]

Redneck Wipeout [Found here]

Zappa’s version of “Whippin’ Post” is a great take on the Allman Bros. classic.

Dang. Too much getting in the way these days, and this post is late going up. Have a great weekend, folks.

Saturday Matinee – FaceBook Etiquette, Carnival Cheats,Texting Scam, Bob Kuban & The In-Men and The Undisputed Truth

We had to watch that in junior high school. We all snickered to ourselves and laughed out loud afterwards. Once school let out, we went trolling anyway:

“Hello, Mrs. Jenkins? This is Bob from Hi-Times Liquor. Your husband left his wallet and motel key on the counter.”

“You Asked For It”  was an early television show that pulled in viewers by asking for requests. This one shows some old carnival gaffes, some of which are still employed.

Here’s a modern day fraud to be aware of. The Real Hustle was an interesting show. Here’s 90 minutes worth of bar bets that should keep you busy for a while.

Bob Kuban & The In-Men had their one hit in 1966 with “The Cheater” and the song fits. (Irony note: Kuban was killed by his wife’s boyfriend in 1983.) I couldn’t find a live version, but this works.

“Smiling Faces” was originally recorded by the Temptations, but was a hit with this cover by The Undisputed Truth in 1971.

That’s our collection for this episode of The  Saturday Matinee. Have a great weekend folks and we’ll see you tomorrow whether you like it or not.

Saturday Matinee – Cold Capybara, Doodles in Math Class & Miles Davis

When a capabara clicks and huffs, it’s angry and this one is really pissed at the snow.

The Utoobage videos entitled “Doodling In Math Class” are pure awesome. This one relates the Golden Rectangle and irrational number Phi to botany.

Miles Davis, live in Munich 1988. I saw him in the early 80s, and the performance was amazing. Nice groove here.

Late posting this – got kind of busy with other stuff last night. Have a great weekend, see ya tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Mean Mary James, Sam Chatmon, Boyd Rivers, Larry Carlton & Robben Ford

Mean Mary James burns through the traditional banjo standard “Cripple Creek.” Her bio is a jaw-dropper.

I don’t usually post two in a row from the same musician, but here’s Mean Mary and husband brother Frank James with “Joy,” an original song she wrote (with snippets from “Ode To Joy”).

The great Sam Chatmon plays Big Road Blues, That’s All Right & Sam’s Rag.

Boyd Rivers at the Mississippi Blues Festival 1980, introduced by Willie Dixon.

Ah, bullpoop. They’re not the greatest guitar players ever, but this is pretty good. Larry Carlton & Robben Ford jam the blues 2007.

That should do you folks for a while. Have a great weekend, see you tomorrow.

[Correction: Frank James is Mean Mary’s brother, not her husband. h/t  Steven Brooke.]

Saturday Matinee – Etta James, Johnny Otis, Contours, Ruth Brown & Illinois Jacquet

Etta James passed away on 20 January 2012, and there aren’t many live vids out there on the Utoobage (this one’s from 1962). She was tough on the eyes, but gorgeous on the ears.

We also lost the great Johnny Otis on 17 January. Although I never saw The Johnny Otis Show on television, his 1990s radio show was great, playing old R&B and early R&R. (I spoke with him on the phone once about some trivia about The Contours.)

So here are The Contours live in 1963. I love early R&B, so we might as well continue with that theme.

Ruth Brown recorded “(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean” in 1953, and it’s a great example of “jump blues” that morphed, terminology-wise from “Race Records” into “Rhythm and Blues” and later into “Rock and Roll.”

According to the late Eubie Blake, the phrase “Rock and Roll” originated in the late 1800s. It described a ragtime piano style that kept the patrons of brothels moving along. (Even the name “ragtime” is bawdy, and you can connect the dots for yourselves.)

Jump Blues. From the Utoobage description:

Illinois Jacquet and his band in the “Jive Crazy” scene from the 1949 noir movie “D.O.A.” — at least, according to the movie publicity.

So that might not be Illinois Jacquet’s band, but it’s still a great scene. And that makes five jumpy and jivey vids for the Saturday Matinee. Have a great weekend folks.

Saturday Matinee – Geek Magic, Mad Goose, Goose Grease, Glad ‘N Greasy & Greasy Wheel

Nice card trick… heh. Story behind it here.

Goose! Guy shoulda wrung its neck and brought the catch home. Yum!

And after you clean it, save the goose grease.
The late Roy Buchanan tells why.

The Beat Farmers‘ “Glad ‘N Greasy” fits. Poor video from the early 80s(?) was part of a demo tape they circulated. (Two of the original members are gone: Country Dick Montana and Buddy Blue.)

The Bryan Beller Band‘s “Greasy Wheel” is a nice bit of groovy oddness. (Listen for the Zappa influence… there’s a reason for that.)

That’s five vids to make the set.  Have a great weekend, folks, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Home Movies, Cold Water, Fabulous Thunderbirds & Zappa’s Black Napkins

Home movies – the Directors’ analysis.

Very cold water is very dense. Fishing in a frozen lake in Finland. Here’s an explanation [via]:

They have inflated their BCDs (vests) with air. This will make them float up to the ‘top’. This allows them to stand on the ice upside down. If there was no ice, they would surface. You can see when they breathe, the CO2 will float to the top (bottom) of the ice and it trapped. The wheel barrow is filled with CO2 expelled (poured in from the bucket). This makes it want to float too and hence will stick to the bottom of the ice until they dump it out, which will make it loose its buoyancy and sink to the bottom…

Happy birthday to Kim Wilson, one of the greatest blues harp blowers. Saw him with his original lineup in the early 80’s, pre-  Kid Ramos. Pure awesome then, pure awesome now. And just for the helluvit, here’ my favorite Zappa song to wrap it all up, “Black Napkins.”

Yeah, I may have posted that before, but so what – I like it. Have a great weekend, folks, be back here tomorrow for more fun and games.