Saturday Matinee – UB40 w/Chrissie Hynde, The Pretenders & Johnny Winter

UB40 with Chrissie Hynde singing the 1965 Sonny & Cher hit.

“Middle of the Road” was one of a nice string of hits for The Pretenders. I can only imagine the royalties they’re receiving for “My City Was Gone” aka “Back To Ohio,” given that it’s Rush Limbaugh‘s appropriate themesong.

Okay, so much for a post-Valentines’ Day thing. Let’s rock.

The Johnny Winter Band, live in Copenhagen 1970. Bands like his scared the hell out of me, but I eventually I got it.

Rock on, Lil’ Sheba, and we’ll see you tomorrow for more stuff.

Saturday Matinee – Brownsville Station, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, The Bart Walker Band & The Black Lillies

Three-man bands have to rock, and Brownsville Station had a crankin’ hit in 1973 with “Smokin’ In The Boys’ Room” and were never heard from again (until Mötley Crüe did a crappy cover in 1985).

Ozark Mountain Daredevils‘ “If You Wanna Get To Heaven” was a hit in 1974, even though the harmonica tag could be played by a 6 year old. Hard to understand how they followed up that decent 70s country rock anthem with “Jackie Blue,” but the music industry moguls sucked big ‘ol honkin’ donkeys back then. (Come to think of it, they still do and I’ve hated pop music ever since.)

Never heard of these guys until the missus started laughing – at the audience. Hot stuff by The Bart Walker Band.

This starts out as early morning cross-country roadtrip music from The Black Lillies and it rolls from there.

Have a great weekend, folks. We’ll do something stupid tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Moto-X Baby, Hugh Maskela, Big Joe Turner & Muddy Waters

Apparently this dates from the 1990 or so, and predates the Internet as we know it. [Source found here.]

“Excuse Me Baby Please” by Hugh Maskela 2007(?) featuring high school friend Morris Goldberg on sax. Maskela’s better known in the U.S. for his 1968 hit “Grazing In The Grass.”

Baby Please Don’t Go.” Big Joe Williams was the first to record it in 1935, and it’s been covered by many bands since, both in blues and rock. Here’s Williams’ solo version, live, on 9-string guitar. We may have posted this one before, but so what. We probably posted the next one as well.

Muddy Waters‘ live version of the same song, featuring James Cotton on harmonica, in Chicago 22 November 1981. It’s a classic performance, then some friends showed up to make it awesome.That’s a wrap for this edition of The Saturday Matinee.

Have a great weekend, folks, and don’t forget VETERANS DAY. EVER.

Saturday Matinee – Santigold, Ленинград & Rod Piazza

Santigold’s “Lights Out” vid has some cool retro patterns.

Great WTF video: Ленинград — Рыба. Russian/Punk/Dixieland by a band named Leningrad, titled “Fish Of My Dreams.” English lyrics translation here. [h/t Bunkessa].

Hot Rod Piazza.

With that, we’re out for the weekend. Have a great weekend, folks. See you tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Unlikely Maestro, Lemmings & Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Robert Randolph with Jimmie Vaughan

Unlikely Maestro [via]. THIS  is a pretty awesome lineup.

National Lampoon TV presents LEMMINGS! THIS is a pretty awesome lineup.

THIS is a pretty awesome lineup,and with that we’re out. Have a great weekend.

Saturday Matinee – Billy Preston, Little Milton w/ Jimmie Vaughan, Popa Chubby

Billy Preston “Outta Space” 1973.

No info on that vid, except that Jimmie Vaughan introduced Little Milton and gave him the floor to play “That’s What Love Will Make You Do.”

Popa Chubby live at the Chesterfield Cafe (2006?) with his heavily-modified version of Chick Willis’  “Stoop Down Baby.”

From the Utoobage Comments:
“This guy rocks. I played at an open mic a few nights ago and right after I went off he walked in. He ended up doing a set with the house band for the next 3 hours, he used my gear! I hope some of his mojo rubbed off on my amp. He has one sick tone, I didn’t think my amp could sound as good as he did haha.”

Sorry for the late post, been kinda busy in meatworld. Have a great weekend.

Saturday Matinee – Richard Thompson, Charles Ray Wiggins & Black Joe Louis

Richard Thompson snarks. If you’ve never heard of him, I pity you.

Charles Ray Wiggins (aka Raphael Saadiq) with “Heart Attack.” This is some nice retro soul with cool camera angles.

Black Joe Louis is in so heavy with Howlin’ Wolf influence that there’s nothing left to say. This is one of the best killer jams I’ve heard in years. Crank it.

Dang, so much stuff goin’ down in so little time. Have a great weekend folks, and see you back here tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Playing With High Voltage, The Mendes Harmónica Trio, James Cotton & Magic Dick

In the U.S., the harmonic frequency of electricity is B Flat. [via Amy Oops.]

Mendes Harmónica Trio – “5ª Sinfonia de Beethoven – Excerto” is pure Portuguese brillance. (If that’s too high-brow for you, click here instead: Borrah Minevitch & His Harmonica Rascals.)

The original WhammerJammer, here’s James Cotton‘s classic “Midnight Creeper.” Compare it with this:

Magic Dick Salwitz with The J. Geils Band is enough to blow your face out for this edition of The Saturday Matinee. Have a great weekend, folks.  Be back here tomorrow for more vapid and awesome enlightenment.

Saturday Matinee: Chicago Transit Authority, Buddy Guy; Mike Welch, Kirk Fletcher & Josh Smith

Chicago Transit Authority, the self-described “rock and roll band with horns,” from before they got all sappy.

Buddy Guy, one of the greatest living bluesmen, earned recognition the hard way. (I first heard this song on a freebee Tabasco promotional cassette in the 80s. Both sides were the same so you didn’t have to rewind it.)

This awesome 3-axe swamp-rock-blues jam featuring Mike Welch, Kirk Fletcher & Josh Smith should hold your attention for a while.
Have a great Memorial Day Weekend, folks, see you back here tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Zappa & Zappa & Tesh, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Sonny Boy Williamson & Co.

Ahmet & Dweezil Zappa with John Tesh and a lady in a box on Conan O’Brien‘s show. [Found here].

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band circa 1973. The SAHB was popular in the UK, but didn’t catch on in the US (with the exception of the Cleveland Ohio region).

On 4 February 1982, a day short of his 47th birthday, Harvey suffered a massive heart attack while waiting to take a ferry from Zeebrugge, Belgium back to England after performing a Belgian gig with his new band, the Electric Cowboys. He suffered a second fatal attack in an ambulance on the way to hospital [Wiki].

Getting Out Of Town – Awesome lineup from 1963:
Sonny Boy Williamson Vocal, Harmonica
Sunnyland Slim: Piano
Hubert Sumlin: Guitar
Willie Dixon: Bass
Clifton James: Drums

That should do it for today’s edition of The Saturday Matinee. Have a great weekend, folks.