How to breakdown and reassemble a Willy’s Jeep in under four minutes. [via]
The Cleverlys’ bluegrass version of “Walk Like An Egyptian.” [via]
After the Cleverly’s drummer’s action, it’s only proper to post a video of clogging, aka, Bluegrass Flamenco. Both bluegrass and clogging are closely related to Irish reels and dancing, so…
Here’s Earl Scruggs with the seminal Irish band The Cheiftains. Nice blend, that.
Have a great weekend, folks, y’all be back here tomorrow.
1931 Cartoonists at the Trib. I love that style. [Found here.]
“Run Rabbit Run” by String Bean (aka David Akeman) the inventor of gangsta pants and sporting early metal makeup, playing with Lester Flat and Earl Scruggs. Akeman and his wife were murdered by burglars at their rural Tennessee home in 1973.
I’d forgotten about this song until I heard Bunkessa singing it. It reminds me of a high school roadtrip when Dave Borracho decided to relieve himself through the open rear window of Mike Pupshaw’s family station wagon and we learned about aerodynamics.
Chet Atkins was amazing. Here’s some chickin’ pickin’ on “Yakety Axe,” a riff on Boots Randolph’s classic, “Yakety Sax,” more commonly known as “The Benny Hill Theme Song.”
Bluegrass has its roots in northern Britain according to my ear. The chord patterns of early country music from Appalachia follow those of Scottish and Irish reels. In the immigration wave of the early 1800’s, the Scottish and Irish tended to venture southward, away from the constrictions of the north, to where they could work their own land. No wonder that early southern recordings sound similar to those of Ireland and Scotland.
Bill Monroe & his Bluegrass Boys popularized it and gave the style it’s moniker: Bluegrass. This song (video from 1956) is a tribute to Pendleton Vandiver, Monroe’s uncle. Monroe joined his uncle Pen’s band as a kid; his sound dates back to the turn of the century.
The Dillards were the Darlings clan on the Andy Griffith show. The Dillards decided that L.A. had more to offer than the Missouri Ozarks, and advertised themselves on the streets in the early 1960’s.
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band were influenced by the Dillards, and took Jerry Jeff Walker’s “Mr. BoJangles” for a ride.
What I was really looking for when all this linkyness began was New Grass Revival‘s version of “Steam Powered Aeroplane,” one of the prettiest bluegrass songs I ever heard:
"Well I went away on a Steam Powered Aeroplane.
Well I went and I stayed and damn near didn't come back again.
Didn't go very fast on a steam powered aeroplane,
The wheels went around, up and down, and inside and then back again.Sittin' on a 747 just watching them clouds roll by,
Can't tell if it's sunshine, if it's rain.
Rather be sittin' in a deck chair high up over Kansas City,
On a genuine old fashioned oil finish Steam Powered Aeroplane.Well I'd could be PILOT on the Steam Powered Aeroplane.
I'd pull that pilot wheel 'round, then back again.
And I'd wear a blue hat, YEAH, on the Steam Powered Aeroplane,
With letters go 'round the brim and then back again.
Sittin' on a 747 just watching them clouds roll by,
Can't tell if it's sunshine or if it's rain.
Rather be sittin' in a deck chair high up over Kansas City,
On a genuine old fashioned oil finish Steam Powered Aeroplane."
Here’s the songwriter, John Hartford, with Tony Rice, Vassar Clements and others. (Yeah, his vocals don’t do justice for the song.)
Great pre-sunrise morning roadtrip music, just like Pat Metheny’s “New Chataqua Highway,” or anything by Django Reinhardt and Stephan Grappelli.
[Bunk’s compiling his roadtrip list for next month. Lemme know your favorites.]
Tacky Raccoons 