Saturday Matinee – A Band of Bees, The Hi-Jivers & The Future Shape of Sound

A Band of Bees got a bit of swampy jug band in their blood.

Nashville retro-rockers The Hi-Jivers, filmed in the Torremolinos hills of Spain during the 2020 Rockin’ Race Jamboree.
Dawna Zahn – Vocals
Austin John – Guitar
Hank Miles – Upright Bass
Jason Smay – Drums

Lord help me. I don’t think I’ve heard shakedown gospel this good since Sister Rosetta Tharpe. This is The Future Shape of Sound.

Gonna get hot again this week, maybe get wet, maybe not. See you back here tomorrow for an in-depth discussion, or maybe we’ll do something else instead.

Saturday Matinee – The Dixie Hummingbirds, A1 Hundo & The Brothers Comatose

The Dixie Hummingbirds on Jubilee Showcase in 1964. James Walker on lead vocals. Formed in 1928, and with changing lineups, they have performed for over 90 years.

A1 Hundo resurrects the grooves of Booker T. & The MG’s. Hard to find anything about the band.

The Brothers Comatose did a happy doomsday song.

Gotta go, but we’ll be back tomorrow. Have a great weekend.

Saturday Matinee – SOUR, A Southern Gospel Revival, The Kentucky Headhunters & The Reverend Horton Heat

SOUR日々の音色 (Hibi no neiro)‘  video from 2009 coordinated Zoom before Zoom.

A Southern Gospel Revival updates classic gospel with amazing vocals and bluegrass.

The Kentucky Headhunters showed up on my radar long ago with the best (and only?) cover of Davy Crockett ever. Glad to see they’re still having fun.

Reverend Horton Heat tells the story before he growls out Motörhead‘s classic Ace of Spades.

Running out of useful brain cells tonight, so have a great weekend and we’ll see you back her tomorrow for no good reason at all.

Saturday Matinee – Johnny Blues Cárdenasis, Percy Wiggins & The Bo-Keys, & Wycliffe Gordon’s Big Band

Johnny  “Johnny Blues” Cárdenasis is a blind self-taught street  musician from Santiago, Chile, who plays nothing but roots blues. There are  interviews with him on the Utoobage, but they lack captions and my Spanish is rusty.

The Bo-Keys featuring soul gospel singer Percy Wiggins.

Big band speed skat courtesy Wycliffe Gordon. The video comments section is an eyeroller.

Ran out of time for this edition – too much real life bouncing in my noggin. See you tomorrow when things cool down a tad.

 

Saturday Matinee – Floorboarding, The Paul Whiteman Orchestra, The Jubalaires & A Burberry Ad

Great animation followed by “the making of” [via].

Paul Whiteman was known as the King of Jazz, and no one as yet has come near carrying that title with more certainty and dignity. – Duke Ellington

Remastered footage from the 1930 movie King of Jazz (filmed entirely in two-color Technicolor) featured the Paul Whiteman Orchestra performing Happy Feet. Some amazing dance moves in that clip.

The Jubalaires – Orville Brooks, Ted Brooks, J.C. Ginyard & George McFadden – were a gospel group who recorded in the 40’s & 50’s. This version of Noah has a unnecessary modification towards the end, but it sorta works.

Singin’ in the Rain is one of the better ads I’ve seen, and I’m still not sure what they’re selling. [via].

I guess that’s eclectic enough for this edition. Have a great holiday weekend, see you tomorrow for the the post-Christmas sales.

Saturday Matinee – Andre Antunes, The Cleverlys, Ricky Skaggs & The Whiskey Gentry

Hold onto your earflaps people. Andre Antunes has a hit on his plate, and he included the lyrics so everyone can sing along.

The Cleverlys Who’s That Knockin’ At My Door is pure gospel bluegrass. Awesome happens at 02:30 with Irl Hees on bass. He’s no longer with the band.

In November 2019, Mr. Hees was charged with felony domestic battery in the second degree and felony aggravated assault of a household member.

“Hees said the argument was over his communication with an ex-wife. He said at some point during the argument, Heather DuBroc walked into the kitchen, picked a pistol up off the kitchen table, and pointed the weapon at him.” [Source]

Ricky Skaggs is one of the greatest mandolin players to come out of the 1980s bluegrass revival, and Highway 40 Blues is one of my favorite early morning roadtrip songs. Skaggs continues performing at the Grand Ole Opry.

Another of my favorites is the ballad of Colly Davis, written by Steven F. Brines and Jim Smoak. I’ve heard a few versions, but this one by The Whiskey Gentry blew me away.

That should keep you rollin’ a while. Have a great weekend folks, and do whatever seems righteous. See you back here tomorrow for more things to click on.

Saturday Matinee – The Birds, The Ramones, The Lovell Sisters & The Reverend Horton Heat

The 2nd vid provides the soundtrack for the 1st. View the 1st while listening to the 2nd.

 

The flocking grackles(?) were recorded in a Walmart parking lot somewhere in Texas.

The Ramones covered the Trashmen righteously.
The latter took their name from a 1961 song by Kai Ray (aka Ray Caire) “Trashman’s Blues.”

The Lovell Sisters play roots-country/bluegrass, and that vid is from 2009. 2/3rds of The Lovell Sisters comprise Larkin Poe, and they just released their 5th studio album.

The first recorded (and published) version of “Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed” was by Blind Willie Johnson in 1927, but the origins of the hymn are unknown – it may date to 1600s England.

Apparently the Reverend Horton Heat got a Whole New Life in 2018, two full years ahead of the rest of us.

Have a great weekend folks, now that our keepers have generously returned a bit of freedom. I’m gonna get a haircut and eat cheeseburgers, and I dare anyone to stop me. See you back here tomorrow unless the apocalypse is expedited.

Saturday Matinee – Tony Joe White, Jane Rose, Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band & RelaxTrio

BTW, that’s “poke sallet” for you city slickers. Poke is poisonous, and I remember it being called “hillbilly acid.” Young pokeweed is edible when cooked, but no U.S. food organization endorses the consumption of pokeweed regardless of how it is prepared, and the berries can kill you. It’s a lanky odd-looking weed with purple stems, grows to +6 feet.

“Sallet” is of French origin and refers to a mess of greens (including spinach, mustard greens, etc.) cooked until tender.

Jane Rose is nasty. I love it.

Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band is worth a listen. Country gospel rock is always good for the soul.

Finnish band RelaxTrio kicks psycho billy to a new level of psycho billy, whatever that means, but that girl pounds bass.

Linda Teränen (Vocals & double bass)
Oskari Nieminen (Vocals & guitar)
Vilho Voutilainen (Drums & backing vocals)

Have a great weekend, folks. Be back here tomorrow for more whatever.

Like this:

The Saturday Matinee – Mississippi Fred McDowell, Roscoe Holcomb & The Dixie Hummingbirds

Mississippi Fred McDowell‘s version of Bukka White‘s “Shake ‘Em On Down.” (This version is hot, too.)

Roscoe Holcomb plays “Graveyard Blues.” Pure Appalachian finger style guitar. So where can we go from here? Oh wait. I know.

The Dixie Hummingbirds are one of the greatest soul Gospel groups ever, with a track record dating to 1928. We’re all on God’s Radar whether you accept it or not, and that’s a wrap for this edition of the Saturday Matinee.

Saturday Matinee – Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Willie Dixon and a Big Wad of Blues

Sister Rosetta Tharpe‘s  version of “Didn’t It Rain” (Manchester, England in 1964). She exemplified the musical connection between gospel, blues and rock and roll. The song first appeared as piano sheet music in 1927, but I’d guess it dates to the 1800s [h/t Bunkessa].

What a treasure trove this is [via]. In the early 1960s The Blues was largely ignored in the U.S., yet many classic artists found a receptive audience  in Britain. From the Utoobage description:

“Recorded live for TV broadcast throughout Britain, these historic performances have been unseen for nearly 40 years. Filmed with superb camera work and pristine sound, 14 complete performances and 4 bonus performances are included by Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, Lonnie Johnson, Big Joe Williams, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Sugar Pie DeSanto, Howlin’ Wolf, Big Joe Turner, Junior Wells, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.”

Spotted Willie Dixon on bass in that vid, so let’s post this:

Yeah, he stuttered in real life, yet Dixon wrote and performed an incredible amount of classic blues tunes.

This compilation should hold you for a while. Have a great weekend, folks, and may you never be nervous.

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