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.
Archers of Loaf. Great 3-chord rock. According to Wiki, they disbanded, reformed, broke up and now reorganized before disappearing completely.
In 2009, The Axis of Awesome discovered the secret 4-chord progression required to make a hit record.
Zappa’s “Variations on the Carlos Santana Secret Chord Progression” is a classic. Unfortunately the video is not an actual performance, but a compilation of images pasted over the music. So what. I still like it. We’ll let Carlos Santana have the last word.
Woodstock put Carlos Santana on the map in 1969. Great jam.
Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here tomorrow and we’ll mess around with stuff.
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.
“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.]
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.
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.
Por Uhklelelas nailed it, and that’s the prettiest version of the song I ever heard. Unfortunately I can’t find a link to their website. On the other hand I can link to this:
Bill Tapia, aka,The Duke of the Uke, calls the chords. Huell Howser interviewed him.
Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here tomorrow whether you like it or not.
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
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.
Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks had an unusual sound for a band based in San Francisco at the peak of the psychedelic music era. From an obit in the New York Times 7 February 2016:
“He came to call his music “folk swing,” but that only hinted at the range of influences he synthesized. He drew from the American folk tradition but also from the Gypsy jazz of Django Reinhardt, the Western swing of Bob Wills, the harmony vocals of the Andrews Sisters, the raucous humor of Fats Waller and numerous other sources.”
Hicks was still performing up until his demise at the age of 74.
THAT is the prettiest (and only) cover of Tom Waits‘ classic “The Piano Has Been Drinking” I’ve ever heard. The backup vocals are sultry, and note the subtle hat-tip at about 03:00.
Have a great weekend folks, and a long one if you’re taking advantage of a mid-week Independence Day.
Tacky Raccoons 