Tag: Music

Saturday Matinee – Playing For Change, Rolling Stones, Steppenwolf & Meatloaf

The Stones‘ “Gimme Shelter” by multinational conglomeration Playing For Change, created by American producer Mark Johnson, is very cool. (Watch for Taj Mahal.)

I find it odd that they would choose that particular song, as it’s forever linked to a free rock festival in 1969 that ended up in tragedy at Altamont Speedway, California, much of it due to the actions of the hired “police” – Sonny Barger & The Hell’s Angels.

The event is best known for having been marred by considerable violence, including one homicide and three accidental deaths: two caused by a hit-and-run car accident and one by drowning in an irrigation canal. Four births were reported during the event. Scores were injured, numerous cars were stolen and then abandoned, and there was extensive property damage.

From the same year, Steppenwolf had a hit with the greatest biker song ever – “Born To Be Wild.” Okay, where do we go from here? Oh wait. I know.

That’s for José from Spain who tutored me on cryptanalysis, and recently discovered the wonderworld of Meat Loaf.

Have a great weekend folks, and be back here tomorrow for Day 3 of our 6th Glorious Year of pure awesomenecessity.

Saturday Matinee – The Olympics, Roger Miller, The Clash, Manfred Mann, Pink Floyd & Yeoman Warden

The Olympics were an underrated vocal group (see Walter Ward and the Challengers) and there are few live vids on the Utoobage; however, there’s a nice collection of recordings here.

Roger Miller‘s “England Swings.” I hate that song, and I hope you do, too.

The song was written by Bruce Springsteen, but those guys did it better. Manfred Mann’s Earth Band was underrated here in the States as Mann was stuck with his 1964 cover of The Exciters’ “Do Wah Diddy Diddy.”

Pink Floyd is another Brit treasure who have been around longer than you think. That vid’s from 1969.

The Clash – one of the great early punk bands, influenced and encouraged by The Ramones.

We posted this previously, but it’s worth a repost. Yeoman Warden explains why the Brits were not to be messed with. If you’ve never clicked on a single vid that we’ve posted here, click on that one and pay close attention. Then you’re going to want to hunt down and pay attention to the rest of the 6 part series of awesome.

Have a great weekend, folks, and be back here tomorrow for more stuff.

Saturday Matinee – Sugar Pie DeSanto, Hubert Sumlin, Sunnyland Slim, Willie Dixon & Clifton James

Here’s Sugar Pie DeSanto‘s version of Jimmy Reed‘s 1955 hit “Baby What You Want Me To Do,” backed by  Hubert Sumlin/Guitar, Sunnyland Slim/Piano, Willie Dixon/Bass & Clifton James/Drums (1964).

Here’s some more: Hubert Sumlin, Sunnyland Slim and Willie Dixon, with “Come On Home Baby.” (1964)

The Chicago Blues Allstars (undated) featuring Willie Dixon/Bass, Lafeyete Leake/Piano, Lee Jackson/Guitar, Clifton James/Drums.

Got it? Good. Have a great weekend, folks.

Happy Trails

Rhinehart’s Guitars are amazing. With this one you can play both kinds of music – Country AND Western. He’s got custom guitars for every genre you can think of including some that you can’t.

[Found here.]

Saturday Matinee – MMA Mismatch 1998, LogoRama, Brother Phelps, The Kentucky Headhunters & Roy Buchanan

600 lbs vs 169 lbs. in a match from 1998 – 431 lbs. was apparently the greatest weight differential in MMA history. Place your bets, then hit play. [h/t garycooper]

Great animation and concept, despite the not-so-subtle message. PG13 for language & violence. [h/t Internet Septic Tank Engineer]

UPDATE – Here’s the background from Wiki:

Logorama is a 16-minute French animated film written and directed by H5/ François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy and Ludovic Houplain, and produced by Autour de Minuit. The film depicts events in a stylized Los Angeles, and is told entirely through the use of more than 2,500 contemporary and historical logos and mascots.

Brother Phelps from 1995, with “Any Way The Wind Blows.” Naming the band after their Minister father, brothers Rickie Lee and Doug Phelps previously recorded with The Kentucky Headhunters.

“Honky Tonk Walkin’.” First I heard The Kentucky Headhunters was their electric version of Sons of the Pioneers‘ “Davey Crockett” and it cracked me up.

Bill Doggett‘s “Honky Tonk” was a classic instrumental hit in 1956 . Here’s the late Roy Buchanan‘s version.

Okay, that’s enough for today. Have a great weekend, be back here for more tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Hey Baby ’59

Before you click on that first video, I gotta tell you something. Bunkarina sent it to me from the living room last night. Although I recognized the song immediately, I couldn’t name it or identify the original artist, let alone date it correctly. Had I been betting, I would have lost my shorts.

Now THAT is how to ask a girl to Senior Prom. Had I only known.

Hey Baby. On the beach.

In the rec hall. From the comments: Ha! – check out :34 – :36, looks like she’s popping her head in the door and thinking about being your girl!

DJ Ötzi’s version is cool, too.

That’s Bruce Channel and Delbert McClinton in 2003. Channel wrote it in 1959, recorded it, and it became a No 1 Hit in 1962.

50 years later, it’s still a hit for a high school prom invitation, and that makes me smile. Have a great weekend folks. See you back here tomorrow, when I will explain why “boobs” is now in the tagline.

Saturday Matinee – Vinyl Throw, Blackboard Jungle, Groovie Movie, & Hellzapoppin’

Even though it looks like a hoax, it makes me sad – no respect.

Yeah Daddio, Blackboard Jungle, 1955. Not much has changed since then, and they busted 78s in that movie, too. On the other hand, it introduced Bill Haley & The Comets, redefined them from rockabilly into rock and roll.

“Groovie Movie” short from 1944 – How to Jitterbug. Pay attention – there’s some hot stuff there, but nothing beats the Slim Slam Allstars.

Slim Galliard (piano, guitar) and Slam Stewart (bass) from the 1941 movie Hellzapoppin’. Killer stuff, that. Yeah, we posted it before, but so what. It’s great, especially because the clip begins with a tribute to jazz that was still popular just a few years prior.

Have a great weekend, folks, and tell your mom Bunk said Happy Mothers Day.

Saturday Matinee & Cinco de Mayo – Tijuana Brass, Snacktime, Tim Armstrong & HorrorPops

Cinco de Mayo has its roots in the French occupation of Mexico, which took place in the aftermath of the Mexican-American War of 1846-48, the Mexican Civil War of 1858, and the 1860 Reform Wars. These wars left the Mexican Treasury in ruins and nearly bankrupt. On July 17, 1861, Mexican President Benito Juárez issued a moratorium in which all foreign debt payments would be suspended for two years. In response, France, Britain, and Spain sent naval forces to Veracruz to demand reimbursement. Britain and Spain negotiated with Mexico and withdrew, but France, at the time ruled by Napoleon III, decided to use the opportunity to establish a Latin empire in Mexico that would favor French interests, the Second Mexican Empire. [Wiki]

So in other words, a nearly bankrupt country stopped paying bills until three big debt collectors showed up. Two of them settled, but the third took it a step further. Mr. Françoise (aka Lucky Pierre) knocked on the door and said, “Nice place you got here. Shame if anything should happen to it.” The rest is history.

In celebration of Cinco de Mayo, here’s Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass with some very embarrassing people of European heritage dancing. (No one in Alpert’s band was actually Hispanic.)

Jonco finds stuff on the internest that nobody else can see, and here’s proof.

Tim Armstrong Ska. [via]

Any band named HorrorPops gets my vote (and we’ve posted about them here before). There’s something inherently cool about a mashup between punk, psychobilly, hotrods and Denmark. Besides, they got a curvy girl with tatts on stand up bass singing lead.

With that, have a great weekend, folks.

Saturday Matinee – Space Night, John Prine, Walk Off The Earth, Cowboy Mouth & Rick Danko

Inspired by a version of the opening sequence of this clip called ‘What does it feel like to fly over planet Earth?’, I tracked down the original time-lapse sequence taken on the International Space Station (ISS) via NASA, found some additional ones there, including the spectacular Aurora Australis sequences, and set it to a soundtrack that almost matches the awe and wonder I feel when I see our home from above.

Time lapse of Earth at night is VERY cool.

For all the haole napo’opo’o here, John Prine‘s “Let’s Talk Dirty In Hawaiian” fills in the gaps.

Walk Off The Earth performs The Beatles‘ “From Me To You.”

Cowboy Mouth Rocks the House. From the Utoobage comments:

part theater, part revival, part frat party, part mardi gras. you will be forever changed after a CM show, whether fred sprays you with sweat, tosses you a drum stick, snarls-smiles, exhorts you to leap, sing or get down. its a jolt of energy. you wont need caffeine for days.

The late Rick Danko‘s acoustic version of “When You Awake.” RIP Levon Helm.

That’s a wrap. Have a great weekend, folks.

Saturday Matinee – Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, The Bamboos, & Rufus Thomas

Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears ” Sugarfoot.” Pure retro soul/funk.

The Bamboos, live at Revolver 2006. I recognize the song but don’t know the name.

Rufus Thomas, live at Wattstax 1972, with “Breakdown.”

That’s a wrap for a late post, and enough funk R&B and soul to hold you until tomorrow (or not). Have  a great weekend.