Saturday Matinee – SpinCycle, Howlin’ Wolf, Howlin’ Lou,Henry Mancini & Roy Buchanon

[Found at Arbroath.]

 

Twilight Zone-ish.

 

Interesting documentary… Interviews of some of the patrons of the “Spin Cycle” laundromat somewhere in St. Paul, Minnesota.

 

Oh, yeah. “Ya ya ya aya…” Gotta post some music. Do not mock those who try. [Also found at Arbroath.]

Howlin’ Wolf’s classic “Smokestack Lightning.”

[UPDATE: The bass player in this clip is Willie Dixon. THE Willie Dixon. Sorry I missed giving him credit. Dixon wrote a number of songs that later became rock standards. He recorded some albums himself, and didn’t stutter when he sang. More after the break below.]

https://youtu.be/dechpnavTyA

“Theme to Peter Gunn.” Here’s Henry Mancini’s live version, introduced by Steve Allen. (The horn section rocks, whether you like it or not.)

Last Post on THIS Spin Cycle: The Late Great Roy Buchanan‘s explosive take on Mancini’s “Theme to Peter Gunn.” (This one’s for all you Aussies – Thanks for the hula-hoops, mates!)

Continue reading “Saturday Matinee – SpinCycle, Howlin’ Wolf, Howlin’ Lou,Henry Mancini & Roy Buchanon”

Saturday Matinee: Uncle Pen, Randy Lynne Rag, Dooley, Steam Powered Aeroplane

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.

Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs put Bluegrass on the popular map as pickin’ speed demons.

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.]

Saturday Matinee: Catfish Noodlin’, Chairman, The Commitments, Wilson Pickett & the Big O

Noodlin’ is catchin’ de fishes widdout dem bait in tackle. Feel ‘roun’ fo de ho in de mud, reach innan grab ‘im what dere. Justin Wilson be done do dat, too. Noah fence.

There are professional noodlers, and the good ones are missing fingers because snapping turtles nest the same way. (Once they got you, turtles won’t let go.)

Then there’s this. It’s cool, too, except for that giggle at the end.

[Aussie friend Phil phound the catfish catch. Chair kick found at Arbroath.]

Lookee here folks… this particular post has no theme, so it makes complete sense to post a coupla completely unrelated videos here.

“The Commitments” was a very underrated movie about a bunch of Irish misfits that came together with a love for 1960’s American R&B and pulled it off before self-destructing. Put it on your “must rent” list if you’ve not seen it.

Here’s the real deal that’s too hot to handle and too cold to hold: The Wicked Wilson Pickett’s “Land of 1000 Dances.”

Otis Redding followed in Wilson’s footsteps. Here’s “Try A Little Tenderness.” Look for Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn, Al Jackson and Booker T. Jones (Booker T. & the M.G.’s) backing him up.

Saturday Matinee: Past Future & Present Past

Vodpod videos no longer available. from s166.photobucket.com posted with vodpod

No Way. Can’t happen. Get outta here. [Via Snopes.]

1960 precursor to Star Trek from East Germany, according to the U-to0bage description:

Here’s a look at “the world’s largest supercomputer” in the socialist utopian future predicted by a 1960 East German science fiction film

The movie is “Der Schweigende Stern,” released in the west as “First Spaceship on Venus.”

Like other Soviet-bloc films, it forecast a utopian future in which socialist scientific advancement led the world.

In this scene, the scientists are using the supercomputer to decipher an alien message recorded on a device ejected from an alien spacecraft before it crashed.

And speaking of Star Trek, one of the funniest Saturday Night Live clips, (with William Shatner as Captain Kirk, Chevy Chase as Spock, Bill Murray as Bones, on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise after the series was canceled) should have appeared below. But NBC apparently convinced uT00B and g00ggle to drop all the video links for copyright violations. It’s as if NBC wanted to erase all evidence of the years when Saturday Night Live was actually funny.

So here’s this gem [originally scheduled for a later post]: The Dap-Kings featuring Sharon Jones. Music & video uses 1960’s technology for recording and taping this modern band with the stylings of early R&B. “Almost Aretha” is a pretty good compliment.

Here’s Where We Left Off…

From Yesterday’s episode:

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“‘How do I do it?’ I get the kids to do it. They made the mess in the first place. Get up off the floor, honey, and bring me a beer.”

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“Thanks, Hon! I thought we were out!”

“No, dear. Don and Betty just arrived and they brought refreshments.”

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“Well look who else showed up! It’s Olivia and Harry!”

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“What did Harry bring, dear?”

“Uh, a bottle opener… with soda. Did you tell the kids to clean the bathroom?”

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“I thought Rick and Bob were coming.”

“They’re out by the community pool, discussing very important issues of the day, and dinosaurs. They should be here soon.”

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“Don’t worry about them, Dave! We gotcha covered! What’s that racket?!”

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“It’s Brenda from the next trailer over. Let her play it a couple of times, tell her how much you like it, and she’ll stop.”

“Brenda! Is that you? How are you! I need to replace the needle on the phonograph so it doesn’t damage your record. Meanwhile, have a beer!”

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“Honey, where are the kids?”

“Cleaning the bathroom, dear, like you asked.”

[Apparently, Ted and Sally found Mommy’s anti-stress medicine and were out for the rest of the evening.]

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“Hey everybody! Supper’s almost ready, but I forgot to fillet the fish! Let’s have another round!”

“Harry, you’re such a spaz.”

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“Nothing like fish with a good ale I always say.”

“Aw, B.S. Dave. You never say that. Where’s Rick?”

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“Right behind you, John! How ’bout a little after-dinner apertif? Where’s Dan? He was supposed to have dessert ready by now.”

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“Dan? Oh Da-a-an! Where’d he wander off to this time?…”

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[Epilogue: At 7:43 pm, a fist fight erupted over the ruined dessert. 8:25pm the camera crew from COPS arrived. By 9:06pm police had shut down the party, and incarcerated the residents of the entire trailer park, excepting, of course, Ted and Sally who were still navigating multiple dimensions of existence and couldn’t be detected readily.

Everyone lived happily ever after, even though they never spoke to one another again.]

All illustrations above are from the excellent archives of Plan59.

I’m the One in the Middle.

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Bunk Strutts has a short history on SNTC that is preserved for posterity that you can find here: History of Bunk

Many of my SNTC posts are worse than the others, and I’ll prolly recycle some of them here, with links to the originals. After all, I’m not that original. I’m just another internet miner, making time to do what you don’t have time for, and all in fun.

By the way, the photo came from a guy who found someone’s family album at swap meet in southern California, and couldn’t bear to just throw ’em away, so he posted them here.

Review the photos, then tell me that you don’t know these people.

[Updated: Houseplant Studios website is defunct, updated post to link to the Wayback Machine archive.]