Gah! See how long you can stand it. (At least Mama Cass did the Mash Potato.) Sixteen years later, it was covered by Van Halen (1982):
Holy crap. That was actually worse than the Mamas & Papas’ version. It wasn’t until David Bowieand Mick Jagger got together to do a halfway decent video cover (1985):
You don’t need to watch that full video either – it’s only posted for those who have never seen it and to restore faded memories for the rest of us. All that preening and prancing takes away from the original, but finally there’s an excellent stripped-down studio cut version, vocals only (2016):
Martha Reeves is laughing her JaggerBowie off about now.
Tip ‘o the Tam to Octopus for the heads-up on the strip-down. Have a great weekend folks. See you back here tomorrow for more suffrage.
Herd mentality experiment [via]. That explains a lot.
This is THE rope trick [via]. Now let’s rock and roll.
Kim Wilson has always amazed me. One of the best blues harp players around, Wilson doesn’t get the recognition he deserves, IMO. I’m no slouch on a Hohner chromatic with a Ham Radio bullet mic, but I sure as hell can’t pull off what he does.
August 2016 – “Tasmania’s most famous wave comes to life to launch the Australian winter with a roar. When the southern hemisphere starts to rumble and shake under the weight of wild winter weather, The Stern, out there on the south-eastern tip of Tasmania, bears the full brunt of the conditions.”
That was the first John Prine song I ever heard, and I heard it before I knew who John Prine was, er, I mean is. (The first time I heard his name was in an introduction to a song the late Steve Goodman performed (and co-wrote with Prine) that he described as an attempt to write the best country song ever.)
Prine’s song “Souvenirs” is one of my favorites, it’s been covered by more than a few, and I may have posted it here before.
And here’s another Prine classic performed with Iris DeMent.
“So, Bunk why all these sad sentimental songs?” you ask?
Iron Fist passed away last night, and although I never met him (we only “knew” each other on the internet), his struggle to live reminded me of my own father’s demise last year. These songs are for Mrs. Fist, aka Velvet Glove.
I suppose the meaning of life is to enjoy the company of those who are still around. Rock on, my friends.
I was looking for a live performance of “Brazil” (perhaps by Xavier Cugat) to commemorate the Competitions of the Grecian Gods, but instead we must settle for The Theme Song to Terry Gilliam’s Brazil as performed by Geoffrey Muldaur. He was famous for marrying Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D’Amato who recorded some popular songs in 1973 about putting camels to bed, and another one about feeling her leg.
There’s no live performance for that one, so I looked for some more Olympics-themed stuff.
Procul Harum in 2013(?) playing their 1967 hit “Whiter Shade of Pale,” featuring Gary Brooker, Keith Reid, Matthew Fisher, Robin Trower, Chris Copping.
Okay, the slow dance is over. Let’s crank it up.
Clarence Gatemouth Brown (1924-2005) burns through “Pressure Cooker” and “Up Jumped The Devil.” Amazing musician, and his 1981 album “Alright Again!” is one of my favorites.
Unusual animation from the 1980s. It reminds me of Terry Gilliam‘s “Brazil” from the same period, and it’s apropos, given yesterday’s #Brexit vote in the UK.
Chet Atkins‘ version of the jazz classic “Muskrat Ramble.” This is perfect early morning sunrise roadtrip music. From Wiki:
“Muskrat Ramble” is a jazz composition written by Kid Ory in 1926. It was first recorded on February 26, 1926, by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five, and became the group’s most frequently recorded piece.
There’s some dispute over the authorship of the song, as Lil Hardin (pianist, composer, arranger, singer, bandleader, and the 2nd Mrs. Armstrong) may have come up with it and missed out on the credit. According to Sidney Bechet, Hardin merely renamed a song stolen by Kid Ory from Buddy Bolden (“The Old Cow Died and the Old Man Cried”). Eh… I’m not a jazz historian so we’ll leave it at that.
Satchmo in Munich 1962. I love this stuff.
Just a few years later, Joe McDonald stole the same music, renamed it, put words to it and performed it at Woodstock as an anti-Vietnam War protest song. (I didn’t realize until I scanned his bio – McDonald’s parents were communists and he was named after Joseph Stalin. Now it all makes sense.)
Yeah, we all know about the bloodshed that happened after South Vietnam got chumped, Joe, and I bet you never paid any royalties to Ory, Hardin or Armstrong either.
Okay, let’s lighten it up a tad.
Live from Tokyo, it’s The New Orleans Jazz Hounds. Recorded 14 May 2016, it features Kikuchi Haruka, Tamura Makiko, Sato Shingo. I don’t know who plays what, but it’s still a nice tribute.
Have a great weekend, folks. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.
