Valerie June began recording and performing in 2000 (at the age of 19) and plays a combination of blues, gospel and Appalachian folk that she calls “organic moonshine roots music.”
Self-proclaimed “Bourbon-Fueled Bayou-Rock” band from Nashville, The Delta Saints lay down some serious heavy worry. They opened for Blackberry Smoke in 2014.
I think that’ll do for now. Have a great weekend (enjoy it while weekends are still legal) and we’ll see you back here tomorrow.
Guitar Wolf mixes The Ramones, Link Wray, rockabilly & 1977 punk and they call it “jet rock ‘n’ roll.” Don’t know how I missed these guys – they make some great noise.
Wesseh Freeman from Monrovia, Liberia, was almost completely blind. He built his guitar from an oil can, a neck shaped with a machete, and strings from bicycle cables. Amazing story despite a sad ending: he was 41 when he was struck by a car and died in 2018. [h/t Octopus]
That’ll do it for this episode. Have a great 3-day weekend, don’t drive through the deep water, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow.
The Byrd Theater in Richmond, VA has played the same PSA before every movie since the early ’80s, and the audience recites every word along with it. From the comments: “Wow, takes me back. the crowd participation was one of the best aspects of this PSA, a whole theatre saying “sssssick!” was amazing.”
According to John Fred & His Playboy Band, Judy had cantaloupe eyes. (The color version of this 1968 promo video was poor quality, so the guy who posted it converted it to black and white.) The song was co-written by baritone sax player Andy Bernard and lead singer John Fred Gourrier, both of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Bernard pawned some memorabilia on Cajun Pawn Stars (2012, Season 2, Episode 14).
“The Story Teller” Tom T. Hall, best known for Harper Valley PTA, passed away yesterday at the age of 85. R.I.P. to a great songwriter.
A lot of disturbing news flying around these days, but we’ll get past the insanity somehow. Meanwhile have a great weekend, cherish family and friends (except for, um, you know) and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.
“America, for all of its associations with pain and its bloody history, has always been a place of incredible hope and optimism. To be American, and particularly to come from New York City, is to be blessed.” – Eric Bibb
Eric Bibb was interviewed in April 2019 by Charlie Heat at Kensaltown Live. Jump to 01:12 for some stompin’ blues.
Let’s go one more. The Sad Sam Blues Jam features sisters Sadie Johnson (Vocals/Guitar) and Sam Johnson (Bass), with Krista Hess (Vocals/Guitar) and Matt McCarthy (Drums). Sam Motter is the wailin’ sax player. That’s what they sounded like in 2014 while still in high school!
Looks like that’ll do it for now. Gonna see if I can unclog the sidebar widgets that WorpDress arbitrarily farked up, but other than that, have a great weekend and we’ll be back tomorrow with more roughage.
Kitty, Daisy and Lewis Durham are a quirky group of siblings from London who play a mix of R&B, blues, soul, punk, rock and roll, and West Indian music. This one sounds a bit swampy to my ear, and their version of Polly Put Your Kettle On is a good ‘un. More about them here.
Jerry Jeff Walker (1942-2020) in Austin, Texas, 2014. He had a successful run in the 1970s and never stopped having fun. (Anyone who can write a song about relieving yourself in the breeze has my vote.)
This obscure band from the UK has great potential, but damn are they ugly. Cool song, though.
“It’s such a shame that you became such an issue. Oh dear Johnny, I’ll miss you.”
Breakup songs can be so sad when a family is involved. Pomplamoose is a husband-and-wife team: singer-songwriter and bassist Nataly Dawn and multi-instrumentalist Jack Conte (CEO of Patreon).
Widespread PanicStop Breaking Down Blues, Orpheum Theatre, Memphis, TN, October 19, 2014. [Jump to 01:12 to skip the noodling.]
That’s a wrap for this edition of The Saturday Matinee. See you tomorrow and we’ll do laundry.
When the people of Cuba took to the streets by the thousands in protest over the past weekend, the mainstream media in our county fired up the spin machine. It’s about COVID and shortages, they said.
They were all lying.
This video is credited with helping inspire the uprising. It says everything about the human desire to be free and Cuba’s desire to throw off the shackles of communist tyranny. If you don’t speak Spanish, make sure to watch it with the captions on.
Carlos Santana & Everlast from the 1999 Santana album Supernatural, one of my few impulse purchases. Good stuff.
(Sí, sé que Carlos no es cubano, pero aun así…)
Golden Earring was active from 1961 to 2021, and were the best known and internationally most successful rock band to come out of the Netherlands. [h/t Feral Irishman]
The Skids. The vocals are notoriously unintelligible so the song works for just about anything.
Lotta heavy stuff coming down the road, so stay alert and be safe while I go get a haircut. See you tomorrow.
“Don’t be gaslightin’ me, MoFo.” Jerry Casale (of DEVO fame) airs some grievances as Jihad Jerry & The Evildoers, a new release after a 15 year break. After three minutes of that I gotta rest my earballs.
Petty Booka features Petty and Booka, except Petty left in 1997 and was replaced with a different Petty, and in 2002 Booka left and a new Booka joined the new Petty. Here they are at Cheapo Disc in Austin, Texas, 2007 with a better version of Connie Francis’ song from 1962. (I don’t know why, but there’s some extraneous bluegrass filler from somewhere in El Paso).
Freshlyground features Zolani Mahola (the one who sings) who has one of the prettiest voices I’ve heard. The band hails from Capetown, South Africa, and their style is Afro-eclectic pop jazz – at least that’s how my ears see it.
Gonna be a hot one tomorrow – Death Valley is expected to reach 130°F so don’t go there. Go somewhere else, point and laugh at someone for no reason, and have a great weekend.
I went downstairs, made a cup of coffee, had a chat with the neighbor, took the clothes in, came back up to my laptop, and he was still holding the first “Well”.
Dale Watson, keeper of the true country music flame and the Memphis sound (despite hailing from Austin) is right up there with Johnny, Willie & Waylon – and a lot of others.
Tacky Raccoons 