Tag: Saturday Matinee

Saturday Matinee – The Gunfighter, Freddie Bell & the Bell Boys, The Bus Boys, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band

“In a small town in the old west, a lone and weary gunfighter enters a saloon.” The Gunfighter is a classic short by Eric Kissack (narrated by Nick Offerman). NSFK content, language.
[h/t Andy D.]

Freddie Bell & the Bell Boys “Giddy Up A Ding Dong” (1956) as performed in Rock Around The Clock, (a showcase movie featuring DJ Alan Freed). The song was written in 1953 by Freddie Bell and his friend Peppino “Pep” Lattanzi.

The Bell Boys played covers of black R&B artists, including Big Mama Thornton’s Hound Dog. Elvis Presley heard Bell’s version and decided to record it in 1955. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band covered Giddy Up A Ding Dong (with matching choreography) in 1973.

The Bus Boys had a great retro sound and were featured on SNL and in the 1982 movie 48 Hours.

New Orleans’ famous Preservation Hall Jazz Band was founded by Pennsylvanian Allan Jaffe in the early 1960s as a dixieland revival group, and that song wasn’t at all what I expected.

Have a great weekend, folks. Be home by 9:59pm so the ‘rona don’t gitcha, or stay out to 10:01pm and you’ll earn some serious ‘vid-kickin’ braggin’ rights.

Saturday Matinee – Alexandre Nicolas Theroude, Joe Rinaudo, Mayer Hawthorne & The Beat Farmers

“Au siècle de la révolution industrielle, la technologie des automates est maîtrisée principalement par les artisans français. Alexandre-Nicolas Théroude, le créateur de cette pièce pour laquelle il a déposé un brevet en 1866, est connu pour avoir le premier su enfermer le mécanisme dans le corps de l’automate.”

“Flautiste” – Life-size Flute Player Automaton by Alexandre Nicolas Theroude (1807-1883), Paris, France, c.1869-77.

Joe Rinaudo and the American Fotoplayer  on “California’s Gold” with (the late) Huell Howser, Season 17, Episode 7, February 18th, 2006.
From the YouTube comments:

  • “Ladies and Gentlemen: Please rise for our 2020 National Anthem.“
  • “If people could read my mind, this is what they’d see.”
  • “This is baby makin’ music for clowns.”

Mayer Hawthorne has the Motown sound down. I heard this and thought “Why don’t I remember that one?” He once stated that, when working as a hip hop DJ, he began recording his own Motown-style tracks to avoid paying fees for sampling other artists’ work. That video made me grin. An excerpt of “The Walk” was used in a Blue Moon beer TV commercial in 2017.

The Beat Farmers were a great band from So. California. I got to see them several times in the 80s, and Road of Ruin seems appropriate for our times. (Two of the original members are gone: Country Dick Montana and Buddy Blue.)

Yeah, we may be on the road of ruin depending on how you look at things, and I’m not talking about the current election fraud. It’s the bigger picture that concerns me. Not much I can do about it.

See you back here tomorrow, rain or shine, and we’ll do something stupid together.

Aw hell. I just gotta post this. GOTTA.

The Saturday Matinee – BLR Debate Night, Spencer Davis Group, John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, and La Bamba

Just click play. It’s worth it.

Spencer Davis passed away this week at the age of 81.  What a legend.

John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers (with Mick Taylor) 19 July 2003, 70th Birthday Concert. The “Father of British Blues” was born on 29 November 1933, but so what.

We started this recording on a back porch in East Los Angeles With members of Los Lobos, And Then returned to the roots of the song in Veracruz, Mexico. As we Traveled, musicians everywhere mixed the traditional and rock ‘n’ roll styles of “La Bamba” into a new Song Around The World. – Playing For Change

Guaranteed to be the best version of the traditional you’ve never heard. Have a great weekend, folks. We’re not going anywhere, so stop back here tomorrow for, you know, stuff.

 

The Saturday Matinee – Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express, Link Wray w/ Robert Gordon & Santana

Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express live at Winterland 29 November 1975, San Francisco, CA. Early jazz fusion at its best. Lineup:

Brian Auger – organ, vocals;
Jack Mills – lead guitar;
Alex Ligertwood – vocals, guitar, percussion;
Clive Chaman – bass;
Lennox Langton – congas;
Dave Dowle – drums.

Robert Gordon‘s 1977 cover of Billy Lee Riley‘s 1957 cover of Billy ‘The Kid’ Emerson‘s 1955 recording of Red Hot got a lot of radio play. Now about that legendary guitar ripper…

Link Wray‘s recording career spanned decades, 1958 to 2000, and it’s hard to pinpoint when he was really at his prime. Wray was ranked No. 45 of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time bu Rolling Stone, and is considered the “Father of the Power Chord.” Other fun facts: his parents were Shawnee and Cherokee; he was a Korean War veteran; he lost a lung due to tuberculosis in 1956.

Carlos Santana‘s 1999 album Supernatural is one of my favorites. Can’t believe it came out over two decades ago.

That kinda wraps things up until tomorrow. See you then.

Saturday Matinee – Android 207, Talking Heads, Tito Larriva, Johnny Nash & Krosfyah

Android 207 is a fun stop-motion from Carrotkid (Paul Whittington). In 2007, the film received the Best Film, Best Technical and People’s Choice awards at the Vancouver Island Short Film Festival. I’ve posted it before, and it’s still one of my favorites.

Classic Talking Heads video won “Best Group Video” at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1987. I probably posted it before also – I couldn’t find a live version of …oh wait, just found one.

Tito Larriva plays Radio Head in the movie TRUE Stories (1986). Larriva was a founding member of The Plugz.

Lost another great talent this week. Johnny Nash (1940-2020) was born in Houston, Texas, but moved to Jamaica in 1965, where rocksteady was big and reggae was just beginning to gain in popularity. Video is from Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, 1968.

Krosfyah‘s single Pump Me Up (1995) was a hit in Barbados, went gold in Canada. Great Soca.

That’s a wrap, at least for now. See you tomorrow and we’ll mess with stuff.

Saturday Matinee – Andrea Motis & friends, Stéphane Grappelli w/ Bill Coleman, Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks

Spanish singer and Jazz trumpeter Andrea Motis does Dizzy.

On the Saturday afternoon of the 6th Jazzing Festival, September 2019, there was a concert at the Bar Colombia in Sant Andreu town centre (a district of Barcelona, Spain) with Joan Chamorro, Andrea Motis, Carla Motis and Josep Traver plus some of the Sant Andreu Jazz Band including Joan Marti, Alba Armengou, Elia Bastida, Alba Esteban, Pablo Ruiz and Anastasia Ivanova (their guest from Moscow) here performing ‘On the Sunny Side of the Street.’

Bill Coleman (1904-1981) & Stephane Grappelli (1908-1997) ca. 1976. Great stuff for early morning forty miles to East Jesus road trips, or just sitting on the back porch watching the world go by.

Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks (with the Acoustic Warriors) 1989 reunion concert on Austin City Limits. Hicks had a solid fan base, but he got into alcohol and drugs, pissed off a lot of people. Years passed before he cleaned up his act and started over. DH&HHL came onto my radar in 1978 with (what my ears heard as) “Crazy Cuzzie Iz.” Thought he was singing about a family member.

Let’s do something tomorrow. See you then.

Saturday Matinee – 2020 Cast Interviews, Big Bug, Gatemouth Brown & Roy Clark, Ry Cooder w/ Buckwheat Zydeco & Lenny Kravitz, and The Fabulous Thunderbirds

Well done satire, that.

Big Bug vid found here.

Clarence Gatemouth Brown & Roy Clark (with Leon Rhodes) do some serious pickin’ on Hee Haw (1979). If this ain’t roadtrip music, nothing is.

Ry Cooder, Buckwheat Zydeco and Lenny Kravitz, having some fun in New Orleans 2005.

The Fabulous Thunderbirds cover T-Bone Walker‘s The Hustle Is On (1950). Not sure of the date or location.

That’ll do for now. Gonna get some R&R and see you back here tomorrow as far as you know.

Saturday Matinee – HM Royal Marine Band, Kapua+Tatofi+Maoli, Redbone & Billy Preston

Post Horn Galop – The Bands of HM Royal Marines. Amazing post horn fanfare duel.

Hawaiians Kaipo Kapua, Josh Tatofi and Nu’u Maoli. This medley should be named “See A Minor, Effin’ G.” Those vocals are tight.

Redbone had a nice run in the 70s, Witch Queen of New Orleans being one of my favorites for the swamp-rock sound. Very underrated band IMO, even if they did wander into the pop playpen occasionally. “Come and Get Your Love” (1974) was an earful of soul.

Billy Preston sported one of the greatest ‘fros in the business, and wrote one of the best instrumental jams ever – Outta Space. This version is from 1987.

Have a great holiday weekend, have some fun despite what the scolds say, and we’ll do more stuff tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Skywatch, Fundo de Quintal OFC, Grupo Fundo de Quintal & Planet Drum

When two outcast teens hack into a ubiquitous drone delivery system to pull a prank on their neighbor, they accidentally crash-land a dangerous prototype – and find themselves entangled in a life-and-death conspiracy.

Apparently it’s scheduled to be made into a TV series produced by Seth Macfarlane [via]

“Life in the countryside is not an easy life,” says Simão, explaining how the band shaped their unique sound. “Here there is nothing, no access to singing lessons, theater, or a place to buy instruments. So we are going to beat our improvised little things.”

Fundo de Quinal OFC is a lot of head-scratching fun. [Found here. More info here.] They took their name from these guys:

Grupo Fundo de Quintal or simply Fundo de Quintal (Backyard Group, roughly) is a Samba band which appeared in Rio de Janeiro in the late 1970s. Smooth rhythms.

Mickey Hart & Planet Drum revamped the Grateful Dead classic Fire On The Mountain. If you don’t have it in your collection, get this.

Have a great weekend, folks, watch out for The Stupids, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow just for the hell of it.

 

Saturday Matinee – George Duke & Dweezil Zappa, MonoNeon & skArmy

George Duke showed up to play Zappa’s classic Uncle Remus with Dweezil Zappa‘s band in 2010. (If you like George Duke, this behind the scenes rehearsal from1978 is kinda fun. Jump to 02:50.)

Ignore the clickbait title – it’s a killer groove by MonoNeon. He’s right-handed, but plays left-handed on an upside-down right-handed bass. Dude can cover Zappa, too.

skArmy covers Save Ferris‘s cover of Dexy’s Mightnight Runners‘s Come On Eileen is a good one to wrap it up.

Have a great weekend folks, gonna do something tomorrow.