Tag: Saturday Matinee

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 Bonus: Tacky Raccoon, Sticky Blonde, and BART


Raccoon enters through pet door. Scopes out the kitchen.
Will he go for the cat food? Nah.
Will he go for the dog food? Nope.
This one knows exactly what he wants and knows how to get it.

She’s obviously tech support for Microsoft. (To be honest, I’d prolly be doing the same thing if I hadda work in a cubicle like that.)

Nancy Cartwright’s 2004 interview in Australia.
“I’m Bart Simpson, man. Who the hell are you?”

Saturday Matinee: You Don’t Own Me, Johnny. Don’t You Know It’s the End of the World, Baz?

I don’t own Leslie Gore. She owned me up until I saw her hairdo and horseface. Bunky just sealed his eyeballs shut and listened.

I remember hearing this on the battery powered transistor radio I got for Christmas that I hid under my pillow, and Skeeter Davis sounded so purty. She’s another one who had a great voice and a bad hairdo. (I’d never seen her until a few minutes ago, but I was in love with her when I was about 8.)

Then there’s k.d. lang. Just ’cause she gotta big caboose and a butch haircut doesn’t mean I don’t like her music.

And then there’s poor Baz. [Tip o’ the tarboosh to Phil. He says it’s been around for a few years, and somehow he knew that I’d like it by saying so on his Blog From Down Under.]

Speaking of Down Under, some time ago, when WordPress was revamping it’s vamps, I was unable to add the video above to this post. Found a new link for it by accident, so here it is.

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: You are a Fluke. OK Go. I Do.

Here’s a National Lampoon classic, Deteriorata, updated with a slide show. And since you were wondering, Bunk’s God is both a hairy thunderer AND a cosmic muffin.

Here at TR we like the Odd, the Unusual, and the unrecognizable green stuff in the back of the refrigerator that controls the light.

Once in a while the O and U both jump up to bite us in the crackerbockles when we least expect it. Miss Bunkessa Strutts found this gem, and while the song is not remarkable, the video is clever, as are the other videos seeping from the cranial orifices of the band known as “OK GO.”

Enough of that. Back in the middle of the plastic band war years, this one stood out. Here’s the J.Geils Band c.1983 doing a cover of the Marvelow‘s 1965 hit “I Do” with Peter Wolf and Magic Dick presiding. Hope you like it.

[No linkoids? Try here, here and here.]

Saturday Matinee: Oddness, S.O.T.W. & Doggy Doo

Something nicely odd about this one. I think I might be a Maximov fan.

Strangely entertaining: S.O.T.W by a Japanese orchestra. Wait for the vocals. Nice version overall. (Here’s the link to Deep Purple live in Japan, and lastly this trainwreck.)

After those two, what I really wanted to hear was a country/western song about dog poop, and I knew just where to look. So, here’s Pinkard & Bowden, two great musicians that you’ve heard but never heard of (and Bunky ain’ta gonna tell you why).

[First video link found at Kitty’s place even though she was talking about something else entirely. Second video link from Arbroath. Third link deliberately hunted down on the Utoobage.]

Saturday Matinee: “What the Duck?”

Waddlin’, waddlin’, waddlin’, Though the pond is coddlin’
Keep them duckies waddlin’, Raw Duck!
Rain and wind and weather, Hell-bent in feather,
Wishin’ my gal was by my side.
All the things I’m missin’, Good vittles, love, and kissin’,
Are waiting at the end of my ride.

Cull ’em out, pluck ’em off, pluck ’em off, cull ’em out
Cull ’em out, pluck ’em off, Raw Duck

Dress ’em up, lay ’em down, lay ’em down, baste ’em up
Make sure the oven’s preheated to 375 because no one likes

Raw Duck!

from arbroath.blogspot.co posted with vodpod

Being a duckboy is hard work. Here’s more proof:

This Duck needs no introduction:

Finally, here’s an Odd Duck. Democrat presidential candidate and zen master, Alaska’s former Senator Mike Gravel has the most bizarre political non-political ad I’ve ever seen, and it creeps me out a little:

We assume the message is “Don’t mess with Gravel. He’ll mess up your pond reflections.”

Saturday Matinee: One Domino Trashes a Town, and unrelated stuff

According to Arbroath, this was Guiness’ most expensive television advertisement to date, costing 10m pounds (about $2.1 million US bucks). Filmed in a village in Argentina, the whole town came out to watch. If our crack webminers can find a link to a “making of” video, we’ll update this post, but it’s more likely we’ll just tip a stout and be done with it.

Totally unrelated to the video above, our crack webminers turned up a video from 1970, from the Flip Wilson Show. This broadcast changed my life… or at least a good part of it.

The band appeared at Woodstock. Yes, that Woodstock, 1969. These guys played alongside Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Crosby Stills & Nash, Mountain, Arlo Guthrie, Country Joe & the Finch, Richie Havens, Carlos Santana, Joni Mitchell, Melanie, Joan B. Depressed, Bobby Bieber and the SlimJims, Brittney Spears, etc.

Bunk was too young to attend Woodstock, but Bunk was allowed to watch TV. This is what Bunky witnessed at his grandparents house and loved it. ShaNaNa was IT.

This was Bunk’s introduction to DooWop. ShaNaNa sent me on a mission to hear the original versions by the Marcels, the Paragons, Dion, Gene Chandler, the Isley Brothers, the Zodiacs, the Del-Vikings, the Chips, the Chords, the Channels, Harvey & the Moonglows, Shep and the Limelights, the Ronnettes, the Shirelles, Leon Redbone, Led Zeppelin, Dread Zeppelin, Bob Marley and the Wailers, the Police, the Ramones, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, the Stray Cats, Frank Zappa, the Aquabats, the Skatalites, Moms Mabley and the Beat Farmers (featuring the late Country Dick Montana)… and not necessarily in that order. Oh, and I forgot the Solid Voidz featuring Big Don P.

Fill in the band(s) I might have missed in the comments section.