Happy New Year’s Eve 2023 – End of Year Playlist

Thought I might do something different this New Years Eve. Buried in the Archives are over 100 tunes that deserve a replay, at least in my opinion. Some are pure awesome, others are eye-rollers, but all are songs that pleased my earballs in 2023. Each set is in no particular order, one click and you’re off to the races. Have at it.

Set 1 – January, February, March

Set 2 – April, May, June, July

Set 3 – August, September, October, November & December

And one more thing: Happy New Year!

Auld Lang Syne Boogie, Freddie Mitchell Orchestra (1949)


[Caveat: I don’t own the copyrights to any of these recordings. They are presented here for entertainment purposes only. Apologies for the typo in the first track – That’s Stéphane Grappelli.]

Mendaciloquencent Hot Links

I’ve Never Found A Girl (To Love Me Like You Do)Eddie Floyd (1968) In the two years following his classic Knock On Wood (1966), Eddie Floyd’s recording career appeared to be fading until he (with co-writers Booker T. Jones and Alvertis Isbell, produced by Steve Cropper) released I’ve Never Found A Girl.

More old trains.

Right in the buttocks.

Two classes of people.

Special effects w/o CGI.

Corrugated spelunking.

Jerry Casale explains DEVO.

Cast aluminum Christmas tree?

The confession [via Feral Irishman].

Thinking with a log [via Bunkerville].

Screaming Elvis fans [via Memo Of The Air].

Iggy Pop & Tom Waits on The Confidential Show.

The most recognizable building in Times Square is empty.
[via The View From Lady Lake]

Minnesota’s Name A Snowplow Contest 2023 [via Mme. Jujujive].

Lord Timothy Dexter’s luck. More about the colonial merchant here.

[Top image found here.]


From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago. 15 years ago.

Saturday Matinee – Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Cedric Burnside, and Robert Bryant & The Bo-Keys

Robert Randolph and the Family Band teamed up with the North Mississippi All-Stars to form the blues supergroup The Word.

When he was only 13, Cedric Burnside was already touring as a drummer with his grandfather, renowned bluesman R.L. Burnside (1926-2005).

Don BryantThe Bo-Keys. In 1998, bassist Scott Bomar wanted to preserve the Memphis Sound and formed the Bo-Keys. The group’s name is a hat-tip to the session groups The Bar-Kays and The Mar-Keys.

“One of the main reasons I started the band is that there were a lot of great musicians from the golden era of Memphis soul who weren’t really getting the work or attention they deserve,” says bandleader Scott Bomar, who formed the Bo-Keys in 1998. “Stax, Hi Records and American Studios all shut down, and the amazing musicians who were part of those studio bands either moved or stayed in Memphis, languishing in obscurity for the most part. I wanted people to know that those players and that sound were still alive and well.”

So there you go. Have a great weekend, see you on the porch whenever you get here.

 

Elytriferous Hot Links

Ever Again, Bernie Williams (1969) Not  to be confused with recording artist and Major League Baseball player of the same name, Bernie Williams was a Northern Soul singer who recorded for Bell Records. A rare promo 45rpm of Ever Again/ Next To You was recently listed for £3,900 ($4,861 USD).

Howdy!

The relocation.

Dude with sign.

Dealing with infinity.

Why ESL is important.

Zero Hour vs. Airplane.

We saw what you did there.

Mama was a flying pea pod.

God Bless Cowboy Adam Ingle.

Kirby & Kendall [via Memo Of The Air].

It was an accident. Honest.” [h/t Paul Y.]

Aztec Death Whistle (slowed, with reverb).

YOU WILL BUY GLORIOUS PRODUCTS NOW

Homage to retractable headlights [via Bunkerville].

Some very important phone calls [via Mme. Jujujive]

[Top image found here.]


From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago. 15 years ago.

Saturday Matinee – Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, The Contours, and Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros is a bit of an enigma to me. Some songs sound like folk busker music, some seem almost evangelical, and then they morph into a psychedelic jug band. Formed by singer Alex Ebert, the band’s name is based on a story he wrote about a messianic figure named Edward Sharpe.

The Contours should need no introduction, but not according to some of the comments in the Utoobage. The 1962 hit Do You Love Me was written by James Brown and Pee Wee Ellis.

A former James Brown impersonator, Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires turned up the soul groove with this retro gem from 2014. Great bassline too.

Happy Memorial Day weekend, stay safe in your travels, and we’ll be sitting on the porch as usual if you want to stop by.

Saturday Matinee – Lonnie Mack, Steve Ripley & The Tractors, and Malford Milligan

The late great Lonnie Mack.

Steve Ripley & The Tractors were responsible for creating the highest selling album ever recorded in the state of Oklahoma.

In 2019, Malford Milligan, backed by Danny Vera (& band), performed a great cover of Sam Cooke’s 1963 classic on Dutch television.

After attending Bunkessa’s wedding in NOLA, I had a busy week doing nothing and I loved it. Have a great weekend, see you tomorrow, rain or shine.

Saturday Matinee – Propellerheads w/ Shirley Bassey, Harry & The Howlers, and (the other) Roy Rogers

Propellerheads, with Shirley Bassey, the Welsh vocalist known for her renditions of themes to three James Bond movies.

“Propellerheads were a British big beat music band, formed in 1995, from Bath made up of electronic producers Will White and Alex Gifford. The term ‘Propellerhead’ is Californian slang for a computer nerd, and when Gifford and White heard a friend from California drop this into conversation, they thought it the perfect name for their band.”

From Birmingham, UK, Harry & The Howlers features what Harry (Haley) Jordan calls “sleaze-fuelled rock and roll.”

Roy Rogers is one of those guitslingers who doesn’t need a backup band to sound good, but give him one and the results are amazing.

Have a blessed Easter.

Saturday Matinee – The World’s Largest Laser Gun, Oorutaichi, The Heavy Heavy, and St. Paul & The Broken Bones

World’s Largest Laser Gun (2018) by Corridor.

Oorutaichi is a “free-form, improvisational electropop artist from Osaka. Inspired by The Doors and The Residents,” he once had a band called Urichipang, and the Utoob description (via Google Translate) doesn’t help much:

PV of “Atlantis” from the album “Giant Club” by Urichipan-gun, which has been well received by UA, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Seiichi Yamamoto, and many other people as one of the masterpieces in J-POP history.

What a laid-back groovy groove. The Heavy Heavy is “a reverb-drenched collision of psychedelia and blues, acid rock and sunshine pop” based in Brighton, UK.

Jake’s and Elwood’s long lost nephew.
Paul Janeway of St. Paul & The Broken Bones nails the Stax/Volt soul sound, while Janelle Issis makes the video even better.

Might get a haircut tomorrow before someone starts calling me “mulletman” – again. See you back here for popcicles and beer.

Saturday Matinee – Postmodern Jukebox, MONSTER TAI-RIKU, and Victor Wainwright & The WildRoots

Postmodern Jukebox did a good ‘un with this U2 cover in soul / R&B style featuring Rogelio Douglas, Jr. (2019). No comment on the, um, harmonica solo.

Excellent Buddy Guy cover by MONSTER TAI-RIKU (and that is how to play blues harp). Formed in 2012 and comprised of young session musicians, the band took a leave of absence in March of 2020.

Currently recording as Victor Wainwright & The Train, it’s Dr. John meets Roomful of Blues.
“Victor Wainwright, winner of this year’s Pine Top Perkins Piano Player Award at the BMA’s, is a force to be reckoned with on a piano. He IS honky-tonk and boogie, with a dose of rolling thunder. Wainwright’s playing is simply beautiful madness.” -American Blues Scene

Got some free time to mess around this week, and gonna mess around tomorrow too. See you when you get here.

Saturday Matinee – A Band of Bees, The Hi-Jivers & The Future Shape of Sound

A Band of Bees got a bit of swampy jug band in their blood.

Nashville retro-rockers The Hi-Jivers, filmed in the Torremolinos hills of Spain during the 2020 Rockin’ Race Jamboree.
Dawna Zahn – Vocals
Austin John – Guitar
Hank Miles – Upright Bass
Jason Smay – Drums

Lord help me. I don’t think I’ve heard shakedown gospel this good since Sister Rosetta Tharpe. This is The Future Shape of Sound.

Gonna get hot again this week, maybe get wet, maybe not. See you back here tomorrow for an in-depth discussion, or maybe we’ll do something else instead.