The Chantays were from Santa Ana, California. The oldest was 17, the youngest 14, when they recorded their 1962 hit “Pipeline” (according to the liner notes on my LP.) I was a kid in the midwest when I first heard it, and I liked it, but I didn’t equate it with surfing. I imagined a rock n’ roll sludge pump.
According to Wiki, the Chantays originally called the song “Liberty’s Whip” but I have my doubts.
A year later, The Ventures co-opted the classic. Not sure if royalties were paid but their version didn’t make Billboard’s Top 100.
Joanie Sommers‘ 1962 hit “Johnny Get Angry” was a complaint about a wimpy boyfriend who wouldn’t stand up for himself, let alone her (and includes a kazoo chorus for some bizarre reason).
Maryann Lents hails from Tallinn, Estonia and nails American rockabilly. She mixes up band members depending on venue. Not sure if it’s “Maryann” or “Mariann” since it appears both ways on the FB pages (and yeah, she’s jamming chords).
BTW, that’s “poke sallet” for you city slickers. Poke is poisonous, and I remember it being called “hillbilly acid.” Young pokeweed is edible when cooked, but no U.S. food organization endorses the consumption of pokeweed regardless of how it is prepared, and the berries can kill you. It’s a lanky odd-looking weed with purple stems, grows to +6 feet.
“Sallet” is of French origin and refers to a mess of greens (including spinach, mustard greens, etc.) cooked until tender.
I have that record somewhere. I think it’s called “Roundabout.”
Oh wait.
YES, they did some some cool stuff to listen to while sitting in the dark at 2:30AM staring at a lava lamp and watching rotating light cylinder projections on the walls of your dorm bedroom and suddenly realizing that all your friends had gone to bed. C’mon admit it. They sang like musically talented prepubescent girls. Relayer was their last decent album IMO, but none of their stuff was roadtrip music.
New Orleans band The Iguanas (Rod Hodges on guitar & accordion, Joe Cabral on sax & guitar, Rene Coman on bass, Doug Garrison on drums, and Eric Lucero on trumpet) live at Cafe Nine, New Haven, Connecticut on Oct. 19th, 2008. Nice vibe.
The missus and I saw them live. Billy would climb up on his upright bass, the drummer would leap over his drum set and hammer on the strings. Great show.
Glad to see The Paladins are still around. Saw them live – they were the warm up band for The Fabulous Thunderbirds at the now-defunct Golden Bear. Bass player was killer, looked like he was biting an invisible tennis ball while slapping.
Goodbye Mr. Snuggles. (Impressive credits roll, too.)
Stan Ridgway and Wall of Voodoo were unusual for the time. They weren’t prolific, but I liked what they did.
Filmed & Recorded on May 4, 2019 at the Dallas International Guitar Festival
Red House is pure awesome, but I can’t find a direct link to the band.
Kelsi Kee – Vocals
Reece Malone – Guitar
Ally Venable – Guitar
Anthony Cullins – Guitar
Danny Ross – Keys
Mike Gage – Drums
Aram Doroff – Bass
Holy crap. I just found this. So heavy and nasty.
Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here tomorrow for more awesome.
Leon Redbone was an iconic performer who reinvigorated the music of the late 19th to early 20th century, including blues, ragtime, dixieland jazz and country. That he pulled it off in the mid 1970s is an interesting commentary of the state of music of the time (mainstream rock was sucking donkeys). You couldn’t get more retro than Leon Redbone at that time, and he stepped right into the mix.
Rolling Stone described his repertoire as “so authentic you can hear the surface noise of an old 78 rpm.” During a 1974 interview (prior to release of any album) they asked where he first played in public. Redbone responded, “In a pool hall, but I wasn’t playing guitar, you see. I was playing pool.” Apparently he was pretty good at it.
I learned of the song “Ain’t Misbehavin‘” via some sheet music my late grampa had, and I liked the tune. I’d never heard of Fats Waller before I heard Leon Redbone’s version.
In the early ’80s I saw Mr. Redbone perform at The Golden Bear (a small but famous venue with no bad seats). His props were a rattan chair, a side table with a lamp, and his guitar. He was in the middle of a song when he saw the flash of a Kodak Instamatic camera. With lightning speed, he stopped, grabbed a Polaroid Swinger and took a photo of the photographer, then sat quietly humming until the image appeared. He held it up to view.
“Ahhh. Not a bad likeness.”
Then he resumed the song exactly where he left off.
I wasn’t aware of this until today, but there is a documentary on Leon Redbone. Here’s the trailer:
“He was always mysterious, he was always coming and going. It was almost like he was there one second and he’d be gone the next… and you never knew where he’d gone or why or how he’d even left, but suddenly he wasn’t there anymore.” – Jane Harbury, Publicist.
Here’s a link to the full documentary if you’re interested. It’s only 16 minutes, but it’s worth it.
Leon Redbone, you were a breath of fresh air into the stagnant late 70s music scene. May You Rest In Peace.
Definitely dangerous. Hand her something with four wires nailed to it and she’ll jam it down your throat. I want to hear what she can do with a diddley bow.
Lake Street Dive sings “Take On Me.”
That’s not A-ha’s version, but it’s a lot better. At least she doesn’t have to hike up her chonies to hit the high notes. The bass player is hot and the trumpet dweeb is killer.
Ry Cooder is a classic American guitarist. You’ve heard his stuff even if you don’t know his name. Watch for Harry Dean Stanton in this clip.
Tacky Raccoons 