One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur

One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur, is a new album featuring original songs composed and performed by Jay Farrar of Son Volt and Uncle Tupelo fame, and Benjamin Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie.The album, with lyrics based on the prose of Jack Kerouac’s landmark 1962 novel , was released on October 20 along with a feature-length documentary of the same title in which both Gibbard and Farrar appear.
Gibbard and Farrar, having never previously met, discovered a mutual kinship in their passion for Kerouac’s work while recording several songs for the documentary, produced by Kerouac Films.

Big Sur, is an evocative account of a time in Jack’s life when he’d “come undone,” both emotionally and spiritually. He escapes to a cabin in Big Sur to confront his inner demons and find a modicum of peace by the sea.

Gibbard stayed in the original cabin Kerouac wrote about, to compose songs for his band’s 2008 Grammy-nominated album, Narrow Stairs. For many years, Jay Farrar’s songwriting has been inspired and influenced by Kerouac’s compositional style.

The film features appearances by writers, poets, actors and musicians including, Tom Waits, Patti Smith, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Sam Shepard. The album and film was released on October 20, the day before the 40th anniversary of Kerouac's death.

Listen to the complete album or stream their concert from Washington D.C. on 10/27, courtesy of NPR.

Benjamin Gibbard and Jay Farrar's also performed live on KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic" last Friday, October 23rd, you can watch and listen to the session on the KCRW website.

Is She Really 70?

Rock singer/artist Grace Slick who performed with The Great Society, Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship and Starship is 70 today. Slick figured prominently in the 1960s-era psychedelic rock scene and was known for her witty lyrics and powerful vocals.

"He has the sweetest tone I ever heard; he was the only one who gave me the cold sweats." -B.B. King (on guitarist Peter Green)

Fleetwood Mac founding member Peter Green (born Peter Allen Greenbaum) celebrates his 63rd birthday today.

Green --who had previously been Eric Clapton's replacement in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers-- was ranked 38th in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time."

In Memoriam: Porter Wagoner

Two years ago today, country music singer Porter Wagoner died at the age of 80, after a battle with lung cancer.
Porter, known for his flashy style and his collaboration with Dolly Parton, hosted TV's The Porter Wagoner Show for 20 years.

I've posted a video of one of my favorite Wagoner songs. It's the story of a husband who comes home early to surprise his wife with a nice romantic bottle of champagne, but the whole thing goes terribly awry. He runs into another guy at the liquor store who says: "Her husband's out of town and there's a party..." (You know the rest.)
This country song has it all: melodrama, pathos, alcohol, murder, and "The Cold Hard Facts Of Life."

You gotta love that suit!

"If R.E.M. didn't want their music to be torture, they shouldn't've recorded 'Shiny Happy People'."

R.S.U. discusses music as torture, and Dunlap's "torture-jams" playlist.

"Songs and music have always inspired me."

===============~Bob Dylan

May 3, 2006, marked the premiere of Bob Dylan's DJ career, hosting a weekly radio program, Theme Time Radio Hour, for XM Satellite Radio, with song selections revolving around a chosen theme. Dylan played classic and obscure records from the 1930s to the present day. The show was praised by fans and critics as "great radio," as Dylan told stories and made eclectic references with his sardonic humor, while achieving a thematic beauty with his musical choices. The show ran ran from May 3, 2006 -April 15, 2009.
These broadcasts are now available, thanks to CROZ-FM. All 100 shows (in 160-kbps mp3 format) can be found at their archive site.
Just click on the icon to download each show as a single zip file. These are not podcasts - each song is a separate mp3 file with title and performer details completed in the ID tags. If you put the shows on your iPod, they will appear as Bob Dylan albums. This is a really great offering that will take you a long time to download, but I think you will find it worthwhile. A great companion for long road trips.

(Hat tip to The Basement Rug)

Happy Birthday Dwight Yoakam!

Dwight David Yoakam was born on October 23, 1956.
Yoakam, a singer-songwriter and actor, most famous for his Bakersfield Honky tonk style of music, has been active since the early 1980s. Dwight has recorded more than twenty albums and compilations, and has charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.
Music legend Johnny Cash once cited Yoakam as his favorite country singer.
In 1991 Dwight recorded a distinctive version of "Truckin" for the Grateful Dead tribute album Deadicated, and was personally invited by the band to open for them at RFK stadium in Washington, D.C. that summer.
Yoakam has also released an album dedicated to Buck Owens, Dwight Sings Buck, on October 23, 2007.
...And he's also mentioned in this song by Puscifer.

(above photo courtesy of Swanny)

Obama's Nobel Prize - A Mark Fiore animated political cartoon.

"I missed out on human relationships. But looking at relationships that I’ve seen along the way, I don’t think I’ve missed much.” - Lemmy Kilmister

Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister: Vampire of the Sunset Strip

Lemmy Kilmister may be the most indestructible rocker alive. At 63 years old, he still spends nearly every day he’s not on tour swilling bourbon at West Hollywood’s legendary rocker hangout the Rainbow Bar & Grill — and his band still plays about 150 shows a year. Rolling Stone’s Mark Binelli put in some quality time at the Rainbow (and Kilmister’s nearby apartment, stocked with a mind-blowing array of WWII and Nazi memorabilia) for a profile of Motörhead’s singer/bassist.

For Binelli’s full story, pick up the new issue of Rolling Stone, on stands now.

Lemmy's stated aim was to "concentrate on very basic music: loud, fast, city, raucous, arrogant, paranoid, speedfreak rock n roll... it will be so dirty that if we move in next door to you, your lawn will die."



"What's the use of a cry for help, if no one hears the screams?"

Westword, is seeking a writer for its weekly review of Colorado's booming medical marijuana dispensaries.

A Denver newspaper has been inundated with applications after advertising for a "marijuana critic" to review the quality of cannabis (albeit for medical, rather than recreational, purposes).

"Compensation will be meager," says the posting. It says the paper can't pay for marijuana purchases.

If it came with the expense account, I might have given this career move a second thought.

Helen Kane the Original Boop Oop a Doop Girl

Helen Kane (August 4, 1904 – September 26, 1966) was an American popular singer, her signature song, "I Wanna Be Loved By You".
Fleischer Studios animator Grim Natwick used Kane—along with Clara Bow—as the model for his studio's most famous creation, Betty Boop.
Kane had excellent diction, intonation and timing, learned during her apprenticeship in vaudeville. Her songs have a strong word focus, and capitalize on her coquettish voice. She blended several fashionable styles of the late 1920s. These included scat singing, a kind of vocal improvisation, and also blending singing and speech. Sprechgesang ("speech-song") was fashionable at this time in Germany's Weimar Republic in both nightclubs and in serious music.

Kane recorded 22 songs between 1928 and 1930.As she took on the status of a singing sensation, there were Helen Kane dolls and Helen Kane look-alike contests, appearances on radio and in nightclubs. In late 1928 and early 1929 this cult following had reached its peak.

Kane's height (only 5 feet tall) and slightly plump figure attracted attention and fans. Her round face with big brown eyes was topped by black, curly hair; her voice was a baby squeak with a distinct Bronx dialect.

• You Wouldn't Fool Me, Would You (1929)

• Aba Daba Honeymoon

• Ain't Cha (1929)

• Ain't cha Kind-a glad

• Betty Boop Theme Song (1932)

• Button Up Your Overcoat

• Dangerous Nan McGrew

• Do Something (1929)

"I just put it in at one of the rehearsals, a sort of interlude. It's hard to explain - I haven't explained it to myself yet. It's like vo-de-o-do, Crosby with boo-boo-boo, and Durante with cha-cha-cha." -Helen Kane, on the creation of her "boop-boop-a-doop"

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Empire State Building to Get Tie-Dye Lighting in Honor of Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead will be honored in New York City this Monday, October 19 when the Empire State Building is lit up with special tie-dye colors celebrating the group’s appearance in the city later that week. The color scheme will represent the group’s iconic imagery and psychedelic influences.

But wait! There's more.
On Wednesday, October 21, Bob and Phil will attend a fundraiser at the New York Historical Society as part of an exhibit celebrating the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band.

UPDATE: Here's a photo (thanks and praise to Adam Kilpatrick)



... and one from Cliff Hucker.

Great Beer Post

... over at Pass The Popcorn Please.
It's an interesting read, an amusing view into the world of craft beer from an outsider's perspective. It's really quite funny.

Happy Birthday, Bob

Today's Date In Music History:

Grateful Dead Live at Melkweg -Amsterdam, Netherlands 10-16-81

Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir was born October 16, 1947. In 1981 he celebrated his 34th birthday with his bandmates at a concert in Holland's Melkweg.


In the player below is a Chris Chappell Matrix (soundboard/audience mix).



Set 1 (acoustic)
Happy Birthday, Bob; On The Road Again; Dire Wolf; Monkey And The Engineer; Bird Song; Cassidy; Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie; The Race Is On; Ripple

Set 2 (electric)
Playing In The Band -> Hully Gully -> The Wheel -> Samson And Delilah; Gloria ->
Turn On Your Lovelight -> Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad -> Playing In The Band -> Black Peter -> Sugar Magnolia

Joyful Noise

Today's Date In Music History:

Derek Trucks Band Live at The Paradiso on October 16, 2005

Four years ago today, guitar phenom Derek Trucks led his band through an amazing set at Amsterdam's famed Paradiso in the Netherlands. The performance finds the group covering a variety of musical genres --southern rock, blues, soul, jazz, Eastern music, to name a few.
Derek is the nephew of Butch Trucks (a fellow member of the Allman Brothers Band) and is married to fellow guitar wiz Susan Tedeschi .

This recording is from an FM broadcast on Dutch radio.

• My Favorite Things

• Let's Go Get Stoned

• Crow Jane

• Sahib Teri Bandi

• So Close...So Far Away

• Key To The Highway

• joyful Noise

Download show here.

Global Handwashing Day

October 15th is Global Handwashing Day!
The campaign is dedicated to raising awareness of handwashing with soap as a key approach to disease prevention.

R.I.P. Dickie Peterson

"I think the secret of rock & roll is that it’s 10% technique and 90% attitude. If you deliver one note with the right attitude, it will do more than 60 notes with no attitude."

Blue Cheer bassist and co-founder Dickie Peterson passed away on Oct. 12 after a bout with prostate cancer.

Blue Cheer had a hit with "Summertime Blues" in 1968 and were the heaviest band to emerge from the San Francisco psychedelic scene (and are also credited as being the pioneers of heavy metal).
"We’re just a power trio," Peterson said. "We play ultra blues, and it’s rock & roll. It’s really simple what we do."
Peterson, who was 61, had held the band -which was named after a brand of LSD- together over the years, but had canceled a recent tour to get treatment.



Dickie Peterson was a supporter of medical cannabis and was the recipient of the High Times Doobie award.

Get Yer Mojo Workin'

Now available, all of Mojo Nixon's library, including his new album -- free and legal!

(via boingboing, hat tip to MC)

Mojo Nixon (born Neill Kirby McMillan, Jr., August 2, 1957 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina) is an irreverent American musician, known for playing psychobilly music.

"Can't wait for Washington to fix the economy. We must take bold action now. If I make the new album free and my entire catalog free it will stimulate the economy. It might even over-stimulate the economy. History has shown than when people listen to my music, money tends to flow to bartenders, race tracks, late night greasy spoons, bail bondsman, go kart tracks, tractor pulls, football games, peep shows and several black market vices. My music causes itches that it usually takes some money to scratch."-Mojo Nixon

A supporter of the Libertarian Party, and a member of the Church of the SubGenius, Mojo has a degree in political science and history from Miami University in Ohio. He was also the honorary captain of the United States luge team at the 1998 Winter Olympics.


Nixon has always been an ardent supporter of free file sharing of recordings in MP3 and other formats. He once publicly declared his support because he said he's "not an asshole like Metallica."[*]


.


Mojo Nixon has also been featured as a "Drunkard Of The Issue" in Modern Drunkard Magazine.

"... when I drink I wanna get drunk, man. Knee-crawlin’ drunk. That’s the whole point. Anybody who says they don’t drink to get drunk is livin’ in fantasy land."

Read the entire interview here.

+

"Are you freaking kidding me?!!! "

His rants have been featured in this blog before, but what about Bob?

Bob Thompson a.k.a. Drinking With Bob is a comic and TV personality from New York City.
Bob writes and stars in his own TV show called ‘Drinking With Bob’ on Queens Public Access and legions of loyal and devoted cult fans tune in to experience these rants.


Below is a transcript of his most recent rant about Obama's winning the Nobel Prize:

What's next? I'll tell you what's next...
Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize! Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize!! Are you freaking kidding me?!!

Are we living in an alternate universe? Are we in bizarro land? Somebody pinch me cause I'm having a freaking nightmare! I know what you're all saying, Bob why are you so upset? The nobel peace prize doesn't mean anything. Al Gore won it. Jimmy Carter won it. It's useless. It's like winning a gold medal in the special olympics, nobody cares. Well you know what? I care!!

It's an insult to every living breathing person in this world that this guy gets an award for doing nothing! Absolutely nothing!! This is like giving somebody a high school diploma on their first day of kindergarten! Are you freaking kidding me?!!

What's next? Do I open the paper tomorrow? Do I turn on the news and see that Snap, Crackle and Pop were given an award for culinary excellence? Do I see that Roman Polanski was given an award for all the great work he's done with children over the years? Do I see that Cayle Anthony's mom just got awarded Mother of the Year? Or that Mary Kay Letourneau was awarded Educator of the Century? Are you freaking kidding me?!!

Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize?

FOR WHAT?!!
FOR WHAT?!!!

what's next?! What's next?!! what's next?!!!
(click here to view clip)

"only" 24 cans?!

Spectators at Australia's Bathurst 1000 motor-racing festival have been issued with strict limits on alcohol consumption – limiting them to 24 cans of lager.

(via telegraph.co.uk)

I was going to suggest that that is why the Aussies love those "oil cans", but despite its heavy international presence, the so-called original Australian beer, Foster's Lager, has very low appeal and limited availability throughout Australia.

Beer has played an iconic role in Australian life since the beginning of Western colonization, and the country's ranked fourth internationally in per-capita beer consumption.

The present custom of drinking alcohol to excess .. will continue. -Marcus Clarke, The Future Australian Race, 1878

**

''People drift towards liberalism at a young age, and I always hope they change when they see how the world really is.'' -Johnny Ramone

===

1948-2004

Punk rocker Johnny Ramone, AKA John Cummings, was born 61 years ago on this date.
Johnny was infamous in the punk community as being one of a few conservatives.

"Punk was never dead for Johnny Ramone, though. He remained a voice for those in the punk movement who were independent thinking conservatives, and proud of their country. He never forgot that the whole point of punk was to not walk in lockstep conformity." -Robert Jones

A long-lost interview with the punk godfather has been rescued from some pretty eaten-up magnetic tapes. Conducted in March, 2003 by Conpunk columnist Robert Jones shortly before Ramone's untimely death at the age of 55, this lost interview is now being made public.
(interview via Conservative Punk)

"If everybody that didn't have health care died... then everybody would have health care."

Dunlap's bipartisan solution to America's Health Care Crisis.

Obama has failed...

... to bring the Olympics to Chicago.

Jackie and Dunlap discuss Obama's failure to bring the 2016 Olympics to Chicago.

"Perhaps president Obama would have taken more away from his so-called beer summit if had paid more attention to the contents of his glass."

The solution to health care is in the beer aisle
We can all agree that our health insurance industry is in serious need of treatment. The answer however is anything but obvious and might surprise you. To illustrate it, you need look no further than your local beer aisle.

(via Conservative Punk)