Fresh Dread Baked Daily

Best Video of 2011

2012-01-10T00:06:00.005-05:00

Title track from the Puscifer Entertainment release "Conditions of My Parole" Co-Directed by Mike King, Flea Circus Films, and Puscifer. Featuring Tim Alexander as Peter Merkin, MJKeenan as Billy D Berger and Major Douche, Laura Milligan as Hildy Berger, Mat Mitchell, Matt LaVoire, and Derek Hood as The Karaoke Band, Josh Eustis as "the Cops", Pigeon as Snare Drum.

"Sweet baby Jesus on fire
I'ma need a damn lawyer and a miracle to pull
My ass outta this
Devil kept poking the bull, so I shipped her ass to Mozambique
Cuz I was over it

Shoulda dumped my gat into the Verde but what if she's a zombie or a Dracula
I better hang onto this
Lordy, with my hand upon the Bible, swear I shot the damn Devil, not a
Bitch, but the po-po don't give a shit

(Ho- ho- hum-...)

Lordy, won't you show a little mercy
I've been on the straight and narrow since the judge had my warden done
Parole me
Red poison, devil kept pokin' so I shipped her ass to Mozambique
Cuz I was over it

Goddamn judge found me guilty of public intoxication, public urination and
Parole violation
But the CSI couldn't find the body to corroborate my bullshit story.
Sweet Jesus don't let the judge release me. What if she's a zombie or a Dracula And tries to fuckin' eat me?
Devil walked away from a bangin' trip to Mozambique

Help me outta this
Help me outta this"

if you like that, here's an old vid.

Primus sucks!

2012-01-09T22:05:00.004-05:00

-
Primus - live at Red Rocks Webcast - August 12th 2010 (Full Show)

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T00:27:00.003-05:00

Here's a clip from the Trailer Park Boys' holiday special entitled "Dear Santa Clause, go fuck yourself", in which Ricky explains the true meaning of Christmas.

... and now some Christmas listening pleasures. -WARNING: the last one is by no means safe for work.

Liqour & Whores

2011-06-07T11:07:00.002-04:00

Bubbles croons the Trailer Park Boys' classic "Liqour and Whores" off the TPB movie soundtrack.

Cracker Acoustic Duo

2011-04-01T23:29:00.009-04:00

- Live at Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz, CA - April 1, 2009

Today's Date In Music History

Taped by: Todd Fleisher
Transferred by: Todd Fleisher

Disc 1
Set 1
01. Intro
02. One Fine Day
03. Sunrise In The Land Of Milk & Honey @
04. Been Around The World
05. Teen Angst
06. Guarded By Monkeys
07. Friends
08. Lonesome Johnny Blues
09. Turn On Tune In Drop Out @
10. Another Song About The Rain
11. Sweethearts #
12. All Her Favorite Fruit #$
13. Eurotrash Girl
14. Dr. Bernice

Disc 2
01. St. Cajetan
02. Crowd
Encore:
03. Big Dipper
04. Be My Love

Notes:
@ - acoustic debut
# - Greg Lisher on guitar
$ - Johnny on harmonica

(Download here)

Thanks to Cracker Acoustic Duo for allowing audience & soundboard recordings.

Previous Cracker posts

visit David Lowery's blog, 300 Songs

He liked to say simply that he played “jazz over a funky beat.”

2011-03-20T17:41:00.000-04:00

RIP Melvin Sparks

Melvin Sparks (March 22, 1946 – March 13, 2011) was an American soul jazz, hard bop and jazz blues guitarist. He died on March 13, 2011 from complications from diabetes.

Melvin Sparks is the Essential Guitar Player! He’s The Master Of The Groove! The Acid-Jazz Pioneer! The Originator of Soul Jazz, Old School Acid Jazz & BarbecueFunk(FUNKJAZZ)

Over the last thirty years he has played with some of Jazz’s greatest musicians: David "Fathead" Newman, Lou Donaldson, Hank Crawford, Reuben Wilson and John Patton (are amongst the many). During the 1970s, Sparks backed up Lou Donaldson on the Funk-Jazz classics "Everything I Play Is Funky" and "Hot Dog".

Sparks recorded seven albums of his own and played on over 100 other albums. As a session man for Blue Note and Prestige Records, Sparks laid his signature guitar work on many other musician’s albums without ever being in spotlight. It was during this time that Melvin defined the jazz-guitar sound of a generation.

Melvin Sparks is still a much sought-after studio player, both new and old talents seek him out now more than ever. He continues to perform with the greats of this genre such as Leon Spencer Jr., Mike Clark and Idris Mohammed and is now breaking out his legendary guitar wizardry with many younger bands and artists such as Galactic, The Greyboy Allstars, Karl Denson's Tiny Univers, Derek Trucks and Robert Walter's 20th Congress.

Melvin is geared up to show us all what he does better than anyone else. Groove hard and in the pocket. Melvin Sparks has perhaps the most inspiring and soul-energizing guitar chops on this planet or another. He is admired by many performers, and audiences old and young alike, but continues to be a hidden treasure for music fans worldwide. He is Soul-Jazzy and Funky to the core! .

In the player below,

Melvin Sparks Band Live at Muddy River Smokehouse on May 28, 2004

Tr-01 Fire Eater
Tr-02 Alligator Boogaloo
Tr-03 Charlie Brown
Tr-04 Miss Riverside
Tr-05 Hot Dog
Tr-06 Pick up the Pieces
Tr-07 Texas Twister
Tr-08 Give Me the Night
Tr-09 Cherokee

"Dock Ellis & The LSD No-No"

2011-02-10T18:37:00.003-05:00

"without question the most intimidating pitcher of his era"

I've posted before of Dock Ellis and his no-hitter pitched while under the influence of LSD.
Here's a great short film by James Blagden.

The preceding video, and the following description, are from NoMasTV's channel.

In celebration of the greatest athletic achievement by a man on a psychedelic journey, No Mas and artist James Blagden proudly present the animated tale of Dock Ellis' legendary LSD no-hitter. In the past few years we've heard all too much about performance enhancing drugs from greenies to tetrahydrogestrinone, and not enough about performance inhibiting drugs. If our evaluation of the records of athletes like Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Marion Jones, and Barry Bonds needs to be revised downwards with an asterisk, we submit that that Dock Ellis record deserves a giant exclamation point. Of the 263 no-hitters ever thrown in the Big Leagues, we can only guess how many were aided by steroids, but we can say without question that only one was ever thrown on acid.

Sadly, the great Dock Ellis died last December at 63. A year before, radio producers Donnell Alexander and Neille Ilel, had recorded an interview with Ellis in which the former Pirate right hander gave a moment by moment account of June 12, 1970, the day he no-hit the San Diego Padres. Alexander and Ilels original four minute piece appeared March 29, 2008 on NPRs Weekend America. When we stumbled across that piece this past June, Blagden and Isenberg were inspired to create a short animated film around the original audio.

RIP Charlie Louvin

2011-01-27T17:21:00.004-05:00

Country music legend Charlie Louvin entered into eternal rest on January 26, 2011 due to complications from his pancreatic cancer. He was 83 years old.

Born Charles Elzer Loudermilk on July 7, 1927, Charlie made it big, along with his brother Ira, as the Louvin brothers. The duo were innovators of the close-harmony style that influenced The Everly Brothers and, then later, Simon & Garfunkel, The Beatles, Gram Parson’s version of The Byrds and The Beach Boys. Ira was notorious for drinking and reckless behavior which led Charlie to eventually fire his brother. The next year, after a period of sobriety, Ira was killed when a drunk driver struck his car.

The Louvins were famous for singing about death, tortured relationships, drinking, sin, murder, and the eviscerating emptiness of this corrupt world.

"The Louvin Brothers preached a fire-and-brimstone theology of bottomless torment and endless grace. They sneered at moral relativism and shades of grey, opting for a black-and-white worldview that separated the world cleanly into sinners and saints, the redeemed and the damned. "-Nathan Rabin

"The Louvins’ Jesus isn’t some longhaired, namby-pamby peacenik in sandals and beads preaching brotherhood and love. No, he’s a badass warrior in perpetual combat with Satan’s hordes. "

"I'm not afraid of dying," Louvin told The Associated Press a few days after the diagnosis. "We're all going to do that. And I've had 83 years of almost uninterrupted good health, so I know that's not by accident. So I've been blessed that long, and I could use a couple more."

2120 South Michigan Avenue

2011-01-27T16:59:00.003-05:00

Here's a little Rolling Stones instrumental for ya.

"2120 South Michigan Avenue" is the street address of Chess Studios, where many of the band's R&B idols had recorded. After a disappointing first half of their inaugural American Tour, the Stones were brought to Chicago for these sessions. The first day, June 10, the Stones were thrilled by the appearance of several visitors in the studio - Buddy Guy, Chuck Berry and Willie Dixon. When the band arrived the next day, none other than Muddy Waters helped them lug guitars and amps into the studio, and stayed around to chat with the boys, who were astonished by the whole experience.

The video is "Truckdriving in Sweden". It was uploaded to YouTube by rocknsixties

Love In Outer Space

2011-01-20T15:03:00.002-05:00

Earlier today,I stumbled upon this cool video for "Love In Outer Space" by Sun Ra.

Save Our Suhaki

2011-01-20T09:10:00.007-05:00

A "peaceful and poignant protest against the politically correct NCAA."

Two Fighting Sioux supporters have launched Save Our Suhaki, a tongue-in-cheek campaign ostensibly aimed at preserving the suhaki, a Russian antelope whose name is pronounced exactly like "Sioux hockey."

Get Ready For The Beaumonts!

2011-01-20T08:54:00.004-05:00

The Beaumonts, from Lubbock, Texas, are "purveyors of genuine, no holds barred, COUNTRY music.
With an arsenal of raunchy, drug laced, honky tonk songs and an anything goes mentality the band keeps on-a preaching and their clergy keeps on-a drinking."

Their new album Get Ready For The Beaumonts is available for FREE download!

Whack fol de daddy-o There's whiskey in the... Can?!

2011-01-20T08:32:00.006-05:00

Scottish Spirits is now producing whisky in a can!

The Panama-based company believes outdoor drinkers would prefer to crack open a tin rather than lug round a bottle of their favourite tipple. via Daily Mail

Who knows? This trend may catch on, just as it has begun to in the world of craft beer.

Happy (Belated) New Year!

2011-01-20T08:11:00.002-05:00

It's been nearly a month since my last post.
Please enjoy these jazz performances, as I ease myself back into blogging mode.

"Night in Tunisia"

by The Quintet (Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, Max Roach) at Massey Hall, Toronto 1953

... and the British acid jazz trio Red Snapper playing "Space Sickness"

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T17:02:00.003-05:00

SANTA'S reindeer will be flying higher than ever this Christmas...

2010-12-25T16:35:00.004-05:00

... after munching magic mushrooms?!

Scientist Andrew Haynes believes reindeer deliberately seek out the mushrooms to escape the monotony of dreary long winters.

... the connection between psychedelic mushrooms and the Santa story has gradually woven itself into popular culture, at least the popular culture of mycology.

Happy Birthday Jorma!!!

2010-12-23T01:01:00.001-05:00

The Legendary American blues, folk and rock guitarist, Jorma Kaukonen celebrates a birthday today. He is 70 years old.
Jorma is best known for his work with Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane.

For what it's worth, he also made an awesome Christmas album.

Here's a few vids!

Uncle Sam Blues -

Hesitation Blues -

Christmas Rule -

Farewell Captain

2010-12-17T21:42:00.006-05:00

Don Van Vliet, aka Captain Beefheart, passed away today at a Northern California hospital at the age of 69.
The cause of death was named as complications from multiple sclerosis.

Van Vliet's musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians he called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12 studio albums.

Noted for his powerful singing voice with its wide range, Van Vliet also played the harmonica, saxophone and numerous other wind instruments.
His music blended rock, blues and psychedelia with free jazz, avant-garde and contemporary experimental composition.
During his teen years in Lancaster, California, Van Vliet acquired an eclectic musical taste and formed "a mutually useful but volatile" friendship with Frank Zappa, with whom he sporadically competed and collaborated.
Known for his enigmatic personality and relationship with the public, Van Vliet made few public appearances after his retirement from music (and from his Beefheart persona) in 1982 to pursue a career in art, an interest that originated in his childhood talent for sculpture.

RIP Captain Beefheart.

"Don't Let Obama Ruin Christmas"

2010-12-15T09:50:00.009-05:00

'tis the season...

... and Jackie & Dunlap have released Red State Update's Christmas album Santa Is Real.

From the front cover - a parody of The Louvin Brothers' classic Satan Is Real album -

all through to the end, this recording is full of inspired holiday hilarity.

Allow Jackie and Dunlap to elaborate in this promotional video.

So many great tunes, but this infectious Caribbean flavored number seems to be my current favorite.

As a bonus, here's R.S.U.'s holiday offering from last year.

Hank III Is 38!!!

2010-12-12T11:09:00.002-05:00

Shelton Hank Williams III celebrates a birthday today.

Here's 3 acoustic #'s.

... and one from Assjack.

Country Dick

2010-11-08T00:57:00.001-05:00

Country Dick Montana (born Daniel McLain) was a musician best known as a member of the Beat Farmers. He was also in the short-lived trio the Pleasure Barons with Mojo Nixon and Dave Alvin.

On November 8th, 1995 Montana suffered a heart attack and died while playing "The Girl I Almost Married" during a Beat Farmers show at the Longhorn Saloon in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. The band disbanded shortly thereafter.

"The Ballad of Country Dick" by Mojo Nixon was written after his death.

In 1996, posthumous solo album "The Devil Lied To Me" was released.

Hayseed Dixie Live at Mercy Lounge

2010-11-07T10:21:00.005-05:00

For Today's Date In Music History I'll feature a performance from NYC's Mercury lounge on November 7,2003.

Hayseed Dixie performs a mixture of cover versions of hard rock songs and original compositions in a style that is a cross between bluegrass and rock music.

Formed in 2001 with the release of their first album, titled A Hillbilly Tribute To AC/DC, Hayseed Dixie are acknowledged as the creators of the musical genre "Rockgrass."

The band consists of:
Barley Scotch - vocals, guitar and fiddle
Reverend Don Wayne Reno - banjo and vocals
Deacon Dale Reno - mandolin, guitar and vocals
Jake "Bakesnake" Byers - bass and vocals

Their sense of humor is evident in their bio, which claims that the band hails from Deer Lick Holler, "deep in the heart of the Appalachia," where its members grew up playing the traditional hillybilly music of their forefathers. But as fate would have it, they just so happened to stumble across AC/DC's back catalog of recordings when a stranger driving through the boy's hometown crashed his car and perished, but his records were saved.

Disc 1
01. Dirty Deeds
02. You Shook Me
03. Best Friends Girlfriend
04. I Know your Married >
05. Hells Bells
06. I Wanna Rock & Roll All Night
07. Deliahs Gone
08. Have a Drink on Me
09. Charlotte Mtn. Breakdown
10. Detroit Rock City
11. Cat Scratch Fever
12. The Lunch Story
13. Feel like Makin Lunch....err Love
14. Big Bottoms

Disc 2
01. Fat Bottom Girl
02. Keepin your Poop in a Jar
03. I wish I was You
04. T.N.T.
05. Paradise
06. Ellie Schaffer >
07. Shady Grove
08. Foggy Mtn. Breakdown * >
09. Doreen*
10. Katy Daley >
11. Rollin in my Sweet babys Arms
12. Highway To Hell*
Encore:
13. In the Pines * >
14. Will the Circle be Unbroken*

*w/ Scott “Sweepy” Walker on Harmonica

Download full show

Bonus: Here's a short documentary film from 2005 of the story and origins of Hayseed Dixie, the creators of the Rockgrass music genre.

More video

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T14:49:00.005-04:00

Hob-noblin
Wit de goblin
De Goblin Girl
From da mystery world

Hob-noblin
Wit de goblin
She's black 'n green
'Cause it's Halloween

Raggedy black
Is the way she dress
Little green shoes
'N her hair's a mess
On Halloween night
At de costume ball
She's a Goblin Girl
An' she can gobble it all

She's a goblin
A Goblin Girl
She's a goblin
A Goblin Girl
I been hobblin'
'Cause of the Goblin
Goblin Girl . . . Goblin Girl

Some girls like
To dress like a witch
Some girls like to dress like a queen
Best way a girl
Can dress for me
Is in a Goblin Suit
(They look so cute . . . )

When they're a goblin
There ain't a problin
When they're a goblin
I start a-wobblin'
Pink all over
Some is tan
Goblin Girls
From every land
They look good
From any which-a-way
Every Halloween
You can hear me say:
"Goblin Girl, take it away . . . "

Hob-noblin
Wit de goblin
De Goblin Girl
From da mystery world
De Goblin Girl
From da mystery world
(TRICK OR TREAT NOW . . . )
De Goblin Girl
From da mystery world
(TRICK OR TREAT NOW . . . )
De Goblin Girl

From da mystery world

TDIMH: NOLA Brass Funk Rock

2010-10-24T10:38:00.009-04:00

Bonerama Live at Tupelo Music Hall on October 24,2009

"Even in a city that doesn’t play by the rules, New Orleans’ Bonerama is something different. They can evoke vintage funk, classic rock and free improvisation in the same set; maybe even the same song. Bonerama has been repeatedly recognized by Rolling Stone, hailed as “the ultimate in brass balls” (2005) and praised for their “…crushing ensemble riffing, human-feedback shrieks and wah-wah growls” (2007). Bonerama carries the brass-band concept to places unknown; what other brass band could snag an honor for “Best Rock Band” (Big Easy Awards 2007)? As cofounder Mark Mullins puts it, “We thought we could expand what a New Orleans brass band could do. Bands like Dirty Dozen started the “anything goes” concept, bringing in the guitars and the drum kit and using the sousaphone like a bass guitar. We thought we could push things a little further.”

New Orleans’ fertile club scene was directly responsible for Bonerama getting together. Trombonists Mullins and Craig Klein were both members of Harry Connick’s band, where they’d been since 1990. Both were looking to supplement this gig with something a little less structured. “Harry sets the bar pretty high, and you have to play it the same way every night for everyone to follow.”

The big chance came in the summer of ’98, when Mullins had a weekly residency at Tipitina’s in the French Quarter. The club was then turning weekly slots over to some of the city’s favorite musicians, including Allen Toussaint and Cyril Neville; Mullins got charge of Wednesdays. Word got out one week that he and Klein were staging their trombone super-session and everybody they knew wanted to get involved. “It seemed that half the trombone players in town showed up,” Klein recalls. “At the end of the night we had them all onstage, maybe fifteen trombones at once. It sounded like a freight train; a big wall of sound coming right at you.”

Along with his jazz connections, Mullins is Bonerama’s resident rock ‘n’ roller: It was Mullins who instigated the offbeat classic-rock covers that have become a band tradition. Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein” was the first nugget to get the treatment and songs by Hendrix, Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and the Allman Brothers Band have since appeared in their set right alongside the funk and jazz-flavored numbers. “There’s definitely something about the guitar and the trombone that are related,” Mullins figures. “You compare the fretboard to the slide; there’s a lot of similarity there.” Indeed, the sounds Mullins makes by playing through a guitar amp and wah-wah pedal may explain why he’s named Jimi Hendrix as one of his favorite trombonists. “It’s great to grab people with the rock songs, and then turn them on to some New Orleans music at the same time,” Klein says.

The buzz on Bonerama grew with hometown acclaim (with the band winning numerous OffBeat Magazine Awards; and Mullins regularly topping OffBeat’s trombone category), lots of roadwork, and three live albums – the first recorded close to home at the Old Point in Algiers; the second on tour in New York and the third album, Bringing It Home, recorded live from New Orleans’ world famous nightclub, Tipitina’s. The Boston Herald called them a “bonehead’s dream”; the Vail (CO) Daily noted that “the sound is fat and wet; sometimes downright lusty.” As hometown music zine OffBeat put it, “That nerdy kid in the band room with the trombone just might have the last laugh after all.”"

www.BoneramaMusic.com

set one (66:11)

01. intro
02. Funky Miracle
03. Bap Bap
04. Hero
05. Big Fine Woman
06. A Deeds Well Done
07. I Want To Ta-Ta You Baby
08. Yer Blues
09. I Don't Mean Nothin'

set two (74:25)

01. I'm Tellin' Ya
02. Bayou Betty
03. Whipping Post
04. Louie's Perch
05. Folsom Prison Blues
06. Down By The Riverside
07. banter/band intros
08. Moby Dick
09. encore intro
10. Blues For Ben

Download

Justice For All

2010-10-17T00:31:00.001-04:00

A native of West Virginia, folksinger Dick Justice blended both blues and folk patterns on his recordings of the late '20s.
Born Richard Justice in 1906, he played with many black musicians as a youth and listened to blues records as well.
Justice recorded a total of ten sides for Brunswick during 1929 (some as a duo with Reese Jarvis), including a version of "Henry Lee" that later gained inclusion on Harry Smith's 1952 folksong collection Anthology of American Folk Music.
Little is known about the rest of Justice's life, though he often worked in the coal mines.
Many of his sides were compiled on the Document collection Old-Time Music from West Virginia (1927-1929).

1.) Brown Skin Blues; 2.) Cocaine; 3.) Henry Lee; 4.) Little Lulie; 5.) Old Black Dog; 6.) One Cold December Day; 7.) Guian Valley Waltz; 8.) Muskrat Rag; 9.) Poca River Blues; 10.) Poor Girl's Waltz

A Red State Update Ad: Legalize Pot In New York State

2010-10-16T18:40:00.002-04:00

From RSU: Empire State NORML wants marijuana to be legal in New York State so bad, they give us $120 to make this ad. http://empirestatenorml.com They accept donations! Just like we accepted their $120.

But why stop at weed jokes? Red State Update will make YOUR campaign ad... for only $120! Are you runnin' for somethin? Like a candidate? Hate a candidate? Got $120? You qualify!

Here are the rules:
ONE: $120.
TWO: We'll make a ad for or against anybody runnin for anything. Republican. Democrat. Tea Party. Any asshole. Does not matter. All that matters: $120.
THREE: You don't get no say so. No creative control. No money back. You tell us who you you want the ad to be for or against, give us $120, we'll make ye ad and put it up on the YouTube. There will probably be some cussin' in it. Please specify attack ad, but let's be honest, they pretty much all gonna be attack ads.
FOUR: We don't care who you are, but I think they's some laws that we probably shoulda looked into before we started this, so at the end of the video, it will say Paid For By YOUR NAME And It Cost Them $120.
FIVE: No matter who we make an ad on, no matter what that ad say, it is not an official endorsement by Red State Update. We only care about the $120.
So email us at redstateupdate@gmail.com, tell us who you want us to go after or backhandedly praise, we'll tell you how to get us $120. It's all about Freedom of Speech. And you can buy ours for $120.

Red State Update Will Make Your Ad video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMxZBT...

"Yalla Yalla" - Cracker Does It For The Troops

2010-10-01T12:45:00.006-04:00

Here's a short documentary film/music video depicting Cracker's tour of U.S. military bases in Iraq, from a post at David Lowery's 300 Songs blog.

Happy Birthday Les!

2010-09-29T22:08:00.007-04:00

Bassist Les Claypool celebrates his 47th birthday today.

Happy Birthday Les!

"The Dirt Underneath"

2010-09-27T18:05:00.006-04:00

Today's Date In Music History:

Drive-By Truckers Live at Cannery Ballroom on September 27, 2007.

In 2007, the alternative country/Southern rock band, Drive-By Truckers, performed a string of acoustic shows called The Dirt Underneath Tour.

“We also wanted to go out a do something a little different. Maybe revisit some songs in a different light, maybe try out some new stuff on a smaller scale, maybe tell some stories and sing some songs. Pull up some chairs, have a few drinks and tell some stories to each other and some friends. We know how to do that but just never really get around to it. THE DIRT UNDERNEATH is a show I’ve been wanting to do for a long time.”- Patterson Hood

Set list:
The Home Front, A Ghost To Most, Bulldozers and Dirt, Daddy Needs a Drink, Panties in Your Purse, Tails Facing Up, Gravity's Gone, Bob, Nine Bullets, Where The Devil Don't Stay, After the Scene Dies, Self Destructive Zones,(Something's Got To) Give Pretty Soon, Marry Me, The Deeper In, Sink Hole, Check Out Time In Vegas, Goode's Field Road, Monument Valley, Zip City, The Opening Act, Love Like This, Buttholeville > State Trooper

Lineup:
Patterson Hood - guitar, mandolin, vocal
Mike Cooley - guitar, vocal
Shonna Tucker - bass, vocal
John Neff - pedal steel, guitar, vocal
Brad "The EZB" Morgan - drums
Spooner Oldham - keyboard

Download full show

Oh, my poor rheumatic back....

2010-09-24T11:56:00.001-04:00

"Friends"

2010-09-17T14:14:00.010-04:00

Cracker Accoustic Duo performs "Friends" at Shank Hall Milwaukee 2-17-2010 featuring David Lowery & Johnny Hickman.

Lyrics:

Well I'd never sleep with your ex-girlfriend
Even if she starts to flirt with me again.
Allow me apologize for my slightly wicked thoughts;
'Cause that's the kind of friend that you've got.

If a fight breaks out and you're the cause of it
In some redneck bar where you've been talking shit.
I would not forsake you later in that parking lot
'cause that's the kind of friend that you've got.

Well through the laughter and the tears,
we go stumbling through the years.

A bit dysfunctional well folks might say

Well I've got the dirt on you.

Hey, I've got plenty on you too.

So I pray we stay together all our days.

So when you're on a date
and you finally bring that girl home.
You put a little Captain Beefheart on the stereo
and you disconnect the phone.

Then I show up drunk and raving
and then I pass out on the spot.
'Cause that´s the kind of friend
That you've got.

Well through the laughter and the tears

we go stumbling through the years.

A bit dysfunctional well folks might say

You can say that again.

Well I've got the dirt on you.

Hey I've got plenty on you too;

So I pray we stay together all our days.

Oh dear lord

Yeah I pray we stay together all our days.

Behind the scenes of legendary producer Rick Rubin's latest project with famous funnyman Ray Stevens

2010-09-17T11:15:00.002-04:00

Travis and Jonathan, aka Jackie and Dunlap, portray Rick and Ray in this hilarious mockumentary .

(HT - MC)

"Erinstock"

2010-09-17T10:14:00.007-04:00

Erin's Birthday Party aka "Erinstock", featuring Cracker (in Erin & Tim's living room!) on Saturday, May 16, 2009.

A separate audio recording of this is available here: http://www.archive.org/details/Cracker2009-05-16.KM140

Here's the setlist in case you want to skip around during the video:

01. intro
02. Turn On Tune In Drop Out
03. Happy Birthday to Me
04. I See the Light
05. Sweet Magdalena Of My Misfortune
06. Lonesome Johnny Blues
07. Mr. Wrong
08. Seven Days
09. Eurotrash Girl
10. Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey
11. Duty Free
12. Be My Love
13. I Could Be Wrong I Could Be Right
14. Friends
15. Nothing to Believe In
16. St. Cajetan
17. I Want Everything
18. Can I Take My Gun up to Heaven
19. Shiner Song
20. Up Against The Wall Redneck Mothers
21. One Fine Day
22. Gimme One More Chance
23. Low

Thrash-Grass

2010-09-16T19:16:00.006-04:00

Today's Date In Music History: Split Lip Rayfield Live at Stage 5, Walnut Valley Festival on September 16, 2006

Split Lip Rayfield is a vocal and acoustic instrumental group from Wichita, Kansas. Though they are sometimes classified as a bluegrass, alt-country or cowpunk, their music draws on a wide array of influences.
Split Lip Rayfield helped pioneer what came to be known as the "Stage Five" sound, named for the notorious "unofficial" Stage 5 at the annual Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas.
Typically, bluegrass musicians played traditional folk and country songs on acoustic string instruments. Bands like Split Lip faithfully used traditional acoustic instruments, but played songs that were more closely related stylistically to rock, punk or heavy metal.
... and ya gotta love that gas tank bass!

1. Intro
2. Flat Back Rag
3. Devil
4. Old # 6
5. Pinball Machine
6. Hundred Dollar Bill
7. Redneck Tailgate Dream
8. Record Shop
9. Don't Believe That You're Someone
10. Love Please Come Home
11. Outlaw
12. Never Make It Home
13. San Antone
Encore:
14. Crowd
15. Kiss Of Death

Download here

"Baby come and spend some time with Mr. Wrong"

2010-09-16T11:11:00.003-04:00

David Lowery of Cracker performs "Mr. Wrong" at WNRN in Charlottesville, Virginia on July 15, 2009.

Well, meet me by the river that goes nowhere.
Let me lay my sorry trip on you.
Won't you meet me by the river, little darling'?
I might just let you see my bad tattoo.

Well I was gonna bring you flowers, but I didn't.
It's the thought that counts and I think I'm a bit too broke.
But there's some change in my ashtray--maybe just enough to pay.
For a half pint of somethin', probably make us choke.

CHORUS:
Well you know I'd rather not go and meet your family.
They'd probably send me back where I belong.
Don't want to hear about Mr. Right.
'Cause he's out of town tonight.
Baby come and spend some time with Mr. Wrong.

I drive a one-eyed Malibu without a muffler.
And a tape deck that works if you kick it hard enough.
And baby if you like to read, I've got some great pornography.
And a ten pound flashlight rolling in the trunk.

CHORUS

Now, do you have a girlfriend and does she look as good as you?
Would she like to meet my brother?
He'll be out of jail in a month or two.

CHORUS

Where I come from they call me Mr. Wrong.

300 Songs

2010-09-14T22:29:00.009-04:00

-A song by song history of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven

David Lowery, founding member of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven, has a new blog in which expounds upon 300 of his songs--one at a time!

Lowery explains,

"So i came up with this idea to randomly select a hundred or so songs and write a few comments about each of the songs. like: with whom i recorded, what the song is about, Or simply something funny or interesting that happened in the session. Nothing too in depth. Sometimes i'll also provide the lyrics and basic guitar chords for the fans who like that sort of thing."

From the latest Cracker album:

A Grateful Dead Cover:

A Classic:

*Related Posts*

Country Star Condos

2010-09-14T17:30:00.004-04:00

Here's a great new music video by D. Striker.

Click photo to get a free download of the song.

Today's Date In Music History:

2010-09-08T07:26:00.001-04:00

Cracker - Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown Palace - September 8, 2007

Recorded live at the 3rd Annual Cracker-Camper Van Beethoven Family Reunion Campout in Pioneertown, CA.

1.) pre intro, 2.) intro, 3.) Kerosene Hat intro, 4.) Low, 5.) Movie Star, 6.) Get Off This, 7.) Kerosene Hat, 8.) Take Me Down To The Infirmary, 9.) Nostalgia, 10.) Sweet Potato
11.) Sick Of Goodbyes, 12.) I Want Everything, 13.) Lonesome Johnny Blues, 14.) Let's Go For A Ride, 15.) Loser, 16.) silent tracks, 17.) Eurotrash Girl, 18.) silent tracks, 19.) I Ride My Bike, 20.) encore break, 21.) encore intro, 22.) One Fine Day, 23.) introductions and acknowledgements, 24.) outtro

Download full Set

***

Saxophone Colossus

2010-09-07T15:26:00.009-04:00

American jazz tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins celebrates his 80th birthday today.
Born Theodore Walter Rollins in New York City, Sonny has become one of the most important and influential jazz musicians of the post-bebop era.
Rollins is recognized by many for the length and quality of his career, one not easily matched in the world of jazz. His melodic sensibilities, playing style and solos have also influenced several generations of musicians.

Sonny is still touring and recording, having outlived most of his contemporaries such as John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Max Roach, and Art Blakey, all performers with whom he recorded.

"Strode Rode" - from the album Saxophone Colossus:

Sonny Rollins — tenor saxophone
Tommy Flanagan — piano
Doug Watkins — bass
Max Roach — drums

Sonny Rollins was elected to the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1973.

Pssst, don't forget to click on the photos!

"What's New In Baltimore?"

2010-09-01T21:11:00.009-04:00

SEPTEMBER 19 WILL BE DECLARED "FRANK ZAPPA DAY" IN BALTIMORE

Frank Zappa statue to be dedicated on Sunday, September 19 at the Southeast Anchor Branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library located at 3601 Eastern Avenue.
September 19, 2010 marks the 25th anniversary of Zappa's testimony on Capitol Hill and at Annapolis against the censorship of free expression by artists.

The sculpture is a gift to the city of Baltimore orchestrated by three guys from Lithuania: Saulius Paukstys, Saulius Pilinkus and Arturas Baublys. It is a replica of the bust of Frank Zappa installed in Vilnius (pictured here), created by artist Konstantinas Bogdanas. The gift and location were approved by the Baltimore City Public Art Commission and sanctioned by the family.
Zappa's son Dweezil Zappa will headline a special concert with his Grammy Award-winning band, Zappa Plays Zappa. The stretch of Eastern Avenue between Conkling and Eaton Streets in the heart of the Highlandtown Arts and Entertainment District will be marked 'Frank Zappa Way' with a ceremonial street sign to be unveiled for the dedication. The events, including the outdoor dedication and concerts, are open to the public at no charge.

Legendary musician and composer Frank Zappa was born in Baltimore in 1940 and passed away in 1993, at home in Los Angeles. He is internationally recognized as one of the most innovative composers and musicians of the 20th century with a career spanning more than 30 years.

"What's New In Baltimore?"

Carolina Chocolate Drops

2010-08-29T11:10:00.009-04:00

Today's Date In Music History (MC birthday edition):

Carolina Chocolate Drops Live at Festival Park - Greensboro, NC on August 29, 2009

Dom Flemons: 4-string banjo, guitar, jug, bones, snare
Rhiannon Giddens: 5-string banjo, fiddle, kazoo, akonting
Justin Robinson: Fiddle, jug

*Note: LMA has been experiencing some some problems with their players lately, so you'll have to advance manually after each track.

d1t01. Little Rabbit

d1t02. banter
d1t03. Don't Get Trouble in Your Mind
d1t04. banter
d1t05. Cindy Gal
d1t06. banter
d1t07. Gambia
d1t08. banter
d1t09. I Know I've Been Changed*
d1t10. banter
d1t11. Viper Mad
d1t12. banter
d1t13. Will Adams' Breakdown
d1t14. banter
d1t15. Short Life of Trouble
d1t16. banter
d1t17. Salty Dog
d1t18. banter
d1t19. Cornbread and Butterbeans
d1t20. banter
d1t21. Snowden's Jig
d1t22. banter
d1t23. Black Annie
d2t01. banter
d2t02. Old Rattler
d2t03. banter
d2t04. Yonder Comes the Blues
d2t05. banter
d2t06. Hit em Up Style
d2t07. Sourwood Mountain
d2t08. crowd > banter
d2t09. Chopsticks

Download show here (MP3)

Voyagers Trailer

2010-08-28T23:07:00.002-04:00

Trailer for the upcoming movie "Voyagers" coming in 2012. Based on the theory of ensuring our existence by traveling backward in time before the end of this universe to an earlier stage in the life cycle of the universe. By inhabiting different parts of the universe we would be able to avoid detection as Voyagers from the future.

NoiseCollector's Channel (youTube)

Mike & Bryan

2010-08-26T17:15:00.002-04:00

An amazing acoustic cover of Frank Zappa's "Inca Roads" by Mike Keneally and Bryan Beller. Mike toured as part of Frank's 1988 band.

"People Are Brave"

2010-08-19T20:44:00.003-04:00

Surreal film imagery applied to Brave Combo's polka version of "People Are Strange".

Stream/Download Brave Combo Live Shows

"The Jekyl And Hyde Show"

2010-08-19T20:24:00.004-04:00

An Intellectual blonde joke

2010-08-19T19:54:00.003-04:00

BONUS Clip:

More Blonde jokes

Jerry Reed And Chet Atkins Jerrys Breakdown

2010-08-15T00:15:00.002-04:00

Atkins, who frequently produced Reed's music, remarked that he had to encourage Reed to put instrumental numbers on his own albums, as Reed always considered himself more of a songwriter than a player. Atkins, however, thought Reed was a better fingerstyle player than he himself was.

Hagar's One Of Us

2010-08-12T21:20:00.001-04:00

Last night of the tour, great set list, they played and gave it their all for 2 hours and 45 minutes. Thanks to Wayne and the band for a great evening

2010-08-08T12:34:00.007-04:00

Today's Date In Music History:

Wayne Hancock Live at The Mystic Theater, Petaluma, CA - August 8th, 2008

01. Kansas City Blues
02. Viper
03. Lousiana Blues
04. Thunderstorms and Neon Signs
05. Lonsome and Blue
06. I Don't Care Anymore
07. I'm So Lonesome I could Cry
08. Wild, Free and Reckless
09. Wine, SpodieOdie
10. 87 Southbound
11. Juke Joint Jumpin'
12. Miller, Jack, Mad Dog
13. Johnson City
14. Johnny Law
15. Big City Good Time Gal
16. Kansas City
17. Flatland Boogie
18. Draggin' Me Down
19. Summertime
20. That's What Daddy Wants
21. Cold Lonesome Wind
22. We Three
23. Stardust Memories
24. Old Man Winter Gonna Rock and Roll Tonight
25. Locomotive Joe
26. Blue Suede Shoes
27. Instrumental ?
28. Walkin' the Dog
29. Lost Highway
30. Milk Cow Blues
31. Cow Cow Boogie
32. Lose Your Mind
33. Encore: Crowd_Tuning
34. Honky Tonk Man

35. Hoy, Hoy, Hoy

Download full show here

DBT

2010-08-08T12:20:00.006-04:00

Today's Date In Music History (August 8, 2009):

Drive-By Truckers Live at Hal & Mal's in Jackson, MS

01. Devil Don't Stay
02. Man I Shot
03. Gravity's Gone
04. Buttholeville
05. Ronnie and Neal
06. Three Dimes
07. Huston
08. Everybody Needs a Love
09. Love Like This
10. Too Much Sex
11. Sinkhole
12. Women Without Whiskey
13. Patterson Banter
14. George Jones
15. Rebel
16. Uncle Frank
17. Puttin People on the Moon
18. Marry Me
19. Steve McQueen
20. crowd

ENCORE:
21. Great Car Dealer War
22. Home Field Advantage
23. Zip City
24. Let There Be Rock
25. Lookout Mountain

Download here

"Ride off with your debts into the sunset"

2010-08-07T01:49:00.002-04:00

"You better top off your suntan
Otherwise your skin's gonna to turn to leather
We'll make a movie in Vietnam
Tax break said we're gonna shoot on location
The rug says made in Korea
Manufactured in a factory using cheap labor
And all over Asia
The third world's becoming a major league player

Mass production in Saigon
While auto workers laid off in Cleveland
Hot jacuzzi in Taiwan
With empty factories in Birmingham
Now it's baby boomers in Hong Kong
And cowboys in Vietnam
Making their movies

Big confusion in Hollywood
Now it's American Major League in Japan
Hamburger in China
With sushi bars in Maine and Boston
The dollar sign said expand
Now it's cowboys in Vietnam
Making their movies

Wake up in the White House
Zip up your pants and get it together
Take a look at your overseas neighbor
Look at their strange behavior
Take a look at your wigwam
Inside it says that the product is Asian
Once it was only in movies
Now it's a product invasion

Mass production in Saigon
While auto workers laid off in Cleveland
Hot jacuzzi in Taiwan
With empty factories in Birmingham
Now it's sweatshops in Hong Kong
Dressing cowboys in Vietnam
Making their movies
Let's make a movie in Vietnam

You better top up your suntan
Looks like we're in for heavy weather
Economic meltdown
Nobody said it would last forever
Let's make a movie in Baghdad
Take the culture right to the Third World
Blow up a brand new civilization
In the name of globalization

Big confusion in Hollywood
Now it's American Major League in Japan
Hamburger in China
With sushi bars in Maine and Boston
Dollar signs said expand
Now it's cowboys in Vietnam
Making their movies

Watch out!
Ride off with your debts into the sunset"
- RAYMOND DOUGLAS DAVIES

THX-1138 w/Pink Floyd Soundtrack (Abridged) by Hunter Seamons

2010-08-05T18:08:00.006-04:00

This is an experimental art piece mixing music to THX-1138 footage, made in 2005.
No editing or cutting of the existing film was done during the songs - only between songs.
This piece was inspired by the whole "Wizard of Oz synced to Dark Side of the Moon" phenomenon.

RIP

2010-07-31T17:42:00.029-04:00

It is with a heavy heart that I that I deliver the news that my beloved cat Tabby passed this afternoon.

Being that she was adopted, I'm not certain of her age but estimate her to have lived 14-16 years.

##
##

Tabby was a small, unique, intelligent cat. She was very affectionate, but she was spunky and could also be a real bitch sometimes.

She preferred the company of my dog Klara to that of the home's other cats.

Death is an angel sent down from above

Sent for the flowers and the lilies we love
Surely it's so, for in heaven's own way
The soul is a flower of the Master's bouquet

Chorus
Gathering flowers for the Master's bouquet
Beautiful flowers that will never decay
Gathered by angels and carried away
Forever to bloom in the Master's bouquet

We must be faithful till life's work is done
Blooming away in the warmth of the sun
But every bud and each blossom some day
Will bloom as a flower in the Master's bouquet

For her,

Any Colour You Like

2010-07-28T02:58:00.004-04:00

Richard Wright, keyboardist and founding member of the band Pink Floyd, was born 67 years ago today.
Sadly, Wright died of an undisclosed form of cancer in his home in the UK on 15 September 2008.

Below is Pink Floyd playing the song "Any Colour You Like" (from their Dark Side Of The Moon album) recorded live at the Boston Garden on June 18, 1975.

Liberals, The Early Years:

2010-07-26T12:47:00.002-04:00

Some Recent Photos

2010-07-22T22:31:00.009-04:00

I Did Not Vote For OBAMAO

2010-07-21T15:19:00.003-04:00

(click the photo)

DAVIES & DICKENS

2010-07-14T13:20:00.004-04:00

Ray Davies of The Kinks is an English rock ‘n’ roller while Charles Dickens was a writer from the Victorian era. Yet, according to Bill Glahn, editor of Live! Music Review, a case could probably be made that Ray Davies is the Charles Dickens of rock ‘n’ roll.

An interesting comparison of two of Britain's greatest writers.

Via (bigO)

Wave That Flag

2010-07-03T21:35:00.001-04:00

Wave It Wide And HIGH!!!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

RIP Peter Alexander Greenlaw Quaife

2010-06-25T05:06:00.002-04:00

(Dec. 31, 1943 - June 23, 2010)

Pete Quaife, the original bassist in the Kinks who played with the British Invasion band from their formation in 1961 through 1969, has died. He had been undergoing kidney dialysis for over a decade.

When he was diagnosed with renal failure in 1998, he began drawing cartoons about his experience undergoing dialysis treatment.

Read Dave Davies' statement from his web site.

Happy Birthday Ray!

2010-06-21T10:42:00.003-04:00

Please enjoy this short film, in honor of Ray Davies' birthday.

Ray Davies - Working Man's Cafe - Bonus Footage Preview from New West Records on Vimeo.

Bonus:

Here are some links to some previous Ray Davies posts.

-It's Ray's Birthday, Have Another Drink

-Ray Davies

-One Of Music's Finest Songwriters And Social Critics

-“I’ve only written about 200 good songs. The rest are B sides."

"Killing my Kind"

2010-06-20T15:30:00.004-04:00

Here's a trailer for the new album by Izzy Cox.

Izzy Cox will be the supporting act on the Hank Williams III / AssJack U.S. Tour 2010.

Nashville Or Bust

2010-06-19T19:47:00.007-04:00

I recently happened across this great series of posts .

A.V. Club head writer and hip-hop specialist Nathan Rabin recently decided to spend a year immersing himself in the canon of country music, a genre he knew little about but was keen to explore. The result: “Nashville Or Bust,” a series of essays about seminal country artists. After one year of country (dated from the column’s introduction on March 3, 2009), Rabin plans to travel south and explore some of country music’s most hallowed landmarks and institutions.

I can't agree with the inclusion of all the artists that he covers, but he has put a good deal of research into the project. Definitely worth a look.

Jackie and Dunlap on the World Cup

2010-06-18T07:59:00.002-04:00

The good ol' boys at Red State Update share their views on soccer in the classic clip from 2006.

"Come home with me, little Matty Groves, come home with me tonight... "

2010-06-18T07:18:00.005-04:00

"Matty Groves" is an English language folk ballad that describes an adulterous tryst between a man and a woman that is ended when the woman's husband discovers and kills them. It dates to at least the 17th century. The wife of a nobleman entices Matty Groves a servant or retainer of her husband, into an adulterous affair. The nobleman receives word of the betrayal and returns home, where he surprises the lovers in bed. The nobleman kills Matty Groves in a duel. When his wife spurns him and expresses a preference for her lover, even in death, he stabs her through the heart.

Lyrics:

A holiday, a holiday, and the first one of the year
Lord Donald's wife came into the church, the gospel for to hear
And when the meeting it was done, she cast her eyes about
And there she saw little Matty Groves, walking in the crowd
"Come home with me, little Matty Groves, come home with me tonight
Come home with me, little Matty Groves, and sleep with me till light"
"Oh, I can't come home, I won't come home and sleep with you tonight
By the rings on your fingers I can tell you are my master's wife"
"But if I am Lord Donald's wife, Lord Donald's not at home
He is out in the far cornfields bringing the yearlings home"

And a servant who was standing by and hearing what was said
He swore Lord Donald he would know before the sun would set
And in his hurry to carry the news, he bent his breast and ran
And when he came to the broad millstream, he took off his shoes and he swam

Little Matty Groves, he lay down and took a little sleep
When he awoke, Lord Donald was standing at his feet
Saying "How do you like my feather bed and how do you like my sheets
How do you like my lady who lies in your arms asleep?"
"Oh, well I like your feather bed and well I like your sheets
But better I like your lady gay who lies in my arms asleep"
"Well, get up, get up," Lord Donald cried, "get up as quick as you can
It'll never be said in fair England that I slew a naked man"
"Oh, I can't get up, I won't get up, I can't get up for my life
For you have two long beaten swords and I not a pocket knife"
"Well it's true I have two beaten swords and they cost me deep in the purse
But you will have the better of them and I will have the worse
And you will strike the very first blow and strike it like a man
I will strike the very next blow and I'll kill you if I can"

So Matty struck the very first blow and he hurt Lord Donald sore
Lord Donald struck the very next blow and Matty struck no more
And then Lord Donald took his wife and he sat her on his knee
Saying "Who do you like the best of us, Matty Groves or me?"
And then up spoke his own dear wife, never heard to speak so free
"I'd rather a kiss from dead Matty's lips than you or your finery"

Lord Donald he jumped up and loudly he did bawl
He struck his wife right through the heart and pinned her against the wall
"A grave, a grave," Lord Donald cried, "to put these lovers in
But bury my lady at the top for she was of noble kin

In the United States the song was transformed into the less graphic "Shady Grove", which has itself become a traditional.

Follow this link to previous posts of "Country Death Songs".

A Sad Farewell

2010-06-14T12:11:00.009-04:00

After six years of 30-Second Bunnies Theatre, it's time to say goodbye to their wonderful reenactments.

Follow this link for the message from their site.

D-Day

2010-06-06T17:57:00.001-04:00

"The Rat Cage "

2010-05-26T18:49:00.004-04:00

Beastie Boys - From their 2007 instrumental album The Mix Up!

It’s a bass riff-driven, guitar jammin’ tune with a spy-noir type clip to boot.

"Hey Jude" Flowchart

2010-05-26T12:24:00.004-04:00

Special thanks to robthewordsmith

Ommegang

2010-05-15T23:54:00.010-04:00

I recently traveled to Cooperstown, NY with Gator to visit Brewery Ommegang.

Ommegang, which began brewing Belgian-style ales in 1997, started up in a purpose-built building based on a traditional Belgian farmhouse, set on a former 136 acre hop farm in the Susqehanna River Valley, four miles south of Cooperstown, New York in the Town of Middlefield.

After filling some growlers and grabbing some "750's" at the gift shop, we ventured downtown and imbibed at some local establishments. We passed a Chinese restaurant called Foo Kin John. I toyed with the notion of stopping in and demanding a "Foo Kin egg roll", but opted for a burger elsewhere.

Whilst in Cooperstown - "a drinking town with a baseball problem" - we also paid a visit to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

It was a great trip. I wish that I had more photos, but there were camera issues.
Oh well.

Amsterdam in May

2010-05-15T23:47:00.003-04:00

Shots and Beer

2010-05-15T23:31:00.003-04:00

Lots of great photos over at

BEER LENS

You may have noticed....

2010-05-15T00:14:00.005-04:00

.... that posting has been a bit light lately. But fear not-the rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated.
I've been quite busy-or should I say preoccupied?
went to Cooperstown with Gator last weekend. Great time - another post. soon to follow stay tuned.

Holy Cow! - Rizzuto Returns

2010-05-06T09:46:00.003-04:00

No. Not that guy from The Money Store, but Conservative Punk co-founder Nick Rizzuto.
He has recently launched a new blog, Rizzuto Rants. Check it out.
Hat tip to Red Planet Cartoons for the update and the illustration.

Muslims Hate Cartoons

2010-04-26T17:32:00.003-04:00

Jackie and Dunlap discuss the recent death threats made to the creators of South Park by a radical Islamic website

420

2010-04-20T16:20:00.003-04:00

Bicycle Day

2010-04-19T19:01:00.004-04:00

April 19th is Bicycle Day.
It was on this day in 1943 that Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann ingested LSD before his bicycle ride home. It must have made for one amazing journey.

Are You Bad Friend Stock?

2010-04-13T22:20:00.003-04:00

Do you update your profile more than a couple times a day telling
everyone about useless activities and thoughts?
we don’t care how boring your class may be and we already know that
rainy days are not fun. When something unique happens to you, feel free
to let us know.

South Park takes a look at obsessive Facebook users.

(via Parcbench)

"The Burden of Being Jerry"

2010-04-13T22:13:00.003-04:00

This interesting read, of moderate length, first appeared in the November 1996 San Francisco Focus

The Burden of Being Jerry

TWO WRITERS - BOTH INSIDERS IN THE GRATEFUL DEAD COMMUNITY - DISCUSS THE TROUBLE BEHIND THE LATE JERRY GARCIA.

By David Gans

For the last ten years of Jerry Garcia's life, his health and lifestyle were major topics of discussion in the Grateful Dead world. From the innermost sanctum to the far edge of the parking lot and beyond -- the band, its extended family, the Dead's business organization, the businesses that did business with the Dead and the Deadheads, and the legendary community of Grateful Dead fans -- whenever two or more Dead-lovers engaged in conversation, news and gossip about Garcia were of primary interest.

Garcia nearly died from a diabetic coma in July 1986. Following his return to the stage, his health -- and the creative vigor of the Grateful Dead -- fluctuated greatly, alternating between periods of sweet creativity and deeply worrisome spells of forgotten lyrics, vocal problems, weight gain, and retreat from the intrepid musical explorations of the past.

Despite news reports of Garcia eating healthy gourmet food on tour, scuba diving in Hawaii, enjoying his burgeoning career in the visual arts -- and a giddy People magazine spread on his wedding to filmmaker Deborah Koons -- his music just kept getting harder and harder to listen to. Whatever the cause -- addiction to heroin (as the rumors had it) or a loss of interest in the Grateful Dead -- Garcia's failing command of his musical gifts was the subject of great concern and controversy in the Deadhead subculture, where rumor battled with hope and denial.

Whatever was going on behind the scenes, and despite occasional cancellations due to "flu" or "exhaustion," the Dead kept touring, season after season; as one former manager put it, the band had become "addicted to affluence."

As the producer of the Grateful Dead Hour (a nationally syndicated weekly radio program), a member of the online community of Deadheads on the Net, and the author of three books on the subject, I heard most of the rumors and some of the facts; I encountered concern, anger, and denial inside the Dead organization as well as out among the fans. I kept the radio show focused on the music and did what I could to control misinformation in the online world, but as time went by the tale of the tapes became undeniable. Listeners wrote in to request this or that favorite moment from a just-completed tour, and I often felt my heart sink as I evaluated those shows in search of presentable performances.

Giving up hope was not an option. As a friend, fan, and musical disciple, I was in it for the long haul. To the more optimistic among us, Garcia seemed indestructible, having bounced back so many times. The rest of the Grateful Dead seemed to grow in power as Garcia receded, and on those magical occasions when Jerry engaged us musically, he brought us all a few days' peace of mind. Although his stamina was failing and his performances often seemed uninspired, Garcia had immense reserves of good will to draw on: the famously uncritical majority of the audience continued to radiate unconditional love as long as Garcia kept showing up on stage.

This is not your garden-variety rock-star worship we're talking about here. An eloquent guitarist, an engaging vocalist, and a gifted composer/improviser, Garcia was charismatic, articulate, generous, well read, and a born leader. Beginning in the fabled ballrooms of the psychedelic sixties, he and his partners forged a complex and constantly evolving musical continuum, taking chances onstage with the support of an audience as committed to the long haul as the musicians themselves. The fierce intimacy among members of the Dead was shared by the audience, and built a profound sense of mutual belonging over three decades of peak experiences.

So what happened on the morning of August 9, 1995, wasn't just the death of a beloved guitarist: it was the end of a long, strange, intimate and deeply rewarding relationship. Only the most diligent denialists could have been surprised by the news, but it was a painful reckoning just the same -- maybe even more so because we knew it was coming and had tried so hard to wish it away.

The truth -- well, some of the truth -- about Garcia's life has begun to emerge since his death. In Dark Star: An Oral Biography of Jerry Garcia, Robert Greenfield (co-author of Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out, the promoter's autobiography) has assembled recollections from sixty-eight witnesses, including the people who did the often heartbreaking work of keeping Garcia's scene together over the years. Greenfield called, wrote and faxed the members of the Dead, but they never responded. What emerges in Dark Star, as Greenfield says, "is a sense of the arc of Jerry's life, separate from the band."

I was first seduced by Garcia's music in 1972, and by his personal charisma in various encounters over the years. So I was hurt and frustrated by his inaccessibility over the last decade or so. He gave me some exhilarating interviews in the early eighties, and he encouraged me to get more involved in the Dead scene as a writer and later as a radio producer. But although he supported me in the contract negotiations to syndicate the Dead's radio show, he refused to be interviewed. It was hard not to take it personally, and so it was with a sad sort of relief that I read Greenfield's concatenated dialog describing the depths of Garcia's struggle over those last years: it seems just about everybody was closed out.

Gans: Reading Dark Star, I got the impression that Jerry didn't enjoy touring with the Dead in the last few years.

Greenfield: The constant conflict in the band was, "Jerry, we're going on the road again." And he would say, "More money, man? Really, what for?" He had no financial incentive to go on the road with the Dead. The Jerry Garcia Band was selling out venues that the Dead had previously sold out. His artwork and ties were earning him money. And he had royalties from Cherry Garcia ice cream. He could have stayed home, made music, and painted. He had to ask himself, "What am I doing here with people who think I'm God, who are thirty years younger than me, who worship me but don't know me?" Jerry talked about it with Laird Grant, who was the Dead's first roadie: "This scares me," Jerry said. "I don't want this. It's too much weight."

Every time Jerry went out on the road with the Dead, it either broke up the relationship he was in or got him involved with heroin again. It's the basic conflict of a musician's life: the thing they do is often the thing that kills them.

Gans: I think the burden on Jerry was on all of them. Nobody wanted to pull the plug on this thing -- especially when it was raking in $50 million a year. The number of people on their payroll was one burden; the hundreds of other people whose income derived from the Grateful Dead was another planet's worth of weight; and then there was the happiness that the band brought to hundreds of thousands of people in the world.

Greenfield: Still, what's inscrutable about Garcia is his incredible artistic nature, and what drove him to heroin. Everybody who loved him, and everybody who knew him, liked him less when he was on heroin -- and told him so. [Famed LSD chemist] Owsley went right into his face and said, "You know, Jerry, you're not very nice when you're on this drug "

He didn't inject it; he always smoked this very pure form of it. And he constantly tried to get straight. His coma in '86 marks the end of his darkest period, when he really lived in a drug stupor. He told Justin Kreutzmann [son of Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann] that had it not been for the band, he would have been a guy on a street corner who would do anything to score. For the last ten years of his life, you get this back-and-forth: I'm clean, I'm up, I'm back in it.

Gans: And you can hear that in the music. Sometimes he was sharp and animated, and other times he was vague and disconnected.

Greenfield: This is a guy who carried a lot of emotional weight. At age four, his older brother Tiff chops his finger off. It's an accident; they're playing with an ax. So he's maimed -- a kid has to be sensitive about that. A year later, Jerry's on the beach when his father drowns. Jerry's mother loves him, but she's running a bar. She remarries, an ex-stevedore who can't really relate to Jerry or his brother. And Jerry is cast adrift. He's on his own from the time he's eight or nine, and he doesn't even finish high school. He joins the army at the age of sixteen, but he's such a bad soldier it's hysterical. "Private Garcia, you left the tank in the . . . " "Oh, I'm sorry." "Private Garcia, you were supposed to be back here three days ago." "I'm sorry." He apologized his way out of the army.

Now he's seventeen and living in his car in Palo Alto. You could make a good argument that everything recognized as a unique part of American culture lumped under the term "the sixties" came out of Palo Alto. Ken Kesey's at Stanford, and Robert Stone and all these high-powered writers are getting weird. And Jerry is part of this street scene. Jerry said to me, "The Kesey people were Apollonian and we were Dionysian." In other words, these people don't have any limits. And they're taking acid before anybody. They were living in a beatnik culture of coffee houses and literature. Jerry was quoting from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake. He had sections of it memorized. This guy was a self-educated, full-blown intellectual who was dedicating his life to making music.

There was no place for somebody like Jerry to go at that point. No one who wasn't alive in the early sixties can imagine what show business was like. It was completely straight. It was all, you know, The Ed Sullivan Show. There was no Dylan yet. So there was not much Jerry could do.

I don't think people understand that Jerry didn't have to take LSD to become Jerry. This guy was fully formed by the time he got himself thrown out of the army. And everybody who met him knew this. When [Grateful Dead bassist] Phil Lesh met Jerry, he said, "I don't like him. He's too powerful." Jerry had so much charisma. People always looked at him. They always wanted to hang out with him.

A story I really like from that era is told by Sandy Rothman, a bluegrass musician who played with Jerry. Jerry was working at Dana Morgan Music, and a guy came into the music store, took a guitar off the wall and just started playing really fast and furious. Then all of a sudden he stopped. He put the guitar back on the wall and Jerry said, "What's the matter, man? Run out of talent?" He had this cutting edge. He was a very sardonic guy. Poked fun at every thing. Saw through it all.

Gans: Yet the public image of Jerry Garcia is this easygoing, soulful, gentle and generous man.

Greenfield: To the outside world, Jerry was the Dead. Everybody knew he was the leader. But he didn't want to be the leader. And that's where the famous Grateful Dead way of making decisions came about: "If everybody doesn't want to do it, we're not going to do it." But the reason they got to that concept wasn't so much the hippie social experiment but the fact that Jerry, the one guy who ran the show, who knew more about business than anybody, refused to make decisions on his own.

Marmaduke [John Dawson] of the New Riders of the Purple Sage said something I thought was hysterical: "Every hippie had to talk to Jerry. They either had a trip they wanted to lay on him or a trip they needed him to explain." And Jerry would do it. He would talk to a kid with long hair from Indiana with no shoes, even though there were twelve lawyers in the other room who needed to know if he was going to sign a record deal. There's something sweet about that. This guy was very democratic, with a small "d." He was not your typical rock star.

Gans: You spoke to a lot of the women in Jerry's life. What did you learn from them?

Greenfield: Every woman who was with Jerry understood that the Grateful Dead was the "other woman." He certainly had a lot of incredible women who were willing to give him their lives. But it wasn't enough.

The high point of Jerry's life -- creatively and personally -- was when he lived in Stinson Beach in the early seventies. He had the best house in town, he was living with [ex-Merry Prankster] Mountain Girl, they had two kids, and he was playing acoustic music with Peter Rowan and David Grisman. Everybody who met him during that period said, "Wow, this guy's got it wired." But then he started seeing another woman.

Jerry had so many faces, so many different personalities. I don't think anybody close to him understood him. Everybody was a little scared of him. You didn't want to get on Jerry's wrong side, because he could cut you so badly it would take a long time to recover.

His ability to intimidate was matched by his ability to inspire. John Perry Barlow [Grateful Dead songwriting partner] talks about being with the Dead at the funeral of Brent Mydland [the Grateful Dead keyboardist who died of a drug overdose in 1990]. They're acting like a bunch of high school basketball players between the halves. They're cracking jokes, playing grab-ass, and then they carry the casket into the hearse. Barlow, who goes in and out of the Dead scene, is just horrified by this behavior. But then he gets into the limo with Jerry, and as soon as Jerry's alone, he becomes the caring, sensitive guy. Barlow says to him, "You know, Jerry, I don't think I can do this anymore. What's happening is the Deadheads are becoming all sweetness and light, love and peace, good vibes and let's-help-each-other, and we're becoming really dark. I think I'd rather be out front in the audience than on stage." And Jerry says, "You know, man, I think I would, too. But I can't."

Gans: I have a friend who worked with the Grateful Dead many years ago. I was recounting my latest soul-wrenching attempt to do something reasonable with the Grateful Dead organization, and he said to me, "That's why I got out of there twenty years ago. I realized that Jerry was never going to control his people, and I couldn't stand to work in that sort of craziness."

Greenfield: The Dead hated to fire anybody. They almost never threw anybody out. You practically have to die to get booted out. When Pigpen died, Garcia said, "That's not Pigpen in that coffin. That's the Grateful Dead." But two weeks later they were back in the studio and out on the road. When it came to being survivors, they were experts.

Jon McIntire [manager from the late sixties to the mid-eighties] points out that the great contribution of the hippie culture was this projection of joy. The beatnik thing was black, cynical, and cold. It was amphetamines and black coffee, and nobody was nice to you. If you look at the way those people -- Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Cassady -- treated each other, it wasn't so great. But Jerry was interested in doing something else. He was interested in creating art out of happiness, out of ecstasy, out of pleasure. When Jerry was doing that, he could bring everybody into that space. That's the basis of the Deadhead phenomenon.

Gans: Somewhere along the line, it seems,Jerry stopped enjoying it. I saw him being pretty surly with people at times in the nineties. When do you think it stopped being fun for him?

Greenfield: I would say the turning point comes when Garcia is given what he is told is a very pure form of opium -- which turns out to be Persian heroin. And he likes it. He really likes it. Garcia didn't do anything moderately. He didn't eat moderately and he didn't smoke moderately. But he didn't die from heroin. He was a diabetic who ate sugar all the time. He was someone with emphysema who smoked. So Jerry doesn't just smoke this form of heroin occasionally and feel good about it. He goes so far into this that it's amazing he survived as long as he did. He was so bloated he couldn't get his shoes on.

When Jon McIntire, who hadn't seen Jerry for a couple years, came to visit him, Jerry opened the door and said, "I've been a stone junkie for the past few years. What have you been doing?"

But even in that condition, Jerry could still get the drop on anyone. Barlow visited him during the same period and told Jerry that since he was almost dead anyway, he should just go ahead and finish the job. Garcia didn't say a word. Instead, he got up, walked down the hall, went into his room and put a sign on the door: "Do Not Disturb."

The Results Are In!

2010-04-11T10:02:00.005-04:00

World Beer Cup 2010 Winners List

2010 Brewers Association World Beer Cup Winners
2010 Brewers Association World Beer Cup Winners (PDF)
2010 World Beer Cup FACT Sheet (PDF)
Sortable 2010 World Beer Cup Winners List (Excel)

Happy Birthday Merle!

2010-04-06T11:03:00.005-04:00

Country music legend Merle Haggard turns 73 today.
Merle was born in Bakersfield, California. His parents had moved from Oklahoma to California during the Great Depression. At that time, much of the population of Bakersfield consisted of economic refugees from Oklahoma and surrounding states.
By his twenty-first birthday Merle had run away regularly from home, been placed in two separate reform schools (from which he in turn escaped a half-dozen times), worked as a laborer, played guitar and sung informally, begun a family, and performed sporadically at southern California clubs and, for three weeks, on the Smilin’ Jack Tyree Radio Show in Springfield, Missouri. He also spent time in local jails for theft and bad checks.
Haggard's criminal career culminated in 1957 when, drunk and confused, he was caught burglarizing a Bakersfield roadhouse. After an attempted escape from county jail, he was sent to San Quentin. There, in a final burst of antisocial activity, he got drunk on prison home brew, landing himself briefly in solitary confinement.
While incarcerated, Haggard attended three of Johnny Cash's concerts at San Quentin. Seeing Cash perform encouraged Haggard to straighten up and pursue his singing. Several years later, at another Cash concert, Haggard came up to Johnny and told him "I certainly enjoyed your show at San Quentin." Cash said "Merle, I don't remember you bein' in that show." Merle replied, "Johnny, I wasn't in that show, I was in the audience."
Merle's guitar work and voice gives his country a hard edged, blues like style in many cuts.
Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield Sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies, and a rough edge not heard on the more polished Nashville Sound recordings of the same era.
Merle Haggard has been outspoken in his dislike for modern country music.

Watermelon In Easter Hay

2010-04-04T00:46:00.003-04:00

Frank Zappa - May 17, 1988, Barcelona, Spain

Quite possibly THE most beautiful guitar piece ever written.

Chocolate Jesus?

2010-04-03T11:24:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, whilst schlepping through the aisles of a large national retail store, I happened across something which struck me as a bit peculiar. It was a chocolate Easter candy in the shape of the cross. This caused me to wonder, which was more blasphemous, that whole Easter Bunny thing or the consumption of such a symbolic confection?
What's up with Easter and rabbits anyway?

Happy Easter! Jesus died for your sins.

EAA Airventure 2009

2010-04-02T12:06:00.005-04:00

This great video was taken at the EAA Airventure event in Oshkosh, WI!

"Chuck E. Weiss is the kind of guy who would steal his own car " - Tom Waits

2010-04-01T14:37:00.004-04:00

Chuck E. Weiss grew up in Denver. A rebellious child and adolescent, he always felt alienated from others his age and just slightly left of the mainstream.He found himself greatly influenced by what he heard on the radio and by the music his father listened to, an eclectic mix of boogie-woogie, sabre dance, sambas, mambos, and Hank Williams.
Chuck E. acquired an extensive record collection from his father, who was in the salvage business, and from the neighborhood trash collector (one "Pappy" Frye) who left him a vast collection of old albums.
Unable to read music, he did have a knack for finding the beat, so it only seemed natural that Chuck E. would express his rhythm on the drums. When he was nine, his folks bought him his first drum kit. By the time Chuck E. was a teenager a local manager and promoter asked him to sit in on drums during a nightclub appearance by Lightnin' Hopkins. The gig went well and Chuck E. convinced the legendary bluesman to take him on tour.
By the late '60s, Chuck E. Weiss had toured with Hopkins, and found himself performing and/or recording with the likes of Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Dr. John, Roger Miller and others.
In 1972, while playing in the Ebbett's Field house band, Weiss met a new headlining act named Tom Waits. Weiss thought he was different and got to talking to the guy. They met again after Weiss moved to Hollywood and they became fast friends. They also started a long musical collaboration with the song "Spare Parts," which Waits recorded on his 1975 Nighthawks at the Diner album.In the late '70s, Chuck E. lived at West Hollywood's famed Tropicana Motel along with Waits and an up-and-coming singer-songwriter named Ricki Lee Jones. Jones would later immortalize Chuck E. in her top five hit "Chuck E.'s in Love."

It looks like Palm Sunday again

2010-03-28T13:20:00.004-04:00

The river so white, the mountain so red
and with the sunshine over my head
The honky-tonks are all closed and hushed

It looks like Palm Sunday again

The sky is so green, clouds of canary
Blood moon rise like a fat ripe cherry
Sunset quiet as a benediction
One true love, the rest is fiction

If I stay longer, trouble will find me
An epitaph and a sheet to wind me
A passable day for the least of men
it must be Palm Sunday again

Turn off your damn lights and celebrate global warming with Jackie & Dunlap.

2010-03-27T18:54:00.007-04:00

pssst, it's their full album (for free).

Purchase

From the Modern Drunkard Magazine archives:

2010-03-26T11:34:00.004-04:00

It may have already happened to you.

A friend or family member invites you over for a drink and suddenly you find yourself surrounded by the uptightest of your loved ones, trapped in an emotional ambush, pinned down with accusations that you, yes you, dear drunkard, are a monstrously diseased person. A person with a problem so horrifically out of control they are forced, yes forced, to confront you and make you change.

Now, there are those who secretly welcome interventions, either out of a selfish craving for attention or a repressed desire to stop drinking. If you are reading this magazine, however, you are most likely neither, and this article is for you.

Rob Crooks - Misogyny III

2010-03-25T14:45:00.000-04:00

Sample-based punk-pop

1. Hey! Hey!
2. No Hands
3. Ghost
4. Not Cool
5. Not Meant to be Happy
6. Love Me

Download link

The Gates Of Delirium

2010-03-24T10:59:00.005-04:00

(lyrics by Jon Anderson)

Stand and fight we do consider
Reminded of an inner pact between us
That's seen as we go
And ride there
In motion
To fields in debts of honour defending

Stand the marchers soaring talons
Peaceful lives will not deliver freedom
Fighting we know,
Destroy oppression
The point to reaction
As leaders look to you attacking

Choose and renounce throwing chains to the floor
Kill or be killing faster sins correct the flow
Casting giant shadows off vast
Penetrating force
To alter via the war that seen
As frictions spans the spirits' wrath ascending to redeem

Wars that shout in screams of anguish
Power spent passion bespoils our soul receiver
Surely we know.
In glory we rise to offer,
Create our freedom, a word, we utter a word.

Words cause our banner, victorious our day
Will silence be promised as violence display
The curse increased we fight the pow'r and live by it by day
Our Gods awake in thunderous roars and guide
The leader's hands in paths of glory to the cause

Listen should we fight forever
Knowing as we do know
Fear destroys?
Listen should we leave our children?
Listen our lives stare in silence
Help us now

Listen your friends have been broken
They tell us of your poison
Now we know
Kill them give them as they give us
Slay them burn their children's laughter
On to Hell

The fist will run
Grasp metal to gun
The spirit sings in crashing tones we gain the battle drum
Our cries will shrill the air will moan and crash into the dawn
The pen won't stay the demon's wings, the hour approaches
Pounding out the Devil's sermon

Soon oh soon the light
Pass within and soothe this endless night
And wait here for you
Our reason to be here

Soon oh soon the time
All we move to gain will reach and calm
Our heart is open
Our reason to be here

Long ago, set into rhyme

Soon oh soon the light
Ours to shape for all time, ours the right
The sun will lead us
Our reason to be here

Soon oh soon the light
Ours to shape for all time, ours the right
The sun will lead us
Our reason to be here

Alex Chilton RIP

2010-03-18T06:00:00.003-04:00

(December 28, 1950 - March 17, 2010)

American pop-rock musician Alex Chilton, best known for his work with the pop-music bands the Box Tops and Big Star, passed away Wednesday at the age of 59.
As lead singer for the Box Tops, Chilton enjoyed (at the age of 16) a number-one international hit, "The Letter."
In 1971 Chilton joined the power-pop group Big Star and recorded the song "In The Street" for Big Star's first album #1 Record, a track later known as the theme song of That '70s Show.
Alex would continue touring and recording as a solo artist from the late-1980s through the 1990s, and also added to his schedule concerts and recordings with the reunited Box Tops and a version of Big Star
Alex Chilton was taken to the hospital in New Orleans on March 17, 2010, complaining of health problems, and died the same day of a suspected heart attack. He is survived by his wife, Laura, and son, Timothy.

Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP)

2010-03-17T06:54:00.000-04:00

I've been a craft beer enthusiast for quite some time , and anyone that's visited Jimmy's blog knows of his passion for good brew.

Maybe it's time to advance to the next level.

The Beer Judge Certification Program or BJCP is a non-profit organization formed "to promote beer literacy and the appreciation of real beer, and to recognize beer tasting and evaluation skills." It has been described in the press as a "hands-on ... study program designed to teach aspiring beer enthusiasts about the essence of any kind of beer". The BJCP certifies and ranks beer judges through an examination and monitoring process.
The BJCP was founded in 1985, when the first exam was given at the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) annual conference in Estes Park, Colorado. During its formative years, the program was jointly sponsored by the AHA and the Home Wine and Beer Trade Association. Both organizations sanctioned local homebrew competitions, and each had a national competition. Consequently, both were interested in fostering the improvement of judging skills and building up a pool of experienced beer judges.
In August, 1995, after a successful ten year history, support was withdrawn by the AHA, which had intentions of starting its own beer judging program. The HWBTA was unable to continue operating the program by itself, so the BJCP was expected to simply fade away. However, a considerable number of judges had been built up by this time, and many of them were quite active. A small number of these activists decided that the program could be operated solely by volunteers from among themselves, and decided to attempt the continuation of the BJCP as an independent entity.

Phil Lesh Turns 70!!!

2010-03-15T09:53:00.010-04:00

Musician Phil Lesh, best known as bass player and founding member of the Grateful Dead, turns 70 years old today.

One of the strongest intellects and most extraordinary musical talents in rock history, Phil Lesh re-defined what the bass could sound like, and in so doing heavily influenced what the Dead sounded like. Instead of being part of the rhythm section, Phil's bass was a low-end guitar, and his improvised interplay with Garcia and Weir made the Dead the not-quite-rock-band rock band that it was.

After the demise of the Grateful Dead, Lesh continued to perform with the group Phil Lesh and Friends,not a traditional group in that several different lineups of musicians have played under the name, including groups featuring members of Gov't Mule, Phish, Little Feat, and the Zen Tricksters among others.
In 2009, Phil Lesh went back on tour with the remaining members of The Grateful Dead and called it The Reunion Tour. Following the 2009 summer tour Lesh proceeded to found a new band with Bob Weir named Furthur, which debuted in September 2009.
The latest incarnation of Further is currently on tour, and played a concert event, this past weekend, honoring Phil's birthday.

Listen to the Birthday Bash:

click here to download.

Phil up on some great '68

Al "Damn" Gore

2010-03-12T09:40:00.002-05:00

Jackie & Dunlap are ashamed to call Al Gore a fellow Tennessean.

Warning: contains language that may not be safe for work--but that all depends on where you work.

Bob sounds-off on the Census

2010-03-12T09:29:00.004-05:00

Not one, but two rants from Drinking With Bob concerning the upcoming U.S. Census.

"they can't even run something a simple as the freaking census, and You Want the Government in Charge of Healthcare???!!!"

"if the government would stop spending OUR MONEY on nonsense this country might have a chance at survival. sad thing is they're not even considering stopping."

Keep To Movin'

2010-03-10T11:40:00.011-05:00

I've seldom used this forum to post reviews, but Keep To Movin' -- the latest offering by the Rock/Americana/Alt.Country group Graylight Campfire -- just screams for exception.

They're "Straight-up 3 piece rock and/or roll with a little twang and a positive vibe" and quite possibly the finest musical act to emerge from Fairfield County.

(photo by Mike Thut/Terrapin Studio)

Graylight Campfire, "the super-delegates of rock n roll", is made up of former Rafter Bats, Dave Hogan on guitar/vocals and Brian O'Callaghan on bass/vocals, and Pete May on drums. Dave and Brian also perform as an acoustic duo.

Keep To Movin' is the Stratford, Connecticut band's follow-up to 2008's All Are Welcome Some May Stay and there's no sophmore slump here.
The album kicks off with the warm and welcoming "Hello Old Friend", a country rocker that'll have the listener tapping their toes and singing along on the chorus. The toe-tappin' quickly turns to foot-stompin' with the next track "Start All Over". From there the band continues to explore various musical genres, from ska to southern tinged rock-n-blues, and rockers reminiscent of the Stones or Faces. Their playing has a fresh but rootsy feel and there's plenty of twang. The vocal harmonies are also of note. AND these boys can jam. Some of the heavier moments conjure up images of a Yellow Fever-era Hot Tuna. Most of all what makes this album a stand out is the songwriting. Mr. Hogan wrote 5 of the albums tracks, with the remainder penned by/or co written with Brian O'callaghan.
On this outing the trio is augmented by guest musicians Scott Camara, "T-Bone" Stone, and Dan Tressler on dobro, keyboards, and fiddle respectively.
I know it's only March, but this IS a top ten release for 2010. Buy it.

BONUS
Here's a couple of videos of the group performing material featured on this album.

Barack barely knew Obama

2010-03-10T07:17:00.003-05:00

“Listen, the rumors of my sobriety are greatly exaggerated”

2010-03-10T06:48:00.007-05:00

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Keith Richards confirmed that those stories about he and Ron Wood quitting drinking together were too good to be true.

Is anyone shocked?

Ron "Pigpen" McKernan

2010-03-08T10:11:00.021-05:00

Founding Grateful Dead member Ron McKernan passed away on today's date in 1973.

Starting a rock band was actually Ron McKernan's idea, and he was its first front man, delivering stinging harmonica, keyboards, and beautiful blues vocals in the early years of the Warlocks/Grateful Dead. Nicknamed "Pigpen" for his funky approach to life and sanitation, he was born into a family that was generally conventional, except for the fact that his (Caucasian) father was an R & B disc jockey. And that sound put Pig's life on the rails of the blues from the time he was 12. Liquor, Lightnin' Hopkins, the harmonica and some barbecue - it was an unusual life for a white kid from San Carlos, but it was Pig's life. And the hard-drinkin' blues life began to catch up with Pig by the very early '70s. He played his last show with the band in 1972, and on March 8, 1973, he died of internal hemorrhaging caused by his drinking.

"Pigpen was the only guy in the band who had any talent when we were starting out. He was genuinely talented. He also had no discipline, but he had reams of talent. And he had that magical thing of being able to make stuff up as he went along. He also had great stage presence. The ironic thing was that he hated it - it really meant nothing to him; it wasn't what he liked. We had to browbeat him into being a performer. His best performances were one-on-one, sitting in a room with an acoustic guitar. That's where he was really at home and at his best.

"Out in front of the crowd he could work the band, and he'd really get the audience going. He always had more nerve than I could believe. He'd get the audience on his side, and he'd pick somebody out (like a heckler) and get on them... He was the guy who really sold the band, not me or Weir. Pigpen is what made the band work."

~ Jerry Garcia

Here's Robert Petersen's poem for Pigpen, written in 1973:

& pigpen died

my eyes tequila-tortured
4 days mourning
lost another fragment
of my own self
knowing
the same brutal
night-sweats & hungers
he knew
the same cold fist
that knocked him down
now clutching furiously
at my gut

shut my eyes
& see him standing
spread-legged
on the stage of the world
the boys prodding him
egging him on
he telling all he ever knew
or cared to know

mike hand cocked like
a boxer's
head throwed back
stale whiskey blues
many-peopled destinations
neon rainy streets
& wilderness of airports
thousands maybe millions
loved him
were fired instantly
into forty-five minutes of
midnight hour
but when he died
he was thin, sick, scared
and alone

like i said to laird
i just hope he didn't hurt
too much

+++++++++++ RIP Pigpen

"Detrimental To Baseball"

2010-03-08T01:07:00.001-05:00

"detrimental to baseball," so quoth former Major League Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn about Jim Bouton's tell-all autobiography Ball Four.

Former Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton, who celebrates his 71st birthday today, was ostracized from baseball after writing the controversial book which was a combination diary of his 1969 season and memoir of his years with the New York Yankees, Seattle Pilots, and Houston Astros.
Despite its controversy at the time,it is considered to be one of the most important sports books ever written.The book was also the basis for the short-lived 1976 CBS TV show of the same name, which starred Bouton. The TV show was canceled after a few episodes.

Jim Bouton started his major league career in 1962 with the Yankees, where his tenacity earned him the nickname "Bulldog." He also came to be known for his cap flying off his head at the completion of his delivery to the plate, as well as for his uniform number 56, a number usually assigned in spring training to players designated for the minor leagues (Bouton later explained that he had been assigned the number in 1962 when he was promoted to the Yankees, and wanted to keep it as a reminder of how close he had come to not making the ball club.
Bouton retired midway through the 1970 season after the Astros sent him down to the minor leagues. He immediately became a local sports anchor for New York station WABC-TV. It was not long after, that a cult audience saw Ball Four as a candid and comic portrayal of the ups and downs of baseball life and Jim Bouton went on the college lecture circuit, delivering humorous talks on his experiences.

Happy Birthday Jim!