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?
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."
"Free Improvisation is a lot of fun for the musicians, but it has a tendency to leave the audience in the dust. However, when your original reference point is as well known as, say, 'The Pink Panther Theme', you don't lose people on the ride. There is a long jazz tradition of re-working popular songs into vehicles for improvisation. This band just gets its material from some unusual sources."- Matt Brubeck
There have been numerous tributes to the music of Henry Mancini, but none have been half as zany as this Oranj Symphonette release from 1996.
Cellist/bassist Matt Brubeck (the band's leader and son of jazz legend Dave Brubeck) met guitarist Joe Gore and Ralph Carney (sax, trombone and slide clarinet) while recording the Tom Waits soundtrack album for the film Night On Earth in the early 1990's. In 1993 they became a group with the addition of drummer Scott Amendola and began playing in the San Francisco area on a part-time basis the following year with their main purpose being to reinvent Henry Mancini songs. With Pete Scaturro added on organ and Diarmid contributing zither playing and bird calls, the band tears apart a dozen Mancini tunes on their frequently hilarious debut album.
They used to tell me I was building a dream And so I followed the mob When there was earth to plow or guns to bear I was always there, right there on the job
They used to tell me I was building a dream With peace and glory ahead Why should I be standing in line Just waiting for bread
Once I built a railroad, I made it run I made it run against time Once I built a railroad and now it's done Buddy can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower way up to the sun With bricks and mortar and lime Once I built a railroad and now it's done Brother can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell Full of that Yankee Doodley Dum Half a million boots went slogging through hell I was the kid with the drum
Oh say, don't you remember? You called me Al It was Al all the time Say, don't you remember? I was your pal Buddy, can you spare a dime?
Say, don't you remember? You called me Al It was Al all the time Say, don' you remember? I was your pal Buddy, can you spare a dime? Buddy, can you spare a dime? ~E.Y. "Yip" Harburg
