Best Video of 2011

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!

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

Merry Christmas

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

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

Cracker Acoustic Duo

- 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.”

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"

"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

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

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

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

Save Our Suhaki

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!

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?!

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!

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

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

... 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!!!

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

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"

'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!!!

Shelton Hank Williams III celebrates a birthday today.




Here's 3 acoustic #'s.


... and one from Assjack.