Stoned - A Memoir of London in the 1960's - Andrew Loog Oldham

Opening with Oldham a drunken, coked-up mess in 1995, he moves to his birth to a mother whose husband (the legality of their marriage was in question, apparently) died in the war and whose family were either dead or excommunicated. His childhood rambles with moves, various schools, a couple of step-dads (again, not "legitimate" - his mom had an affair with a married man, who nonetheless helped to raise Andrew, among others) and, eventually, discovering rock'n'roll. Oddly, he says that from the start he was interested in the behind-the-scenes people - producers and managers - as much as the stars themselves. Friends and family help tell the story and they are all quite frank (although not explicit) regarding the homosexuality at the boarding school(s) he was sent to and about Andrew's unique personality. He was obsessed by film and clothes and fell in with the early Mod scene. I find it fascinating that everyone that he was obsessed with - film makers, clothes designers, what-have-you - were all in the phone book and he would simply drop by their house and they would invite him in for tea! Through this method (essentially) he becomes employed by Mary Quant and begins moving in the epicenter for fashion for the 60's - Swingin' London!

Always on the move and always looking for something new, Andrew sauntered over to PR for musical acts, one of which appeared on TV with the Beatles, which led to Andrew meeting Brian Epstein and starting his rise to fame and, of course, his life with the Rolling Stones. The book concentrates on Andrew's work in PR and production more so than the artists and labels that he worked for and, for me anyway, gets a bit bogged down with name-dropping businessmen and producers. Yes, this is about Andrew and not necessarily the Rolling Stones (although the two are forever entwined), but tales of his manic/depressive episodes and "hard man" assistants are a bit more tiresome than his descriptions of the exciting music, art, TV and fashion scene that was unfolding.

I see that he has a sequel, as this book ends abruptly about the time of the Stones' first album, so I will have to search that out to see if he elaborates more on the artists and his highly important label, Immediate Records.

St Paul and the Broken Bones - Sea of Noise

Opening with a big choir-full "sea of noise" on "Crumbling Light Posts" (which is reprised twice during the record), the Broken Bones sophomore effect then goes on to mine similar, soulful territory as their debut, Half the City. There continues to be plenty of Al Green influences - I still feel that this is the biggest inspiration for singer Paul - along with dance-able soul/funk such as in "Flow With It" and "Midnight on the Earth". The group specializes in soul ballads, though, such as "I'll Be Your Woman", "Sanctify", "Waves" and even the somewhat more upbeat "All I Ever Wonder".

I hear a hint of Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes" in "Brain Matter", some Otis Redding (dig the horns and the build-up) in "Burning Rome", back to Al Green for "Tears in the Diamond", then they turn the folk song "Gotta Travel On" into soul for their own "Is It Me" before the record ends with the last reprise of "Crumbling Light Posts".

The band is spot-on throughout, but the highlight is Paul's voice - it's a cliche, but he truly does use it as an instrument, especially in his high-key wails and tuneful shrieks. The keyboardist (mostly Hammond B3), Al Gamble, seems to be the primary songwriter, so I guess that he is the one guiding Paul's voice into these soulful realms, as well as leading the band to their own heights behind him. As usual, I do wish that there was a bit more edge to the music here - this is super-polished - but the Broken Bones remain a fine modern soul band, well worth diggin' on.

Jack White - Blunderbuss

As I've said before, I'm not a huge Jack White fan, nor do I have any prejudice against him, but it can take me a while to acquire his products, like this, his first solo album, released in 2012. Recorded by White with session musicians which he directed - rather than band mates who would come up with their own parts - this was truly a solo effort.

That said, being Jack White, it is not wildly different than his work with his bands. His quirky vocal stylings and effect-drenched guitat work is present throughout, as is his somewhat eclectic songwriting. There are some nice variety, such as the Rhodes electric piano on the opening "Missing Pieces", the 70's hard rock-isms of "Sixteen Saltines" (run through White's oddness, of course) and the semi-funk of "Freedom at 21" (which has more than its share of twists'n'turns, as well). He has quieter moments in "Love Interruption", the title track, the piano ballad "Hypocritical Kiss", and "Weep Themselves to Sleep" which, in a weird way, almost sounds like White channeling Tom Jones via an old-time drama with a psychotic guitar solo (although maybe that's just me!).

White goes back to his blues roots for his cover of Little Willie John's incredible "I'm Shakin'" (which the Blasters did fabulously back in the early 80's). He makes it more of a production number, with sweet soul sister backing vocals, that really works. "Trash Tongue Talker" is actually a fairly straight ahead (for White, anyway), 50's-ish, bluesy, piano-driven rocker, "Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy" is piano-pop, "I Guess I Should Go To Sleep" is basically a variation of "Goodnight Irene", "On and On and On" is a bit lightweight although it builds nicely, and he takes rhythmic tips from Dave Brubeck for the closing "Take Me With You When You Go" to which he adds some sweet melodies'n'harmonies and develops into a fairly hyper bit of multi-layered, treated vocal, choral piece.

White's work is always intriguing'n'engaging and his records are always worth checking out, however, I am not always totally enthralled or knocked out by the records in their entirety. Some great moments, some just good, but something to hear, for sure.

Leon Russell - Live in Japan

Once again, considering that I have been a fan of Leon's since the early 70's and listen to him regularly to this day, I am astonished that I have not written about any of his other records. This has been on my wish list since I discovered that it existed - the CD highlights two live shows, one in Japan in '73 and bonus track in Houston in '71 - and it appeared at our local library so, of course, I picked it up.

Leon's work is legendary and rightfully so - from his time in the Wrecking Crew through his work with the likes of Joe Cocker and Delanney and Bonnie and to his own, highly successful, solo career. By 1973, he had already had a big hit with "Tightrope", but he has much more in his repertoire - fantastic, swampy, bluesy, gospel-y rock'n'roll that rocks with the best of them.

Here, his big gospel road show opens with the band testifin' in "Heaven", and you can hear as Leon makes his appearance and joins in on lead guitar (I believe that's him, anyway). I'm making assumptions, since this is just audio, but I think he moves over to piano for his talented singers' rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"/"God Put a Rainbow" - more terrific gospel (Leon is a good Southern boy, after all) and he raves it up with his voice'n'pumpin' piano towards the end. It's back to his own brand of bluesy, upbeat rock'n'roll for the fantastic "Queen of the Roller Derby" and the equally amazing "Roll Away the Stone". The afore-mentioned hit, "Tightrope" is given a reasonably straight reading but, oddly, it fades out. He comes back with his ballad, "Sweet Emily" which moves into the more rockin' "Alcatraz" (highlighting his guitarist on some sizzlin' licks), segueing into Jimmy Reed's "You Don't Have to Go" before concluding the Japanese portion with a medley of "A Song For You" (way too short)/"Of Thee I Sing" (a jumpin' original)/ and a rollickin'"Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms", with a big, gospel/blues shout-out ending.

Moving back in time a couple of years, "Alcatraz" is reprised at the Houston show, with an edgier, more guitar dominated arrangement. I always loved his "Stranger in a Strange Land" - maybe sorta mid-tempo Dylan-esque, with a heart-rending melody and excellent backing vocals that builds into some fine preachin'n'proselytizin'. His beautifully wrenching ballad, "Superstar" is enacted by one of his singers (don't know the line-up on this release, unfortunately - ah, he later introduces the wonderfully talented and gorgeous Claudia Lenear) before Leon returns front'n'center for a a frantic, piano-poundin' take on "Roll Over Beethoven". Leon always liked his medleys and here we get "Blues Power" (which he co-wrote with Eric Clapton) moving into "Shootout at the Plantation" which seamlessly becomes "As the Tears Go By" and then slows down for the burnin' blues, "The Woman I Love". His rendition of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" from Concert for Bangladesh is legendary'n'incendiary and its appearance here is spectacularly rockin' even without the medley with "Youngblood". They bring down the curtain with more gospel flavoring in "Of Thee I Sing" combined with"Yes I Am".

I kinda lost track of Russell after the 70's, but this mix of rock'n'roll, gospel'n'blues really can't be beat! Fantastic stuff! (BTW, this is all different from the also terrific Leon Live double album that was recorded sometime between these two shows, I think, and is a must have, as well.)

recommended gigs

Friday June 29 - the Psyatics, Illicitor, Water Landing and Better Broken at the Double Down
Friday June 29 - Fuzz Solow with Fantastic Negrito at the Bunkhouse

Saturday June 30 - Mister Moonbeam, Paige Overton, Midnight Disease at the Velveteen Rabbit

Sunday July 1 - Howlin' King Crawdad at Saddle'n'Spurs
Sunday July 1 - Mutual, Sleepyhaze, Suites at Cornish Pasty

Tuesday July 3 - Shanda and the Howlers at the Golden Tiki

Wednesday July 4 - Franks'n'Deans Weenie Roast with Critical Miss

Thursday July 5 - The Psyatics, Sheiks of Neptune and Koi Division at the Beauty Bar

Friday July 6 - Killian's Angelsat Balliwick

Sunday July 8 - The Scoundrels and People's Whiskey at the Dive Bar

Thursday July 12 - TV Party at the Double Down - Heavy Metal (the movie) with Sheiks of Neptune (live)

Friday July 13 - the New Waves at the Golden Tiki
Friday July 13 - the Rhyolite Sound with the All Togethers at the Bunkhouse

Saturday July 14 - the Unwieldies at the Dillinger

Monday July 16 - Messy Jessie's birthday at the Rusty Spur with Chris Moinichen, Brandon Madejek and Seth Turner

Thurs July 19 - Moon Darling, Indigo Kidd, Psyatics, Laissez Fairs at the Bunkhouse
Thursday July 19 - Courtney's Birthday Bash at Evel Pie with the Negative Nancys, Jerk! and Shocktroopers

Saturday July 21 - Shanda and the Howlers at the Golden Tiki

Sunday July 22 - Monk and the Po Boys at Saddle'n'Spurs

Friday July 27 - Water Landing, War Twins, Mirror Hollow, Pet Tigers, the Scorched at the Beauty Bar
Friday July 27 - the Implosions, Danger Inc, the Pluralses at the Huntridge Tavern

Wednesday Aug 1 - Franks'n'Deans Weenie Roast with special guests the Implosions

Friday Aug 3 - the Psyatics, the New Waves, Stagnetti's Cock, Scorpion vs Tarantula, Question? NO Answer at the Double Down

Friday Aug 10 - Jerk/the Pluralses and the Implosions at Cornish Pasty

Friday Aug 17 - the All Togethers and the Unwieldies at the Huntridge Tavern

Sunday Aug 19 - the Hellacopters play Psycho Las Vegas at the Joint with lots more bands

Friday Aug 24 - Jack White at the Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan
Friday Aug 24 - the Delta Bombers at the Bunkhouse

Saturday Aug 25 - Lita Ford at the Cannery

Friday Aug 31 - the Mapes, the Sheiks of Neptune at the Dive Bar

Saturday Sept 1 - the Psyatics, Vigil and Thieves, Analog Law, the MFA at the Double Down

Thursday Sept 6 - Sunday Sept 9 - the Las Vegas Tiki Weekender at the Thunderbird Motel with Thee Swank Bastards, Durango 66, Franks'n'Deans and more

Friday Sept 7 - Hot Tuna at Brooklyn Bowl

Thursday Sept 27 - the Psyatics with Ancient River at the Griffin

Saturday Oct 27, 2018 - the Gentlemen of Four Outs at the Bunkhouse

Saturday Nov 17 - Ghost at the Joint

What have I forgotten? Lemme know

RIP Harlan Ellison

Harlan Ellison, ‘Twilight Zone’ and ‘Star Trek’ Writer, Dies at 84
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Not a musician but highly influential to pop culture for decades. Much more than a TV writer, as well. Sad to see him go.

Shanda and the Howlers at Saddle'n'Spurs Sunday June 24, 2018

A lot of our friends don't make the trek out to our neck of the woods, so when someone does, we make a point of supporting, especially when the band is as good as Shanda and the Howlers and the night starts at a reasonable 7:00-ish. This evening they were hosting the Vegas Blues Society's Blues Jam night in which they play a set and then help out (if need be) the jammers that follow.

The Howlers have just lost their excellent sax-man, Micah, who moved to Chi-town (they are looking for a replacement, so contact them if you're interested in playing with one of the top groups in town), so this evening they played a stripped down set with a friend (sorry, I didn't catch his name) sitting in on drums as their main man Keith continues to convalesce. They still put in a smokin' set of hot'n'cool 50's styled R'n'B, soul and blues, with tunes from their two CDs, Trouble and Hurt For Me, as well as swingin' funk'n'blues covers. Shanda always shines with her big, bluesy voice, Luke keep the bass groove groovin' and Trevor provides plenty of stingin', flashy leads and they all combine to administer some goosebumps-inducing moments. They did have another friend sit in on sax for a couple of tunes as an extra bonus and all around, they gave their usual strong performance that got the packed house up'n'dancin'.

We didn't stick around for the jam portion - one of these days we'll have to participate - but had a great time with some excellent music on our side of town. Thanks to Saddle'n'Spurs for a fun, early night!

recommended gigs

Friday June 22 - DJ set by Slim Jim Phantom and live music by Shanda and the Howlers and more at Cornish Pasty
Friday June 22 - Lauren Ruth Ward, Same Sex Mary, the Acid Sisters at the Bunkhouse

Saturday June 23 - Negative Nancys, Strange Mistress, Stereo Assault, Bounty Hunter Brothers at Cornish Pasty

Sunday June 24 - Shanda and the Howlers hosting LV Blues Jam night at Saddle'n'Spurs

Monday June 25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday June 29 - the Psyatics, Illicitor, Water Landing and Better Broken at the Double Down
Friday June 29 - Fuzz Solow with Fantastic Negrito at the Bunkhouse

Saturday June 30 - Mister Moonbeam, Paige Overton, Midnight Disease at the Velveteen Rabbit

Sunday July 1 - Howlin' King Crawdad at Saddle'n'Spurs

Tuesday July 3 - Shanda and the Howlers at the Golden Tiki

Wednesday July 4 - Franks'n'Deans Weenie Roast with Critical Miss

Thursday July 5 - The Psyatics, Shieks of Neptune and Koi Division at the Beauty Bar

Friday July 13 - the New Waves at the Golden Tiki
Friday July 13 - the Rhyolite Sound with the All Togethers at the Bunkhouse

Monday July 16 - Messy Jessie's birthday at the Rusty Spur with Chris Moinichen, Brandon Madejek and Seth Turner

Thurs July 19 - Moon Darling, Indigo Kidd, Psyatics, Laissez Fairs at the Bunkhouse
Thursday July 19 - Courtney's Birthday Bash at Evel Pie with the Negative Nancys, Jerk! and Shocktroopers

Sunday July 22 - Monk and the Po Boys at Saddle'n'Spurs

Friday July 27 - Water Landing, War Twins, Mirror Hollow, Pet Tigers, the Scorched at the Beauty Bar
Friday July 27 - the Implosions, Danger Inc, the Pluralses at the Huntridge Tavern

Friday Aug 17 - the All Togethers and the Unwieldies at the Huntridge Tavern

Sunday Aug 19 - the Hellacopters play Psycho Las Vegas at the Joint with lots more bands

Friday Aug 24 - Jack White at the Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan

Saturday Aug 25 - Lita Ford at the Cannery

Friday Aug 31 - the Mapes, the Sheiks of Neptune at the Dive Bar

Thursday Sept 6 - Sunday Sept 9 - the Las Vegas Tiki Weekender at the Thunderbird Motel with Thee Swank Bastards, Durango 66, Franks'n'Deans and more

Friday Sept 7 - Hot Tuna at Brooklyn Bowl

Saturday Oct 27, 2018 - the Gentlemen of Four Outs at the Bunkhouse

Saturday Nov 17 - Ghost at the Joint

What have I forgotten? Lemme know

Jagger by Marc Spitz

Having read numerous tales of the Stones over the last four or five decades, there is not much that is new to learn about any one of them. Mick Jagger, of course, has been scrutinized, fetishized and fantasized probably more than any other pop culture icon of the last century. Marc Spitz (writer of books on Bowie and the LA Punk Scene, not the Olympic swimmer) tells the tale of Mick through a pop culture lens and with interviews with contemporaries and friends. The early days are pretty straight forward: Spitz talks of the filming of the TAMI Show movie, with the obvious comparisons between James Brown and Jagger (who was blatantly attempting to mimic Brown), the "we piss anywhere" "scandal", Mick's girlfriends as social climbing stepping stones, the drug busts, the uncertainly or how and how much to get involved with the youth revolution, the Performance movie, the 70's celebrity hob-knobbing and all the rest. He does highlight events like Truman Capote's involvement (or lack thereof) in the '72 American tour, Jagger singing on Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" and his participation in the Rutles movie with chapters of their own.

Of course, the 80's saw Mick investing himself in MTV and an attempted solo career, lots of gossip and girl chasing, media fights with Richards, and championing - despite being jealous of - bands like Living Color and Guns'n'Roses. There's a chapter on his later acting career (which never gained much critical or commercial gain to speak of) and of his solo work with Rick Ruben, including the unreleased blues record he did with LA's Red Devils, as well as one on the conflicts associated with his knighthood.

The subject matter will always be fascinating but did we really need another book on Mick Jagger? No, not really, but it is fine for what it is. Absolutely not essential, but it keeps your attention as light reading.

RIP Matt "Guitar" Murphy

Matt “Guitar” Murphy Dies: Blues Brothers Guitarist And Noted Sideman Was 88 
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RIP Nick Knox

Don't have the details but it has been confirmed that Nick Knox has passed at only 60 years old. I can't believe that he was younger than me - he seemed timeless and ageless. (It turns out that Wikipedia was wrong and has been corrected - he was actually 65 - still way too young to go.)

His time in the Cramps absolutely produced their finest music. His playing style and visual style were as vital to the band as anyone's.

Their music has been the soundtrack for everyone even slightly hip for the last four decades and will be for years to come.

He recently started DJ'ing and enjoying that. I hope that he has been diggin' life lately. 

So freakin' sad...

Alt Press article on his passing here

recommended gigs

Friday June 15 - birthday celebrations for Nikki and Jesse Del Quadro at the Double Down
Friday June 15 - Bogtrotters Union at McMullen's Irish Pub
Friday June 15 - Stagnetti's Cock, Lambs to Lions, the Pluralses, Chainsaw Fight, Intoxicated Rejects at the Dive Bar

Monday June 18 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday June 22 - DJ set by Slim Jim Phantom and live music by Shanda and the Howlers and more at Cornish Pasty

Saturday June 23 - Negative Nancys, Strange Mistress, Stereo Assault, Bounty Hunter Brothers at Cornish Pasty

Sunday June 24 - Shanda and the Howlers hosting LV Blues Jam night at Saddle'n'Spurs

Monday June 25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday June 29 - the Psyatics, Illicitor, Water Landing and Better Broken at the Double Down
Friday June 29 - Fuzz Solow with Fantastic Negrito at the Bunkhouse

Saturday June 30 - Mister Moonbeam, Paige Overton, Midnight Disease at the Velveteen Rabbit

Wednesday July 4 - Franks'n'Deans Weenie Roast with Critical Miss

Friday July 13 - the New Waves at the Golden Tiki
Friday July 13 - the Rhyolite Sound with the ALl Togethers at the Bunkhouse

Monday July 16 - Messy Jessie's birthday at the Rusty Spur with Chris Moinichen, Brandon Madejek and Seth Turner

Thurs July 19 - Moon Darling, Indigo Kidd, Psyatics, Laissez Fairs at the Bunkhouse
Thursday July 19 - Courtney's Birthday Bash at Evel Pie with the Negative Nancys, Jerk! and Shocktroopers

Friday July 27 - Water Landing, War Twins, Mirror Hollow, Pet Tigers, the Scorched at the Beauty Bar
Friday July 27 - the Implosions, Danger Inc, the Pluralses at the Huntridge Tavern

Sunday Aug 19 - the Hellacopters play Psycho Las Vegas at the Joint with lots more bands

Friday Aug 24 - Jack White at the Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan

Saturday Aug 25 - Lita Ford at the Cannery

Friday Aug 31 - the Mapes, the Sheiks of Neptune at the Dive Bar

Thursday Sept 6 - Sunday Sept 9 - the Las Vegas Tiki Weekender at the Thunderbird Motel with Thee Swank Bastards, Durango 66, Franks'n'Deans and more

Friday Sept 7 - Hot Tuna at Brooklyn Bowl

Saturday Oct 27, 2018 - the Gentlemen of Four Outs at the Bunkhouse

Saturday Nov 17 - Ghost at the Joint

What have I forgotten? Lemme know

Buffalo Springfield - Retrospective - The Best Of

Of course, I was familiar with Buffalo Springfield's mega-hit "For What It's Worth", but I was more familiar with the individuals members' later works (especially Stills and Young, naturally) than the other Springfield tracks. This Best Of compilation, originally released in 1969 shortly after the band broke up, gives a good overview of the group and some of their finer tracks.

Naturally, the hit is the opener here and still sounds great and, unfortunately, timely to this day. Somewhat odd for a Top Forty number, with its sparse arrangement and Young's uncharacteristically light guitar work interspersed with the melody lines, but an undeniably catchy chorus and a great message. Young's much rawer'n'rockin' "Mr. Soul" follows, one of his great ones, with cool lyrics and hot guitar playing. Stills' contributes some country-pop in "Sit Down, I Think I Love You" which alternates jangly guitars with some tougher fuzz and Richie Furay's "Kind Woman" is a damn purty country ballad, reminiscent of what he would go on to do in Poco. "Bluebird" is a mid-tempo Stills' rocker, with some excellent lead acoustic guitar work (Young works in some electric work around this), a huge harmony bridge, and even a banjo breakdown - kinda throwing in the kitchen sink on this one! Side one concludes with Young's gorgeous "On the Way Home", which I always knew as a solo acoustic track, so it was fun to see how he worked in the entire band on this one and made it a bit less introspectively quiet - this version even has horns on it!

For some reason Young gave up the lead vocals on his "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing" to Furay, while the band takes an odd polka beat for this, which still somehow works. Speaking of kitchen sinks, "Broken Arrow" is their most advanced production piece - multiple sections, sound effects, strings, and even a snippet of a live take on "Mr. Soul" - and it is slightly disjointed, although Young still provides some heart-tugging melodies. A bit more straight-forward is Still's "Rock and Roll Woman". although he tosses in a few changes and layers of harmonies on this mid-tempo folk-rocker, Young's "I Am a Child" sounds like his later, harmonica-led folk numbers, back to Stills for "Go and Say Goodbye" which almost sounds like a Michael Nesmith tune, and the finale is another Young big production (lots of strings) ballad, "Expecting to Fly".

This band certainly remained close to their folk and country roots and were less of 60's rock'n'roll combo, which is what gives them their own unique sound. If you like any of the main players' later works, most likely you'll dig this cool collection, as well.

Foghat - Foghat

In 1972 the AM radio was filling with singer/ songwriters, a bit of cool soul and lots of bad pop. When you would actually hear a rock'n'roll band filled with electric guitars, it was a true thrill. That's what Foghat provided when their head-bobbin', blues-rock take on Muddy Waters' "I Just Wanna Make Love To You" would come on the air. True, this was more of an FM radio staple, but gawdam if it still isn't a fun romp through this number - yeah, it's not nearly as sexy as Muddy's or as frantic as the Stones, but this is 70's rock'n'roll. Two guitars, bass'n'drums, runnin' through blues-based rock'n'roll - in this case with cool, twin lead guitars and Lonesome Dave's excellent vocals! This put the group on the map and was the impetus for their later superstardom.

Coming from Savoy Brown (where Dave, drummer Roger and bassist Tony apprenticed before grabbing Rod Price and forming this combo), the boys were steeped in the British blues scene, where a number of cats were finding success updating the blues with loud'n'heavy, hard rock arrangements, as they pulled off on the opening hit song. With some poundin' piano and melodic guitar licks, "Trouble Trouble", an alcoholic's plea,  comes off as a modernized 50's rocker, "Leavin' Again" has intertwining riffs and a somewhat slower, cool, almost funky, groove, "Fool's Hall of Fame" chugs along with a hip, pop-blues feel, and "Sarah Lee" is a bit more of a mid-tempo, tuneful, guitar-pickin' number, but still with a nice vibe.

They continue with almost the same feel, although a bit more drivin', in "Highway Killing Me" (dig Price's slide guitar work here), and then move into high gear for a rip-roarin', piano pumpin', riff-tastic take on "Maybelline" (spelled wrong, funnily enough, which I never noticed before). Another ode to drink'n'poverty, "A Hole to Hide In", is chock-full of hard-edged guitars, minor chords and blues riffs (almost like later Humble Pie), followed by the closer, a tremelo'd, electric-piano-led ballad, "Gotta Get to Know You", which has such a catchy quality that you're drawn into it, like being immersed in a rock'n'roll pool.

I know that these cats get a lot of flack due to the simplistic nature of the songs and the lyrics, but I'll be damned if this isn't just good time rock'n'roll that I come back to on a regular basis.

Clawhammer - Get Yer Za Za Yout

This 1990 cassette-only release on Marc Mylar's Trigon Records was a recording of Clawhammer's live broadcast on Andrea 'Enthal's "Twelve O'Clock Rock" show on KPFK FM, Los Angeles, CA August 5, 1990. The band was at the peak of their power at the time with the incredible twin guitar attack of Jon Wahl and Chris Bagarozzi (two of the best players in town), backed by the rhythm section of bassist Rob Walther and drummer extraordinaire, Bob Lee. With equal measures blistering Detroit rock'n'roll and Captain Beefheart, this band tore up unsuspecting LA clubs and eventually signed with Epitaph and then Interscope. Unfortunately, their popularity was limited with the masses and they broke up in 2000. Everyone still plays and they have even done a reunion show sometime in the last few years.

Opening with the power-chord warning not to mess with Jon's girl, "Shell Shocked" blasts your mind right away with its quiet/loud changes, twin lead attack and odd time signatures. This segues right into the hyper speed "Sick Fish Belly Up" and, after a breather of a second or so, "Poor Robert", another hard-edged number that breaks down into a dual-guitar bridge (love their guitar interplay) and a monologue about Wild Man Fisher (at least that's how I remember the story). Continuing in the tale-telling mode, we get a story about Jon's giant of a brother, "Brick" Wahl, in "Brother Brick Says", another frantic rock'n'roller filled with righteous riffs and cooly controlled feedback. A quieter twin guitar interlude starts "Don't Walk Away", which then turns into a head smasher - crashing cymbals and bashing chords galore - filled with dynamics and Chris and Jon trading vocals. Just to show that they were capable of covering/arranging anything, they pull out Eno's "Blank Frank"  (elsewhere they did Beefheart's "Moonlight on Vermont") and then more of their own madness with riff-centric "Petri Dish" that concludes with a wild guitar orgy. An ode to their broken down vehicles, the frenzied "Car Down Again" (listing all of the ailments during a wild build up) precedes the A-side closer, "Naked", an intense, dramatic stomper, again packed with flying licks, heavy dynamics and stupendous soloing.

Flip the cassette over to side B and you get a 3-chord Detroit-rockin' monster, "Bullet In My Head", a convoluted "Papa's Got Us Tied Up in Knots" with its multiples time changes and starts'n'stops, and a torrid take on "Final Solution", with Chris singing and playing it with a manic intensity. Chris also takes lead vocals for the cacophonous "Drop II", "Succotash" is a steamy stew of guitar'n'harmonica work, "Three Fifteen" continues with more catchy, accented noise, and they finish the set with their take on Patti Smith's rockin' "Pumping (My Heart)".

As a guitarist, it was always a pleasure to watch Jon'n'Chris play off of each other with waves of feedback'n'fuzz - they were probably by favorite two guitar team in town at the time. I loved these early songs, as well and this is a great document of their talent - raw enough to keep the excitement and edge of a live show with good sound and wild performances. A number of bands released live records from their KPFK performances due to the sound quality and this is another great one. Find it!

Satchmo - My Life in New Orleans - Louis Armstrong

Found this one at the local thrift store and decided to see what I could learn about the legendary horn-man. This is an autobiography written about his early days in New Orleans, growing up poor, being tossed in a boys home where he learns to play coronet, and then trying to help his mom and sister and young cousin survive during the war by doing whatever work he can - as a musician or delivering coal, among other positions, and describing all of the characters he grew up with. Due to his location and monetary status, these characters consisted of plenty of pimps, prostitutes, and gamblers as well as musicians. It's kind of funny how nonchalantly he speaks of these people, as if everyone ran with these types - he even talks of trying to be a pimp himself! Not what you would expect from the man who sang "Hello Dolly!" and "What a Wonderful World"! He ends up marrying and "reforming" a prostitute and he continues to play and learn the ropes until eventually he joins King Oliver's band in Chicago, where his career takes off and where he ends the book.

With only a grade school education, this isn't high literary art by any means, but it is an engaging story told in the hip slang of the day. The introduction, by Dan Morgenstern, explains some of Armstrong's language mangling and misinterpretations that I certainly would not have understood otherwise. But, regardless, I truly enjoyed this story of the early days of New Orleans jazz.

X - Beyond and Back

This is another release that I am astonished to discover that I haven't written about already. I have been a huge fan of the band since I first saw them at the Hong Kong Cafe in 1979 and have watched them throughout their career in varying line-ups and degrees of popularity. They will always be the defining band of the Los Angeles/Hollywood scene - so much so that I think it has hindered/limited their appeal to some extent.

This is an anthology that the group compiled consisting of tracks from their "official" releases, to live cuts to demos to singles to remixes. This 45 song (!), 2-CD release is jam-packed with a combination of their best-known songs (often from a different release than the known version) and tunes that have never seen the light of day before.

Of course, it opens with the quintessential X song, "Los Angeles" (from the Slash records release of their first album) and you can immediately see that they were far beyond most LA "punk" bands in the quality of their songwriting and production right from the start. A live "The World's a Mess" follows, then a rehearsal of something called "Yr Ignition", a demo of "Year One", the official "Hungry Wolf", the single version of "We're Desperate" and on and on...There's unreleased numbers like "Heater" and "Delta 88", raw demos of "Soul Kitchen" and "Johnny Hit and Run Pauline" (that overdoses on vocal reverb), a powerful, live "Universal Corner", "I'm Coming Over" from Live at the Masque, and single mixes of "White Girl" and "Riding With Mary", among others. (And there's a funny "hidden track" if you let disc one play long enough.)

CD 2 incorporates much of the same type of thing - live cuts, demos, etc. - starting with a high quality demo of "The New World", the single mix of "Breathless" and "Wild Thing" (wow, the latter sure sounds 80's!), a pretty different rough mix of "What's Wrong With Me", a few tunes from their offshoot, the Knitters, really nice demos of "See How We Are" and "Fourth of July", there's some demo fragments, "Burning House of Love" from the Unclogged album, a hot-as-Hades demo of "Devil Doll", and plenty more before concluding with an 1997 mix of their incredible "I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts" that finishes with a ferocious guitar solo. (This disc's "hidden track" is the instrumental backing track of "Hungry Wolf".)

Such a great band - highly original, supremely talented musicians, intelligent, poetic lyrics and damn catchy songs. A number of goosebumps inducing moments here. Essential for any fan!

Wild Evel and the Trashbones, the Laissez Fairs, Los Yayaz at the Bunkhouse, Saturday June 9, 2018

Garage shows are not very common in Las Vegas, so when an esteemed Austrian garage combo came to town, I wanted to check it out! With the added bonus of 60's-styled group from Salt Lake City, of all places, this was a show to see!

SLC's Los Yayaz opened the show with a set of wild garage rock'n'roll in the style of West Coasters like the Untold Fables and the Gravediggers V. Raw'n'ragged (in a good way) covers of classics like "The Hustler", "I Can Tell", "I'm a Man" and a hyper-speed take on "Goo Goo Muck" mixed with numbers like "Cry Baby" and "The Shadow" (sounding similar to the Gravediggers' "Spooky"). The line-up was somewhat unusual with guitar, bass, drums, vocals and puppeteer! The puppet master had a variety of puppets for different songs - male, female, skeleton and even a Lux Interior look-alike! Certainly a change of pace that captured the crowd's attention! Deg them a lot!

Locals the Laissez Fairs were up next, providing a soundtrack of heavy pop-psych from John and Cromm Fallon, Joe Lawless and Aaron Archer. The band has been gigging and recording a lot lately and their sound has evolved into a harder-edged, although still with plenty of jangly pop and psych tendencies. 

Austria's Wild Evel and the Trashbones are a theatrical garage combo with a big dose of Screaming Lord Sutch and a hip guitar-bass-drums-keyboard backing band. The sound was loud'n'ferocious and the frontman was a non-stop, dancin' wildman who constantly interacted with the audience, ran through the crowd, danced on the bar and lots more. The rhythm section was super hot'n'tight, the guitar was filled with fuzz and the keys really added to the sound with its 60's tones mixed with enough effects to keep it varied and somewhat trippy. With the help of the Darts' guitarist, Michelle, they hosted a Limbo Dance contest as they played a variation on Link Wray's "Comanche", which, unfortunately, most of the crowd did not understand, other than the well-deserved winner (sorry I didn't get a good photo of her). The guitarist took lead vocals on one number (and broke his guitar on another), they performed an instrumental so that Evel could change his jacket off stage (only his jacket - not sure what the point of that was) and they blasted through a lengthy set of tunes like "Diggin' My Grave", "Where You Gonna Go", "Telling Lies", "I'm an Ape Man", "Ain't It Hard", "Outlaw", a cover from the Satelliters (a German garage team) and, appropriately, "Vegas on Fire". The band loosened up as the set went on and became more animated, as well. Silly, good times!

Thanks again to the Bunkhouse and DIrty Rock'n'Roll Dance Party for hosting this cool garage-themed night. From the amount of people that showed up, I think there is a call for garage rock'n'roll in Vegas! Let's get more bands happening out here!

RIP Danny Kirwan

Fleetwood Mac guitarist Danny Kirwan dead at 68
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RIP Anthony Bourdain

Anthony Bourdain, Celebrated American Chef, Dead at 61 from Apparent Suicide 
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This is incredibly sad - this man probably got more people into food, travel and punk rock than anyone else in the last decade or two. What terrible news...

recommended gigs

Friday June 8 - the Unwieldies with Le Dominiki at the Huntridge
Friday June 8 - Atomic Video Jukebox at the Double Down

Saturday June 9 - Wild Evel and the Trashbones (garage from Austria), Los YaYaz (SLC) and the Laissez Fairs at the Bunkhouse
Saturday June 9 - the Unwieldies at the Dillinger
Saturday June 9 - the New Waves at the Golden Tiki

Sunday June 10 - The Scoundrels Smokin' Sunday with 3D6 at the Dive Bar

Monday June11 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday June 15 - birthday celebrations for Nikki and Jesse Del Quadro at the Double Down

Friday June 22 - Slim JIm Phantom with Shanda and the Howlers and more at Cornish Pasty

Saturday June 23 - Negative Nancys, Strange Mistress, Stereo Assault, Bounty Hunter Brothers at Cornish Pasty

Sunday June 24 - Shanda and the Howlers hosting LV Blues Jam night at Saddle'n'Spurs

Friday June 29 - the Psyatics, Illicitor, Water Landing and Better Broken at the Double Down
Friday June 29 - Fuzz Solow with Fantastic Negrito at the Bunkhouse

Saturday June 30 - Mister Moonbeam, Paige Overton, Midnight Disease at the Velveteen Rabbit

Monday June 18 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Thurs July 19 - Moon Darling, Indigo Kidd, Psyatics, Laissez Fairs at the Bunkhouse
Thursday July 19 - Courtney's Birthday Bash at Evel Pie with the Negative Nancys, Jerk! and Shocktroopers

Monday June 25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday July 27 - Water Landing, War Twins, Mirror Hollow, Pet Tigers, the Scorched at the Beauty Bar
Friday July 27 - the Implosions, Danger Inc, the Pluralses at the Huntridge Tavern

Sunday Aug 19 - the Hellacopters play Psycho Las Vegas at the Joint with lots more bands

Saturday Aug 25 - Lita Ford at the Cannery

Friday Aug 31 - the Mapes, the Sheiks of Neptune at the Dive Bar

Thursday Sept 6 - Sunday Sept 9 - the Las Vegas Tiki Weekender at the Thunderbird Motel with Thee Swank Bastards, Durango 66, Franks'n'Deans and more

Friday Sept 7 - Hot Tuna at Brooklyn Bowl

Saturday Oct 27, 2018 - the Gentlemen of Four Outs at the Bunkhouse

Saturday Nov 17 - Ghost at the Joint

What have I forgotten? Lemme know

Savoy Brown - The Best Of

As part of the 60's British blues boom, Kim Simmonds' Savoy Brown was a strong contender, but, due to innumerable personnel changes, they never really hit big like many of their contemporaries. They did spawn the superstar sub-group, Foghat, as Lonesome Dave Perett (guitar/vocals), Roger Earl (drums) and Tony Stevens (bass) all interned in Savoy before recruiting Rod Price and movin' on to fame'n'fortune. But, Kim continued the band throughout all of the continual transitions and experienced varying degrees of success but never quit. There's not more than a couple of songs here that have the same line-up, but somehow there is still a reasonably cohesive sound - a tribute to Simmonds, I suppose.

The group certainly taps into the late 60's British Blues sound - rock'n'roll rhythms, loud guitars, hot leads, and material based on the Mississippi Delta and 1950's Chicago. "Train to Nowhere" chugs along at a subdued speed and volume for several minutes and gives a good burst right as it ends. I'm always pretty stunned that "Louisiana Blues" is a live take, as the sound and performance is perfect. This is heavy blues at its finest - a pounding variation on "Rollin' and Tumblin'" with exceptional dynamics and Kim wailin' on lead guitar while singer Chris Youlden sounds remarkably like Lonesome Dave (a good thing!). "I'm Tired" swings'n'stomps with a bit more of a soul/r'n'b feel, "A Hard Way to Go" (another Youlden tune) is a riffer that again has soul influences, maybe even some touches of Santana in their bluesiest form, and Youlden brings in a soulful ballad in "Stay While the Night is Young" in which Kim adds some jazzy guitar licks.

"Poor Girl" sounds like a 70's blues rocker, not unlike Foghat, which makes sense as bassist Stevens wrote it and Lonesome Dave co-wrote and sang the blues-ballad "Money Can't Save Your Soul", again hinting at things to come. It's a new line up after those tunes and Street Corner Talking's "Tell Me" is damn catchy with cool slide guitar alternating with the second guitar (Paul Raymond now), they strip "Can't Get Next to You" down to a hip, slow, swayin' blues, and give a cool blues riffer in "Street Corner Talking" before the proceedings come to a close with Hellbound Train's 9 minute, organ-fueled title track.

Powerful blues-rock, but maybe just not original enough or rockin' enough to reach the heights of some of their contemporaries. I dig it, though.

John Fogerty - The Long Road Home

As the subtitle says, this is a collection of Fogerty CCR and solo material and is pretty damn solid, as the man is a great talent and put out some exceptional material throughout his career.

There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the running order of the songs, with later solo numbers mixed in with Creedence songs. Maybe it's based on where they peaked on the charts? I dunno. But while he did some superior solo tunes, my favorite stuff is still, generally, the CCR period. Greats like the opening swamp-rock anthem "Born on the Bayou", the stompin' riff-rocker "Fortunate Son", "Up Around the Bend", the sweet ballads "Who'll Stop the Rain", "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" and "Lodi", the rockin'"Sweet Hitchhiker", the swampy Muddy Waters' update of "Green River", the oft-covered "Run Through the Jungle" and lots more mix with his excellent "The Old Man Down the Road" (so similar to CCR that his old record company tried to sue him for writing like himself!), "Almost Saturday Night" (Dave Edmunds did a cool cover of this one), "Rockin' All Over the World" and the country-ish "Rambunctious Boy".

Of course, there are some tunes that I would have left off, but a lot of them were popular so, of course, I understand the inclusion.  Easy enough to skip over anything you don't care for!

Overall, an outstanding effort from a sterling artist that is still going strong today. Pretty much any Creedence record is worth having, but for a "greatest hits" effort, this is pretty spot-on.

Under the Big Black Sun (book) - John Doe with Tom DeSavia and Friends

Having moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 1979, I jumped head first into the new music scene that was happening in town and naturally, X was among the new bands that really struck a nerve with me. I saw them in small settings like the Hong Kong Cafe and bigger showcases like the Whisky-a-Go-Go with Ray Manzarek sitting in with them. They remain one of my favorite and one of the best known bands to emerge from the scene.

I was assuming that this book would be Doe's story of the evolution of LA punk, but he actually writes very little here - instead, he compiled chapters from friends and fellow scenesters to paint an overall picture of the happenings. Obviously, this makes the book less single-minded, but I was a bit disappointed, as I consider Doe to be a fine writer and was interested in his specific viewpoint.

Regardless, the tale is told by many well known names from the time - Exene, Jane Wiedlin, Pleasant Gehman, Robert Lopez, Chris D. (I really enjoyed his chapter), Dave Alvin (a damn fine writer), Mike Watt (not being a minuteman fan, his huge, unpunctuated chapter is a bit rambling to me), Charlotte Caffey (love that her high school music teacher was Captain Beefheart's cousin!), Jack Grisham (who stands out for having an attitude about everyone who hates the violence that his ilk brought into the scene) and many more. Along with the music, we discover the emerging art, fashion and fanzine contingencies, as well, by the people who created it all.

I do hope that Doe will write his own memoir some day, but in the meantime, this is another good overview of the initial LA underground scene.

The Raunch Hands - El Raucho Grande

This 6-song, 12" EP was the Hands' raunchy debut, making' a name for themselves with their sound, their energy, their humor and their sexism! All in good fun, of course, although wildly un-PC - and they wouldn't have it any other way.

Right from the start the whole combination appears in "Man Needs a Woman" - 50's rock'n'roll with possibly the most sexist lyrics this side of the Mentors! Gotta admit, it's still pretty funny, although I wouldn't be caught dead singin' it myself! The title track is their take on autobiographical Mex-Tex - they probably couldn't get away with this these days, either, although it's damn well done. "Mess Around" is performed with all cylinders firin' on high gear while the guitars'n'sax riff'n'wails and Dr. John's "Storm Warning" follows suit after a properly moody intro. Their blues-sleaze is in full force in the cleverly-written tale of an affair gone wrong in "Spit It on the Floor" - truly hilarious but the swing of the music is what makes the tune one of their most memorable. They finish here with the country-pickin'/slide guitar bop of another tale of infidelity that this time just ends is the loss of Michael's "Ford".

More delightful diversions from these masters of punk-roots music! Dig it!

Raunch Hands - Learn to Whap-a-Dang

I've been pulling out my Raunch Hands records again after the untimely passing of singer Michael Chandler and, of course, immensely diggin' their rock'n'roll sounds. A mixture of Link Wray, garage, 50's rock'n'roll, R'n'B (the real thing), country, blues and gawd knows what else, the band rocked'n'swang'n'swayed'n'drank their way through the States and beyond in their reasonably short time span. Several great slabs of vinyl remain but, of course, the live shows were where it was at, although the vinyl still crackles'n'pops with proper rockin' energy and humor. Hard to really describe these cats, but they had a smokin' rhythm section, two hot-shot guitars, and, at times, a sax all wailin' behind Chandler as he yelped, yodeled and, yes, even sang their raunchy tunes.

There's plenty of punk energy blastin' outta their white trash garage doors in the opening "What Yer Doin'" while Michael wheezes out some harmonica over frantic walkin' bass lines and twangy guitars. They slow down slightly for the more swingin' "Getcha Some" (nice dynamics here, too), then pay homage to countrified Wray in "Chicken Scratch" (the sax yowling properly), add some gamblin' proselytizin' with cooly revered guitars on "Blackjack", mix in more country crossed with Bo Diddley for the continually modulating (in both chords and speed) "Kangaroo Juice" and then put side one to "rest" with a wild call'n'answer take on the sax-fueled "Thunderbird" (a live fave, fer shure).

They teach everyone their latest dance craze in the upbeat blues-sleaze of "Whap-a-Dang", delve a bit more in C&W appropriately for "Country Fair", pick up some Eastern sax-led melodies for the instrumental "Exotic", get positively frantic in the Game-of-Telephone tale of "Is It True" and continues the pace in the surf-guitar sexism of "Chicken of the Sea" (with a smatterin' of "what do you do with a drunken sailor" appearing) and then the shenanigins come to a close with the wild R'n'B ravin' instro "Upset Her".

These cats weren't afraid to toss the whole kit'n'kaboodle of "roots music" into their musical blender, set it on high and see where is all splashes out! Great, fun stuff!

Muddy Waters and Friends - Goin' Way Back

While I have always dug Muddy Waters and his incomparable contribution to modern music, it's just over the last few years that I've really been exploring the deeper contents of his recorded career. This release is not overly well known (I just found out about it due to a Facebook post by Eddie Flowers - thanks!) and it is somewhat unusual in that it is a recording made at a rooming house that the band stayed at in Montreal, Canada after a show. Archivist Michael Nerenberg was at the show and pitched the idea of an old-time, "back porch", loose-knit recording session and the group agreed, so on October 18, 1967, he set up his tape recorder in the living room of the house. Muddy, of course, led the way, along with Otis Spann, Sam Langhorn, John Buford and Luther Johnson, all eschewing their usual instruments and playing acoustic guitars, singing and, in Buford's case, playing harmonica.

Of course, the group is in fine form, and work together as a unit on these older, acoustic tunes. It's a great set consisting of "Gypsy Woman", "Little Anna Mae", "My Home Is In the Delta", "Take a Little Walk", "Mean Disposition", "Laverne", "Leavin' in the Mornin'", "Got a Sweet Little Girl", "Bad Lovin' Trouble", "Nothin' Bother Me" and "Crazy 'Bout You Baby". Prime Muddy all the way, with his exceptional voice and slide guitar work, and the interplay between the guitars and harmonica is as good as the blues gets! The intimate setting just adds to the coolness and the sound is pretty damn excellent.

There's not much by Waters that is not powerful, but even considering his usual consistency, this is a damn good one. Recommended!