Cal Carter - Twist Along With Cal Carter

Cal Carter may not have made much of a name for himself as a solo artist, but as an arranger he's pretty prolific. I've seen his name attached to Canned Heat and Clarence Carter, though I'm not 100% it's the same guy. I do know from listening to this 45 (with Cal's name on the minit label) that Our Cal had a hand in it.

It's a good indication of what this album sounds like. Cal stuffs these worn classics so full of embellishment that they sound like new songs. It's almost got a rock & roll meets pep band thing (which is to say, sounds like the Routers) and I wouldn't be surprised if Cal has a background there.

The A-Side of this is way more exciting, despite being much more familiar songs. I was pretty pleased to find our New Orleans favorite "Mother In Law" covered, and he seems to recognize all the things that would make it a great instrumental. If you liked that Steve Garrick two posts ago, I kinda think this destroys it, though it may be a little less goofy.

This isn't a pristine rip, but it plays smoothly at least. Enjoy it!

Joel Smith & Mt. Olive B.C. Choirs - With Jesus You Can't Go Wrong

What better to celebrate Big J McJeezy's birthday with than music shouting his name repeatedly? Nope, I couldn't think of any obscure rock & roll Christmas gems so here you get some excellent, high-energy, well-done Louisiana gospel (if the different locations on the 45 itself didn't give it away, Rosemont is a New Orleans label).

With Jesus You Can't Go Wrong Pt. 1

and Pt. 2

And to double celebrate, I wanna show off one of my presents to myself: This year Arhoolie released one of the most fiery gospel albums I've ever heard.

Any rock & roll fan owes themselves to listen to this. It's the raw fun type of gospel that sits easily alongside Utah Smith, Rosetta Tharpe and Charlie Jackson. I won't give you a song off that album, but check this youtube.

Steven Garrick and His Party Twisters - Come On Everybody, Let's Twist

UPDATE: It's been re-upped!

This album is a cash grab. But really, before Rock & Roll became thought of as an art form (around Pet Sounds/Sgt. Peppers) it was probably more worth your while to identify what wasn't done with money as the primary focus than what was. Chubby Checker's version of the twist set a huge gravy train in motion with so many people wanting to take a ride. Plenty of groups tried to fill a niche in another dumbass dance move like The Frug. This album went straight for the honey hole, to the point where the artists' name isn't even on the front cover. 

And I like their approach. Here we have 12 instrumentals that try to expand twisting to whatever ridiculous activity you may be enjoying. Chew gum to the Doublemint Twist! Do the Scientwist in your laboratory! Bullies, intimidate the puny to the Intimitwist(or is it meant for intimate situations?)

It's no surprise the album hasn't found its way into the rock & roll history books yet. That's because those books are horseshit. But also because these are pretty straightforward twistin'. No memorable hooks, though some pretty impressive use of stereo. Some of these, especially the Astrotwist, wouldn't be too out of place in a Las Vegas Grind et. al. compilation, though I wouldn't really say these are raw or raunchy... just simple, well done and enjoyable twistin' tunes.

Anywho, here you go

Reverend Bernard Avant Jr. and the St. James Gospel Choir

Cover impressions: this is a seriously hip gospel choir! And it's on a Stax imprint (Gospel Truth)? 1972? Hunter, can you buy a scanner or something?

Yeah, the blog is back and will hopefully be movin' and I thought I'd kick it off with some gospel because I have plenty of it waiting to go. Don't worry, there's still plenty of capital-R-Rock-&-Roll to come, but I think this is plenty enjoyable stuff no matter what your belief set.

This album is not a raw funk masterpiece. If you want to check it out for that sort of reason, I'd go straight for "The Lord God Is On My Side". I wouldn't expect to be cutting breakbeats from it, but it's got some pretty hot little moments. Aw heck, have a listen

But there's also a pretty impressive breadth to this album. My other two favorites are the traditional gospel stomper "Save All Day" and the sweet sweet soul heartmover "God Really Cares For You". I gotta say, the vocals from Dolly Avant here are really sweet throughout, and the Reverend for which this album is named is pretty deserving as well. 

This is a reasonably clean rip, though I was too lazy to do anything about some of the clipping. Still sounds good. Here, have a tracklisting.

Take a listen

Domino Sound made some dumb magazine's list of best record stores

Normally I wouldn't go looking in GQ for the best record stores in the country, but I was super surprised and super delighted to see Domino Sound on their list. If you check out the record store link on the side bar, you'll see that I can hardly disagree, but I wouldn't expect one of ours, especially one so small, new and vinyl-only to make it on. Congratulations!

http://www.gq.com/entertainment/music/200902/gq-favorite-record-stores-slideshow#slide=20

It might be fun one day to make my own list like this because there's a of places that seem pretty worthy that I don't see mentioned much. 

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Speaking of things I should do, mostly situated in my new apartment, need to tweak my turntable and server situation but I've got a stack of vinyl ready to be ripped. This blog will live again

A little downtime

You may notice I'm missing my background and a lot of the singles links are down. I'm moving apartments and my little server is caught in the middle, not to mention I'm still trying to scramble this record fair together. When things are nice I'll have some gospel ready for ya

The Dartells - Hot Pastrami

This is a silly record. It has its slower moments such as Surf Dreams and St. James Infirmary, but the high points are undoubtedly goofy songs like "I Scream" (they are screaming for ice cream) and Hot Pastrami, not to mention other songs inspired by the culinary arts. 

Who are they? The Dartells weren't exactly a sensation, though Hot Pastrami hit #11 on the pop charts back in the day... interesting when you consider the fact that it was essentially a cover of "Mashed Potatoes" (hey look! they even mention it straight off in the song!). They've been somewhat canonized into the surf craze, but it's not exactly written all over the record. There's a song called surf dreams, yeah, and there are some bare instrumentals on here, and Hot Pastrami was covered by, I believe, The Chantays, but that's about it.

I'll be honest though, while it has its fun parts, this Dartells album is a victim of pretty poor recording. It seems like there's a lot going on, but the sound is so subdued that it doesn't really get to the action that I think the band is really pumping out. This is a somewhat recognizable album that some of you may be familiar with, so you're welcome to disagree.

You can get it here

WTUL Record Fair in New Orleans November 14th

I have a lot of big things up my sleeve right now which is why this blog is slow (about to resume!) but here's one of them. I'm trying to organize New Orleans' first regular record fairs in a long, long time. I know a good number of vendors (and am still looking for more) and I think this could really take off.  Please spread the word and if you've got facebook, mosey over here

The Panics - Discotheque Dance Party

Go ahead and judge a record by its cover, we all know that it works. You've got the band in all cases performing in red suits, a woman seemingly in her underwear, across from a man leaping and yelling, and you've got a list of song titles seemingly matched with dance moves (with the RRHHWW favorite, the frug, listed among them). Would I surprise you if I told you this was raucous frat rock? 

Funky16Corners can shed a little light on the make-up and history of this band (those are indeed the same names), as can the back of the album. These are the only liner notes I can think of that plug the name of the band's manager. 

This is a pretty fun album. I'm not surprised that they're not essential garack rock listening material, but I'd just as happily listen to this as The Woggles. Some of these are originals, and there's even a few decent instrumentals on it, "Hand Clappin'" making an appearance on my show this past weekend. It says "recorded live" but there's definitely been some editing here, as the crowd noise will often cut in abruptly. There's also been some editing thanks to a few little hitches on my vinyl, but it still comes out pretty listenable.

Get it here

Alvin Cash & The Registers - Twine Time

Y'all are going to think I'm insane, but this is a desert island disc for me. The subject matter is stupid, the recording is muddy as hell, the cover art sure ain't much, but I'm going to have more fun on my island than yours. This is the sort of gleeful boogaloo nonsense that bypasses your frontal lobe completely and is strictly built for dance.

Normally, I don't know anything about what I post and google's not a help. This time, there's all sorts of information on Alvin Cash, and I'm not the first one to rip this record, but I haven't seen it on blogspot (his singles, on the other hand, are all over). In fact, for once the information on the back of the album is surprisingly informative: Born in St. Louis, starts a dancing troupe with his brothers, catches the ear of Andre "Bacon Fat" Williams and gets picked up on Mar-V-Lus. Twine Time shoots to the top (and sure enough, it's not hard to find covers of it), he keeps at it for a while and never gets quite the same success and, correct me if I'm wrong, never releases another LP. He also appeared in a couple of movies. 

Seriously, everything on this has an addictive sort of bounce to it, and I actually kind of like the semi-nonsensical lyrics. One song is about not being able to see a hawk. One claims that a girl "shot him through the grease" and the album is packed with "awwwww but you're _____in ____, baby!"

I've heard this LP is a collectors item. I don't know, I got it off the amazon used marketplace for $20 lookin' pretty mint except for the holes in the cover, nothing claiming it's a reissue. The original Twine Time/Bump 45 (TWO SIDES OF FIRE) had a real badass Mushroom Cloud on the label, which might have been why I listened to Alvin in the first place

Listen and love it y'all

The Nitecaps - Frug

The Nitecaps play that raucous saxophone-fueled kind of instrumental rock & roll that gets forgotten behind the monstrous word that is "surf". Here they've prepared a fiery lineup of covers and pun-titled songs to promote their dance move of choice and mine: The Frug. I would kill to know how to do the frug, but my dreams of having an RRHHWW reader releasing a slew of Youtube oldies-dance instructional videos are mostly abandoned, though Wikipedia hasn't forgotten this particular dance.

Anyway, this is a good one. The worst songs are still worth a hipshake and tracks like "Sassy Frug" their rendition of "You Can't Sit Down" are an outright riot. 

Here's where you can get it

Quick Gonerfest wrap-up

I've been in Memphis for the past few days checking out the premier Southern garage rock festival. Either you went or you didn't and I can't see why my asshole opinions would be of value either way, so I'll keep this quick and we'll get to ripping some more vinyl as soon as I get the chance

Friday

Cococoma: I have their LP with the flaming groovies-inspired album cover. Punchy, fun, pop garage. Nothing to write home about but as the first band I saw I still had fun

Magnetix: Coolest band of Friday. French duo with a dark and noisy sound. Stripped down and fun.

Ty Segall: The crowd loved him but I thought his live show was just about as boring as his newest LP. Go fig.

The Reatards: firecrackers, stage-peeing, general fuck you's to the audience (including "this guy is from vice magazine" (pointing to the guy with the camera) "he's co-opting your culture. That's not garage") I thought the music was a blast but the crowd was full of morons and, yeah, I couldn't really go along with all the shit that the festival's biggest indie-rock celebrity said. Somebody likened it to pro wrestling, and that seems about right. The same person left when Jay fought his bandmate, saying "this is all too Samuel Beckett for me". Still, at some point he took out a wad of ones and made it rain, so I made $3 from the show.

Saturday

Shitty Beach Boys: While not performing quite as apathetically as their youtube videos would suggest, it's a pretty fun gimmick to hear shitty beach boys covers. They were selling airbrushed T-shirts and sloppily painted skateboard decks after the show. That was really all that grabbed me during the day, except for cheap and tasty hot dogs.

The Intelligence: I heard these guys on a recommendation from a friend, bought their album and half-listened to it once with no desire to listen again. I actually didn't realize they were the same band as that album until day of. Seeing them live, I get the recommendation a little more. Nothing too great, but a little fat synthesizer under your garage rock with, god forbid, some legit syncopation worked out OK. Their cover of an Oh Sees song sorta made them feel like Oh Sees lite...

Davila 666: YES. Puerto Rican band on in the red was the first band to really  get me moving. Meaningless, party-oriented, first pounding punk at its best. I keep trying to think of a band that captures the sort of feeling I'm talking about (it's not rare), but if I said turbonegro you'd think jokey and cheesy. 

Thee Oh Sees: Big fan already and they didn't disappoint. I kind of feel like their sound on the albums is a little more restrained than it could be, but it wasn't the case for this show. Big percussive drums for some vicious stomping. Thanks to them and Davila I was wearing a wet rag by the end of the night

Compulsive Gamblers: it's hard to top an Oblivians reunion like last year and they didn't, but the (thinned out) crowd was still very appreciative. I gotta admit, I found myself mostly enjoying the songs I knew, but I think this is a band better committed to record.

Sunday

Gentleman Jesse: People were pouring out of the place with their record and I don't really blame them. They certainly weren't the roughest band at the show but they played some top-notch hook-laden pop punk.

Girls of the Gravitron: hipster shitgaze whatever, but that loud mess of noise was working pretty well for me. Looks like they only have a mostly sold out 7" though.

River City Tanlines: great straightforward rock & roll. I guess my review is as generic as everything else written about them, but I promise it was great.

Tirefire: New Orleans metal band closes the show for some reason. Sure enough,there were Tires and a lot of firecrackers. The whole thing definitely felt like a high school backyard festival full of high school idiots. In the best way.

Magic Kids: sing-songy rock that I had a bit of a soft spot for. I only got to see two songs though

Box Elders: I think their new LP Alice and Friends is all sorts of fun but in a surprising way. They didn't surprise me live too much but it was fun enough. They sealed the deal with a great cover of Teenage Kicks right at the end.

Nobunny: the whole gimmick is that the guy wears a bunny mask. Not a good gimmick to overcome the long and unfunny banter inbetween the songs. But when there was music is was loud, tight and fun.

Cheater Slicks: Maybe everybody was too tired? The place was emptier than it was for the first bands despite Cheater Slicks playing some of the dirtiest, most powerful rock & roll of the night. Those of us still there universally dug it I think. A Great closer

Larry Wilcox and his Orchestra - Tuff Saxes and Twangy Guitars

Despite the title and cover, this is not a surf/drag album. It's HOT ROD JAZZ, and they actually do a pretty good job of letting you know that; the LP label has it in bigger words than anything else.

So what does that meeeaaaannnn? That means it's fun jazz. Just think of all the other goofy jazz offshoots like Spy Jazz or Crime Jazz. While I think this is actually pretty aptly named, this has more in common with Hugo Montenegro than Charles Mingus, and it's actually pretty diverse. There's a song or two that could almost pass for surf such as the opening track "Big Deuce", his rendition of "(get right down to the real) Nitty Gritty" doesn't lose its funky edge, and "Loddy Lo" is just kind of weird.

So if you're a surf fan should you go ahead and give this a shot? Yeah, I'd say so, it's still got the same sense of adventure to it. I mean, just read the back cover here (which is where you'll find a tracklisting as well)

And a note about ripping: I'd been trying for ages to cut down on my record noise. I usually rip with Shure mx97e cartridge which is pretty widely accepted as a good needle. Despite Sansui's reputation, I switched to an Onkyo reciever like my main unit in hopes that the built-in preamp on the onkyo would smooth it out better. No luck. Then in desperation I swapped in a Stanton needle I had laying around (that I had researched and found to be "not that great"). Believe it or not, here we have a rip without a monster amount of audible pops and record scratches. I feel like I've lost my trademark!

COME N GETTIT

A few things I've been listening to

First of all, I got a surprise message from the French surf rock group The OK Kings, who graciously sent me a promo of their brand new album to play on my show. Phil Dirt gave it 5 stars but really, I've never dug Phil Dirt reviews, especially with his lo-fi dismissals. So here's my short review: it rips.

The OK Kings - Washout

Their Myspace is right here

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Also found on Myspace: The Space Agency
This is a pretty DIY effort and their myspace looks even worse than mine, but the previews were good and my well-developed gut feelings were screaming at me so I placed an order for their first album. It was expensive to begin with and coming from the UK didn't help, but it was worth it. Fuzzy lo-fi weirdo surfy stuff that, honestly, out-psychs the new Satan's Pilgrims album (not that I don't like that album). I seem to remember finding something saying the lead guitarist went to grad school studying Indian music or something, I don't know

The Space Agency - You Make Me Nervous

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Alabama Kid - Rockin' Jalopy

this was on some garage compilation somewhere. I don't know anything about it... I don't even know if it's being played at the right speed considering that there's two other Youtube videos at different speeds. I do know I listened to it on repeat for a little while

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Lastly, here's some of the most kickass old-style zydeco I've heard. The only information I've been able to find so far is from a goldband records site saying he only recorded about five songs. 

Thaddus Declouet - Shake it Up All Night Long

Thaddus Declouet - Lake Charles Doo-Doo-Dia

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Hope we all had some fun. I'd love to hear about anything cool you've heard lately, I'm by no means some sort of guru (if you've been checking this site out often that much should be clear).

AND

Storm Surge of Reverb starts at 4PM today (2 hours from posting time) at www.wtulneworleans.com

The Ziontones - Hope Ahead

A few things I like about The Ziontones:

• Enthusiasm!
• Clear funk influence. I mean clear as in "check out the Cissy Strut riff jacking on "Working for Jesus".
• A little bit of everything: This hits funk gospel, foot-stompers, shouted sermon and even a little bit of a soulful heart jerker.
• Despite its existence being pretty recognized, its lack of backstory details are as well, meaning I don't have to feel bad about my knowing nothing as usual
• There's a lot of them! Look at it!

Most mentions will say that this is a great album. I think it's definitely a good album, but about 3/4 on the way to great. They've got the energy and they've got some fun bass playing, but the songs are always just shy of having the form and hooks that make a real monster. In fact, I think the most memorable track on here is the much more subdued closer "Somebody's Missing"

But I'll let you judge for yourself

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The Hot Rodders - Big Hot Rod

Yet another Jerry Cole/Crown Hot Rod release, but really despite the budget label I think this is a fantastic album, better than yesterday's post with The Winners and on par with some of the more established surf classics. Not only are all the instrumentals fun in some manner, but the vocal tracks are as well. In fact, I'd say that without a doubt the standout here is "Spirit of America' in which an exploitation-film-style monotone voice tells you about an 11' tall, 60' long unbeatable dragster between evil laughs. This is the weird stuff y'all, and if nothing else this is worth it for that track alone

Side A:

1.  On the Track
2. Fine 39
3. 27 tub
4. Super Charged
5. The Screamer

Side B:

1.  Red Hot Rod
2. Spirit of America
3. Drag Shoot
4. Wild Willys
5. The Creamer

GET IT HERE

The Winners - Checkered Flag

The Winners are another of the many Crown Records surf/drag budget albums that (according to this blog) had Jerry Cole behind them. I love Jerry Cole dearly and at first the word "budget" seems a little unfair for this album, as it's all pretty competent and even has some songs that I'd call a lot of fun. But when considered alongside other Crown records budget releases (I found this alongside The Hot Rodders - Big Hot Rod (probably next up on this blog) and a few others), you'll find that they recycle songs from one album to the other. They're played differently, but it's pretty funny to see them attach so many different names to "Hey Bo Diddley". 

But if we take a look at what this album is, first I'd like to include the review from the flea market vendor who sold it to me (who had some pretty kickass old hot rod magazines too), "I think it's just a recording of a bunch of hot rod race track sounds". I knew he was wrong but I still thought "YESSSSSSSS". And sure enough, there's plenty of that interspersed throughout

We're looking at about half and half vocal and instrumental tracks. The vocal tracks, even though I've gained a pretty big love for hot rod vocals, are nothing special or even particularly funny. I think this album really gets fun right on the second side with "down lok", "up lok" and the real choice cut "Cops and Rodders". Three points to whoever can identify the real names of some of these, listening to all these Crown releases has kind of gotten me confused.

Side A:

1. Drop That Flag
   
2. Uptown Model A
3. Big Boss Man
4. Checkered Flag
5. Stick Shiftin

Side B:

1. Wind Her Up
2. Runnin Second
3. Down Lok
4. Up Lok
5. Cops and Rodders

GET IT HERE

1. 
   

STORM SURGE OF REVERB has Moved!

To today! Sundays from 4-6PM CST every week.

www.wtulneworleans.com

this poster obviously outdated...

Playlists are still being posted at sg101

old shows are here

new actual posts coming up, it's been a rough couple of weeks

Blog's not dead

I've been a little on the lazy side for a few weeks. I thought that I would post some things during the downtime as I take a little roadtrip to Colorado and back, but it looks like my fileserver's down. Hopefully that'll be back up on Friday. I've got at least two cool posts planned and some ideas after that.

Bowling Green State University Gospel Choir - Bring a Tenth of Your Worth

I feel like the gospel I've been posting has been sort of skirting the real stuff. Gospel for people who don't like gospel. I like Gospel, it doesn't have to have dirty guitars and strange instrumentation, it just needs energy.

So here you have something pretty normal (not to say "boring"). I don't know much about this album and I don't know whether there's much to know. I know that it's on Savoy, so it's got enough quality to be released on a non-vanity label, which is surprising for a college choir release. Of course, I could listen and tell you that. This is choir heavy, not about crazy impassioned shouting, but a good strong choir with enough instrumental backing for it to be fun.

I'll put it this way, if you're looking for a wild gem of rock & roll hidden in a gospel sleeve, today is not your day. If you just want another gospel album and don't know where to turn, this should be a fun listen

Get it here

The Delusionaires - Destination Poon

I don't really remember how I found the Delusionaires, but it was clear what I liked about them: these is crass, lo-fi surf & greasy instrumentals.  They have an outdated website but their material is currently unavailable. Note that they sell just as many panties as they do T-Shirts, clearly a good indicator.

I e-mailed the site to see if I could get a legit copy of their album. No, but I was told it's been posted on a French blog with their blessing. So what's another one

http://www.4shared.com/file/105638035/9eac8d9a/The_Delusionaires_-_Destination_Poon.html

Apparently they just recently reformed and played a show somewhere on Thursday. Keep an eye out

Whoops I didn't notice

This blog has existed for over a year! Since you're already disappointed that this post isn't really a download, I'll be quick: thanks to everybody that's ever dropped a comment, thanks to all the blogs that have linked back to me (Brandonio of Rock is Dead R.I.P. has been especially cool), thanks for all the kind words. This whole thing has been a very rewarding experience and has given me a lot of ideas, one of which might be something really big one day...

I didn't really think about what I wanted to do for this, so have an archive of my past surf shows (more thanks due to Steve)

Or maybe this playlist of songs on youtube I've been making when I see something cool

Rene Hall's Orchestra - Twitchy \ Flippin'

EDIT: I've been beaten timewise and (unsurprisingly) info-wise on this one. Check out the Houndblog 

You know what, let's dispense with the hooplah: I have zero reservations about calling Twitchy one of the best Rock & Roll instrumentals of all time. I'm not even going to talk about it just yet, I'm going to post this link and within 5 seconds you'll probably agree that it's a candidate

Twitchy
(this is not my recording. It's made its way onto a few compilation CDs that don't appear to be easily purchased. I have my own recording in the same folder if for some reason you'd prefer record noise)

So what's his deal? Thankfully, Wikipedia's on the ball with this one but if you can't be bothered to open a new window, Born in Morgan City, Louisiana, was a session musician, talent scout and even is credited with arranging Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come" and Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get it On". And of particular interest to instrumental enthusiasts, worked with B. Bumble and the Stingers (who I have a 45 of if anybody would like to see it up here)

So to sum it up further: Louisiana born musical bad-ass and NEVER let the word "Orchestra" scare you away from a good rock & roll 45. 

So what's the B-Side like? Excellent actually. It's not nearly as unique-sounding as Twitchy but it's a great sassy 50's-style rock & roll instrumental that I would probably put on here even if Twitchy weren't on the same 45

Flippin'

Quick Bobby Fuller doc

Only about 6 minutes long but with cool footage and a little history. No good excuse not to watch this

The Gospelaires - Remember Me, Jesus \ Never Turn Back

A lot of friends complemented me on my big gospel post from earlier, and that's good because I ain't done yet. While I'll return to Louisiana eventually, I've been really enjoying this 45 from the Dayton, Ohio group the Gospelaires. They're sorta still around, but like so many Gospel groups they're happy to keep the name with the completely different lineup.

Both sides of this are a blast. The A-Side falls a little on the sermony side, but as you'll see, this guy doesn't hold back.Note the lack of question mark. I keep reading this in my head as a snappy action hero catchphrase.
Remember Me, Jesus
There's a strange surprise in there. I have no idea what the deal is, but I'll let you hear it for yourself. I thought I'd left some sort of creepy video game open in the background on first listen.

Never Turn back doesn't really rely on gimmick and is pretty much exactly what pops into your head when you hear Gospel, at least in the good ways. Just as high energy vocal-wise but with one hell of a hip-shakin' backing.
Never Turn Back

Now if you're thinking to yourself "oh my crap, I need to see this in person", thanks to modern Youtube technology you can replicate the next closest thing: watching them from the perspective of somebody watching it on TV during an earthquake.


And lastly, note the Peacock label. It's all Gospel and has some of the most legendary gospel groups on it.

Ray Fournia with the Rocking Rebels - You Done Me Wrong \ Settle Down

Google seems to have one single piece of information on this guy (and it helps): these are not the "Wild Weekend" Rocking Rebels.

So I have another mystery that maybe Google might one day solve: is Ray from New Orleans? Along the sides it mentions that Diamond Studios is of New Orleans and Biloxi...

Regardless, this is a 45 I've always wanted to put up but was never able to get a clean enough recording. While this is far from that, I got what I wanted. That is the B-Side without skipping.

The A-Side is the slow one, "You Done Me Wrong". Ray's vocals are good and strong throughout, but there's not too much going on here exciting I think.... so I just went ahead and kept the skipping towards the end.
Ray Fournia - You Done Me Wrong

THE B-SIDE HOWEVER... is not particularly inspired either, it's just different words to Money (That's what I want), but the vocals are great! It's not like we listen to Rock & Roll for originality anyway.
Ray Fournia - Settle Down

I wanna see you dance

If I haven't made this clear enough already, a lot of the stuff on this blog is way past my era,  so while I love songs that tell me to do the watussi etc., I wouldn't know a watussi if I saw it. I spent a lot of time scrutinizing details of the surfer's stomp to no avail, I need a visual representation.

My friend's dad (and music enthusiast) reminded me that this is why youtube exists

but even then there's a lot of misinformation with lots of little girls dancing the mashed potato they saw in the Hairspray movie

The Mashed Potato is pretty basic (and DeeDee Sharp provided a video as well, though there are backup dancers that might confuse as to what the dance really is). But what about The Jerk? The Watussi? The Surfer's Stomp? 

James Brown tries to show off a few, but ends up really just showing off with no room for education

What I'm saying here is that if you know this stuff and want to go stick it on youtube,  you've done us all a service and you might achieve internet celebrity status! I know, that may not sound horribly attractive, but if you're not going to do it, who will?

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If you demand more complicated dances than these provide, I came across something the other day that's pretty cool. A local thrift store was selling 45s in little plastic grab bags, 5 for 5. You could only see what was on the outside, but I noticed a Champs single I didn't have on one side, so I bought it. Turns out San Juan \ Jalisco is a pretty boring single from later in their career, turning a little more Latin than rock & roll with less-than-exciting results. It's since been put on one of their compilations, so here's that version
The Champs - San Juan

But more excitingly, it came with somebody's instructions for what looks like a pretty complicated dance. I doubt any of you would go through the effort of performing this, but it's a cool little artifact.

click for the readable version (I'll get a scanner one day)

Buchannan & Ansel - (Meet) The Creature

Today's post is stupid: a semi-sci-fi sample-ridden comedy track from Bill Buchanan & Bob Ancell. This isn't a whole lot different than his earlier "Flying Saucer"



but anything on a label called Flying Saucer records is welcome here in my book. I'll admit, it's genuinely funny too.

Both sides have been spliced together because it makes more sense that way.

Buchannan & Ancell - (Meet) The Creature

no, Sam the Sham had nothing to do with this post

Quick bits of Louisiana Gospel

So I've been sorta hinting at how I want to break into Gospel a bit. I haven't really ever considered myself Christian except by birth as it clashed with my preteen love of dinosaurs, but I find it hard to take issue with the passionate hollerin' that comes out of (black) gospel music. 

So for a class I decided to a do a presentation on it for my final project. I'm not exactly an expert now, but I found some pretty stomp-worthy stuff. And I'm about to give you a real quick tour. Most of this stuff is actually pretty basic and blogged about in plenty of places, but I'm willing to guess that a lot of y'all are just as dumb as I was about this stuff. I'm not attempting a full-on history lesson here, just sharing some stuff that y'all might like.

Booker records = hot: It was mostly a one-man operation, started out as rhythm and blues but went gospel after just a few. I've got a pretty good 45 of normal semi-musical sermoning off there but the real hot thing is Rev. Charlie Jackson. Think male Sister Rosetta Tharpe. I know, that's no more appealing than female SRT, but more Tharpe in any form is welcome in my book.

God's Got It
Wrapped Up And Tangled Up In Jesus

Apparently learned guitar from a cousin growing up in Alabama. His mom told him he can't play blues during the week and church music on the weekends, and in a move so un-rock&roll it's rock & roll, he listened to his mother, played only religious music and became a minister. Later he went to Louisiana and headed up a church in Amite LA.

So while he was hangin' out over there he met Elder Utah Smith. Utah's only barely Louisiana related, as he ran around touring all over the country and eventually ran his whole operation out of New Jersey. But who cares, because again Think Male Sister Rosetta Tharpe

This song is sort of his theme song because he would perform with two big ol' wings on his back. And if you couldn't tell, he liked to play LOUD. So when he would come around to middle-a-nowhere towns with no power, he would plug his amp into a car battery and perform that way.

So Mahalia Jackson is probably one of the first names you'll hear of in gospel, so I'm not going to bother finding her funkiest track. But I will prove to you that she's funky, despite how clean people try to keep her image. According to a book I was reading, she started up a fried chicken chain in competition to KFC (pure New Orleans) and was quoted saying "The Colonal says his chicken is finger lickin' good... well I think mine is tongue-lickin' good". Personally, this new light on the New Orleans gospel queen got her records back on my platter lickety-split.

And in case you've never heard of her, there's another New Orleans queen of soul.

Really, gospel is a strange genre to follow, as a lot of good albums were very locally circulated, often just among church members, and there's no real cohesive history (a good thing I think, since most rock&roll histories are incomplete and biased (though it would impossible to tell it right)). But what this means is that blind purchases really aren't such a bad thing. One such blind purchase that paid off is this weirdo.

So while this album is purchaseable purely by diner rules (i.e. if it looks that ugly, the food/album must be great), it's also worth noting the names Milton Battiste, Dejean's Olympia Brass Band, and Frank Minyard MD. (coroner!). Unfortunately, in the few weeks that I've had this album I've been irresponsible and there's a big old scratch on Frank Minyard's part and a few others, so I'll hold off on the whole album, but the best two songs are doin' fine.
Jesus What A Wonderful Child
(I Found Out It Was) the Holy Ghost
This is sitting in a strange middle ground between foot-stompin' big choral gospel, second-line music, and occasionally funk. It's fun.

I could throw a few more in there but this is already one of my longer posts and at the rate I've been making new posts I need to save material. And don't worry, I'll give you some straight rock & roll before I drop another gospel on ya. And if you want more right now, here's a youtube playlist I hastily made a few weeks ago.

Further recommendations are always ok, and hopefully I'll clean this up post-July 4th.

The Lively Ones - Bugalu Party

Saw this in Domino Sound, which rarely carries anything surfy save for a Link Wray album or two. I looked at the tracklisting and thought "could it be THAT Lively Ones? Surf Rider Lively Ones?" all signs point to yes, the classic surf instro band switched gears for their last LP and played vocal soul/BUGALU covers (though at 1967, the surf craze is mostly over and that scene is just getting started, so good on 'em!)

And it ain't half bad! Oddly enough, the highlight here are the vocals, which at times remind me (very vaguely) of The Monks. Unfortunately, I realized during the ripping process that if you speed it up just a little bit, it goes from good soul album to great. However, the little orange-lit dots on the turntable confirmed that what you're hearing is more or less the correct speed.

Highlights here are some of the originals: "She Moved Me" and the sole instrumental "We Got A Thing That's In The Groove", but both sides are pretty great and it's consistent throughout.

GET IT HERE

Side 1

1. Bugalu Movement (Baglione)
2. Working in the Coal Mine (Tussiant) (their spelling, not mine)
3. Knock On Wood (Cropper-Floyd)
4. She Moved Me (Baglione)
5. In The Midnight Hour (Cropper-Pickett)
6. We Got A Thing That's In The Groove (Storball)

Side 2

1. You Are My Sunshine (Davis-Mitchell)
2. 634-5789 (Cropper - Floyd)
3. Take It While YOu Can
4. I Got You (I Feel Good) (Brown)
5. Hold On, I'm Coming (Proter - Hayes)

The Ed Townsend Orchestra - Ed Townsend's Boogie Woogies (Part 1)

We've got a simple one for you. If you want to know about Ed Townsend, it's not hard but I haven't seen much about him in this orchestral form. Well, what you get is a great dancing number with Ed only chiming in for hype purposes. The B-side had a few dings on it and would skip, so I'm keeping it off (it was more or less an more instrumental version of this mostly instrumental song). But as you'll see, it's a pretty cool song and not nearly as lovey dovey as the stuff he's recognized for writing.

The Ed Townsend Orchestra - Ed Townsend's Boogie Woogie (Part 1)

Another SSOR tomorrow... do you want to keep seeing these?

I post Storm Surge of Reverb updates on my myspace, surfguitar101.com, facebook and here. While it doesn't really hurt the site in the sense that it makes it oh so much more googleable, I feel bad when half of these are radio show posts. Do people enjoy seeing these playlists or should I stick with the real posts? By the way, I've got at least two more of those comin' up.

Anyway, if you don't know the drill

NOON - 2 CST

WWW.WTULNEWORLEANS.COM

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And the playlist:

Estrume'n'tal - vacalgada
Impala - The Scratch
Los Banditos - Kalaschnikow
Fifty Foot Combo - Dimitrius
Husky & The Sandmen - Malibu Run
Bitch Boys - The Breeze & I
 
Ramblin' Ambassadors - Frank Slide Song
Ramblin' Ambassadors - Hangin' tree
The Ultras - Rocket Boy
Sandy Nelson - And Then There Were Drums
The Ventures - Exploration In Terror
 
Messer Chups - Mr. Hyde & Mr. Hyde
The Emporers - The Breeze & I
Pandoras - Haunted Beach Party
Man...or Astroman? - Transmission from Venus
El Ray - Jack the Samurai
New Dimensions - Avalanche
 
Frantics - Oh yeah
Gee-Cees - Buzzsaw Twist
Johnny Guitar - Mon Du Dow
The New Dimensions - Wild Wave (Didn't mean to play that)
The Pagents - Big Daddy
Reeker - Don't Call Me Flyface 
 
Crimson Ghosts - Where Eagles Dare
Archers - Hybrid Moments
The Staggers - Eagles Surf
Tremolo Beer Gut - OK Boys
Hangee V - Batman (the 4 of us)
Torquays - Pit Stop
 
The Panasonics - Kaiser Pan
The Bedwells - Karate Again
Tornadoes - Moon Dawg
Johnny Devlin - Red River Rock
Routers - Washington and Lee Swing
Scramblers - Mister Hot Rod 
 
Lively Ones - We Got A Thing In The Groove
Cavernarios - El Bravo
Surfites - Mercurian Surf Stomp
Johnny & The Shamen - Dick Tracy
Phantom Surfers - Buy High, Sell Low
A-Bones - The Fez Man Walks
 
The Atlantics - The Boys
Sea Lions - Hevenu Shalom Alechem
Link Wray - Hold It
Treble Spankers - The Model

Rev. JT Bell & The Moody Family - I've Got It In My Walk \ I See The Blood

I need help y'all. As I keep returning to my Sister Rosetta Tharpe album I start to feel like I want more. While I'm still investigating in my favorite manner: raiding thrift stores and buying interesting 45s, nowadays we've got blogs like this one to open us up to this sort of thing.

However, I've yet to find a good blog full of old foot-stomping Gospel. I'm afraid to delve into the whole genre, since I know a lot of it these days has a cheesy new-age production that I can't stand. I'm not much of a christian... I follow Rock &Roll, but given the amount of surf on here you could guess that lyrics don't matter much. This stuff has OOMPH though, and I'd appreciate it if somebody could point me and the rest of RRHHWW readers to a good resource for more of this sort of stuff.

Anyway, my small amount of headway into this has shown me one certain thing:  this HSE label is hot. Thankfully, the Stepfather of Soul blog has already done the legwork of dredging up the information on the label, and he's got some pretty choice comments helping him out. 

So what do I know about this particular 45? Zip! I know that I've Got It In My Walk is the better of the two, but not by a whole lot, and "I see the blood" makes up for it with its decidedly metal name.

I've Got It In My Walk

I See The Blood

SSOR today

Surf & Instrumental Rock & Roll

Noon-2

Wtulneworleans.com

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here's the playlist

The The Astonettes - Space Party
Jerry Cole Martian Surf
Los Coronas - Last Wave
Ramblin' Ambassadors - Cabbage Diablo
MOAM - Joker's Wild

Johnny Devlin - Devils Rock
Herma Keil & The Keil Isles - Monkey Stomp
Bari & the Breakaways -Guitar Boogie
Avengers VI - Slaughter on 10th Ave.
Dave Myers & The Surftones - King's Surf
The Imps - That'll Get It

The Dynatones - Beneath the Surface
Ghastly Ones - Los Campiones Del Justicio
Beat Tornados - Kreml de la Kreml
The Buddies - Ski Jump
Ready Men - Disintegration (Get Ready!!)
Introducers - If I had Wheels

Crime - Instrumental Instrumental
Stef & Arno - Jesus Demoniaco
Coffin Daggers - Seduction of the innocent
Robert Johnson and the Punchdrunks - Blade Runner
Supertones - Surf Fever 2000
Surf Coasters - Chasing Shadows

Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited - Space Mission Number 12 (Lost TV Themes)
Surfites - Escapades in Space - Around the Galaxy
Tornados - Stompin' Through the Rye
Space Walkers - Tecumseh
Destination Earth - Space Cowboy Party Theme
Spacemen - Echoigo Jishi

Piltdown Men - Gargantua
Phantom Surfers - Lancelot Link Wray
Revels - Soft Top
The Haircuts\The Impossibles - Liverpool Stomp
The Chandelles - El Gato
The Shadows - Flyin' High

Untamed Youth - The Hearse (Untamed Melodies)
The Windows -Ali Baba
The Atlantics - Whitewash
The Fathoms - Riptide
The Manatees Dale's dick
Surf Sluts - The Rattler
Retrofuguetes - As Criaturas Enjauladas Do Circo Espacial De Moscou
Madeira - Undercurrents

Sandals - Theme From Endless Summer
Surfpatrouille - It's Not Unusual

Go Go With The Buddies

What's this? Rock & Roll Hoo-Ha What What updated?
Yes!
And it's an LP?
Yes!
And it's not another budget album of trash?
Almost!

As the book Pop Surf Culture point out, this album was a budget-priced cash-in on the surf craze (wasn't it all a cash-in?) and it even tries to catch a few more crazes with songs about skiing, hot-rods, and motorcycles. The thing is, it actually doesn't suck at all!

I must have bought this album years ago and likely heard a trace of vocals, instantly puked all over the place, and never returned until this past week when I was contemplating whether to include it in my upcoming garage sale. Now that I'm not such a big baby, I sat through those vocals and to be honest, really kind of enjoyed them. In particular "I'll Surf Around the World", where the vocalist vastly underestimates the amount of surfer girls in the world and pledges to surf with them, and "Sickle Rider's Rule" which stands as a Smithsonian example of surf lingo overused to a comic effect.

But really, I'm holding back on the killer part: Davie Allan provides the backing tunage and the album includes some sizzling skateboarding-themed instrumentals such as "Sidewalk Surfin' Scene" and "Skateboard U.S.A.", which was covered by the Krontjong Devils on their "On Tour!!!" album.

Krontjong Devils - Skateboard USA

I have to hand it to the producer Mike Curb too -  Ski Jump is an instrumental with songwriting credits going solely to him and it's just as good. Really, it's a seriously good album and none of the songs are bad. It even made me go and give my Fantastic Baggys album another try. Puked everywhere.

Side A:

1. Little Iddy Biddy Buddy Rider
2. Skateboard USA
3. I'll Surf Around the World
4. Ski Jump
5. Wanda On Her Honda

Side B:

1. Ski City USA
2. Sickle Rider's Rule
3. Sidewalk Surfin' Scene
4. The Surf Is In
5. Mean Little Monza

GET IT HERE

STORM SURGE OF REVERB NOON CST TODAY

I wish that weren't so busy that I could squeeze some good music posts in between radio posts. But that's not the case so in the meantime check out www.wtulneworleans.com @ noon for some blistering instro

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post show playlist:

El Ray - Volcano
THe Sentinals - Surf 'n Soul
The Sidemen - Persuaders
The Bambi Molesters - Beach Murder Mystery
The Bahareebas - Dunewalking

Al Casey - Surfin' Blue
Treblemakers - The Hearse
Lord Limey 'n the Yanks
Mysterious Tape Man - Track 1 (meant to play Asteroid. Whoops!)
Gnee Walker & His Combo - Empire City
Dave Myers & THe Surf Tones - Church Key

Tremolo Beer Gut - Last Booze Fighter
Galaxy Trio - Strip Search
Jerry Cole - Stinger
Richie Allen - Put It On
Earthworms - Fishtail
Jan & Dean - Barons, West LA
Jim Waller & The Deltas - Surfin' Wild

Johnny Thunders - Pipeline
Jonny & the Shamen - Agent 13
Royal Pendletons - Cross Firing
Gallon Drunk - Get Ready (another whoops)

Bo Diddley - Scuttle Bug
Ernie Freeman - Puddin'
Ernie Fields - In The Mood
The Bikinis - Boogie Rock & Roll
The Yellow Jackets - Chickee Town Rock

Mach Kung Fu - Fever
The Fleshtones - One Four Five
The Tiki Men - Theme From the Unknown
THe Blue Demons - East Bay
Urban Surf Kings - Snow Plow
The Volcanos - War Drums

The Atomic Mosquitos - The Liquidators
Impala - Jet Action Brunette
Swiv-o-Matics - She Dances On Bars
Switch Trout - Searchin' For My Boots
Atomic 7 - Theme From Atomic 7
The Ramblin' Ambassadors - Kamikaze

Dick Dale - Peppermint Man
Spring Break Shark Attack - Blood Ocean
Surf Teens - Surfin' Tragedy
The Shadows - Frightened City

Stories in Sound - Space Battle

SSOR Tomorrow at NOON EST

So my surf show is now at a listenable time and, for the summer, a half-hour longer. In fact, I'm going to be DJing for the hour preceding SSOR, but I don't think anybody wants to listen to 3 hours of surf any more than I want to DJ it.

That's Thursday, May 14th at Noon CST @ www.wtulneworleans.com. As always, playlist will follow broadcast

Apemen - Shake Your Hoover
Preston Epps - Bongo Rock
The Tiki Men - That's The Way It Goes
Mustangs - Dartell Stomp
Virg, Murf & Prof - Way Out
Ernie Freeman - Raunchy

The Revels - Comanche
The Bikinis - Bikini
Lee Allen - Cat Walk
Irving Ashby - Big Guitar
Baby Cortez - Getting Right

Jorgen Ingmann - Apache
Guitar Gable -Guitar Rhumbo
Classie Ballou - Classie's Whip
The Dynatones - Steel Guitar Rag
Flat Duo Jets - Dexter's Lament
Teisco Del Rey - Camel Walk
Freddie King - Heads Up
The 5.6.7.8s - Green Onions
Lonnie Mack - Wham!
Chuck Berry - Berry Pickin'
Tom & Jerry - Rumble
(a break somewhere in there)

Jerry Cole & His Spacemen - Power Surf
The Chantays - Pipeline
Jon & the Nightriders - Depth Charge
The Busters - Bust Out... at 33rpm

The Busters - Bust Out at 45
Richie Allen & The Pacific Sufers - Surfer's Delight
The Super Stocks - Rendondo Beach
Urban Surf Kings - Moguls
The Lively Ones - Surf Rider

The Pyramids - Penetration
The Halibuts - Surf Drums
MOAM - Static Ding
The Volcanos - Pompeii
Ramblin' Ambassadors - Frank Slide Song
Switch Trout - COLAL

Barbwires - Thor Island Thunder
The Bills - ?
The New Dimensions - Misirlou
The Royaltones - Royal Whip
Los Straitjackets - My Heart Will Go ON

I found some more Jack Hammer

Jack Hammer, the Louisiana native that split to Belgium to make some of the most outrageous twisting records in existence, is probably THEE artist that makes me catch my breath when I come across an album (all two times that's happened). So I did something I don't normally do and hit ebay for an EP. Recorded in Belgium and pressed in Israel, shipping from Israel. So I thought I would rip it for you guys butttttt

apparently there's a little bit more of our boy Jack on the internet since I'd done a good thorough search. I'd seen a few false links, but this one came through and, unfortunately for my slow blog, appears to have all the songs on this EP plus many more.

http://peb.pl/inne-utwory/308843-rapidshare-twist-collection-jack-hammer.html

I don't really mind, the truth is I love owning this EP and I'm thrilled to hear even more songs detailing extreme measures one undergoes in the name of twisting. So I thought I'd give y'all a hand and link to it.

I also came across a few more details but have since lost it. I'll post them here when I find them.

And here's my last post about Mr. Hammer

Ponderosa Stomp Night 2

Thanks to a horrible night's sleep and a parental errand, I didn't get to catch the conferences in the morning.

Highlights... mostly the really quick acts.

I was pretty meh about Deke Dickerson but Joe Clay flew on stage for a mere three songs but all of them full throttle. He was swinging around the stage and singing rockabilly in the rockabilliest way out of all the stars that graced the parish stage. Apparently he disappeared for years and somebody found him driving school buses on the westbank. Well, back into obscurity he went; immediately after finishing (I just happened to be going the way he was so I watched him do it) he went off stage, through the door between stages, down the stairs and through the exit, not stopping for anybody congratulating him on a good show. You wouldn't have expected it from his grade-A performance, but that's just the way some people are.

Robert Parker was actually better than he is recorded... but I really only say this because his backing band, lil Buck & and the Top Cats (though I think they were going by something else. Buckingtons?) were loud and lively. I've always thought Robert Parker's stuff was sort of mute, so he had no trouble sounding more or less exactly as he once did. I'll give this to him though: he clearly enjoyed doing it and, even in his toned down way, played entertainer pretty well.

About this lil' Buck band. Nobody really mentioned it, but tucked away on the back at the organ was Stanley Buckwheat Zydeco Dural. He actually started out doing organ in funk bands, so it wasn't THAT much of a surprise, but it was cool to see. Anyway, he and Lil' Buck's band backed up a ton of artists in a New Orleans\Eddie Bo tribute. The standouts to me were Little Freddie King doing some pretty impressive stunts on that guitar. Much more lively than he looks. He only did one song but I'll see him tomorrow at Jazz Fest. David Batiste only did one song as well but it was the best out of this sizeable bunch. He had to kick Buckwheat off the organ but goddamn was it excused! Three times the funk, and great to watch too, spinning around as he played.

Little Willie Littlefield played again. And I saw him again. It's surprising that they give this guy so much time, but I can't condemn them, I dearly love the guy. This is the best video I could find to show you what he's like. Though you should imagine more sweat.


Wanda Jackson sort of sounded like a chipmunk now, but you'd be amazed at how fire that that chipmunk had left in her. She still growled when she wanted to and was clearly so happy to be there and, 50 years later, get the recognition she knows she deserves.

Wiley and the Checkmates were excellent from what I could tell but the truth was I'm kind of beat. I don't know whether I'm actually sick right now or just tired, but I needed to go home and recooperate since I'll be back out at Jazz Fest tomorrow burning off another layer of skin. Nope, no Lattimore Brown, no Flamin' Groovies, no ? and the Mysterians. It was a tough call but I had to do it. If any of y'all saw them or any of the other acts, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Everybody I talked to about last night didn't get to see Lady Bo, so I'd like to know whether she pulled that act out of the nosedive.

Very Quick Ponderosa Stomp Impressions

Despite this being in my hometown I've done a really poor job covering the Ponderosa Stomp. I guess I've been doing serious blogging for Jazz Fest and want to sit back, learn and enjoy this sacred event even more tailored to my tastes. But I'll check in on night one (though going to bed would be a better idea)

Little Willie Littlefield was on when I came in and really got things started just right. It was a simple setup, just him and a keyboard and a mic that the kept missing when he's turn to the audience and sputter something. And I mean sputter, the old man was covering himself in his own spittle as he played and dousing himself with water in-between sets despite the main stage being a freezer the entire night. High point: "Do y'all want some boogie-woogie?" he says smiling with a set of teeth seemingly offset to the right about five teeth. He proceeds to slam on the keys with what appeared to be his right hand, left hand, and stomping foot all in a different time, and I don't think he meant it. He's slamming down on the wrong chords all over the place and oddly enough it all fit. This old dude was pure rock & roll and I cracked up the entire time while he would play some boogie woogie, then Mary Had A Little Lamb, then turn to you and go "YEAH!" and bust into something else before London Bridge (followed by another YEAH). He came on later that night and though I went out for pizza after seeing about three songs, I hear he started playing the piano by banging it with a shoe in his hand.

I was really excited for Classie Ballou after seeing him talk during the conferences. This man was busting out world-class rock & roll instrumentals like "Classie's Whip" way down in Cajun country, yet thought his interview was talking about "Syrup" music before he got it and busted out a little Wipeout. It's not that Classie couldn't play, the way it was amplified and mixed, the guitar was thin and the drums were super-huge, sounding like a bad 80's comeback album. Speaking of which, check out Classie's myspace for a good laugh. Regardless of his performance, his past work and his general character stands: this guy is an overlooked legend of Louisiana music.

Little Joe Washington knocked just about everybody out. You see, a the problem with a lot of the more ho-hum artists is that they've lost their sense of adventure. Little Joe Washington just lost all semblance of giving a shit and has turned out better for it. You have this man of mysterious age and limited teeth busting out all-over-the-place guitar solos that fall out but eventually back into time (much to the relief of his seemingly worried sidemen). Meanwhile he squeaks out typically blues lyrics while plucking and often just straight up rubbing the guitar against his teeth. Or hat. Or leg. At least half of that show was played with the guitar being "played" in some unconventional manner, but he really truly could still play guitar. After Dr. Ike came out for everybody to give him a round of applause he hopped off the front of the stage and extended his hat for tips.

Dale Hawkins, reunited with his guitarist James Burton after ~50 years, just straight out tore it up. Dale was in good spirits and damn James Burton just spits out these fiery rockabilly solos as if he were talking. Of course, he traded them off with Deke Dickerson, who despite playing with a few other acts seem to have a little more color brought out in his playing given who he was playing for.

The first few songs I saw of the Remains were pretty boring, but I hear that's what everybody thought, and then it got better. Well, instead I saw The Bo-Keys who played some very tight funk... until Dennis Coffey came out. Listen, that guy is worth a $50 ticket alone. I can't think of a good way to put it at this out, but Coffey had all the technical ability of Yngwie Maalmsteen, except it's actually listenable and he could even play nicely within the songs the Bo-Keys were playing.

The Legendary Stardust Cowboy was another oddball act, though predictably so. Imagine you typical middle-class 50-year old, kicking in the air, yelling "ARE YOU KNOCKING ON MY DOORKNOB? YOU CAN KEEP KNOCKING UNTIL YOUR KNUCKLES ARE SORE. DOODLEY-DOO! WE'RE IN THE DESERT BOYS!"

Ray Sharpe (with the A-Bones backing him up) was cute. He sort of looked like a fish and really enjoyed the little phrases he would say. I did too. He would start out songs saying "this was supposed to be my big hit... but it missed!" But he doesn't sound bitter, it sounds more like "whoopsie!". He would make us shout out "but Goodie!" after he said one of his songs were an oldie. He would end all of his songs either really drawn out or abrupt ways and "the A-Bone band by way of Brooklyn" (as he called them) were visibly really confused. But he could really bust out some great licks and more so than any other group, including the Bo-Keys, he turned the House of Blues into a sock hop.

And then Lady Bo... I was a little skeptical after the interview session. She had a very "I'm a professional, playing music since three, doing dance in Giuliard" blah blah sort of person, rather than the Rock & Roll attitude a lot of people showed. So when she takes stage, we were treated to 5 minutes of her getting the sound "just right", then screwing around to a Bo Diddley beat, a little bit of Bo Diddley medley except her guitar is running through some oscillating pedal so it sounds like a slow siren, then she wants the audience to clap the half-notes to the Bo Diddley beat. Yeah, people clapping everywhere. Second song was a slow, slow number and... I was out of there.

I'm omitting some things that I didn't catch much of or didn't have much to say about, but really it was still a pretty great night.