rocket in my pocket
Lou Ann's and NRBQ's are both covers of the Jimmy Logsdon tune. Having a hell of a time finding either record at the moment, but the fellas I play with did figure it out. Off the top of my head, I think one of the tougher couplets is - "Well Two In One's polish and 3 in 1's oil/A lotta lip flippin' makes my bad blood boil". Will pass 'em along if I can just find 'em. Time to clean the basement, Tom Smith
Re: (Fwd) Earl Palmer in yesterday's NYTimes
Junior wrote: Interesting article and quotes from this drummer who played on the early Little Richard sides... Sounds like a book worth checking out. I'll say. And one good thing about the book is that Tony Scherman, who put Mr Palmer's "oral autobiography" together, is the same guy who did a great job profiling him in Musician a few years ago. Ordered it, will let you know how it is! Tom Smith
Re: Updates
Richard Haslop wrote: The World Is A Wonderful Place (is that what the English Richard Thompson tribute was called? I haven't heard of this. Who's on it? Tom Smith
Re: Oliver lake (Fred Hopkins. WSQ, David Murray, etc)
Cactus wrote: If Fo Deuk Revue comes to your town in any form, check it out. When I saw him half a year ago he had Senegal rappers, traditional Senegal pop music, Amira Buraka reading beat poetry, and, of course, the great sounds of David Murray himself. Kick ass stuff. Kick ass stuff indeed. I saw them in NYC last summer and was especially knocked out by the organist, whose name I didn't catch. Murray joked that he was "the new guy." Any idea who he was? Tom Smith
Re: My Bing-a-Ling
Dave Purcell wrote: I honestly had no idea about Bing Crosby's importance in popular music Johnny Shines told Peter Guralnick that Robert Johnson was as likely to play Bing's hits as one of his own blues tunes if requested. Dunno if that constitutes an influence, but when it comes to paying the bills, even Johnson apparently did what a guy's gotta do. Tom Smith
Re: weird Muzak experiences - IRS
Geff wrote: I think we should take a P2 poll - find out a.) who's paying this year; and b.) who got or is getting a refund. People in Category b.) can buy the drinks tonight. I'm paying, but after savagely whittling the gross down with a shoebox full of receipts (littlest appears to be fifty cents to replace a lost cymbal stand wingnut, alongside a stack of similarly priced toll slips from the Mass Pike), it's all Self Employment Tax. Can't buy OR drink drinks tonight - gotta work! Tom Smith
Re: Crazy Cajun - Rockin' Sidney RIP
Joe Gracey wrote: Huey . . . kept on working that angle until he ran out of gas after "Don't Mess With My " whatever that song was by a Cajun guy. . . . Toot Toot," by "Rockin' Sidney" Simien (also author of "You Ain't Nothing But Fine," which the T-Birds covered). The year the song hit and was covered by a bazillion other artists, Sidney showed up at the New Orleans jazzfest in a Cadillac with a plate on the front that read, "My Toot Toot." To see what he's up to lately, I just did a search and found out he died February 25, the day after Mardi Gras. Tom Smith
Re: Japanese hipsterism....
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Got me thinking, anyone know who the most popular Japanese artist in US history might be? I can't think of anyone beyond Cibo Matto, who, by virtue of being on a major label, might win this pony race. How about Roudness, I mean Loudness? Tom Smith
Re: Non-U.S hipsterism generally....
Ph. Barnard wrote: It was that kind of P2 moment that would be difficult to explain to outsiders g. On a Saturday night in 1974 I went to the Rainham Working Mens Club with a friend and his parents for a buncha pints and was floored when the singer onstage followed a perfectly inflected Johnny Cash number with a "Thanks very much" spoken in the widest East London accent you can imagine. It was a revelation and then some. Tom Smith
Re: Japanese hipsterism....
Got me thinking, anyone know who the most popular Japanese artist in US history might be? I don't know what things are like in the UK now, but I remember percussionist Stomu Yamashita and that composer who played the camp commandant in "Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence" being far more popular in Britain than any Japanese acts have ever been here in the US. (probably showin' my age) Tom Smith
Re: Chrissie Hynde in Salon
Kelly Kessler wrote: My former future wife... This would make a great song. (Am I slow on the uptake? Is it already a great song and I don't even know about it?) I think Little Charlie the Nightcats have got one called "My Next Ex-Wife." Close. Tom Smith
BMI insurance
Anyone had any experience getting - and, more important, using - the health insurance plan available to BMI affiliates? Offlist replies are okay. Thanks, Tom Smith
Re: tasteless epiphone elvis model guitar
Jon Johnson wrote: np: Masters of Reality - Sunrise on the Sufferbus Wow. I thought I was one of, like, five people who thought this was a great record. With Dave making that six people, I'll make it seven. I like Ginger Baker's drumming when he digs in and plays straight-ahead stuff like this. The Madonna song's pretty funny too. Tom Smith
Re: Ranchera?
Will Miner wrote: Back in vinyl days, Arhoolie Records had done a lot of compilations of classic old ranchera music, as well as nortena and other around- and south-of-the-border styles. . . . I dont know how this stuff may have been repackaged for CD (if it's been reissued). It's on cd, sometimes combining former lps by the same artist. Arhoolie is still the single best source for this stuff, not necessarily because the music's any better (though it often is), but because of their attention to sound quality and the excellent notes, which put everything in historical perspective. Robin, if you're just starting to get into this stuff, it's absolutely worth spending the 3 bucks for their catalogue, which is illustrated and packed with written descriptions of the music that'll help you decide where you want to proceed. Have a look at this - http://arhoolie.com If you like this kind of music, you're going to end up there sooner of later anyway - might as well start there! Tom Smith
Re: Top Texans (long) / Top Nutmeggers
Jon Weisberger wrote: . . . while rereading the interviews in Stacey Phillips' Mel Bay's Complete Country Fiddler. . . . which reminds me that among Stacy's current zillion projects is membership in a new Connecticut combo that falls in P2 territory, a sort of Patsy Cline-type / rockabilly / swing quintet called The Honeydews. The lineup is comprised of folks from other CT bands, including two Motel Preachers, two Bandidos, a Who Who (Kris Santala, a knockout singer), and Stacy on fiddle. Anyone within drinking and dancing distance of New Haven who wants to be updated on the calendar, email me offlist and I'll take care of it. Tom Smith (playing with them and loving the fact that it only requires 2 drums!)
Re: Country Music mag's new format
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Has anyone else seen the new version of Country Music magazine? It's now based in Nashville, and is completely unrelated to its previous format except for Hazel Smith's column. Rich Kienzle and Patrick Carr have been replaced oh god, I just re-subscribed. shoot me now. Tom Smith
Re: Clip: Flushed with Success(LONG)
The difference these days is that when it comes to being broke these musicians are not alone. They have company: record industry executives. While I have great sympathy for anybody who gets dumped from a job they've come to consider their livelihood, that's about the funniest thing I've read in quite a long time. I don't know who'd get a bigger laugh out of it: one friend who got dumped from a label exec job and comfortably took a whole year shopping for a new job or my guitarist whose late '60s junker is pissing transmission fluid all over the place. Maybe it's all relative . . . or something. Tom Smith
Re: Boot recommendations?
black, relatively plain, pointy tipped cowboy boots. I picked up a pair of black Justin boots with pointy toes and subdued stitching at Allen's on S. Congress in Austin a couple of weeks ago. So far, bueno; they feel and look good. I think they're doeskin, which makes them lighter than my last pair, which were made by Dan Post and are still hanging in there strong 15 years after they left the store. If they feel the least bit snug, you might want to try the next size up. For good reason, cowboy folklore has plenty of guys buried in their boots, not because they wanted it that way, but because nobody could get the damned things off! Tom Smith
Re: twanglife after 50, 60, 70 ...
Thanks very much for the suggestions, folks. There are some real keepers there. TS
Re: Bramletts
Terry A. Smith wrote: Which one was in one of Stevie Ray's early bands? That was Doyle Bramhall. He co-wrote "Life By the Drop" and a bunch of Stevie's other later tunes He also drummed for Marcia Ball for years. Tom Smith
Re: Reading between the lines
Jeff Wall wrote: Has anyone ever written a good phlegm song? How about "It's Not For Me To Say" (three times fast ...) Twang content: Robert Allen, co-author of above also penned "I Saw A Country Boy" [as well as keepers like "Whip Out Your Ukelele" and "Three D Sweetie." His collaborator, Al Stillman, wrote "Battle of the Little Big Horn," "Ciribiribin," and "Juke Box Saturday Night."] Well, you asked . . . Tom Smith
Re: Coltrane book?
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Good morning, Anyone know of a good Coltrane bio to recommend? Or even a good book that looks at the whole (or some) of the bebop jazz greats? Eric Nisenson's "Ascension - John Coltrane and His Quest" is good. The book "Jazz Anecdotes" is pretty hilarious reading and goes right across all time genre zones. As for Miles' autobiography suitability as a gift, I'd be careful about who I'd give that to! Tom Smith
Re: Beantown Bound
Evan wrote: I was wondering if anything interesting (twang or otherwise) was going on this weekend. The Spurs, a Western swing band, are playing at The Midway in Jamaica Plain. Haven't seen them, but have heard they're big fun. I'm coming to town to pick up some drums, so I'm goin'. Tom Smith
Don Walser
For Chad Cosper, who inquired about Don Walser's health a week or so ago (am going thru the digests). Don was on Jovita's marquee last night. I saw him the previous tuesday and although he was walking with help and spoke somewhat carefully, he was singing well and was completely charming to everyone who came up to speak with him between sets. What a nice man. Tom Smith
Re: Time line?
Jon Weisberger wrote re: ... underlying class issues. Nashville's upper crust, for instance, prided itself on living in The Athens Of The South (hence the Parthenon), and by and large disdained the Opry and the country music bidness into the 1960s, but I don't think that attitude permeated all sectors of the city's population. That's what I suspected. One would think that New Orleans whose identification with and economic drawing power depend so much on its image as a swingin' town would revere its musicians, but most of the year they're as marginalized there as anywhere else. Some of that's racial as much as a class issue. It's certainly not related to any disdain for whooping it up in public, for the uppercrust has bought into that for at least 150 years. A funny side thing is that I've played at swank parties in NO and NY at which exceedingly wealthy fiftysomething male New Orleanians have gotten into SERIOUS performances as Elvis impersonators. It's impossible to avoid the irony of these captains of society impersonating someone who, in his lifetime, was both far poorer and far wealthier than they could ever imagine. Imagine the distance from the Memphis projects to the Garden District ... bizarre. Tom Smith (ps - Jon, thanks for the tip on Malone's "Singing Cowboys" book awhile back. Looks like good vacation reading for an upcoming trip west of the Pecos)
Re: Damnations NY
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: What the heck is it about whenever a band has a sibling harmony thing going, it's always a Louvin's comparison? Haven't seen The Shaggs compared to Ira and Charlie yet . . . but maybe it's just a matter of time! Tom Smith
Re: Time line?
Jamie Hoover wrote: I'm still trying to figure out the anti-country (any country) backlash in Gallup ... many people who make a living off the Indians don't like being reminded that they're in the west. The blatant paternalism is truly offensive, especially to someone who has only lived in the west.My first day here all I heard was "well, local programming is ok as long as it isn't Country and Western" Yeah, that's odd. I wonder if metropolitan Nashville natives were like that in the early days of the Opry, before the recording money started barreling in. Maybe it's part of the undying urge to identify with a larger mass culture and ignore the local stuff. I lived in New Orleans about 20 years ago and hearing local musicians on the radio outside of Mardi Gras season was rare. I also remember an old Cajun guy in Golden Meadow whose granddaughter was transfixed by the Osmonds. She couldn't have cared less about the culture she was living in. Hey you are headin west aren't you? Have a great time in Alpine and Austin. Thanks, I Ieave on Monday! Tom
Re: Time line?
Jamie Hoover wrote: I'm still trying to figure out the anti-country (any country) backlash in Gallup and one theory that was presented to me was that it wasn't actually anti-country but anti-Navajo. --Yikes. Yikes indeed. Just outta curiosity, if country is out, what's "in" instead? Tom Smith
Re: Shot My Baby Down
Joe X wrote: Trying to remember some songs for the sunday nite show that feature the timeless theme of - shot my baby down, etc. I've always thought The Beat Farmers' "White Veil" from MANIFOLD has that crazed I Hurt So Much I'm Gonna Kill You Instead of Myself vibe goin' for it. Mighty spooky, kinda reminds me of Knoxville Girl fed through a couple of Twin Reverbs. Tom Smith
Re: WOW! (from Alex) / Apaches in Saxony
stuart wrote: When I was in American Studies at Kansas, we had a steady stream of German students and the first thing they wanted to study was cowboys and indians A lotta that's probably the lingering influence of Karl May (1842-1912), whose idealized tales of cowboys'n'indians are still popular. May wrote plenty of well-researched novels about the West (which, incidentally, he'd never seen - his career crashed when he started pretending he'd actually done all the stuff he described in the books). Generations of schoolkids have been hooked on the stuff, including Albert Schweizer and Hitler. Howard Lamar's 1998 "New Encyclopedia of the American West" calls May's huge influence "pervasive and continuing." Hey, everybody like a good yarn! Tom Smith
Re: lou ford?
Louise Kyme wrote regarding Jon's comment that "if you can't play the drums, you can't do anything. Except, I guess, play an accordion": ahem, 'scuse me, that was low. Aw, let'm talk, Louise. Choosing the high road instead of indulging in cracks like "What do you expect from a bass player," calls have been made. Smokey Dacus and Johnny Cuviello are on their way over to the Weisberger ranch right now to have a "talk" with him . . . Tom Smith
Alpine TX tips
If anyone's got any tips about places to stay in Alpine or Marfa (pro or con), I'd love to hear 'em. Offlist is fine. Thanks! Tom Smith
Re: Now Enrolling
Jim, who owns all the Blodwyn Pig catalog, even that live thing that came out a coupla years ago Good grief! What's the deal on that live one? Old, Tom Smith
Re: Estrellas de Areito
Andy Benham wrote: this set is worth searching out, it being a truly wondrous example of cuban son. Cool! Thanks for the tip! TS
Re: 2 queries
Dallas Clemmons wrote: I often wondered about this as a DJ, when frustrated by the lack of songwriting credits, and so I'll ask now: Why isn't this required? And does it have any bearing on royalties for airplay? I thought it did, assuming a record got enough spins for BMI or ASCAP to (literally) pay attention. TS
Re: why we hate line-dancing
Diana Quinn wrote: The reason musicians hate line-dancing (and I love to dance) is because, with a few exceptions, those who go out specifically to line-dance will dance only to those songs they know. . . Most of these folks want to do one thing, and they have little tolerance for what they don't know or understand. I haven't had the misfortune to play for a strictly line-dancing crowd, but friends who have done so extensively would agree. They don't care about the music, don't acknowledge bands with applause, and get pissed off if a song is not played precisely the way it's heard on the radio. Furthermore, they don't drink much, which has led to the scene being half the size it was 5 years ago (clubowners are going to put up with that low profit margin for only so long). A steel player I work with occasionally calls them "dance nazis." Tom Smith
Re: Americana guesswork/line-d@#*@
Jon Weisberger wrote: The criticisms of line-dancing offered so far apply just about as well to square dancing and flat footin', neither of which typically involve grab-assin' . . . which reminds me of the most serious grab-assin' I've ever seen at any gig. It was during a local country band's last song, which happened to be "God Bless America." Boy, talk about your make-out tunes! Tom Smith
Re: LEGAL-FINANCIAL ADVICE for Twangfest
From the Twang Gang We need your advice on setting up our bank account so that none of the individual Twangfest committee members has the account on his or her social security number. I'd be interested in hearing how P2 musicians handle clubs which demand that a band representative provide a SS# before payment for a gig. (Years ago, one of my associates got audited and the IRS did not accept even his cancelled checks that other band members got paid for a particular gig. Since hearing this, we've "spread the pain around" - just in case . . . ) Tom Smith
Re: LEGAL-FINANCIAL ADVICE for Twangfest
Douglas Noss wrote: I would suggest that the band/musician get a EIN #. Essentially a SS# for your company(band). We get paid by check almost every show. 10-12 a month. Thats how we do it and it makes keeping the books straight easier. Thanks for the tip; I'll certainly look into this. As for getting paid by checks, though, the majority of clubs in this area (up to 600+ capacity) operate strictly with cash. Occasionally one will require a SS# even for payment in cash. Those range from a small country bar whose owner seems to have been spooked (by IRS or state tax dept.) to a considerably larger metropolitan venue, which seems to be keeping their books as absolutely straight as possible. Likewise, most of the musicians around here - from the worst to top notch players - tend to operate as "self-employed" independant contractors unless they're in a band that has sufficient overhead to warrant some kind of collective tax strategy, etc.. Those situations are increasingly rare, due to the lousy state of the live music biz hereabouts. The instance I mentioned earlier of my bandmate once being tormented by the IRS was rotten, since he's completely honest in his record-keeping and was being straight with them. I found it pretty weird - they're completely dependant on the honesty of your record keeping, yet his tangible proof that the gig money in question was divided (the cancelled checks) was not accepted. I pity anyone who tries to audit him (or any of the rest of us) again. That sucker will suffocate from receipts. Tom Smith
Re: I don't know what to think of this
Tucker Eskew wrote: And I still wish the Scorchers would cover "Hottest Thing in Town", one of Shaver's songs more likely to benefit from reinterpretation... My band's been doing it for about 3 years. Folks love it and we never get sick of playing it. TS
Re: 3 sided records/Joe Jackson
Carl Abraham Zimring wrote: Big World was the most extreme record done this way, but Body Soul (recorded in a huge room) also sounds great, almost like a cast album from a jazzy musical. Yeah, I think that's a key to understanding a major part of his approach. Before his 1st album, his background was in musical theatre. Tom Smith
Re: Playlist-Mother Road
Jamie Hoover wrote: Playlist--Sounds from the Mother Road Herb Jefferies/Cow Cow Boogie/The Bronze Buckaroo Rides Again/Warner Western Jamie, how's this album? I've only seen clips of Herb duking it out with outlaws and cinema scholars. I'm curious as to what he sounds like. Does he come across like the Billy Eckstine of the Plains or something else? Tom Smith
Re: Steve Earle/old vinyl/Huddie Ledbetter
Bill Silvers wrote: Hey Geff, I'm right about that Joe Jackson BIG WORLD album too. Can I get a witness? You're right, Bill. I went to one of the concerts from which they assembled that album. The music was terrific, but it was a weird scene. The audience was asked not to clap or make any noise whatsoever at the end of the songs, not until the very last note had died out. Sort of live/not live. I also remember there being a technical difficulty that took some minutes to sort out, so Jackson told the audience to ask him questions. There were some takers, including somebody shouting, "Where's Graham?" (Maby, JJ's first bassist, not present) Jackson icily replied, "We don't discuss that." A few months later this three sided thing arrives . . . weird. Tom Smith
Re: Burn Down the Library
"I think it's nothing less that outright theft" says Brooks when asked about the used cd market. "Intellectual property is still property. If someone were to sell my Range Rover without my permission, or without properly compensating me, it would be the same thing. Gee, by this logic, it's not really YOUR Range Rover, Garth. It still belongs to the automaker. and this: If the Brooks authored bill were to become law, it would require used book stores and comic book shops to charge a royalty fee for every used book or collectible comic book sold, including long out of print and rare materials. The bill also charges library patrons an 'artists compensation' fee for every book, periodical, or sound recording checked out. And if such a law ever took effect, he could kiss his career goodbye. The public reaction would be deadly. If Garth wants to play games with the Nashville power structure, that's fine. If he seriously thinks he's going to change the free library system in this country, then he really is the contemptible horse's ass his detractors make him out to be. Waiting for the librarians on the list to weigh in on this one, Tom Smith
