...but in case you haven't...
...this is the bomb, as they say.
Wow. Just wow.
Thursday, December 31, 2015
You Know, Until I Watched This Clip I Had No Idea It Was Possible to Sing Without Auto-tuning!
You've probably seen this Aretha Franklin performance from this week's Kennedy Center Honors show (for Carole King) by now...
...but in case you haven't...
...this is the bomb, as they say.
Wow. Just wow.
...but in case you haven't...
...this is the bomb, as they say.
Wow. Just wow.
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
To Paraphrase the Supremes, Love is Like an Itching My Crotch. Or Something.
From 2001, please enjoy country star (with the soul of a rocker) Charlie Robison...
...and his kick-ass cover of NRBQ's great "I Want You Bad."
I have no idea why this one popped into my head unbidden today, but it did -- maybe because I've been thinking about songs to cover the next time I get together with my garage band chums The Weasels. I should add that the Q's version is considerably more shambolic -- in a good way -- than Robison's relatively straightforward take on the song, and it definitely behooves behearing.
...and his kick-ass cover of NRBQ's great "I Want You Bad."
I have no idea why this one popped into my head unbidden today, but it did -- maybe because I've been thinking about songs to cover the next time I get together with my garage band chums The Weasels. I should add that the Q's version is considerably more shambolic -- in a good way -- than Robison's relatively straightforward take on the song, and it definitely behooves behearing.
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Closed for Monkey Business
Have I mentioned I hate the holidays? Not to mention this weird fricking weather.
In any case, regular and less angst-ridden posting resumes on the morrow.
Monday, December 28, 2015
Stevie Wright 1947-2015
The lead singer of The Easybeats has gone down under permanently.
Okay, I'm going to hell for that joke.
One of the saddest rock stories ever, alas -- it's amazing he lived as long as he did. The bottom line, however -- as I've said here on numerous happier occasions -- is that the Easybeats deserve to be thought of as right up there with the whole Stones/Who/Kinks pantheon, which is to say along with any great Sixties band who wasn't The Beatles.
Seriously -- they were that good.
Okay, I'm going to hell for that joke.
One of the saddest rock stories ever, alas -- it's amazing he lived as long as he did. The bottom line, however -- as I've said here on numerous happier occasions -- is that the Easybeats deserve to be thought of as right up there with the whole Stones/Who/Kinks pantheon, which is to say along with any great Sixties band who wasn't The Beatles.
Seriously -- they were that good.
Friday, December 25, 2015
Nora's Freezing on the Trolley....
From the 1991 alt-rock Christmas compilation A Lump of Coal...
...please enjoy (from Canada) The Odds and perhaps my favorite Christmas rock track of all time -- their Crazy Horse-ish take on "Kings of Orient (We Three Kings)."
Jeebus (sorry) but that's great, and the rest of the album is almost as good (in particular the Hoodoo Gurus doing to "Little Drummer Boy" what always should have been done -- it's on YouTube if you're curious). In any case, Lump can be obtained (cheap) over at Amazon HERE. You're welcome.
And Happy Holidays, everybody -- have a great weekend too!
...please enjoy (from Canada) The Odds and perhaps my favorite Christmas rock track of all time -- their Crazy Horse-ish take on "Kings of Orient (We Three Kings)."
Jeebus (sorry) but that's great, and the rest of the album is almost as good (in particular the Hoodoo Gurus doing to "Little Drummer Boy" what always should have been done -- it's on YouTube if you're curious). In any case, Lump can be obtained (cheap) over at Amazon HERE. You're welcome.
And Happy Holidays, everybody -- have a great weekend too!
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Deck Us All With Boston Charlie...
From 2015, please enjoy "A Brand New Christmas."
Written and performed by my old pal (and more recently honorary Floor Model) Ronnie D'Addario.
As you can hear, Ronnie's paying tribute here to the Three B's -- The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Badfinger -- and for my money it's one of the best Christmas rock songs ever; I absolutely lurve the fadeout, in particular.
I should add that Ronnie's teenage son Brian is playing the hot guitar solo; apparently, having kids is a great way to get a backup band.
Written and performed by my old pal (and more recently honorary Floor Model) Ronnie D'Addario.
As you can hear, Ronnie's paying tribute here to the Three B's -- The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Badfinger -- and for my money it's one of the best Christmas rock songs ever; I absolutely lurve the fadeout, in particular.
I should add that Ronnie's teenage son Brian is playing the hot guitar solo; apparently, having kids is a great way to get a backup band.
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Your Wednesday Moment of Words Fail Me: Special And Schroeder on Piano Edition
Buddy Holly's "Fools Paradise." In true stereo at last, as nature intended.
This is actually my favorite sort of obscure Holly song -- I hope to cover it some day before I die. Not to get morbid, or anything.
This is actually my favorite sort of obscure Holly song -- I hope to cover it some day before I die. Not to get morbid, or anything.
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Your Tuesday Moment of Words Fail Me: Special Can Blue Men Sing the Whites? Edition
From approximately 2011, and the praise Jeebus just renewed for another season cable music show Live at Daryl's House, please enjoy Daryl Hall and the incomparable Smokey Robinson and a mind-blowing live version of Smokey's classic "Tears of a Clown."
You know, I've made a lot of Hall and Oates jokes over the years, but the fact is I love most of their hits, and one of the greatest videos ever -- now sadly out of print, last time I looked -- was of the live show they did at the Apollo with Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin. In any case, the performances on Hall's tv show have been almost without exception spectacularly wonderful, and the one above is particularly goose-bump inducing. Seeing Smokey in a relaxed, intimate setting like that is my idea of heaven; I can only imagine what it must have felt like for Hall and the guys in the band.
You know, I've made a lot of Hall and Oates jokes over the years, but the fact is I love most of their hits, and one of the greatest videos ever -- now sadly out of print, last time I looked -- was of the live show they did at the Apollo with Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin. In any case, the performances on Hall's tv show have been almost without exception spectacularly wonderful, and the one above is particularly goose-bump inducing. Seeing Smokey in a relaxed, intimate setting like that is my idea of heaven; I can only imagine what it must have felt like for Hall and the guys in the band.
Monday, December 21, 2015
Oh Well, At Least He's Better Than Heino
From Italian television, sometime in the late '50s or early '60s, please enjoy -- if possible -- the literally incredible Adriano Celantano...
...and his, shall we say, overly enthusiastic take on "Jailhouse Rock."
This guy has been a superstar in his native land and elsewhere for decades now, but I must confess I had never heard of him until last week, when a Ukranian émigré friend let it drop that Celentano's records were practically the only pop music you could hear in the old Soviet Union when he was a kid in the '80s. Poor guy.
In any case, you can hear Celentano cover some other early rock classics elsewhere on YouTube, including a performance of "Blueberry Hill" that makes Fats Domino sound like Metallica. You can also, occasionally, hear his music on the sound system at the fabulous Keuka Kafe Wine Bar on Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills, NY.
You're welcome.
[h/t Ollie Sakhno]
...and his, shall we say, overly enthusiastic take on "Jailhouse Rock."
This guy has been a superstar in his native land and elsewhere for decades now, but I must confess I had never heard of him until last week, when a Ukranian émigré friend let it drop that Celentano's records were practically the only pop music you could hear in the old Soviet Union when he was a kid in the '80s. Poor guy.
In any case, you can hear Celentano cover some other early rock classics elsewhere on YouTube, including a performance of "Blueberry Hill" that makes Fats Domino sound like Metallica. You can also, occasionally, hear his music on the sound system at the fabulous Keuka Kafe Wine Bar on Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills, NY.
You're welcome.
[h/t Ollie Sakhno]
Friday, December 18, 2015
Once Upon a Time in the Weinsteins
The main title music (the soundtrack album drops, as they say, on December 18) from Ennio Morricone's score for the new Quentin Tarantino flick The Hateful Eight.
From what I can gather, the film -- a tribute to the spaghetti westerns whose music Morricone pretty much defined -- is not, like Tarantino's last two, some kind of wonderfully demented revenge fantasy (although that remains to be seen, as it were). In any case, the overture (also as it were) is, as you can hear, atmospherically creepy and easily recognizable as the work of its composer.
I should add that a quick visit to Wiki has led me to learn that this is the five zillionth score of Morricone's long and distinguished career.
Have a great weekend, everybody.
From what I can gather, the film -- a tribute to the spaghetti westerns whose music Morricone pretty much defined -- is not, like Tarantino's last two, some kind of wonderfully demented revenge fantasy (although that remains to be seen, as it were). In any case, the overture (also as it were) is, as you can hear, atmospherically creepy and easily recognizable as the work of its composer.
I should add that a quick visit to Wiki has led me to learn that this is the five zillionth score of Morricone's long and distinguished career.
Have a great weekend, everybody.
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