5 Days….
…Until The Gourds drop into the city of brotherly love. Fresh off their new album, Old Mad Joy, recorded at Levon Helm’s studio up in Woodstock NY and produced by veteran producer Larry Cambell, the boys have been constantly touring. They just finally hit the east coast this week and will also play NYC on Saturday. Don’t miss them as they come through Philly on Tuesday Oct 4. The World Cafe Live won’t know what hit them once Hurricane Cucurbitaceae hits town.
Get your tickets! I will see you there.
https://tickets.worldcafelive.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=2879
Happy Birthday Robbie “Basspeare”
September 27, 2011
Born on this day in 1953: Robbie Shakespeare, session bass player.
Best known for being 1/2 of the iconic duo of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare.
The salt and pepper duo of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare is well known as being the “masters of groove and propulsion”. The names Sly and Robbie are synonymous with Reggae music. The rhythm kings Drum and Bass are at the heart of popular music and for the last 30 years Sly and Robbie have been considered the best. They are also estimated to have played on or produced 200,000 recordings.
The duo changed the face of reggae several times: in 1976, they introduced a harder beat called “Rockers”, which quickly replaced the then prevalent “One drop” style, then introduced the “rub a dub” sound in the early 1980s. Sly and Robbie were important in developing the trend towards computer assisted music and programming in the mid 1980s.
They have obviously been a big part of the Jamaican music scene in which they have played for virtually every prominent Jamaican artist from Beenie Man to Sean Paul to Peter Tosh, Black Uhuru, Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Jimmy Cliff and others. Not only that, they have been one of pop music’s most sought after rhythm sections, playing for and producing such stars as Ben Harber, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones, Joe Cocker, Matisyahu, Michael Franti, Sting, Doug E Fresh, Carlos Santana, Robert Palmer and No Doubt.
Let’s tip one back for Robbie today. Throw a little reggae on the turntable in honor….chances are Robbie Shakespeare is playing on it.
Happy Birthday Buddy!
If you haven’t already heard it on the radio, Buddy Holly would’ve been 75 years old today. Its fascinating that an artist such as Mr Holly, who died at 22, can have such a lasting impact on rock and roll. He had only been recording for 2 years and still had written and performed some of the most progressive music of its time, laying the foundation for years to come.
He has long been loved in the music industry. There have been countless covers of his songs over the years but perhaps the most exciting has to be the latest release, Rave On Buddy Holly. Released on June 28 this year, the album is a compilation in which various artists put their take on Buddy’s songs. What’s most exciting is the list of artists on the album. Artists like My Morning Jacket, Black Keys, Lou Reed, Modest Mouse, Cee Lo, Paul McCartney, Florence and the Machine, She and Him, Julian Casablancas, etc.. This album is amazing and I’m super glad that it happened. The great part is that all of the artists on the record were most definitely inspired one way or another by Buddy’s music. Check it out if you get a chance. Listen to Shady Groove’s upcoming podcasts for a taste.
Buddy Holly is most known for dying in a plane crash on “The Day The Music Died”. Also in the crash were fellow musicians Richie Valens and JP “the Big Bopper” Richardson. What is not known is the conditions that led to the crash. Here’s a quick history lesson. They were on a grueling tour of midwestern states in the dead of winter on a crappy bus that was breaking down left and right. Bandmates were getting the flu and hands and feet ere frostbitten from having to walk through the snow when the bus broke down. Buddy Holly was pissed about the conditions and told his bandmates that they should charter a plane. The way it worked out, “Big Bopper” had the flu so Holly’s bass player at the time gave up his seat.
Lucky for Holly’s bass player. Guess who his bass player was that was saved by giving up his seat? Most people don’t know that it was country music legend Waylon Jennings who was Buddy Holly’s bass player and bandmate. When Buddy heard that Waylon had swapped seats he said, “Well, I hope your ol’ bus freezes up.” Waylon responded with “Well, I hope your ol’ plane crashes.” It haunted him the rest of his life.
Anyway, enough of the random trivia. Happy Birthday Buddy, wherever you are.
SG’s Very Own: This Day in Music
On this day in 1966 (actually yesterday Aug 8):
In response to John Lennon’s remark about The Beatles being bigger than Jesus, The South African Broadcasting Corporation banned all Beatles records.
The Beatles also released their album, Revolver, in the US on this day. It spent 77 weeks on the Billboard chart, peaking at #1.
Also on this day (Aug 8) in 1969:
The photo session for the cover of The Beatles ‘Abbey Road’ album took place on the crossing outside Abbey Road studios. Photographer Iain McMillan, balanced on a step-ladder in the middle of the road took six shots of John, Ringo, Paul, and George walking across the zebra crossing while a policeman held up the traffic. The band then returned to the studio and recorded overdubs on ‘The End’, ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’ and ‘Oh! Darling’.
On another note:
Check out Atmosphere’s song Guns and Cigarettes. Laden with references to the occasion, they say there gonna be “bigger than jesus and bigger than wrestling, bigger than The Beatles and bigger than breast implants”.
This Day In Music History
July 23, 1969:
The Rolling Stones were at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Honky Tonk Women’, the group’s 8th and last UK No. 1. The song also topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks from 23 August 1969.
It is ranked #116 on the list of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Two versions of the song were recorded. Both are excellent in their own way. ‘Country Honk’ is the country version of the song released on Let It Bleed five months after the single release.
In an interview in the magazine Crawdaddy, Richards credits Taylor for influencing the track: “… the song was originally written as a real Hank Williams/Jimmie Rodgers/1930s country song. And it got turned around to this other thing by Mick Taylor, who got into a completely different feel, throwing it off the wall another way.”
I’m a big believer that you can usually tell how great a song is by how many great musicians have covered it. Here are some known cover-ers of Honky Tonk Woman:
Waylon Jennings
Joe Cocker
Taj Mahal
Humble Pie
Ike and Tina Turner
Elton John
Gram Parsons
The Meters
Some good company right there.