By the Way…
….here is the playlist that was ripped and rocked on the air:
91.9 FM December 7:
Buddy Holly – Down the Line ++ Aretha Franklin – Dr. Feelgood (vinyl) ++ Cake – Opera Singer ++ Old 97’s – Bel Air ++ Bob Dylan – I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight ++ The Avett Brothers Pretty Girl From Cedar Lane ++ Dr. John – Huey Smith Medley (vinyl) ++ The Black Keys – Everlasting Light ++ Blitzen Trapper – Country Caravan ++ Mason Porter – Old Freight Train ++ Shinyribs – If You Need the (442) ++ The Allman Brothers Band – BB King Medley ++ Wood Brothers – Luckiest Man ++ Toots and the Maytals – Pressure Drop ++ Grateful Dead – Scarlet Begonias ++ Israel Kamaka – Somewhere Over the Rainbow ++ Leon Russell – Tight Rope (vinyl) ++ Hazmat Modine – Yesterday Morning ++ Boz Scaggs – Loan Me a Dime ++ The Gourds – I Come Up > All the Labor.
You can also check out the playlist HERE
Thanks again to WNTI studios at Centenary College NJ and Mel for the hospitality. Still working on uploading the audio track of the show. It will be up and ready very soon.
In other news, thought I’d bring y’all a bit of ‘this day in rock history.’ It just so happens that on this day in 1966, ‘The Guitar God’ himself, James Marshall Hendrix and the The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded “Foxey Lady” for their 1967 release of the debut album, Are You Experienced. Recorded for Track Records and produced by Chas Chandler, the song is known for its use of the so-called “Hendrix Chord”, the dominant 7#9.
Lets pay tribute to this musical genius and one of his masterpieces as seen from a mainstream media point of view. Check out this classic scene from a classic rock n’ roll movie. Awesome movie, and a timeless song…
Shady Groove guest host on 91.9 FM!
Thank you to the Faithful Shady Groove-heads out there who caught me on the airwaves in Hi-fi Frequency Modulation this tuesday morning on 91.9 FM WNTI. It was a great show. Host Mel, “Dawnbird”, and I conversed at length about our love of good music …….. I also got a chance to shamelessly promote this blog and the podcast, dropping the name every 5 mins!
Check out the short write up on the WNTI website: WNTI Highlights
Or just visit thier homepage…..we’re also on there: www.wnti.org In response to the requests for a replay of the show, I am working on uploading an MP3 to the blog as soon as I can.
Rock on.
Leon Russell….opening act?
Leon Russell
Live at the Keswick Theater
Glenside, PA
11/27/10
Setlist….not necessarily in this order:
–Medley: Jumpin Jack Flash (Rolling Stones)>Papa was a Rollin Stone>Paint it Black intro (Rolling Stones)>Kansas City
–Sweet Little Angel (1930’s blues standard > made famous by BB King)
–Dixie Lullaby
–Wild Horses (Rolling Stones)
–Hummingbird
–I’ve Just Seen a Face (Beatles)
–Tight Rope
–Out in the Woods
–Walkin Blues (Robert Johnson)
–Georgia on My Mind (Hoagy Carmichael >made famous by Ray Charles)
–Stranger in a Strange Land
–Delta Lady
–A Song For You
This show had such a strange billing. They had Leon Russell, one of rock and roll’s most gifted songwriter and performers, OPENING for Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. Nothing against Southside Johnny and his band but Leon should have definitely been the headliner at this show. My guess is that they added Leon to the bill to fill the seats. And fill the seats he did. Now, its not that Southside Johnny was awful; although at times…..they really weren’t very good. Every facet of the band was a wannabe replica of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, and in every area they were sub par. The Asbury Jukes were not nearly as bad as Southside Johnny himself, who looked and sounded like a pompous, awkward looking uncle trying to belt out rock music. The crazy part is that they have been around since the mid 70’s. They have a box set. They have a loyal following.
Maybe they were cool back in the day but not so much anymore. Honestly, the main reason that the Southside Johnny show was such a hard pill to swallow was the fact that he followed Leon Russell. And Leon is still cool.
Lets not let Southside put a damper on the overall event. Leon put on a great show, rocking through some of the greatest rock, blues, and R&B standards of our time. He was all business, no nonsense, which I think was a big reason the show was so fulfilling. I don’t think he spoke once in between songs, and to some that was a flaw.
I don’t think so. I like banter just as much as the next one but when you’re placed in an opening slot with an hour to perform, its best to give the crowd what they’re looking for. And it helps to keep his mysterious, rock-star persona alive and well.
So, hats off to Leon Russell. The coolest 68 year old I have seen in a long time.
Here’s a great song off of his self titled album, Delta Lady. I don’t really know what is going on in this video….I think its an old PBS special or something. great tune nonetheless…
The King’s Debut
This day in music History:
On November 10, 1955, Elvis Presley attended the fourth Country Music Disc Jockey Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Back at his hotel, Mae Boren Axton played him a demo of a new song she had written with Tommy Durden called “Heartbreak Hotel”.
The song was inspired by the suicide of a man, who left the note, “I walk a lonely street”. Axton, a high school teacher of Jacksonville, Florida, who read the news in The Miami Herald, wrote the song in thirty minutes in 1955.
Presley would go on to record the song the following year and would be his first single for RCA records. This single, released on January 27, 1956 would become the first #1 pop single for Elvis and was the best selling single of 1956. It would skyrocket his career and was his introduction into American music popularity.
It has been ranked number forty-five on Rolling Stone’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”, and in 2005, Uncut Magazine ranked the first performance of “Heartbreak Hotel” in 1956 by Presley as the second greatest and most important cultural event of the rock and roll era.
Countless people have covered the song in concert. Willie Nelson and Leon Russell had a number one cover version in 1979 on the country charts. The song was Russell’s only number one hit on the charts. Former president Bill Clinton even performed the song with his saxophone during his appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show on June 3, 1992.
A groundbreaking song to say the least. Check it out. Rock it out.
Kiss all the Nurses…
Fresh off a weekend of extraordinary shows…..
The Gourds
Sunday September 19
Sullivan Hall
New York, NY
New Dues
Luddite Juice
Blankets
Everybody’s Missing the Sun (Nils Lofgren)
Grievin’ and Smokin’ > 30 days (Chuck Berry) > Grievin’ and Smokin’
Halleluja Shine
Out on the Vine
Country Love
Tex-Mex Mile
Bridget
All in the Pack > Guns of Brixton > I Fought the Law > All in the Pack
Web Before You Walk Into It
Tearbox
Lower 48
Jesus and Tequila
When Wine Was Cheap
Foggy Blossom (Mechanical Bride)
Michuacon
Mr. Betty
Best of Me
Burn the Honeysuckle
encore:
A Few Extra Kilos
Money Honey
Plaid Coat
The Gourds
Monday September 20
The North Star Bar
Philadelphia, PA
Up on High
Collections
O Rings
Low is the Way
Burn the Honeysuckle
Big Santiago Bust
County Orange
Steeple Full of Swallows
Cracklins
Bean Bowl > My Time Yer Time > Son of a Bum
Wannamakers
Fine Leather Truck
Waterbag
New Roommate
Amazing Grace > Hallelujah Shine
Lower 48
encore:
Love Train tease
Interplanetary Music tease
Honduras
Ants on the Melon
La Bamba tease
The Tinys Variety Hour
Whiskey and Blood
Special Thanks to Jimmy, Kevin, Claude, Max, and Keith for a wonderful weekend of fun-filled dances, thoughtful expressions, and foot-stompin’ jams. Sad to see that they have come and gone so fast. See ya next year.