Happy Birthday Gregg
The Midnight Rider himself. Born on this day in 1947, in Nashville Tennessee. Best known for being the frontman and organist for the Allman Brothers Band for the last 40 years, his voice has placed him in 70th place on Rolling Stone’s list of the “100 Greatest Singers”. He is definitely the best white blues singer of all time and remains as having one of the most soulful, distinctive, organically bluesy voices ever.
Although his health has faltered slightly as of late, he still tours and just this year has released his best solo effort yet on the T-Bone Burnett produced Low Country Blues.
Here he is playing a little solo acoustic…
Thank you, Gregg, for all the years of awesome rock songs, your relentless touring schedule, many years at the Beacon, and your appearance in the 1991 film Rush.
I hope your health holds up for many more years.
David Wax Museum
If you haven’t yet heard of David Wax Museum, take the time to find out. These guys are the real deal. The duo put on a high-energy, raucous show at Johnny Brenda’s in Philly last friday. The packed crowd was very appreciative as the band rolled through a great set of music.
Their sound is wonderfully interesting, fusing mexican folk music and entertaining, hopeful lyrics. Upon first sight and sound, it is instantly evident that they set themselves apart, most notably because they play cool Mexican instruments. A donkey jawbone makes several appearances and provides an oddly pleasing rattling sound. That’s right. A donkey jawbone, more specifically called a quijada. If thats not cool, I don’t know what is….
David studied Latin American history and literature and spent a lot of time in Mexico’s La Huasteca region. After graduating he traveled once again south of the border and quickly became immersed in the music.
“As a foreigner, I quickly discovered that music is the great connector,” Wax said. “In Mexico, folk [music] is such a communal experience – it’s very joyful, very inclusive, and very inspiring.”
Its not surprising that he then set his sights on being proficient on the Mexican jarana and mastered three forms of Mexican sons (sounds): son jarocho (think, “La Bamba,”), the made-for-dancing son huasteco, and the fiddle-driven son calentano. David Wax (guitar, jarana, vocals) and his musical partner Suz Slezak (fiddle, quijada, vocals) take this novel musical genre, dubbed Mexo-Americana and create an exciting, entertaining experience that should not be passed up.
Catch the Museum if you can.
Joe Cool…..So Cool.
I came across this tune whilst watching Charlie Brown and The Great Pumpkin this year. Great movie. Some great tunes in there as well. Vince Guaraldi and his trio have really done some great instrumental work with all of the Charlie Brown and Snoopy cartoons.
Vince also sings a couple of them. Here’s my favorite from “You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown”, with Vince Guaraldi on vocals:
BB King also did a version of the song for one of the Charlie Brown anniversaries:
Philly Folk Fest 2k11: 50 Years
The time has come again. The Philly folk fest is about to embark yet another year. A monumental year at that. On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Philadelphia Folk Festival, the largest and oldest continuously running folk fest in the USA today, I am reminded of where it began. When it began. Throughout the last 50 years we have seen a number of amazing musicians come through the Folk Fest. Just for giggles, I decided to go ALL the way back to the year 1962, the First Philadelphia Folk Fest. Legendary names such as Pete Seeger, Ramblin Jack Elliot, Reverend Gary Davis were among the artist who performed that year. These are our folk heroes! 50 years later we have seen Bob Dylan (in 1963), Jim Croce, Jackson Brown, Judy Collins, Doc Watson, Allison Kraus, Steve Earle, Jeff Tweedy and Many more. Take in the history. Love it. Embrace the new…
This year the Folk Fest welcomes newcomers Jessica Lea Mayfield, The Levon Helm Band, The Wood Brothers, Arlo Guthrie, Justin Townes Earle, David Wax Museum, Trombone Shorty, Jorma Kaukonen, Joel Plaskett, etc.
Needless to say, I am fired up!
In addition we get to see perennial campground favorites, The Philadelphia Jug Band, on stage this year. Give me a big HI-OH for that! Also Philly locals Hoots and Hellmouth who are always sure to bring the house down. Get ready for some awesome. Camp if you can, it is totally worth it!
Find out more info at https://www.pfs.org/folk-festival
Check out this youtube video about the 1st folk fest:
Stay tuned to Shady Groove for more on the Philly Folk Fest as it unfolds. See you there!
Freedom of ’76
Dear Shady Groove readers and listeners,
I hope you all had a great Independence day. You may have caught some fireworks, maybe even blew some stuff up yourselves. Anyway, we all get back to the grind this week and as I drove back into this wonderful city of brotherly love, I was reminded of how great it has been to live here. I tip my hat to Philadelphia. Great history, great music, great food, great city. So, thanks for celebrating with me. And thanks for listening to Shady Groove.
Ryan-
This song has been in my head all weekend. Hillarious old video. Local boys, Gene and Dean Ween doing Freedom of 76. Going all the way back to 1994. Pure Guava was still a new album and they had just written this song which will appear on Chocolate and Cheese. An ode to Philly. Enjoy: