it's a soulful world

Thanks to those who have left comments. S'good to know there's folk out there.

Stax/Volt put out some of the best soul tunes in the 60's to the early 70's, featuring the Staple Singers, Isaac Hayes, Booker T and the MG's, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, and tons more. Read about the label here.

One of my favorite groups of all time is the Staple Singers...a perfect blend of the gospel and secular.

Isaac Hayes is one bad....xmas fan.

Both of the following are taken from the outstanding Stax/Volt release It's Christmas Time Again.

Santa Claus wants some lovin'

Staple Singers: Who Took the Merry out of Christmas (mp3)

Isaac Hayes: The Mistletoe and Me (mp3)

(yousendit files...click on link and download (much faster) from there)

blue christmas without you

And on and on....

Feeling blue today. And since it's my day off, i'm enjoying an adult beverage or 6. So what better way to celebrate than with two drunk Santa tunes. Figgers I already threw up a few intoxicated St. Nick photos (there's a really humorous pun in there, i 'spect). Hey, the one consistent thing y'all can expect here is inconsistency.

If you like calendars, i can tell you that tomorrow will feature a soulful xmas post by one of my faveorite groups of all time. And the day after that, we're gonna get a little sad. Future looks bright for Tom Waits and Shane Macgowan, too...but not the tunes yr expecting. God bless bootlegs.

Don't know anything about the following individuals, except that they can be found on the most excellent compilation, Bummed Out Christmas on Rhino Records.

Raise a toast to Santy Claus

Clyde Lasley and the Cadillac Baby Specials: Santa Came Home Drunk (mp3)

Sherwin Linton: Santa Got a DWI (mp3)

(YouSendIt files...click song...download from site)

heh

Day four, and it's time to take the tree out of the garage. Or...take the garge out of the tree. Sumthin'.

Running the in-law to the airport, so it's the last of the shorties today.

How 'bout a snotty diatribe from 60's snotpunk legends the Sonics? Check.

How 'bout a pschedelic workout on "Deck the Halls" from garage maestros Saturdays Children? You betcha.

Santa in the Garage.

The Sonics: Don't Believe in Christmas (mp3)

Saturday's Children: Deck 5 (mp3)

(YOUSENDIT files...click on link and merrily download from there)

a little jazz

Day three. In a row. Stop the presses.

Not every day is gonna be country over the next month. So what better way to break away than with two of my favorite jazz guys. Both of these men are/were probably just a few dates short of a fruitcake. Makes perfect sense they'd make some holiday cheer.

Jimmy Smith is greasy.

Roland Kirk is bananas.

Worship.

Roland Kirk: We Free Kings (mp3)

Jimmy Smith: God Rest You Merry Gentlemen (mp3)

(YouSendIt files...click and go to site)

drunk santa

Day two. So far so good. Right?

Not sure why I put two drunk santa's in a row. Maybe something about how i read somewhere that Thanksgiving is the second biggest alcohol consumption day of the year in the USA. Which makes sense. Families make most of us want to drink heavily.

If yr looking for Bing Crosby doing "White Christmas", this aint the place.

Two more for ya today. One from a legend and one from an "unknown" (i.e. I can't find and info about him).

Read more about the genius that is Pee Wee King here.


Merry MP3's

Pee Wee King: Rootin' Tootin' Santa Claus (MP3)

Billy Briggs: North Pole Boogie (MP3)

(YouSendIt files...Should download muuuuuccccchhhh faster. Just click on link, download from site)

here we go


As promised, we've got Xmas songs.

The mother-in-law is visiting for the weekend, so for the next few days the posts aint gonna be too wordy, but the tunes are here.

Gonna start you off, shockingly, with a couple of country and western tunes (both kinds).

Read about Tex Ritter here.

Read about Hank Snow here.

MP3's...Hooray

Hank Snow: Reindeer Boogie (mp3)

Tex Ritter: Christmas Carols By the Old Corral (mp3)

(Click on Song...Download from Briefcase...improvements coming soon)

yep.

This post written under the influence of Will Johnson's Vultures Await.

Thanksgiving (or "rape of the indigenous peoples day", as i like to call it) is coming, and that means daily Xmas posts from the Mountain. Hold your breath.

And in the spirit of thanking, thanks to Keep the Coffee Coming for the nice words. Visit her site, she's got some great tunes up, and it's one of the best-named mp3 blogs i've run across.

I was trying to decide today between a Hank and a Merle, flipped a coin and come up Hank.

Hank Penny is one of those great forgotten musicians and bandleaders. I have to admit to having very little knowledge of him until Bloodshot put out Crazy Rhythm. Now, I'm hooked on his brand of Western Swing/Be Bop. Western Bop. Sumthin'.
Here's what the mighty Bloodshot has to say about him:

"Hank Penny should be a household name. But the reason he isn't is the same reason that this release cooks: attitude. Seems Hank wouldn't take shit from anybody. As a result, he burned a lot of bridges and missed more than a few opportunites to further his career.
He started his first band, the Radio Cowboys in 1935 and later became a regular on the Boone County Jamboree out of Cincinatti. He acted in a couple of Westerns, yukked it up on Spade Cooley's TV show in the 40's, DJ'd here and there across California and Kansas, and tore the place up in clubs across the country from the 30's to the 70's.

Crazy Rhythm brings together 30 songs (we can't even list them all here) recorded for the Standard Transcription Service in 1951 and never released comercially until now. You get Hank's signature tune "Little Red Wagon," along with a grab bag of dancehall Western Swing, proto-rockabilly and a few ballads and novelty tunes thrown in for good measure. A quick scan of the song titles alone reveals that we are dealing with one unique talent.

Although he never achieved the fame he deserved, Hank's music remains as a dazzling example of one of country music's unheralded greats. Try the OTHER Hank on for size!!!!"

Couldn't have said it better myself. Enjoy.

Flamin' Mamie (mp3)

White Shotgun (mp3)

I Like the Wide Open Spaces (mp3)

Won't You Ride in my Little Red Wagon (mp3)

(Click on Song...go to Briefcase...Download the joy from there)

She done stole all my money

Just a quickie this Thursday morn.

Played some poker the other nite with "the boys". Now, I stink at poker, but somehow managed to win 60 bucks. Much rejoicing. The next morning, while half asleep, she who is most beloved managed to convince me that it would be a great idea to hand over all my dough to her. All that hard work drinking too many beers and behaving quite rudely...all for naught. Sheesh. No pistols were involved, but it was sorta like a robbery.

In honor of empty pockets I present you with a little Western Swing. Taken from the Doughboys, Playboys and Cowboys box set, here's a swell little tune from Al Dexter and his Troopers.

Al Dexter and His Troopers: Pistol Packin' Mama (mp3)

(Click on Song...Go to Briefcase...Fire Away)

More on Al Dexter here.

You can't rollerskate in a buffalo herd



I like American Music.

Do you like American Music?

So, Let's see....John Peel, Yassar Arafat, and Ol' Dirty Bastard, all dead. What can they possibly have in common?

Lots of great new blogs out there. My favorite new one has to be Locust St., who beat me to a Bob Wills post. It's a fantastic site with the kind of old timey sounds I can't get enough of. Makes a great companion piece to the well-established and essential Honey, Where You Been So Long. Bookmark 'em both right now and visit daily.

Well, since I've put the Western Swing post on hold, I'm gonna send some Roger Miller towards yr ears. Not the Mission of Burma guy, but the country and western fella.

Most of y'all know Miller's more famous tunes, King of the Road and Dang Me. And certainly, they're two of his greatest songs. But the man put together a career full of brilliant songs. Ranging from the humorous, to the wistful, to the downright sad, Miller stands as one of our greatest lyricists on par with Cole Porter and Hank Williams (perhaps a mix of the two). And while replacing Harry McClintock as the King of the Hobos, he even found time to write a Broadway musical that doesn't suck, Big River, "based on the life" of Huckleberry Finn. He's one of the greats, baby. And he deserves a place in the pantheon of great songwriters, whose nicotine-stained voice sang America. Visit his website for a complete history and discography. The following tunes are taken from the box set King of the Road: The Genius of Roger Miller. Buy it. You deserve it.

Humorous songs:

The Moon is High (And So Am I) (mp3)

Poor Little John (mp3)

Train Song:

Engine Engine #9 (mp3)

Sad Song:

One Dyin' and A-Buryin' (mp3)

Ebulliant Song:

Walkin' in the Sunshine (mp3)

(Click on Song...Go to Briefcase...Download from there)

rocking horse boogie

Listening to Love Songs for Patriots by the estimable American Music Club, preparing for the upcoming AMC weekend. Drinking a piss-poor martini to celebrate my day off work. Leaves are falling off the trees as I type. The Pittsburgh Steelers are on the way to the Super Bowl. Ahh, Autumn.

Am I allowed to be an AMC fan and a football fan?

Please visit all the sites and blogs i've linked on the left. They deserve your attention. You deserve the joy they bring.

Sometimes you just gotta dance. I mean, hell, we're hurtling toward..well,sumthin'...not sure what. But it probably aint good. Maybe dance to the end of love. Maybe dance dance dance to the rock'n'roll station. Maybe dancin' in the streets or the sheets or on the ceiling.

Going all old timey on yr asses today, and for the foreseeable future. I'm pretty well bored by most of what's "new" right now. If bands are going to be in recycle mode, may as well listen to the originals. Richard Nixon may got Soul, but modern rock sure don't. If you disagree, convince me. I'd like to be wrong.

Hillbilly Boogie. What the hell is it? Well, it took it's cue from the "boogie woogie" sounds of jazz and barrellhouse blues predominant in pre-World War II. Moon Mullican, a legend, worked extensively with both black musicians and country and western white musicians, and is credited with helping bridge the racial divide, introducing boogie woogie to Western Swing stars, most notably Bob Wills. From there "the country boogie phenomenon really took off after the war, and was incorporated into the Western Swing derivative, Honkytonk...Emphasizing electric guitar, steel and fiddle."

essentially, it's twangjazz. It's sole desire is to make you dance.

Practitioners include Spade Cooley, The Delmore Brothers, Chet Atkins, Bill Haley (yes, that Bill Haley), Hank Snow, my beloved Johnny Bond, and the Maddox Brothers. Countless others came forth with one hit, or regional, numbers, only to disappear into the annals of long gone history. A great starting point is the 4-cd box set aptly named Hillbilly Boogie. The following tracks are taken from said set, and focus on some obscure artists that, frankly, very little or no information is available.

Dixie Blue Boys: Hadacol Boogie(mp3)

Mustard and Gravy: Be Bop Boogie(mp3)

Billy Briggs: Pretty Baby Boogie(mp3)

Lonnie Glosson: Pan American Boogie(mp3)

(Click on Song, go to Briefcase, Download from there)

Next up: Western Swing.

Keep an eye out for the extra special daily BigRockCandyMountain Christmas Special, starting Thanksgiving day. Really.

Well, Here we go

Morning.

Just wanted to say that, despite my grumpiness, I think that Craig from Songs:Illinois has done a fantastic job with his Music Bloggers for Democracy project. I didn't participate for a variety of reasons, most having to do with my own shortcomings (re:slacker). He's gotten a fair amount of criticism to go with the kudos. I think that criticism is a little unfair. Anytime someone works their ass off to make a change, no matter how small it may seem, you have to give them respect. That's how all good things begin. Props to all those who participated. Course, now the real work's beginning. Keep it up gentle men and women.

Kind of a shitty day for alot of folks out there. I'm gonna abandon the old timey thing for moment and post what I think is an apropos little tune from my favorite Shane Macgowan tribute band, Flogging Molly.

Flogging Molly: It's Been the Worst Day Since Yesterday (mp3)

(Clicky Click on song...go to Briefcase...Lament from there)

Coming soon: More drinking songs, more Trucking songs, and a little bit of Western Swing.

make of it what you will...still counting...

maybe


If it's Monday, it must be a new music post comin' down from the Mountain.

Remember how in High School or Junior High, kids would wear Led Zeppelin or Doors or some "classic rock" type t-shirt? I always wodered what people who actually grew up with that music thought about it. The other day a 15 year old kid walked into my place of business wearing a brand spankin' new Pixies t-shirt. I don't believe (and i'd have to check my math) that he had been born yet when I purchased the debut ep by this interesting new band called the Pixies, merely because they were on 4AD rekkids. What followed, of course, was years of obsessive worship, waiting expectantly for the each new album, then crying in my beer when they broke up, only to buy up each new Frank Black record. We fight age, and we fight the inevitable march towards personal obscurity. And then comes that "moment of clarity", as it were, when we realize how irrelevant and "uncool" we've become. Yep, I'm now my parents.

Speaking of irrelevant, apparently there's some kind of important event occurring tomorrow. I'll be participating, of course. Hell, it's one of the few rights we have left. I'm just not real enthused, to be honest. All of my shouting about 3rd party candidates seems hollow. It's my vote, and I'm going to use it the way I see fit, but it doesn't matter. Whoever we vote for, the bad guys still get in. America's a fucked up mess, and I thinks it's astoundingly naive to think Kerry's going to make it any better. He supports the Patriot Act, suggesting only a few "minor changes." He's against gay marriage. He has no idea what it's like to be poor. Bush, of course, is Satan. We are so fucked. I'm not sure we can still call ourselves the United States of America. Sorry to be so cynical. For those voting for the first time, or who are genuinely enthused about this election, i say good on ya. Keep it up, we need people like you. Maybe change'll come, and you'll be the ones to bring it about. I hope so.

And so. I was going to post some political songs, maybe some Woody Guthrie or Chambers Brothers, get all fired up. But, really, this election makes me want to drink. Heavily. So, in honor of Bush, Kerry, the Pixies, and Shane Macgowan, I give you a 5-pack of drinkin' songs. It would have been a six pack, but I drank one already.

Dean Martin: Little Ole Wine Drinker Me (mp3) - I've been a touch obsessed with Dino lately. This may very well be my favorite song of all time. It's Dean, cool as shit, drinking away his days in Chicago. Sounds familiar.

Hobart Smith: Drunken Hiccups (mp3) - I've posted about Hobart before. This tune has a great drunken fiddle part, weaving and staggering all around a voice born of the Appalachians.

Arlo Guthrie: Lightnin' Bar Blues (mp3) - Well, I managed to get one Guthrie on the list. I think Arlo gets a bad rap because of Alice's Restraunt, and he is a bit of a tool these days. But early on, he put out some great records. This is from one of his first albums, Hobo's Lullaby. It's all jug band blues and harmonica goodness. The song was orignally written and performed by the mighty Hoyt Axton.

American Music Club: Gary's Song (mp3) - One of my favorite AMC songs. Contains the greatest drunk in the middle of the afternoon lines ever: "If we sit here, and drink enough beer, we'll be two inflatable doll's in a hooker's bad dream."

Laura Cantrell: The Whiskey Makes You Sweeter (mp3) - From one of (RIP)John Peel's fave raves, comes my tribute to John Kerry. Hope it works. Read more about the fantastic Laura Cantrell here.

(Click on song...go to Briefcase...The club is open, so drink up from there)

Now that the playoffs are over, look for BigRockCandyMountain posts more often. Probably.

More on Dean Martin here.