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.

Shane MacGowan... unconsciously brilliant. You
can intelligently debate any topic from
theology, history, literature and philosphy...
though only while you're out of your skull on
booze.


Which fucked-up genius composer are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

RIP, John Peel

play me a truck drivin' man


Music is at the bottom of the post.

Damn, I'm a slacker. I'm gonna blame it on the Baseball playoffs. From rooting for the downfall of the Evil Empire (mission accomplished) to trying to figger out whether I wanted the Astros (Texas=bad) or the Cardinals (Cubs arch-nemesis, beside themselves) to lose to the Sox in the Series, I've been spending way too much time in front of the television. No game today. Did anyone notice that when Curt Schilling was interviewed last nite after the game, he was wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers (my number one all time favorite team) hat? Since the hometown Patriots are playing the Steelers next Sunday, I'm wondering what kind of statement Mr. Schilling was making, and whether he's taken any kind of shit for it today.

Well, most of you aren't here for sports.

Found a fascinating website for these trying and, frankly, increasingly annoying election times. If you go here you'll get a complete rundown of all candidates running for president. It ranges from the Big Two Idiots to a whole slew of 3rd party candidates. The third party section is fascinating, running the gamut from the ridiculous and downright scary (look for Jack Grimes of the United Facist Union and Earl Dodge of the Prohibition Party, neither of which deserve a link) to individuals who are running merely to get their ideas across. I think my favorite find is that Leonard Peltier is running on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket. So many choices, so little time. Smirkers will be happy to know that, apparently, I may not be able to exercise my right to fill in a write-in candidate here in Illinois. If this is indeed an actuality, well....let's just say I'm gonna go vote, but I'm not voting for Bush or Kerry. Draw your own conclusions. (Feel free to express how stupid I am in the comments field. I can take it. Be warned though, you probably won't offer any new argument I haven't heard. Peace loving Kerry voters can get pretty violent when folks don't goosestep to their desires. There is no such thing as a "lesser evil." )

Today, since I'm a mothertrucker, I'm going to take John from TofuHut's advice/request and put a smidgen of my rather ridiculously large truck song collection up for your listening enjoyment.

I'm not sure what it is about trucking music that inspires me so. Perhaps "inspires" isn't quite the right word, as I have no desire to actully be a trucker. It's a strange world the poets of the 18 wheelers sing about, all coffee, white lines, cb's, diners, pills, and an occasional six pack to go. Dave Dudley, the King, never rode a truck professionally, nor did most of his compatriots. But there it is, the myth of the open road laid bare (Bobby?), the boom chicka boom and chug guitar, the voice of the last bandits of the 60's and 70's. There's a ton of compilations out there, but for those who like their alt-country a little more polished, I'd recommend Diesel Only's Rig Rock Deluxe collection, which features updated covers by the likes of Steve Earle, Son Volt, BR549, Jon Langford, Junior Brown, and a host of yr favorite modern twangers. If you like what you hear, there's fine albums to be found in Salvation Army's across this great land of ours. I've got a ton more of these, so this might be a weekly/biweekly thing if interest exists. Let me know. Please visit the links at the bottom of the page for more info.

MP3's:

Del Reeves: Lookin' at the World Through a Windshield (mp3)

Red Sovine: Truck Drivin' Son of a Gun (mp3)

Dave Dudley: I've Been Everywhere (mp3)

Dave Dudley: Girl on the Billboard (mp3)

CW McCall: Old Home Filler Up Keep On Truckin' Cafe (mp3)

(Click on song...Drive over to the Briefcase...Fill up from there)

More Info:

Visit and learn more about Del Reeves

Visit and learn more about Red Simpson

Visit and learn more about Dave Dudley

Visit and learn more about the "mysterious" CW McCall

Visit The Virtual Truck Route

old home fill 'er up keep on truckin'

bottle up and go

I just spent 2 hours on a post....and Blogspot lost it...Internal error, they said. Swell. I'm not remotely pissed off.

So, I'll keep this brief.

Two site of interest to all you Shane Macgowan fans (and who isn't, really?). Go HERE for a ton of Nips (Shane's first band) songs. And go HERE for a Shane and the Popes live bootleg. Bit rate's are low...sound's muddy...and all is good in the world.

I'm not sure how other bloggers manage to decide who or what they post when they approach the often daunting task of a new entry. Me, it's a bit of a struggle, perhaps because I can't seem to manage a daily post. I've been thinking of converting this site to an all "old-timey" format. But, then, I want to do a Flying Nun post (perfect Autumn music...The Clean, The Chills, The Verlaines, the Bats...something very good in the water there in New Zealand). And I want to talk about the mighty Joel RL Phelps, Billy Childish (and all things Thee), Howlin' Wolf, Merle Haggard, Robert Cage, the Holmes Brothers, drinkin' tunes, truckin' tunes, train tunes...well, you get the idea. It's a hard life i live, apparently. Note the tear in my beer.

So, Johnny Bond:

"Laconic, humorous, and self-deprecating, Johnny Bond was one of the true gentlemen of western music as well as an important songwriter and musician. Reared in south-central Oklahoma, Cyrus Whitfield Bond moved in 1937 to Oklahoma City, where he formed a trio with Jimmy Wakely and Scotty Harrell, known as the Bell Boys after their sponsor, the Bell Clothing Company. Regional success followed, and a move to Hollywood came in 1939, where they appeared in a Roy Rogers film, Saga of Death Valley. They landed a spot on Gene Autry’s CBS Melody Ranch radio show in 1940 and stayed together until Wakely’s solo career took off. Meanwhile, they pulled a clever musical scam: they recorded for Decca as the Jimmy Wakely Trio and for Columbia as Johnny Bond & the Cimarron Boys.
Although he composed hundreds of songs (“I Wonder Where You Are Tonight,” “Love Gone Cold,” “Your Old Love Letters,” “Tomorrow Never Comes,” “Those Gone and Left Me Blues,” and many others, mostly in the country idiom), Bond is best remembered for his western classic “Cimarron,” which he wrote in Oklahoma City as a theme song for the Bell Boys. As a recording artist, he enjoyed moderate success from his earliest recordings in 1941 through the 1950s, and even placed a few hits high on the charts during the late 1940s. In 1965, Bond’s recording career briefly revived with Starday and the novelty drinking song “10 Little Bottles,” which he had first recorded for Columbia in 1951.
Whereas Wakely’s career was meteoric, Bond’s was steadier: He remained a mainstay of the Melody Ranch cast until the show’s end in 1956, and his distinctive acoustic guitar runs became an Autry trademark on radio and record. He had small parts in many films, recorded frequently, began a music publishing business with Tex Ritter, spent nearly a decade as host and writer on the television show Town Hall Party, and in his later years became an author as well, writing a brief autobiography and a biography of Tex Ritter."

Me, I'm a big ole fan of Mr. Bond. Particularly his drinkin' songs...of which he has a ton. There aren't many of his albums currently available. Bloodshot has a great compilation, and the songs below are from "I Like My Chicken Fryin' Size" on Jasmine Records. As a matter of fact, to be a bit of a panhandler, but I'm looking for a bunch of his albums on vinyl. Particularly these (and even more particularly, the "drinkin' albums). So if, as yr rootin' through the record selection at yr local Salvation Army, you happen to run across any Bond albums, I'd be more than happy to reimburse, pay for shipping, and offer a generous finder's fee for said albums.

Without further ado (and for fear Blogspot's gonna lose my post again), I offer the hot western swing sounds, in hi-fi, of Mr. Johnny Bond:

Johnny Bond: I Like My Chicken Fryin' Size (mp3)

Johnny Bond: Set 'Em Up Joe (mp3)

Johnny Bond: Bartender's Blues (mp3)

(Click on song...go to Briefcase...download soberly from there)

if i had a nickel....

This post was constructed under the influence of Old Style Premium Beer (Full Aged and Naturally Carbonated), and the hi fi stylings of Tom Waits (Real Gone) and Richard Buckner (Dents and Shells).


The songs from the Big Rock Candy Mountain post are now down. If'n yr innerested...let me know, we'll work something out.

I'm a pretty irritable little cuss sometimes. I'm really sick of this idea that musicians don't have a right to comment on politics. (scroll down the linked page a bit to get reader's "comments"). Besides the fact that music has always been a tool for protest, people seem to think that the First Amendment only applies to themselves or Bill "liar" O'Reilly. Stupid. I really don't give a rat's ass what Toby Keith or little Mikey Stipe have to say about politics, but why the hell shouldn't they be allowed to express their opinions like everyone else? Has music really become so homogenized that we can only handle the most cursory of "messages"? I dunno, I could be wrong...I just didn't realize free speech was limited.

On a related, and kinda scary, note....There really are people out there that believe the "American Way of Life" (read: economic wellbeing, suv's, oiloiloil...) is more important than thousands of dead "innocent" Iraqis (the person i spoke with reasoned that no one is "innocent", including 4 year old children...who would probably become terrorists, anyway. Her words.). It was a very enlightening conversation. Ayn "Anus" Rand is alive and well, apparently. The conversation spiraled even further downward from that starting point. This is our world, I guess. Glad to be here.

It's a beautiful Autumn day outside. Leaves are slowly changing, the sky is bluer, a nip in the air...time to pull out my "Autumn Sweater"s (thanks Yo La Tengo). Reminds me it can still be a beautiful world sometimes.

Townes Van Zandt was one of the greatest, and most tragic, songwriters we've ever seen. As Steve Earle once famously noted: "Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that." His songs have been covered by the likes of Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett, Willie Nelson, the Cowboy Junkies, Merle Haggard...well, the list is endless. Bob Dylan, too. Most people have heard at least one version of his most famous tune, "Pancho and Lefty". His frail voice alternately belies the power of, and intensifies the deep sadness of, his lyrics. Townes died too early, but, according to popular lore, he died when he predicted he would. His body of work is rife with the forecast of early death. Read more about Townes here and here.

My personal favorite Townes song is Rex's Blues. And, not to overly morbid, it will be played at my cremation. So, today, you get the original version, plus three covers. Perfect Autumn afternoon listening.

Ride the blue wind high and free
she'll lead you down through misery
leave you low, come time to go
alone and low as low can be

If I had a nickel I'd find a game
If I won a dollar I'd make it rain
If it rained an ocean I'd drink it dry
and lay me down dissatisfied

Legs to walk and thoughts to fly
eyes to laugh and lips to cry
a restless tongue to classify
all born to grow and grown to die

So tell my baby I said so long
tell my mother I did no wrong
tell my brother to watch his own
and tell my friends to mourn me none

I'm chained upon the face of time
feelin' full of foolish rhyme
there ain't no dark till something shines
I'm bound to leave this dark behind

Ride the blue wind high and free
he'll lead you down through misery
leave you low, come time to go
alone and low as low can be

Townes Van Zandt: Rex's Blues (mp3)

Jay Farrar/Kelly Willis: Rex's Blues (mp3) (Jay is the guy from Son Volt and Uncle Tupelo. Kelly is the guy from Kelly Willis)

Entrance: Rex's Blues (mp3) (Entrance is a new guy on Fat Possum. I don't know anything else about him)

James McMurtry: Rex's Blues (mp3) (James has a famous father. James should be more famous. He's the guy from James McMurtry).

(As ever, left-click on song....go to briefcase and sadly download from there)