T. Rex

Moving away from all things Louisiana for once...for some strange reason I have gotten way back into T. Rex recently - in particular 1971's Electric Warrior. For some this may seem way obvious but for those of you who aren't overly familiar with this record I highly recommend it. My highlights are Mambo Sun, Jeepster, Life's A Gas, Rip Off and of course Bang A Gong aka Get It On.

If you are at all interested in pop music from the 1970s - and who isn't? - you should be jamming out to Electric Warrior. I think it was Marc Bolan and T. Rex's finest hour but let me know if I'm missing something.

Clifton Chenier: Louisiana Blues & Zydeco

Hey! I bet you thought this blog was as dead as the musicians we cover (I'm talking to BOTH of you readers out there now).

Well, don't believe the hype.

Chances are if you know anything about Zydeco (and I know very little) you know Clifton Chenier. Dude was basically the king of the genre and the best accordion player you will ever hear. I hadn't listened to him in years until I downoladed his album: Louisiana Blues & Zydeco. As advertised Clifton and his band not only kill it on the Zydeco tunes but the Blues numbers are what really blew me away. I highly recommend this one as a good change of pace, assuming you don't listen to all that much accordion music.

Here's the DL link. Also, somewhere out there should be a video of Clifton performing at 4th ever episode of Austin City Limits - on the same bill as the great Townes Van Zandt. If anyone finds that, hook a brother up.

Cheers!

8 Tracks

My blogging mentor from Garden Grass and Crap introduced me to the website 8tracks.com - where you can create and post an eight song mix of songs either from your own computer of from their collection of songs uploaded from other users. My first mix includes some Townes, Nina Simone, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Lee Dorsey and the Grateful Dead. Check it out here: http://8tracks.com/deadmusicsociety/deadmusicsociety-s-august-2010-mix.

UPDATE: I have since added a second mix - all songs from movie soundtracks. Boom: http://8tracks.com/deadmusicsociety/at-the-movies.

If you are on 8tracks let me know!

Beck does INXS (and others)

In my opinion Beck.com is one of the best time wasting sites on the internet right now - and I should know, I waste a lot of time. Beck hasn't bothered to release a proper album in awhile, instead he is recording one-off songs for movies and collaborating with everyone under the sun in his 'Record Club.' This club is a rotating cast of musicians (e Thurston Moore, Wilco, Tortoise as well as lesser known studio guys) who come together to do weird remakes of old albums.

After spending my 'lunch break' binging on a bunch of these videos - I was surprised to discover that my favorite might just be their cover of INXS' album 'Kick'. I don't remember much about INXS but I know their lead singer died (in a pretty sketchy and sad way)...the good news is that this means that it is fair game for me to post the following kickass video:

Record Club: INXS "Need You Tonight" from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

The Baby Huey Story

Sorry for the complete lack of action around here. Things have been busy to say the least - but enough about that.

Any music blog about dead musicians is obligated to talk about Baby Huey. I don't know a ton about him beyond what I read at allmusic.com - check his entry here. He weighed nearly 400 pounds, 20 of which must have been his afro. He worked with Curtis Mayfield, sang like a funkier Otis Redding or Sam Cooke and only put out one album - which was not released until after his death at the age of 26.

The music speaks for itself - get it here.

Bobby Charles

To continue with my theme (that would be the "Waaaah I'm missing JazzFest" theme) here is the great 1972 self-titled record by the late Bobby Charles. Bobby was a singer and songwriter born and raised in rural Cajun country in Louisiana (making him less of a New Orleans guy than our last couple subjects) - Bobby had 'bayou water running through his veins.'

He is also well known for his association with The Band. He makes a brief appearance on 'The Last Waltz' and lived in Woodstock for a time. His 'Bobby Charles' LP was co-produced by Rick Danko and John Simon and features most of The Band and Dr. John as well. It fits well with the records The Band were putting out at the time, but with Bobby's distinctive Cajun voice leading the way. AllMusic.com (in typical AllMusic.com fashion) calls it "Swamp Pop." I just know it is fun to listen to and wish I around for the good times these guys had when they recorded it.

Bobby Charles died at home in Louisiana earlier this year.

Snooks Eaglin

Wanted to keep up the New Orleans theme in honor of Jazzfest. Here are a couple albums from another Crescent City legend - Snooks Eaglin:

"New Orleans Street Singer" (Smithsonian Folkways 1959)

"Soul's Edge" (Blacktop 1995)

Snooks was a blind guitar player and singer who had a reputation for being a bit wild. The two records above are good examples of what he sounded like early vs. late in his career. The Smithsonian Folkways album is just Snooks with an acoustic guitar singing his demons away. You can picture him on North Rampart street playing for change. The other record is with a full band - its lively and more of what Snooks came to be known for in the later years of his life. He just passed away last year and many parts of the 2009 JazzFest seemed like a tribute to this blues master.

Get a taste of Snooks through this non-video YouTube clip - the NOLA classic "St James Infirmary"...chilling