Mike Love knows talent when he sees it. Wait ’til you hear this Altbach guy’s story and learn what early ’70s hits he wrote. And he’s classically trained. (Damn, I’ve got to finish up that Satanic Beach Boys piece!)
This Altbach cat’s also got jazz chops. Check out this next clip, in which he jams with a Townsman dbuskirk-worthy jazzbo, Charles Lloyd. Lloyd knows talent—and finely woven Navaho blankets to boot! Altbach, Mike Love, blankets, and more. Can you dig it? Continue reading »
See if you can identify the following rockin’ noses. Yeah, I know, this is a really stupid exercise, but see if you’re not smart enough to master it!
A few random observations from today:
1. A friend posted a couple videos of Sir Douglas Quintet. I never had heard of this band, and doing some research was amazed that a band that allegedly “started” by trying to cash in on the 60’s British Invasion could ultimately morph into a prime inspiration for Tejano music. Although Doug Sahm’s Texas roots are apparent even when Elvis Costello-like organ is added to the mix, I was impressed with his ability to leap musical genres.
2. Manohla Dargis’ April 8, 2011 New York Times review of the new stoner movie “Your Highness” included this musical reference:
“bare-breasted wild women smeared in white who look as if they stepped off the cover of a classic punk album by the Slits…”
I don’t know about you, but a reference for The Slits in the midst of a NYTimes movie review seems a bit random.
3. An article on today’s Pitchfork site, “Positive Destruction,” posits San Francisco as the new epicenter of garage rock. Mr. Royale and I are fans of Ty Segall and recently discovered another local band, Moon Duo. It would be nice for San Francisco to move beyond that “Summer of ’69” designation.
Comments? Have you discovered any other odd little trends or artifacts?
In the recent Last Man Standing about river songs, the Mississippi was only allowed to be mentioned once because there are so many songs that reference it, which got me wondering: Are there more songs about the Mississippi than all other river songs combined? I doubt it but I call upon my fellow townsfolk to settle the issue. So, I’m looking for songs which either specifically mention the Mississippi, or that clearly reference it geographically.
I’ll start with “Big River.”
One Mississippi…
Ah, The Beach Boys‘—or should I say Brian Wilson‘s—aborted Smile…the stuff on which Rock Town Hill was constructed! Continue reading »
Each Sunday while preparing dinner I greatly enjoy listening to Nick Spitzer‘s American Routes show on NPR. He plays American roots music, much of which I would not listen to without Spitzer as my guide. I don’t know what it is about the guy, but he’s one of those DJs who just sounds so nice, knowledgeable, and inviting that I even find myself enjoying the occasional zydeco song. As if to prove how much of a non-American roots enthusiast I am, rarely does a week go by that he doesn’t throw in one Rolling Stones cover of a blues or Chuck Berry chestnut so I can think to myself, Man, young Mick Jagger was the best blues singer ever!
With Spitzer’s focus being on American roots music and the term “American roots music” usually excluding the “roots” music from my northeast city boy perspective, I’m bound to be faced with a challenging episode now and then. Yesterday’s episode, Living With the Blues, was probably the most challenging one to date. Here’s the description: Continue reading »
Sounds of the Hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!
In this week’s edition of Saturday Night Shut-In Mr. Moderator meditates on the process of transitioning from dream life to dream life. Despite that New Age-y build-up this promises to be as straight-shooting a show as ever.
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/RTH-Saturday-Night-Shut-In-23.mp3|titles=RTH Saturday Night Shut-In, episode 23][Note: The Rock Town Hall feed will enable you to easily download Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your digital music player. In fact, you can even set your iTunes to search for an automatic download of each week’s podcast.]
