vid: bozzlebag's

Music by SH on a short by the amazing, insano David Smith. Tom Kenney as the voice of the dad. I talked David into using Jack Sheldon as the voice of Admiral Bozzlebag's, and he read great (I have vid somewhere of that session, and he's off the hook), but for some reason they replaced Jack with Kevin Richardson.

The band here is me, Skip Waring, Howard Greene, Robert Drasnin, Joe Bagg, and Carole Kaye.

lalo guerrero with heller's hot seven

Probably 2001 or 2, this is the skeleton of HH7 -- me, Robert Drasnin, Howard Greene, Hortensia Tamayo -- filled out by some local Tucson players, who were excellent. Not sure how or why this ranchera was the one survivng vid I have, but it gives you some idea of Lalo's amazing mischievous showmanship.

Lalo Guerrero was one of the important California songwriters and singers, and his mastery of everything from corridos to song parodies to rhythm and blues, boleros and beyond is only part of his greatness. He was all that.

the collected history of the chipmunks

http://www.animationarchive.org/2009/10/animation-history-of-chipmunks.html

vid: looks simple

My favorite Penn & Teller bit, hands down, and I still think this was their best rendition of it.

To me, Penn & Teller are the John Hartford of magic.

vid: work song

Although my songwriting seems closer to some other 80's-emergent songwriters (especially Dave Alvin, Shane McGowan, and Paul Weller), Stan Ridgway is in many ways my favorite. When I produced Ray Campi, I had Ray sing Stan's incredible "Luther Played Guitar". Amazing stuff. And I played on a couple cuts on [Stan's] last record, Snakebite, which was just thrilling for such a huge long-term fan.

Stan came out of Wall Of Voodoo, as thrillingly original a punk-era band as there was, and this is one of the best songs about low-pay jobs ever. Check out Marc Moreland's brilliant, inventive guitar.

vid: bill evans interviewed

vid: the greatest bluesman on the 1970's

Johnny "Guitar" Watson, live with no audience at the height of his popularity, performing "Ain't That A Bitch", complete with a great band and peak-power guitar playing. Jennell Hawkins told me JGW's mom made all his clothes (save for his socks and underwear), but I'm pretty sure he went out-of-network for this stagewear.

vid: tonight you belong to me

My favorite version of one of my favorite songs. Most people my age know this tune from Steve Martin's amazing movie, The Jerk. But the 1956 hit version by Patience & Prudence remains my favorite. I got addicted to P&P via mixtapes (remember those) made for me by my pal Tommy Ardolino. The habit has stuck. They made about ten singles, but this -- and its flipside, "A Smile And A Ribbon" -- is the pinnacle of their authentically sweet sound. It is said this, along with Julie London's "Cry me A River" and David Seville's "The Chipmunk Song" (same core band as on P&P on that one, by the way, and same bassist, Ray Leatherwood, on all three singles) steadied Liberty Records' then-shaky fortunes.

vid: what gen x means to me

Billy Idol was God for a minute, and this was that minute.

This is from the film D.O.A., which came out in 1978. I saw it probably a year later, at a theater in Philly called the T.L.A. on South St. Of all the things in that movie, Generation X doing "Kiss Me Deadly" was the knockout punch, and it was soon after encountering this clip and in some ways because of it that I decided to forsake my ambitions to be Norman Blake and instead go electric and devote myself to punk rock.

I usually don't go back in time when I hear records I encountered when I was younger. Music is bigger to me than that and I've always felt that way. But this song always makes me think about being sixteen in Center City and hanging out with Eddie and Bryan and Kurt and all of y'all. In all fairness, as songs go, it holds up with the best of the Jam or any of the other greats of the period.

So here, ladies and gentlemen, "Kiss Me Deadly" by Generation X.

vid: dear god

I just love this song and video. In honor of Richard Dawkins.

the cover!

vid: my kinda zombie thing

I found a tape my old pal Alan Edwards made me when I was working on the Lonely Town album. I had asked him what he thought a few good 1960's light pop covers might be for my then-band, The Skip Heller Generation. "Our Day Will Come" was his suggestion, as were a few other things we didn't choose, including this.

I think we can all agree that "Tell Her No" is a masterpiece, which is why I wouldn't cover it. Although I don;t think Odyessy & Oracle is all that, the Zombies'
best singles rank up with anything anyone did in the sixties.

vid: another long lunar note

Laurie Lewis is one of the greatest fiddle players and singers on the planet. She originally recorded this on an album she did with Kathy Kallick, and it's a brilliant performance. Which is typical Laurie Lewis.

This song was originally recorded by Bill Monroe, whose daughter Melissa Monroe wrote it. It's my favorite sad song. Given that tomorrow -- my 44th birthday -- is a full moon, and that this week will be remembered with great sadness for the loss of a dear friend and beloved musician and teacher, it seems like the right song for this day.

vid: my favorite fiddle player

This is Benny Martin, whose extroverted fiddle breaks on the Flatt & Scruggs classic "I'll Go Steppin' Too" is the epitome of in-your-face bluegrass fiddle, and set the bluegrass world on fire in the fifties. When he took off in his own shortly after tearing the roof off F&S, he had a string of singles that -- while mostly very good -- featured Benny Thomassen on fiddle (Benny played some nice guitar on 'em, though). "Ice Cold Love" is the best of these.

This is one of those Opry Stars film things they made for drive-in movies, and they're not lip-synching. This is the Benny Martin that set John Hartford's imagination on fire. Humble yourself.