No Corn

The tiny hamlet of Bentonia in Yazoo County, Mississippi sired two bluesmen of note. One of 'em became rather famous and rightly so, but the other one is not exactly a household name. Jack Owens (1904–1997) sure could play the blues though.

Jack Owens - Jack Ain't Had No Water

Chooglin' Tonight

"If you can choose it, who can refuse it..." Presenting the undisputed highlight of Creedence's Woodstock performance, fifty years after the fact.

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Keep On Chooglin' (live)

Your Cities I Will Burn

Back online, and there's trouble on the road to Fennario. Always loved this old Scottish folk song, also known as The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie. "The captain fell in love with a lady like a dove..." Dylan recorded it for his eponymous debut album, and reinstated it in his Never Ending Tour setlists in the nineties at times, basing his new arrangement on the way Jerry Garcia & co tackled it some two decades earlier. Two excellent examples below.

Grateful Dead - Peggy O (live Springfield '74)
Bob Dylan - Pretty Peggy-O (live Frankfurt '96)

Doubling Up The Rent

Back from an extremely relaxing holiday, but you'll have to do without me for at least another week I'm afraid. Our greedy landlord recently decided to up the rent so we're off to pastures new, luckily in the same barrio. Our new headquarters sure are great, but as I'm still rather pissed off about it all, let's see if blowing off steam with Jello & co helps a bit.

Dead Kennedys - Let's Lynch The Landlord

All The Time

Holiday break starts... today! Sorry folks, just can't stay. No worries, I'll leave you with a good old six pack of fine fine tunes, with steady artwork as usual by Tinca. Back before you know it, my amigos da musica.

Johnny Daye - Stay Baby Stay
The Impressions - Stay Close To Me
Funkadelic - I'll Stay
Dennis Brown - Stay At Home
The Rockets - Won't You Say You Stay
Spiritualized - Stay With Me

Real Life

The dynamic instrumental duo of guitarist Che Chen and percussionist Rick Brown are back with a bang. Having first appeared on our radar with the blistering Wood/Metal/Plastic/Pattern/Rhythm/Rock album back in 2016, the avant-blues New Yorkers now up the ante with the hypnotic I Was Real. The groovin' track below was named for a Japanese guitarist they both dig by the way.

75 Dollar Bill - Tetuzi Akiyama

Let Him In

Just got the sad news that David Berman no longer walks among us. The singer of the Silver Jews and recently of Purple Mountains was only 52. He was a fine fine songwriter and poet, and a great guy with a troubled soul. Miss him.

Silver Jews - Rebel Jew

Real Good Time

Stoked to see Patti Smith and her band tonight in the tiny Catalan village of Sant Feliu de Guíxols. To get in the mood, let's enjoy the first known recording (from 1966) by her faithful guitar player, the ubercool Nuggets compiler Lenny Kaye, in the guise of Link Cromwell.

Link Cromwell & The Zoo - Crazy Like A Fox

Doggone Long

Here at last: ole Hank's complete recordings from his appearances on the Health & Happiness radio show back in 1949. With the Hillbilly Shakespeare and his Drifting Cowboys in their prime and a masterfully restored sound quality, this is a no-brainer of course.

Hank Williams - I'm A Long Gone Daddy

Some Frippery

The thought of Nick Cave merrily humming along to Pink Floyd, Yes and ELP as a youngster sure made me chuckle. Can't remember him singing their praise when wreaking havoc with postpunk enfants terribles The Birthday Party... He confessed as much in a recent issue of his Red Hand Files though, while also heaping praise upon Robert Fripp's King Crimson, the prog band St. Nick names as a big influence on his own Grinderman project.

King Crimson - Starless
Grinderman - Super Heathen Child (feat. Robert Fripp)

Strange Brew

If you, like me, can't get enough of electric Miles, here's yet another piece of the puzzle. Recorded live in Rotterdam for a radio broadcast back in '69, The Lost Quintet precedes the release of the revolutionary Bitches Brew. Backing the man with the horn are Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette. And fun was clearly had by all. Run that voodoo down...

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (live '69)