Thursday, June 26, 2008

Almost Independence Day (redux)


The Fourth of July is almost here.
I'm on hiatus until further notice.

Download:


"Almost Independence Day" mp3
THIS TRACK IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE
by Van Morrison, 1972.
available on Saint Dominic's Preview

"4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" (alternate take) mp3
by Bruce Springsteen, 1973.
available on Genuine Tracks
bootleg

"Fourth of July" mp3
by Dave Alvin, 1987.
available on Romeo's Escape

"4th of July" (demo) mp3
by X, 1986.
available on Beyond and Back: The X Anthology

"Fourth of July" mp3
by Galaxie 500, 1990.
available on This Is Our Music

top photo:© Ted Barron God Bless America, Slab City, California, 2004.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Not Kosher



My apologies to all our vegetarian friends. If it's any consolation, I didn't eat any of this pig, not because I don't like that sort of thing - it's more for health reasons. I'm under the care of a Chinese doctor who's got me watching what I eat. But as soon as I feel better, its gonna be a free for all. In fact, I'm helpless around Bar-B-Q, and on my last trip to Memphis with my then girlfriend I ate so much pork, I actually made myself sick. Maybe it has to do with being Jewish, but I don't think so. Most Jews love pork. We were visiting her family, and I was sampling every rib-joint in the city. I like this picture. I told Lincoln I thought it looked like a flower. His response was "What? A meat flower?"

Download:



"Cincinnati Dancing Pig" mp3
by Red Foley, 1950.
available on Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy

"I Crave My Pigmeat" mp3
by Blind Boy Fuller, 1939.
available on Truckin' My Blues Away

"Gimme A Pigfoot" mp3
by Bessie Smith, 1936.
available on Stars of the Apollo

"Pigmeat" mp3
by Ry Cooder, 1970.
available on Ry Cooder

top photograph: Ted Barron © 2008.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happy Father's Day



Here's a few songs written from a father's point of view, and few from a child's point of view including Chuck Berry's last charting single from the 1960's written in the form of a letter with the punchline right at the end.

Happy Father's Day.

Download:

"Lord, Protect My Child" mp3
by Bob Dylan, 1983.
available on The Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3 : 1961-1991

"Father and Son" mp3
by Johnny Cash
with Fiona Apple, 2003.
available on Unearthed

"Daddy Loves Baby" mp3
by Don Covay, 1964.
available on Mercy!/See-Saw

also:

"Daddy Didn't Tell Me" mp3
by The Astors, 1967.
available on The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968



"Dear Dad" mp3
by Chuck Berry, 1965.
available on The Chess Box: Chuck Berry

top photo: © 2008 Ted Barron

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

The Summer Sun


I walked out of my apartment this morning and into the heat. It's well over ninety degrees and not yet nine 'o clock. Summer is here in New York City. Not by way of the solstice, but in every other way it is. It's hot - very hot. A few weeks ago there was a senseless killing in Chinatown. That always used to mark the beginning of the summer. There's a lot less violence here than there used to be, but the heat in NYC always brings tensions to the surface. Walking down Havemeyer to go to the bodega, I felt like I was walking through a set from Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing. There was a stillness in the idiotic sunlight blasting through every crevice of shade. All of of it steeped in a foreboding and quiet boredom. I passed a Methedonian waiting on a stoop trying to look busy. A few women walked by, clothes too tight - tits sweating. No one is smiling. In the bodega I grabbed a brick of Bustelo. As hot it is, I knew that iced coffee wasn't gonna do the trick for me this morning. At the counter, a neighborhood drug dealer, whom I remember from when he was a kid (and there's nothing youthful in his demeanor anymore) looked up from his Ring-Ding breakfast to comment on my choice of coffee. "That's the good stuff," he croaked. I may have mumbled a response, but it's too hot to make small talk, and I needed this coffee as badly as he needed whatever he was waiting for. I've been battling intense headaches for weeks. Back upstairs and making my coffee my thoughts drifted back to the usual default...

"Love is only love, but it's the least we think the most of..."


Download:



"The Summer Sun" mp3
by Chris Stamey, 1977.
with Alex Chilton
Ork Single
out of print



"Where The Fun Is" mp3
by Chris Stamey, 1977.
with Alex Chilton
Ork Single
out of print



top photograph: Crossing, Brooklyn, New York, 1997. © Ted Barron

Monday, June 9, 2008

Andy's Chest



Last week, while caught up in the morgueatorium of Bo frenzy, I missed a very important anniversary. June 3rd was the 40th anniversary of Valerie Solanis's attempted assassination of Andy Warhol. Ironically, that was the same day I posted The Velvet Underground playing Bo Diddley at The Factory. So, better late than never, here's The Velvet's doing "Andy's Chest" and a trio of songs about Warhol, Solanis and The Factory from Lou Reed and John Cale's 1990 song cycle Songs For Drella, which was originally peformed and commissioned by The Brooklyn Academy of Music, and The Arts at St. Ann's.

Download:

"Andy's Chest" mp3
by The Velvet Underground, 1969.
available on VU

"Slip Away (A Warning)" mp3
by Lou Reed and John Cale, 1990.
available on Songs for Drella

"I Believe" mp3
by Lou Reed and John Cale, 1990.
available on Songs for Drella

"Nobody But You" mp3
by Lou Reed and John Cale, 1990.
available on Songs for Drella

top photograph: Andy Warhol, artist, New York City 8-20-69.
© Richard Avedon

Friday, June 6, 2008

Bo by Others



Okay here's some mo' Bo. This time performed by others. First up, four rave-up garage rock versions, then a couple by the Rolling Stones (early and later) a classic from The New York Dolls, a Buddy Holly track (that was later gussied up and released posthumously), and an anonymous recording rescued with other tapes from a pile of dirt by writer and archivist Robert Gordon when the original Stax studio was razed in Memphis in 1989.

"gonna put some dirt in your eye."

Download:

"Who Do You Love" mp3
by The Preachers, 1965.
available on Pebbles, Vol. 1

"Road Runner" mp3
by The Pretty Things, 1964.
available on Pretty Things

"Diddy Wah Diddy" mp3
by The Remains, 1965.
available on The Remains

"I'm A Man" mp3
by The Litter, 1966.
available on Distortions

***********************************
"Cops and Robbers" mp3
by The Rolling Stones, 1964.
Live at the BBC
bootleg

"Crackin' Up" mp3
by The Rolling Stones, 1977.
available on Love You Live

***********************************

"Pills" mp3
by The New York Dolls, 1973.
available on New York Dolls

***********************************

"Bo Diddley" (undubbed) mp3
by Buddy Holly and The Crickets, 1958.
available on What You Been A-Missin'
bootleg

***********************************

"Bo Diddley" mp3
by Drunk Man #2
date and artist unknown
from Ghosts Of Stax Past
not available

***********************************

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Black Gladiator


As the Mayor of Fluville, I hereby declare this to be Bo Diddley Week at the Boogie Woogie Flu. That is, unless someone else dies. So, here's a few chestnuts from Bo's 1970 outing - Black Gladiator.

Download:

"I Got A Feeling" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1970.
from Black Gadiator
out of print

"Shut Up, Woman" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1970.
from Black Gadiator
out of print

"I Don't Like You" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1970.
from Black Gadiator
out of print

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Moe Diddley


The genius of The Velvet Underground has for me always been the way they melded together (among other things) the sounds of dirty-ass rock 'n roll, New York vocal groups, literate lyrics, avant-garde 20th century classical music, Booker T and M.G's, and at the core, the drumming of Maureen Tucker, along with Sterling Morrison's (im)perfect guitar playing which owe as much to Bo Diddley as anything else. Here's Moe Tucker from her long out of print 1989 LP, Life In Exile After Abdication. She steps out from behind the drums here and plays guitar on "Bo Diddley." The rhythm section is Kim Gordon and Steve Shelley from Sonic Youth. Also, Jim Marshall, who has been like Santa Claus this week in Fluville, has supplied me with a recording of The Velvets rehearsing "Venus In Furs" at Warhol's Factory to the tune of "Crackin' Up," and has also pointed out that "The Gift" is John Cale reading over the Velvets playing a version of Bo Diddley's "Diddling."

Download:

"Bo Diddley" mp3
by Maureen Tucker, 1989.
from Life In Exile After Abdication
out of print

"Venus In Furs/Crackin' Up" mp3
by The Velvet Underground, 1966.
from At The Factory: Warhol Tapes
bootleg

"Diddling" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1962.
from The Chess Years 12 CD Box Set
out of print

"The Gift" mp3
by The Velvet Underground, 1968.
available on White Light/White Heat

"Guess I'm Falling In Love" (Instrumental) mp3
by The Velvet Underground, 1967.
available on Another View

Monday, June 2, 2008

Ellas McDaniel 1928-2008


Well, I've been at a loss about what to post this week. Unfortunately the news today is of a far greater loss: Bo Diddley is dead. So responsibility calls and all flags in Fluville are flying at half-mast.

Rest In Peace.

Download:



"Pretty Thing" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1955.
available on The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection



"Mona" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1957.
available on The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection



"Hey! Bo Diddley"
by Bo Diddley, 1957.
available on The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection

also:

"Bo's Bounce" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1962.
ripped from vinyl
available on Bo's Bounce

"Crackin' Up" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1959.
available on The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection

"Road Runner" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1959.
available on The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection

"You Know I Love You" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1960.
with The Flamingos
available on The Chess Box

"Pills" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1961.
available on The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection

"Ride On Josephine" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1960.
available on The Chess Box

"You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1962.
available on The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection

"Aztec" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1961.
available on The Chess Box

"Untitled Instrumental" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1961.
available on The Chess Box

**************************************************

also, via email a few personal reminiscences of Bo Diddley
courtesy of The Hound

1) I was bike messengering in the early 80's and had some time to kill so I stopped into Show World @ 8th & 42nd to take in the quarter movies and get out of the cold. Who should be checking out at the counter but Bo Diddley in a long leather overcoat and cowboy hat. He's got a big bag of video's and I say: "Bo Diddley!, whatcha buyin' Bo"? He pulls the top video out of the bag and shows me Maximum Perversion Vol. 23. Pix of midgets, women w/snakes, etc. all over it. He's got a huge grin on his face.

2) Backstage at Madison Square Garden for some oldies show and there's Bo at the catering table. He gets a huge piece of apple pie and sits down, but before he eats it he butters both top and bottom w/about a quarter inch of butter, then picks it up and swallows it in two bites.

3) In 1985 we went down to Camden, N.J. to see Bo w/the Ben Vaughn Combo backing him up (they were perfect, Bo hated them) so I brought my copy of Go Bo Diddley to get signed. While I was getting it signed Ben asked Bo about the verse in "Who Do You Love" about the ice wagon and what it meant. Bo replied that Leonard Chess made him change the lyric from the original verse he brought in, which was:

"the night was black
the sky was blue
around the corner
a shit wagon flew
a bump was hit
a scream was heard
someone got hit with a flying turd"