August 19th, 2010
“Huey P. Meaux’s last Friday night oldies show on KPFT right before he went large with Freddy Fenders “Before the Next Teardrop Falls.”
Categories: Swamp Pop, Time Machine, video | Tags: Crazy Cajun, Huey P. Meaux, kpft, Radio | 2 Comments
August 13th, 2010
Guitar Gable, Michael Hurtt, Jockey Etienne at a Congo Mambo concert.
Today is the last of our cocktail-and-conversation series with the Louisiana State Museum and it’s a doozy- a conversation with swamp-pop guitarist Gabriel Perrodin, better known as Guitar Gable. Today, Aug. 13 at 5:30 p.m at the Cabildo in New Orleans’ Jackson Square. Free drinks, Swamp Pop DJ and admission!
PonderosaStomp.com on Guitar Gable:
In the annals of bayou guitar slingers, few men can claim a pedigree as distinguished as that of Guitar Gable. Born Gabriel Perrodin, Gable’s echo-drenched six-string licks define the exotic Crowley studio sound that producer J.D. Miller perfected during the ‘50s. Picking his Telecaster with an advanced-yet edgy feel, and with the help of the amazing Clarence “Jockey” Etienne on drums, Gable came up with a string of Caribbean-laced instrumentals like Congo Mombo,” “Guitar Rhumbo” and—perhaps the rarest and greatest of all of them—“Gumbo Mambo,” that are as much a part of South Louisiana’s rock ‘n’ roll atmosphere as the songs of Fats Domino and Bobby Charles.
Guitar Gable and King Karl soon revolutionized the swamp pop lexicon with bluesy, heart-wrenching ballads such as “Irene,” “Life Problem” and “This Should Go On Forever”—ridden to the top of the charts in 1958 by Rod Bernard—as well as rockers like “Cool, Calm, Collected” and “Walking Through the Park.” While their material is most closely associated with Excello Records, Gable and Karl had some excellent releases during the ’60s on the La Louisianne label and its subsidiary, Tamm. The Kings broke up in 1968, but reformed in 1995. With Jockey Etienne still behind the drum kit, their inherently raw, visceral approach is as close to what this music sounded like when it was invented as anyone will ever hear live in the new millennium.
Guitar Gable, Congo Mombo
Categories: Audio, Song of the Day | 1 Comment
July 28th, 2010
Jaded ears may be crying over hearing this warhorse again. This horse can still kick however in the hands of a master. Case in point – Detroit vocalist Spyder Turner’s version.
This novelty take of “Stand By Me” includes impersonations of Jackie Wilson, David Ruffin, Billy Stewart, Chuck Jackson and Smokey Robinson and comes from Turner’s audition tape to MGM. The phrasing in the beginning demonstrates that Turner is a great singer in his own right. The masses agreed and in ’67 “Stand by Me” hit #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the Soul charts.
If you have seen veteran R&B performers live they often include a song in which they mimic other performer’s vocals and moves. They may have even done it to this song. Chalk another one up for Spyder Turner.
Spyder Turner performs at the Detroit Breakdown in NYC on July 31, 2010.
Categories: Audio, Detroit, Ponderosa Stomp On The Road, Song of the Day, Soul | Tags: Detroit, Detroit Breakdown, Spyder Turner | 1 Comment
July 27th, 2010
The Gories, Detroit Breakdown
Categories: Audio, Detroit, New York, Ponderosa Stomp On The Road | Tags: Detroit Breakdown, Flyer, Gories | 2 Comments
July 27th, 2010
Before the Stooges, MC5 and the Nuge there was Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels
Early in 1967, Mitch Ryder’s prototypical, riff-rockin “Sock It To Me-Baby!” became Ryder’s final Top 10 single, despite being banned on several stations for being too sexually suggestive.
Mitch and the boys will take Manhattan this Saturday at the Detroit Breakdown!
Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, Sock it to Me, Baby!
Categories: Audio, Detroit, Rock 'n Roll, Song of the Day | Tags: Detroit, Detroit Breakdown | 1 Comment
July 24th, 2010
The Death story. Three brothers from Detroit, Bobby (bass, vocals), David (guitar), and Dannis (drums) Hackney form funk/r&b band in 1972. Convert to rock n’ roll after witnessing Alice Cooper concert in 1973. Rename themselves “Death.” Put out 500 copies of a self released 7” in 1976: “Politicians in My Eyes” b/w “Keep on Knocking,” on their Tryangle label after the majors turn them down over their refusal to change their name. Band members move to Vermont and musically move on to gospel/rock with 4th Movement, and then reggae with Lambsbread. Lead guitarist David Hackney dies in 2000.
Album’s worth of material surfaces on master tape after one of Bobby’s sons hears the ‘76 single at a party in San Francisco in 2009 and recognizes his dad’s voice. Sons soon discover the Tryangle release has become legendary among punk/hardcore collectors. Bobby Sr. digs out Death master tapes from attic. Sons form Rough Francis as a tribute band to play Death’s largely unheard material and further the legacy. Drag City puts out Death LP “For the Whole World to See” in 2009. NY Times: “Death’s newly unearthed recordings reveal a missing link between the high-energy hard rock of Detroit bands like the Stooges and MC5 from the late 1960s and early ’70s and the high-velocity assault of punk from its breakthrough years of 1976 and ’77.” Death reforms with the Hackney brothers and Lambsbread guitarist Bobbie Duncan in 2009.
Before his death in 2000, David gave Death master tapes to brother Bobby for safekeeping and told him “you’ve got to keep all this stuff, the world’s going to come looking for it one day.”
Detroit’s own DEATH -Where Do We Go From Here? Documentary – Tour 2009 Promo from Howlermano on Vimeo.
On July 31, 2010, Death will perform as part of the Detroit Breakdown in NYC at Lincoln Center Out of Doors.
Death, Keep on Knocking
Categories: Detroit, New York, Rock 'n Roll, Song of the Day | Tags: Detroit, Detroit Breakdown, Lincoln Center | 1 Comment
July 21st, 2010
Next up in our Detroit Breakdown countdown to NYC, a Fortune 45 from Melvin Davis.
Stomp architect/musician/writer Michael Hurtt chronicled the prolific, inspiring and enduring career of the Detroit soul survivor in a 2009 Metro Times Feature.
The story of Melvin Davis is emblematic of Detroit. A working man in a working man’s town, he seized on his talent and passion to weave himself into the musical fabric of one of the most soulful cities in America. With his hands in everything that Motor City music had to offer, Davis’ unmistakable touch — though mostly unheralded in its time — endures today.
Davis spent three decades in Detroit working every aspect of the music business as a vocalist, musician, bandleader, studio man, writer, promoter and more -and worked with with a dizzying number of the regions finest musicians, labels and bands. Recently out of retirement, Davis will perform as part of the Motor City Soul Revue along with Dennis Coffey, Spyder Turner and The Velvelettes at the upcoming Detroit Breakdown.
Hurtt chronicles the origins of “I Won’t Be Your Fool” thusly…
Davis’ Fortune single, “Playboy,” began to pick up airplay, but when the Browns left the city for a three-week vacation, the promotion — and the record — died on the vine. The 45′s flipside, “I Won’t Be Your Fool” remains one of Davis’ most infectious recordings. Its stream-of-consciousness lovelorn lyrics are Davis at his finest, resigned-yet-passionate, sung by one whose experience transcends his youth. Superb backup vocals lock in with soulful guitar chords and an irresistible bass line, all driven by Butch Vaden’s explosive drumming.
Melvin Davis, I Won’t be Your Fool
Categories: Detroit, Song of the Day, Soul | Tags: Detroit, Detroit Breakdown, Fortune Records, Lincoln Center, Melvin Davis, Michael Hurtt | 1 Comment
July 16th, 2010
On July 31, 2010, Eddie Kirkland will kick off the Detroit Breakdown in NYC.
Eddie Kirkland, Saturday Night Stomp
Categories: Audio, Blues, Detroit, Ponderosa Stomp On The Road, Song of the Day | Tags: Detroit, Detroit Breakdown, Lincoln Center | 1 Comment
July 2nd, 2010
Born and raised in rough-and-tumble Phenix City, Alabama, where he still resides today, Ralph “Soul” Jackson” grew up in a musical household. After a childhood spent tinkering with the piano while other boys played ball, Jackson penned an original called “Don’t Tear Yourself Down” during his senior year in high school and sent a demo of it off to Rick Hall in Muscle Shoals. The next thing he knew, Ralph was recording at Hall’s Fame Studio with the same band that backed the likes of Clarence Carter, Wilson Pickett and Arthur Conley.
In 1975 he cut a single for Neal Hemphill’s Birmingham-based Black Kat label, “Set Me Free” b/w “Take Me Back.” Considered a “Northern Soul” classic, it has been released on the CD “The Birmingham Sound: The Soul of Neal Hemphill” by Rabbit Factory as well as reissued on a Dusty Groove 45.
“Soul” will be appearing Thursday, July 8th, from 6pm-8pm at the Ogden Museum After Hours in collaboration with the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation for a performance and interview.
Ralph Soul Jackson, Set Me Free
Categories: Audio, Song of the Day, Soul | Tags: Birmingham, Black Kat, muscle shoals, Neil Hemphill, northen soul | No Comments
June 29th, 2010
This just in – the Stomp’s Alison Fensterstock with the latest on the future of Ernie K-Doe’s Mother-in-Law Lounge.
Just about a week after deciding that she would close the landmark tavern she took over after her mother’s death last year, Betty Fox has announced that she will try to keep the Mother-In-Law Lounge open after all. The outpouring of support that came after her announcement on June 20 prompted a change of heart, she said.
Read more on NOLA.com, including the details on the upcoming July 5th benefit….
On March 25, 2000, four young New Orleans acts played with K-Doe at the Mother-in-Law Lounge as a tribute to one of their most important mentors. K-Doe loved to teach his children and they loved to learn from their favorite teacher. The bands that night were The Rubber Maids, Egg Yolk Jubilee, The McGillicuddys, Fireball Rockett and Mr. Quintron. (the blurry face underneath Martin Luther King is the Stomp's D Lefty Parker) Photo by Scott Saltzmann
When I think about the Mother-In-Law lounge, I always picture K-Doe singing this song in his club: “Come on Home.”
Ernie K-Doe, Come on Home
Categories: Audio, Fallen But Never Forgotten, New Orleans, Scene Report | Tags: K-Doe | 1 Comment
