The Mystery Suggester is at it again, this time suggesting a guy who's been on the "dig into at some point" list for a while. It's this crazed Swiss guy, Reverend Beat Man. The song she suggested "Come Back Lord," was my introduction to him (whenever it was that I initially ran into him), one that I hadn't happened to share with anybody. The fact that the Mystery Suggester mentioned him, and that particular song, just goes to show why I trust her tips. She knows what I like, with amazing accuracy.
Reverend Beat Man is a piece of work. He lost his voice doing a lot of screaming and yelling in his "wrestling rock n' roll act," Lightening Beat Man. He had to stop wrestling due to the voice thing and an injured back. After having a hallucination in which Robert Johnson and Screamin' Jay Hawkins appeared, telling him to go preach, he began to do just that. In his own inimitable style. It's not pretty. But he doesn't seem to be here to be pretty. He's testifying. His lyrics are a bit over the top. Either he's nuts, or he's just trying to be outrageous. One song, "Jesus Christ Twist," suggests a new dance, wherein you nail your partner to a cross and dance around them, before shooting yourself. Sounds like a swingin' time. Regardless, there's no denying the quality of the music, I mean, shredded vocals and distorto-blues guitar? What's not to like? Like Howlin' Wolf, deprived of water for a few weeks, turned up to 11.
He also DJs, and he has a record label, Voodoo Rhythm, with some like minded nuts in his stable. All are, what he describes as, trash blues. They range from stuff that could be Mudhoney (the Monsters' "Go Away Fuck Yourself"), to good ol' fashioned garage (the Guilty Hearts). Let me tell you, there's a lot of irreverent beating going on over there.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen: Reverend Beat Man - Come Back Lord mp3 at Go Retro
Reverend Beat Man - I Don't Care mp3 at Shut Up and Listen
Reverend Beat Man - Get On Your Knees mp3 at Voodoo Rhythm
From the Voodoo Rhythm roster:
The Monsters -The Love I Never Had mp3 at Voodoo Rhythm
The Monsters - I'm a Record Junkie mp3 at Voodoo Rhythm
The Monsters - Go Away Fuck Yourself mp3 at Voodoo Rhythm
The Guilty Hearts - Turn It Off mp3 at Voodoo Rhythm
King Automatic - The Model mp3 at Voodoo Rhythm
Thee Butchers Orchestra - Don't Ask Me Why mp3 at Voodoo Rhythm
Hipbone Slim & the Knee Tremblers - What Do You Look Like mp3 at Voodoo Rhythm
More music at Voodoo Rhythm (don't be discouraged by the dead links, there's plenty of live ones)
Video:
Reverend Beat Man - Jesus Christ Twist at YouTube
Reverend Beat Man - I See the Light at YouTube
Reverend Beat Man - Short profile from a German (?) TV show at YouTube
Reverend Beat Man - More videos at YouTube
Visit:
Reverend Beat Man profile and interview at No Depression
Reverend Beat Man interview at Blues In London
Letter to Beat Man from Hasil Adkins
Voodoo Rhythm Records
1 comment:
You take suggestions? I don't know if you'd be into Roy Hogsed or not, but I just got him on my radar recently, and then discovered he was in San Diego for most of his career! I want to know if he was part of a scene, or an anomoly? What neighborhood did he run around in? (I found a photo of him at the "College Club" I think). And can you draw a connection between him and any of San Diego's later musicians.
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