LOCK DOWN THEATER NIGHT 8

This should kill more than a few hours. These were first posted here five years ago, but it's worth a bookmark, especially not knowing how long the stay at home orders last. Without just repeating what was said when I first posted these, I'm just slapping a new title on the post. Here's what I said back then:

Dude looks pretty square doesn't he? Assuming you don't know who Hoss Allen is, if someone were to tell you that he hosted a syndicated TV show you'd probably think it would be fairly tepid, right? Wrong. He hosted The !!!! Beat, a 1966 music series with insanely solid line-ups of soul, R & B and blues artists all performing in the studio, most in front of a live band. The list of performers includes (prepare to drool here) Etta James, the Bar Kays, Louis Jordan, Otis Redding, Carla Thomas, Freddie King, Willie Mitchell, Barbara Lynn, Sam and Dave, the Mighty Hannibal, Joe Tex, and on and on. Yeah, budget a night or two, get a six pack, and for fuck sake, turn off that phone.

Seriously you guys, this is insanity. For just a couple teasers of what can be found in random samplings, click here for Barbara Lynn doing "What I'd Say", with Clarence Gatemouth Brown on guitar. (Oh yeah, that's another thing. Brown was part of the house band! Holy shit and what not!) And one more quick one before you leave, click here for a goosebump inducing clip of Etta James doing "Only Time Will Tell". Those two are just completely random. Here's some links to entire shows, but there's lots more at Youtube.

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Listen:
The !!!! Beat, Vol 4 Show #15 at YouTube Louis Jordan and the Tympani Five (five songs) and Freddy King (two songs, one with Clarence Gatemouth Brown)
The !!!! Beat, Vol 6 # Show 26 at YouTube Otis Redding (guest host!), Percy Sledge, the Bar Kays, Sam and Dave, Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, and more.
The !!!! Beat, Vol 1 # Show 2 at YouTube Joe Tex, Etta James, Little Milton, Gatemouth Brown, and more.
The !!!! Beat - More episodes (over fifteen) at YouTube

EVEN THE SHAKE IS GOOD

You know the hits. Trust me, even if you're not familiar with the label, if you've heard any soul music at all, you've heard stuff on Stax. As a label, it's up there with the greats. The elite labels that had their own sound and often their own studio. You know what I'm talking about. Sun, Chess, Motown, and the like. The labels with insanely great runs of quality 45s, one after another, for years. The cool thing about the labels with that kind of consistency is that often even the second tier stuff kicks ass.

Boogaloo Time has three posts with a great cross section of Stax stuff, names you'll recognize, some you won't, early and mid-peak. Twenty three in all. Here's just a few. The first one below by Rufus and Carla (Thomas) is the first Stax 45 for both of them. Booker T, of all people, is on sax. The one by Donna Rae and the Sunbeams is down there because it's pre-soul, and actually pre-Stax, It was released in 1960 on Satellite Records, which would became Stax. It's rockabilly. The other two are just oddballs I dig.

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Listen:
Rufus and Carla - 'Cause I Love You mp3 at Boogaloo Time
Donna Rae and the Sunbeams - Little Fool mp3 at Boogaloo Time Pre-Stax rockabilly on Satellite
Eddie Kirk - Them Bones mp3 at Boogaloo Time
Floyd Newman - Frog Stomp mp3 at Boogaloo Time
Dig it!:
4 more Stax mp3s at Boogaloo Time
5 more Stax mp3s at Boogaloo Time
9 more Stax mp3s at Boogaloo Time

EVEN THEIR POCKET CHANGE

This could be day two of the Soul Related Record Labels That Start With "S" Fest. Lucky for you I'm short on blab tonight. Just dig this second tier Stax stuff along with a couple better known ones. Hell, even the LP filler is better than....Hey! You! The fuck off my lawn!

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Listen:
Otis Redding and Carla Thomas - Tramp mp3 at The Ear Hole
Rufus Thomas - Walking The Dog mp3 at The Ear Hole
Rufus Thomas - Funky Hot Grits mp3 at The Ear Hole
The Sweet Inspirations - Slipped And Tripped mp3 at The Ear Hole
Joe Tex - Papa Was, Too mp3 at Groove Addict
Carla Thomas - Stop Thief mp3 at Groove Addict
Albert King - Killing Floor mp3 at Groove Addict with Booker T and the MGs
The Mar-Keys - Jive Man mp3 at Groove Addict

COMING RIGHT UP SNOOKUMS

I don't thing I have a thing to say that that look on Carla Thomas doesn't convey a thousand times better. It screams..., wait, no it doesn't. It says, deliberately, "Play my record, baby." So here's a couple of her Christmas songs. There you go. Got the holiday thing taken care of and, thanks to Carla Thomas' stare down, I can cheapo out on the copy.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Carla Thomas - Gee Whiz It's Christmas mp3 at Kick Kick Snare
Carla Thomas - All I Want For Christmas Is You mp3 at Sir Shambling's Deep Soul Heaven
Video:
Carla Thomas -Every Ounce of Strength (TV show, 1965) at YouTube
Visit:
Carla Thomas at the Stax Museum
Portrait of Carla Thomas - A large high resolution version of the photo above at the Stax Museum.

LAST MINUTE PARTY SUPPLIES

Here's a mess of last minute background noise for your holiday shindig, and it's a weird mix. Let me preface all the descriptive rambling by saying that I'm not one for playing a lot of holiday music. (It's just not my bag, man.) That said, I know some of you can't get enough of it. So, here's a bunch. Some links, some mp3s, and a couple full mixes; all told about 175 songs. And, if you're going to a family get-together, I'd recommend previewing some first. (Let's just say that no matter what, Eazy E's getting coal in his stocking for life.)

Now, about the songs: I had to start with Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" for one big fat reason. It's not often that the hardened semi-geezer that is your host gets choked up. But, it does happen at least once a year, while watching TV of all things. Because, every year, Darlene Love appears on Letterman, on his last show before Christmas (this Thursday, the 23rd). She performs her signature song, in front of a brass section, a string section, and a choir. Now, one of things that gets me all misty eyed is that she does it year after year (twenty three and counting), and I reflect quite a bit in those three minutes. I get to thinking about how many of my friends purchased the Phil Spector Christmas album as their first adult holiday music purchase, a sort of serendipitous rite of passage. And I think about how all of those friends, now far and wide, have probably dug it out for the holidays, somehow linked by their appreciation of Spector's Wall of Sound. That's the big thing, that Wall of Sound. It also hits me, as I watch it, that it is probably the only time I will ever see a Spector produced song performed live, with anything that approximates the same arrangement and backing that was in the studio way back when. It's really something to watch. It's big. It's joyful. It may be corny (specifically, when the sax player appears), but if you're anything at all like me, it can be goosebump inducing. (There's links below to videos of previous performances to give you a taste.)

Now that I've about used up my allotment of wordiness, here's the rundown on the others. The Pogues "Fairytale of New York" is such a melancholy song, and made more so when you consider what a relative mess Shane MacGowan is. It's beautiful, in a very weird way. After that is another Spector produced Darlene Love song. Then there's a little soul interlude, with JB, Carla Thomas and Clarence Carter. Following that is Joey Ramone's version of "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)" because it seems a lot more heartfelt than the original by the Ramones proper. The Apoctalyptica cut's in there because you always need a little Finnish cello-metal in a holiday mix. The Reverend Horton Heat song sounds like something out of a Sergio Leone flick. Jimmy Smith is just so cool, nothing further needs to be said. The Deer Tick song, as much as I hate the premise, is some pretty worthy banging. The Stevie Wonder cut is such an amazing anti-war song that I'm embarrassed to say, I never heard it until recently (as in, a couple hours ago). Buck Owens is down there because everybody needs a tear jerking Bakersfield breakdown at some point.

Turn it up guys, and remember: Darlene Love, Thursday night.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) mp3 (plus 9 others) at AM Then FM
The Pogues - Fairytale of New York mp3 (plus 38 others)t Salad Days of Music
Darlene Love - White Christmas mp3 at Aquarium Drunkard
James Brown - Santa Clause, Santa Claus mp3 at AM Then FM
Carla Thomas - Gee Whiz It's Christmas mp3 at Kick Kick Snare
Clarence Carter - Back Door Santa mp3 at AM Then FM
Joey Ramone - Merry Christmas mp3 (plus a 24 song mix) at Sucka Pants
Apocalyptica - Little Drummer Boy mp3 at Cover Me
Reverend Horton Heat - What Child Is This mp3 at AM Then FM
Jimmy Smith - Santa Clause Is Coming to Town mp3 (plus 9 more) at Review Stalker
Deer Tick - Christmas All Summer Long mp3 (plus 19 others) at Consequence of Sound
Stevie Wonder - Someday At Christmas mp3 at AM Then FM
Buck Owens & Susan Raye - All I Want For Christmas Is My Daddy mp3 (plus 14 more) at My Aimz Is True
Mixes:
A Different Kind of Christmas - 25 song mix at Flowering Toilet
(The Fall, Jack Scott, Johnny Otis, Chuck Berry, Solomon Burke, etc.)
Christmas Wrap - 25 song hip hop mix at Electric Adolescence
(Snoop, Eazy E, 2 Live Crew, Biz Markie, Big Daddy Kane, etc.)
Watch:
Here's a few of the Darlene Love performances from the Late Show With David Letterman. Another post will be about the videos (only so much gushing in one night). For now, here's these:
Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), 2009, Letterman at YouTube
Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), 2008, Letterman at YouTube
Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), Compilation of four Letterman appearances, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2009 at YouTube