Today we begin a new feature that, with luck, will appear regularly each Saturday. The title doesn't refer to syncopation but rather silly, novelty or off beat songs. Many of these songs I grew up with in the 50s and 60s. Of course I was just knee-high to a grasshopper in the 50s you understand but many of these songs ran on the radio in those days and helped get me hooked on music. Our first selection comes from the height of the cold war and the height of the sci-fi craze of the 50s. In 1958 Sheb Wooley capitalized on when our imaginations were piqued by movies about aliens and UFO's with The Purple People Eater...
Blues, R&B, country, funk and rock and roll. Little Feat was all of those things. While the band continues to perform to this day, the version with co-founder Lowell George was, for me, the definitive edition Little Feat. Tragically, George died of a massive heart attack at the age of 34, 30 years ago this week - June 29, after a solo concert in Washington, D.C.
George was a member of the Mothers of Invention before starting Little Feat and often told the story of being fired by Frank Zappa for trying to get the Mothers to do a song he had written. Zappa, not a drug user, didn't like the drug references in the song. Many have covered the song over the years but few have matched Little Feat's version of Willin'. Here's a performance of the song from 1977...
I been warped by the rain, driven by the snow I'm drunk and dirty, don't you know And I'm still Willin'
And I was out on the road late at night And I seen my pretty Alice in every head light Alice Dallas Alice
Chorus And I've been from Tuscon to Tucumcari Tehachapi to Tonapah Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made Driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed
And if you give me Weed, whites, and wine And you show me a sign I'll be willin' To be movin'
I've been kicked by the wind, robbed by the sleet Had my head stoved in, but I'm still on my feet And I'm still Willin'
Now I smuggled some smokes and folks from Mexico Baked by the sun, every time I go to Mexico And I'm still
The Music Machine was pretty much a one hit wonder group from the mid-60s. Their sound was characterized as "American garage rock/psychedelic". Talk Talk came from the first of two albums, Turn On, released in 1966. Too bad the group broke up in 1967. Growing up, I thought this song was great...
A buddy and I are taking off for Temagami, Ontario this week for our annual trek to do a little fishin'. Through the marvels of modern technology I've post-dated a couple of items for the week.
Speaking of fishing, we kick things off with this take-off of "Jesus Take The Wheel" called "Cleetus Take The Reel" by Tim Hawkins. Carrie Underwood, look out!
Michael Jackson died this afternoon of "cardiac" arrest". Say what you will regarding the skin pigmentation, plastic surgery and "little boy" controversies but Michael Jackson was a musical dynamo who began his career as a child musical and TV star. I wasn't the biggest of Michael Jackson fans but I certainly recognize the contribution he made to the world of music and music videos.
Here's a performance back before all the craziness started from when he was about 13 years of age. The song is Ben from the movie of the same name. The song was originally offered to a young Donny Osmond who was unable to record it because he was on tour. RIP Michael.
Well we ran our first 60s flashback Tuesday. Today is our first look back at the 70s. Kickin' us off is Steely Dan, often referred to as a jazz-rock outfit, who wryly named themselves after the steam-powered dildo in William Burroughs' novel The Naked Lunch.
The mainstays of Steely Dan were Walter Becker and Donald Fagen each of whom have issued solo albums throughout the years. The group was very popular during the 70s in particular, issuing 7 albums throughout the decade, beginning with their debut rlease Can't Buy A Thrill. Here's a performance of a cut from that album "Reelin' In The Years"...
...And Dufus Got a Brand New Blog. Welcome to the first official week of dufusdownbeat where we'll take a look back at some of the acts from the 60s and 70s, share a bit of musical history and run some classic clips.
The "hardest working man in show business", the "godfather of soul" James Brown seemed like a likely artist to formally get us started. He rose to fame in the 50s and 60s with an amazing stage show comprised of synchronized back up singers, a chuggin' rhythm section and a honking horn section. Here's an all-too brief medley of Papa's Got A Brand New Bag and I Feel Good from the Ed Sullivan Show in the mid-60s.
It's the first day of summer and for me a new beginning!
Welcome to dufusdownbeat and thanks for stopping by. This blog is an extension of nonamedufus, a humour blog and represnts a milestone in it's evolution. What began as primarily a photo and picture blog has pretty much morphed into written posts focussing on political and observational humour.
While I'm into both humour and music it was getting to the point where they didn't always co-exist. So the next logical step appeard to be the creation of a separate music blog and hopefully this will focus the other blog exclusively on humour. I hope you enjoy this approach and I look forward to your visits and your comments at both blogs. Feel free to add yourself to my followers widget, too.
At the outset and until I completely comprehend what I've gotten myself into with an additional blog, I'll try to stick to the following publishing schedule:
I'm sure there'll be additional posts during the week and on the weekends but a post a day, alternating between the two blogs sounds good for now as a minimum.
Wish me luck, and I hope you keep coming back. Thanks!
The following artists and groups are among my favourites. I believe they're truly responsible for the greatest tunes and melodies out there, influencing many, many artists who have come after. They've been just cruising through my consciousness for years...
Before this blog saw the light of day I was running articles about 60s groups on my humour blog - nonamedufus - on Fridays and about 70s groups on Saturdays as a bit of a diversion.
Feel free to take a peek at the artists I featured, by clicking on the appropriate hyperlink.
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