Craven Apology

Hi, everyone.

My computer is currently out of order, so I won't be posting anything new until I get it fixed.

As a slight apology, please note that all the stuff I've uploaded is usually available in two open directories: here and here.

I hope it won't be too long. Sorry, folks.

Stagger Lee Saturdays - Bobby Pratt and the Rockers

Howdy, all. Sorry for the recent slack -- not a very auspicious start for this blog in the New Year. (I'm blaming it on residual Christmas burnout.)

Here's a raucous rockabilly take on Stag, modeled loosely on Lloyd Price's then-current hit., with some seriously wailing saxophone.

The album today's track comes from is a compilation of radio recordings by various (unknown) artists, featuring covers of Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and others, along with vintage ads for Sinclair Oil and Pepsi and some local businesses. Good stuff all around.

Bobby Pratt and The Rockers - Stagger Lee
mirror 1 -- mirror 2
Buy from Amazon -- Buy from Deep Discount

Stagger Lee Saturdays - James Brown

James Brown was the Hardest-Working Man In Show Business -- you all know that, so I won't bother with the introductory links this week.

This is a tasty, horn-driven version from 1967, a perfect slab of Famous Flame-broiled goodness. This song is almost out of print on CD, but luckily I found a cheapish import for your buy link down there. Enjoy!

(I apologize for the peremptory nature of this post, but I have another theme week up my sleeve, which starts tomorrow morning.)

James Brown - Stagger Lee
mirror 1 -- mirror 2
Buy from Amazon

Stagger Lee Saturdays - Dr. John, Part Two

Sorry I crapped out on y'all last week -- it was just too busy for me to get anything done here. Luckily, I've got a lot lined up all this month. (Also, you'll wanna go back to the post of two weeks ago and read the comments -- new stuff has come to light.)

It's been a while since I did a month of double Stag posts, but it's time again, so I can keep the numbers up. Today, we're gonna hear two more takes from Dr. John (learn a little about Dr. John and find his first version here, or on this compilation).

In 1973, the year after his first release of "Stagger Lee," Dr. John recorded a live show on radio, which luckily is in wide circulation. (You can get the whole marvelous thing at Captains Dead -- don't forget to click the link at the bottom for the second half.) This live track is similar lyrically and musically to the version on Dr. John's Gumbo. We're going "tee-na, na-na!"

Thirty-one years later, Dr. John mixed up a new version of the Stag legend for his album N'Awlinz: Dis Dat or D'udda (which album includes guest performances from B. B. King, Randy Newman, Willie Nelson, etc etc). He wrote in the liner notes:

"There was a many a pimp named Stak, and many a card hustler named Stakdollar ... An epic saga of death and char-ack-ters."

As befits the new version, this song has an (apparently) original title spelling. We'll hear more about Stack A Dollar next week, too...

Now, before I give you links, here's what I have planned for the rest of this month. If I can manage it, each Saturday this month will have two versions of Stag for your listening enjoyment. Download 'em, trade 'em, collect 'em all! Each Sunday this month will feature a Silly Sunday track from the same artist -- swing by tomorrow to find out who it'll be! Finally, I got to see Dr. John live last week, and the show blew my ears off. Come by Tuesday or Wednesday, and I'll post a review and some more tracks from Mac. Now, those MP3s:

Dr. John - Stagger Lee (live 1973)
mirror 1 -- mirror 2
Dr. John - Stakalee
mirror 1 -- mirror 2
Buy from Amazon -- Buy from Deep Discount

Multiple Mondays: Route 66

I must begin with an apology. I kind of extended my vacation for a few extra days this weekend, and neglected to post a Stagger Lee Saturday. I even had the song already uploaded, and just kept putting it off till it was Sunday morning, and too late. I hope this week of posts I have planned will make it up to y'all.

So this year my family's vacation was to the Great American Southwest. We saw Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, The Grand Canyon, and a tiny part of "The Main Street Of America," Route 66. The classic song commemorating this road was written by Bobby Troup, inspired unsurprisingly by a trip on the highway. It was first recorded in 1946 by The Nat King Cole Trio (wiki fansite AMG) and has since been covered by scores of other artists. I've amassed 18 versions, and cut those somewhat randomly down to 9 for this post. (Upon request, I'll post the other nine some other Monday.)

First, we hear the original version, with its smooth, jazzy piano. I've been digging on Nat King Cole a lot lately, though he's not the type of thing I post much on this blog. Joe Turner's (wiki AMG) 1971 performance turns the song into a swingin' jump blues, a lot like the late 50's "race" records I love so much. (In fact, I made it the second version in this mix before I did my research, since it sounds so late-50s to me.) Chuck Berry's (official wiki AMG) 1961 version served, as so many of his records did, as a template for a Rolling Stones (official wiki AMG) cover, in 1964. Then, we hear from an obscure Ohio garage band, The Alarm Clocks (official AMG), who credit the song to the Stones two years later.

Enough rock for now. Al Jarreau (official wiki AMG) uses some sound effects in his otherwise a capella version of the song, from 2002. After that palate cleanser, we hear Asleep At The Wheel's (official wiki AMG) lovely 1976 boogie-woogie version, followed by a version I'm not so proud of.

Natalie Cole is a shameless grave-excavating ghoul, to be sure. But when I was listening to this collection at work last week, I still enjoyed her version for its musical merits. I kind of like this, even though I would never admit it to her face. (This song also has the distinction of being heard many times a day in Disney's California Adventure.)

Finally, another Disney-related song. For use in Pixar's world-endingly-popular 2006 film Cars (also inspired by a trip across the country, incidentally), they hired Atlanta's own John Mayer (official wiki AMG) to record his own rocking version of the song, and I love it so much it ends this collection.

As usual, I've uploaded individual files in addition to a complete zip, which I recommend for ease of downloading. But I must add a final word of warning to all: Do not play this collection as driving music. You WILL get a speeding ticket.

1 - Nat King Cole (1 2)
2 - Joe Turner (1 2)

3 - Chuck Berry (1 2)

4- The Rolling Stones (1 2)
5- The Alarm Clocks (1 2)
6 - Al Jarreau (1 2)
7 - Asleep At The Wheel (1 2)
8 - Natalie Cole (1 2)
9 - John Mayer (1 2)

Zip file

Repost: Random Christmas Tracks

The more observant of you may have noticed that my bandwidth is frequently unavailable this month -- somehow, some way, I'm using about three times as much as I'm alotted (which is about ten times what I was using before December). As with the previous time this happened, I can't find any links here that weren't here this time last month -- I guess all the self-promotion I did in December has paid off. Paid off for my webhoster, that is.

Since they won't sell me more than 50 GB a month for a justifiable amount (70 GB costs more than twice what 50 GB costs -- to host the bandwidth I've used up this month, they want 5 times what I normally pay rather than 3 times) I've had to close the open access to my file directory, which I liked keeping open for the curious and the leechers. And I'll be deleting files from the directory much sooner.

All that is a long, drawn-out way of saying, here are all the individual tracks I posted during December which aren't part of another collection. (I'm also slowly fixing the original zips, so they work for everyone.) Links to the original posts:

The Chipmunk Song
Dennis Wilson's Birthday Post
Ethan Lipton - Gift Basket
John Cale - Child's Christmas In Wales
Lee Hartsfeld - Christmas Is Coming Again, Ha Haaa
Meco - What Can You Get A Wookiee For Christmas...
Okkervil River - Listening To Otis Redding At Home During Christmas
Raul Malo - Marshmallow World
The Jackson Five - I Saw Mommy --ing Santa Claus
The Sads - Santa
The Sonics - Santa Claus
Those Transatlantics - Boys and Children, Sing For Summer

And now, what you've all been waiting for, the download link: Zipfile

Stagger Lee Saturdays: Wilson Pickett

Howdy, folks. I bet you thought I forgot about this blog. I'd almost decided to abandon it for good, but that didn't happen. (I've had a really busy month, but I've got a lot of great stuff stacked up here, just waiting to be posted, so hopefully I'll be back within a day or two.)

Anyway, here's Wilson Pickett's take on Stag. It's almost certainly the musical template for Ike and Tina's version. This is from his 1968 album I'm In Love and was recorded the same year as his killer cover of "Hey Jude." This recording features Bobby Womack on guitar and King Curtis on saxophone.

More soon, I swear.

Wilson Pickett - Stagger Lee
Buy from Amazon -- Buy from Deep Discount

Stagger Lee Saturdays - Ma Rainey

Gertrude "Ma" Rainey was a native of Columbus, Georgia. And she was one of the first blues singers ever, certainly one of the first to make records. She inspired and coached Bessie Smith, and brought her own sexually-charged flavor of blues to the record-buying public. She was backed at times (though not, as far as I know, on this record) by jazz and blues greats such as Louis Armstrong and Fletcher Henderson.

This recording from 1926 is the long-awaited missing link between Stag and "Frankie and Johnny" (or "Frankie and Albert," if you prefer). I love how Ma interweaves the two traditional songs, singing one to the tune of the other, and even intermingling the themes of the two. "Dirty women and old corn whiskey was the cause of it all," indeed.

(I'm well aware that this post marks three whole weeks with only Stag posts -- I'm working on it, I swear.)

Ma Rainey - Stack O' Lee Blues
Buy from record label

LebowskiFest!

Howdy folks. I may not have internet access for the next week or so (it all depends on how the various motels roll their home versions of wifi), so if I don't post, don't worry. I'm off to LebowskiFest in Kentucky.

Here's a YouTube ukulele cover of "Dead Flowers", the Rolling Stones song that Townes Van Zandt performed live, which recording later became the final song of The Big Lebowski.

Wookie Fat Cat - Dead Flowers
See his other uke covers, including "Alice's Restaurant" and "Waterloo Sunset".

Still around

I'm still here, folks, though I don't have a Multiple Monday post for you this week. I've attended two concerts in the last week, and I swear I'll post on them soon. Watch this space

Not abandoned... I promise!

I haven't abandoned this here bloggity. I'm just on vacation. (I'd planned to post from the road, but space is at a premium, so the computer stays home. Sorry.)

I'll be back next week, with more music.