Retro Chicken

I don’t understand why these guys never got as huge as the classic bands from yesteryear. When they first hit (in the early 90’s) they were from the first wave of bands coming after the long dearth of 80’s-goof-ball synth-pop. First came the hair-bands (Poison, Motley Crew, Ratt, etc) and then the rockers (Guns N’ Roses), followed by Seattle and everything loud and masculine. The Black Crowes were a breath of fresh air – drawing on blues based music ala the Stones, Zeppelin, and the rest – they had great songs and could play well too.

Songs like “Remedy” still get airplay on the classic rock stations – I guess I am not the only Black Crowes’ fan left.

When I was in college, James Blood Ulmer would come to Boston a few times a year with a trio featuring James Blood on guitar (and intermittent vocals), Jamaaladeen Tacuma on bass and Grant Calvin Weston on drums. They were incredible, alternating songs between free-form-jams and semi-folksy-“funk” tunes (to this day Grant Calvin Weston is the greatest drummer I have ever seen live).

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything with James Blood and this group online, but while searching for “James Blood” I stumbled upon this video featuring him with Ornette Coleman from the mid-1970’s. Ornette (on alto) is known is the pioneer of free jazz and James Blood made his name playing guitar with Prime Time, Ornette’s electric “funk” band.

The video is from 1974 even though it looks about 30 years older.

Screamin’ Jay Hawkins is easily one of the greatest vocalists I have ever seen. His range is incredible, his stage presense is unbelievable, and his outlandish outlandishness is life changing. I was fortunate to get to see him at a club in New York in the early 90’s. The crowd was small enough that after the show I was able to get on stage to hang out with him and shmooze about geeky guitar stuff with his guitarist (I was so jealous and wanted his gig like nobody’s business – but it wasn’t meant to be). Screamin’ Jay’s greatest hits album (Voodoo Jive) is well worth the listen and has everything Screamin’ Jay – from the classic “I Put A Spell On You” to the transformative “Constipation Blues.”

I found this video – I don’t know what TV show it is from – but it is very 80’s and features 80’s fixtures from the NY studio session scene like David Sanborn (sax) and the dude who was the first guitar player in the David Letterman band.

While it is true that the Stones ushered in the era of modern arena rock shows*, it is the Who who should be credited with inventing the modern rock performance – windmills, great moves and of course instrument smashing are all trademark Who innovations – not to mention great music.

This video features the classic Who lineup – with Keith Moon on drums. Drum geeks will notice that Keith doesn’t have a high-hat, he has a ride cymbal next to his snare and he bangs on the gong behind him like it is just another part of his kit – I guess this is just more proof of his greatness (Full Moon is an amazing biography about traveling with Keith Moon written by one of the Who’s roadies). The rest of the band also rocks.

*On the Stones’ tour that resulted in the album “Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out” (as well as the infamous incident at the concert at Altamont Raceway), they introduced an on-stage monitor system, making it possible for the band to play to enormous crowds and still hear themselves playing – this is now standard even in small clubs.

What more is there to say about James Brown? He invented funk, rap and disco. He is the most sampled man in music. His grooves are incredible, universal, innovative and extremely funky. He is a great singer, awesome bandleader, amazing dancer, and toured more and for longer then any other musician ever.

This video was all over the internet when James died last year. It is mid-70’s JB – his band is extremely tight and his mustache is awesome. I once heard that he would fine band members for any hit or move they missed – that probably explains why his band is perfect (aside from being great musicians). Also dig the audience – James had to work to get them out of their seats – how could it be?

There is no question that Charles Mingus was one of the most important musicians of the late 50s/early 60s. Beside from being a virtuoso bass player (his sideman gigs throughout the 40s and 50s is a virtual whose-who of jazz), he was an inspired, innovative and ingenious composer – often hailed as the continuation of the Jellyroll Morton-Duke Ellington legacy. He fused earthy blues roots with twentieth century classical ideas and formed a bridge between the world of straight-ahead jazz and the free jazz movement.

The great Eric Dolphy (on alto in this video clip) toured extensively with Mingus (as well as with John Coltrane and as a solo artist). While this clip is old (filmed with crusty technology) and doesn’t show off Mingus, it does give a great taste of the absolutely wild forays into the stratosphere that were Eric Dolphy’s signature style.

For a wild (if raunchy) read, and a fascinating glimpse into the mind of Mingus, check out his classic memoir – Beneath the Underdog. (I don’t know how much of it is true - whatever is true, is wild, whatever is not - makes great fiction.)

I don’t think anyone remembers, but it was a big deal when Spike Lee released his classic movie “Do the Right Thing.” Bigger still was Public Enemy – the pioneering rap group – who recorded “Fight the Power” as the theme song for “Do the Right Thing”.

Featuring Chuck D, Flavor Flav and DJ Terminator X – Public Enemy rapped faster, with more innovative rhymes and over tighter grooves – and ushered in a whole new era of rap. Culturally they spoke to the black masses (as well as to masses of disenchanted suburban white kids) and communicated an energy that was inspiring and exciting.

I found this video for “Fight the Power” (probably filmed by Spike Lee) and it totally captures what Public Enemy was all about. In the recording, Chuck D is at the top of his game and he is complimented beautifully with the high, raspy interjections of Flavor Flav. Unfortunately people today only know Flavor for his wacky reality TV show and don’t realize just how great a rapper he is and how integral he was to Public Enemy’s sound and message. (Yes, even in this video his antics are crazy – but back then no one thought he was out of his mind – Public Enemy was too cool and they sounded too good.)

I went to college (the New England Conservatory) with Dave Fiuczynski and he was easily the best guitar player there. This was back in the late 80’s, he had his band – the Screaming Headless Torsos – and a host of crazy guitars with cool gadgets (like mini-guitars with bicycle gears to dampen the strings, etc), among other things.

I was wondering, “What happened to Fuze” recently, and apparently he is now huge. According to his website, he put out an album with John Medeski (also at NEC in the late 80’s) that not only revolutionized the jazz-fusion scene, but was voted one of the most influential albums of the last 30 years by guitar player magazine. Not bad.

Fuze is an amazing player - a master at pretty much every style - with killer chops, great taste, funky grooves, and wild microtonal leads.

Once I mentioned the Stone’s Classic Gimme Shelter in a previous post you knew it was only a matter of time before I found an excuse to write something about it.

Check these guys out - I mean wow.

I don’t think they are lip-syncing (the version in this video is different from the album and missing the ridiculously amazing backing vocals), though I don’t know how to explain the harmonica that no one seems to be playing. But who cares - this is classic Stones, when they were in their prime and at their best.

For those with a keen eye for Stones history, this video is Stones 2.0 with Mick Taylor (guitar) replacing founding member Brian Jones. Mick is the dude playing the black Les Paul.

In a previous post I mentioned the ultra-hip Downtown Jewish music scene (aka John Zorn and company). Check out these killer jams - John Zorn’s quartet - filmed in Warsaw and featuring Joey Baron on drums.

Zorn has a record label - Tzadik - dedicated to releasing all sorts of cool “Jewish” music. Tzadik is the Hebrew word for righteous (though I once saw hype for the Tzadik label and they translated “tzadik” as “wise” - not sure how they could have made this mistake and if that changes the intent of the label). Like I mentioned earlier - the music on this label is everything from traditional grooves to guitar feedback weirdness - enjoy.