Let us Rejoice! Most Systems Go!: The Neville Brothers

Well, all systems are go! At least for now, even if behind the scenes a veritable tech menagerie is working overtime to stave off complete oblivion. In my free hours since the loss of my digital world I’ve dug out ancient tiny external drives and copied the most complete libraries of music and photos that survived to other safe havens. My desk is a bomb site of USBs, wires, little external drives and those two ugly fat Seagates, still dead as stones.

Even the MacAir which was similarly defunct has been persuaded (by the good unblocker, Ganesh, perhaps?) to come to life again. So while the panic levels have decreased somewhat there is still some ways to go before I can sleep completely easy at night.

Thanks to all of you who provided comfort and even offers of help and cash to get the show back on the road. That was unexpected and really, very deeply appreciated!

So to celebrate the resurrection of the Dog, let’s groove to one of my perennial favorite family acts: the Neville Brothers of New Orleans Louisana USA. Lots of sparkling music and plenty of excellent positive vibrations seems like as good a way as any to pick up where we left off.

Dig it!

(P.S. as with all Neville Brothers records, volume up high is recommended)

Track Listing:

01 Love Spoken Here

02 The Sound

03 Holy Spirit

04 Soul To Soul

05 Whatever You Do

06 Saved By The Grace Of Your Love

07 You’re Gonna Make Your Momma Cry

08 Fire On The Mountain

09 Ain’t No Sunshine

10 Orisha Dance

11 Sacred Ground

NB

Glue Man: Chuck E. Weiss

Chuck E Weiss

Remember that song, Chuck E’s in Love, by Rickie Lee Jones?  Well, there was a real Chuck and today we spotlight one of his records, Old Souls and Wolf Tickets.

 

Chuck E. Weiss, the ultimate scene-maker has spent a career hobnobbing with the cool and famous in rock’s hierarchy while barely pursuing a career of his own. Born in Denver, Weiss was originally a drummer, touring with bluesman Lightnin’ Hopkins. By the late ’60s, Weiss had performed and/or recorded with Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Dr. John, Roger Miller, and others. While still living in Denver, he struck up a friendship with singer/songwriter Tom Waits, later writing songs like “Spare Parts” with him and moving to Los Angeles. Living at West Hollywood’s infamous Tropicana Motel with Waits and singer Rickie Lee Jones, Weiss became the subject of Jones’ hit “Chuck E.’s in Love.” Weiss’ career finally stumbled off the launching pad with the 1981 release of The Other Side of Town, a collection of demo tapes released on Select Records. Rather than follow this up with a proper release, Weiss instead put together a band called the G-d Damn Liars and spent the next 11 years performing a weekly gig at the L.A. nightclub the Central and later partnered with friend Johnny Depp to convert the club into the Viper Room. (AMG)

 

Tom Waits, Chuck, Rickie Lee

I bought this CD many moons ago in the basement of a big book store in Washington D.C.   I liked the title and the cover picture of what looked Chuck having a tete-a-tete with Taj Mahal.  The music inside is a gritty slice of American styles with heavy blues undertones. An New Orleans blues chant opens proceeding (Congo Square at Midnight), which then shift quickly up a gear or two with a shuffling boogie (Tony Did the Boogie Woogie) replete with Hammond B3 and some excellent galumpy guitar picking. Other highlights are a paean to cool wheels (Two Tone Car) and probably Chuck’s most ‘famous’ song, G-d Damn Liars.

All in all this is a very enjoyable album from one of those glue-men of American music: he’s the guy who knows everyone, and glues the careers of so many larger stars together.

 

Track Listing:

01 Congo Square at Midnight

02 Tony Did the Boogie Woogie

03 It Didn’t Happen Overnight

04 Sweetie-O

05 Piggly Wiggly

06 Two-Tone Car (an auto-body experience)

07 Anthem for Old Souls

08 Sneaky Jesus

09 Down the Road a Piece

10 No Hep Cats

11 Jolie’s Nightmare (Mr. House Dick)

12 Blood Alley

13 G-d Damn Liars

14 Dixieland Funeral

 

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