Silly/smutty innuendo, surrounded by sly and buttery singing and awesome guitar playing.
Bo Carter was a member and manager of the great Mississippi Sheiks (real name Armenter Chatmon, so he's related to Sam and the other Chatmons).
I confess that mostly I love these songs because they're dirty-minded. And so am I. But you could make a good case for him as one of the great songsters of the 1930s, if you prefer to seem above all that....
...If you don't prefer to seem above all that, enjoy this link with my smutty compliments:
Some video, courtesy of Kahlief's iPhone, of our performance last Sunday at Pete's Candy Store. "Eye" was the only original song we did. The others here are "Hey, Hey Bartender" by Del McCoury; "Pistol Packin' Mama" by Al Dexter, and "September Song" by Kurt Weill.
A million glorious music moments. Dip in wherever. They're all worthwhile, I promise.
Eno in one of his lovelier moments. From Before and After Science.
A short segment of a much longer performance. Debashish Battacharya always has the most glorious sound.
Mississippi John Hurt is unfuckwithable. This song is a particular favorite, for somehow managing to be playful, lecherous, a little sorrowful, and gently optomistic, all at once.
Anytime someone objects to "music today isn't as good as music of yesteryear", shit like this (and the next 5 or so) is good to display. This casual display of utter brilliance, by what looks like a bunch of 20-year olds, ought to make the average 'I know a jazz chord' guitarist weep. (Guitarists should just avoid most of these entirely, unless they need to change their pants anyway).
Worth the detour to the Youtube page. Armstrong was such a public figure that it's easy to forget how funky, precise and lovely his music could be. This little performance makes my liver quiver.
Any fans of both the VU and Marvin Gaye, will probably be suitably delighted/horrified by this. Good prank. Interesting creation.
In this clip, a contest is being held to see if music can melt stone. Spoiler alert: yes.
I love the Stars of the Lid. You should not listen to any of their music while driving or operating heavy equipment.
Most of the Chaurasia I've heard has been super-mellow and meditative; this has got some melody and activity to it, and is delightful.
Watch those fuckers' fingers. How do human beings do this?
Popol Vuh is one of my personal all-time-most-revered-musical-units. I could listen to this song every morning for the rest of my life.
Old friends made this song. I'd love it even if that wasn't true.
Someday, I will learn to play the Oud. But, I will never play any instrument as well as this guy plays the Oud.
The delights of this aren't so much musical, as existential.
The delights of this are completely musical. (And, maybe, existential too).
A nice music video from Rafter, an old pal and former boss who's made a bazillion excellent recordings. I saw him do an excellent, if underattended, show last night. He's playing again tonight at Southpaw if any Brooklyn folks are reading this.
I've been listening to a lot of Mississippi John Hurt lately, learning to play several songs on guitar (I've been approximating them for a decade or so, but actually forcing myself to do it right, with the odd syncopations and perfectly steady alternating bass, is a whole nother deal). Really reminds me how lovely and vital the music is. I'm more appreciative than ever of his singing, as well-- such a casually gentle voice, but with very good phrasing and melodic quirks.
A particularly lovely example, Louis Collins Blues:
If that's not enough awesomeness for you, here's what I watched on youtube this morning.
which led me to this:
which led me to this:
The crazy/beautiful flatpicking and abusive moustache led me to this little flash of brilliance:
Then, I thought, let's hear some more deep blues:
finishing off with one of my favorite blues songs ever, by one of my favorite singers ever, the great Son House:
Hope your weekend's as good as mine. Peace out.
P.S. for more Mississippi John Hurt, see the earlier post here:
You know how sometimes you hear an album, and think, this is the music I've wanted to hear all my life?
Overview: Dutch anarcho-punks team up with Ethiopian soul-jazz magician. Abrasive, soulful, intense, occasionally awkward or even corny, and overall fucking brilliant results.
