Whatever happened to Saturday night?

If it was last Saturday, Meat Loaf played at the House of Blues in Houston, and that was the first line of his first song. Hot patootie, bless my soul, I really love that rock and roll.

But first, the opening act--Pearl. Pearl's frontwoman is Pearl Aday, Meat Loaf's step-daughter. The band seems technically proficiant and she can belt them out, and if she finds a Jim Steinman of her own, I'm sure she'll be a pleasure to listen to. But that's enough about them. To quote Christopher Lee's infamous Saturday Night Live introduction, "And now, ladies and gentlemen, I would like you to meet... Loaf! I beg your pardon? What? Oh! I'm... I'm sorry. Yes, of course. Ladies and gentlemen... Meat Loaf!"

On the scale of over-the-top awesomeness, "Bat Out of Hell" goes to 11, and doesn't stop there. In retrospect, I think it's the best album of the 70s, which really surprised me because I always thought "Dark Side of the Moon" had it locked up. Who'd of thunk it?

The band was great, and big enough to do justice to the music. Two guys on guitar, plus Meat Loaf towards the end of the show, one on the bass, another playing piano, another on keyboards and the sax, the drummer, and two additional singers.

I particularly liked the guy on the Flying-V with the Nigel Tufnel thing going on with his chin. You can't really see it in the pictures, but it looked like he'd taken a Sharpie to the cleft in his chin. I'm kind of surprised they let him out of the 80s.

The female lead was really good too, although when they opened the show with Meat Loaf's song from Rocky Horror ("Hot Patootie - Bless My Soul"), she was disturbingly reminiscent of Frank-N-Furter--the hair, the color of the dress, the rubber gloves.... Again, the cell phone camera pictures don't really show it, but they're all I've got.

She had a couple costume changes during the show and shed the Sweet Transvestite look. And she and Mr. Loaf made Paradise by the Dashboard Light as fun as that song deserves. Which is a whole lot of fun.

They played everything you would have wanted to hear, and then some. The show did drag a bit in the middle when they played several songs from the new album back-to-back, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I'd familiarized myself with the new songs first. There were also a couple parts that were slow intentionally, like Two Out of Three Ain't Bad, which didn't drag at all.

I don't remember what they were playing here, but it was good too.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Gord's Back

Back in Houston, anyway. And by "Gord" I mean Gordon Lightfoot, who played to a packed house at the Verizon Wireless Theater on Wednesday (August 25, 2010).

And he sounded pretty darned good. I saw him a few years not too long after his brush with death. It was good to see him still alive, but he was sounding a bit thin and the while the performance was executed well, it seemed a bit wooden. I thought it would be his last tour.

But it wasn't.

This time around he'd recovered a lot of his old voice. Maybe not the 70's voice we all know and love from Gord's Gold, but at least the 80s voice from Gord's Gold II, with a bit more of the lower register on the old stuff. And while the band was tight as ever, the performance had a much looser, more comfortable feel to it. It was a really good show.

They started at around 8:00, and finished up at 10:00, with a short intermission about 15 songs in. I don't recall looking at my watch once during the show, which is pretty rare for me. Or I suppose I should say it's a rare performer who can hold my attention that long. Willie Nelson can do it, and AC/DC, Al Stewart, Hayes Carll, and maybe a couple others. Did I mention that it was a really good show?

Sorry about the poor quality of the pictures; it was the best my phone could do.

It's such a fine line between stupid and clever

"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever."

--David St. Hubbins

I'm still trying to decide which side of the line this one's on:

In my mind this raises two questions:

1) Is it meant to be taken seriously?

It seems to me that this is really stupid or really clever. It has the feeling of a South park parody, but it could just be a caricature of itself--an unholy union of "Christian rock" of the Praise and Worship variety and patriotic country that pushes each idiom far beyond its limits. I prefer to think of it as brilliant satire, but I'm afraid it isn't. Or at last wasn't intended that way.

Which leads me to my second question:

2) Does it matter?

Socrates and/or Plato wrote in "The Apology":

After the politicians, I went to the poets; tragic, dithyrambic, and all sorts. And there, I said to myself, you will be instantly detected; now you will find out that you are more ignorant than they are. Accordingly, I took them some of the most elaborate passages in their own writings, and asked what was the meaning of them, thinking that they would teach me something. Will you believe me? I am almost ashamed to confess the truth, but I must say that there is hardly a person present who would not have talked better about their poetry than they did themselves. Then I knew that not by wisdom do poets write poetry, but by a sort of genius and inspiration; they are like diviners or soothsayers who also say many fine things, but do not understand the meaning of them....

I think that may be the case here. Whatever the artist may have thought he intended, the Muse had her way with him,and, at least from an artistic point of view, intent is irrelevant. Whether the artist is mocking the protesters, or the Muse the artist, it's brilliant satire.

AC/DC

Last time I went to a big name, high dollar concert also happened to be the last time I posted anything here. It was Steely Dan, and, as you may recall, I was not amused. A hundred and fifty bucks a ticket ($125 each, plus and additional $25 for Ticketmaster's so-called "convenience" fees) to be tortured with a bad song selection and a horrible sound system. After Steely Dan, I'd just about decided to swear off big time shows in big venues.

Just about.

And then along came Cliff and Phil and Malcolm and those two other guys. They sure do know how to put on a show.

Can't Buy a Thrill

"Can't buy a Thrill." That's the title of a really good album by one of my favorite bands. (And I use the term "bands" loosely, knowing full well that Steely Dan is two guys plus a bunch of studio musicians). And that band, as you may have surmised (and if not surmised, parenthetically deduced), is "Steely Dan." And that band is named after a dildo in William Burroughs' "Naked Lunch." And much as I like their music, I'm tempted to say "aptly named."



I'd heard that Steely Dan was strictly a studio group, but when I saw that they were playing in Houston, I went and bought tickets. I logged on to Ticketmaster relatively early, and ended up with a pair of tickets in row P in the center section at the Verizon Wireless Theater in Houston. And they weren't cheap. $125 per ticket, and with Ticketmaster's "convenience charge" and tax, it was just under $300 for two decent-but-not-great tickets. Add in gas to drive to and from Beaumont, dinner and drinks, and we're talking almost five hundred bucks for a night out. But what the hell, it's Steely Dan. It'll be worth it. Right?

Turns out that the answer to that question is "no." And I'm pissed.

Dinner and drinks were good (the Raven Grill gets a really big 'thumbs up') but Steely Dan in concert totally sucked. And by "totally sucked," I mean "totally sucked." It was not worth the time, much less the money.

First of all, the sound absolutely awful. The keyboards were way too loud relative to everything else, with a rasping, piercing sound only marginally less unpleasant that fingernail on a chalkboard or rubbing a balloon.

But even really bad sound can sometimes be ameliorated with really really good music, and Steely Dan has lots of really good music that they could play. Did I mention how much I really really like Steely Dan's music?

(BTW, in addition to Mr. Steely and Mr. Dan, there was an eight piece band (keyboards, drums, trombone, trumpet, two saxophones, bass and guitar) and three big 'fro'd backup singers. All of whom, I'm sure, were masters of their respective arts.)

But did they play good music? Hell no. It wasn't five minutes into the "Steely Dan" part of the show that I started looking at my watch. I don't know what that first song was, but it went on and on and on and just wouldn't stop. And it wasn't even slightly musically interesting. Just the same thing over and over again, until it started sounding like a dentist's drill.

And for what seemed like the first half hour, it was pretty much more of the same. Just the band--sans Becker and Fagen--doing some sort of Spinal Tap-esque Jazz Odyssey while we waited for the folks we paid an arm and a leg to see to finally come out and do their job.

And when they came out to do their job, they mostly played a lot of b-side crap. There were a few of the hits thrown in, and a bit more densely as the night wore on. So basically it was painful for the first half of the show, and then got mostly tolerable with even a few good moments on those rare occasions when they played something recognizable. But they somehow managed to leave out every single song I paid to hear--no "Rikki Don't Lose that Number;" no "Deacon Blues;" no "Do It Again," no "Reelin' In the Years." Not even in the encores.

And if all that's not bad enough, Fagen seemed to be self-consciously trying to look cool, but he ended up looking like a cross between Ray Charles in "The Blues Brothers" (for the smile, head movements, and shades) and George Carlin as Rufus in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" (for his general appearance).

Pardon me for being a Philistine,but if I pay big bucks to hear a big name band play in a big venue, I expect to hear the big hits played over a good sound system.

If, for instance, Al Stewart plays the Mucky Duck or the Cactus Cafe and he decides to dig deep into his catalog for most of the songs, I think that's just swell. He's playing a small venue for mostly die-hard fans who paid $25 or $30 per ticket to see the show.

But if you're a big name group playing what looked to be about a 5000 seat arena at roughly a hundred bucks a ticket, I think you have an obligation to play the stuff even casual fans came to hear. And you absolutely, positively have an obligation to make sure that the sound is done right. That part's non-negotiable. Steely Dan did neither, and I feel really ripped off.


For an alternate take on the show, click here.

Listen up; I'm only gonna say this once!

Hayes Carll will be doing an end of year tour December 27th – 31 st . Hayes Carll 's End of Year Rock and Roll Jamboree and Toga Party will be in the following cities:

Dec 27 th Little Rock AR
Dec 28 th Dallas , TX
Dec 29 th Houston TX
Dec 30 th Austin , TX
Dec 31 st New Braunfels TX

There will be contests and various activities that are certain to make this a must-go-to event.

They are also going to offer a “Travel like a Rock Star” option that will allow you and your friends to charter a tour bus and tour with Hayes and company from city to city. They will provide you with a bus, road manager, laminate backstage passes and other essential elements.
Stay tuned for more details.….

Molotov - Frijolero

I like this band.

They're funny.

A Painter Passing Through

A Painter Passing Through.

That was the title of Gordon Lightfoot's penultimate album, a 1998 release that didn't really do anything for me. It was also the name of about the fifth song he played last night, and the first tune that I couldn't name within the first three notes. It was a lot better live.

"A Painter Passing Through" is an obviously autobiographical song about getting old and being past his prime. It has a certain poignancy live that you just can't catch in a studio album. Gord's voice isn't what it once was. The richness at the low end of the register is gone. And while that's not a good thing, it isn't all bad either. After listening to a few songs, I was reminded of a description Kurt Vonnegut wrote in The Sirens of Titan:

But Beatrice did have a face — and an interesting one. It could be said that she looked like a bucktoothed Indian brave. But anyone who said that would have to add quickly that she looked marvelous. Her face, like the face of Malachi Constant, was a one-of-a-kind, a surprising variation on a familiar theme — a variation that made observers think, Yes — that would be another very nice way for people to look.

And that's sort of what I thought about Gord's voice. It's not the voice he once had, but it's another very nice way for people to sound.

And the band was fantastic.

Really.

I don't remember the last time heard a band with such a tight sound live. If there was a last time.

All in all, a very good show. Well worth the time, the money, and the drive to and from Houston.

MAMA'S MAN

One of Monster Truck's greatest German hits.




This is what American soldiers do when forced to spend extended periods overseas.

That would be my brother on bass, by the way.

Bring the boys home.

For God's sake, bring the boys home!

I believe this was recorded somewhere around the first Gulf War.


And the lyrics are these:

Mama's Man
(N. Gifford & O. Cowan)

Daddy hit the bottle
When mama hit the bars
She spent a lot of nights
In the back of a lot of cars

I remember the day it happened
It came as no surprise
She knew he knew her secret
From the look in his eyes

And she knew she couldn't keep him
No words had to be said
He couldn't stand the shame
Of that stranger in his bed

Said he'd never really known her
And that ring on his hand
Couldn't stop my daddy
From takin' my mama's man

He spent his life a workin'
With all the men downtown
Oh they built this city up
But it tore our family down

As the love between him and mama
Withered and died
Oh the life he'd made it crumbed
'Cause he'd been livin' a lie

And she knew she couldn't keep him
No words had to be said
He couldn't stand the shame
Of that stranger in his bed

He said he'd never really known her
And that ring on his hand
Couldn't stop my daddy
From taking my mama's man

Couldn't stop my daddy
From taking my mama's man

By the way, Monster Truck is (or was):
Nathan "Giff" Gifford - Guitars and Vocals
Owen PD Cowan - Bass and Vocals
Scott Farnsworth - Acoustic Guitar and Vocals
Dynamite Daniel Fischer - Drums

They've been slowly converting old videos to a MySpace compatible format. More of their stuff is posted here, now including their fabulous versions of YMCA (from before it made its comeback in the 90s), Hey Jude, and a host of others.


Corrections and addenda:

Mama's Man was written in 1992, and the video was from a June 10, 1994, show at Lucky's Bar in Augsburg, so it was a bit after Desert Storm. It was Monster Truck's second to last show, their farewell show being August 6, 2004.

The drummer, Daniel Fischer, was not an American soldier. He was from Romania, the son of a German father. He spoke very little English, so he shouldn't be blamed for the lyrics.

Scott Farnsworth had a great voice and played a mean bluegrass guitar, but he came to the band sort of late, so he didn't have very many songs to sing before it all ended. On Mama's Man, that's Giff singing the first half and Owen singing the second.

In newer versions of the song, the line "I remember the day it happened" has been changed to "I remember the day he left her" to for clarity's sake.

Three things I learned in Vegas

1. In addition to holding the world record for eponymous albums, after forty years in the business, Chicago is still capable of putting on a damned fine show. And I was sort of surprised to see that there are still four guys left in the band from the 1969 Chicago Transit Authority debut album.

2. Although I never thought I could enjoy a Las Vegas show, Cirque du Soleil's production of KA at the MGM Grand is about the most spectacular thing I've ever seen. And the word "about" really has no place in that sentence. It was actually worth the $165 ticket price.

3. A Citation Excel makes the ride home a lot easier. About two hours and forty-five minutes in the air, and no shoe removal, pat-down, or cavity search required. A far more satisfactory experience than last time I blogged about Leaving Las Vegas.

Highway 87 is a dangerous place to be....

Highway 87 is a dangerous place to be
When you pissed off all the local boys
and your back’s against the sea....

But if you're just down there for the Stingaree Music Festival, it's not dangerous at all.

Well, I'm finally about recovered from the Stingaree Music Festival at Crystal Beach (and the broken stitches in my eye and bout with strep throat that followed), and I'd like to thank this man for making it all possible:

And that man is, of course, Hayes Carll, the best thing to happen to Texas music since Garth Brooks retired (I know Brooks is technically from Oklahoma, but I'm pretty sure Oklahoma is just a suburb of Dallas-Fort Worth).

I missed the early acts on Friday, but did make it in time to see to of my favorites, Ray Wylie Hubbard:

And Hayes Carll:

Now, outdoors on the Peninsula wasn't the most pleasant place to be weather-wise on Friday afternoon and evening (it was cool-to-cold and raining), so I wasn't too disappointed about missing the other acts. A bit over two hours was just about right.

Weather-wise, Saturday was probably worse that Friday. Although the rain had stopped, the wind had picked up. A lot. So much so that it started pulling up the stakes on the Big Top, so the bands that were supposed to play there moved to the Beer Garden Stage. But somehow with the cold wind blowing and the delay entailed by moving all the equipment from the Big Top Stage to the Beer Garden Stage, it got to seeming like something a little more indoors might be a more pleasant way to spend the evening. If you want to go someplace and come away with an indelible odor of tobacco smoke, Sharky's just can't be beat. And, of course, where there's smoke, there's drinkin', which means a good time was had by all.

By Sunday, the weather had become decidedly more pleasant. The rain was gone, the wind was mild, and the sun was shining. But after a late night at Sharky's, bright sun early in the day has less appeal than you might think, given the weather from the previous couple of days. But by early afternoon, it was shaping up to be a very pleasant day.

Back at the Music Fest, I'm sure the early acts were all very good, but they did not wait for me to get there. But I did get there in time for Sisters Morales, who are very good but seemed just a tad out of place for a lazy Sunday afternoon. I expect the Sisters are at their best whooping it up on a Friday night.

What I really wanted to hear was something more in the folk/Americana vein, like Hayes Carll. And, it being his Music Festival, he obliged, this time with the bass player from the John Evans Band (I think):

And that was about it. except for the extremely entertaining Medicine Show performing on the Tiki Bar Stage on the way out:

And that's all I have to say about that. For more, you can read what Laurie was doing while missing New Orleans, and you can hear more about the weather and see more pictures at the Houston Chronicle Blog.


On another note, Hayes Carll will be performing at the YMBL Rodeo at Ford Arena on May 5, 2007. I'm not crazy about the venue, but I'm sure he'll put on a good show.

I also hear that the John Evans Band occasionally plays at The Vortex. If they come around again, I wouldn't miss them.

ZZ Top at Ford Park

This was my second time to see ZZ Top at the spectacularly poorly managed Ford Park. For my thoughts on their idiotic security measures, see my previous post, Why I hate Ford Park: Reason # 23. Reason # 24 is that in the whole damn place, they don't have a single ATM. My son asked me to pick up a T-shirt for him, and after I'd spent $35 on that, I had very little cash left for food and beer, and for a show that's supposed to go from about 5:00 p.m. to midnight where everything's seriously overpriced, that can be a problem. Reason # 25 is that they'll let you leave to find an ATM elsewhere, but if you do, you can't get back in without buying another ticket.

Did I mention that it was about 40 degrees and raining? That part wasn't Ford Park's fault, but the fact that I had to spend at least an hour waiting in line in the 40 degree rain was. That was at least 45 minutes to get through "security," and then at least another 15 minutes waiting for someone to check my ID (I'm only 43 years old after all) so I could get a wristband and stamp that would allow me to buy their over-priced beer. Frickin' over-priced lite beer. Does that even count as beer?

But enough about the venue. Suffice it to say that it is something to be avoided. The bands were another matter altogether.



The first band to play after I got through all the lines was Cross Canadian Ragweed. I don't know if any other bands played before them. I could hear music coming from the pavilion while I was waiting in line, but I couldn't tell whether it was recorded music or a real live band. I wouldn't be surprised if Image 6 did a set early on, it being a Coondog Productions production and all.

I like Cross Canadian Ragweed. I like their music and I liked their show, but I think they need a smaller venue to really be at their best. But then, I think everyone needs a smaller venue to be at their best. At least from my perspective. I'm sure that if I'd been sitting closer or they were playing a smaller room, I'd have more to say. But they weren't and I don't.

After a not too long intermission, Los Lonely Boys took the stage. Although I'd heard of them, I'd never actually heard Los Lonely Boys play before last night. And dang, those guys can play. I'd seen a few people play a guitar one handed before, but I'd never seen a guy play the bass with one hand and the guitar with the other at the same time. They're an amazing act to watch, and the songs aren't bad either.

When Los Lonely Boys were finished, I was really looking forward to not hearing a set by Kid Rock, and he did not disappoint. maybe he closed the show or something after I'd left, but the only thing I saw him do was introduce ZZ Top. I'm not a Kid Rock fan, as you may have guessed.

ZZ Top does a lot of songs that I'm not particularly interested in hearing, and during the first half of the show, about the only song I even recognized was "Nationwide," and it's not one of my favorites. But ZZ Top isn't just a band, it's a show, and there was plenty to look at even though the songs weren't among my favorites.

Then about halfway through, Billy Gibbons started talking about going to the mall and buying jewelry for his girlfriend. (Or was it Dusty Hill? One of the bearded guys, anyway.) Something like that, anyway. The upshot was that she wasn't interested in sparkly things, she just wanted a pearl necklace. And at that point, things started looking up. El Loco came out when I was about 17, and it was my first ZZ Top album. And although I don't consider it to be a particularly good album overall, "Tube Snake Boogie" and especially "Pearl Necklace" have a tremendous adolescent appeal that has never worn off. Not long after that, it was "Gimme All Your Lovin'" segueing into "Sharp Dress Man," and a bunch of other good stuff until they finally switched to their furry guitars for "Legs," after which they left the stage.

But, of course, it wasn't over yet. After a few minutes they came back out and did "Viva Las Vegas" and then "La Grange" (which is really really good live), but at that point, I'd really had enough, and I didn't hang around to find out what, if anything, was next. I'm sure whatever it was was good, but five and a half hour was enough for me.

Incidentally, the boys' beards looked considerably whiter in person than they did in this picture, which was supposedly taken within the past couple months:

How 'bout that Billy Joe Shaver?

Shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die....

Well, maybe it was Lorena rather than Reno, and maybe it was self defense rather than murder, and maybe the other guy didn't actually die but still, I think I hear that whistle blowin'....

Anyway, it seems that one of our favorite performers from Courville's has got himself in a bit of trouble with the law. According to the Houston Chronicle, Billy Joe Shaver shot a man outside Papa Joe's Texas Saloon in Lorena. (Lorena is just down the road a bit from Waco. What is it about Waco that makes people want to shoot each other?) Billy Joe says self defense, the other guy says it was unprovoked.

Note to self, don't heckle Shaver.

And buy his Greatest Hits album.

Fun with advertising.

This is a Pepsi commercial:



The song is "Ca Plane Pour Moi," performed by The President's of The United States of America. But that's not the version I remember. That tune goes with some very different words. I remember it as "Jet Boy Jet Girl" by Elton Montello.

According to my research (which consisted of consulting this article), Jet Boy Jet Girl is the original, but the lyrics (which can be found here), were a little too colorful for radio play, so an Elton Montello band member came up with alternate lyrics and, under the name Plastic Bertrand, recorded the song with inoffensively meaningless lyrics as "Ca Plane Pour Moi," which became a minor worldwide smash (peaking at 39 on Billboard's Hot 100), and which the Presidents of the United States of America covered on the Pepsi commercial.

You can listen to a snippet of Elton Motello's studio version here. When Elton Montello broke up, the author of this masterpiece, Alan Ward, went on to form the band The Damned (featuring Captain Sensible), whose poorly recorded live version of "Jet Boy Jet Girl" is available on YouTube, and is included here for your amusement:



Someone involved with this commercial had to know where the tune came from, but I expect it wasn't the guys at Pepsi who pull down the big bucks. Now their fine product is firmly linked in my mind with the words:

Jet boy jet girl
I'm gonna take you 'round the world
Jet boy I'm gonna make you penetrate
I'm gonna make you be a girl
Ooooohhhh
He gives me head

I don't know why, but I find stuff like this terribly amusing.

I think I'll have a Coke.

Courville's Wednesday Night

Strap them kids in
Give 'em a little bit of vodka in a cherry Coke
We're going to Oklahoma to the family reunion for the first time in years
It's up at uncle Slayton's 'cause he's getting on in years
You know he no longer travels but he's still pretty spry
He's not much on talking and he's just too mean to die
And they'll be comin' down from Kansas
and from west Arkansas
It'll be one great big old party like you never saw

Uncle Slayton's got his Texan pride
Back in the thickets with his Asian bride
He's got a Airstream trailer and a Holstein cow
He still makes whiskey 'cause he still knows how
He plats that Choctaw bingo every Friday night
You know he had to leave Texas but he won't say why
He owns a quarter section up by Lake Eufala
Caught a great big ol' blue cat on a driftin' jug line
Sells his hardwood timber to the shipping mill
Cooks that crystal meth because the shine don't sell
He cooks that crystal meth because the shine don't sell
You know he likes his money he don't mind the smell

My cousin Roscoe Slayton's oldest boy from his second marriage up in Illinois
He was raised in East St. Louis by his momma's people
Where they do things different
Thought he'd just come on down
He was going to Dallas Texas in a semi truck called from that big McDonald's
You know the one they built up on that great big ol' bridge
Across the Will Rogers Turnpike
Took the Big Cabin exit stopped and bought a couple of cartons of cigarettes
At that Indian Smoke Shop with the big neon smoke rings
In the Cherokee Nation hit Muskogee late that night
Somebody ran a stoplight at the Shawnee Bypass
Roscoe tried to miss 'em but he didn't quite

Bob and Mae come up from little town
Way down by lake Texoma where he coaches football
They were two A champions now for two years running
But he says they won't be this year no they won't be this year
And he stopped off in Tushka at that "Pop's Knife and Gun" place
Bought a SKS rifle and a couple a full cases of that steel core ammo
With the berdan primers from some East bloc nation that no longer needs 'em
And a Desert Eagle that's one great big ol' pistol
I mean .50 caliber made by badass Hebrews
And some surplus tracers for that old BAR of Slayton's
Soon as it gets dark we're gonna have us a time
We're gonna have us a time

Ruth Ann and Lynn come down from Baxter Springs
That's one hell raisin' town way up in Southeastern Kansas
Got a biker bar next to the lingerie store
That's got them Rolling Stones lips up there where everyone can see 'em
And they burn all night you know they burn all night you know they burn all night
Ruth Ann and Lynn they wear them cut off britches and those skinny little halters
And they're second cousins to me
Man I don't care I want to get between 'em
With a great big ol' hard on like a old bois d' arc fence post
You could hang a pipe rail gate from
Do some twisted sisters 'til the cows come home
And we'd be havin' us a time

Uncle Slayton's got his Texan pride
Back in the thickets with his Asian bride
He's cut that corner pasture into acre lots`
He sells 'em owner financed
Strictly to them that's got no kind of credit
'Cause he knows they're slackers
When they miss that payment
Then he takes it back
He plays that Choctaw Bingo every Friday night
Drinks that Johnny Walker at that Club 69
We're gonna strap them kids in give 'em a little bit o' Benadryl
And a cherry coke we're goin' to Oklahoma
We're gonna have us a time
Gonna have us a time

I guess that pretty well sums it up.

East Texas, I mean, not Courville's on Wednesday night.

The song is Choctaw Bingo. It was written by James McMurtry, but it was sung by Ray Wylie Hubbard.

Did I mentiuon that it was Ray Wylie Hubbard at Courville's last Wednesday?

Well, it was. And, as always, the food was good and the show was better. But this time, it was even better than usual, because Hubbard had the band with him this time, and they're a very good band. Gurf Morlix plays a mean guitar.

Don't forget, Ray Wylie Hubbard and a host of others will be playing at Crystal Beach in April at Hayes Carll's Stingaree Music Festival. You know, we'll have us a time. We're gonna have us a time.

Last Call for Gordon Lightfoot!

Gordon Lightfoot, one of my all time favorites, will be appearing at Verizon Wireless Theater in Houston on Sunday, June 24, 2007. Tickets are on sale now on Ticketmaster or at the Verizon Theater box office.



I saw him several years ago at the Woodlands. His voice wasn't what it used to be, but it was still a very good show. Definitely worth the drive and the $45 per ticket(plus the $8 for parking and Ticketmaster's $5 "order processing fee" and $10 per ticket "convenience" fee).


Update:

I'll be in Section 102, middle of row B.

What's the first song you remember liking?

For me, it's this:

Once You Understand by Think


It's variously been described as "one of the most frightening pieces of recorded music ever" and "the worst hit song of all time."

I understand that a lot of stations wouldn't play it because it was considered too controversial, but that never stopped WJIM.

Anyway, all I know is that it was hugely popular among all the third graders I knew.

Mark your calendar!

Who: Hayes Carll & Friends.

Friends like Todd Snider, Ray Wylie Hubbard, The John Evans Band, The Dedringers and Graham Wilkinson.

What: Stingaree Music Festival.

Hayes Carll is hosting a music festival on the Bolivar Peninsula. Hayes and friends will be performing in a variety of different venues throughout the weekend. There will be beach performances, impromptu beach house concerts and evening shows under the big top.

Where: Crystal Beach.

When: April 13th, 14th & 15th, 2007.

Why: Because it just doesn't get any better than this.

I gotta rent me a beach house for the weekend.

Tickets are $65 and can be purchased here.

It's a Hootenanny!

They called it a "Big Damn Acoustic Jam," but it was really a good old fashioned hootenanny. Hayes Carll, Jimmy Kaiser, David Lee Kaiser, Roger Marin, Mark Jungers, Ryan James, Josh Langston and Big John Mills all sharing a stage at Courville's. Of course, they weren't really sharing a stage because the stage wasn't big enough to hold them all, so they had to extend it a bit. As Yogi Berra might have said, if you didn't see this show, you really missed it.

Every one of these guys is more than capable of pulling off a whole show by himself, but tonight it was all eight of them, one after another, occasionally accompanying one another--especially the Kaiser brothers accompanying each other and Big John Mills playing along with pretty much everything. When Hayes Carll broke a string in the middle of his unique version of "I've Been Everywhere," Big John had him covered so well that they didn't miss a beat while Carll traded guitars with Roger Marin.

I like Hayes Carll better every time I see him play. I would wish him only the best in his career, but I'm sort of selfish, so I hope everyone else continues to ignore him. If he ever gets the recognition he deserves, I'm afraid he'll be too big for Beaumont, and certainly too big to play the small sort of places that I like to go to listen to live music.

The music was great, the food was good and the drinks were cheap. What more could you ask for on a Wednesday evening in Beaumont? Special thanks to Jimmy Kaiser, who was credited with putting it together, along with Big Rich Courville for bringing this sort of stuff to Beaumont (and although no one mentioned his name, I suspect Donnie Courville had a bit to do with it too) and RadioFreeTexas, who also had something to do with making all this happen.

Edited to add: Read what Laurie Who Misses New Orleans had to say about it here.

BIG ACOUSTIC JAM

The Courville's website says:

NOVEMBER 15, 2006 - WEDNESDAY
BIG ACOUSTIC JAM
Join us for "Big Acoustic Jam" at Courville's on Hwy 90 between Beaumont and China. We will have Hayes Carll, Jimmy Kaiser, David Lee Kaiser, Roger Marin, Mark Jungers, Ryan James, Josh Langston and Big John Mills. Tickets are on sale now for this concert by calling 409-860-9811. Limited number of tickets will be sold.

I've had some pretty good things to say about Hayes Carll's past shows at Courville's, like this from November 2004 and this from January of this year. Those Kaiser boys are pretty good too. Seems like I saw Josh Langston there too, and he didn't suck either. I don't know anything about the rest of them, but I'm pretty sure they'll be pretty good. Donnie Courville knows how to pick his bands.

Don't miss this one.