Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,209 
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Post by Confessor on Aug 14, 2024 12:34:54 GMT -5
I'm assuming you know that is Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm providing the back-up on Rocket 88. There are a lot of claims that Turner was heavily involved in writing the song. Yes, I did know that. However, what I have discovered today is what a "Rocket 88" looks like. As you will doubtless already know, it was an Oldsmobile 88, which had a Rocket V8 engine. Obviously, I realised that it was a car of somesort, but had no idea what it looked like or who manufactured it. So yeah...beautiful looking old thing. Here's an Oldsmobile 88 from 1950, which must be close to what Jackie Brenston and Ike Turner had in mind when they wrote the song...  |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 14, 2024 12:49:38 GMT -5
I'm assuming you know that is Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm providing the back-up on Rocket 88. There are a lot of claims that Turner was heavily involved in writing the song. Yes, I did know that. However, what I have discovered today is what a "Rocket 88" looks like. As you will doubtless already know, it was an Oldsmobile 88, which had a Rocket V8 engine. Obviously, I realised that it was a car of somesort, but had no idea what it looked like or who manufactured it. So yeah...beautiful looking old thing. Here's an Oldsmobile 88 from 1950, which must be close to what Jackie Brenston and Ike Turner had in mind when they wrote the song... Yep. Very cool cars. Oddly, in the Nate Heller novel I just finished he was driving a 1950 Olds 88. And to bring it around to my entry, Robert Johnson's Terraplane Blues was at least party inspired (though it's also full of sexual metaphors and innuendoes) by this car.  |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 14, 2024 13:02:16 GMT -5
Well Poo! Was scheduled to see Los Lobos Friday evening. They were finishing up a tour with Los Lonely Boys and War. Just got an email indicating the date had been cancelled due to the death of the father of the members of Los Lonely Boys. Which is sad. But I was definitely looking forward to seeing Los Lobos. I've not been to a concert this year (the pickings hereabouts have been slim and what there has been have been at super inconvenient times). Missing out on a Friday concert for a band I really want to see, and who aren't getting younger, is a major bummer.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2024 14:55:18 GMT -5
OK, finishing up my Top 10 favourite box sets. It's been great fun doing this, guys... #1 - The Sun Records Collection by Various Artists (1994)  This is a nice looking set, it might not be one I'd pick up, but definitely recognize a fair number of artists here and can see the appeal of this one (especially with the mix of more well-known songs with the deeper cuts). Very cool! |
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Post by tartanphantom on Aug 14, 2024 15:00:24 GMT -5
Well Poo! Was scheduled to see Los Lobos Friday evening. They were finishing up a tour with Los Lonely Boys and War. Just got an email indicating the date had been cancelled due to the death of the father of the members of Los Lonely Boys. Which is sad. But I was definitely looking forward to seeing Los Lobos. I've not been to a concert this year (the pickings hereabouts have been slim and what there has been have been at super inconvenient times). Missing out on a Friday concert for a band I really want to see, and who aren't getting younger, is a major bummer.
That is a bummer.
Maybe you'll get lucky though, and Esmerelda Villalobos will show up in place of Los Lobos.  She may not be as musically talented, but is still slightly easier on the eyes than those other guys. Just look for a Yellow Checker Cab parked in front of the venue, and tell her your name is "Butch".
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2024 15:11:34 GMT -5
#1 - Robert Johnson – The Complete Recordings This is probably going to surprise you after my prior comments on traditional blues music, but not only do I know this set quite well (I smiled the second I saw that cover), I hold it in very high regard. And it all started with the 1986 film Crossroads. I think I first saw it in 1987 actually as a rental, I was really getting into guitar playing at that point, and while I appreciated what both Ry Cooder (Ralph Macchio's parts) and Steve Vai (aka "Jack Butler") added to the film in terms of musicianship, it was my introduction to the legend of Robert Johnson. I was so intrigued, I immediately went down to my local record store and asked if they had any of his albums. I couldn't have gotten a blanker stare. A few years later this got released (to my surprise) and I finally got to experience it! While my interests had largely moved away from blues at that point, I don't know, it still hit me in a big way. It was the "real thing", I don't know how else to explain it. While I was still distracted by other genres and it didn't start me down a path of broader blues exploration, I've got nothing but positive to say here. Awesome choice. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 14, 2024 15:50:18 GMT -5
#1 - Robert Johnson – The Complete Recordings This is probably going to surprise you after my prior comments on traditional blues music, but not only do I know this set quite well (I smiled the second I saw that cover), I hold it in very high regard. And it all started with the 1986 film Crossroads. I think I first saw it in 1987 actually as a rental, I was really getting into guitar playing at that point, and while I appreciated what both Ry Cooder (Ralph Macchio's parts) and Steve Vai (aka "Jack Butler") added to the film in terms of musicianship, it was my introduction to the legend of Robert Johnson. I was so intrigued, I immediately went down to my local record store and asked if they had any of his albums. I couldn't have gotten a blanker stare. A few years later this got released (to my surprise) and I finally got to experience it! While my interests had largely moved away from blues at that point, I don't know, it still hit me in a big way. It was the "real thing", I don't know how else to explain it. While I was still distracted by other genres and it didn't start me down a path of broader blues exploration, I've got nothing but positive to say here. Awesome choice. I've seen Crossroads like a bazillion times. When I was in undergrad ('86-'90) my fraternity house had HBO and Cinemax (the HBO was for boxing). Crossroads played on one of the two almost daily, it seemed. I'm pretty sure that was also my first knowing exposure to Robert Johnson also. |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,209
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Post by Confessor on Aug 14, 2024 16:10:23 GMT -5
@supercat Slam_Bradley That makes three of us who got introduced to the legend of Robert Johnson by the movie Crossroads then.  |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,209
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Post by Confessor on Aug 15, 2024 4:32:38 GMT -5
Recent jazz purchases inspired by comments in this thread. The Very Best of Louis Armstrong was recommended to me by Slam_Bradley, Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage was recommended by @supercat, and Midnight Blue by Kenny Burrell was recommended by Spotify (booooo...!!) when I was listening to Maiden Voyage. Sonny Clark's Cool Struttin' just looked good, with a very cool cover...and having given it a spin, I like it a lot. Thanks for the recommendations, guys.  |
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Post by commond on Aug 15, 2024 17:12:16 GMT -5
Well, I finally settled on my favorite albums of 1964:
1. Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus, Charles Mingus
2. Out to Lunch, Eric Dolphy
3. The Sidewinder, Lee Morgan
4. The Two and Three Part Inventions (Inventions & Sinfonias), Glenn Gould
5. No Room for Squares, Hank Mobley
6. The Freedom Rider, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers
7. Oscar Peterson Trio + One, Clark Terry, Oscar Peterson & Clark Terry
8. Empyrean Isles, Herbie Hancock
9. Trouble, Trouble, Champion Jack Dupree
10. Rock 'n Soul, Solomon Burke
Hon, mentions: Evenin' Blues, Jimmy Witherspoon, The Blues of Otis Spann
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 17, 2024 8:52:42 GMT -5
It’s the 65th anniversary of Kind of Blue, the greatest album of all time.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,209
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Post by Confessor on Aug 17, 2024 11:39:45 GMT -5
It’s the 65th anniversary of Kind of Blue, the greatest jazz album of all time. Fixed it for you.  |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2024 13:51:31 GMT -5
tartanphantom (and anyone else interested), here is part 2 of the gear highlights again, though with a few items swapped out as I'm still in the middle of a large trade deal. But I thought these were probably a little interesting: My Carvin fretless bass. A little over 20 years ago I got the bug to try playing a fretless, and I wanted a quality build but not too much money tied up in it. And that's exactly what Carvin delivered, it's all the fretless I'll ever need, a lot of fun to play:  My trusty old Gretsch, I've posted this one before, still my favorite:  While I do strongly prefer nylon string acoustics as posted previously, there are times when a steel string is in order. This USA Ovation Legend doesn't get much play, but like my fretless above, is all the steel string I need, very nice quality. It favors going through an amp versus just strumming unplugged but even there it's plenty fine for my purposes (please pardon a little bit of poster tack still on the wall, we're still cleaning up from decorations for a birthday party). I also had a very nice high end Gibson SJ-200 at one point, and I thought the "thermally aged Adirondack spruce" might be a little bit of snake oil, but dang if it didn't ring like a bell, the sweetest sounding acoustic I've ever owned. Too big a body for me though! 
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 17, 2024 15:23:18 GMT -5
It’s the 65th anniversary of Kind of Blue, the greatest jazz album of all time. Fixed it for you. Nope. It was correct the way I had it. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2024 16:01:26 GMT -5
Fixed it for you. Nope. It was correct the way I had it.  |
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