On Sat, 2006-09-09 at 08:22 -0400, Dave Phillips wrote:
> Jan Depner wrote:
>
> >On Thu, 2006-09-07 at 07:10 -0400, Dave Phillips wrote:
> >
> >
> >>... Are you familiar with Willis Alan ?
> >>
> >>
> >
> > Nope. I'll look him up on allofmp3.com when it comes back up ;-)
> >Part of the reason that I like JJ Cale may be connected with the fact
> >that I first heard him on my first surfing trip to Cape Hatteras...
> >
> >
> A friend and I were discussing Slick Ballinger's performance at last
> year's Soulshine festival. He was listening to the tapes and remarked
> that the music was pretty dismal without the visual. However, I must
> confess that I like the Cale songs you mentioned (he's certainly not
> dismal), those must be among his best.
>
That's the only album of his that I like. In the same vein though I
like most of Ry Cooder's stuff.
> Oh, and IIRC he plays on Willis Alan's recording. It's a Shelter
> release, so the guests include Leon Russell and Greg Allman. You've
> heard at least one Willis Alan song, I'm sure: Muskrat Ramble aka
> Muskrat Candlelight, done to death by the Captain & Tenille. They really
> ruined a beautiful tune, just listen to Willis Alan's original. Buffett
> recorded the awesome Ballad Of Spider John, and other Willis Alan songs
> have been recorded by America, Rusty Young, and Lyle Lovett. Pat Green
> was working with him a few years back.
>
The Captain and Toenail - aaaaaaaarrrrrrgggghhhhh! I couldn't stand
them. Spider John is my favorite Buffett song. I had forgotten who
wrote it. I have the album (also known as BBCD - Big Black CD. I've
got about 500 of them).
> A friend of mine, Terry McClanahan, played quite a lot with Willis in
> Colorado. He said the rumors were true, Willis is a sweet guy who can't
> stand to play in front of a crowd of more than a few hundred people. He
> made a boatload of bucks with Muskrat Candlelight, but he made only one
> album (we call 'em albums in my neck of the woods), and every song is a
> killer. Do check him out, let me know how you like him.
>
I can't find him on allofmp3.com so I'll have to look elsewhere.
> Btw, are you familiar with Radney Foster's work ?
>
I've heard some of it but I don't normally listen to "country".
> >It's not blues but have you listened to James Hunter? He's a "new"
> >guy out of England. R&B. Sounds just like Sam Cooke. I don't normally
> >buy music (I hate the RIAA) but I bought his CD (he's on Rounder so
> >there's no RIAA connection).
> >
> >
> Cool, I'll check him out, thanks for the recommendation. I've always
> thought that Peter Gabriel and Steve Winwood had truly great "blues"
> voices, regardless of style or fleshtone. I know they're not bluesmen,
> but they have the sound that moves me the way the great bluesers do.
>
Two of my favorites. I always thought most people didn't get
Stevie.
> I've stopped purchasing RIAA music too. There's simply no need anymore,
> there are so many alternatives.
>
The MySpace music thing should be pretty cool. I'm thinking about
loading my stuff up there.
> > I got to listen and talk to RL and Robert Pete Williams in 1980 at
> >the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. A friend of mine grew up in
> >Leland MS and knew RL. My sharpest memory of the event is RL and my
> >friend standing behind RLs Cadillac taking a leak on the tires ;-)
> >
> >
> We have acces to a lot of the players who perform at the Soulshine
> festival, many of whom are pretty idiosyncratic. Their vehicles are
> always noteworthy. Fishing is a large factor in the overall accoutrement. :)
>
> Btw, what's happening with your group ?
>
The Fuzzy Dice is pretty much on hold. We play about twice a year.
Katrina wiped out all of the places we were playing. Most of that band
is/was from Slidell LA and I live in Long Beach MS so we have very few
venues left. Our agent lived in Waveland MS so he got completely wiped
out and kinda disappeared into the woodwork. My other band, Charlie
Foxtrot, is playing every weekend though. It's a classic rock band with
pretty fair personnel. Henry Harrington was Mickey Gilley's lead
guitarist for about 15 years (including Urban Cowboy - he's in about two
seconds of the movie). Jerry O'Rourke was Freddy Fender's bass player
during that same time frame. They met each other on the road in Japan
of all places (they both live in Slidell). My drummer has been playing
for about 40 years. Everybody sings so we have 3 and 4 part harmony.
At the moment we're just a cover band. I've got some original stuff and
so does Henry but we never get time to sit down and work it up.
Have you got a band going at present or is the book taking most of
your time? I'm so busy at work that I bring it home on weekends (I do
scientific applications programming for sonar and LIDAR data
processing). That and the band are my excuses for not getting a chance
to work on the chapter yet ;-)
Jan
--
Jan 'Evil Twin' Depner
The Fuzzy Dice
http://myweb.cableone.net/eviltwin69/fuzzy.html
"As we enjoy great advantages from the invention of others, we should be
glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and
this we should do freely and generously."
Benjamin Franklin, on declining patents offered by the governor of
Pennsylvania for his "Pennsylvania Fireplace", c. 1744
