but they didn't know what i was high on

It’s not everyday when an elite athlete discovers that his Performance Enhancing Drug of choice is going to be LSD. Uh huh, that old athletic-enhancer standby Lysergic acid diethylamide. But Dock Ellis, former MLB pitcher, made that discovery on June 12, 1970. I say discovered, for, from the sound of things, it seems Ellis didn’t know he was going to be pitching on the day he was still flying the friendly skies on a couple tabs (plus a few Bennies -- hey, it was the 70s). But Ellis definitely did pitch that day. He hit some batters, walked eight of them, and just happened to pitch a no hitter. Folks, there’s plenty of things to be famous for in this world of ours, but it’s the rare dude indeed who gets to say “pitched a No-No on LSD.” This feat has inspired a few songs. Todd Snider, a born chronicler of such an event if there ever was one, recently told the tale with “America’s Favorite Pastime.”

Todd Snider - America’s Favorite Pastime [buy]

But Ellis’ moment in the LSD Sun also inspired this wicked video by one James Blagden, with Ellis providing the voiceover and uttering the eternal lines "the next day...which I thought was the next day." Hat-tip to Odie for turning me on to this one.



That's Rufus serving-up the funk:
Rufus Thomas - (Do The) Push and Pull [buy]

And as if that’s not enough for one career, Ellis could also make the claim to be probably the only MLB pitcher who actually tried to hit every batter he faced one day at the ballpark (beaning Pete Rose & Joe Morgan in the process), just to prove a point to a teammate. Hey, it was the 70s.

run pete run!

First, I just gotta say that that album cover is kind of creepy. There’s Jimmy Martin, Mr. “King of Bluegrass,” wearing his best pair of boots and keeping his eyes on the great beyond -- while standing next to his own grave. Guess that’s immortality of some sort. But anyhow, here’s Martin & gang hot-picking through Tom T. Hall’s “Pete, The Best Coon Dog in the State of Tennessee.”

Now boys, get the skillet, some flour and grease,
We're gonna have a big coon to eat.
Old Pete's got'im a-runnin' and he'll tree'im, I say,
He's the best coon dog in the state of Tennessee today.

Jimmy Martin - Pete, The Best Coon Dog in the State of TN [buy]

just had a groovy idea

On Forever Changes Arthur Lee and that psychedelic band of his added some horns, strings, and lyrics to their Demo "Hummingbirds" and turned it into "The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This." I prefer the Demo, except for those last 7 seconds of stop-start horns on "Good Humor," which are always thrilling and make me think the album, after all that "water's turned to blood" talk and such, is coming unhinged. Groovy!

Love – Hummingbirds (Demo) [buy]
Love – The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This

Ladies Love Outlaws

In 1972 RCA released, against Waylon Jennings’ objections, his album Ladies Love Outlaws. While Waylon may not have wanted the album to see the light of day, the title-track, by Lee Clayton, was a hit and helped solidify emerging Outlaw Country movement/image. A year later Clayton used a version of the song to close-out his self-titled first album.

Lee Clayton - Ladies Love Outlaws [buy]

Ladies Love Outlaws

In 1972 RCA released, against Waylon Jennings’ objections, his album Ladies Love Outlaws. While Waylon may not have wanted the album to see the light of day, the title-track, by Lee Clayton, was a hit and helped solidify the emerging Outlaw Country movement/image. A year later Clayton recorded his version of the song and used it to close-out his self-titled first album.

Lee Clayton - Ladies Love Outlaws [buy]

Funke Banana Split

When I just got going on this blogging business not that long ago, the first post I wrote included a shout-out to the hilarious John Funke and his righteously out of control radio show Backwoods. Somehow those words were lost forever. But that loss just gives me the opportunity now to say that at 10am every Saturday morning on WMBR (88.1 MIT) you can hear Mr. Funke mixing-up a 2 hour dose of “the best in vintage rock'n'roll, country western and rhythm'n'blues.” Here’s a youtube clip of one of the tunes he played today, “Doin’ the Banana Split” (authored by none other than Barry White) by, yes, the Banana Splits. I’m still trying to get over the cognitive dissonance brought on by a song this funky being a part of any kids show. Get down children!

let me gleam with surprise

Big Sur Cows!

The soundtrack to the last Big Sur trip was mostly Tim Buckley, David Crosby's If I Could Only Remember My Name, and, of course, a generous serving of the Dead. Next time I pack my bags and head out for heaven on earth these two bliss-filled songs by Big Sur lovin' Kyle Field (aka Little Wings) will be played more than a few times I'm sure. The delicate wonder song "Look at What the Light did Now" slows everything down to that just right easy pace and sits with you in awe of the golden west coast sun. And simply go ahead and let "Fall River" take over for a bit.

Little Wings - Look at What the Light did Now [buy]
Little Wings - Fall Flood
Crosby needs in on this:
David Crosby - Laughing [buy]

let's get real real gone

Elvis Forever
Elvis - Milkcow Blues Boogie [buy]

Honky-Tonking with Aznavour

I've always gotten a chuckle out of Albert Remy bursting into the barroom and loudly mocking as "honky-tonk" Charles Aznavour's music in Truffaut's slice of cinematic perfection Shoot the Piano Player. If Aznavour dropped in behind the keys of a piano in a Southwestern honky-tonk in 1960 and started in on the tune he plays here (during the credit sequence and again at the 7:16 mark), it'd probably take more than the standard issue chicken-wire screen to save his ass from bodily damage.



But here the Wiki steps in to educate. Even though Aznavour might not be creating anything Lefty would call honky-tonk, he's still playing in a (sortakinda) working-class barroom environment "where the pianos were often poorly cared for, tending to be out of tune and having some nonfunctioning keys." And, as such, the honky-tonk designation works rather well as a contrast to Aznavour's character's Mozart/Chopin/Bach grand-piano-playing days.
But the Wiki has even more knowledge to drop. I had no earthly idea that Aznavour was such a profoundly important and beloved artist. Popular, certainly, but bigger than Elvis(!) or Bob. Seems so.

countryride 6 pack

Well, I just came back from a holiday break in Tennessee to yet another Boston Blizzard. And I could really use another country ride with my friends, rolling past that sweet cow you see there who was good enough to stand still for a second to be photographed. Here's a few tunes that accompanied me down the road this past trip home.

Michael Hurley - Panama Hat [buy]
Humble Pie - Sad Bag of Shaky Jake [buy]
T Bone Burnett - Poison Love [buy]
Robbie Fulks - Bluebirds Are Singing For Me [buy]
Todd Snider - I Can’t Complain [buy]
A.A. Bondy - Lover’s Waltz [buy]