From his old Teddy and the Talltops to the always-amazing Graceland Revue to the Tearjoint Troubadours and right on down to the Naughty Ones, Ted Roddy always has the fire chock-full of irons. Case in point: On April 30, 2000 Roddy's blues extravaganza, "Electric Mud, a Tribute to Muddy Waters" took place at the Continental Club. Numerous Austin musicians converged at the club to celebrate the music of the legendary McKinley Morganfield aka Muddy Waters. All proceeds from the event went to Caritas of Austin.
I recently picked up a three CD collection of early blues greats called "The Men of Blues."
It's a nice primer to the artists that influenced the post-war blues of Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, etc. Any CD that has Barbecue Bob, Peetie Wheatstraw, Kokomo Arnold and Jazz Gillum is A-OK in my book. Forty-two songs by 42 blues greats. I've seen it at Half Price Books and ABCD's. No house should be without it.
The Big "D" Jamboree Live Vol. 1
. Another CD collection that no self respecting Texas music lover should be without. This is a two CD set of live recordings from Dallas' Big D Jamboree from the early to mid-'50s. CD No. 1 is the hillbilly side, all country Texas-style, with people like Cowboy Copas, Leon Payne, Mitchell Torok and Charlene Arthur, including a segment sponsored by Falstaff beer. CD No. 2 takes on the rockabilly years in Dallas which were very rich indeed, with a who's who of great Texas rockers like Johnny Carroll, Groovey Joe Poovey, Sid King and the Five Strings, and Ronnie Dee Dawson. Plus legends like Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent (who spent time in Big D) and one of my personal favorites, Warren Smith. Another fave of mine, Orville Couch (the songwriter who gave us "Hello Trouble") is featured on both the hillbilly side and the rockabilly. It's full of the stuff I love about this state. Check Antone's or Waterloo and flat get it.
More CDs: Edsel records out of England has released a bunch of CDs of Huey Meaux's Crazy Cajun recordings—killer Texas-Louisiana stuff. I have personally enjoyed the Roy Head, White Texas Soul Shouter, Rod Bernard, Papa Link Davis, Jimmy Donley, and Glenn Barber CDs. For an education in Texas soul, regardless of skin color, get hip to the crazy Cajun sound.
Geoff Muldaur's
latest CD on Hightone, "The Secret Handshake." I love this.
One of the Austin Chronicle's 10 best singer-songwriters at the 1999 Austin Music Awards and one of our own 20 to Watch at SXSW 2000 (see interview), Blu remains an artist of note.
. A lot of people just don't know how cool this place is.
The Barkers
. Believe it or not, I just saw them for the first time. They are really cool.
The "When We Were Kings" soundtrack. A bunch of cool stuff like the Spinners, B.B. King, James Brown and the Fugees, with a bunch of kick-ass Ali sound bites.
I've listened to Tony Joe White so much lately that I'm about burnt out on it. He rocks.
Gruene Hall on a Sunday afternoon
. We just played there and it was the coolest show ever. Just a bunch of fat drunk people sittin' around. It was just the coolest.
As one of Austin's most prolific drummers, Lisa Pankratz has played with every name country act out there. Currently she can be seen behind, among others, Damon Bramblett, the Tearjoint Troubadours and the occasional Bruce Robison.
's new CD, "The Heart I Wear." It's not really fair for me to recommend it because I played on it, but I'm really proud of it. I wrote two of the songs on it. It's great.
Slaid Cleaves' new record
. I don't own it yet, but I heard two cuts from it on Car Talk the other day and have to pick that up.
Dusty Springfield's "Dusty in Memphis"
is never far from my CD player. I love all the players on it. I think there's a new one with some unreleased tracks—I'll have to get out and pick that one up.
The Stingers
, who, I think, play at the Black Cat. I've heard a lot of good things about this band and have to get out to see them.
Dale Watson
. I subbed for a few dates recently and it reminded me just what a great little band this is and what a talented songwriter Dale is.
I had a great time with Damon Bramblett at the Blue Highways Festival in Holland around the time of SXSW. It was really cool to play to a packed house and just have everyone going absolutely nuts for the stuff. For some reason it was a far cry from his Friday happy hours at Stubb's, which are a blast.
In addition to performing with such artists as Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Jeff Hughes, Kelly Willis, Marcia Ball, Doyle Bramhall, Monte Warden, Sarah Brown, Ted Roddy, Jimmy LaFave, David Keith, Lou Ann Barton and Angela Strehli, guitarist David Murray founded SonicOne digital studio in 1995. Murray's SonicOne is responsible for the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport's unique almost all-Austin sound. See the playlist at www.sonicone.com.
The video to see for the first time, or to study again is Stevie Ray Vaughan, live at the El Macombo. In my opinion, this was Stevie at his stripped down best. Taped in Toronto, Canada in the '80s, it features Stevie, Chris and Tommy in their unbeatable trio format. Simply a must-see, jaw-dropping performance.
One of my all-time favorite reads is Barry Gordy's autobiography, "To be Loved." A candid, moving and informative view of the Motown music machine, from the man who started it. To me this is 101 in American soul music history; couldn't put it down.
I've burned up at least 12 CD players listening to Alison Krauss, "Now That I've Found You." It is a beautifully recorded and performed record. I always play it when company is coming over to set the mood. My wife loves it too, but said that I must widen my scope. Why mess with perfection? OK, James Brown, "Live at the Apollo" works too.
A must-see is "Buena Vista Social Club." I'm hesitant to mention it for fear of overstating the obvious, yet am always surprised by the number of musician friends who have not yet seen it. See it.
The Broken Spoke is really a great place to hear music. People enjoy eating, dancing and hanging out with friends there; it's a true scene. An added benefit is the fact that you won't get your ears blasted out either. All ages and social structure; great people watching.
Previous Worker's Playtimes:
April 4: Nancy Coplin, John Dial, Jay Robillard, Brad Fordham and Elana Fremerman Feb. 24: SXSW Special including Steve Wertheimer, Chris Wall, Los Skarnales, Damon Bramblett, J'Net Ward, and others. Jan. 5: Chrysta Bell, Dale Watson, Conrad Chroucoun, Benjamin Serrato and Daniel Schaefer. Dec. 16: Charlie Robison, Joe Hayden, John Kunz and Godzilla Motor Company. Nov 10: Don Walser, Joe "King" Carrasco, Susanna Van Tassel, Gerry Van King, Michael Hernandez Oct 16: Stacie Smith, Fritz Beer, Jeff Hughes, David Beebe and Bradley Jaye Williams. Sept 23: Jimmy LaFave, Bruce Robison, Larry Monroe, Owners of Ginny's Little
Longhorn and Gilberto Guerrero Aug 12: Frank Pugliese, Casey Monahan, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Jackie Specht and Adam
Carroll.
