Got music?

Its been awhile since I shared some old music with yall.

This first one was on the soundtrack to the movie "Car Wash" (1976)--which I once reviewed for the (very) long-defunct Focus Rock Entertainment, back in the day. I wrongly predicted it would be a hit; instead, the theme song "Car Wash" was the big hit. (sigh) But it did become a funk classic and was popular in the discos, as the B-side of the hit ballad from the film, "I wanna get next to you."

Produced and written by the late, great Motown-powerhouse, Norman Whitfield, this song features the legendary funk bass of Lequeint 'Duke' Jobe--an amazing groove. All punctuated with beautiful big brass noise, which defines 70s funk for me.

To this day, now and forever, when someone says "put your money where your mouth is"... I mentally finish the sentence: "or you ain't said a damn thing"...

Yep.

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is - Rose Royce



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I know I have played this here before, probably more than once. Its one of my favorite pieces of instrumental music, ever.
(PS: Link for those who missed the old instrumentals post! I never did get around to posting part 2, so consider THIS part 2.)

Although I love the original studio version (and most live renditions), the Allman Brothers video clips currently on Youtube have some fuzzy audio and are not as good as simply listening to (Allman Brothers guitarist) Dickey Betts play it as an 8-minute guitar lesson (with his son Duane) for Guitar World magazine... elegant, spare, and oh so lovely.

They have to slow down at around the 3:45 mark (the "second theme"), where it gets somewhat complicated and psychedelic. Other than that, this version is almost good enough to stand on its own.

In Memory of Elizabeth Reed - Dickey Betts



Aside: I didn't know Betts had named his son Duane, which gets me rather choked up.

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Time for working class proletarian bluegrass. You can blame the election. Class consciousness uber alles!

This is an old union song I grew up with. The Blue Diamond mines in Kentucky are still going strong, in case you didn't know. The union? Not as strong.

You old black gold you've taken my soul
And your dust has darkened my home
And now that we’re old you're turning your back
But where else can an old miner go

It’s Big Leatherwood and it’s Algoma Block
And now it’s Blue Diamond too
The pits they are closing - get another job
But what work can an old miner do

John L. had a dream but it’s broken it seems
And the union is letting us down
Last night they took away my hospital card
Saying why don’t you leave this old town.

The union didn't let you down, the Rockefellers did. Now they have decided they were wrong; they are divesting and fast-dissociating themselves from fossil fuels. And how many miners died to make them rich?

A day late and a dollar short. Not our dollar, though.

Blue Diamond Mines - Jean Ritchie

Tuesday Tunes

Bad Sneakers - Steely Dan



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It's a long instrumental, but its real purty, too. ("Richard Betts pickin on that red guitar!") Relax, breathe, and visualize yourself right next to a waterfall.

It won't be hard to imagine at all.

High Falls - Allman Brothers Band



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I've heard this one a lot on this blog's namesake, the indispensable Uncle Dave's Dead Air. GREAT STUFF!

Ride Mighty High - Jerry Garcia Band

Friday noise

Eons ago, I used to write record reviews for FOCUS ROCK ENTERTAINMENT (screen capture of old publication here! Only image I could find online!). They paid me in t-shirts, movie and concert tickets, tote bags and other crap nobody else wanted, and records. RECORDS. Lots and lots of vinyl, some of which I still own because I can't bear to part with it.

One of the records I reviewed was VOLUNTEER JAM, which contained this major kick-ass song from the Charlie Daniels Band, jamming beautifully with members of the Allman Brothers Band and the Marshall Tucker Band. (The song ultimately emerges as more Allman than Daniels, but with Charlie's signature holler.) The rest of the album is also very good, but as I wrote then, this song shoots the record right into the stratosphere. (And I'm STILL right.) Yes, you heard that smoooooth Dickey Betts gee-tar before you even saw him.

Look how young everybody looks! Ain't it good to be alive and be in Tennessee?!?

Birmingham Blues - Charlie Daniels Band/Volunteer Jam (live)



If you have never heard of Mike Bloomfield, you should have. He passed away in 1981, and I sobbed my little heart out. A member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band as well as Electric Flag, he also provided great music for one of my favorite movies, Medium Cool.

I don't know who is singing, but it's that amazing, stinging guitar noise I want you to hear! This song is credited to Robert Johnson himself.

The video has some good visuals of Chicago (beloved home of Bloomfield and Butterfield), and contains shots of some of the more famous venues they played in.

Sweet Home Chicago - Mike Bloomfield (live)