the wreckroom

Bonzo Dog band Hunting Tigers

2009-07-01T21:51:00.001-05:00

They bite
They scratch
They make an awful fuss
It's no use stroking them and saying "puss puss puss"
Oh
Hunting tigers out in India
Out in, out in, out in India (yuh)

field school week

2009-06-05T12:30:00.007-05:00

since this space never listens to radio, watches t.v. or rarely ventures farther than the neighborhood po-boy shop, word from the outside takes awhile to filter in. but when the good stuff eventually does get through, well, we get really excited...

such is the euphoria felt as we discovered the music of peter and david brewis, two brothers from sunderland england. together (under the guise of 'field music'), and separately, they are making sounds that can only be labeled as 'prog-pop'.

it is a smart, 21st century music loaded with heavy rhythmics, thought out lyrics, sweeping brian wilson harmonies, and loaded beatlesque melodies. the stuff they are doing is really like nothing we have heard before, yet reminds us of a whole lot of other things, xtc, yes, squeeze, todd rundgren, genesis, the police, peter gabriel, and even some gershwin in it all, of all things. it really is that good.

one find led to another, even better find. then another, then....

well, the lineage is kind of like this, 'the futureheads', (in which david brewis played drums, tho no longer), 'field music', (where the brothers got together to make one great angular pop album and some b-sides), 'school of language', (the first solo project, done by peter, very guitar heavy and hook laden), and'the week that was' (this is david's band that is the album, a lush sonic experiment that works on so many levels at once...).

with each step up the music gets infectious, denser, quirkier, and more complex. the brewis brothers have changed our musical world with their craftsman-like vitality and modern pop rock pop sensibilities.

we can't wait to hear what they do next!

and here are some mp3s of david and peter brewis doing what they do best, by way of yousendit for a week or so...

the futurehead - hounds of loves (mp3)
the futureheads - manray (mp3)

field music - a house is not a home (mp3)
field music - give it lose it take it (mp3)

school of language - keep your water (mp3)
school of language - disappointment '99 (mp3)
school of language - poor boy (mp3)

the week that was - learn to learn (mp3)
the week that was - the good life (mp3)
the week that was - scratching the surface (mp3)

where to find them...

the week that was on myspace

school of language website

field music on myspace

the futureheads official site

brewis bros interview (at bandstand busking)

david brewis' hit list

dark night of the soul

2009-05-18T09:09:00.010-05:00

the biggest buzz this week was not who won 'amerikan idle', it was over an album by three unlikely collaborators featuring a cast of support singers that will probably never get a proper release.

danger mouse, (he of the band 'gnarls barkely' and the controversial beatles/jay z mash-up 'grey album'), mark linkous, (he of the uber-sad 'sparklehorse'), and david lynch, (he who made 'eraserhead' and 'twin peaks'), have teamed up to produce a captivating piece of lush, near hypnotizing music. the songs are sung by various artists such as iggy pop, wayne coyne of the flaming lips, julian casablancas from the strokes, jason lytle, frank black of pixies , suzanne vega, vic chesnutt, james mercer of the shins, gruf rhys of the super furry animals, nina peerson from the cardigans and even david lynch (or so it says).

the announcement of the release later this summer of a book of photos by lynch that was to include the album was dampened by the fact that emi records has put the kibosh to the music part of the project...

as stated on npr.org...
An unnamed spokesperson for Danger Mouse says that "due to an ongoing dispute with EMI" the book of photographs will "now come with a blank, recordable CD-R. All copies will be clearly labeled: 'For legal reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.'" When contacted, EMI declined to comment and wouldn't confirm whether the label is even involved in the project.

the record was leaked earlier this month and is now all over the net. the problem is that a lot of the files are misnamed or tagged. so i took great pains to fix it up so i can put it on the blank cd when i get the book. i just thought i'd spread the love and this fine record while i was at it... so enjoy!

and here, in its entirety, ripped from npr.org, in the correct order, with all the tags fixed, is the album in 128kps mp3 for a week or whoever gets to it first, via yousendit.

danger mouse & sparklehorse - Revenge (Flaming Lips)

when you wish upon a waterspout.

2009-05-17T13:08:00.012-05:00

last night was a regular hang-around-the-house kinda saturday evening. on, or about, 10:30 we were doing our normal routine, s.a. was watching some world war II documentary on her computer, i was doing some equally important music listening on mine, and the dogs were sleeping, as usual.

the first hint of something gone awry was a clap of thunder that wasn't quite... well, then another loud BANG! we ran upstairs and hung onto the backroom balcony looking at a fireworks show (the result of a blown transformer a few blocks away) with wind-whipped debris flying willy-nilly thru the air. we ran back in soon enough as the rain started to pummel us like wet fists.

the pounding wind and rain continued with brilliant lightening and booming thunder for another 20 minutes. after it stopped we ventured out to wander around finding insulation and pieces of aluminum gutter and siding all over our yard and flooded street.

well, we were told to expect a bit of rain sometime during the night, but what we got was a frightening close-up of mother nature when she is pissed... luckily no one got hurt and just one lowly sno-ball stand was damaged.

and here is a short viddy i found that someone shot last night. the clip itself is not very enlightening (except at 28 seconds in when the transformer explodes), but you really need to listen to the young girl samantha in the background completely lose it! (i'll bet she is a blast to hang out with during an evacuation...)

The Video Went Here
But It Was Replaced
By Another, Not As
Silly Thingy So You'll
Just Have To Take My
Word On It, It Was
Funny. But Now Its Gone.

finally, a few mp3s of some stormy music, here for seven days or whenever the wind stops... via yousendit.

the wizard of oz - cyclone (extended version)
r.e.m. - white tornado
sonny boy williamson II - the sky is crying
lowell george - can't stand the rain
roy brown - let the four winds blow
the kinks - there's a change in the weather
the rolling stones - gimme shelter (live '73)
dr. john - storm warning
bob dylan - shelter from the storm

bourbon and st. ann

2009-05-17T12:09:00.004-05:00

...on a rainy day during the french quarter fest.

Field Music - A House is Not A Home

2009-04-10T11:37:00.001-05:00

School Of Language - Rockist Video

2009-04-10T11:23:00.001-05:00

The Week That Was - Learn to Learn

2009-04-10T11:20:00.001-05:00

you say you want a revolution?

2009-03-24T21:45:00.014-05:00

once upon a time...

there were four guys, they had a band, they made music. they did it for awhile, for a long time, (if you include time stuck together).

and by 1968 they got tired of it all, and themselves.

in june of that year one of them brought a song into the studio called 'revolution'. he wanted it to be the next single, but the version recorded was 'too slow', (according to sources). so, he made another version, and that was released as the double a-side of 'hey jude'.

this, my friends, is the ever-sought after 1st 'slow' version of 'revolution', (including the second half which was truncated into revolution 9, minus the yoko diary blathering), in all its mono glory.

it is a ten plus minute wonder of slow and pre-emptive chaos... (with a band in lock-step!)

but only for 7 days or the amount of downloads it takes to lose it.

the beatles - revolution (take 20 remix 1 speed corrected)

blue sky drive

2008-05-16T21:41:00.005-05:00

well, it has been a long time, hasn't it? this lil wreck has been busy doin' lots of things as of late, writing tunes, makin' viddys and generally being a nuisance on other areas of the nets. i know, i know, i really should pay more attention to this old abandoned blog, but what the hell...

things around the metry wreckhouse are now in remote mode. we've all settled in quite comfortably here since the move, everyone is busy working and /or going to school/daycare... or in my case, just takin' up space in this place. it's really not hard to get in a groove in this town. they don't call it the big easy for nothing.

the above viddy is one of the things poppin' outta my head lately. i had it up and around for awhile, but was never happy with it. so i stripped it down to the chassis and gave it a complete overhaul. so i feel better now...

and for all aspiring stars out there, (or if you just want to hear some great music from around the world), you really should go to len amsterdam's great music hosting site, whitby shores.

the metry wrecks seemed to have found a home there, they love the tunes and viddys and even have neil young as a blog buddy. you really need to check it out, now!

ok, ciao!

spoon at treasure island september 16, 2007

2008-01-14T22:07:00.000-06:00

one of this space's favorite groups of late is austin, texas' very own 'spoon'. britt daniels and band have the best catalogue of smart, concise, stripped-down music as anyone else out there in this big ol' (yet evah shrinking) rock-n-roll world right now. their latest release, the baby-gibberishly titled 'ga ga ga ga ga', was our pick as best album of '07 (if we would've had a list that is)... and very much far ahead of all the rest. spoon are a band making music that continues to defy labels and flirt with the boundaries of your average four piece pop ensemble..
(this w'rooms #1 song for awhile has been 'the beast and dragon, adored' from 'gimme fiction', it reminds us of plastic ono lennon around '70, what with it's plaintive cry for rock-n-roll, lost and gone forever, and the silly, fruitless pursuit thereof... ahhh, the infected voice, the staccato guitar, the rumblin' pianny, the shaky drunkin' rhythm... while all the time explaining why it keeps getting done...

'...I got a feelin, it didn't come free.
I got a feelin, and then it got to me.
When you don't feel it, it shows, and they tear out your soul...
And when you believe, they call it rock and roll,
And when you believe, they call it rock and roll.')

ga(x5) is sparse, hook-laden econo-pop; very tight, very addicting and sensibly un-ordinary. each song is a varied piece of funky genius, containing undeniable danceable trippy dittys and finger snappin' fun, all in an easy to handle 40 minute package. (the version we have has an extra cd of spoon in a more experimental vein, which is ok by me, the more the better...)

from the fractured synchno-pop opening anthem of 'don't make me a target', the neo-soul treatment on 'you got yr cherry bomb', the goofy, skippy feeling 'don't ya evah', the poppy hook-heavy 'the underdog' ... this record is a maturing continuation of the catchy unorthodox style that each of the proceeding albums had hinted at. it all comes together here. 'ga (x5)' is a gorgeously understated masterpiece.

trust me, you need this cd...

and just to show ya'll that it's not all studio wizardry, here is a show by brett and the boys from the bay area last fall. the sound is very board worthy, the band is tight and vibrant, and mr. daniels voice is in it's best cracked-falsetto, whiskey-soaked whimsical mode. it seemed like a great show and enjoyed by all in attendance... those lucky bastards...

... presented for your approval and available in mp3 for a week or so, by way of yousendit:

spoon at the treasure island music festival
september 16, 2007

1. Black Like Me
2. Anything You Want
3. Don't Make Me a Target
4. They Never Got You
5. I Summon You
6. The Ghost of You Lingers
7. Don't You Evah
8. I Turn My Camera On
9. The Beast And Dragon, Adored
10. The Underdog
11. You Got Yr Cherry Bomb
12. My Mathematical Mind
13. My Little Japanese Cigarette Case
14. Quincy Punk Episode

go get it!

...now all i need is a crew...

it's my fuckin' christmas!

2007-12-19T16:54:00.000-06:00

just to clear the air before this starts, i am a reformed catholic and unorthodox pagan, born of devout christians and believe in true christian values. as i grew up christmas time was all about getting things, giving things and spending time with friends and family, and oh yeah, being especially nice to everyone you meet. we didn't dwell on the jesus stuff too much, maybe at church on christmas morn, (or in catechism, which i liked because of the history aspect of the bible, not really the flashy uber-religious context), but not a whole lot as i remember. neither did my friends, family, classmates, or most people i'd meet on the street. we all knew what it meant and dealt with it in our own ways. we weren't overtly religious and recognized that maybe not everyone else had the same beliefs as we did. it was always just a real fun time of year, with everyone included... or at least that how i remember it.

but now what the fuck is wrong with these people, you know, the ones who are so afraid that their christmas is being assailed by an organized assault they scream and rant and rave like a child left coal in his stocking. this has been simmering for a while now, with the 'bill oh-reallys' yapping about 'the war on christmas' and how the left is trying to take all the crosses and commandments off of public lands and bullying stores about how they want them to appeal to their customers... and on and on and on...

i hate exclusiveness, have always avoided clubs, fraternities, orders, lodges, religions or anything that had 'us and them' stamped in the fine print, (or as groucho once said, 'i'd never join a club that would have me as a member'). i mean, it's ok if ya wanna go be a sheep, walk lock-step and follow the pack, as long as you keep to yourself and don't try to win me with hallow arguments as to why your club is better than the others, i won't subscribe to your religion. but now these right-wing nut-case evangelicals are downright scary. their attitude of 'it's my fucking christmas!' is outta control. what unmitigated gall of these people to try and tell me how to celebrate the season. it ain't even their holiday by rights, it really belongs to the pagans, (and we know what they think of those heretics). the winter solstice has been celebrated by cultures all over the world for eons before christ was supposedly born, (which, don't be shocked now, was not on dec. 25th).

now, i don't mean to be pissin' on nobody's holiday, but they started this crap. they want war, they got it. i am all for trashing everything; the obsession of the over-lighted tree, the constant inundation of inane songs sung by tone-deaf singers, the endless, boring, old slogans, the stupid movies and lame t.v. specials, the repetitive stream of crass commercialism and all it's sick pseudo-religious trimmings that truly make detestable what used to be a much more innocent season. this world is full of people who don't celebrate the holiday in the same fashion. still the christian militant fascist fanatics see any other view as a threat to their beliefs. so, they play victim, cry foul and worry themselves silly over whether its 'merry christmas' or 'happy holidays'. and what happens when each and every organized religion wants to put up their own version of the spirit of their holiday? is it a matter of might make right? that is how real wars start isn't it? no one wins in this silly debate. faith is for each person to celebrate in their soul, home or church and not to be crammed down the collective maw of everyone else... especially in the public square, or in government offices. this is not solely a christian country, it is a nation built by the hands of peoples of many beliefs. why can't we all just get along?... we should be better than this, you'd think.

'what would jesus do?' is a fond rallying cry, but a damned few so-called christians rarely do anything resembling the teachings christ. his was a message of tolerance and moderation, of love thy neighbor and helping one another get by... not having crusades for oil using the blood of the poor to finance it, greedy corporate christian wealth that neglects the unfortunate, and mall-sized christmas specials that breed cultural divisiveness. have yourself a merry little christmas is now moot, it's buy more, spend more and just do it my way and we will win this war with them that are different from us... get real, no one is gonna take christ out of christmas, you have that, just don't act like it is the only reason for the season... the reason's in your heart. i don't think the birthday boy would be proud of what it has become. it's just silly the way these people think, as if they do. one drive around the neighborhood here proves their so-called-spirit is alive and well in suburban new orleans, (s.a. says she has never seen so many houses decorated in her life, and i gotta admit it sure seems like the most to me also).

i just wish we could all get along, even if only for one stupid day...

...and if that wasn't bad enuff, the republi-cons are using faith as a major litmus test as to who is most qualified to run this country for them. i dunno know about you, but these last seven years, with a man who was hand-picked by these fruitcakes, is more than enuff. i nearly threw up spiked eggnog out of my nose when i saw huckabee's, (sounds like what you do when you swallow a flying insect), christmas message, (he is the savior flavor de jour for the 'us' guys). i tell ya, every american really needs to see this video, but not for the reasons they want... and you want this guy to be your latex salesman? i hope he is gonna be their next right-hand-of-god, he is truly just too good to believe. he thinks he is so close to heaven he'll probably try to fill his cabinet with the 12 apostles... (the guy just seems like a snake oil salesman to me; sweet talkin', smarmy and not to be trusted).

whew... i think i am thru here, i know i stepped on some toes with this holiday rant (i hope so at least), but my feet hurt already from all this bru-ha-ha, so let's just all try to get along this year, eh? we are doing our part, by enjoying the festivus thingy at home with our pole amongst friends and family, (we're still not checking faith credentials to get in, so come one, come all!), and celebrating the season like the drunken pagans we ought to be... bah humbug!

(here is the real subliminal message from the huck, and it's a lot scarier than 'paul is dead, paul is dead')

also, in the spirit of the stealin' of the over-hyped/priced holidays we offer these tidbits of mirth and detriment, in mp3, thru festivus at least, by way of yousendit:

the sonics - i don't belive in christmas
the damed - there ain't no santa claus
the kinks - father christmas
hanoi rocks - dead by christmas
venom - black christmas
tom waits - christmas card from a hooker in minneapolis
sparks - thank god it's not christmas
billy idol - yellin' at the christmas tree
the vandals - a gun for christmas
the refreshments - i can't have a merry christmas
sex pistols - punk rock christmas
the ramones - punk rock christmas
the black halos - homeless for christmas
danny elfman - kidnap the sandy claws

...to everyone everywhere, just hold true to what the season means to you!
and a happy merry celebrations to all...
now if ya'll excuse me i still got presents to wrap!

everywhere it's christmas...(again)

2007-12-16T20:02:00.000-06:00

*** back by popular demand, in time for this xmas, is this repost of the 12-1-05 entry...
(with corrections and additions)

...for seven years the beatles released an annual christmas record, on flexi-discs for members of the fan club. it began in 1963 as the four of them sat around a microphone in abbey road studios to record a thank you message, and by '66 they were making it a small epic, of sorts, using audio skits and new songs. for '68 and '69 the beatles weren't even doing it together at all, just piecemealing stuff they each recorded at home, then handing it over to kenny everett (the bbc dj) to edit for release. in december 1970, after the band broke up, apple records released all 7 christmas flexi-records on one vinyl l.p., again, only to the fan club.

for years all of this was really hard to find on any medium (i was lucky to have a friend whose sister belonged to the fan club and had them all, including the l.p., of which she would not part with but let me tape, so i at least it in some form, which was spread as far as i could). now the price for any of the original records is unreal, as you can imagine. but thanks to the wonders of the internet you can find these lil gems on torrent or other various places, (i found a nice cd of the set, along with the other christmas tunes done by each after the split, on ebay a while back, but i'd love to own the l.p. in vinyl before i die)...

***(well, i finally did get the lp right after the original post, the real apple fan club one... heheheheheeee, she treats me so good!)

...the beatles were always big on christmas. they would plan album and single releases for the holidays and even had a kinda off-broadway christmas show in the early years. and as mentioned in a previous post, it meant a guaranteed record under the tree on the morning of december 25th each year. i still miss those times, but at least we've still got the christmas records to fill the house with beatle-christmas cheer when it comes, at the end of every year ...

here are the very hard to find fan club flexi-disc records on mp3 download for you to put under the tree for that special santa-beatle on your list ...

***(these links are now thru yousendit, so that you can save 'em, since the site i was using/hacking flipped 'em to video streams on youtube... i may add links to those later for ya'll (or you can go here now and save me the trouble)... in the meantime, get 'em while they're available, for 100 downloads or the next week or so, or you can just listen to the audio stream to enjoy anytime at all as long as you like... so, garry crimble to all and getty babel dear christmas!

The Beatles Christmas Record (mp3)
(audio stream)

Another Beatles Christmas Record (mp3)
(audio stream)

The Beatles Third Christmas Record (mp3)
(audio stream)

Pantomime:Everywhere It's Christmas (mp3)
(audio stream)

Christmas Time Is Here Again (mp3)
(audio stream)

The 1968 Christmas Record (mp3)
(audio stream)

The Beatles Seventh Christmas Record (mp3)
(audio stream)

The Beatles Fan Club Christmas L.P.

*** and here are some lost (and found, i guess) beatles christmas bits that have been dug up in the last few, in mp3, once more by way of yousendit:

another take of the '64 message

the lost '65 christmas message

(a very long, strange and un-xmas-like piece of bric-a-brac indeed)

an outtake from the '67 message

...and finally, for the completists and fanatics,
a beatles christmas desktop theme

not another xmas mix... mix

2007-12-14T12:02:00.000-06:00

so, i know this is christmas time. s.a. asked me to make a few copies of an mp3 cd of christmas music for her and all her workmates at the road home thingy. i started by digging up as much as i could, like every cd in the archives (quite a few), and finding an enormous torrent file on the magical net, (it's only a mere 10 gigabytes of the most varied assortment of christmas mp3 cheer one could hope to find beneath the tree, including a complete set of the old firestone christmas lps from my early childhood... too sick).

after weeding out the obvious klunkers, (such as the entire 6 cds of nordic muzak and the celine-type crap), picking out the obvious winners, (i think all the standards are known), and incorporating some odd bits here and there, (some more odd than others), the cd had turned into a 193 track monster.

then came the fun...

sorting, remixing and recording, in all about a weeks worth of toil and labor. needless to say i am so burned out on christmas music that i almost went into canniption fits looking for a tree with the little lady at home-desperate the other day, just hearing the burl warbling 'it's a holly jolly christmas' in my state is almost tantamount to christmas waterboarding...

but, seeing as this space was vacant last season, (we had better fish to fry), we thought it'd be nice to let ya'll in for some of that old odd assortment of mp3 holiday cheer, for a week, at the most, thru yousendit...

sonny boy williamson - sonny boy's christmas blues
tommy ridgley - please come home for christmas
t-rex - christmas box
james brown - santa claus, santa claus
brian wilson - what i really want for christmas (for s.a.)
louis armstrong - 'zat you santa claus?
lowell fulson - lonesome christmas
r.e.m. - christmas griping
rubberband - jinglebell rock
pink floyd - merry xmas song
the beatles - 1964 xmas message (outtake)

same as they was, before they was.

2007-11-11T14:16:00.000-06:00

a new improved edition of the 1965 beatles' film 'help!' was just released on dvd, all cleaned up, in a nice, slick 2 disc package, sounding and looking much better than i do after all these years... what a godsend. we needed some new kinda beatle stuff, and i guess this'll hold us until they get around to releasing 'let it be' on dvd for the 1st time.

the first time i saw help! was when it came out in '65. we were living in niles, illinoise at the time, i was 9 and my mom drove us to the local cinema. i don't remember what i was thinking on the way in, but when we emerged, my life had changed. i recall having the most euphoric feeling, like i floated out of the picture show. i wanted to be a beatle so bad and i just couldn't get enough of the music, i wanted to make that music (and still do!). it seemed they always had so much fun making music and living life. it seemed like a good job to me.

for years it was ocassionaly shown on t.v., all chopped for commercials and time constraints. one time i caught it and made an audio tape for my friends and i to play endlessly while imagining the movie and memorizing the dialog. finally it came out on vhs, and later a limited release on dvd during the 90s. the dvd copies have been pretty rare and cost quite alot, well, they used to. but the earlier dvds of 'help!' were made from old prints of the film. they looked faded and washed out. still, it was all there was to be had... 'til now that is.

we watched the new version last night and were in complete awe at how vibrant and alive the movie is now. the color seems to jump off of the screen, as when they are all in their shared, multi-colored apartment, and the surround sound is full, crisp and lush. and even after seeing this movie at least a hundred times i was now picking out many things that had slipped by before. it just looked and sounded perfect on the big 42" and 5.1 .

the 2nd disc of the set contains the 30 min. 'the beatles in help!, (which has been bootlegged for many a moon), a look at how the movie was restored, (unbelievable!), and some other 'help!' stuff... but the film is the real star here. there is also a deluxe edition with a few goodies like the script, a poster and photo booklet to jack the price, (tho i would like to cop the poster), but it is all just dressing, it's the movie that everyone really needs.

a rarely seen version of 'help!' from some brit t.v. show...

brian epstein's 1965 podcasts

a monty python's look back at help

a few hard to find gems from the beatles during their 'help!' era, in mp3, for a little while, via yousendit:

help! (takes 1, 2 & 5)
help! (takes 8 & 9)
daytripper (takes 1, 2 & 3)

and now, the complete beatles' set at shea stadium, august 15, 1965, again in mp3, from the original line recordings (with minimal crows noise)... this is the real deal, with the songs that were omitted from the t.v. special release in '66, 'she's a woman' and 'everybody's tryin' to be my baby':

the beatles and the great concert at shea!...

ed sullivan's intro
twist and shout
she's a woman
i feel fine
dizzy miss lizzy
ticket to ride
everybody's tryin' to be my baby
can't buy me love
baby's in black
act naturally
a hard days night
help!
i'm down

across the universe

2007-10-29T21:17:00.000-05:00

last week was me and s.a.'s 6th anniversary week, so she took her vacation for the duration and we started it all by spending most of the day at the movies. we caught the early show of 'across the universe' and after a bit of shopping and mexican food strutted to the theatre again to see 'michael clayton'.

george clooney is really at his best in '...clayton', (he is reminding us more and more of cary grant with each film he does). a few people i know don't like clooney because of his stint on the riveting t.v. drama 'er', citing his uncanny ability to look wooden while reading off of cue-cards. i wouldn't know about that, i never saw 'er', but over the years his resume', both on and off the screen, is pretty impressive. ever since 'oh, brother...' we have been hooked. this is probably his best dramatic turn yet, (and yes, there is always 'batman and robin' to compare to...), and we are now waiting patiently for his next foray with the coen brothers, something with brad pitt called 'burn before reading'.

we've been looking forward to seeing 'across the universe' on the big screen since catching the trailer on t.v. a few months before last months release. and it was definitely worth the wait. most of the reviews have been positive, but we don't put too much creedence into the opinions of lessers. so, with more than a bit of foreboding, we were at least half skeptic of another 'sgt. pepper' train-wreck. but it turns out to be one fun ride of a movie. granted, one must have to be fairly familiar with the beatles' catalogue to truly get it, (but who, here in the beginnings of the 21st century, doesn't know at least 'na na na nana na na'... in any language), but even that shouldn't deter anyone from enjoying this wonderful bit of sensory candy.

the story is quite simple, sometime in the sixties a young liverpool dockworker, (jude), steals into america in search of his father, an american ex-g.i. who was stationed in england during the war. he meets a dissillusioned ivy-leaguer, (max), falls in love with his sister lucy, journeys across the u.s.a. and lives out the mid-20th century counter-culture dream/nightmare, all to the backbeat of the beatles. oh, and along the way are almost every 60's cliche' imaginable, the jimi hendrix-ish guitarist named jo-jo, the joplinesque 'sadie' and too many other people and things to notice in just one viewing. maybe the plot sometimes gets blurred and there's not a lot of character development, but the joy of the music and the vibrant tone of the film making more than make up for it's minor shortfalls.

here are a few mp3s from the movie soundtrack and some other goodies too, by way of yousendit for a limited time only...

bono and secret machines - i am the walrus
joe cocker - come together
secret machines - flying
bono and secret machines - lucy in the sky with diamonds

the beatles - across the universe (SI onto take 8)
the beatles - aerial tour instrumental (mono mix)
the beatles - blue jay way (overdub session mix)
john and ringo - chi chi's
john and ringo - breakdown

'across the universe' movie trailer
(quicktime video)

Why Guitars are Better than Women…

2007-10-23T08:43:00.000-05:00

1- Guitars don’t get pregnant.
2- You can play your guitar any time of the month.
3- Guitars don’t have parents.
4- Guitars don’t whine… unless you want them to.
5- You can share your guitar with your friends.
6- Guitars don’t care how many other guitars you’ve played
7- Guitars don’t care how many other guitars you have.
8- Guitars don’t care if you look at other guitars.
9- Guitars don’t care if you buy guitar magazines.
10-You’ll never hear, “Surprise, you are going to proud father of a new guitar!” unless you go out to buy one yourself.
11- If your guitar is flat you can fix it.
12- Your guitar doesn’t care if you never listen to it.
13- Your guitar won’t care if you leave up the toilet seat.
14- You don’t have to be jealous of the guy who works on your guitar.
15- If you say bad things to your guitar, you don’t have to apologize before you play it again.
16- You can play your guitar as long as you want and it won’t get sore.
17- You can stop playing your guitar as soon as you want and it won’t get frustrated.
18- Your parents won’t remain in touch with your old guitar after you dump it.
19- Guitars don’t get headaches.
20- Guitars don’t insult you if you’re a bad player.
21- Your guitar never wants a night out with the other guitars.
22- Guitars don’t care if you’re late.
23- You don’t have to take a shower before you play your guitar.
24- If your guitar doesn’t look good you can refinish it or get new parts.
25- You can play your guitar the first time you meet it, without having to take it to dinner, see a movie, or meet its mother.
26- The only protection you have to wear when playing your guitar is a decent thumb pick.
27- When in mixed company, you can talk about what a great time you had the last time you played your guitar.

...and those are just a few reasons i have had more guitars than girlfriends over the years...

and on that note, here are a few guitar-themed tunes, some pretty old, some very new, for ya'll to shimmy, shake and bake the day away (by way of yousendit for a week or 100 downloads, whichever goes first)...

prince - guitar
camper van beethoven - guitar hero
steve earle - guitar town
the shadows - guitar tango
radiohead - anybody can play guitar
carl perkins - guitar boogie
xtc - my brown guitar
eddie lang - blue guitars
spineshank - while my guitar gently weeps
lonnie johnson - guitar blues
the clash - jail guitar doors
tom jones - ten guitars
eddie bond - broke my guitar
frank zappa - my guitar wants to kill your momma (live)
johhny cash & june carter - long legged guitar pickin' man
ray stevens - guitarzan
cake - the guitar man

beat rodeo

2007-10-16T19:33:00.000-05:00

beat rodeo was a rock-pop-a-billy band of the 80's led by one steve almaas. i had a thing back then for anything connected to r.e.m./mitch easter (of 'let's active') and heard that almaas' first e.p. 'beat rodeo' was of that ilk. so, like i am so apt to do, when i first saw it i grabbed it with out even hearing it, trusting only word of mouth and a pretty cool cover, (i have found much great music that way).

recorded at drive-in studios in north carolina, with easter and richard barone (of the bongos, who were also very influential on the east coast pop scene) filling in as the band, almaas' first solo effort is such a lil jewel of rock-n-roll attitude that it amazes me how this shit just gets lost, then and now.

this e.p. is one of my most favorite pieces of cardboard covered pvc that i own. the songs are tight and concise, sounding alot like the beatles when they riff on carl perkins. quirky and twangy and somewhat geeky but infectious as hell. with easter and borone on the boards the sound is squeeky clean and up front. this is minimal rock-n-roll at it's best. echoes of buddy holly abound all around then it's all over much too quick.

so here is something deliciously unavailable almost anywhere else in this world, (and that's a sad fact), by way of yousend it, for a week or so...

what's the matter
do you mean it
no one
the new girl

farewell mr music

2007-10-11T20:25:00.000-05:00

it feels like a good time to shake off this blanket of malaise. seems that everytime i got up the will to jump-start this silly blog some thing would come up... usually another death of pet, friend or family. i've been so shell-shocked that this space became not so important in the scheme of things as just spending more time doing other stuff, like dwelling endlessly about love and loss.
well, that kind of thinking can either sink ya or swim ya. and for the last few months i've been sinking, a mr. mom decline without the funny bits. stay at home, lock the doors, draw the blinds, unhook the phone and stare blankly at maudlin melodramas on tcm til late in the night... well, at least i ain't drinkin' or druggin' my way down. (and thank god for s.a., my guiding light thru the dark... i don't know if i'd be here today)

but the weather here is nice again, fall is about to fall, and i'm starting to feel a lil better about things in general. i may even delve into some of the finer points of what's been happening later, but for now i'll play it easy... otherwise this space would resemble the obit section of a paper. enuff of that for now. i am also bowing to the groundswell of dissent i get for not doing this thing for so long. i hear ya, we'll just see how long it'll last... enuff about all that and more about me, with some shameless self-promotion...

so, as of late i've been piddlin' about with the old 4-track, dusting off cassettes and dredging up tunes that have been laying wasting away. it has taken awhile but i've loaded a ton of songs, track by track, to the master computer, HAL, and started to goof on them. two very dis-similar songs have jumped out so far... one is an efficient lil pop ditty about a true event and the other is '(you had to open) pandora's box', a psychedelic-ish tune written to some words of warning from brian z (of 'living to die' or 'bolt upright', as i remember 'em). but more on the latter later, (wait, shouldn't that be 'more on the later latter'... ?)

anyhow, first up is the poptune. 'random samples of love (seen as boyfriend replicas)' is the result of a raffey's gig in chances, (a bar in metry that we kinda owned), where my cousin f.a.'s ex-wife marched in with a guy that looked and acted just like him. it would have been funny even if it weren't for the fact that it happened quite a few times before. but for some reason f.a. had people mention the point to his face over and over all night and he was getting quite pissed about it. i found it all amusing, went home and wrote a song about it. there's been a demo of it for a long time, but it was never done proper 'til now. f.a. loved the tune but hated the line about 'same bad taste in clothes', oh well... i swear i heard that from someone.

"random samples of love seen as boyfriend replicas"
(m. a. sample)

here she comes with another, and i'll tell ya what i know.
they all look like each other, even johnny thinks it's so...

* and all her friends think its grand, she's with her replica man,
and they look alot like you, now i'm not the one to talk,
but i thought you ought to know.

i start seeing double when she finds where you're at.
she must be looking for trouble if she's walking in with that...

*
they've got the same walk, the same talk,
the same bad taste in clothes...
they use the same lines that you used,
as if she didn't know...

so, this is dedicated to frank. my brother from another, my worse half. i miss him deeply and daily. love you oye'

that's all for now, i think one of the dog's is diggin' under the fence again. gotta go put the stop to that. more about the rest later... (it does kinda feel good to do this again... plus i really need to get off my ass again and do something, anything.)
ciao, for now.

the duchess of dixieland

2007-01-06T17:15:00.000-06:00

tuesday, january 2nd started cloudy, cold and dismal, with a hint of rain in the air. by noon the clouds broke and revealed a beautiful sky. it turned into an unusually glorious day for a funeral. it was the day we laid my mom to rest.

the duchess of dixieland was buried at greenwood cemetary in new orleans amongst all the trappings of a traditional jazz funeral. she was laid into the spot of earth where all the other members of the dukes of dixieland who had passed before her lay, as is the way it is done in the easy. family always ends up with family here, even in the family plot. the names on the headstone are a litany of the players in one of the most influencial musical families in jazz history. as of that day the circle is complete.

elizabeth ann owens would have been 73 this march 22nd. she was always known as betty and had the fullest, most amazing life that anyone could. her father was an engineer who had help design and build the spillways and her mother was a homemaker who doted on her four daughters. betty was born in baton rouge but the family soon moved to uptown new orleans where they would remain. it was apparent early on that betty was something special. she was singing professionally by the age of 13 in a hillbilly band and appeared often on a local radio show, even garnering her own fan club.

but her real insipiration was billie holliday and by 1949 she was belting out jazz tunes as lead singer of the up and coming dukes of dixieland. the dukes were led by brothers frank and freddie assunto and were one of the hottest young jazz bands in the city. the band worked hard and played often, becoming a national success by the early 50's. in march of 1955 betty and freddie were married. soon after the whole band moved to a still young las vegas, nevada to play an extended engagement at the new thunderbird hotel. they called vegas home from then on, while conquering the world playing their infectious brand of new orleans dixieland jazz.

betty had quit singing for the band on a regular basis soon after the move but continued to travel the one niters around the country. dragging two kids along in a station wagon full of drums and gear was home for her until freddie died in 1966 of cancer. she hung on in vegas for three years before moving her and her three kids back to the new orleans suburb of metairie. on numerous occasions she would go to pete fountain's club where he would always ask betty to come up and do a few numbers. to see the faces of that meek couple from nebraska when she belted out 'a hard man is good to find' was worth the price of admission.

her voice was always in demand with many bands during the 70's. murphy campo and connie jones often tried to entice her back on stage for good. but i think her heart was just not in it since my father died. she didn't want to have to do it, just whenever she felt like it.

she loved metry and that is where she lived for 31 years with all her family and friends until experiencing a major heart attack at a family thanksgiving gathering in 2000 (of course, she had to go out in front of a crowd). she spent the last six years disabled at trinity care in slidell. she passed away the day after christmas surrounded by her children.

but it is all that hasn't been said above that made her an amazing person. she raised three kids, alone. two beautiful, smart daughters, and me. and i was a handful. she was also mom to everyone of our friends, feeding and caring for any straggler we happened to drag home, making them feel as tho they were always part of the family.

although mom had quit singing professionally, she would belt out a song at the drop of a hat, or as she would love to say, 'i do 15 minutes everytime the refridgerator door opens'... and she did. she loved throwing parties where everybody was singing old favorites. and she was singing the loudest. she was always the center of attention at any gathering, the focal spot where most people gravitate because something interesting is happening. and with betty it usually was.

in the few years before becoming ill she would get up in front of the large group of friends and relatives eating the annual thanksgiving dinner at cafe degas and sing a couple of songs with the tony green trio. her eyes would light up and she would break out that infectious smile and proceed to sound like an angel from up on high. well, maybe an angel with a gravely gin soaked-voice singin' 'a hard man is good to find', but still an angel. and everyone there knew it was something special. and it was.

warm and giving, yet betty didn't suffer fools lightly. she was sharp of wit and tongue and not afraid of using either whenever she felt like it. outspoken and outlandish. she sure was the major influence on my outlook on life, her open spirit, her love of life and living it to the fullest, and loudest. it seems most people have their own story about her, or some memory of something wild she had done, i hear them still, and quite a few not fit for print i may add. yeah, she was something else and gonna really be missed by many, many people.

well, i could go on and on, but i wanna pass along some of the stuff she did...
my blue heaven

neon love

neon love (at home in '75)

darkness on the delta (banned)

i also want to thank everyone involved with all the great things that were said and done for the family that day. we will never forget the love that was shown... and shared.

i love and miss you mom!

what a long, strange couple of months its been

2006-11-12T23:09:00.000-06:00

well, we finally made it back to metry for good (minus the frogs, they are in a little roadside grave outside of salina, kansas... poor things must've died pining for reno). so it goes...

this month back home has been exhausting, messy and sometimes frustrating, but the house is gettin' better every day. too bad this space has been another casualty of the busy times we've had. some things just needed to get done and this blog just wasn't one of them. we'll try to pick up some of the slack here but until then i guess a bit of catch-up is in order...

first off, we must thank the gods of drunks, dogs and children for getting us home unscathed, reasonably sane and all in one piece. the trip was virtually uneventful, but after doing it 3 times in the last year s.a. and i have that part down pretty good. seems the dogs had the worst of it, they yowled and cried all the way home, while kimmy and the p-man were quite civilized for the 3 and a 1/2 days it took to make the 2500 miles and were quite a pleasure to travel with. s.a. and i, on the other hand had our obligatory 'starbuck's moment', kissed and made up, then made it home. all in all it was a great way to end the road trips of my life (unless i feel the need to travel, which hits way too often...)

it has been very crazy around here for the last month. the house is still in need of a lot of work, tho the girls are painting and fixing up at an incredible rate. it is slow going in a lot of ways. we missed the cable guy the first monday back and got a three week penalty. then he goes and hooks up a fucked-up box and we had to wait another week for that. we didn't really miss the cable or the internet much at all. we were just too busy/tired to care.

i have finally got the w'room up and running, to a point (computer, tv/dvd and record player are go... the studio is kinda slogging along). everything is in but needs to be organized and wired, and that's always my favorite part, which is probably why i save it for last. this w'room could also use a good dose of paint, but the stark white is much better than the gloss black it was when the pornographers rented the place. and we're still hearing horror stories from the neighbors about those guys.

all in all life is looking better, tho the r.a. is still kicking my ass too much (in fact i need to do a shot right now), but soon the wear and tear of the move will go away and things will really brighten up.

damn, it's great to be home!

--- and besides feeling good about being back home there are a few other things lately that make us smile... the saints (altho they lost this week, so did hot 'lanta), the hornets (losing but started strong), it seems the evil empire is in it's last throes and the new beatles' record, 'love', is coming out real soon (it should be on the door step in about a week)...

we'll get into the grimy details later about the record, but from first listening 'love' is a very interesting addition to the beatle's catalogue. four tracks are available for your pleasure on 'the beatles.com' but i'll dump 'em here for ya to enjoy at your leisure, available for a little while via yousendit...

strawberry fields forever
octopus' garden
while my guitar gently weeps
lady madonna

live! from new orleans (part deux)

2006-09-28T19:11:00.000-05:00

well, what a blast monday was. we're here in reno and it has still taken all week for the glow to even start to wear down. in new orleans it must be electric... just making it a bit easier to get back to the dirty work once again (times-picayune columnist chris rose gives us an idea).

in case you missed it monday was new orleans' coming out party. the uber-arch enemy of the saints were coming to town. the atlanta falcons were 2 and 0, the saints were 2 and 0. they got the superdome all fixed up and invited the whole world to watch. we sucked-up the hype all afternoon on espn, looking for faces of friends in the sea of people. it all felt like the build-up before a superbowl game. man was it worth it! the bayou boys whooped the dirty birds 23-3, and, for this week, own the nfl south. not only beating them but making vick and company look useless. this was not their day. it was ours. they may go on to bigger and better things, september 25th will always be our day, and god did we need this.

i don't think anyone really cared if the saints won or lost. we were just so damn happy to see that beautiful building back up and running... but as has been noted in a few places, there were things that didn't seem quite right. the crowd seemed very vanilla, not at all like the regular mix in the dome on any given sunday during the fall. i guess that just reflects how things are down there. there are a great many things there not right yet.

but for one day the city got to blow off some steam, and was rewarded for it by a fantastic football game, the likes of which had not been seen in new orleans in a very, very long time.

of course there was another story monday. u2 and green day (plus the rebirth and new birth brass bands) ripped through a 9 min. medley just before the game that was heartfelt, a bit political and all out fun (but what was that 'house of the rising dome' thingy?).

we are almost outta here and on the road to the easy. the house is rented, the remnants are being packed as i peck and the trip starts on october 11th. the energy around the wreckroom is focused... get the fuck home! so i guess we will...

...and just in case you missed all of this somehow...
...and if that ain't enough, here's the bands doing a photo shoot on the abbey road crossing...oh yeah, and the live mp3 of the show at the dome, ripped and posted on yousendit for a lil bit o' time:

u2 and green day - the saints are coming (new orleans superdome 09-25-06)
(i haven't got it yet, but the single can be appropriated from rhapsody. the proceeds go to a great cause and the song rocks... i'm sure i'll need to do this real soon.)

and of all things, naming rights for the dome, pink taco dome? as if the talk of making the dome into a bowl of wheaties wasn't enough...

live! from new orleans...

2006-09-21T20:55:00.000-05:00

during our trip home last month s.a. and i sat with my dear friend, the reverend mr. freeze, and reminisced about the good old days for a few hours or so. s.a. just sat and giggled as we dredged thru our collective memories of all the shit that happened at concerts we had attended (if i had told her alone she'd would have thought me making it all up). she found it all very amusing and quite unbelivable, even tho i have played numerous shows for her claiming i was there. she still seems a little skeptical, but more willing to accept it as truth now that it has been corroborated. also, i may have mentioned it in here once or twice the fact that we attended nearly every concert in the greater new orleans area from 1970 until... well, until it all seemed to peter out.

almost all of those shows are preserved on tape. mr freeze would get his trusty sony recorder in concerts everytime, usually by using subversive and underhanded means (well he didn't get away with it everytime, he did get caught once or twice, but somehow still got a tape of the show. he is amazing like that). his list of live recordings is unbelievable and every now and then he surprises me with a copy of a show we went to that i forgot all about, but there i am, all over the tape, yelling and being a rock-n-roll fool... ahhh, those were the days.

a few shows were truly historical. the sex pistols next-to-last gasp on jan 8, '78 in baton rouge was one of those unforgettable events (documented here in the w'room awhile back) as was the wailers show at a warehouse a few months later (disscused here). to hear this stuff all these years later just brings back a rush of memories and goose bumps, just knowing that i was there while all this was happening.

back then it seemed every band, big and small, came thru the easy. new orleans was the one city most of them claimed they loved to play. the place most cited was a warehouse on tchoupitoulas st. it was a real warehouse, a huge rickety old building with a leaky roof, no air and just nasty enough to make ya wanna go back next week to catch a low priced rock and roll show. it was always too hot in summer and too cold in the winter, but man did that place rock.

the crowds were always loud, boisterous, and usually all drunk and hopped up on something or another, as they were in almost every other venue in the city like the municipal auditorium, the dome or any club (tho the pistols show was the most outrageous concert ever, and that was in baton rouge). it certainly was a blast then. i can't see that scene ever happening again, anywhere... ever again. it's a whole new world now, and never as much fun as it was tho. but i still have the shows to listen to...

...i know i promised the reverend i wouldn't let these shows go as a whole, but i can't help using pieces, some of this is just too good not to share. so here is a taste of just a few of the concerts i was fortunate to see (if ya listen close i am the one with the biggest mouth, mr. freeze is on the whistle), in mp3 for a limited time via yousendit:

the new york dolls at independence hall, baton rouge, march 1974:
trash
the new york dolls at ballin' jax, new orleans, march 12, 1976 (1st set):
personality crisis/looking for a kiss

the kinks at tulane university, new orleans, feb 20, 1976:
alcohol
lola

the sex pistols at the kingfish, baton rouge, jan 8, 1978:
god save the queen
anarchy in the u.k.

bob marley and the wailers at a warehouse, new orleans, may 7, 1978:
kaya
get up stand up
lively up yourself

the ramones at old man rivers, new orleans, jan 14,1979:
blitzkrieg bop
surfin' bird
do ya wanna dance

the saints are coming

2006-09-14T21:51:00.000-05:00

well, a bit of cool news found today. it looks as though U2 and greenday are joining forces for a new single, a tribute to new orleans with proceeds going to music rising, the organization that u2 guitarist the edge helped start to house and support the musicians that were affected by katrina.

the song is a cover of the 1978 punk single 'the saints are coming' by the skids, an obscure scottish band known more for the fact that their guitarist, the late stuart adamson, was the hands behind the band 'big country', who had that seminal 80's hit song 'in a big country'. 'the saints' is an obscure tune to be sure (it did make #48 on the brit singles charts), but one that seems to be a great fit, for the bands and the city. dunno when it's coming out and it's not leaked yet, at least i can't find it from my usual sources. but when i get it so do you...

even better, both bands are playing on september 25th during the monday night football broadcast from the superdome in the heart of the big easy (dang, another three weeks and we'd be there too). what a great shot in the arm for the city. there is a game that night too. it doesn't even matter if the saints win, tho it would be cool to take down the falcons too... 'specially this early in the season. but that is all just a game.

the edge has been getting the musicians devastated by the hurricanes more help and attention than any other celeb, and he's getting some big names to help out. gibson guitars and president clinton have also got in on the act. gibson has built a limited edition les paul (painted like mardi gras in a flood) to donate and get proceeds for the affected musicians on the gulf coast. bill just handed them out... we should all be so lucky to do so much.

the skids - the saints are coming
the edge and friends - vertigo (preservation style) edit
big country - in a big country
greenday - american idiot (live)

other than that, we are a week closer to home, halla-fuckin-yoo-yah!

time to cut and run

2006-09-01T14:02:00.000-05:00

i trashed the post i had planned for the anniversary of that thing, it has been just too much katrina overload and i really didn't feel like adding to the mess, so to speak...

well, we decided to chuck it all in here and head for home in metry. 'casa de wreck' is humming along better than expected and this house in reno is going nowhere fast (the neighborhood is now packed with houses for sale, unlike a year ago, pre-k, when we coulda got anything we wanted, what a difference a year makes). so the girls gave their 2 week notice and that means we are outta here!

we're gonna pack up kimmy and kid, harpo, sadie, sam, 2 frogs and the cat, and everything we haven't already moved and, as they say, just do it. i think the trip home last month did it, well, that and the idea of spending another winter here maybe. we leave here in about 5 weeks and everything is all set, barring another, uh, nevermind...

it's funny how people here in reno react to the news of us going back to metry. most of them still think we are kidding, but some think us crazy and foolish (then again most of those have never been east of the rockies). yeah, we may be a bit whacked going through all this just for it to happen again... this year?... next?... in 5?..., oh well, home is where the head is, so that's where we're heading (and none too soon to suit us).

i guess it is sorta like the old west down there, or like the old south, since new orleans has always been a pretty tough town. its history is bloated with atrocities of all sorts, man made and not. it makes for a pretty resilient breed of folk too. we know nothing's very easy in the easy right now. we still got work to do as does almost everyone else we know. but we got a good feelin' about this. we feel very lucky, a lot of people still can't get back at all, or have nothing to come back to. the thought of that makes me wanna cry. it's really hard to say goodbye to new orleans.

the yats (locals to ya'll) always said the reason the city parties so much is because we're just living in a bowl, five feet below sea level, surrounded by water, and waiting for the crack. sure it's not exactly safe, but where in the world is safe?

at least with a hurricane you have a fair amount of time to get outta the way. not like living on a faultline or in tornado alley. the price of living in the easy is worth it, the food, the music, the people, the good times and even the bad times; it's all too good to give up.

we are itchin' to get back to all the little things we love about that place; grabbing beignets and cafe ole around the corner each morning, hanging out at tipitina's or snug harbour gettin' a nice dose of southern culture, or boiling crayfish and drinkin' with family and friends in the backyard watching the thunderstorms roll in on a hot afternoon... oh yeah, and po' boys anytime of the day within a walk away...

here's some recent news about the big easy:

Report: Overhaul system or New Orleans will suffer again

do you know what it means to myth new orleans

not much has changed

and a few of our favorite songs in mp3, via yousendit for less time than it takes to de-water the city that care forgot:

gary 'u.s.' bonds - new orleans
muddy waters - louisiana blues
dr. john - sweet home new orleans
dukes of dixieland - do you know what it means to miss new orleans
fats domino - walking to new orleans
tragically hip - new orleans is sinking
leadbelly - new orleans
louis armstrong and the dukes of dixieland - bourbon street parade
better than ezra - king of new orleans
elvis presley - new orleans
dire straits - planet of new orleans
rebirth brass band - new orleans
freddie cannon - way down yonder in new orleans
sonny boy williamson II - city of new orleans
tom waits - i wish i was in new orleans (in the 9th ward)
dr john - goin' back to new orleans