BW's Saturday #80

 

"That Feel": THE WEEKEND MIX

 

I've still got the music in me, so I decided to let some of it out. I hope you find something here to love as much as I love it all.

TRACKLIST:

Streetcar- Ray Heindorf
Strom Warning- Mac Rebbenack
Steppin' Out- David Torkanowsky
Two Way Poc-A-Way- The Dixie Cups
Wrong Number- Allen Toussaint
Farmstead Antiques- Stanton Moore
Trouble- The Rumble
Backstreet Girl- Leigh "Little Queenie" Harris
You Got Too Pt. 1- Huey "Piano" Smith & The Clowns
The Joke- Reggie Hall
Washington Post March- Tin Men
O Sole Mio- Wingy Manone
Our Day Will Come- Irma Thomas
The Pumpkin's Lullbye- Wessell Anderson
You Got Too Pt. 2- Huey "Piano" Smith & The Clowns
Your Mama Don't Dance- James Andrews
Construction Site Blues- Jon Cleary
That Feel- Lil' Band O' Gold
Save The Bones For Henry Jones- Danny Barker
I'll Be Seeing You- James Booker

zip

 

 

And if New Orleans don't float your steamboat, here's a bonus.

From 2014, here are Scott Ligon, Casey McDonough, Nora O'Connor, Kelly Hogan and Alex Hall, aka The Flat Five captured live at Chicago's Hideout, performing the Beach Boys' "Friends" in its entirety.

zip 

Enjoy!

Zep, Too.

 

 

In case you missed it, please behold a 78 year old rock and roll god performing an almost 60 year old song as if it was written yesterday.

Our differences aside regarding Led Zeppelin, this is quite amazing. 

 

Sally Baby's Silver Dollars

 

 

 

I don't know all of the facts regarding Sal Geloso. I do know that he has somehow flown under my radar, and I consider myself a loyal follower of all things New Orleans.

Recently, I started seeing the name Sally Baby's Silver Dollars popping up while checking out the music scene a few weeks before my trip south. I did some YouTubing and found more than I bargained for, including a video from 2011 of Geloso busking in Brooklyn's Bedford Avenue subway station, a 50 minute film showcasing the Silver Dollars, an official video from 2025, and a Tiny Desk Concert that blew my mind.

I decided I had to see this band called Sally Baby's Silver Dollars and so on Saturday, 4/11, I caught the band at The Broadside on a perfectly hot New Orleans afternoon. Geloso, who also doubles as a New Orleans tour guide, introduced himself and the band, saying he was working on two or three hours sleep, but felt spirited. He then said, "I feel moved to play this one, a Ned Towns song called 'How Can You Baby-Sit A Man.'" (Opening with a deep soul cover? I'm in!) Within seconds, I knew there was no turning back. Geloso's voice is at times, somewhere between Sam Cooke and Otis Redding when he plays soul music. Occasionally, he sounds Cab Calloway when swinging, or Leon Redbone when he stays traditional. He and the band knocked every genre out of the park.

From what I could gather, Geloso is from San Francisco, where he started playing folk music. It is unclear how long he has been in New Orleans. One friend said, "He just moved here." Offbeat Magazine mentions how he has been playing in the French Quarter on Royal Street for 15 years. There is only one official release available on Bandcamp, a six track E.P. from 2025, that seems unreasonably priced at $20 for a half dozen MP3s. But almost everything I found on YouTube has turned me into a temporary fanboy. Watching these guys live, especially the brilliant horn section who have meticulously arranged their parts for each song, as opposed to just blowing solos, gives me a feeling that they are about to explode into the must-see act in New Orleans.

I was crushed to find out I had just missed their performance at Joe's Pub in N.Y.C. on March 31st, just a few days before I discovered the band.

Trust me, and find 20 minutes to check out Sally Baby's Silver Dollars' Tiny Desk Concert.

 

Rhapsody In Blue

 A friend, knowing I'm a vinyl guy, asked me to come over and go through his collection to help figure out what to do with it. Flipping through stacks of records is why I go to record stores so I said, "Sure".

We spent what could be described as all day, going through a large wooden box of LPs, one by one, checking the condition of somewhere between 300-400 of them. The covers showed their age, having been stored at times under sketchy circumstances, but the discs within were often very, very clean.

I divided them into "Dumpster", "Thrift Store", "Record Store", and "Mine". I found a few bucket list original copies I never thought I'd own, in particular, Billy Cobham's "Spectrum". I loaded up my car taking them all with me, got over $100 in record store credit, and took care of the rest. 

From 1924, the premier release of "Rhapsody In Blue", featuring an arrangement by Ferdie Grofe, who you probably know from "The Grand Canyon Suite", and (The Composer at the piano). 

Sal said he'd be back tomorrow.

I always enjoy filling in. Cheers!

-BBJ

Pretty Rough And Twisted

I'm one of those Rolling Stones fans who doesn't think much of anything after "Some Girls". I want to like more. I've bought a handful of albums over the years, and enjoyed a song or two. I think "Hackney Diamonds" is the best one in a long time, but I only played it a couple times.

I hear there's a new one coming out, but we don't know the title, and over the weekend "The Cockroaches" released a single, "Rough And Twisted" in a very limited fashion. It's not streaming anywhere I know of at the moment. I've heard at least some of the new album comes from the "Hackney" sessions. I can't say I have high hopes.  

I'm not in any way a fan of AI music, but when clicking on "That Look", I admit to being almost fooled the first time. Fingers crossed anything on the new album is as good.  I think it's easily as successful at recreating '70's Stones as "Angry" was on the last album.

Last night there was another, "Empty Handed", maybe not quite as good as "That Look", but still better, in my opinion, than any of the material on "Undercover" or "A Bigger Bang".

It's worrisome that AI has so successfully captured The Rolling Stones essence, specifically Charlie Watts drum sound, and especially Mick Jagger's vocals and lyrics. The similarities between "Angry" and the above fakery isn't funny.

Watching "Angry" I'm reminded that in all those billboards, AI played a huge role. 

I didn't post this to make anyone mad, but it's on my mind. See you in the comments.

-BBJ

Weekend Mix/ 'T' For Texas Road Trip

I made a CD for the car a month ago which I thought, with a few tweaks, might make a Weekend Mix.

I didn't think it would go over, but I had nothing on Tuesday so I posted about Guy Clark. I didn't expect the response to be so positive, with so many familiar with his work.

I finished the mix. It's not entirely '70's Texas. Emmylou wanted Gram's "$1000 Wedding" because it's such a great song, Lucinda and Gillian are here because she wanted a little company with all those Honky Tonk Heroes. Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives are a National Treasure, and "Altitude" fit nicely next to James Burton and the Hot band. It's a Road Trip CD playlist so Area Code 615's instrumental hot take, "Southern Comfort" is essential. It ends with "Black Haired Boy" written by Guy and Susanna Clark, and most certainly about Townes.

Have good trip! Buen Viaje!

-BBJ (Yes, that's me on the horse)

'T' For Texas Road Trip