Great Man, Great Music, Great Greek.  

This is  very sad....I mean , yes , he lived a long , full life and had a career that showed no signs of slowing , but , Rock'n'Roll , Rhythm 'n' Blues , Call it Your mammy if you want , has lost one of it's oldest and dearest friends.... He made it his lifetime ambition to promote the music , and the many great artists that passed through it's ranks. Someone called him , outside of John Brown , one of the least racist White men in history. He worked with Black Singers and Musicians LONG before it was acceptable , and in many quarters , even legal , to do so , necessitating his efforts to pass for a light - skinned Black man , at times.

But , of course , today , his music is still loved , and the later concert revues he put on were still barn - burners.  I saw one such show , some 20 years ago , when Otis shared a bill at the now - cornball Chicago Bluesfest (A friend would tell you not to bother with it , anymore. I'm your friend , don't bother.) with Jimmy McGriff and Hank Crawford. The only Johnny Otis Orchestra classic his latter day aggregation performed was "Willie and The Handjive" , but , make no mistake , they tore that sucker OUT.  Johnny's Son , cult hero , and , briefly , member of Arthur Lee and Love , Shuggie Otis , filled the air with tasty and tasteful Blues Guitar leads (This was before his comeback bid.). IT WAS NOTHING IF NOT HIGH ENERGY AND HIGHLY ENTERTAINING.

Johnny met Alan Freed again , today. And , I'm about to tell you what the man had to say......

" HIT THAT JIVE , JACK . PUT IT IN YOUR POCKET TIL I GET BACK. I'M GOING DOWNTOWN TO SEE A MAN. I AIN'T GOT TIME TO SHAKE YOUR HAND ! ".

Rockin' in Heaven . REST , LIKE HELL !

What a life, Otis seemed to have his hand in so many of the early R&B & RnR acts. He had a show on KPFK here in LA for many years prior to his moving to Northern California. Head had the greatest stories, guests and music. My dad,  who would be 80 now, said he used to see Otis around their part of town all the time back in the 40’s and early 50’s. And I believe his KFOX show back then was broadcast from a store front or record store. I still have most of my dad’s 78 collection that I grew up playing on our big console.  That was my first exposure to his music as his name would appear on many of these records. His own orchestra on Harlem Nocturne, or backing Little Esther, Can’t remember if his name shows on the Credits of the Johnny Ace’s Pledging My love 78 or not,  but it pops up on credits on many of those discs. Big loss that I don’t think most people these days would recognize. Here is one of my prized Otis items I found for a few bucks on ebay awhile back .

The Godfather of Rhythm & Blues dies at age 90. Story from the NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/arts/music/johnny-otis-musician-dies-at-90.html?_r=2

RIP, Johnny.

Jello Biafra added to lineup:

http://www.mxdwn.com/2012/01/18/news/jello-biafra-added-to-bruise-cruise-2012-lineup/

Still digging the new Atomic Suplex LP on Crypt. This is from a different release.

If you like deja voodoo, you'll probably dig my current band as well, I drew a lot of inspiration from them, as well as other raunchy two-piece sounding stuff.. I recently uploaded a live video on the videos thread, check it out - it's called "New Kind Of Mambo"

whatwave dave said:

Deja Voodoo were amongst the very first of the 2 piece combos...starting about 1982 and lasting 8 years...Drum kit with no cymbals, 10 dollar guitar (like you mentioned) and a cheap amp. They would travel by Edsel in the early days (until the Edsel broke down) and then via bus and train with all of their equipment tightly packed as carry on luggage.

Here's a link to their facebook page that has lots of pictures/posters and a few of the Edsel that i took many years ago:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Deja-Voodoo/23682273521

Deja Voodoo were also the people behind OG Records, the label responsible for releasing The Gruesomes records as well as many other cool recs.

Deja Voodoo were amongst the very first of the 2 piece combos...starting about 1982 and lasting 8 years...Drum kit with no cymbals, 10 dollar guitar (like you mentioned) and a cheap amp. They would travel by Edsel in the early days (until the Edsel broke down) and then via bus and train with all of their equipment tightly packed as carry on luggage.

Here's a link to their facebook page that has lots of pictures/posters and a few of the Edsel that i took many years ago:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Deja-Voodoo/23682273521

Deja Voodoo were also the people behind OG Records, the label responsible for releasing The Gruesomes records as well as many other cool recs.

Haha I love this thanks man. Sounds like they're using 10 dollar guitars!

NKOM said:

Deja Voodoo (from Canada) are among the trashiest slimiest rock'n'roll I can think of.. They named their own genre Sludge-a-billy, so you know you're in deep.. Here's one of my favourites: 

Deja Voodoo (from Canada) are among the trashiest slimiest rock'n'roll I can think of.. They named their own genre Sludge-a-billy, so you know you're in deep.. Here's one of my favourites: 

(bowing) Yes, Sir!

swt said:

Respect your elders, missy!

Ruby Soleil said:

ah ha! Mea culpe, I saw that thread, but thought it was about the Mick Jaggers of the world, (who, I'm convinced, is a vampire).  Now I have more context for your post. Turns out I'm the youngin here judging books!

Respect your elders, missy!

Ruby Soleil said:

ah ha! Mea culpe, I saw that thread, but thought it was about the Mick Jaggers of the world, (who, I'm convinced, is a vampire).  Now I have more context for your post. Turns out I'm the youngin here judging books!

ah ha! Mea culpe, I saw that thread, but thought it was about the Mick Jaggers of the world, (who, I'm convinced, is a vampire).  Now I have more context for your post. Turns out I'm the youngin here judging books!

I'm 58, Ruby, a Rock 'n' Roll Grandpappy . This lady's probably in her 60s. 

A lot of us Hideout (upper) middle-aged crazies outed ourselves in this recent discussion here: http://garagepunk.ning.com/forum/topics/too-old-to-rock

So, how old are you and how much older than you was she? Just saying, I'm not exactly a spring chicken myself. Just know there are some old books on the hideout too, not just in Capitol buildings :)

That's amazing!!!! Just shows you that some of the stuff we dig could be appreciated by many if they would only give it a chance!

Awesome. Just goes to show that garage fans come from all persuasions.

Today I went downstairs to the NM state Capitol 1st floor snack bar to get me a Frito pie. A lady who works there -- she's gotta be older than me and let's just hust say she does not look like someone who would be into the music we like here -- told me, "Hey I read one of your music reviews in the paper. You were talking about Rat City? Something like that."

Indeed, I'd reviewed Jack Oblivian's latest album a few months ago. The snack bar is only open during legislative sessions, so I hadn't seen this lady in several months.

She continued: "My son found it for me on his computer. I listened to it. I like it. It was pretty good."

I thought that was pretty cool.

(Here's the review that snared a new Jack O fan: http://steveterrell.blogspot.com/2011/09/terrells-tuneup-rat-city-here-i-come.html )

oups, i dont know the plan was maybe better for the next week like... i don't know caus we have to come down to La on the thusday coming fro austin on the 18... what are the conditions ? can i give you an answer i 5 or 6 days... ? because im still waiting for the answer for the others gigs on the west coast... let me know and we'll fix it very soon .... cheers, Sylvie

my mail :

sylvie.subsonic@free.fr

4 times in 2 minutes!

How´s about this? Not necessarily Garage, but...

Fuzz Box Girl does a bunch of good demos and you can get a pretty good idea of the different fuzzes out there. It's also nice cause she uses single coils and humbuckers on some demos to show as comparisons

http://www.fuzzboxgirl.com/

I don't think I ever bought anything on that label , except maybe The Smugglers and The Go - Nuts , maybe a Hi-Fives CD I played twice , but I don't like seeing any independent (As Oppsed to "INDIE!". Indie Rock is neither.) label go down for the count.

There were many reasons , I'm sure , but people not supporting their local record stores , and the bands they claim  to like , by not buying their releases , does'nt help. 

Labels were struggling before the internet , too. I understand if people can't afford to buy records , CDs ,etc . , but if others can afford every new idiot device under the sun , I THINK they can spend 8 to 10 dollars on an LP once in a while. Or $15 for a CD (OF COURSE , CDs SHOULD HAVE BEEN MARKED DOWN TO $11 OR LESS , years ago. At least on your Majors and larger Indies , who can EAT money at this point. ).

continental!!!

Andy said:

Gretsch acoustic, Burns Cobra, Vox 'NightTrain' (15w, valve), Orange cab, Vox 'Brit Boost' (valve) trebble/volume booster, 'Nano Muff' overdrive/fuzz, & Boss (Hammond)/Leslie replicator pedals, Vox Continental (super II), & Shure Green Bullet Mic.

All bought off Ebay, & Relatively cheap & cheerful (like me!)