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Saturday, February 24-2007
Monongahela Elks:
Monongahela, Pa.
Tonight's show was a special
event birthday party for a couple of knuckle-head
buddies. "Pags" and "Mark B" were roasted by friends and
family. I was chosen to be the gracious master of
ceremonial functions. A few goofy takes by yours truly
and the roast was ragin'. No less than seven roasters
cooked up some funny a** sh*t. A very professional slide
show added to the already high level entertainment. We
came on throwin some sound around. "Lazybones", "Rock n'
Roll City", "Somethin's Cookin", "We Come A Long
Way"-folks was eatin, drinkin, and socializin. The first
set was all business "Graceland", "Nothin To Lose". When
we came back on for the second set we just started doing
cover tunes, folks was requesting weird stuff. Whitey
sang Howling Wolf's "Who's Been Talkin". Pags sang "The
Gambler", then me and da boys took dat ole Kenny Rodgers
war horse to a new level, hell-billy style. Had a blast,
da roast was da most.
Saturday, February 17-2007
Excuses: Pittsburgh, Pa.
It was snowing like a fool
groan huncher when I left the shack. Little did I know
how crazy this night would be. Lottsa folks hanging out
for such nasty weather. I made sure I thanked everybody
for comin out. "Git By", "Good Rockin Man", "Last Night
I Had A Dream", da wild people in da house kept yellin
stuff out loud in between songs, so the insanity level
was pretty high. "Two Story House" felt like a jet plane
taking off, I was outta breath after the guitar solo at
the end. Both "Loverboy" and "Easy Money" came off real
strong. Somewhere in the madness a hairy chested biker
type took off his shirt, shoes and socks then crawled on
da flo doin da worm. Excuses is great cause you get
bikers, punkers, nerds, da workin poor all hangin on da
same groove. Dat's big time fun for an ole knuckle head
like yours truly. We did an ole Dylan classic for cap't
Nate, "Like A Rolling Stone" to open set two. Jill
Simmons came up to the stage to sing a smoking version
of "Million Tears" wih me and the boys. This gave me a
chance to really enjoy the powerful mojo that oozes from
the life force that Harry Bottoms and Whitey Clyde
Cooper bring to the table. Jill took a big bite outta an
ole blues tune I'd never heard before, as she left a
great impression on those in attendance. Nice work.
Whitey shined on Glady's Night's "Use My Imagination".
There was a wild feeling in the air and for some reason
it helped to make this show feel special. "Ain't It
Amazin" what a little love can do.
Friday, February 16-2007
Moondogs: Blanox, Pa.
I was watching the opening act The Offenders do a great
set of trashy original rock'n roll, when Ron "Moondog"
Esser drug me up the street to his other night club, The
Starlite. The Spuds, a long time Pittsburgh under ground
rock band were onstage performing, Ron wanted me to get
up on stage and tell the crowd to throw some money in
the tip jar so The Spuds could get paid for their
considerable effort. While on stage I got the chance to
play a couple of my own songs, "Burnin Up" and "Lovedog"
with the legendary Spuds, Larryville's finest. Cool,
Huh? There was a film crew at Moondogs working on a
documentary, so for this special occasion we had Mr.
Glenn Pavone, da big cheese, joining us on guitar.
"Bulldog", "Till The Cows Come Home", "Somethin's
Cookin", "Lovedog" it sure is nice hearing the soulful
guitar of da big cheese doin da slow burn.
"Boilermaker", "Million Tears", "Little Things", one
after the other, we just kept rippin tunes up. Love it.
Before I knew it two hours had rolled by. We brought
good friend Chuck Kohler up to sing a tune we've played
together dozens of times Elvis's, "Teddy Bear". And da
crowed loved it. Moondog himself got on stage and sang
Dylan's, "I Shall Be Released". Glenn sounded great
playin dat style. Mr. Whitey Cooper stood center stage
while Glenn got behind the drum kit for the last few
numbers. Whitey sang "Shama Lama Ding Dong", "Try Me",
"634-5789", and "Mojo". Mr. Cooper is a serious soul
singing type of individual. When Whitey straped on my
G-tuning slide guitar he got sounds outta dat thing that
have never been heard before. Ya shoulda seen da look on
Pavone's face. Priceless.
Friday, February 9-2007
P.D.'s Pub: Pittsburgh,Pa.
This is a real fun place to
play. Nice mix of older and younger. Some folks come to
hear the music, some come to drink, dat's cool too. We
played a song I wrote in the 90's that we hadn't played
in years, "People Takin Care". It felt good going back
and bringing this almost forgotten tune back to life.
Sometimes I forget songs, I've got to spend more time
looking thru the ole classics that mighta got lost along
that long and dangerous road. We didn't have any dancers
but, we did have a whole buncha listeners, dat's cool
too. Whitey's drums were bouncin around mosta da first
set, he and Skibo got that problem solved and we was
just throwin it. "Here Comes The Weekend" rang out with
bad intentions. Love that. "Mr. Right Now" was as sleazy
as can be. Love that. "Ain't It Amazing" got a real fine
round of applause. Love that. We closed down the night
with a desperate take on "Poor Little Rich Kid". Both
Harry and Whitey were on da groove all nite long. Love
that.
Friday, February 2-2007
Moondogs: Blanox, Pa.
"Lazy Bones", "Boilermaker", "Rock n' Roll City", "We
Come A Long Way", sent out a tune to my hillbilly queen,
"Graceland". Da joint was buzzin, lottsa friends and
family. Laughter was in the air. Smiles on a whole
buncha faces. Rocking strong, rocking proud. "Nothin To
Lose" did not let me down, I like a tune that ya never
get tired of playing. Harry sang "Pots n' Pans" and
really reached his people,the white trash of this great
nation. "Son Of A Gun" is coming on strong. I saw Glenn
Pavone
sittin at the bar and asked
him if he'd like to join us for the second set. G.P. was
in, cool.We kicked it with "Work Togather".We then
brought up singer Jill Simmons, for a killer show.
Whitey and Harry were nailing the groove and I was
getting the chance to play guitar beside a real bad man,
G.P. Jill sounded great on "Look What You Done" and
"Hundred Dollar Bill" but she really got it going on
when she laid back on "You Go Your Way", every one was
feeling it. We rumbled thru "Route 66" , I gave Harry a
bad cue, a minor train wreck was avoided. Once again
Jill Simmons found herself, singing "I'd Rather Go
Blind", I looked out and saw my sister crying. Powerful.
"Chain Of Fools", "Million Tears", a very cool, swinging
take on "I Fall To Pieces" was my favorite tune all
night. "Love Me Like A Man" gave Mr. Glenn Pavone the
spotlight, this unassuming gentle man becomes a
dangerous force of nature, with my ole tiger guitar
strapped on G.P. showed 'em all how to play da slow
blues. We closed out Jill's set with "Baby What You Want
Me To Do". I think the gang really enjoyed Jill's show,
this kid is getting good .With Joffo Simmons and my
brother, Art as a rythm section we did "Brown Eyed
Girl". I really enjoyed playin wit da long time House
Rocker foundation.We then brought G.P. back up to burn
"Bow Legged Woman". I can still smell it cookin. Whitey
Cooper came up to sing the snot outta "Great Balls Of
Fire" and "Mojo". Thanks, I needed dat. Hey huncher,
happy groundhog day. |
