1971: Quincy and heavy friends ‘sing’ Carole King, Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, and more. Nearly every jazz and studio musician in NYC and LA played on this – from Freddie Hubbard to Joe Beck to Jimmy Smith to Carole Kaye with Paul Beaver on moog, Toots Thielmans on harp. – Pat Thomas is the …
My but October is a big month for great bands coming through the Northwest. Tuesday the 21st brought Chicago’s Celt punkers to El Corazon. I’ve been waiting a long, long time to see them again. It’s been nearly eight years since they played here and for the last two to three years I’ve badgered them …
With the World Series underway, I should add one more push to the notion of eliminating the Cleveland Indians’ “Chief Wahoo” logo. Polls in Ohio have shown a majority of fans have no objection to this caricature – and many of those who do admit its obvious racism still stamp their approval with the excuse …
Today is a travel day, and after two games the teams look as evenly matched as I had anticipated. This seems a good time to don my manager’s hat and make some observations. Madison Bumgarner is the most dominant pitcher still throwing in October. Especially if he faces Royals pitcher James Shields again, you can …
Born in Dundas, Ontario, Canada, but now triumphantly living and rocking it in LA, Maggie Szabo brings powerful, textured vocals to her soulful tunes. “Tidal Waves and Hurricanes” is her latest and “Lovesick” is from a few years back, in case you need to catch up. www.allaboutmaggie.com
It’s a Thursday night and Seattle’s Studio Seven is sparsely populated for the Chop Tops show. Those who didn’t come missed some great bands. The Chop Tops, hailing from Santa Cruz, are a psycho/rockabilly trio who pack a powerful punch stronger than bands twice as big. Led by stand up drummer, Sinner, and rounded out …
On Wednesday October 15 I made the one-hour trek down to Tacoma’s Jazzbones to see The Mad Caddies. After not playing here for nearly eight years, they played here twice this year. Tres bliss! The Caddies were in top form, this time sporting a new trumpet player (Bobby Vesnave). No word on what happened to …
Considered so ‘uncool’ – he’s totally cool, during this 1968 to 1972 period when he recorded for Uni Records. Besides the highly-crafted hits, there’s the occasional Fred Neil or Joni Mitchell cover, but the highlight is always his own tunes, wacky sh*t like “The Pot Smokers Song” – every one of them perfectly played and …
This is not a Christian song, certainly, but the vibe is occasionally transcendant. It was released as a single in Ireland in 2013 and went to No. 2 on what is left of the pop charts in that country. The tune was not released until this past summer (2014) in the US. I happened to …
It has been fashionable among San Francisco Giants fans, myself included, to talk about the magic of even-numbered years, as if deep playoff runs were somehow ordained by the ones digit of the annual Christian calendar. Up to now, I had not taken the idea seriously even while repeating it, but with the Giants now …
On the stormy Saturday night of October 11, Tacoma’s Jazzbones was hosting yet another stellar lineup. This time it was a double bill of Voodoo Glow Skulls and Guttermouth. As if the lightning flashes and witnessed water spouts weren’t wild enough, inside Jazzbones was even more wild. I’ve been hanging out in mosh pits for …
Interesting to note that during the week of the protests at the Chicago Democratic Convention in ’68, the Beatles released “Revolution” and the Stones “Street Fighting Man” as singles. – Pat Thomas is the author of Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH9zG28GQEg
When I grew up, the prospect of seeing the San Francisco Giants play in October seemed outside the scope of reality. In 1971, at the tail end of the Mays-McCovey era, they lost the National League Championship Series to the Pittsburgh Pirates in four games. I was eight years old at the time, and the …
It’s Wednesday night on a warm October evening and I drove 40 plus miles traffic was a bitch too) to Tacoma, WA. There’s a brand new club there called Jazzbones and they’re hosting some pretty incredible punk/ska bands this month. This tiny club is intimate but with very friendly staff. But what the night was …
Is it just me or does this new tune from Ella Eyre sound James Bond-ready? With her luscious piles of postmodern hair intact, Ella has Comeback (the title of her latest EP) with a projectiles-flying tune which combines artistic intelligence gathered from spy-high favorites as diverse as Shirley Bassey and Shirley Manson. Look for expansively …
The Rebel Light is a friendly LA band with some catchy tunes. Above and below is “Strangers,” their latest hit in the making, and I like it. The expansive drums at the start of “Strangers” reminds me of Edwyn Collins’ “I Never Met a Girl Like You Before” and that’s a very good thing. The …
40 years ago today, Van Morrison released the Veedon Fleece album – for every person who moans that Van never recorded another Astral Weeks – this album is for you. For everyone who claims Van is an “old git” – but thinks that someone like Robyn Hitchcock is still relevant, then keep in mind that …
David Gilmour’s guitar playing is so recognizable, even after all these years, that it goes beyond a signature style and approaches its own musical language. Perhaps the right word is “voice.” When I hear Gilmour’s guitar, I always know that it is Gilmour who is speaking to me even when I don’t understand his sui …
Monday night the Showbox Sodo was where the hip people were hanging out. After three plus years Boston’s legendary Celtic punks The Dropkick Murphys finally returned to Seattle. This crowd was ready for them and proved that the Murphys were not forgotten. After two decent openers, the crowd grew restless and started singing, “Hey Ho, …
Random thoughts at the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, from a husband of someone with Stage IV breast cancer: 1. There are no losers in the “battle;” some just run out of time. 2. There are an awful lot of people with breast cancer out there, women (and men), who have go through this …
Charles Pierce is one of the best sportswriters in the business today. He was at PNC Park last night, and he is also right on the money on the NFL. – Chuck Strom http://grantland.com/the-triangle/baseball-playoffs-mlb-roger-goodells/
I was recently talking to a friend about our mutual love of Pez… I’ve got a drawer full of Pez, mostly unopened with the two packs of little sugar tablets that will never expire… I loved Pez as a kid, and my mom would often bring home one that she thought I’d like. I got …
It’s impossible to resist the charm of hunky John Scargall. He’s relentlessly positive and comically self-effacing, as can be read in this excerpt from his bio, “For his debut album, John decided to work with a 5-time Grammy award winning producer, but after weeks of unreturned phone calls and e-mails, he ended up going with …
Early medieval women were far from passive damsels waiting for a knight to rescue them. Of course, this time period is hardly an ideal time for women: childbirth so risky expectant mothers were urged to confess their sins before they went into labor, fathers choosing whom a girl would marry, age 13 considered marriageable, wife …
I’m reading a book right now, Red or Dead, a fictionalized biography of Bill Shankly, the maniacal manager of the Liverpool football team who made it a dynasty in the English soccer league in the ’70s. I believe the Smiths were slamming him in the song “Frankly, Mr. Shankly.” Being from Manchester, which has had …
It’s the last Friday of September and the place to be is Slim’s Last Chance in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood. Northwest legends Girl Trouble are headlining a show. Hailing from Tacoma, Washington, Girl Trouble never puts on a disappointing show. GT front man, KP Kendall is the ultimate showman, often making spontaneous jokes, this time it …
We all remember Shaun Cassidy as a 70’s “teen idol” – but we tend to forget his 1980 exploration into “new wave / punk” with his “Wasp” album produced by Todd Rundgren with Todd & Utopia as the backing band – they cover songs by Bowie, Talking Heads, the Animals, and Ian Hunter. There’s a …
Seattle music legend and supernice guy, Graig Markel, would like to introduce you to his uberfresh, retro-soul/Muscle Shoals inspired project, Graig Markel and the 88th St. Band. They’ve just finished a record, and are playing a release show in Seattle at Barboza Friday, October 3rd at 7pm. Markel is joined on 88th Street by his …