Mitchieville Music Minute Goes To Texas

I've never been to Texas before and I don't think I'll be getting there anytime soon. How about a triple shot of Texas guitar tonight?

I remember the day that Stevie Ray Vaughan and thinking that if God had to choose between SRV and Eric Clapton why did he take SRV? The answer I think is fairly simple, God wanted the better guitar player in heaven.




I just watched Steve Earle play this song live a few months ago at Massey Hall in Toronto. Most of you likely don't know this song, but as you will see the dobro is incredible.



This one is by request from our loyal reader, dmorris, and I found some Johnny Winter playing slide for him:



I'm thinking the west coast next week. California or Washington? You pick.

Mitchieville Music Minute #2

Before last week I had never heard this song before. It's a little on the long side and has a rock opera feel to it but in all 'Estranged' by GnR is a good tune. Give it a listen:



Next week Mitchieville Music Minute heads to Texas for some good ol' fashioned guitar playing.

The Order of Canada - Takin' Care Of Business

The Governor General of Canada announced the latest round of recipients for the Order of Canada, Canada's highest award, yesterday to much controversy (you can read Raphael's take on that issue here).  I disagree with Raphael (but I love his writing) and think it's unfortunate for the other recipients to have had their appointments overshadowed by such a controversial figure.  A quick look at the appointment list bears this out, after all how many Canadians heard that Randolph C. Bachman was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.   If you're not sure who Randolph is, sing along if you know the words to this tune:

Randy Bachman is one of the good guys in rock and roll.   A deeply spiritual man, his Mormon upbringing helped him stay clear of the drugs and groupies that can end a career and focused his energies on producing great rock and raising a large family.  I've had the pleasure of seeing him live 3 times, twice with Burton Cummings and The Guess Who, and the other was a great show in Kingston during his "Every Song Tells A Story Tour".   He is kind and unassuming, aware of his place in rock history, and yet unfettered by the trappings of success.

This is a man who has wrote or co-wrote some of the biggest songs in music history:  Takin' Care Of Business, American Woman, You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet, Roll On Down The Highway, These Eyes, plus a score of great tunes that will surely stand the test of time (My personal faves include: Prairie Town, Not Fragile, and Laughing).  And let's not forget that Randy Bachman was on The Simpsons! 

Being appointed Officer, Order of Canada is a fine tribute to one of nations great musicians.  That still doesn't top his highest honour to date:  the letters 'TCB' ("Takin' Care Of Business") can be found on inscribed on tombstone of Elvis Aaron Presley.

More on Randy and his career can be found at randybachman.com.  Now go play the working overtime part!

Mitchieville Music Minute

A little Axel before he went batshit crazy.



I was going to title this post "Mitchieville Musical Minute" but decided against it lest people get the wrong idea about our happy little blog.

Careful With That Axe, Eugene

For Fenris, my favourite Pink Floyd song:

Just Because I Can....

The orginal man, in the flesh:

I May Be Bruised...

Some Canadian content to rock out with this sunny afternoon:

Mitchieville Remembers Jeff Healey

Canadians will wake up this morning to hear the sad news that one of our nations finest musical talents, guitar great Jeff Healey, passed away yesterday at the young age of 41. The hour is late and this won't be the definitive post on his career but I have a "Jeff Healey story" to tell that will rival my Avril story.

Back in high school (the late 80's) his song 'Angel Eyes' was a huge international hit. It was around this same time that Jeff made his acting debut playing a wise (and blind) blues man in the otherwise forgettable movie 'Roadhouse' with Patrick Swayze. I took a young lass, my first real girlfriend, to see the movie and the song 'Angel Eyes' quickly became "our song". We danced to it at a couple high school dances, listened to it in the car, and I lost my virginity with that song in the background. Ah young love, I went away to work for the summer and returned home to find she had been sleeping with the guy down the road, needless to say we weren't an item anymore.

Fast forward to the end of high school, I meet and fall in love with the woman destined to be my ex-wife. What song do we first here on our first date together, yup, 'Angel Eyes', which of course becomes "our song". A year later we are going to college in Peterborough and we got tickets to see The Jeff Healey Band live at The Pines in Bridgenorth. The Pines was a great seedy place to see a guy like Jeff Healey, 300 young and drunk good ol' Ontario kids in a small venue. The show was incredible and I'm telling you he pulled out all the stops. The closing number of course was 'Angel Eyes'. The future sole occupant of my house gets teary eyed and says "our song, remember the first time we heard our song together"*. I stuttered something in reply but I'm sure you can all guess as to which 'first time' I was really remembering.

Whether it be his at his bar in Toronto (where he gave a pre-teen Jimmy Bowskill his first break), on his radio show, or live in concert Jeff Healey was always the consummate gentleman. In recent years he would take his Jazz Wizards band on the road and play with high school jazz\blues bands to help develop students and spread the good word called The Blues. We will never see his like again.

If you never had the pleasure of seeing Jeff play guitar then this clip will give you a glimpse of what you missed:




*we were on our way to Belleville on a date and I was driving my dad's '72 Chrysler Newport, the song was playing on AM800 CJBQ.

Friday Afternoon Female Flesh

Our theme this week is 'Pretty In Pink'. Maybe a better theme would be 'Pretty In Very Little Pink'. Here is a song to go with the pictures:

Oh man, that is a cheesy video. Speaking of cheese, I love this skit:

Carry On

We've got to get this girl to play at Blogfest 2008:



Now it's trivia time. The song in the above clip was originally performed by which band:

a) West Virginia
b) California
c) Kansas
d) Nevada
e) Arizona
f) Oklahoma

Bonus points to those who figure out the arcane trivia reference in the answers.

One more day to Vote:

Mitchieville - Canada's Best Humour blog

Is Kellie Pickler Dumber Than A 5th Grade Rock?

This girl has got two thing going for her, brains isn't one of them.



I have no idea who Kellie Pickler is but yes I would Pickler, budda boom! I should give up my day job and write jokes for a living. "Mitch, Fenris and Danny the Homless Guy walk into a gay bar and a Rabbi says 'duck'..."

Update: American Idol, there's a surprise.

Week of Death – Day 6

The Murder of John Lennon – December 8, 1980

I was barely eight years old the day John Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman in front of Lennon’s apartment in New York City. The picture below is of Lennon signing an autograph, the guy in the background is Chapman.



I remember coming home from school for lunch on the 9th and my mom and a couple of her friends were crying at the kitchen table. This was the fist time I had ever heard of John Lennon or The Beatles and recall being wholly unimpressed by either his passing or of my moms fondness for The Fab Four. Mother explained that The Beatles were the biggest band in the world when she was a girl, that she could sing all of their songs, and that she drew hundreds of pictures of them (just like Marge Simpson). Whatever.

Flash forward to high school, The Awkward Years. Some kids adopted the jock mentality, some were Goth, a bunch were stoners, and I can't forget the metal heads. I took a more original approach, I was the lone right-wing Beatles hater at my school. In hindsight this anti-Beatles persona, carefully crafted over time, got me nowhere and eliminated about 95% of the available tail to me in high school. Even today my line "Yoko Ono is the best thing that ever happened to The Beatles" puts hopelessly romantic teenage Beatles fans into a fit of rage.

I'm still not a big fan of The Beatles and remain wholly unimpressed by aura of John Lennon. My Irish bloodlines prevent me from saying anything bad about the dead but I will say this: Lennon would have been right at home as a super celebrity in the "me 80's", the "alternative 90's" and would be riding shotgun on the Environmental Express with Algore if he was with us today. This being said, John Lennon sure as hell didn't deserve to die with four hollow point rounds in his back. Not much of a post, but even the Week of Death is bound to have one slow day. More on Lenin Lennon: BBC Archives and The Official John Lennon Web Site .

Update: Mapmaster sums things up rather well

Week of Death total: 36,339

Be sure to check back tomorrow for the 'Week of Death - Day 7' finale which will be co-posted with a bonafide celebrity blogger.

Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4 , Day 5, Day 6, Day 7

PS - December 8th also happens to be my best friends birthday, Happy 36th mon ami!

Week of Death – Day 2

The Day The Music Died

This isn’t a post about the latin guy who sang ‘La Bamba’ or The Big Bopper. Nor is this a post about Elvis, Jimmy Hendrix, Hank Williams Jr., Mama Cass or John Lennon. These music deaths, while somewhat tragic in their own way, can’t compare to the tragedy of December 4, 1980 as this was the day that THE GREATEST BAND IN THE HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL formally announced that it was breaking up. A simply worded press release stated that Led Zeppelin would be no more.

A few months earlier Zeppelin drummer John Henry Bonham died as only a drummer should – passing out after a Herculean drinking binge and then choking to death on his own vomit. The tight knit foursome, despite what out brother blogger Skippy Stalin may think, created the GREATEST MUSIC IN THE HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL. Their relationship was symbiotic and without one of them, musically, they couldn’t survive (I'll post more about the greatness of Zeppelin in a few days).

I’m not the only one with mixed emotions when it comes to the legacy of Led Zeppelin, but I have always respected the fact Zeppelin has resisted the urge to stage bogus comeback or reunion tours (see: The Who), no matter how much I would loved to have seen them in concert myself. Things have a way of working out though. For the reunion show 6 nights from now Bonham’s son Jason, a professional drummer in his own right, will take to the stage with his fathers band mates. It may not be the real Led Zeppelin but it is close as we will ever get and for this one night Zeppelin will fly again. I envy the 20 000 Zep fans who’ll get to see the show.



It should also be mention that on this day in 1993, Frank Zappa, one of music’s creative giants passed away. It’s kind of hard to explain Frank Zappa if you don’t already know who he is. The YouTube clip below is a small peek at the genius that was Zappa.



Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, and The Week of Death - you only get one chance in life to write a post that goes like this.

Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4 , Day 5, Day 6, Day 7

The Real Story Behind Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline”

One of the big new items for the day is the revelation that Neil Diamond’s famous song “Sweet Caroline” was inspired by Caroline Kennedy , the daughter of assassinated US president John F. Kennedy . That may be what Neil says, but in the Saturday Night Live parody of ‘VH1, Behind The Music' below, Will Ferrell tells us the “real” story behind the song.



Tuesday night bonus link: The Zapruder Film

The Log Driver’s Waltz

There isn’t a Gen-X Canadian alive who doesn’t know the old National Film Board short “The Log Driver’s Waltz” . I’m willing to bet that if you are a Canuck you probably haven’t see this in a while. If you aren’t from North of the 49th, you likely have never heard of it at all. Mitchieville, nominated by the people as one of Canada’s Top Ten Blogs, now shares this treasured piece of Canadiana with you, the voting public:




Would Kate post ‘The Log Driver’s Waltz”? I doubt it. Raymitheminx, not likely. There is only one choice for Canada's Best Blog, MITCHIEVILLE!

Click here to vote Mitchieville for Best Canadian Blog or go to heck eh!

Friday Night Blues and Beer at Mitchieville

For the past 70 + weeks our brother blogger Darcey over at Dust My Broom has hosted the popular “Friday Night Blues and Beer”. After an attack on his ISP this week (see here and here)Darcey won’t be able to host the popular FNB&B tonight. I think the blogging community needs to know the truth, Mitch and I were the people behind the attack. I suppose you all deserve an explanation why.

I’m sure some of the more paranoid female contributors at Mitchieville will attribute our ISP attack on DMB as punishment for Darcey supporting her campaign to de-throne Mitch, but that would be wrong. The real reason why can be summed up in a few words – Darcey is racist. Don’t believe me? Tell me then, when is the last time FNB&B featured Scandinavian music? The answer: never!

Until Darcey apologizes for his blatant anti-Scandinavian prejudices in the musical selections he makes for FNB&B the ISP attacks will continue. To fill the void on Friday nights, and make reparations for Darcey’s blatant prejudice, Mitchieville is proud to introduce our new Friday night feature: 'Friday Night ABBA and Absinthe'. Grab your slotted spoons, crank the volume to eleven, and we will see you on the inside.

Friday Night ABBA and Absinthe

The Booze:

No longer just for brooding Russian writers and dead-beat French artists the mystical absinthe
has been enjoying a renaissance of sorts the past few years. Long banned by the puritanical nanny state that is the great satan, our American readers can now legally purchase absinthe after the FDA allowed it’s sale again this past spring. I have a theory that the FDA agreed to allow absinthe sales again in order to help Americans forget the past seven years but I have no proof to back that up. Friends of mine who have gotten trashed drinking absinthe have described the experience as "weird", "trippy" and "fucking brutal". Getting blottoed on absinthe will help you enjoy our musical entertainment for the night.


The Music: Before ‘Ace of Base’, ‘The Hives’, and ‘Roxette’, Sweden’s contribution to modern music popular was the foursome known the world round as ABBA. While some question the bands popularity throughout the years all I’ve ever questioned is how two guys that ugly could have bagged the hotties they did before they became rich and famous. Our first song of the night is a perennial Mitchieville favourite and an ABBA mega hit:




By request of Fenris Badwulf we have ABBA’s take on one of histories great turning point battles:



This song is for a certain someone I have my eye on (PS - call me!):



Will Darcey apologize? Will FNA&A be back next week? Will I ever go out on a date again? So many questions unanswered, thank Set there is a whole lot of ABBA out there to keep this feature going for weeks and months to come.

All By Myself...

I'm so hurt and lost now that Mitch is no longer Mayor of Mitchieville. I've wanted to tell him how much he means to me, this song pretty well sums up how I feel. I love you Mitch. You will always be my Mayor.



Posted by mayorluver69 for Mitch cause he's dreamy

"Hello out there, we're on the air..."

The NHL hockey season begins tonight with The Toronto Maple Leafs losing to The Ottawa Senators in Kanata. I can hardly wait for that day sometime next summer when The Vancouver Canucks win the Stanley Cup Championship. At roughly the same time the Maple Leafs will announce to it's fans that they are “rebuilding” and then immediately not sign any half-decent players in the off season.

By request of His Worship Mayor Mitch, we have “The Hockey Song” by Canada’s singing troubadour, Tom ‘The Stompin’ Tom Phenomenon’ Connors.



Don't forget to vote Mitch for Mayor on October 10!

“Margo’s got the cargo b'y and..…”

I don’t know why this just popped into my head a few minutes ago, all I know is I should have posted this a long time ago:



To all non-Canadians:

1. Yes, this is a real song
2. Yes, Stompin’ Tom is a real musician
3. Yes, the clock in the song is real
4. Yes, the clock is made out of what you think it's made of
5. Yes, as a matter of fact we do like this type of music

Lyrics

Happy Birthday, Avril

I just remembered that my good friend Avril Lavigne turned 23 today. This being her birthday and all has me thinking back to when we were young and all the good times we had. She has a number one hit right now, a best selling CD, and a mansion with 10.5 bathrooms, yet I feel bad that I didn’t get her anything. Maybe I can get The Mayor to rustle up a Mitchieville t-shirt for her. In lieu of a present, a card, or even a phone call from me - a valued old friend from her youth - I have her newest video up Mitchieville. Maybe with a few more CD sales Avril and Deryck can get that half bathroom finished.