According to both Al Green and Willie Mitchell, they earned by far the most royalties for this song not from their own version, nor from those of Syl Johnson or even the Talking Heads, but from Billy Big Mouth Bass. Even Queen Elizabeth had one.
Question For The NashVega$ Bastardate
A friend (yes, I still have some) from another region is soon visiting Nashville and has asked me which restaurant is most favored by local hot chicken cognoscenti. I’ve eaten at a few, but the only name I remember is Hattie B’s (there’s one in Memphis). Any suggestions?
More Cults
I posted a couple of songs by them a couple of years ago. Here’s another.
Count Jackula
Nosferatu has abandoned Transylvania for a pressing plant and dresses like Dieter of SNL. He now lives on molten vinyl, not blood. As a result, his hair has turned blue. He’d like you to know that he’s morally superior to other vinyl vampires. He doesn’t suck vinyl from other plants. He started his plant with his own money. He did this in 2017, so he’s cooler too.
He has a point, but so do the bigger, trend-surfing vampires. Why pump money into a medium that will again become unfashionable? The majors are not owned by one wealthy alt-rocker. They are beholden to shareholders who might see a pressing plant as a foolish investment. And there are other media, as most people stream anyway. Maybe he’s right, and the big labels should make room for others by pressing their own copies of Rumours and the latest Adele. Whatever, I just posted because I was amused at the vampire look and the moral posturing. If he wants to make this a moral issue, someone could always one-up him for using a petroleum product.
Secret Bar of the Stars
Last weekend I visited Muscle Shoals Sound Studios. Above is a hidden bar accessed via a panelling cut-out. The county was dry back in the day, so it had to be hidden. Twenty-mile drive to the Tennessee state line for restocking. That’s an old video player on the counter for, um, “films.” Original furnshings. The picture on the wall is of Jerry Wexler and Willie Nelson. Some huge talent relaxed in that little room, along with the Swampers, of course. I still find it very funny that musicians came from all over the planet to work with those “black musicians” who played on Staples Singers and Wilson Pickett (and 100 others) records, just to find four white guys who looked like they worked at the local Tractor Supply.
An interesing fact (of many) about that dumpy little building: it’s slightly twisted. No parallel surfaces, so no standing waves. You can place a mike pretty much anywhere without issues.
The tour guide was knowledgeable. Unlike a few years ago when I toured nearby Fame Studios (where the Swampers worked for Rick Hall before striking out on their own). The guide was a young ignoramus whom I tormented with corrections and questions. Sorry, but if I’m paying for a tour, the guide should know more about the place than I do.
R.I.P.
https://youtu.be/TpzKbIbV7Kg
He died Feb. 22, but I just heard today.
For You, Makerbot
Speaking Of The War…
If the Russian army has seemed inept to you, that’s because it is.
If you’re interested, here is the best site for war information. It’s geared towards military, and its contributors are mostly data-driven soldiers or wonks. As a result, there wasn’t the usual media and government surprise about the Russians’ difficulties. As far back as November, they were pointing out the Russians’ logistical shortcomings, and this week they reported a Marine Corps University war game that, prior to the invasion, predicted very closely how it would go.
As an old Cold War brat of the 7th Army in Germany, I remember that there was no respect for the Red Army back then. They had scary bombs and large troop numbers, but our army considered them 3rd rate in all other regards. In 2022, the only thing that’s changed is that they’re much smaller. Putin’s “build-up” has been in weapons, not in building a viable army, which hasn’t attempted anything like this since their 70’s-80’s Afghanistan disaster. I don’t think this cold war will be long, because Russia won’t have the money or manpower to sustain one, or even occupy Ukraine (assuming they win). That’s not to say this won’t get very dangerous.
Amateurs talk strategy, professionals talk logistics.
-Omar Bradley
Never interfere with your enemy while he’s making a mistake.
-Napoleon
Friday Classical Dump
While no one’s paying attention, I’ll slip in another elitist post. I went to see this ensemble last night, and it was a smoker of a performance of Schubert, Bartok, and Beethoven Op. 131. I think these groups relax and take more risks when playing in backwater towns like Memphis, and the results are often tremendous. The cellist might look like an assistant night manager at Kroger, but musically he’s a badass; he was pushing them all to the brink in the Beethoven. Here they are in 2nd mvmt. of Beethoven Op.135. I’ve said it here before, and I’ll say it again: the late Beethoven string quartets and piano sonatas, at 200 years old, are still ahead of the times.