Skip to content

Posts tagged ‘jukejoint’

Jun 14

A Riff-Gift: Judd’s Juke Joint Playlist #7: “Hidden Charms”

If you had a chance to read about “Judd’s Juke Joint” in a previous post, then this playlist will make sense to you.  If you didn’t get a chance to read it, you can do so here (you may want to first):

Judd’s Juke Joint: Were good people go and the good times always roll 

I have a series of playlist built in my iTunes called, what else…”Judd’s Juke Joint Playlist”.  I thought I would post one of them here and give you a bit of commentary around each of the songs as well as provide a download for the whole set…a “Riff-Gift”. Why not?  I always say, the only thing I enjoy more than listening to music is sharing it.  

I have a flow and feel to each of my mixes.  Most often the first four songs are of the same vibe. Then I might shift gears.  This gives us enough time to get in the groove and have the stage set for the rest of the set.  Depending on why I am compiling it, be it for myself, for a party or a specific audience, I will vary the musical style and tempo.  I most often like to start out like a rocket an lay down a serious boogie beat or a rock and roll strut or a soul grove.  I might then work my way into a country-rock flavored feel (I like to use Gram Parsons, “Cosmic American Music” term to describe ‘country-rock’…I hate labels and genres anyhow). I’ll pick up the tempo and then set ‘er back easy again and then end it on a feel.  They don’t always follow a same pattern as is the case with today’s JJJ Playlist.

Today’s Riff-Gift is: Judd’s Juke Joint Playlist #7: Hidden Charms. Currently there are twelve JJJ Playlists.  I like “Hidden Charms” because it starts out with it’s hair on fire and doesn’t cool off until we downshift (slightly) to a magnificent Warren Haynes song. So, here is a song by song commentary on “Hidden Charms”.  I’ll keep to a twitter-like 140 characters to make it short and punch…there are 25 songs on this playlist and I could talk about them all day and night over many a cold beer. Here goes nothing…

Judd’s Juke Joint Playlist #7: Hidden Charms
Download Here

  1. “Medicated Goo” – Traffic:  This is a party starter.  Winwood’s vocals and that jaunty piano keep this thing moving along.  Before you know you are rocking along and bouncing back and forth.  The Goo is good for you.
  2. “Them Changes” – Buddy Miles:  Buddy is playing with such passion on this, he may just actually “commit a crime”.  Driving horns an a pulsing drum beat…percussion, percussion…Buddy Miles is stompin’ a groove.  He was Monster who has not received his proper due. I like this version better than the one on the “Band of Gypsies” disc.
  3. “Promised Land” – Johnnie Allan:  This is a Chuck Berry song, but Johnnie OWNS this. If you could start out a car in 5th gear and shoot down a quarter mile stretch, this would be the song equivalent.  This song boils my blood…when he starts callin’ back home, the Poor Boy killin’ it!
  4. “Honest Papas Love Their Mamas Better” – Fats Domino: The finger poppin’ beat, the bulbous guitar licks and the rollicking piano make this a Fats classic.  This is one of those songs that gets lost in the cracks and when you hear it, you wonder “where the hell has this been and how many more like it are out there”!
  5. “Hidden Charms” – Howlin’ Wolf: A rockin’ blues beat from The Wolf.  The little guitar run 5 seconds into it makes me laugh. The Wolf give the vocal his all. Watch out when The Wolf gets his weight behind the groove.
  6. “Grits Ain’t Groceries” – Little Milton: The lyrics/chorus for this song gets me every time. A gruff vocal performance, blaring horns and a driving beat bring home the bacon.
  7. “Gunslinger” – Bo Diddley: A JJJ stone cold hero. The Bo Diddley beat is one of the greatest inventions in the world.  DId you know Bo was an actual sheriff in New Mexico. No word if he actually wore a rose on his chest.
  8. “Greyhound” – Merced Blue Notes:  This song plays like a cross country Greyhound bus ride across a long stretch of land.  If the bus was running out of gas, they could put this track in the tank. 
  9. “Gonna Move” – Paul Pena: What a story on this guy. His first album was released 27 years after it was recorded.  This song sizzles and is autobiographical.  He originally penned the Steve Miller Band hit, “Jet Airliner”. Read more about Paul here
  10. “It Ain’t What You Do, It’s How You Do It” – J. Geils Band: Raw energy here, folks.  There are two bands I would have liked to play in: The Band & the J.Geils Band.  Can you imagine being in a small club in Boston when they were hitting the circuit and making a name for themselves?  
  11. “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me” – Warren Zevon: This is a live version of the recently re-released, “Stand in the Fire”.  I LOVE this live album. It ranks in my Top 10 live albums ever. Warren is on Fire here…crazy, wild performance.
  12. “Cleaning Windows” – Van Morrison:  Great story in this song…name calling all of his musical heros.  He’s a working man in his prime…happy cleaning windows and listening to Jimmy Rodgers on his lunch break. 
  13. “Soulshine” – Warren Haynes:  Haynes wrote this for an Allman Brothers album.  This is a live acoustic performance…there is so much depth in this perfornance…you need a few deep breaths after listening. The guitar work is inspiring and the crowd is part of the tune they are so into it. This one goes out to Brother Dave Mini…yes, Dave, it is better than moonshine. 
  14. “Before the Money Came (the Battle of Betty Lavette” – Bette Lavette: Wow…this woman is all soul, grit and attitude.  I love her power in this autobiographical performance.  Don’t mess with Bettye.  The Drive-By Truckers back her up…brilliant. 
  15. “Cummins Prison” – Calvin Leavy:  A hidden blues gem if you ever done heard one.  Cummins Prison was a real place…a violent and unscrupulous evil prison where you never want to end up.  Calvin was there so this song is first hand.  It has a guitar break in it that could start a mudslide.
  16. “Poor Black Mattie” – R.L. Burnside:  Ol’ R.L…I love this man.  He was real as bone. I love this song and the lyrics.  He was even more primal than John Lee. Here is a video performance of this version of the song. Look at R.L., having a balls-out good time and doing his thing. 
  17. “Funny How Time Slips Away” – Al Green & Lyle Lovett:  I love the interplay on here…two contrasting styles making beautiful, real music.  Al has fun at the end and it makes the song. 
  18. “Bob Wills is Still the King – Waylon Jennings:  Waylon “didn’t become a legend by following the rules”.  I love his spirit on this tune.  The jokes about Willie Nelson with the audience are too cool
  19. “Sweet Peach Georgia Wine” – Levon Helm: A pure “Levon tune” from one of his solo albums. So typical Levon…fun, old-timey, sing along tune that tells a story about some “sweet peach” who gets him sent to the pokey
  20. “Already Free” – Derek Trucks Band:  The hisses and pops make it sound like an old 78 rpm record…and the Charley Patton guitar lines take you back to a dirt road in the Delta.  Love the lyrics; this is a cousin to “Soulshine”.
  21. “Your Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond” – Taj Mahal: Taj has a style all his own that pulls and picks off of a wide scope of sounds. This song moves on down the line with great harp riff
  22. “Pressure Drop” – Toots and the Maytals:  Toots…my favorite reggae artist.  This song is in my all time TopTen tunes.  I play this when I need a release valve and to remind me the things that stress me out aren’t worth it.
  23. “Shadow of a Doubt” – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers:  Think these guys don’t know pure riff-laden garage rock…try this one out.  It’s a great bar band song some band should make a staple of their set
  24. “Bloody Mary Morning” – Willie Nelson: A KILLER live tune.  Willie’s guitar playing is no finger picking here…this is a SOLO.  I love this song and this live “outlaw” period for Willie.  The band is shit-hot, too.
  25. “It Tears Me Up” – Percy Sledge:  The sheer power and soul in Percy’s voice is so honest, you want to console him on this number.  You can taste the slat of his tears when you listen to this. This is a Dan Penn tune…you know of dan Penn, right…?

Jun 13

Judd’s Juke Joint: Were good people go and the good times always roll

My car’s wheels crunch and pop as I drive up the long, twisting dirt road that leads up to my luxury log cabin.  The driver’s side window is down all the way and my arm is hanging out of it, bent at a ninety degree angle.  The sun is shining and blue skies are all I can see. An early Saturday morning warm, summertime breeze is filling up the car. The stereo is turned up loud…very loud…and “King Harvest” by The Band is keeping me chooglin’ along.

I park the car at the top of the drive and start to get out; King Harvest is still playing. Never kill the engine before a great song’s time is done.  You never want to waste a great tune…especially one by The Band. I let the song play out and then get out of the car. My two dogs race up to greet me. I walk through the house and make my way to the kitchen.  I look out the window and see my wife playing with our two kids in the backyard.  I wave and flash a wink. She blows a kiss and smiles.  She lets the kids know that Dad is home and they wave, too.  They wave so hard I swear their hands are going to fall right off their skinny little wrists. 

I need a quick snack before I start to collect the days playlist material.  I slice up some cheese and grab a hand full of crackers and head off to The Vault. The Vault is the soundproof room I had built in the back corner of the house. The Vault is where I store my entire music collection…all 2,100 albums of all different formats: CDs, Vinyl, Digital.  I have four back-up hard drives to store my stuff.  I lost it all once and it took forever to rebuild.  That will never happen again.

The Vault also houses all of my memorabilia, mementos and keepsakes I have gathered up throughout the years. Yes, some of it is a bit overkill (like the horseshoe I found in a field at an Allman’s Brothers show in the Summer of ’93. How could I not pick it up as a sign of good luck?  After all, they did play “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” that day…the only song I cared about hearing).  Overkill or not, it is all part of the music and the stories that live within it and that are part of my experience with it.

The Vault is soundproof because it needs to be.  I spend lot of time in here listening to music.  My wife used to question why I needed to hear the same Neil Young song (“Cowgirl in the Sand” off of Live at the Filmore ’71) over and over again…at such a “nauseating” volume.  ”Because it cleans me out,” I would say.  ”It clears my head and keeps me thinking straight. I get lost in the sound and when I find my way out. I feel refreshed and ready to rip”.  It took her a while to understand this, but once she did, she knew full well what I meant.  Warren Zevon is her cleanser now.

I can go into the vault and play Neil or Keef or The Wolf at bone rattlin’ volumes at any time I want…and I do quite often. It is not an isolation tank, but I am usually the one who goes in here.  I do have another place for listening to music.  It is a place where sharing music is a priority and where the good times roll.  It was something I always dreamed of having.  I always envisioned having a place where all my friends and family could come to relax, enjoy each other, enjoy letting it all hang out and most of all, enjoy the experience of the music.  You can see it out through a window in the vault, off in the distance in the back of the house: Judd’s Juke Joint.
_____

Judd’s Juke Joint is a shack I built in the backyard.  It was built to look like an old Mississippi Delta style juke joint: mismatched chairs and tables, a few booths, a stage area in the corner, a bar on one side and a wall’s length of “elbow-shelving” for people to lean on and rest their beers.  It can fit around 40 people at max capacity.  It is unassuming and humble. I built it sturdy though. Thick planks of pine line the walls and floor. There is a small bathroom…one for the men and the ladies. There are dartboards, cribbage tables and a pinball machine. Half of the front wall of the Joint opens up horizontally and gets propped up by two posts on the lawn outside.  This serves two purposes:  it creates a mighty nice breeze in the hot summer months as well as a make-shift roof to put some lawn chairs underneath. 

Inside the Joint I have all kinds of old memorabilia hanging up…posters, t-shirts, album covers, wagon wheels…all kinds of stuff.  No real rhyme or reason to it all…if it feels right, we put it on the wall. There is sawdust on the floor and a big barrel over by the bar that is filled with shelled peanuts, of which you can throw the shells anywhere you please.  People have their own mugs stored on a rack that hangs over the bar. The bar is a thing of beauty.  I purchased a monstrous piece of oak and placed my ticket stub collection on top of it (we’re talking over 300 stubbs).  I layered a half a dozen coats of shellac on top and used it as my bar top.  If we were ever to run out of things to talk about at Judd’s Juke Joint (highly unlikely), the bar top would be an excellent place to find some stories.  Each one of those concerts I attend has it’s own unique tale to tell.

I have four kegs on tap at all times. I like variety and I like craft beers and I also like to keep it real down-home, too. Right now we have Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Long Trail and crowd favorite, Pabst Blue Ribbon, on tap. There is also a selection of wines and whiskeys on hand.  If you want anything else, you can bring it yourself and throw it in the fridge. Oh yeah, there is also a bottle of homemade hooch under the bar.  We call this “The Midnight Special” because that is when it usually comes out. Anyone can go behind the bar and pour a beer. A few of the guys like to stand behind there for hours on end, living out their bar-keep fantasies.  I also have a tap on the outside of the Joint (we run only PBR off that). This makes it easy for the horseshoe players to get a quick, cold refill. 

Outside of “The Tripple J” we have a two regulation horseshoe pits.  Horseshoes is the game of choice at JJJ and we play it throughout the day and into the night until we have to turn on the flood lights. At night, we usually head over to the burn pit.  This is were we have our bonfires where all sorts of stories are told and singalongs ring out into the night.  I don’t play any instruments, but I have never heard a song I didn’t think I knew all the words too.  Usually someone is on hand who picks up a guitar or a harp and starts things off. Singalongs are where we let it all hang out. More often than not, you’ll hear someone say, “I love this part of the night”.  Singalongs bring us all together. 

We also have two very large BBQs out back.  No good summer weekend party is complete without a BBQ.  On the big occasions, I feed everyone. Otherwise, people are free to bring some vittles to grill up whenever they get hungry.  

The glue that keeps this held together is the music.  Music is the reason the Juke Joint was created in the first place.  I have music playing constantly no matter what I am doing or what time off the day it is.  I am a fan of the blues…Delta, West Side Chicago…artists from Chess, Cobra, Delmark, Ace…you name it. The Blues figures heavily in every rotation. I am also a fan of the real country music: Willie and Waylon, George and Merle and the patron saint of the Juke Joint…Johnny. I’m a Memphis soul man, too.  All the gang at Stax, Muscle Shoals, Goldwax, Atlantic…we love that stuff at the Joint.  (Have a look at this link.  The entire Judd’s Juke Joint collection is there).

The music is what matters most.  It is the fuel that keeps Judd’s Juke Joint running. 
_____

While in The Vault I fill up a milk crate with an arm full of choice vinyl.  I usually start off and end the Jamboree with vinyl. Up front I am setting the scene and standing at the turntable playing choice cuts and setting the pace for the party.  In the middle of the gig, I let one of mankind’s greatest invention…the shuffle feature in iTunes…take over. When you have 2,000+ albums of music stored digitally, the shuffle keeps you guessing, keeps you spread thin and keeps you looking for the next best thing.  It also allows you to walk party and make sure everyone is having a good time.  At the end of the night, when the “old faithfuls” are left, I go back to the vinyl.  We all shout out tunes and I spin ‘em; there ain’t a dry eye in the house at this time.  We are usually all back-slapping and hugging and enjoying the scene and the sounds until the wee-wee hours.  My favorite “next morning” scene is seeing album covers strewn about the Joint (with the odd friend sleeping in a booth). 

I head out back with my cheese, crackers and stack of albums.  I kiss the wife and kids and walk down to the Juke Joint which sits about 50 yards in back of the house.  Today is a big day. Today is our annual “Judd’s Juke Joint Jamboree”.  One day each summer we invite people over to the house for a celebration of friends, family music and good times. This year is our seventh one and is sure to be our best; they get better year after year. We got RSVPs from just over 50 people. We keep the crowd intimate and important. 

People will start to show up around 11:00 am and stay until they like.  The first band starts at 1:00pm.  Local favorite, The Peter Parcek Trio kicks things off. Peter never lets us down or wanting more.  He’s been a friend of the Juke Joint for many years and many more to come.  We have two other bands who will play today. When the last band finishes, the real performances start…time for the singalongs. The Horseshoe tourney starts at 3:00pm and we fire up the BBQ at 4:00.

We only have two rules at Judd’s Juke Joint.  Have respect and Have fun.  If you are in the neighborhood, stop by and have a beer, make some friends and sing along your favorite tune. 
_____

None of that entire story has happened yet…but it will.