Thanks el. Bob Wills was an influence on my music. Got his 3 disc record set "for the last Time" as a teen.

For the Last Time documents two historic moments in American music: The last time Bob Wills would ever attend or participate in a recording session -- he never made the final day of the session, having suffered a severe stroke the night before -- and the reunion of the great Texas Playboys, who began in the 1930s and recorded and toured together through the beginning of World War II. All living members were present, as well as Texas Playboy-for-a-day Merle Haggard, who drove all night from Chicago to make the session (he literally begged Wills to be a part of the sessions). These sessions took place on December 3 and 4, 1973, in Dallas, a short ride from Wills' home, with most of the '30s and '40s band in place, including Leon McAuliffe and Leon Rausch acting as vocalists for the lion's share of the material, with Wills singing on six tracks and Haggard guesting on three and playing fiddle as part of the string section. Haggard's singing on "Texas Playboy Theme" is particularly moving, and one can hear the pride in his voice as Wills gives his patented "ahhhhhh-haaaaaaawwwww!" to show his own pleasure with the proceedings. Wills was seated in the center of the band and actually directed it from his wheelchair. What is most remarkable is that on certain cuts -- such as "Blue Bonnet Lane," a track recorded for a movie in 1942 and not performed since -- the band nailed it on one take. Tommy Allsup's production is flawless in that it is so minimal it's almost as if the band were playing in the listener's living room. He captures the warmth, immediacy, and overwhelming emotion in the proceedings as they happen on such Texas Playboy classics as "San Antonio Rose," "Faded Love," "What Makes Bob Holler," "Big Ball's in Cowtown," "Bubbles in My Beer," "That's What I Like About the South," "Milk Cow Blues," "Twin Guitar Boogie," and "When You Leave Amarillo," just to name a few. Fiddle great Hoyle and son Jody Nix actually guest on a couple of tracks in the vocal seat, and Wills gives them his approving nod with his drawling yodel. In all, this is far from the lame tribute record we see so frequently these days; this is a deeply moving and inspiringly executed presentation of Bob Wills as not only a bandleader, but as an innovator and mentor. In other words, it is the only fitting tribute possible, with the man still very much alive sitting among his bandmates for the very last time.

Here's the album if anyone has an interest.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDo5pClxNxc&list=PLSY07UDMoXP8ToH_hJUg06...

Also loved the Supremes and Wes. Didn't know about Furry.

Hope you all have a swinging day! A chilly 20 degree AM here...but sunny!

This morning I can see the dollar bills floating up out of the water troughs in the form of steam coming off the warm water into the 5 degree F air. In weather like this it costs around $6 / day in electricity to keep two 100 gallon water troughs liquid. There is a 1500 Watt heater in each one that keeps the water at around 35 degrees. This is normal for January. March, not so much.

memeguy
lol thanks, that popped out from my lint trap 'cause a pepto bismol ad starts playing at the end of this vid:

Theodore Bikel — Kretchma (קרעטשמע)

What I really wanted to say was RIP Peter Tork. cheers to a good life lived

Peter Tork of the Monkees dies; lived, performed in Fairfax in 1970s, ’80s

Tork was part of the hippie migration to Marin County at the end of the 1960s. He settled in Fairfax in the early ‘70s, worked at the original Sleeping Lady Cafe, a Bolinas Road employee-owned co-op that was Marin’s first vegetarian restaurant, and sang in the Fairfax Street Choir.

He also performed at 19 Broadway and other Fairfax clubs with his own band and occasionally sat in with Big Brother and the Holding Company, becoming friends with band members Sam Andrew and drummer David Getz. He lived with Getz in Fairfax for a brief time after leaving Los Angeles and the Southern California music business.

“He worked at his music and became a good musician,” Getz said in a Facebook post. “He was someone I liked a lot, respected, cared about and will remember with great fondness.”

According to Tork’s former girlfriend and bandmate, Austin musician Lauren Ellis, Tork lived in Marin on and off until 1992, when he moved back to L.A.

“He called Marin ‘mother’ and L.A. ’the work,’” Ellis said.

Also lived in Marin until 1975, grew up just over the hill from Fairfax. good trip bad trip long trip strange trip. It was a trip.

Peter Tork [Monkees] - Kretchma

Tork had been part of the Greenwich Village folk scene before becoming instantly famous. “To be in Greenwich Village in the ’60s was pure joy; to be young was pure bliss,” he said in an interview with UK Music Reviews. “When I talk about having a well favored life, I went from Greenwich Village almost directly into The Monkees. … I had first heard about the Monkees in the early summer of 1965 from a good friend of mine, one Mr. Stephen Stills,” who had been considered for the show himself and made a call to Tork, whom he figured would be better suited.

Tork was by some accounts the most musically proficient member of the Monkees, and someone comfortable with a variety of instruments. In the 1960s, George Harrison invited him to play banjo on his first solo album, the “Wonder Wall” soundtrack, although his picking reportedly only appears on bootleg outtakes and in the film itself. Although he was usually seen playing guitar in his solo acoustic or blues-band shows, in his spare time, he played piano, telling Medium in a 2017 interview that a typical day for him included some casual classical music. “I enjoy playing Johann Sebastian Bach for a hobby, just to take my mind into different places,” he said.

Cheers for taking minds into different places. Happy Hump Day
make it so
PEACE

the Furry this morning. That was fantastic. I had not heard him before.

warms the senses, enjoying the music and thread. Thank you.

Catching up on newsletters while ignoring the pressing stuff; just too cold to be worried about minutia.
Pinball 101; afternoon beers on the corner of Franklin and Columbia; those machines could take some abuse.

Have a good one.

Thanks for the threads!