Saturday, October 31, 2015

3 Chords & the Truth: A ray of sunshine


It's another rainy day in River City.

Drizzly, bleak, pervasive is this pall,
It's the soggy side of fall.


Music brightens the day in River City,
The Big Show fights off the brooding sky.

And spirits, they will fly!

Music and good cheer,
Your blues will disappear.


ANOTHER rainy day in River City,
Another wet fall day in this old city,
Sitting in this cozy studio,
The tunes are good to go.


Windy, wet and gray in River City,
You're the only one want to see . . .
Here at 3C&T!


Now suddenly you feel
The music's bright appeal . . .


Another rainy day in River City. 


IT'S 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.



Thursday, October 29, 2015

I'll build a (vinyl) stairway to paradise


This afternoon's listening was . . . transcendent.

Sarah Vaughan. George Gershwin's very large segment of the American Songbook. Where could you go wrong?

Answer: You can't.

Boy, oh boy, are you in for a treat this week on 3 Chords & the Truth. My dilemma is deciding what to play off this 1957 masterpiece of an LP.

I have a couple of thoughts, but I almost feel like I'd be cheating you by not just playing the whole thing. The problem is that I have lots of other great music, too.

I'd feel like I was cheating you by not getting around to all that, too.


In brief, my dilemma is your gain. That's the Big Show for you.

Be there. Aloha.

Friday, October 23, 2015

3 Chords & the Truth: Buddy and the Beatles


The Cricket is the father of the Beatle.

This week on 3 Chords & the Truth, we explore Buddy Holly and his influence on The Beatles, which I submit was huge. In short, had Holly not lived and blown open rock 'n' roll with all kinds of then-not-rock 'n' roll influences and instrumentation  -- A full string section? Harps? Heresy!!! -- you have to wonder whether it would have been possible for John, Paul, George and Ringo to make the music they ultimately did.

Maybe so. Then again, maybe everybody would have been remaking "Roll Over Beethoven" and the greatest hits of Fabian over and over and over again.

But Buddy Holly blew it open, and the boys from Liverpool reaped the musical benefits.

THAT'S WHERE we're going this week on the Big Show. And you are going to reap the musical benefits as we revisit some classic Holly and some live Beatles, as broadcast back in the day on the British Broadcasting Corporation.

We're live on the BBC, and we're on top of lots of other exceptional stuff this go around. You're gonna love it.

So. . . .

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.


Friday, October 16, 2015

3 Chords & the Truth: Java jivin'


Way down among 3 Chordsians . . .
 
Coffee beans grow by the billions
So we've got to find those extra cups to fill
We've got an awful lot of coffee in the till

 

You can't get cherry soda
'cause we gotta fill that quota
And the way things are I'll bet we never will. . . .
 


We've got a zillion tons of coffee on the bill 

No tea or tomato juice
You'll see no potato juice
'cause the Favog in the Big O's saying "No, no, no"

A Big Show listener's daughter
Was accused of drinkin' water
And was fined a great big fifty dollar bill
We've got an awful lot of coffee songs to shill


IN OTHER WORDS, this week on 3 Chords & the Truth . . .
I love coffee, i love tea
I love the java jive and it loves me
Coffee and tea and the java and me
A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup (boy!)
IT'S 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there.  Aloha.


Thursday, October 15, 2015

Tonight's vinylpalooza


I'm cheap enough that paying $15 for this 1959 stereo release gave me serious pause at the LP bins of an Old Market antique emporium.

On one hand, I'd rather find a gem for a song at an estate sale or something.

On the other hand, the records from this vendor are usually in marvelous playing condition.

On the third hand, a stereo rock 'n' roll record from 1959 -- the mono version of Bobby Freeman's Do You Wanna Dance album came out the previous year -- and from an indie label, no less. That's likely on the rare side, making the $15 price not a rip-off.

I'll say!

BEFORE LISTENING to this early-rock classic this evening, I did a little Internet price checking for the stereo version of Do You Wanna Dance . . . Jubilee 1086 for all you record geeks out there. And the low price I found it being sold for was something like $29.95. The high price (on eBay, of course) was . . . was . . . gulp! . . . $110. I understand a mint first pressing goes for $200.

Mine seems to be a second pressing. Sigh. I coulda been rich.

Now note that amid all this "What's it wurf???" nerd-o-mania, not a word was written about the actual music, which was great despite following the rock-album convention of the day for a hot act. That would be:

SIDE A
  • Cover something.
  • Cover something.
  • Cover something.
  • Original that'll never be released as a single.
  • Cover something.
  • Hit record we named the LP for.
 SIDE B
  • Cover something.
  • Cover something.
  • Original that you'll hear nowhere else. Ever.
  • Cover something.
  • Original that sounds exactly like the big hit on Side 1.
  • Cover something inspiring. Or something.
That is all. Good night, and good listening.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

And that's the way it @#$%*&!!! is . . . .


Alrighty, folks. This is your NSFW video of the day.

Here, at wits' end dealing with a producer back at the station, British reporter Jonathan Pie gives us the real news. Which is a lot closer to the truth than the "official" news.

"Jonathan Pie," alas, is really comedian Tom Walker, as reported by the Russian-government website Sputnik News. Which is just as well, I suppose. Pity the real TV journalist who gets fed up and tells the unvarnished truth . . . and then has the outtake go viral.

Now, what I'd like to see is a real newscast by American and Russian anchors who get good and cranky, then cut the official propaganda of each superpower to shreds . . . thereby arriving at something like the truth.

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

3 Chords & the Truth: Is this thing on?


We almost interrupt this program due to technical difficulties.

Almost.

It's a little late this go around, but 3 Chords & the Truth is here . . . and the music is good. Really good.

IN A FEW instances, as usual, your mind will be blown by the latest edition of the Big Show. Take safety precautions to prevent ill effects similar to those occurring when the Adobe Audition audio editor comes in contact with the latest Mac OS, El Capitan.

In short, your mental state could resemble Donald Trump's hair.

Be prepared. Be safe. Hold on.

COME TO think of it, we are on, right?

Testing. Testing. One, two, three, four, five. . . . Testing.

Whew! I was worried there for a second. Carry on.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

Saturday, October 03, 2015

3 Chords & the Truth: Hep to the jive


Don't be a wet blanket, pally. Get hep to the 3 Chords & the Truth Fan Club and never miss another jivin' tune again.

All you have to do to be with the swingin' crowd is become a regular listener of the Big Show. And the best thing about it is that you get the whole wide world of solid sounds for exactly nothin'.

That's right, won't cost you a thin dime, Ain't no better bargain than free, buddy boy.

So join all the cool kids in the 3 Chords & the Truth appreciation society and hear everything from the Syndicate of Sound to Southern Culture on the Skids. From She & Him to Dale & Grace.

And that ain't the half of it, Daddy-O.

SIGN ON with the Big Show, and you get some bonus Otis Redding and Shawn Mullins for a small shipping and handling charge. That would be your undying devotion, sister. Or brother. Either way, man -- it's copacetic.

Oh, the things you'll hear!

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there.  Aloha.