Ralphadeus. Music movies comics feature in this look at life from Somerset.
Today is probably Sonny Boy Williamson's birthday today so to celebrate here are 13 minutes of loveliness as Sonny Boy is recorded on the radio doing his show in the 60s. It's very good. I have it on vinyl. The little comments and asides are wonderful.
KFFA Radio Program: V-8 Ford / Stormy Monday / Right Now / Come Go With Me · Sonny Boy Williamson II
King Biscuit Time (Hd Remastered Edition, Doxy Collection)
It's Little Richard day! Birthday today. Here is a colourized version.
This was Bristol's punk band. Used to see them about Bristol when I was at printing college. They were once on Points West our local news programme and I would love to one day see it again. They got signed to CBS but didn't do well and split up. They had two great singles though and were important in the local area.
From the Jazz Singer. My Dad had this on wax 78. Flip was Back in your own backyard. Story was my mum worked in a record shop when my folks first got married and in her lunch hour would go through the old records and was told to help herself. So they had a lot of 78s. They didn't mind me playing them and I knew this really well. I can do the whistling solo. Sadly they stored the 78s in the loft when they got into cds and they all melted. Was quite a shame. Inkspots and all sorts.
The flick is a bit hard going as Jean Luc Godard films are but this song is brilliant.
BFI have just published an article about JLG in the US promoting this film - read it here.>
Just in case you missed this the other week when I posted the whole movie here is the theme. Gloriously fuzzy lead line, it's a classic.
If it's Wednesday it means the Wednesday night rocking party with Steve Stack of wax Jepson 8-10pm on Forest fm. We have listened for years and if you like rocking music 'hillbilly or r&b it's a great show.
Delta blues slide guitar master Bukka White plays "Aberdeen Mississippi Blues" and "Poor Boy."
This day 1805 was the day of the great victory for Napoleon. Here is last year's reenactment.
Think this is 1965 but I am not sure. I used to do a lot of hitching in the old days.
An interesting musical project. A strong beat was a characteristic.
Only known footage of Jimmy Reed and Eddie Taylor together.
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| Ralph and Sue in about 1988 |
The Ashes (Polish: Popioły) is a 1965 Polish drama film directed by Andrzej Wajda, referencing the classic Stefan Żeromski epic novel of Polish Literature of the same name. It was entered into the 1966 Cannes Film Festival.
The Battle of Somosierra took place on November 30, 1808, during the Peninsular War, when a French army under Napoleon I forced a passage through the Sierra de Guadarrama shielding Madrid.
I like this. Sounds very of its time which is good. Crazy lyrics but fun. They sort of are like a real life Carrie Nations but Dutch.
A lot of this is Lower Writhlington but basically Radstock. Watch for free at the BFI
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| 10th Cavalry |
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| Militia |
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| 4th Cacadores |
I haven't been interested in the Napoleonic period for some time but am getting drawn to it, but I am a novice. Found these and thought they were good. More Denis Dighton
Scene from Georges Lautner's film Le Pacha, 1968.
This is brilliant. I think I have posted this before but here we go. Requiem for a Jerk.
Robbie Robertson talks on The House of Blues Radio Hour about heading into Helena, Arkansas with bandmate Levon Helm to meet and spend time with Sonny Boy Williamson. In telling the story, Robertson uses language (in context) that may be offensive to some.
New Russian WW2 movie set at the time of the battle of Moscow.
Stars Peter Fonda and Nancy Sinatra. Wiki. Watch the first five minutes. It's good.
The Wild Angels is a 1966 American outlaw biker film produced and directed by Roger Corman. Made on location in Southern California, The Wild Angels was the first film to associate actor Peter Fonda with Harley-Davidson motorcycles and 1960s counterculture. It inspired the biker film genre that continued into the early 1970s.
This I think is backed by the Wild Angels. It has a really good sound to it - it rocks in a way only Gene could.
90 years since the film that made Marlene Dietrich an international star.
Article on it here. Not a Ma Rainey fan but this looks worth seeing and may pave the way for more movies about Black entertainers.
Chicago, 1927. A recording session. Tensions rise between Ma Rainey (Viola Davis), her ambitious horn player (Chadwick Boseman), and the white management determined to control the legendary “Mother of the Blues.” Based on Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson's play.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, directed by George C. Wolfe. Starring Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Colman Domingo, Michael Potts, Glynn Turman, Dusan Brown and Taylour Paige. Coming to Netflix December 18. Watch Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, In select theaters November and on Netflix December 18: https://www.netflix.com/title/81100780
Great song. Possibly the best Heartbreakers song.
The best song from the best Elvis film.
Jean "Kitty" Bilbrew (7 July 1923 - 11 August 2009) was a 1950s/60s jazz vocalist, who for years was a nightclub favorite among audiences in Los Angeles, known for her sophisticated songs with well-traveled lyrics. Crawfish by Fred Wise and Ben Weisman Excerpt from Film "King Creole" (1958)
Everyone knows 'Another Girl Another Planet' but I think this, their first single is better. Saw them a bit later than this at Bristol.
The best gig we ever saw at Moles club in Bath was the Dirtbombs. Very good. We had an excellent spot at the front too. They did this one.
On the subject of Week-End here is a film that I have seen and I can't say I understood it but I did enjoy it. Wiki
I really liked this band and it now evokes pleasant memories. The debut album is great and worth playing.
Simon and Garfunkel. Good one for this time of year.
Back in 88 we did a weeks living history looking after some St Kilda Sheep and talking about the wool trade. My hat I bought off the famous Kirstie Buckland who knitted and researched it
Good excuse to show a scene from one of the greatest films ever made War and Peace (Voyna I Mir) 1966-7. Wiki on the battle
Patti Palladin & Judy Nylon. A rare glimpse at a much underrated band. They made some great singles.
This is what pubs should be like. Love the Wicker Man soundtrack - this was cut from the original print I believe. Film wiki
If you don't have a copy of my booklet on the Monmouth rebellion it is on ebay.
Thanks to David for this.
The Union of Salvation is a 2019 Russian military-drama feature film directed by Andrei Kravchuk, which tells the story of the Decembrist uprising of 1825 in the capital of the Russian Empire, St. Petersburg.
This is epic cinema. If you like Russian history then try it.
Blues guitar great Hubert Sumlin reminisces about Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, and then does some jamming in a guitar shop in this excerpt from the DVD "Hubert Sumlin - Living the Blues."
So in about 1979 I was still singing and blowing harp for the Bad Detectives whenever they got gigs. We got asked to play the Cellar bar in Taunton which is about 30 miles away from Frome. I had the idea of hiring a coach and filling it up with our Frome friends. This was done without any knowledge of what the Cellar bar was like. We got down and set up the kit and it became apparent that this was a biker hangout. Not many people there initially but we did notice that the girls were drinking pints something we had not seen before.
We started our set and we started getting jeers from the small crowd. At first I was winding the small crowd saying things like 'this is by Led Zeppelin. Oh no it's not and so on. Then suddenly an additional load of bikers turned up. Big blokes who I later found out they all worked for Taunton meat haulage - they were big. We were just into the song Psychotic reaction and all hell was let loose. Someone got hurled through the air crashing into the drum kit and all over people were fighting. I said to everyone nearby to grab some kit and get outside. This was when we realised we had to ascend stairs to get out and we had a job of reaching the green outside. Outside we piled up the kit. The bikers seemed to not follow us outside they were content to chase us out. So we had to wait for the coach - the police came to guard us and it transpired someone had been stabbed though not seriously. We managed to get home all right with no losses of equipment. But ever after that we have always been hesitant in bringing a crowd to gigs. Some gigs expect you to provide an audience of friends but we have never done it. Once at a gig in London we got asked 'where are all your friends?' We used this as a title for a CD we did.
From "Beau Fixe Sur Pithiviers", French TV, 14th August 1976
If you like Napoleonic movies and Thomas Hardy you may enjoy it. Has the late John Sessions in it. I remember when this was being filmed.
Based on a Thomas Hardy short story, The Melancholy Hussar, Scarlet Tunic is set in Dorset in 1802 and shows the irritable love between a station German soldier (Jean-Marc Barr) and a local catholic girl (Emma Fielding). Directed by Stuart St Paul.
The spectacular scenery of Wessex and the Dorset coast provides the backdrop for this adaptation of a Thomas Hardy short story. Set in nineteenth century rural England, this is the story of forbidden romance between a German hussar serving with King George III's personal cavalry, Matthaus Singer, and the only daughter of a West country solicitor, Frances Groves. The German legion is encamped on the downs as the threat of war with Napoleon looms. Matthaus longs for his homeland and Frances is trapped in an interminable engagement to one of her father's business associates, Humphrey Gould. Illicit meetings between Frances and Matthaus flare into a passionate affair as each searches for escape and happiness. Were they to be discovered, she would be branded a soldier's whore and he a disgrace to his regiment...
This is really good. Cackalacky means Carolina. The whole album Shattered is great.
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| not our tables but they were like these |
It is usually the carnival season in North Somerset at the moment. It is a big deal for the area. People come from all over to go. But this year it is not on. Takes a whole year to create the floats or carts as they are known as. Norton's carnival is pretty good. Here is a film Sue took from Celia's balcony.
Illuminated carnival from North Somerset. Filmed in the High Street by Sue Mitchard. 13th November 2017. All credit to the participants and organisers
This is a song that we play at practices - it's fun to do some covers - it's a great song.
Little Orphan Annie and sweet sue too
They've been coming around
Gives 'em somethin' to do
Their mamas all warned 'em not to come to town
It got into their blood
Now they gonna get down
Shakin' street, it's got that beat
Shakin' street, where all the kids meet
Shakin' street, it's got that sound
Shakin' street, say you gotta get down
Streetlight Sammy decided to make the trip
All the way from New Jersey on his girlfriend's tip
He pulled into town and met skinny leg Pete
Said, "Come here, boy, I heard about the streets"
I heard about the place where all the kids go
Now, I'm a about to flip, by just gotta know about
The shakin' street, it's got that beat
Shakin' Street, where all the kids meet
Shakin' street, it's got that sound
Shakin' street, say you gotta get down
Well the kids on shakin' street never give in
'Cause all of their lives they've been livin' in sin
You know that they're bad
You know that they're mad
They take for the takin'
And they shake for the shakin'
Shakin', shakin', shakin'
The folks keep complaining they find it so shockin'
All the kids wanna do is just keep on rockin'
They ain't got no time to think about stoppin'
They gotta get down and do a little stompin'
Now Sally Baker wants to shake her shaker
And Bobby C. says he's gonna take her to
The shakin' street, it's got that beat
Shakin' street, where all the kids meet
Shakin' street, it's got that sound
Shakin' street, you gotta get down
Shakin' street, it's got that beat
Shakin' street, where all the kids meet
Shakin' street, it's got that sound
Shakin' street, say you gotta get down
At our old place at Tyning. Was good fun. My daughter was working at a bakers and brought home about 3 sacks of buns. We distributed them around the place in little piles and then started a bun fight. It was great fun.
We used to like Stereolab - there wasn't many bands from that era we liked but liked this band.
‘Wow and Flutter’ from Stereolab's album ‘Mars Audiac Quintet’. Video directed and produced by Nick Abrahams and Mikey Tomkins.
This film from 1968 is one of my favourites. It reminds me of school days when I used to get regularly caned. At least that has stopped. I mean in schools.
News of the World - In Theaters Christmas
This Christmas, Universal Pictures is proud to present Tom Hanks starring in News of the World, a moving story written and directed by Paul Greengrass, reuniting for the first time with his star from their 2013 Best Picture nominee Captain Phillips. Five years after the end of the Civil War, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Hanks), a widower and veteran of three wars, now moves from town to town as a non-fiction storyteller, sharing the news of presidents and queens, glorious feuds, devastating catastrophes, and gripping adventures from the far reaches of the globe. In the plains of Texas, he crosses paths with Johanna (Helena Zengel, System Crasher), a 10-year-old taken in by the Kiowa people six years earlier and raised as one of their own. Johanna, hostile to a world she’s never experienced, is being returned to her biological aunt and uncle against her will. Kidd agrees to deliver the child where the law says she belongs. As they travel hundreds of miles into the unforgiving wilderness, the two will face tremendous challenges of both human and natural forces as they search for a place that either can call home.
This is pretty good if you haven't seen it. Hard to believe it's 50 years old.
This was a great film. Loved it and the soundtrack. And strangely they mention Radstock in reference to an orchard. It's an unconventional film but it is worth watching. Up in parts on Youtube.
Wiki Someone who was also popular in the 80s was Peter Greenaway. His films also were noted for using Michael Nyman for the music. Sue and I bought the soundtracks for this and the classic Draughtsman's Contract. Still have them. We went to a screening of his famous 'The Cook, the Thief, his wife and her lover' with a Peter Greenaway Q&A and Sue who was pregnant threw up.
Roselyne et les lions (Roselyne and the Lions) is a 1989 French film directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix.
Thierry (Gérard Sandoz) drops out of school to apprentice as a lion tamer at the zoo when he meets Roselyne (Isabelle Pasco), who shares his passion. They fall in love and when he loses his job, the young lovers journey across France finding odd jobs at several circuses. In Germany, they fall under the tutelage of aging big cat trainer, Klint (Gunter Meisner), and while they are closer to realizing their dreams, they find that their success drives them apart.
Pleasantly surprised to find this. Not one of their hits but still very good to see.
his brother/sister duo from Greensboro made a little noise on the soul scene in the '60s. They signed with Juggy Murray Jones' Symbol label in 1962. Their biggest hit was "Mockingbird," in 1963, which was a number two R&B and number seven pop smash.
All my kids like pinball so I am hoping someone in Liverpool gets this machine so my son could play it. It looks great.
Today is the birthday of Adam and Matthew Ashman so I thought I would pick one of my favourites that feature those two that you might not know.
Live at the Chancellor Hall, Chelmsford, 04/02/1979
So here are the Beatles at the Cavern Club in 1962 when Ringo had just replaced Pete Best. It is a cover of course song wiki but the Beatles did loads of covers in the Hamburg years. If you want to hear the original go here
Our son lives in Liverpool so I am interested in it. Since August my Grandson lives there too and I will have to face the fact that he will grow to have a Liverpool accent. That's fine by us. Anyway this is a great documentary about the famous city during its musical explosion. My son worked in the Liver building for a while but now he works from home.
Memphis Minnie is probably the most successful female blues musician. She made 200 recordings. Here she duets with her then husband. It's well worth listening to as it is a kind of feminist anthem, with her resisting the advances and turns down a strip of land and a diamond ring. The themes were taken on with the song Hey Gyp by Donovan.
The most enigmatic blues player is a woman. No known photos.
Geeshie Wiley was an American country blues singer and guitar player who recorded six songs for Paramount Records, issued on three records in April 1930. According to the blues historian Don Kent, Wiley "may well have been the rural South's greatest female blues singer and musician". Little is known of her life, and there are no known photographs of her. She may have been born Lillie Mae Boone, later Lillie Mae Scott.
