Know Your Roots

Aka - The return of "Heavy Rotation". Albums I'm listening to.

An abbreviated timeline that has a lot to do with my current listenings. Those current listenings being 60's garage/punk and more obscure British Invasion stuff. Bo Diddley was a gunslinger and a lot of British cats(Stones, Pretty Things, Yardbirds and on and on) dug his trip and paid tribute to the sound. American teens try to imitate these British cats and a ridiculous amount of bands start playing with more enthusiasm than talent. Original punk rock, or garage if you like. Listen to the Back From the Grave comps and the Bo Diddley beat is prominent.

Fast forward. Late 60's into the 70's and rock gets bloated. Masturbatory solos are de riguer. Some New York dudes aren't buying what's selling and decide to bring back the 3 minute song. To them it's just rock and roll, to everyone else, it becomes "punk". The New York Dolls cover a Diddley tune...Pills. The Clash bring Bo with them on their '79 Pearl Harbor tour as an opener. Noone gets it. Noone gets that what they came to see, came from this(which is pretty damn punk rock):



So...I recently picked up Bo Diddley's Beach Party(apropos, neh?). The album came from a live set that Bo and his band did in 1963 down in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I have read criticisms of the sound for being kind of muddy or that Bo's studio output is as raw and sounds better. To me, that's missing the point. This is a blistering set that is raw and rollicking as hell and lends credence to Bo's sobriquet of "The Originator". The album opens strong with "Memphis"(Chuck Berry tune?), "Gunslinger" and "Hey Bo Diddley" and barely lets up from there. My only criticism is that it's too damn short. Hunt it down and give it a spin.

Goons

Variations on my Theme

Get that riff out of your head if you can.

This Morn

No alarm clock could possibly be more effective than the bottomless pit that is Thing 2* when it comes to rousing me for dawn patrol at The Local(before work even). The proof down below as submitted for your approval. Waves were actually pretty fun and drew a bigger crowd than I anticipated(although crowded at this spot is extremely relative). I must have snapped this one during a lull.




*Editorial Note - My lads shall heretofore be referred to as "Thing 1(the elder)" and "Thing 2(der baby)" and the break formerly known as "The Unnamed Beach Break" is now dubbed simply, "The Local" as it has become the stand by when I'm not on the road to nowhere.