BoogMusic

This kid is pretty awesome.  He is also, at ten years old, already a larger human than Randy Rhodes was when he wrote the song.

But alas, nothing beats the real deal.

In early 1970 James Brown’s entire band got sick of his crazy bullshit and walked out.  In their place he hired the Pacemakers, a teenage funk band from Ohio featuring brothers William “Bootsy” Collins on bass and Phelps “Catfish” Collins on guitar.  Within a year most of that band, which had been rechristened the JBs, would also leave Brown (Bootsy was apparently canned for dropping acid before a show and wandering off in the middle of a song). Lucky for us in just 11 months they created some of the best soul and funk ever made.

Catfish Collins died this past Friday of cancer.  While never the star his younger brother was, Catfish’s sense of rhythm and attack helped define what funk guitar playing should sound like.  Case in point, “Super Bad”:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Here is the man in action on tour in Paris, 1971:

Rest in Peace Catfish.

Boogmusic would like to wish Happy Birthday the only Beatle left that no one can argue is a douche (a statement that isn’t as anti-Paul as it may seem;  really, somebody somewhere has had a beef with one of the other three- that’s why Ringo’s never been shot, stabbed, or targeted by a gold-digger [Ringo's been married twice, both for a very long time]).

As we look back on a life so intertwined with the zeitgeist of our era, we must recognize the moments in this life that helped him shape our times…

From birth, Ringo was always the poorest Beatle, the last Beatle, and the dismissed Beatle, but he’ll never be an unloved Beatle.  Happy Birthday Ringo.  We will never pass you by.

I know this is a week late, but I must join the chorus singing the funeral hymn for Ronnie James Dio.  Dio was a little man with a big voice and, apparently, a heart of gold: his most enduring addition to the metal lexicon, the devil horns, was a gesture he lifted off his superstitious grandmother.  By the time Dio joined Black Sabbath in 1979 he was 37 years old, which means that for most of his career he was probably the oldest guy in the arena.  I mention this only to point out that for Dio, it wasn’t a gag- he was an old dude rocking out unironically, one of a dying breed.  He also has a street named after him in the town where he grew up (Dio Way, Cortland NY), which kind of makes me want to move upstate.  RIP Ronnie.

The 2010 Pulitzer Prize board has given a special posthumous citation to Hank Williams for “for his craftsmanship as a songwriter who expressed universal feelings with poignant simplicity and played a pivotal role in transforming country music into a major musical and cultural force in American life.”  All that and he had a real purdy voice too.  Here’s a pretty good clip of him doing “Cold Cold Heart”, plus “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still In Love With You)” as a duet with Anita Carter.  Of course, singing to teenage girls was more Lefty Frizzell’s thing, but who could say no to that smile?