Tag: New Orleans

It’s Not Only Tuesday Bluesday, But It’s Fat Tuesday, and We’re Feeling New Orleans in Our Bones on February 16, 2021

Good Morning, Bluesianans (is that a word or did I make that up?)! We are not only in the midst of Mardi Gras, but it’s Tuesday Bluesday here in The Mermaid Lounge. Luckily, we don’t have to compromise!

It’s Fat Tuesday and we’re celebrating NOLA all week!

Here’s today’s line-up:

11:00 a.m. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (2012)

I only got to visit the NOLA festival once, while I was on business in New Orleans in a previous life. I didn’t get to see Tom Petty, but what could be better than our House Band playing at such a legendary festival? Don’t worry. We’ll be playing a lot of traditional Louisiana music throughout the week at various times. This is a short concert set by Petty standards, but the participants are allotted a certain amount of time. There are plenty of participants over lifetime of the festival. Enjoy this one.

3:00 p.m. The Best of Louisiana Blues, Volume 1: Various Artists

Yes, there’s also a Part 2, which we will get to later in the week. You’ll be hearing artists like Muddy Waters, Slim Harpo, Little Walter, Clarence Frogman Henry, and Boozoo Davis.

7:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Take A Little Walk With Me by Tom Rush

The only entry today that has absolutely nothing to do with Louisiana, Fat Tuesday, or the blues. But nevertheless, Tom Rush owns our Album of The Week and here it is for you!

Tune us in. This is just the beginning of our ode to New Orleans. We’ll be running great music all week long in celebration of Mardi Gras. Yes, the parades have been cancelled due to COVID. But the people of New Orleans are turning their homes into floats! We hope to be showing you some photos on the blog during the week. You’ve got to love that party attitude.

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It’s a Bluesy Saturday With Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, and Albert King, September 26, 2020

Don’t scratch your head. The Heartbreakers often sang the blues both live and on vinyl, and the original Fleetwood Mac was a blues band. We also have one late-night tradition we cannot break here.

Peter Green (at the mike) and his blues band, the original Fleetwood Mac

Here’s your Saturday line-up:

11:00 a.m. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Sing The Blues

There wasn’t any style of music The Heartbreakers couldn’t make, and they have a lot of bluesy music in their catalogue. Mr. Petty often said he envisioned the band sitting around in chairs playing the blues when they got too old to rock. I have absolutely no doubt they could have pulled that off. You won’t either after you hear this playlist.

4:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Born Under a Bad Sign by Albert King

This will be our final airing of Albert King’s gem. Tomorrow at this time, there’ll be a brand new selection! If you want to learn more about this album, or any of our albums, all you need to do is click on the photo in the right sidebar of this blog!

7:00 p.m. Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac Live at The Warehouse, New Orleans, February 1, 1970

Is there a better place to hear a blues band live? Maybe Chicago, but that’s about it. No, this is not the current Fleetwood Mac. The original Fleetwood Mac was a blues band, baby. It might interest you to know that Black Magic Woman wasn’t a Santana song. It’s a Fleetwod Mac song.

10:00 p.m. Live Dead! The Grateful Dead Live at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, New York, June 27, 1985 NEW!

Here’s another band who could sing it all in their own unique style, and they often sang the blues on stage. This is our one non-blue Saturday night offering that will not be denied. The SPAC was one of our favorite musical venues when we were young. I remember packing up the car on the weekends and heading out to upstate New York. We’d camp (for lack of money) and spend what we had at SPAC. We saw many bands here and I have so many fond memories. Never got to see The Dead here, but the imagination still works.

This would be an immensely good day for you to use your index finger to tune us in. It’s really very simple and it’s completely free and without strings, if you can imagine that.

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BLUES WEEK Continues with SRV and Double Trouble and Our Louisiana Blues Playlist, Plus One Long-Standing Tradition Here, Monday, September 21, 2020

Good Morning, Blues Lovers! As we continue to upload more and more blues here in The Mermaid Lounge today, we continue to play it out the other end!

“I’ve said that playing the blues is like having to be black twice. Stevie Ray Vaughan missed on both counts, but I never noticed.” -B.B. King

Here’s your Monday line-up:

11:00 a.m. Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble Live at The Bluebird Lounge, Ft. Worth, September 30, 1979

“I actually wanted to be a drummer, but I didn’t have any drums.” -SRV

Thankfully. Every day, I hear people who claim to be music lovers having ridiculous conversations about who’s a better blues guitarist, Stevie Ray Vaughan or Eric Clapton. The discussion is moot. We don’t need to pit one against the other. They were compatriots in life and, by the way, they had different styles and sounds. No need for that shit.

Stevie Ray Vaughan died way too young at the age of 35. Who knows what could have been, and to think about it is pointless. What we do have is an amazing body of work to listen to. This one is with his band, Double Trouble, and is live from the Bluebird Lounge.

3:00 p.m. The Best of Louisiana Blues, Volume 2

Haven’t heard this one since Fat Tuesday, and that seems like decades ago in the land of COVID-19. Wish I could tell you who’s playing on this one, but I can’t even remember where I found this file. It was on one of my late-night music hunts over last winter. I just know I’m glad I did.

7:00 p.m. Mudcrutch Monday! The Complete Mudcrutch

Mudcrutch Monday is a longstanding tradition here in The Mermaid Lounge, and it will not be denied on this day. You know, not many musicians who have been doing it for 30+ years would go back and resurrect the band that started it all, but Mr. Petty did. And we are all musicially enriched because of it.

Mudcrutch did not “make it” in the early seventies, but it did morph into Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Then, after the Heartbreakers’ 30th Anniversary Tour, he brought the band back together, and it was amazing.

Mudcrutch is Tom Petty (on bass in this band), Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench (from The Heartbreakers), Tom Leadon and Randall Marsh. All are from the original Mudcrutch. Have fun. I know I will!

This would be an excellent day to make #BecomeUngovernable Radio your choice in music. Do it.

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Dylan & Petty On The True Confessions Tour ’86, We Go Down To N’Awlins, and Our Album of the Week, Thursday, August 6, 2020

Good Morning, Music Lovers! We’ve got some great programming today, including one playlist that hasn’t been heard since Fat Tuesday!

bob-dylan-tributes-tom-petty

Here is your musical landscape:

11:00 a.m.   Bob Dylan with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live at the Cal Expo Amphitheater, Sacramento, June 12, 1986   NEW!

Perhaps a bit of pre-Wilburys foreshadowing here. Any time you get two guys like this on stage together, the result can only be musical nirvana. This show is from the second leg of the True Confessions Tour.

3:00 p.m.     Album of the Week: All Things Must Pass by George Harrison

This was, without a doubt, a brilliant effort by Harrison, and it deserved all the critical accolades it received. You can learn more about this album by clicking on its image in the right sidebar.

7:00 p.m.    Down In N’Awlins: Various Artists

This is one sweet playlist that hasn’t been heard since Fat Tuesday back in February. Music is from BeauSoleil, Clifton Chenier, Dr. John, The Neville Brothers, Tony Joe White, Fats Domino, Lucinda Williams, and many others. We hope you enjoy it.

I guess I should stop saying “join us.” There’s nothing to actually join. Tune us in would be a better phrase. No credit card or personal information required any day. No commercials. No political talk. Just music. 

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Call It Simple Programming Sunday: We Pay Our Respects to Peter Green, Premier Blues Guitarist and Co-Founder of the Original Fleetwood Mac & Joni Mitchell Owns Our Album of The Week, July 26, 2020

Good Morning, Ungovernables! Today we pay our respects to Peter Green, co-founder of the Original Fleetwood Mac (they really are two quite different bands with and without Peter), and we keep the women front and center with Joni Mitchells Miles of Aisles.

Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac-1

Here’s your Sunday Funday line-up!

11:00 a.m.    Album of The Week: Miles of Aisles by Joni Mitchell   NEW!

Released in 1974, this Joni Mitchell album is a collection of songs from the tour she did in support of her brilliant album, Court & Spark. Not only was it Mitchell’s very first live album, but it was her first tour with a backing band. In a brilliant move, she chose Tom Scott & The L.A. Express.

I saw this tour on its trip through Beantown. It was at the Music Hall when it really was the music hall, and it was — hands down — one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen.

3:00 p.m.     Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, Live at The Warehouse, New Orleans, January 30, 1970   NEW!

Peter Green and The Original Bluesy Fleetwood Mac opened The Warehouse with this show back in the day when they were a blues band and not a bunch of pop-rockers. Although he led a troubled life after he left the band, his contribution to the blues cannot be denied. He passed yesterday at the age of 73. Today, we pay him the respect he deserves.

I can’t fathom what the hell Americans are thinking. It matters not, though, because the rest of the world is listening in. We’ve always bee playing catch-up, no matter what they tell you about American Exceptionalism. It’s overrated.

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Women’s Week Rolls On With Irma Thomas in The Spotlight & Joni Mitchell Live in Milan, Italy, Friday, July 24, 2020

Good Morning, Ungovernables! It’s Friday once again. Women’s Week is coming down to the wire, but we’ve still got some great programming planned right through Sunday, so don’t go away.

Irma Thomas (shown performing in 2008) is known as the “sweet soul queen of New Orleans.”

Here’s your Friday line-up:

11:00 a.m.    In the Spotlight: The Music of Irma Thomas

Irma Thomas is a contemporary of Aretha Franklin, but she never quite reached that level of commercial success. Known as The Soul Queen of New Orleans, Irma has been pleasing her audiences for many decades.

3:00 p.m.     The Inner Sanctum: The Skull That Walked   FINAL AIRING!

The final airing of The Skull That Walked, so get your spooky on. We’ve got a new one coming on Monday as we roll toward the end of our first season of Old Time Radio.

7:00 p.m.     Joni Mitchell Live at the Teatro Tenda, Lampugnano, Milan, Italy, May 9, 1983   NEW!

Someone once asked me why Joni Mitchell is so important. My response? “Are you fucking kidding me?” Roberta Joan Mitchell, Canadian singer-songwriter, has built a musical legend by weaving pop, rock, folk and jazz into her own amazing style. A prolific songwriter, Mitchell has written about love, abandonment, disillusionment, the environment, war and the human condition. Today we have her live from Milan, Italy.

Why not make today the day you join us in The Mermaid Lounge. I mean, seriously. What have you got to lose? We don’t cost a damned thing. Or require your information. So, there.

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It’s Tuesday Bluesday, Our Album of the Week is Back, and Happy 80th Birthday, Ringo! Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Good Morning, Ungovernables! Tuesday Bluesday is back and we’re heading down Louisiana way for today’s offering. And it’s Ringo’s 80th birthday, and we pay respects to him, an often underrated very important cog in the Beatles’ musical wheel.

ringo

Here’s today’s Tuesday Bluesday line-up:

11:00 a.m.   DJ’s Choice: My Favorite Ringo Starr Songs   NEW!

A simple four-drum kit was all Ringo needed to make his sound. If you watched the video I posted earlier on the #BecomeUngovernable Radio Facebook page, you’ll see that his peers revere that sound and try to recapture it. Ringo didn’t need to steal the show. He drummed to the level that the song required. He was never bigger than the song itself.

You can check out that great Ringo video here!

3:00 p.m.    Album of The Week: Homegrown by Neil Young

The release is finally here! Originally shelved in 1975, Neil Young’s 40th studio release, Homegrown, has hit the airwaves.

7:00 p.m.    Tuesday Bluesday: The Best of Louisiana Blues, Volume 1

Today we do something a bit different and head down to N’awlins for some Louisiana Blues!

Like Ringo, #BecomeUngovernable Radio is never bigger than the music. We’re free. No advertising. No credit card required. No politics. No bullshit. Just music 24/7.

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The Down in N’Awlins Playlist Debuts, Irma Thomas Shines, The Wilburys Return, and Happy Birthday to George Harrison on Fat Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Good Morning, Ungovernables! Today is Fat Tuesday, and we’re celebrating with our new Down in N’Awlins Playlist!

New Orleans Music Scene

Here’s your Fat Tuesday line-up!

11:00 a.m.     In the Spotlight: Irma Thomas, The Soul Queen of New Orleans

A contemporary of Aretha Franklin who never seemed to reach that plateau for some unexplained reason. But Irma Thomas is a rare bird, and is heralded as The Soul Queen of New Orleans for a reason.

2:00 p.m.       Down in N’Awlins

The music of New Orleans is as eclectic as its people. We’ve got everything in this playlist — jazz, brass, cajun, zydeco. Some of the best musicians on the planet have been born in Louisiana, including Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Lucinda Williams, and Dr. John. We’ve got them in here too. Come join the fun!

6:00 p.m.      Album of the Week: The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1 by The Traveling Wilburys

8:00 p.m.      In the Spotlight: The Music of George Harrison

Happy Birthday, George Harrison! Whether a Beatle, a Wilbury, or a solo artist, George is sorely missed. We celebrate his birth and his life on this earth today. 

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The Heartbreakers in NOLA, Fats in the Spotlight, Lucinda Williams “Live” at the Fillmore, and Albert King & SRV “In Session,” Monday, February 24, 2020

Good Morning, Ungovernables! We continue on with our NOLA Music Festival. Today we feature two Louisiana natives, Fats Domino and Lucinda Williams!

Fats Domino

Here’s Monday’s line-up!

11:00 a.m.     Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Lives at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (2012)

In keeping with our NOLA-themed week, we’re debuting a brand new “live” set of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers recorded at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival back in 2012.

2:00 p.m.       In the Spotlight: The Music of Fats Domino

5:00 p.m.      Lucinda Williams: Live at The Fillmore

9:00 p.m.      Albert King & Stevie Ray Vaughan “In Session”

Tune us in and get yourselves ready for Fat Tuesday!

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Gregg Allman at the HOB, Dusty Springfield in the Spotlight, Little Feat at Ebbets Field, and the Heartbreakers in Oakland, Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Good Morning, Ungovernables! It is with great sadness that we say farewell to Paul Barrere, longtime guitarist and vocalist with Little Feat, who passed from this world on October 26. We celebrate Paul and Little Feat today.

little-feat-live-album-crop-2-1200x632

Here’s your Wednesday line-up:

11:00 a.m.    In the Spotlight: The Music of Dusty Springfield

That’s Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien to you. Just remember that.

2:00 p.m.      Gregg Allman: Live at the House of Blues, New Orleans (12/31/2012)

5:00 p.m.      Little Feat Live at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn

Dedicated to the late, great Paul Barrere, guitarist and songwriter for one of the greatest bands of all time.

Bonnie Raitt tweeted, “I just heard about the passing of another dear friend, Little Feat’s Paul Barrere. A brilliant guitarist, singer and songwriter—a cornerstone of one of the greatest bands of all time. I’m glad he is free of pain and may he rest in peace.”

9:00 p.m.      Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Live in Oakland (2002)

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