Dancin' With the Devil

Wednesday, November 26, 2008 - Pleased To Meet You ... Won't You Guess My Name?

This past Saturday night I had the distinct privilege of sitting down with Eagles of Death Metal frontman (and boogie extraordinaire) Jesse "Boots Electric" Hughes. Now, this guy has a lot of nicknames - and a reputation that certainly precedes him ... look him up - but perhaps the most persistent one is "The Devil" (though for a guy with such an evil nickname, he sure is nice).



Mr. Hughes, whose earliest nickname in rock 'n roll was, in fact, "The Devil," offered phenomenal insight into the importance of the blues during the course of our interview. It was certainly a privilege to enjoy the company of a fellow bluesman, especially one who spreads the gospel at many a crossroads. He even went so far as to quip, when asked what he pictured himself doing in thirty years, that he intends to still be rockin' because he "hope[s] [he] made the right deal with the Devil." Rock 'n roll star or not, Jesse Hughes is either one of the genuinely nicest people I've ever met in my entire life or wears the finest dramatis personæ to which I have ever born witness. In addition, he and the boys in Eagles of Death Metal put on a tremendous, razor-sharp ninety minutes of rock 'n roll done right, stopping between songs only to laud the audience and lean down and kiss girls on the mouth, and even covering the Stones' "Brown Sugar" (which became funny during the interview, as Hughes, a self-admitted "Rolling Stones fanatic," detailed how he, when writing EoDM tunes, was "ripping off Keith Richards harder than Keith Richards"). The conversation went far beyond standard interview fare - we discussed politics, women, family, our mothers, his famous friends, the new Harvey Milk record, life on the road, Dixie, having kids, politics, and the illustrious Claremont Lounge, which he and his bandmates then went onward to frequent. He was charming, eloquent, energetic, and inviting, and I suggest you all go out and buy his new record Heart On because it rules. I'm not getting paid to say any of this, as a disclaimer - I'm a huge fan of the band and I even went so far as to get Jesse to sign my copy of their 2004 debut Peace Love Death Metal (a record from which we've played a number of tracks).

Well, in the spirit of all that electricity, and in spite of the holiday season being upon us, I decided to dedicate a whole show to perhaps the most notorious character in the history of music - the Devil. You know, that guy everyone loves to hate. Now don't get all "People v. Marilyn Manson (Circa 1997)" on me ... in no way do we condone Satanism. Don't call up the fine people at WRAS and tell them about the Satanist propaganda being blasted over the airwaves. Instead, try not being an idiot.

For those of you who actually enjoy just having a good time, here's the set:

Intro
[Jesse Hughes interview excerpt]
Dock Boggs - Sugar Baby [by request of Jesse Hughes]
Eagles of Death Metal - Kiss the Devil / Peace Love Death Metal
Skip James - Devil Got My Woman / Devil Got My Woman
Robert Johnson - Me and the Devil Blues / Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings (Box Set)
Otis Spann - I'd Rather Be the Devil / Take Me Back Home
Charley Patton - Devil Sent the Rain Blues / Founder of the Delta Blues

First Break

Almanac Singers - Get Thee Behind Me, Satan / Which Side Are You On?
JD Duvall - Up Jumped the Devil / Bathe In the Light
John Lee Hooker and Canned Heat - Burning Hell / Hooker 'n Heat
Washboard Sam - She Belongs To the Devil / She Belongs To the Devil: An Anthology 1936-47
Sister Rosetta Tharpe - The Devil Has Thrown Him Down / The Complete Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Vol. 2 - 1942-1944
Bessie Smith - Blue Spirit Blues / Blue Spirit Blues
Junior Walker and the All-Stars - Satan's Blues / The Ultimate Collection
Fats Waller - There's Going To Be the Devil To Pay / Sugar Blues
Tom Waits - Everything Goes To Hell / Blood Money

Second Break

Buddy Guy - She Got the Devil In Her / Sweet Tea
Bo Carter - Old Devil / Bo Carter's Advice
Boo Boo Davis - We're In Hell / East St. Louis
Whitey Morgan and the Waycross Georgia Farmboys - Runnin' With the Devil / Sucking the 70's: Back In the Saddle Again (V/A)
Peetie Wheatstraw - Devil's Son-In-Law / The Devil's Son-In-Law
Sonny Boy Williamson (I) - I Have Been Dealing With the Devil / Sugar Mama
Mary James - Make the Devil Leave Me Alone / Field Recordings, Vol. 8: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama (1934-1947) (V/A)

Third Break

Blind Willie Johnson - Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground / Dark Was the Night
Johnny Shines - Two Steps To Hell / Mr. Cover Shaker
Cactus - Evil / Restrictions
The Kansas City Six - Pagin' the Devil / Lester Young, Volume 1: 1937-1939
Powder River Jack and Kitty Lee - Tying a Knot In the Devil's Tail / Back In the Saddle Again: American Cowboy Songs (V/A)
Bo-Weavil Jackson - Devil & My Brown Blues / Bullfrog Blues (V/A)
Fleetwood Mac - Hellhound On My Trail / Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac
Maylene and the Sons of Disaster - Just Wanted To Make Mother Proud / Maylene and the Sons of Disaster

More great things coming your way in the future ... enjoy your Thanksgiving! Until next week ... stay positive.

Shoeless

Awwwwww ...

Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - Loverboy's Blues

Man, am I really old enough for my friends to be getting married? A proposal this month, a wedding the next ... what's a guy to do? Listen to the blues? Sounds good to me. Here's the set:

Intro
The White Stripes - Ball & Biscuit / Elephant [for Collin and Marissa <3]
T-Model Ford - Jack Daniel Time / Jack Daniel Time [for Uncle Milo]
Roger "Hurricane" Wilson - After Hours / Exodus
Little Brother Montgomery - Mini Skirt Blues / At Home
Cephas & Wiggins - Dog Days of August / Richmond Blues
John Kosco and Lee Richards - Reefer Headed Woman / Unreleased [for Hunter]

First Break

Robert Nighthawk and Forrest City Joe - Sugar Papa / Robert Nighthawk and Forrest City Joe
Lightnin' Slim - That's All Right / That's All Right
Howlin' Wolf - Sittin' On Top of the World / The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions
Mick Jagger and the Red Devils - Still a Fool / The Famous Blues Session
Lurrie Bell - Honey Bee / 700 Blues
Ten Years After - I Woke Up This Morning / Ssssh.

Second Break

Big Joe Williams - Peach Orchard Mama / Piney Woods Blues [from Blind John to Laine]
Dinah Washington - Long John Blues / The Complete Dinah Washington On Mercury
Robert Cray - Too Many Cooks / Who's Been Talkin'?
Wilbert Jenkins - Married Woman Blues / Modern Chicago Blues
Southside Jukes - Atlanta Blues / Cool, Cool Place To Go
Leon Russell - Dixie Lullaby / Leon Live
Precious Bryant - You Can Have My Husband / The Truth
Moreland & Arbuckle - Wrong I Do / 1861

Third Break

Papa John Creach - Give Me An Hour In Your Garden (And I'll Show You How To Plant a Rose) / Filthy!
Alberta Hunter - Sweet Georgia Brown / Amtrak Blues
Jimi Hendrix - Jelly 292 / Blues
Burning Plague - She Went Riding / Burning Plague

Pleasure as always, guys! Until next week ... stay positive.

Shoeless

Flatline

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

After two insanely huge weeks, it was pretty nice to kick back and just relax a little bit. Most of the selections fared pretty well in that department, and made for great ambiance while reading. I love being in the studio, no matter how tired I am. School is really grinding away at Johnny and I (as much as or more so than we're grinding away at it), so it's as good a thing as any, as good friends, to be able to sit still for a fixed two hours every single week and stay caught up - you know, get our feet under us a little bit. So what if it's in the middle of the night?! We do this for the love of the game. Here's the set:

Intro
Champion Jack Dupree - I'm a Doctor For Women / Rum and Cola Blues
The All-Stars feat. Jeff Beck - Steelin' / Guitar Boogie
Jessie Mae Hemphill - Standing In My Doorway Crying / She-Wolf
Magic Slim - Country Girl / Highway Is My Home
Professor Louie - Some Bad News / Century of the Blues

First Break

John Lee Hooker - Crawlin' King Snake / King of the Boogie [Cliff's Pick]
Sunnyland Slim - Drinking and Clowning / Meat and Gravy From Bea and Baby
Tom Waits - Chocolate Jesus / Mule Variations
Guitar Gabriel - Miss You Like the Devil / Deep In the South
Five Horse Johnson - Mississippi King / The No. 6 Dance
Jimmy Johnson - When My First Wife Quit Me / Bar Room Preacher
Wyonie Harris - Keep On Churnin' ('Til the Butter Comes) / R&B Hits 1952

Second Break

Hound Dog Taylor - Blue Guitar / Genuine Houserocking Music
Son House - Grinnin' In Your Face / The Original Delta Blues
Big Boy Spires - One of These Days / Drop Down Mama
Mark Lanegan - I'll Take Care of You / I'll Take Care of You
Algia Mae Hinton - When You Kill the Chicken Save Me the Head / Honey Babe
Jesse Fuller - Memphis Boogie / Jazz, Folk Songs, Spirituals, & Blues [for Uncle Milo!]
T-Model Ford - Can't Be Touched / Pee-Wee Get My Gun [for Uncle Milo again!]
The White Stripes - Your Southern Can Is Mine / De Stijl
Byther Smith - Look Over Your Shoulder / All Night Long

Third Break

The Allman Brothers Band - Hot 'Lanta / At Fillmore East [for Elrod]
Muddy Waters - Who's Gonna Be Your Sweet Man When I'm Gone / The London Muddy Waters Session
Victoria Spivey - Hollywood Stomp / Moaning the Blues
T-Bone Walker - She's My Old Time Used To Be / The Complete Capitol-Black & White Recordings
B.B. King and Jimi Hendrix - It's My Own Fault / The Kings' Jam [High Note]

I'm still looking for a good place to find cheap coffee that isn't awful, and any suggestions are certainly more than welcome. Other than that, thanks for tuning in, and you know we love you. Until next week, stay positive!

Shoeless

Red, White, and Blues

Wednesday, November 5, 2008 - One Nation Under the Blues

Last night was exciting ... we were part of history, after all! Here's the set:

Intro
Sunnyland Slim - Be Careful How You Vote / Be Careful How You Vote
David "Honeyboy" Edwards - Things Gonna Be Alright / Honeyboy Edwards: Mississippi Delta Bluesman
J.B. Lenoir - Eisenhower Blues / Eisenhower Blues
Koko Taylor - Separate or Integrate / Wang Dang Doodle
Cream - Politician / Wheels of Fire [for Pappy Mahan]
Chuck Berry - Back In the USA / Blues Berry

First Break

Magic Slim - Fannie Mae / Grand Slam
Eddie Vinson - Things Ain't What They Used To Be / Cleanhead Blues
Jimmy Witherspoon - Times Gettin' Tougher Than Tough / Ain't Nobody's Business
B.B. King - Recession Blues / The King of the Blues
B.B. King - Paying the Cost To Be the Boss / Best of B.B. King: 20th Century Masters
Fenton Robinson - Somebody Loan Me a Dime / Somebody Loan Me a Dime
Roosevelt Sykes - We Can Sell That Thing / '44' Blues
Robert Cray - When the Welfare Turns Its Back On You / Who's Been Talkin'

Second Break

Whispering Smith - It's All Over / Over Easy
Willie Dixon - Mellow Down Easy / Little Red Rooster
Johnny Young - My Baby Walked Out In 1954 / Modern Chicago Blues
Taste - Railway and Gun / On the Boards
Hattie Hart - I Let My Daddy Do That / Introduction To the Blues, Volume 1
Willie Williams - Somebody Changed the Lock / Meat and Gravy From Bea and Baby
Mississippi Fred McDowell - When I Lay My Burden Down / Mississippi Blues
John Mayall - Mr. James / Looking Back
Peetie Wheatstraw - Drinking Man Blues / The Devil's Son-In-Law

Third Break

Wyonie Harris - Hurry, Hurry / Around the Clock Blues
Sonny Boy Williamson II - It's Sad To Be Alone / Nine Below Zero
Lightnin' Slim - Good Morning Heartaches / High and Low Down
Piano Red - Everyday I Have the Blues / Live and Feelin' Good
Guitar Shorty and Otis Grand - Kick Out / Blues Guitar Duels
Victoria Spivey - Hollywood Stomp / Moaning the Blues
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Constipation Blues / ... What That Is! [High Note]

Word to the wise: it's time to learn to love your fellow man. GOD BLESS AMERICA! Until next week, as always, stay positive.

Shoeless