This pic of my bro inspired me to get back on track and start posting again. This is a classic track from the heart of Peruvian music. The heart being the sierra and the music from the mountains, el Huayno. This particular song is a mix of traditional Huayno and the influences of blues rock that was so heavy in the 60s and 70s.
This song is like some good aquardiente! It has the soul of the provincianos yelling across to the other mountain after harvesting their crop. This is the epitomy of el Rock Peruano.
In the late 60's early 70's when my family made their slow migration from Peru to Los Angeles, one of my first memories of music (outside of all the Huaynitos playing off the Lps they brought from home) was a well known sunday night show called Siempre en Domingo hosted by Raul Velasco. I remember watching it on our black and white tv set and later on the wood panel framed color tv, rabbit ears up as high as possible with our eyes and ears glued to the musical performances. As I remember it the host was always a class act, very smooth and intelligent as he spoke between numbers. Its interesting that I remember him more than the acts... but today is a different story.
Lucy Villa, without a doubt, would have been a definite hit on the show and would have fit perfectly into the flavor of Siempre en Domingo. So without further adieu, as Raul Velasco would have said it " Aun hay mas! Querido publico y los televidentes de hoy en dia, les presento una artista estelar con mucho exito desde el lindo pais de Peru, Lucy Villa con su tema, Lo Importante es Sentir...
(Late night edit) Wow, i guess its not as unique as I thought...but it still holds up, you be the judge. The original version (???) is by Italy's Mina Mazzini and can be seen below.
On Sunday, Jan 25, 2009 I had the pleasure of driving the remarkable and outstanding singer and performer, Sharon Jones. I was driving her to an interview she was scheduled to attend at KJAZZ out here in West Los Angeles. My good friend Miles Perlich hosts a show for KJAZZ called United Groove on Saturdays from 10p - 12p. He called me out of the blue with favor and there was now way I was going to turn that down. By the way, Miles' show is the only one, I repeat the only show I know of that gives LA the real taste of funk, raregroove, latin jazz, and whatever Miles brings out of his deep crates. But back to Ms. Jones, she was every bit a lady, a talker, and endless well of energy that she is on stage. I didn't talk much just adding a phrase here and there, I mean who can compete with a stick of dynamite like Sharon! I had a great time driving her and talking. I brought her to the station where she met Miles and took a few picture of them for publicity. I totally forgot to take one of myself but oh well...how many people can say they met Sharon in person and drove her to a show? Thanks Miles!
This is volume 4 for the man who put the "salsa" in salsa, Federico y su Combo Latino out of Venezuela. This is a slow grooving, horn blaring, oozing cool boogaloo. This is the jam. No doubt, here it for yourself.
Y para los salseros verdaderos, sube volumen carajo!
"The one outfit so far that can compete with top-level male band quality is Joy of Cooking, and it is only partly female. The group is owned and led by two 32-year-old women. Terry Garthwaite, a tough rock singer, plays electric guitar and sings with a scratchy authority that can suggest Janis Joplin. Her partner, Toni Brown, a pretty Bennington graduate, sings, stomps around the stage, plays electric piano and organ, and writes songs about what it is like to be a woman ("Time goes, and the baby keeps growin', and I can't help knowin', baby I love you"). The girls —backed by three males, Fritz Kasten, 27, drums, Ron Wilson, 37, congas, and Jeff Neighbor, 28, bass—produce a reasonably rich mixture of blues, wailing gospel and riffs of pure country, folk and hard rock, all curiously overlaid with Latin conga rhythms.
Joy of Cooking does best on Only Time Will Tell Me, a gospel song written by Toni and sung by Terry, and Castles, which ends with the two girls twining their voices in a long, wild scramble of Afro scat singing.
At Mandrake's, the Berkeley nightclub where Joy got its real commercial start, male patrons would occasionally jump on the stage, grab the instruments from the girls and try to take over. In general, fees were lower than for comparable male groups too. For a while, it looked as if Joy of Cooking might remain one of America's thousands of unknown "party" bands. At one point, Terry and Toni were actually forced to revert to making and selling dresses to pay the rent.
Now the gigs are rolling in, along with good money and praise from critics. It remains to be seen, though, if the male-dominated world of rock music is really ready for Women's Lib."
No hay Vida sin Musica. Big Luey humbly hosts these fine examples of grooves, from Soul, Funk, Boogaloo to everything in between. Sit back, sube el volumen and listen...
