The Mighty 'Mat

 

It takes a lot, including an occasional physical threat, to get me out to a club in Manhattan. Thirty years ago, it would have taken a physical threat to get me to go home. But times have changed. People have changed. Ticket prices have changed. And a shot and a beer could set you back $25, depending on where you are.

Sometimes though, the stars align. Good friends, an interesting new bar, and a Replacement playing on a tiny stage got me on a subway last night.

Tommy Stinson with his almost country/still kinda 'Mats-ish band Cowboys In The Campfire played at Lucinda Williams' new honky tonk on Avenue A and all was alright for an hour, especially with a couple of $6 Miller High Lifes to keep things rolling. (It is the "champagne of beers," you know.)

The hour long set was broadcast live on Sirius Outlaw Radio and Mr. Stinson seemed into it, in that very Tommy way, greeting everyone with a smile and assuring the crowd that it wasn't "all request Monday. You can keep shouting, but you'll hear none of it." So, no Replacements songs, but he did do a few Bash & Pop tunes, as well as a couple of new tunes from an upcoming Cowboys album, that honestly, sounded like 'Mats tunes anyway.

When all was said and done, it was as close to a perfect night out in the Big Shitty as someone as difficult as me could expect. As for Lucinda's, it's small and friendly with a great sound system, and could be on my dance card in the future on a night with a lesser known act. I could see myself getting comfortable at the bar with a bit of country twang on the stage.

 

 

 

Great Seconds In Rock 'N' Roll, A Burning Wood Pop Up: #1

 

 

The way Mac, Ronnie and Kenney stumble in after Woody sets it all up...

Songs Of The Week, 2025: 11/22-11/28

 

Psychology- The Dandevilles
Streets Of Bakersfield- Dwight Yoakam & Buck Owens
It's My Time- The Mynah Birds
Walking Down Madison- Kirsty MacColl
The Ice Man- Dave Bartholomew
Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting- Charles Mingus
Maybe I'm A Fool- Sugar Pie DeSanto

zip

Psychology- The Dandevilles
(The Dandevilles were from Philadelphia, maybe. More than that, I cannot say. I just know, they don't make records like this anymore.)

Streets Of Bakersfield- Dwight Yoakam & Buck Owens
(For years I thought this was a Buck Owens original. But alas, it was written and recorded by Homer Joy in 1972. This Dwight and Buck version is damn good.)

It's My Time- The Mynah Birds
(Never a bad time to pull out music by Rick James & Neil Young. I only wish there were more than a few tunes.)

Walking Down Madison- Kirsty MacColl
(Thanks to an excellent recommendation from our friend hpunch, I watched a fantastic BBC documentary on the great Kirsty MacColl and followed it with a mini binge on her music. Here's one of many amazing singles.)

The Ice Man- Dave Bartholomew
("Any ice...today lady? How about a piece today?" Speaking of not making records like this anymore, this one swings along beautifully.)

Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting- Charles Mingus
(The opener of the Mingus classic "Blues & Roots," I thought this might be a great opener for the mix. Then, I thought, maybe even better as a closer. Here it is as the penultimate track. Basically, this fits anywhere at anytime.

Maybe I'm A Fool- Sugar Pie DeSanto 
(Here is Umpeylia Marsema Balinton, cousin of Etta James, better known as Sugar Pie, with one of her first singles after leaving Chess. Groovy, baby.)

 

BW's Saturday #71

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pascal Thielen (@pascal_thielen)

Thanks!

 

Happy Thanksgiving from Astoria, Queens, NYC!

If you are reading this, thanks for checking in.

I hope all of you wonderful people who have kept this place from going under for the last (almost) 17 years (!) have a stress-free, fun-filled, hyphenated word of your choice Thanksgiving holiday. 

Safe travels. 

 

Beatles Week: Part Three

 

When the song first came out, I thought it was a swing and a miss. It felt clumsy. Over the years, I've changed my tune. It was easier for me to mock what was wrong with it back then and even easier for me now to hear all that's right with it. 

This version is pretty great.

Beatles Week: Part Two

There's a story going back to 1964 when Lennon & McCartney were writing hits for others, like "A World Without Love" for Peter & Gordon and "Bad To Me" for Billy J. Kramer, where critics were claiming these songs were only hits because of The Beatles' names attached to them. So, as a fake out, McCartney wrote "Woman" for Peter & Gordon under the alias Bernard Webb. When it only reached #28 in the U.K., the same critics said, "See?," while those more understanding blamed the song itself, saying it wasn't one of McCartney's bettter tunes. The U.S thought better of it and "Woman" peaked at #14.

I think "Woman" is an amazing record and I fell deeper in love with it when I heard Frankie Siragusa cover it 2020.

At the time, Frankie Siragusa played drums for The Posies, and he released a solo album in 2020 called "Goodbye My Love: Lost Songs Of Lennon & McCartney, Covered and Rediscovered" with a little help from Jellyfish's Roger Joseph Manning and Keith Sletterdahl from The 88. On the surface it looks like another attempt to record those great early sides that The Beatles gave away to the likes of Billy J. Kramer, Cilla Black, & Peter & Gordon, except this is unbelievably good! The whole record is worth your time.