The Duct Tapes

The long awaited album "The Duct Tapes" is finished and online!!!!!!!!

Here is the link to download our album for free on Mediafire!!!!!!

Leon Russell

Leon Russell is the golden boy of Oklahoma rockers from the 60’s and 70’s. His main weapon of choice was the piano, but he was known to get absolutely wicked on the guitar when he wanted to. Deeply rooted in country, blues and early rock, Russell moved from Tulsa to L.A. in the early 60’s. Russell went on to play a key role in a selective group of top studio musicians known as the Wrecking Crew. He played on recordings from a wide spectrum of artists including the Byrds, Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones and George and Ringo from The Beatles.

Leon received his first big exposure to the public when he was asked to be the musical director for Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour in 1970. Cocker had just killed at Woodstock the previous summer and was in high demand for live shows. The Cocker tour was also filmed and released as a movie. Leon had a very high profile role on the tour as leader of a 20-piece rock and roll band. Immediately after the success of the Mad Dog tour, Leon was doing session work for the Beatles’ Apple Records. It was during this time that Russell started to record his first solo project. He used his connections with the Beatles and Rolling Stones well. Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Kieth Richards, and Charlie Watts (guitarist and drummer from the Stones) all played on the album. Eric Clapton also got a few licks on it too.

Leon kept the ball rolling with his performances with George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan during the Concert for Bangladesh that Harrison organized to raise money for the impoverished country. The Concert was a huge success and an album and documentary film were also released. Once again Leon gained attention by the large role he played during the concert. He played bass for Dylan, and had a raunchy set where he jammed out a ten minute plus medley of Jumping Jack Flash/Youngbloods. By this time he was a sort of sensation within the rock community of the early 70’s.

By 1972, he had moved back to Tulsa and bought a huge mansion in an old oil money neighborhood and had matching Rolls Royce’s in the garage. He also had another mansion out at Grand Lake. He had his personal studio set up there and started to go to work. He went to Nashville in ’73 and hired all the old time session musicians that nobody in the country music industry were working with at the time. The result was a concept album in which he took on an alter ego of Hank Wilson-a honky-tonk crooner. Leon Russell is a great rock n' roller from Oklahoma, check him out!

Here is a sick sick sick jam with Leon on lead. Yes that is George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Ringo Starr jamming out with him. Holler at your boy, give it up for rocking Okies!

The Modern Sound

The Modernaires were an excellent vocal quintet from the 40's. They gained their reputation as one of the smoothest jazz harmony groups when they hooked up with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Their sound is so tight and aurally stimulating that is is hard to digest all at once. The thick, layered harmonies that they laid down are dense yet bright. This is the vocal group of the modern era in pop music.

The Modernaires vocal blend directly inspired groups like the Hi-Lo's and the Four Freshmen, who in turn inspired Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. Paul McCartney's love of Brian's music can be seen in the vocal arrangements of songs such as "Paperback Writer," "Here There and Everywhere," and "Michelle." Connecting dots like this makes it easy to see just how influential the Modernaires are. When my mom was a kid she lived next door to Ralph Brewster (bottom of picture) who was the tennor in the group. I grew up listening to their songs but I didn't realize until recently how groundbreaking the group was.

Here are some film shorts from the era:

Jukebox Saturday Night (Ralph is the one who does the talking in the middle of the song)

I Got a Girl In Kalamazoo

The second clip also has one of the most amazing dance routines I've ever seen. Check it!

Indian Territory

This is some hardcore Okie shit. Woody Guthrie wrote this tune and his cousin Jack changed up some of the lyrics and put it to a country swing beat. Truth.

Here is a video of the song.

Funky Fresh!

Curtis Mayfield and Donny Hathaway were two great composers, arrangers and performers. Both played piano. Mayfield played bass, guitar, drums and horns too. They were fucking ill. They were ghetto prophets for the down and out. Both wrote beautiful melodies and were socially conscious. They did it for the people. Mayfield’s songs remind me of epic stories or movies.  Hathaway was more introspective and subtle. He drew heavily on French classical music.

            All of their songs bring to mind the inner city of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. This was a time when Blacks in America had finally seen integration pass into law and start to slowly be accepted. At the same time however, Uncle Sam's racist draft policies ended up sending off all of the Black Community’s young men to Vietnam. The vets came back shell-shocked and addicted to the heroin produced in Cambodia (which was funded by the CIA if you hadn't already heard about that). The music represents the hope that the community had, but at the same time, these songs are brushed with a melancholy tint representing the frustration and despair living in the ghetto brings.  Bottom line : Hard times= brighter days coming.  

Here is the Curtis Mayfield Track "Super Fly" 

Donny Hathaway "Jealous Guy" 

Iranian Elections

The Iranian protests are a bitter sweet affair to watch.  I hope that the reformists keep at it. The Daily Beast has a good guide to the current leaders in Iran. 

Here is the story.

Sunshine PoP!

Its summertime and that means hot tunes with cold refreshments!  

Here are some tracks that are great for the summer:

"Aren't You Glad"-The Beach Boys

"I'd Like to Get to Know You"-Spanky and Our Gang

"Good Day Sunshine"-The Beatles

"Celia" Simon and Garfunkel 

"All Summer Long" The Beach Boys

"Ooh la la" The Faces 

"I was made to love her" Stevie Wonder 

Here is "I Was Made To Love Her"