Rock N' Roll Kitchen

They love a good bar-b-que in Texas. It’s all beef country cooking with plenty of Hispanic spice and soul ingredients mixed in before being thoroughly heated with rock and roll.

There are so many musicians from the Lone Star state that I can’t come close to even providing a cross-section but to mention a few others – Townes Van Zant, Roy Orbison, ZZ Top, Flaco Jimenez, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ornette Coleman, Scott Joplin and on and on. Some of the lesser known groups here (namely the Coastliners, Golden Dawn, Bubble Puppy and the Spades) are from a compilation of singles from the International Artists label called ‘Never Ever Land’. The very early Freddy Fender selection is from a ‘Roots of Tejano Rock’ CD on the Ideal/Arhoolie label.

Sir Douglas Quintet – It’s a Man Down There
Beginning of the End
Eddie con los Shades (Freddy Fender) – No Esta Aqui
Coastliners – Alright
Golden Dawn – Starvation
Bubble Puppy – A Gathering of Promises
Spades – You’re Gonna Miss Me
Flatlanders – Tonight I’m Gonna Go Downtown
Ernest Tubb – I’m Walking the Floor Over You
Willie Nelson – You Don’t Know Me
Joe ‘King’ Carrasco and the Crowns – Buena
Steve Miller Band – Dime-a-Dance Romance
13th Floor Elevators – May the Circle Remain Unbroken
Bobby Fuller 4 – Never to Be Forgotten

Remember the Alamo!

When planning menus, sometimes the Chef will design around a certain flavor or other culinary aspect. Most times however, he provides a variety with contrasts as he’s done here for your ‘soup to nuts’ selection.

Actually this selection isn’t all that far ranging and nearly all date from the sixties. Other than a lot of psychedelia, there are hints of folk, jazz, bluegrass, novelty, jugband and in one case - Native American music, as well as other contrasts you may notice.

Thane Russell and Three – Security
Simon Dupree and the Big Sound- Daytime, Night Time
Tommy James and the Shondells – Big Time Operator
West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – A Child’s Guide to Good and Evil
Shawn Phillips – Chorale
Purple Gang – Auntie Monica
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Dismal Swamp
Bert Jansch – Needle of Death
Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band – Death Cab For Cutie
Brewer and Shipley – Whitchi-Tai-To
Michael Hurley – Mona Lisa

Enjoy your meal

You may know that the Chef enjoys cooking with fancy ingredients at times and then again, he appreciates the basics. He feels that whether you’re preparing caviar or grits, the final product must have a flavor that moves you – It’s gotta have SOUL!

Don and Dewey – Farmer John
Sly and the Family Stone – Stand
- Sex Machine
Chi-Lites – Yes I’m Ready (If I Don’t Get to Go)
Ella Fitzgerald – Get Ready
Valentinos – It’s All Over Now
Geno Washington – (Would You Believe) My Little Chickadee
Hacienda Brothers – Cowboys to Girls
Chuck Wood – Seven Days Too Long
Lonnie Youngblood – African Twist part 1
- African Twist part 2
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes – If You Don’t Know Me By Now

(Add hot sauce to taste)

There’s a lot of stress in the kitchen and the Chef has been acting strangely lately. Thankfully he’s not violent –what with all those sharp knives around the kitchen. However, some fear that he’s currently a couple of eggs short of a dozen, scrapple that's short on brains, gone cuckoo for coq au vin, wacko as walnuts, etc, and it’s reflected in his choices of ingredients here.

Of course, there’s nothing funny or nice about mental illness but rock and roll is very much about pushing the envelope to explore all areas of the imagination and this set is presented as such.

Sonics – Psycho
Crazy People – Parade at the Funny Farm
Zoot Money and the Big Roll Band – I’ll Go Crazy
Dr. West’s Medicine Show and Junk Band - Weird
West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – Help I’m a Rock
McKenna Mendelson Mainline – I Think I’m Losing My Marbles
Merle Haggard – Where No Flowers Grow
Robyn Hitchcock – Uncorrected Personality Traits
Pesky Gee – Where Is My Mind
Vulcan’s Hammer – Crazy Man Michael
Move – Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited
Wizzard – Rob Roy’s Nightmare
Legends – Baby Get Your Head Screwed On
Michael Hurley – Twilight Zone

Expect the Chef to more or less return to reality in time for the next episode.

Today’s special contains about as wide a variety as the Chef can fit on one plate. Choice ingredients with flavors of soul, jazz, C&W, R&B and a subtle hint of novelty, served on a bed of rock and roll.

Hacienda Brothers – Railed
Mason Proffit – Voice of Change
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Shiek of Araby
Tin Tin – I Took a Holiday
Box Tops – Fields of Clover
Claude McLin – Jambo
Rascals – Temptation’s ‘Bout to Get Me
Plainsong – Amelia Earhart’s Last Flight
Corporation – India
Walter Brennan – Ghost Riders In the Sky
Squirrel Nut Zippers – Suits are Picking Up the Bill

Episode 33 – Liverpudlian Scouse

British is one of the Chef’s favorite cuisines and he particularly likes scouse, a stew distinctive to the Liverpool area. It’s prepared simply without expensive ingredients but tastes great.

You’re most likely familiar with the big hits, so I’ve tried to pick out a selection of lesser know but equally delightful tunes. Tracks 4 to 8 are from the two ‘This Is Merseybeat’ LP’s (volumes 1 and 2) which to the best of my knowledge are sadly not yet available on CD.

Big Three – What I’d Say (Live at the Cavern with Bob Wooler introduction)
Gerry and the Pacemakers – You’re the Reason
Pete Best Band – Why Did I Fall In Love With You
Ian and the Zodiacs – Let’s Turkey Trot
Merseybeats – Our Day Will Come
Rory Storm and the Hurricanes – Beautiful Dreamer
Earl Preston and TT’s – Hurt
Sonny Webb and the Cascades – Border of the Blues
Swinging Blue Jeans – Ol’ Man Mose
Tony Jackson and the Vibrations – You Beat Me to the Punch
Freddie Starr and the Midnighters – Peter Gunn
Dennisons – You Don’t Know What Love Is
Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas – I’ll Be Doggone
Searchers – Needles and Pins (German language version)
Fourmost – Respectable

It’s fab, it’s gear, it’s classic Merseybeat.

If you decide you like this and want to hear more from someone who really knows British Invasion music, then check out the link on the top right of this page for the ‘Ready Steady-A-Go-Go’ podcast.

As a resource for British Beat music, I recommend; http://www.geocities.com/fabgear6366/contents.htm
and for Merseybeat specifically; http://www.triumphpc.com/mersey-beat/

Hey y’all, the Chef likes down home cooking and there’s no place for soul food quite like Dixie. Like grits, okra, collard greens and butterbeans, there’s nothing pretentious about these here Southern eats. In the pot are R&B, C&W, soul and even a touch of hillbilly, simmering with tangy horns, spicy vocals and sweet harmonies resulting in a downright tasty gumbo.

John Fred and his Playboy Band – Harlem Shuffle
Otis Redding – Can’t Turn You Loose
Everly Brothers – Walk Right Back
Bill Deal and the Rhondels – What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am?
Don Covay – See Saw
Percy Sledge – The Dark End of the Street
Uniques – Sugar Bee
Gram Parsons – Brass Buttons
Little Richard – Bama Lama, Bama Loo
James Brown – It’s a Man’s World
John Fred and his Playboy Band – Boogie Children
Uniques – How Lucky (Can One Man Be)
Otis Redding – Love Man
Gram Parsons – Big Mouth Blues

Y’all come back now. Ya hear!

The Chef isn’t above using other people’s recipes but always adds a unique twist of his own rather than just copying it.

Today, a collection of fairly well known songs originally written by and/or made popular by other artists; none of which sound too much like the better known versions.

Marcels – Summertime
Tom Waits – Somewhere
Barbara Greene – Long Tall Sally
Gandalf – Nature Boy
Decameron – Rock and Roll Woman
Evolution – Fresh Garbage
Ralph McTell – Granny Takes a Trip
Ray Charles – You Are My Sunshine
Tommy Quickly – The Wild Side of Life
Sir Douglas Quintet – You’re Gonna Miss Me
Twentieth Century Zoo – Hall of the Mountain King
Four Tops – MacArthur Park

Cover versions are often featured but there’s never a cover charge at the Rock n’ Roll Kitchen

The Chef is toning it down after the extravagances of the previous episode. Just good songs but with a variety of tantalizing flavors.

Five Royales – Tell the Truth
Asylum Choir – Welcome to Hollywood
Jesse Colin Young and the Youngbloods – Brother Can You Spare a Dime
Snobs – Ding Dong
The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard and Clark – Train Leaves Here
Bonzo Dog Band – Hunting Tigers Out In India
Merseybeats – See Me Back
Parliament – The Silent Boatman
Buck Owens – Excuse Me (I Think I’ve Got a Heartache)
Israel Kamakawiwo’ole – Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World
Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames – Night Train (live)
Colin Blunstone – Say You Don’t Mind

Technically this is a baker’s dozen since one selection is a medley of two songs, so you’re getting a little extra but that’s just the kind of guy that the Chef is. He’s even been known to spare a dime on occasion.

The Chef is working with some very exotic and downright strange ingredients this time around but with know-how and some luck he can throw most anything in the soup pot and come out with something that tastes good.

You’re not likely to hear these tunes in an elevator or supermarket, much less on a popular radio station. There’s everything here from early 60’s doo-wop to recent stuff, a Zappa piece (naturally) and a Captain Beefheart tune with the coolest title ever. Of course there’s also late 60’s psychedelia with the last track performed by a group that deserves some kind of award for the best name.

Rivingtons – Mama Oom Mow Mow (the Bird)
Robert Wyatt – Sea Song
Mothers of Invention – Help I’m a Rock (excerpt)
Afterglow – Susie’s Gone
Soft Machine – Joy of a Toy (edit from a scratchy 45)
A House – Endless Art
JJ Jackson – Oo-Ma-Liddi
Fifty Foot Hose – Bad Time
Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band – Big Eyed Beans From Venus
Lothar and the Hand People – Space Hymn

Don’t worry – the Chef will most likely mellow out in time for the next episode

All chefs copy recipes from each other but generally will prepare them in a slightly different matter to make it their own. On a similar note, Chef Dave figures if you are copying someone, then you should take from the best.

Some record company executive or marketing type came up with the line “Nobody does Dylan like Dylan” and there’s certainly truth in that statement. However, Dylan’s songs seem to be particularly open to creative interpretations as opposed to mere copying by many artists who cover them. Included here are some that I find different from the composer’s version but equally interesting as well as some versions of songs not often covered.

C. J. Chenier – Absolutely Sweet Marie
Leaves – Love Minus Zero/No Limit
Myddle Class – Gates of Eden
Clarence Bucaro – One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)
Hard Meat – Most Likely You’ll Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
Maffitt/Davies – Just Like a Woman
Christopher and Chaps – It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding
Fairport Convention – I’ll Keep It With Mine
Stephen Malkmus and the Million Dollar Bashers – Maggie’s Farm
Piccadilly Line – Visions of Johanna
Daily Flash – Queen Jane Approximately
Texas Tornados – To Ramona
Chris Farlowe – It’s All Over Now Baby Blue
Richie Havens – Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands

Many of the Chef’s best ingredients are late 60’s vintage. This time, he’s thrown them all into a pot seasoned with a touch of tex-mex, country and classical to create you a meal with an overall psychedelic flavor.

Tin Tin – She Said Ride
The Moon – Mothers and Fathers
Sir Douglas Quintet – Suzie Q
- Menocino (Spanish language version)
Outsiders (Holland) – CQ
Mickey Newbury – Sing a Song a Song/Angeline
Ars Nova – Album In Your Mind
- Zarathustra
- Fields of People
Orpheus – I Can’t Find the Time to Tell You

Peace and Love

The Chef didn’t prepare the usual corn beef and cabbage type special and in fact closed the kitchen. However the bar is open for a tribute to beer.

Hank Williams Jr – There’s a Tear In My Beer
The Last Real Texas Blues Band featuring Doug Sahm – Round of Drinks
Tom Waits – Warm Beer and Cold Woman
Dubliners – A Pub With No Beer
Willie Nelson – Bubbles In My Beer
Hank Thompson – Beer Barrel Polka
Hank Thompson – A Broken Heart and a Glass of Beer
Rod Stewart – What Made Milwaukee Famous (Made a Loser Out of Me)
Dubliners – A Partin’ Glass

Erin Go Bragh!

The Chef has sobered up since the last episode. Furthermore, it seems like he’s in love again because he’s cooked up a special selection guaranteed to make couples get all lovey-dovey.

Merseybeats – I Think of You
Lovin’ Spoonful – My Gal
Dillards – I’ve Just Seen a Face
Aerovons – World of You
Bobby Fuller Four – My True Love
Mothers of Invention (as Ruben and the Jets) – Fountain of Love (original LP recording)
Flying Burrito Brothers – To Love Somebody
Judy Collins – John Riley
Peanut Butter Conspiracy – It’s So Hard
Sir Douglas Quintet – Sugar Bee
Sam and Dave – When Something Is Wrong With My Baby (live)
Mar-Keys – Philly Dog (live)
Otis Redding – Try a Little Tenderness (live)

Happy Valentine’s Day