A Beef Sandwich w/ Sweet and Hot Peppers

Saturdays with Sammy and Friends

Download massive_attack_featuring_tracey_thorn_protection.mp3 (Massive Attack w/ Tracey Thorn on Vocals)

New Year's Day : Bonus

I just got an email from someone requesting the song I had up on last New Year's Day. She told me it was quite lovely and was hoping it would be a tradition at The Beef Stand. It's quite a reflective number and one of my favorites. So the tradition begins. We can only hope this year finally brings it.

Here's Quincy Jones - Love and Peace

Download 04_love_and_peace.mp3

New Year's Day

I spend New Year's being somewhat lazy, it's usually a marathon of jazz thru the speakers  and contemplate the year that has passed and look to the year ahead. A nice dinner and perhaps an old movie. How about you?

Download 606_time_after_time.mp3 (John Coltrane)

Christmas Eve

Download cause_christmas_eve_is_here.mp3 (The Simpsons Cast)

Christmas Greetings from Hilly Kristal and CBGBS

Hilly must of been yuppifying the club before it closed for good in 06.  I've never saw toilet paper in the bathroom and I knew girls would pack their own before going to the club.

Perhaps, the Strummer post from yesterday got me thinking about Hilly and CBGB'S. I was too young and about 800 miles away during it's heyday but spent some time there while in college in Boston at New Music Seminars and CMJ Conventions and of course during my tour of duty in Manhattan.

I was never really a fan of CB's booking policy toward the end of it's run. Not much effort was put into the nights. They knew who ever was on stage really didn't matter, people came to say they've been there, to touch the stage, to whizz in the infamous bathrooms and to buy a t-shirt. But the death of the club, the death of Hilly, the death of Joey Ramone really might of been a warning to us all. I hear The Bowery-Lower East Side now has a Whole Foods! A W HOTEL! A Starbucks!  I can't wait for a Panda Express to build a restaurant in Chinatown! Then it really will be a MALL.

A little cynicism on my part or perhaps the old punk trying to show the world what is happening. But the purpose of the post was to share a little Christmas selection recorded by Hilly Kristal recorded in 1976. It's true to the form of  the true meaning of CBGB - Country, Blue Grass, Blues.

Download mud_christmas_1976.mp3 (Hilly Kristal)

The Only Band That Mattered

In music it seems every generation had the one person or group who smashed the mirror, you know the ones who you could define a generation or movement: Chuck Berry, Elvis, The Beatles, The Doors, Bob Marley, The Grateful Dead, Nirvana. Then for me there was The Only Band That Mattered, The Clash. I had read about them when I was 13 and remembering taking a train and then the "L" to a record shop and buying the import of their first album, The Clash UK. It was the first import I had ever bought and probably the 4th or 5th album I had ever purchased. It's sitting next to me now as I write this, looking at I remember how amazed I was, this album wasn't shrink-wrapped, It was in a clear plastic bag, no wonder it was so expensive! When I first heard it, I literally sat there in front of the speaker with my mouth open, this was it! Bands like the Beatles and The Everly Brothers (my early listening) had spoken to me before but not like these guys did. I wish I could really put it in words how I felt, all I knew then was, this was real and honest. I was fortunate enough to see them live at The Aragon here in Chicago. It was life changing, to the crowd we were seeing "The Only Band That Mattered" and to The Clash we were "The Only People Who Mattered"

My love for the group continued, thru London Calling, Sandinista,and Combat Rock. Joe's words not only entertained but educated me, forced me to think and change my ways. Like John Lennon and Bob Marley before him, he preached humanity in his lyrics and showed us about suffering and there is more to life than working for the man. Unlike Lennon and Marley, Strummer and The Clash were my generation's voice. The one who stood up to Reagan and Thatcher and taught me to speak up when I saw injustice either at home or abroad. With each release the group became accepted by more of my friends and the world, The Clash were going to be the answer, the tide was changing goodbye cheesy rock bands.

Then it exploded and Joe Strummer kicked Mick Jones out of the band. I remembering reading that while in college and remember throwing the NME down saying out loud "What the FUCK, FUCK YOU JOE STRUMMER HOW DARE YOU?" I never bought Cut The Crap, I can't even recall hearing a song from it, I moved on, the journey was over. I followed Big Audio Dynamite and knew Joe had worked on some films soundtracks and then started The Mescalaros. A childhood buddy of mine recalled to me seeing the group in Chicago while I was living in New York. He was telling me how great it sounded and that I should go re-discover Joe. Wally knew I still really hadn't forgiven Joe for kicking out Mick and I had moved on. When my friend passed away, I went and seeked out Joe's work with The Mescalaros but unfortunately never got to see the group live.

I recently saw the documentary on Joe Strummer The Future is Unwritten and it is really worth spending some time with. I was glad they didn't make Joe out to be a Saint which some of these documentaries end up doing. Joe like many of us in our lives lose our sense of self,some return to it, others continue to search for it and some never find it. Watching the film it seemed Joe re-discovered himself. Five years ago, Joe Strummer died leaving us with the one thing I heard when I put the needle down on the turntable as a young teen. Hope.

Download career_opportunities.mp3 (The Clash)
Download 08_magnificent_seven.mp3 (The Clash)
Download johnny_cash_redemption_song1.mp3 (Johnny Cash w/Joe Strummer)

Saturdays with Sammy and Friends

Here's Sammy on Carson talking about cooking. Download 05_crap_kraft_dinner.mp3 (Hot Chip)

That Old Christmas Moon

I've lived in major cities most of my adult life, so sky viewing was limited but still quite enjoyable. I remember just a few years ago during the New York City Blackout of 2003, how amazing the sky looked with a darkened skyline, sitting on the roof of my building that night was a magical feeling and perhaps a once in a lifetime feeling.  When I had my cottage in Woodstock, I woke my friend at 4AM to come out on a very cold November evening to watch the Leonid Meteor Shower, she was a bit grumpy at first but once we got outside, we stood in awe as the sky lit up in a literal shower of meteors. Finally as a child, looking into the sky during Christmas Eve was a thrill as well. Wishing to get a glimpse of Santa across the sky, or perhaps finding the Christmas Star to guide the 3 Wisemen. The night sky was always a source of wonderment, imagination and of course quite humbling. I came across a story the other day about how
this Sunday December 23 our Full Moon will look to be relatively close to Mars (which will passed the closest to Earth this  past Tuesday). For information on what you will see,where ever you live and when you will see it Please click here.

Download 08_that_old_christmas_moon.mp3 (Leon Redbone)

The Photo is from 2003 by Becky Ramotowski

Soon it will be Christmas Day: Wednesday Tea Break

Here's something I discovered at work, an audio recording of Paul Simon and Steve Martin from a 1970's Saturday Night Live rehearsal , this never aired perhaps because it's just too funny or probably just a bit over the line.

Download 01_silver_bells.mp3 (Paul Simon and Steve Martin)

Joel Dorn: Producer and a Friend's Father

I remember being a young kid listening to the radio late at night when I couldn't sleep and hearing Roberta Flack's "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face" over the late night radio airwaves. At first, I was afraid of its minimalism, pop songs weren't suppose to be hauntingly beautiful, I would be hypnotized lying there as Roberta's voice and the subtle instrumentation entered my mind. I soon waited to hear the song again, it's effect 30 times more powerful in the dead of night than in the daytime. It has always been one of my secret treasure songs. One of the first groups I worked with had the same minimalistic qualities found with that song.

The gentleman who produced this song Joel Dorn as well as Ms Flack were a huge influence on this writer without them even knowing.  Joel Dorn passed away last night and I hope you take just a little bit of your time and take a brief look at his credits and perhaps seek out some of the work he has done. To many he was a giant. I'm very grateful for his musical output and my friendship that has grown over the last few years with his son Adam. Someone once said "Man is weak, Spirit is strong". And Joel Dorn's spirit is strong.

Download roberta_flack_the_first_time_ever_i_saw_your_face.mp3 (Roberta Flack)