Monday, February 05, 2007

red devils, cub koda

not all blues-rawk sucks balls. for proof positive, seek out king king, the rick rubin-produced 1992 alb -- recorded live at the j'int that gave the set its name -- by the red devils, an l.a. aggro who added a hot young denton gtr-slinger named paul size to the lineup for their debut recording. the disc got lotsa spins back when i was moonlighting at blockbuster music ca. '93, but these days, a copy of the out-of-print artifact fetches big buxxx online. feh.

but fear not: from chuck nevitt to paul boll to me to you, here's vid of the red devils at the '95 pinkpop festival in the netherlands that'll give you an idea of what they were about. dunno what's most amazing: paul size's gtrismo, which has all the jimi-srv referents you'd expect but scads more energy 'n' drive (believe it, citizen: the kid's opening salvo here is _pure momentum_ on a stooges-mc5 level); frontman lester butler (r.i.p.)'s grace in sharing the spotlight with this fiery yoof, and in dealing with the sitch when he realizes his harp mic has come unplugged; ex-blaster/future cramp bill bateman's relentless four-on-the-floor; or the dutch hipi audience's ability to clap along, not just in time but _syncopated_, unlike most crowds of their ilk who are more likely (like my dear old grey-haired mom) to clap _against_ any beat they hear.



in a similar vein, discovered today (in between dealing with a plethora of exciting animal 'n' automotive isu's) a website dedicated to the late cub koda, muso-scribe extraordinaire who fronted dee-troit garage brats the del-tinos in the early '60s, went on to score a national #3 hit with "smokin' in the boys room" as leader of brownsville station in '73 (the last year i was in high school, doncha know), then worked with the riddim section from hound dog taylor's houserockers in the '80s. besides that, he authored loads of great historical articles for goldmine, discoveries, the all music guide, and blues for dummies, as well as liner notes for worthy retrospectives galore. he remained active in both fields (gtr and pen) right up to his premature death, at 51, in 2000. as writers-who-were-also-players go, only lenny kaye has had comparable impact. much respect.

back to the wreck room book.

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