After today, the Infinite Jones Gang will be out of the office for a couple of weeks at a Spiritual Retreat. Posting will be intermittent during this time – probably very intermittent. We leave you with this relaxing, beachy video to tide you over until our return and to aid in your own Spiritual Enlightenment. See you soon. Peace!
Infinite Jones here.
We live in a sick sad world, no doubt about it. How do we get through the days when there is no meaning? Religion provides no answers except, “Faith” which means you have to believe in something you can’t prove or understand. Science has provided many answers and created just as many new questions but, doesn’t answer Why? Philosophy has so far come up with nothing more than “I think, therefore I am”. OK, so we am but, Why am we? We at Infinite Jones do not know the Answers. We don’t know where you go when you die. We cannot fix our broken political system. We are not technologically savvy enough to invent a way to stop Climate Change. We do suppose we can add one more Self Evident statement to Emmanuel Kant’s above. Howabout: I Sing, therefore I am… happy? Music is itself self evident. Humans across culture and history have instinctively grasped Music. There is an internal logic to it that everyone gets and maybe its mere existence out there in the universe(s) and in the shared human consciousness is reason for hope. Maybe. Anyway, at Infinite Jones, Music is our thing and, we pledge to provide some Musical Distractions* to help you through the day. It’s not much but, it ain’t nothing. So, enjoy some nice tunes to whistle while staring into the Abyss.
You are welcome. And, Now this:
*Oh, and Comedy – laughter is good, too. And, the occasional nice picture to look at and whatnot.
Short-lived but, talented British Mod band The Exception provide us with our Song of the Friday this week. The peppy little vibe-powered The Eagle Flies on Friday from 1967 is a relatively new addition to our Friday Songs Archive but, one that we are very happy to have discovered. It captures the spirit of release and escape from the ordinary well, as a good Friday Song should. So, Happy Friday! We hope you enjoy your weekend. And, we are outa here!!!
From the 1973 film Let the Good Times Roll!
You may have noticed, Dear Imaginary Readers, that this has been sort of a Comeback week here at Infinite Jones. We have been featuring artists from the early days of Rock and Roll who attempted to revive their careers or update their sound in order to stay current. Usually this did not work with the artist being unable to break out of their niche and thus being consigned to the oldies circuit for the rest of their lives. But, we think that the attempts were laudable and the experiments were sometimes fascinating, even if not wholly successful. Which brings us to today’s Comeback Kid, Bo Diddley. Bo’s 1970 album Black Gladiator was another attempt by Chess , Bo’s record label, to Electrify and Psychedelicize their artist roster. As with similar attempts with Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters, it was a commercial flop, critically panned and, artistically inconsistent at best. That is not to say that some of the record is not a Rockin’ Good Time, after all, Bo was BO. As evidence, we present our favorite cut from the album, Elephant Man, which is wild and raw and funky and fun, like Bo himself! Dig it, y’all!
Although this is obviously NOT live (the guitar is not even plugged in), it is still valuable historical footage of Dale performing his Swamp Rock Classic Susie Q. And, some of the audience reactions are priceless, too. Enjoy.
Bonus:
We had never heard of this number before. It’s kind of cool, don’t you think?
Today we invite you to enjoy this swinging little travelogue from Susie Q singer, Dale Hawkins. It’s off his surprisingly, solid 1969 album of the same name. A Country Funk Classic!
The YouTubes claim this is from a British TV show but, that seems doubtful to us. It is more than likely from The Music Scene a short lived ABC show sometimes hosted by Steinberg, that was at least, actually from 1969. It features the Brothers effortlessly recreating some of their old hits with just two acoustic guitars and their voices. Beautiful.
The Everly Brothers were past their big hit days by 1968 when they released Roots (although they were still very popular in England). The album is considered a very early Country Rock classic with the Everlys covering songs by artists who influenced them, including Merle Haggard and Jimmie Rodgers. I Wonder if I Care as Much is a remake of an Everly original first recorded by them in 1958. The remake is a haunting, vaguely psychedelic update that is a lost treasure in the Brothers catalogue. Enjoy.
The quality of this clip is pretty poor but, the beauty of the performance and the charm of having Phil Everly harmonize with Dion more than make up for it. Enjoy.
Today’s Song of the Day was the B-side to Dion’s big 1968 comeback hit Abraham, Martin and John. It shows a much more raw, experimental direction for Dion that we wish he would have taken as it is one of our favorite things he ever did. It’s a mysterious, spacey, bluesy groove that shows off Mr. DiMucci’s pipes – he has in our opinion one of the greatest, most soulful voices in American Pop. Of course, the big success of the above mentioned folk-y assassination lament meant that Dion would stick more to the mainstream so, few people know about this ragged little gem. And, now, Dear Imaginary Readers you are among them. Lucky You. Enjoy.
