Tommy Emmanuel

Last weekend I was cruising through the channel guide looking for anything on the TV worthwhile of my time. I came across a PBS pledge drive show featuring an artist I had never heard of. I figured it was worth at least a few minutes of sitting through their begging for funds while waiting to see what this artist was all about.

To make a long story short, when he opened with the percussive guitar piece titled Mombasa,I was immediately blown away and hooked! I stayed for the entire show, suffering through the pledge drive drivel. It was well worth it!

Tonight I bring you Tommy Emmanuel from Australia. The first five selections are from his early years when he played electric guitar with a band. The sixth piece is Mombasa, the number that swept me off my feet. Mombasa and the rest of the show are all from his acoustic catalog.



Tommy's Website
Bio
MySpace
Wiki

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Thanksgiving

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After taking the summer off here at the Vault, I've returned with music to celebrate this Thanksgiving Holiday. Today I honor not Columbus nor the Pilgrims, but rather those who lived on this great land before the Illegal Immigrants arrived.

This is a collection of Native American music, most with modern interpretations accompanied by various slide shows. After you have stuffed yourself with turkey sit back and drift off to what once was the beauty this land offered.

Be sure to click either the photo or link above for an eye-opening look at this day we celebrate.

Click this to view individual playlist entries

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Ode to the Gulf Coast

Tonight I pay tribute to the folks living on and near the Gulf Coast in their battle against the oil being poured into the Gulf of Mexico, their marshes and upon their beaches.
Still struggling to recover from the damages done by Hurricane Katrina, they are now faced with the specter of a dying ocean, loss of wages and jobs due to the pollution of the the fishing and shrimping grounds of which 19% are currently closed.

I begin with a sampling of Cajun and Zydeco music and then I'll take you down to New Orleans for a sampling of New Orleans Jazz and Blues as performed by various street musicians.

Robbie Robertson

One Saturday afternoon in 1968 I went downstairs at Steiner Hall, my dorm at WSU - Stevens Point, to visit my friend Ray. Ray brought out a new album he had bought titled Music from Big Pink. It was by a group with the odd name of The Band and featured a painting by Bob Dylan on the front and the title in big block letters with picture of a pink house on the back.

Before the first song, Dylan's wrenching Tears of Rage, was over, I was hooked. The sound was raw and rough, a departure from the highly polished works popular at the time. The guitar work of Robbie Robertson was my main draw.

Over the years, after The Band gave us their Last Waltz, I seem to have lost track of Robbie. I can no longer afford to cruise record stores as I used to and radio is pathetic, so I was unaware of his recent works.

Then a couple weeks ago my friend 99 featured one of his videos at her site and I was once again hooked!

Tonight I begin with a number of his works from Robbie Robertson and The Red Road Ensemble's Music for the Native Americans followby a number of Robbie's works with the band and other works over the years.

Tonight's show is dedicated to my friend, the eminent Agent 99.



Robbie's Website - coming soon
Robbie's Myspace
The Band Website
Wiki
Bio

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New features at the Vault:

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Gil Scott-Heron

Born in Chicago, 1949, Gil Scott-Heron's parents divorced and he was sent to live with his grandmother in Tennessee. Soon racial tensions at school caused him to move back with his mother who had moved to the Bronx and later to the Chelsea neighborhood.
By the age of 13 he had already written a book of poetry and later wrote a novel entitled "The Vulture" after leaving college.
He released his first album 'New Black Poet: Small Talk at 125th and Lennox' in 1970. It contained the spoken word song "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" - a response to the Governments interference with the media at the time. (My how things have changed!)
Gil followed it the next year with "Pieces of Man" featuring John Coltrane and Lady Day and a more toned down political slant.

Gil's spoken word pieces are often attributed as the origin of Rap.

Tonight I first bring you a one hour documentary on Gil followed by a number of his works.

Enjoy.



Website
MySpace
Wiki

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The Blues

Update 1/22/11 - I found that this collection was fairly decimated by removed videos at YouTube. I've restored as many as possible and added a few new ones. Enjoy

Tonight I bring you a collection of The Blues, 60 songs to keep you going all night.
Starting with Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee on an old show titled Rainbow Quest hosted by Pete Seeger. Mississippi John Hurt also makes an appearance on the show.

From there we move to Chicago for some hits by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Siegal Schwall Blues Band, also a number of Michael Bloomfield songs with Electric Flag and the Bloomfield, Kooper, Stills Supersession.

Next we hop the Atlantic, or fly over the pole if you wish, to England for the British take on things with Savoy Brown, Cream, Blind Faith, John Mayall and Jimmy Hendrix.

Finally we return stateside for some Johnny Winter and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

I've tried to find live versions as much as possible although a few only have slide shows but are worth it for the music. Obviously this is only a sampling of the many great blues performers out there. Enjoy!

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[be sure to click this also!]

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Eddie From Ohio

A year or so ago, while browsing the list of bands at the Internet Archives my eye was caught by an unusual name. I sampled their music and fell in love with them immediately. Downloaded to my mp3 player I listen to them as I ride my bike and they are one of the mp3 CD's in my truck stereo.

I wasn't able to find a large selection of videos at YouTube, but here is a baker's dozen to give you a sampling of their music.
From Virginia, I bring you Eddie From Ohio!



Website
Facebook
Wiki
Internet Archive free downloads of live shows.

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Donna the Buffalo

This band from upstate New York has been playing for 20 years now, bringing their eclectic collection of influences ranging from reggae to country and rock to zydeco, all with a helping of good old fiddle music, to crowds at music festivals around the world. This band is one a a growing number of bands which allow fans to video tape and record their concerts. Many of their concerts are available at Internet Archives for free downloading, all are authorized by the band.

Tonight I bring you a couple dozen selections, a cross section of their works.



Website
MySpace
Bio
Wiki
At Internet Archives - Free, band authorized, concert downloads.

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Norton BuffaloGone to the Valley of the Moon

When I started this blog, little did I think I would be using it to say farewell to my favorite musicians. Here again tonight I have assembled a collection of one such performer:

Norton Buffalo, harmonica maestro with a sweet, sweet voice. A long time member of the Steve Miller Band, Norton also worked with many other artists and headed his own band, performing on over 180 record albums. He also teamed with and was good friends with slide guitar maestro Roy Rogers.

Norton passed away last Sunday of cancer at the age of 58. A great loss to us all.

In his memory, I have assembled a collection featuring a number of videos from an early performance with other songs with Roy Rogers and the Steve Miller Band. The last few videos are recent and express my feelings at his passing.

Build your own custom video playlist at embedr.com

Website - not updated at this moment.
Bio
MySpace
Wiki

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Timothy Leary's DeadNo No-No He's Outside Looking In

Grab your orange barrels, micro dots, window panes, buttons or 'shrooms and come along on a trip back through the 60's psychedelia!

Beware the brown acid!

Build your own custom video playlist at embedr.com

Artists in order of performance:
Moody Blues, Joe Byrd and the Field Hippies, United States of America, Electric Prunes, Lollipop Shop, Pink Floyd, Hunger, Hawkwind, Mystic Siva, Rare Earth, Cynara, Mark Bolan, Hat & Tie, Flower Power, Peanut Butter Conspiracy, Focus, Yardbirds, Jefferson Airplane, Beacon Street Union, Ultimate Spinach, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Crazy World of Arthur Brown,Tomorrow, Uriah Heep, Al Kooper Steven Stills Mike Bloomfield.

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