Hell's Kitchen Radio #596: So Long, Ace

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Damn. 

I knew when I was in my early 20s that eventually they would all be gone. That's a thought we all probably have about our favorite artist: one day they'll be gone. For the most part we note it and move on. But what about when that band is our calling? The go-to band. The band that you have invested so much of your musical life to? 

They're still going to go.

Brent went in 1990. Jerry went in 1995. Phil in 2024. Donna in 2025. The way Bobby, the youngest, worked out, daily, I think we all expected him to be the last to go. When we heard of his passing it was a shock. I'm not on social media I don't know if there were stories of him having a cancer scare last summer, which the family said he was able to get past; lung issues eventually did him in. 

Bobby was known to spit out the lyrics, and I mean literally. If you stood in the crowd in front of him there were chances you would get a shower. He was such a crooner in the 90s, really playing to the crowd. 

I've written a lot about my time seeing the Grateful Dead over the years. The 40th anniversary of my first show just passed: December 30, 1985. Post-Dead I saw a few of the incarnations. I saw Phil a few times, went to the two days of Fare Thee Well in 2015 in Santa Clara, saw Dead and Co twice a decade or so ago. I'm happy the music continued to bring so much joy to so many people, and brought in a lot more fans. 

Bobby postulated about the music lasting 300 years. I'd have to imagine that's possible. There are so many people who have been inspired by the music created by Jerry and the boys, that it is conceivable it will grow and morph into the band that be "most triumphant and unite the world". And here you thought it would be Wyld Stallyns.

So here we are, closer than ever to being the orphans we knew we would one day be. Has anyone checked in on Billy, Mickey, TC, Ned and Bruce? If you know, you know.

As for this here tribute, I think Bobby would appreciate what he sees. I start out with an acoustic set, with a few special guests. I then move on to a proper first set, with those first set songs you've come to know and love, before moving onto the second set jams we all live for. 

There is minimal set breaks throughout the show. I marked each track with the date of the performance. There were two shows in 1978, when Jerry had laryngitis, that each song was a Bobby songs. These are all Bobby songs, with only four cover songs. I've also linked all the shows to Archive so you can listen to them all the way through. And you want to do that. All the links are soundboard or matrix (mix of soundboard and audience. I grew up thinking I only wanted to listen to pristine soundboards, but once I started to give audience recordings a listen that what I listen to almost exclusively. The sound of the crowd interacting with the music is a real treat.

What else is there to say? Thanks Ace, it's been a true pleasure. Oh, I always wanted to ask how the hell you grew to look so damn old all of a sudden? And why the beard? You went from being so young a fit, to someone's grandfather over night.

You still rocked like a young man. See you on the other side; wherever that is

Enjoy and please share.

jh

Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell
Mondays 8-10PM Pacific
Radio Valencia in SF
http://radiovalencia.fm

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Green, Green Grass of Home - May 31, 1969
Dark Hollow - September 20, 1970 with Dave Grisman
Wake Up Little Susie - June 4, 1970 with David Nelson and John "Marmaduke" Dawson
Monkey and the Engineer - October 11, 1980
Cassidy - October 14, 1980

Jack Straw - January 22, 1978
Beat It On Down The Line - April 26, 1971 with Duane Allman
Yellow Dog Story - May 24, 1969
Mexicali Blues - August 27, 1972
New New Minglewood Blues - March 9, 1981

Greatest Story Ever Told - September 28, 1972 (with St. Stephen jam)
The Music Never Stopped - May 9, 1977

Estimated Prophet - December 26, 1979
Take a Step Back - May 8, 1977
Playin' In The Band - February 18, 1971 (the first one)
New Potato Caboose - February 14, 1968

Throwing Stones - October 09, 1989
Sugar Magnolia - November 11, 1973

John Hell's Live Bootleg Bonanza - Monday, March 8th, 2021 - 6-8PM Pacific - Mad Dogs And Englishmen 04/26/70 & Delaney, Bonnie and Friends 07/22/71

 

John Hell's Live Bootleg Bonanza

Monday's 6-8PM Pacific

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These two shows are sure to get your toes a-tapping. the first 90 minutes feature one of the best live stage shows in the past 50+ years: Mad Dogs, Englishmen and Joe Cocker, live at the Fillmore West in San Francisco. You really need to watch the film of this tour to get the entire story, but I can tell you that nothing like this show has happened since, and for good reason. Enjoy every moment.

The last 30 minutes or so features a group that has a lot of cross over with the Mad Dogs tour. Delaney, Bonnie and Friends features the charismatic couple at their finest, along with stellar guitarist Duane Allman and horn man King Curtis. This is the band that inspired Clapton to create Derek and the Dominos. Yep, I just grabbed a bunch of you right there and for good reason. What an amazing show this is. 

I really wish I could be any of you who have never heard these shows. My hair stood on end the first time I heard these two bands. 

Stick around 8-10PM Pacific Monday night for Hell's Kitchen Radio. Lots of new sounds for you to consume. 

Enjoy.

jh 

Hell's Kitchen Radio #296: Phat Chance Buckcherry

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Well damn, Chuck Berry died. Now what are we
supposed to do? It's like when you lose a parent and now you just know that you're all on your own. You knew this day would eventually arrive, but you never put too much though into it, because well, you knew it would just bum you out. He wasn't the nicest guy in the world, but I learned pretty much everything I needed to learn about music, through him. He didn't write autobiographical songs. No. He wrote about life as a young, fresh-faced kid, not trying to get into trouble, but just realizing that life is for the living, and if you're not busy living, then you're busy dying. Chuck Berry most likely did not go quiet into his dark night.

When I was a little bitty boy, my father used to often sing "My Ding-a-Ling" to me, much to my mother's chagrin. I swear it's the first song I ever memorized so I could sing it on the playground. I knew at a young age what my father and Mr. Berry were singing about and it made me laugh out loud that a song that sounded so damn innocent, was indeed as lecherous as they come. HA!

I got to see Chuck Berry live, once, at the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, California. It was a small theater half way between San Fransisco and San Jose. It's torn down now, and in its place tech companies that could care less for the old theater and its colorful history. The stage sat in the center of the room and rotated so the audience could see all sides of the performer. I saw a number of shows there, but it was Chuck Berry that absolutely stood out the most.

Chuck had a long history of showing up to a venue with only guitar and amp in hand. It was up to the promoter to hire the backing band, all of whom one would hope, were well-versed in Chuck Berry tuneage. And why wouldn't they? Chuck would take the stage only after he had counted the cash, handed to him in a briefcase by said promoter. Who knows if he had even met the band yet. I'm pretty certain there was no soundcheck; or perhaps only a brief one. He would call out the song and key, count it out, and away they flew. It would take a bar or three before the band would gel, but then they would really rock!

On this particular night, the crowd was calling out songs and Chuck was playing them! I could believe it, an all-request show! WOW! This was November 1987, and I had turned 17 at the end of September. I attended the show on my own, and sat in the third row. All around me were 40-somethings, all of whom looked ancient to me. I'm 46 now, so that's hilarious to even consider. I shouted out for him to play "Promised Land", a song the Grateful Dead had performed for many years, and perhaps my favorite cover of theirs. A very large, very gruff and very 40-something man, sitting directly in front of me turned around and barked "HE ALREADY PLAYED THAT SONG, KID!". Chuck was RIGHT THERE, and proclaimed in a very animated voice "No I didn't. Here it goes!". HA! I laughed my ass off, while flipping this guy off (in my mind), and rocked out. Thanks Chuck. Thanks for everything. I don't care about any of the stories about your personal life. It's the music I came for, and it's for the music that I'll forever stick around for. RIP Johnny B. Goode.

On this particular night I was also thrilled to have in the studio, all the way from Pittsburgh, PA, the one and only, vivacious vocalist who puts the Phat in PHATASTIC, Phat Man Dee! What an absolute delight she is. Her vocals will mesmerize you, who eyes will tantalize you. She's a lot or woman. Man Dee was here in support of a dear friend, Robert, who is suffering from the affects of MS. We had a great fundraiser for him the previous weekend, and she stuck around to hang with old friends and play some tunes on the radio. We play a bunch of her tunes throughout the show. I promise that you will be searching for her music once you hear it. And luckily for you I have the link right HERE to go find it. Lucky you.

There's a lot of CB covers thrown into the mix as well, as so many great artists performed the master's classics. Enjoy them all.

jh

Hell's Kitchen with John Hell
Mondays 8-10PM
Radio Valencia in SF
http://radiovalencia.fm

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Back to Memphis: The Band
Back in the USA: MC5

C'est la Vie: Emmylou Harris
Hey Phat Chick: Phat Man Dee

Pepe: Phat Man Dee
Neverwaus is Forevermore: Phat Man Dee
Promised Land: Chuck Berry

Let It Rock: Chuck Berry
Too Much Monkey Business: Elvis Presley
No Particular Place to Go: Chuck Berry
Around and Around: The Animals

Fourth Reich Arising: Phat Man Dee
O Sinnerman/Shalom Chaverim: Phat Man Dee

My Ding-a-Ling: Chuck Berry
Brown-Eyed Handsome Man: Nina Simone
No Money Down: Duane Allman

Two Tone Tattoo: Phat Man Dee
Oh Louisiana: Chuck Berry
Johnny B. Goode: Grateful Dead (12-31-1978 Winterland, SF, CA)

Back in the USA: Rick Derringer/Edgar Winter

I love this version of C'est la Vie. It's unlike any other I've heard the late, great Chuck Berry perform. Enjoy.