Hell's Kitchen Radio #257: John Is Going To Hell

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From last Monday night: "This is it! My very last show. I'm having knee surgery on Wednesday and I may not make it back alive. This is your very last chance to hear my voice LIVE on the radio."

So it appears that I made it through the surgery, and I'm alive to tell the tale. Not much of a tale to tell. I have a new ACL, a cleaned up meniscus, and I'm laid up on the couch on lots of meds, healing, listening to music, reading books, watching movies, including the Zappa Roxy film. DAMN! I'm on lots of meds. Did I mention that? I can't recall. I also can't see very well because of said meds, so I don't know if there are any typos. I'm happy I know how to type when I'm not on meds. This may help the current situation. When I was in grocery I used to 10-key like a mo-fo! Seriously, I was the fastest one on the line. I was like a blur. I would talk to customers while I rang them up, and they would be all nervous that I would accidentally charge them the incorrect price for something. I assured them that everything would be spot on, and if it wasn't then I would purchase them a tin of Altoids. I was never off, ever!

The meds also make me stray off topic.

Since last Monday was going to possibly be my final radio show, I pulled out many, but not quite all the stops. Much of the playlist for the night was my typical favorite fair. There are some surprises within, that I didn't mark down. And the witty banter is worth the price of the free admission.

If you are ever in a place where you believe that you are soon going to pass away off this mortal coil, then I encourage you to pull out all (or most) of your favorite anything and enjoy it to the very end. Now that I'm healing, on my couch, on lots of meds (did I mention the meds), it's all about the music and films and books that I get to enjoy. It's about taking a breath, and realizing that we really only do live once, so we better live it up, or get busy dying. We don't often get the opportunity to sit on our asses as prescribed by our doctor. So, when you do have those rare moments, take full advantage of them. Enjoy the arts like you haven't done before, reach out to family and friends and let them know you care, meditate, stare out the window into the wild world, and look forward to eventually rejoining that space, but do it with your newly found appreciation of what it means to take that well-deserved, if not prescribed time off.

Back to healing. Did I mention the meds?

Enjoy.

jh

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

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In The Flesh: Pink Floyd
God of Thunder (DEMO): Kiss
High Roller: Cheap Trick

Chocolate Jesus: Tom Waits
Mercy Seat: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Mudride: Mudhoney
1970: The Stooges

Block of Ice: Thee Oh Sees
Jack the Maggot: FUZZ
Rollin and Tumblin': Baby Face Leroy Trio

Bring It On Home: Sonnyboy Williamson
Headbanger: King Tuff
I'm In Your Mindfuzz: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

***SET OF THE WEEK***
Bang Bang: Nancy Sinatra
Jump In Line: Harry Belefonte
Lexicon Devil: Germs
Happy Boy: The Beat Farmers
Sonic Reducer: Dead Boys

She Belongs To Me: The Nice
Interstellar Overdrive: The Melvins

Yatzar: John Zorn's Electric Masada

ACDC: Sweet
Magic: Zig Zags

A Season in Hell #126: Not-So-Stormy Monday

It was such a beautiful day, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, it's daylight savings time, so it's staying lighter later, and love is in the air. I can't think of a better time to play two hours of the Blues.

Oh, don't get me wrong, the Blues is not about feeling bad. The Blues is about taking all those feelings you have down in your soul and shouting it out to the world! I was born in a blues town, Toledo, Ohio. How, you ask, is Toledo, Ohio a blues town? During the Great Depression Toledo, Ohio has the "Great" distinction of having the highest unemployment rate for an urban area; over 85%. Talk about the blues!

I haven't lived there since 1981, but don't let that stop me. Oh no, no, no. I now live in the most expensive city in the US, San Francisco, and I make it on a teacher's salary, no less. I'm no martyr.

For a long time, when I've gone record shopping (yes, I said record shopping, as I still purchase vinyl, and I always will, thank you very much), I've made it a point, if I'm buying more than two items, to make certain that at least one is either international, country, or blues. Because of this I have a rather vast international, country and blues library. I buy a lot of records. That's one vice I'm proud to call my own.

I remember in 1978 when my dad brought home the Blues Brothers' "Briefcase Full of Blues" LP. I loved it from the start. I memorize every nuance of that record, and easily wore out that first copy. It was from that record that I was able to set out on an adventure through the history of not only the Blues, but the history of American music, going back to slave songs and gospels, as well as the history of Rock 'n' Roll. It's safe to say that my musical knowledge was birthed from the Blues.

So tonight it's all Blues. How happy I will be! You should recognize many of the names on the list, but perhaps not all of the songs. And vice-verse.

This show is a great history lesson. Get a pencil, write it down, and feel some love for the Blues.

If you're feeling way down low, then download this show.
If you're feeling mellow, stream this fellow.
If you feel like a low down dirty dog, then listen to all of my shows by going here, or just scroll down.

Enjoy.

jh 

Hey Bartender: Floyd Dixon
It Must Have Been the Devil: Otis Spann

I Don't Know: The Blues Brothers
Rollin' and Tumblin': Elmore James
I'm Bad Like Jesse James: John Lee Hooker

My Last Affair: Howlin' Wolf
I Ain't Got You: Jimmy Reed
Cocaine and Whiskey: Eugene Huggins
Bring It On Home: Sonny Boy Williamson

Penitentiary Blues: Lightning Hopkins
Hoochie Coochie Man: Muddy Waters (May 14, 1977 1839 Theater, SF, CA)
Got My Mojo Working: Ann Cole

Good Morning Little Schoolgirl: Grateful Dead (09-29-68, Berkeley, CA)

It's A Man Down There: Gi Crockett
Stormy Weather: Etta James
Flip, Flop and Fly: Big Joe Turner
I'm A Man: Bo Diddley

Bad Luck Blues: Lightnin' Slim
"B" Movie Boxcar Blues: Delbert McClinton
Ridin' High: Joe Louis Walker

I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town: Allman Brothers
I've Got A Mind to Give Up Living: The Butterfield Blues Band

Shotgun Blues: Downchild Blues Band
Stormy Monday: Buddy Guy & Junior Wells (1983-09-30 Chestnut Cabaret, Philadelphia, PA)