Tune into Hell's Kitchen Radio, with John Hell, every Monday night 8-10PM (Pacific), on Radio Valencia (https://radiovalencia.fm) in San Francisco. You can find my playlists and links to the podcasts right here.
It's been a few weeks since I've had guests in the studio, and countless months since a live performance. So tonight I think I hit a home run. RonKat Spearman of Katdelic and formerly of George Clinton's P-Funk graced the studio with vocalist Leslie and guitarist Sasha in tow. I've seen RonKat a number of times, solo and sharing a stage with our mutual friend and regular Hell's Kitchen guest, Eric McFadden, but I have never had the pleasure of hosting him on the air, until tonight.
RonKat has a deep musical history, which he shares with us during the show, including his father taking him around to many musical competitions in Michigan, where little RonKat would blow the room away. He is a left handed guitar player, and plays a right handed guitar like Hendrix did. Unlike Hendrix however, his guitar is still strung the way a a right handed guitar would be strung! That means for RonKat the high E string is on the top instead of the bottom. I would not have believed it had I not seen and heard it with my own two eyes and ears.
Most of the first hour consists of interview and live performance. You are going to want to crank this up and put on your dancing shoes! RonKat shares some hilarious stories about his time in P-Funk, including the night George Clinton introduced him to Prince! You want to hear this story.
Katdelic is appearing Friday, June 7th at the Boom Boom Room on Fillmore around 11PM, and this Sunday, June 11th, at the 40th annual Haight Ashbury Street Fair, on the Love Stage around 3PM.
GO SEE THIS BAND!!!
The second hour I just had to continue in the funk vein. See the playlist below for your funky edification.
Common People: William Shatner
Shoo-B-Doop and Cop Him: Betty Davis
Beautiful: Katdelic (live in the studio)
Stay on the Up: Katdelic
Katdelic performs live in the Radio Valencia studio
I Call My Baby Pussycat: Parliament
Give It Up Or Turn It Loose: James Brown
Kung Fu: Curtis Mayfield
Just Kissed My Baby: The Meters
Darkest Light: Lafayette Afro Rock Band
The Hands of Time: Perfect Circle
Home Affairs: Osibisa
RonKat tells the story that when 'Pops' is in the house, regardless of the band on the stage, he has carte blanche to join in. Here he is joining KatDelic on stage at the Boom Boom Room back in 2011. Who knows, maybe he'll join in on June 9th.
Oh boy, Memorial Day once again. We really do need to stop having these. Do me a favor, if you really want to thank a veteran, punch a politician in the face. Tell them John Hell said it was OK.
The first hour features my subversive Memorial Day "celebration". I don't think you can make popsicles with them. I'll have to ask Ivanka. That woman can make a popsicle out of any national holiday.
I gave tickets away tonight to go see Dave and Phil Alvin and the Guilty Ones at Great American Music Hall for this Thursday night. This promises to be a great show, so congrats to the winners and I'll see you there. BTW, I give tickets away from time to time, so tune in and WIN!
The second hour of my show was yet another tribute to a fallen musical comrade. Vocalist and keyboardist Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers Band passed away this past weekend at the age of 69, from complications from liver cancer at his home in Savannah, Georgia. Growing up I was a huge fan of Duane-era Allman Brothers. What a band! Someone asked me once, "if the Grateful Dead were playing at one club, and down the street Duane-era Allman Brothers were playing at another club, which band would you go and see?" That is a damn tough question to answer? Though they are both "jam" bands, the Allman's always were so in a more structured vein. And there jams could really fly. Consummate musical professionals. I think I would have wanted to have seen the Allman's, especially if this were 1971. That band was on FIRE that year. Just take a listen to the Live at the Fillmore East box set. Each note is alive with energy. Well, he's with Duane, Berry, and Butch now, getting the band back together. I can only imagine how much fun that must be. Dreams, indeed.
Full disclosure: I never once saw the Allman Brothers live. Not once. I own quite a few live boots of theirs too. They do not support live taping or trading of their music, so shows, especially soundboards are very hard to come by. I'm lucky enough to know people who know people. I pulled out some tasty treats from my collection to showcase Gregg and the whole band, but I stayed in the Duane-era world that I love so much.
Next Monday night on my show I'm excited to have P-Funk guitarist RonKat Spearman in the studio to share his many road stories and play some music from his own band Katdelic. This ought to be a lot of fun. Tune in Monday, June 5th, 8-10PM on Radio Valencia.
Thanks to everyone who came out to Folio Books in Noe Valley last week to see me interview local music critic Joel Selvin about his book "Altamont". Joel is a great interviewee. I ask him one question and he takes it from there. He almost seemed a little too happy to be there. He sold a few books, and a couple people even asked me to autograph it! Sure, why not?
Check out the playlist below and click the links above to stream or download last night's show. Please share this page with all the music-lovers in your life.
Way Down in the Hole: Maggie Bell
Little Boy Soldiers: The Jam
1916: Motorhead
The Unknown Soldier: The Doors
I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier, Mama: John Lennon
Some Mother's Son: The Kinks
Universal Soldier: Donovan
Fish Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin-To-Die Rag: Country Joe and the Fish
Masters of War: Bob Dylan
War/No More Trouble: Bob Marley and the Wailers
The Fiddle and the Drum: Joni Mitchell
Eight Miles High: Golden Earring
Jubilee Train/Do Re Mi/Promised Land: Dave Alvin and the Guilty Men
Gregg Allman Tribute:
BB King Medley: The Hourglass (1968)
Dreams: The Allman Brothers Band (Ludlow Garage, Cincinnati, Ohio 1971)
Midnight Rider: The Allman Brothers Band (06-27-1971 Fillmore East, NYC, NY)
Done Somebody Wrong: The Allman Brothers Band (03-12-1971 Fillmore East, NYC, NY)
Every Hungry Woman: The Allman Brothers Band (07-03-1970 Atlanta Pop Festival, Byron, GA)
Ain't Waistin' Time No More: The Allman Brothers Band (04-07-1972 Manley Fieldhouse, Syracuse, NY)
Though I never saw them in person, thank goodness for YouTube. Check out their set from the Fillmore East, 09-23-1970.
I think I play it a little too safe on my show from time to time. There are nights that I bring a lot of black metal, or speed metal, or, well, anything darker than I usually play for you, but I hold off thinking "they don't want to hear this stuff". I think I've been insulting you, and for that I am sorry. I just didn't want to ostracize my audience. I fell into the "lowest-common-denominator" style of programming. Damn, what is wrong with me?
To make up for my radio shortcomings I decided to get fairly dark tonight. There's some metal, punk and garage thrown in, as well as some pretty choice hard rock cuts. It's loud, it's fun, and from the feedback I received during the show, well-considered.
Radio is supposed to be about the art of the segue. I choose music that I believe will move you. That doesn't mean it will always be a pleasant movement. It does mean that I have thought hard about why I want to play this song, and hope that you will take the time to consume it. I'm painting a two hour audio picture just for you. Isn't that great?! Just another in the many reasons that I love Radio Valencia.
Next week I'll probably play two hours of Americana and Bakersfield Country. Also, I have tickets to see Dave and Phil Alvin to give away. Tune in!
No guests tonight. No new releases tonight. No tribute tonight. No deaths or birthdays to report. No politics. No tickets to give away. Just you and me and the music. I rave a bit about something or another, but that's why you tune in, right? RIGHT!?!
The second hour still focuses on some recent live cuts I've recently found, but other than that it's another dive into the music library of HELL!
FYI: I do not have this RHCP record on my iPod
One thing you didn't witness during the show was the conflict I was having with the turntables. That was fun. for whatever reason I just could not get the turntable mixer to play through the main board. By the third set I had it all dialed in and the show really took off from there. I think it's those little issues that really keep me on my toes and have me pulling some righteous tunes out of my proverbial hat. I'd like to take this time to thank my 5th generation iPod from 2008 for all its help during that brief but anxious crisis. Together we made it through to the musical promised land.
Enjoy and please share with music lovers in your world.
Feeling Good: Traffic (09-12-1967 Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden)
White Man Has A God Complex: The Last Poets
Break A Guitar: Ty Segall (01-30-2017 World Cafe - WXPN Studio, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Red Right Hand: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (07-05-1998 Werchter, Belgium)
Rise Up With Fists: Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins
Sticky Hulks: Thee Oh Sees (07-16-2015 The Chapel, SF, CA)
The End: The Doors (03-07-1967 The Matrix, SF, CA)
I didn't play any Grateful Dead or Melvins on my show tonight. Aren't you proud of me? However, I can still share what I like on this here blog. This being the 40th anniversary of the amazing Spring 1977 tour, there's no way I wasn't going to share this little diddy from April 27, 1977. It's the entire show and a great one at that. Enjoy.
I was out of town last week, so I have a lot to make up for. I think I did a fairly good job doing so. You be the judge. I have a good excuse though. I was down in the Big Easy, New Orleans, performing a marriage ceremony for Hell's Kitchen Radio friends Eric McFadden and his bride, Delphine De St Paër. And what a party it was! Five days and four nights during Jazz Fest in NOLA cannot be beat.
The wedding was on the fourth day, featuring what was probably the greatest wedding band ever assembled: Angelo Moore on vocals/theremin, Doug Wimbish on bass, RonKat Spearman on guitar, Wally Ingram on drums, CR Gruver on keys, with Corey Glover joining in on vocals, Lantz Lazwell on guitar. Leo Nocentelli of The Meters performed "Just Kissed My Baby" to the lovely couple, as well as James Hall singing the most beautiful song of his own, and the groom leading the backing band into a 25 minute Maggot Brain while the 66 members of the bridal party made their way down the aisle before the three ring bearers, four flower girls, three junior bridesmaids, parents and finally the bride herself made it to the altar. Whew! There was too much more, including the backing band leading the entire wedding party and guests out into the street for a Second Line to end all Second Lines. The after party was a who's who of amazing musicians all night long.
I tell much of the story during the second hour of this here show.
Having been gone I missed the KFJC annual James Brown birthday celebration "Doin' to Death". The first show features JB in all his funky glory. Get your dance shoes on for this one.
The second hour starts with my feature on NOLA. I bought some local music while I was in town. Would you blame me? I actually start the hour off with Chicago rocker, and old friend of Eric McFadden's, and my new bestie, Adam Mackintosh's "Teenage Phase". I can't stop playing this song. I'm playing it now as I'm writing this. Listen to it and you'll understand why. I hope he writes a song about the Roach Motel we both shared. That was fun.
I close out the night with my tribute to what many consider to be the greatest Grateful Dead show of all time, May 8, 1977. This being the 40th anniversary of said show, I would be remiss if I didn't pay homage. I don't consider it the best show they ever played. I do think it deserves to be in anyone's collection. I would also place it in the top 5 or 10. It was probably their best show of the Spring 77 tour, and the recording itself is pristine. The playing is spot on and the jams are tight. A bit too tight at times. What makes it so highly considered is that this bootleg, which first made an appearance in trading circle back in the mid-80s, was the first high quality recording and show of it's kind from that era to make the trading scene. Everyone loved it, and deservedly so. But to call it the BEST EVER? I can think of at least five other shows throughout their career that beat it. But that's for another post at another time.
In the meantime, feast your eyes on the playlist below, and click the links above to stream or download this sparkly delight.
Next week I have so much more music wonders to share with you all.
RonKat has a deep musical history, which he shares with us during the show, including his father taking him around to many musical competitions in Michigan, where little RonKat would blow the room away. He is a left handed guitar player, and plays a right handed guitar like Hendrix did. Unlike Hendrix however, his guitar is still strung the way a a right handed guitar would be strung! That means for RonKat the high E string is on the top instead of the bottom. I would not have believed it had I not seen and heard it with my own two eyes and ears.
