Monday, January 31, 2022

Hell's Kitchen Radio #465: We Love You EB

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Well my dear friend Eric "EB" Brown passed away on Monday morning. What a dear man he was. Always ready with a smile and a quick retort. I appreciated him in more ways than I can count. I'll miss you, dear friend. My heart goes out to your wonderful wife, Cat, and your entire family. My heart also goes out to our large circle of friends, who have lost countless lives over the past decade. 

Fuck cancer. 

Do you ever think about how you're going to die? I think I'm going to be stabbed to death. Isn't that a lovely thought? I've thought about this more times than I care to admit; almost always when I'm walking in a compromised neighborhood, late at night. "Will I make it out of here alive" is usually the question I ask myself. So far, so good. 

Don't be so nihilistic, Mr. Hell.

I have no death wish. I would love to be happy and healthy deep into my senior years. I want to see my kids grow up, reaching their dreams, or at least finding stability. That would be nice. And there's too much music to enjoy. I need to be spinning records for a few more decades, thank you very much.

But when I think about who we've lost, I fairly confident these very active and creative people also wanted to keep engaging and producing for many more years. They didn't ask for this. And they fought against it, tooth and nail. 

Fuck cancer.

I think about what Jerry Garcia said about how he was going to live this life: "I choose fun". He died young, only 53. And he died with a smile on his face. Of course it was the drugs and diabetes that did him in. Luckily I have no drug addiction, and I'm healthier than I've been in many many years. 

I'm reminded what Miles Davis said about drugs: "When you're rich, cocaine ain't a habit." Thanks Miles. 

This show wasn't meant to turn into a memorial, but many of the songs have that flavor. New music from Eric McFadden, Death Valley Girls, Le Butcherettes, Brigid Dawson, JD Pinkus, Pedro Connect, and red Fang.

Thanks as always for your support. We honestly couldn't do what we do if it wasn't for the monthly dues from our station volunteers, and it's not enough to keep us afloat. We're going to start an online fundraiser soon, letting you know what we need and how much it's going to cost. Anything you can send our way is appreciated. Click on the PayPal link below to help out your favorite San Francisco community radio station.

Enjoy and please share.

Oh, and fuck cancer.

jh

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

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Eagles Over America: ShitKit
Ballad of Dwight Fry: Eric McFadden

Sun Goddess: Earth Wind and Fire (For EB)
Dread Lion: The Upsetters

When I'm Free: Death Valley Girls
Alone and Stoned: King Tuff
Ra Wah Wah: Psychic Ills

Heartbreak Jazz: Brigid Dawson and the Mother's Network
Hummingbird: Bob Seger

Fungus Shui: JD Pinkus
Across the Universe: The Space Lady

The Universe: Le Butcherettes
Pedro: The Toulon - Pedro Connect

Last Of His Kind: Neil Young
Parchman Farm: John Mayall with Eric Clapton
Kicked Out: Dead Moon

Unreal Estate: Red Fang


John Hell's Live Bootleg Bonanza - Monday 6-8PM Pacific - Sex Mob (2011) & TJ Kirk (1995)

 

John Hell's Live Bootleg Bonanza

Monday's 6-8PM Pacific

http://radiovalencia.fm



How do you feel about Jazz? Not into it? Indifferent? Turned off? Jazzed?! As a genre, Jazz gets pigeonholed into something akin to Classical. And I really think that's because it's no longer the POP music of America. Jazz is the most American music of all. That, and Blues. And maybe Gospel.

If there were no Jazz, there would be no Rock, R&B, Soul, or Funk. And like these genres, Jazz cannot be all thrown into one pile. It's not all about brass instrumentation. And it's not all about free-Jazz stylings like Coltrane and Coleman. 

Jazz has many flavors.

Tonight I feature two groups, both of whom thrive on improvisation and exploration. And both are cover bands! You know how much I love covers.

First up is New York City's own Sex Mob. This quartet, which started out as a part time side project for slide-trumpet player (yes you read that right) Steven Bernstein, has become his major musical vehicle. Surrounded by stellar players Briggan Krause (alto sax), Tony Scherr (bass), and Kenny Wollesen (drums), Sex Mob takes songs you know and "love" to an entirely other level. Good luck figuring out exactly what it is they are covering. Bernstein's banter between songs is hilarious. You really need to see them live to appreciate the onstage antics. I have seen them about a dozen times between 1996 and 2018, all in San Francisco. I'd like to thank KFJC DJ, Andy Cadaver for turning me onto these fellas.

This show is from 25th Rencontres Internationales D'Jazz, Nevers, France November 10, 2011

Lineage: mp2 (MPEG 1.0 Layer-2; 48,000 Hz Stereo; 320 Kbps) > BeSweet (convert to wav) > Cool Edit Pro 2.1 (amplify, editing, fades, tracking) > TLH (flac8, aligned

Set two features a San Francisco quartet that lived a short and magnificent life: TJ Kirk, featuring Scott Amendola (drums), Will Bernard (Guitar/Slide), John Schott (Guitar), and Charlie Hunter (8-string). They play the songs of Thelonious Monk (T), James Brown (J) and Rahsaan Roland Kirk (Kirk...obviously). I was lucky to see a few of these shows back in the mid-90s and I can attest to the brilliance of the musicianship, as well as the arrangements. 

This show is from Wetlands Preserve, New York, NY September 09, 1995

Lineage: Soundboard > DAT

Honestly, there are nothing but huge smiles on the faces of all of these musicians in each quartet you are going to listen to tonight.

You need to reimagine Jazz, and integrate it into your lives.

Support these bands. Buy their officially released music and merch, and never ever sell live bootlegs. These are for trade only. 

Stick around Monday's 8-10PM Pacific for my weekly music mix, Hell's Kitchen Radio. Lots of new music to share with you every week.

Enjoy and pay it forward.

jh

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Monday, January 24, 2022

Hell's Kitchen Radio #464: You Be The Fish To My Bone

Download the Fish Fry HERE

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Fun show, Fun and eclectic setlist. There are times when I blindly choose my records, and play the "how will this sound together" game. It's hit and miss. Tonight was hit! I really had a lot of fun and I think it shows.

Radio Valencia is promoting a lot of co-presents at Bottom of the Hill these days, and Saturday, January 29th is going to be a real winner. Join us for Dr. Madd Vibe, featuring Angelo Moore of Fishbone. Eric McFadden in in support and local rockers Dizzy Twin is opening. I saw Eric and Angelo on Friday night at Ivy Room, and I could not stop dancing and laughing. What an amazing show!!! Tickets are still available.

I'll be you MC for this show, and rumor has it Angelo is hosting a mask making contest! Or something like this. This is a 20+ only show, vaccine proof required, and you MUST keep your mask on throughout the show (other than while you're drinking).

Now, on with the show.

Enjoy and please share.

jh

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

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Bee Karma: WAND
Verwandlung: Embryo

I Ain't Got A Home: Bob Dylan
Bird Animal: King Buzzo with Trevor Dunn
A Change is Gonna Come: The Gits

The N.W.R.A.: The Fall
Inner City Blues: Grover Washington Jr.

Tree Smoke: Kikagaku Moyo
Corpuscle Through Time: Heavy Blanket
The Circle Game: Joni Mitchell (with James Taylor) 

Saviour Machine: Redd Kross
The Anti-Heroine: Towanda

Party At Ground Zero: Fishbone
Bales of Cocaine: Reverend Horton Heat
My Sick Mind: The Roches
Spoonman: Melvins with Matt Cameron

Canerican: Neil Young and Crazy Horse
Down At The Rock Club: Richard Hell and the Voidoids
Moral Majority: Circle Jerks
Bottle Up And Go: John Lee Hooker and Canned Heat

Beautiful Stranger: Kevin Morby

Sunday, January 23, 2022

John Hell's Live Bootleg Bonanza - Monday 6-8PM Pacific - Pink Floyd - Various (1967 - 1971)

 

John Hell's Live Bootleg Bonanza

Monday's 6-8PM Pacific

http://radiovalencia.fm



Can I tell you my love of Pink Floyd? My very first live bootleg was Pink Floyd, June 18, 1975, Boston Garden. That is one tape I still wish I owned, even though I have had a quality Dan Lampinski flac upgrade for over a decade now. 

Like many I was into the Dark Side of the Moon and later releases. I spent many a fine night, tripping the night fantastic listening to Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall. The Final Cut and later releases didn't get a whole lot of listening to, though I did enjoy A Momentary Lapse of Reason, and I saw that tour live in Oakland, in the rain, on a few hits of windowpane, in April 1988. Fun times.

I kept getting pulled towards the pre-DSotM-era Floyd. Once I saw Live at Pompeii I was hooked. I was probably 18 or 19 when I saw it the first time, and just knew that tunes like Careful With That Axe, Eugene and especially Echoes, really did me in. I had to have more. I also dove head first into Piper at the Gates of Dawn, and fell deeply in love with Syd Barrett, going so far to purchase his two officially released solo effort, Madcap Laughs and Barrett. I was working a Tower Records in San Mateo when the Barrett solo compilation Opal was released. Such a fabulous collection. 

I gobbled up every book about the book I could find. I think "Bricks in the Wall" continues to be my favorite read about them. I recently purchased a used version of the Glenn Povey book, "In the Flesh", which I quickly took a highlighter to. There are a few shows I still need acquire.

Speaking of shows, tonight I have a mix of live Pink Floyd to share with you. I'm starting out with two tracks featuring Syd, Scream Thy Last Scream, recorded August 7, 1967, and Vegetable Man, recorded October 9, 10, or 11, 1967. 

Lineage: "What Syd Wants" - Harvested Records (HRV CDR 032) - dat(master)>eac>flac

Following these two treats I have three tracks from the Piper Club, Rome, Italy "First European International Pop Festival", 6th May 1968. This is just five months after Syd left (got kicked out? Was left on the side of the road?) and David Gilmore joined. Their covering three Syd-era songs, but they sound good and fresh with the addition of Gilmore.



Astronomy Domine
Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun
Interstellar Overdrive

Lineage: 'Old Symphonies' - Godfather Records (G.R.) 125 - Silver CD > FLAC

This is followed by three tracks from the Paris Theatre, London, 16th July, 1970. The material is taken from 2005 BBC-FM re-broadcasts and appears here in the best ever sound quality.
Embryo
Green Is The Colour
Careful With That Axe, Eugene
Atom Heart Mother (orchestra versions) 

Lineage: 'Old Symphonies' - Godfather Records (G.R.) 125 - Silver CD > FLAC

The last show I have to share is from Paris Cinema, London, England, 30th September, 1971 (my 1st birthday!!!) I have chosen two of the most brilliant tracks from this show:
Fat Old Sun
Echoes

Lineage: Meddled - Harvested CDR 001

Eleven tracks, two hours, pure bliss. 

Support these bands. Buy their officially released music and merch, and never ever sell live bootlegs. These are for trade only. 

Stick around Monday's 8-10PM Pacific for my weekly music mix, Hell's Kitchen Radio. Lots of new music to share with you every week.

Enjoy and pay it forward.

jh

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Monday, January 17, 2022

Hell's Kitchen Radio #463: Chip Off The Hell Block

Download the Family Fun HERE

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Nothing brings me greater joy than to share my love of music and radio with my wonderful daughter, Lauson. She's my dream girl, literally. She came to me in a dream a few years before she was conceived and told me her name. She even spelled it for me. It was a seven year old version of her, all with the curly hair she was graced with. I woke up, looked at her mother and said "we're going to have a daughter named Lauson. L.A.U.S.O.N". We chose not to know the sex of the baby before she was born, but I already knew it was Lauson headed our way.

Lauson first joined me on Radio Valencia when she was 7 years old, over ten years ago! I think this was Lauson's 15th time on with me. Links to her previous episodes are below. I've marked all of her song choices. It's really interesting to see where my influence started and where hers took off. She's got an excellent ear for many genres. I couldn't be more proud. How is she a senior in high school already? 

Do I dream of her walking into her college radio station and blowing them all away? Of course I do. I also refuse to live vicariously through my children. She does have a pretty good airname though. And really, can you imagine what her peers would think when they hear she's been involved in community radio since she was 7? HA! Ok ok ok, I'll stop now.

Want more from the Spawn of Hell?


Enjoy.

jh

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

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Dholak Gheet: The Family of Apostolic
Somebody To Love: Kalyanji Anandji
Cold Sweat: Bernard Purdie

Why? (The King of Love is Dead): Nina Simone
River Deep Mountain High: Ike and Tina - L
The Sky Is Crying: Sonny Boy Williamson

Lady Grinning Soul: David Bowie - L
Wake Up Alone: Amy Winehouse - L
Listening to Music: A Child's Garden of Grass
Basically Frightened: Col. Bruce Hampton and Animal Rescue Unit

Be Ever Wonderful: Ted Taylor - L
Duckworth: Kendrick Lamar - L
Run Run Run: White Fence

Late Nights and Heartbreak: Hannah Williams and the Affirmations - L
Savoy Truffle: The Beatles - L
Hypocrisy: Millie Jackson

I Gotta Find Peace of Mind: Lauren Hill - L
Whisper to Me: Cecile Campbell
High and Lonesome: Robert Plant and Alison Krause

Working for the Knife: Mitzky - L
When I Paint My Masterpiece: The Band

We Gotta Get Outta This Place: The Animals
What A Wonderful World: Louis Armstrong