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Ponderosa Stomp no. 2
New Orleans - 29. - 30. april og 1. mai 2003 Just got back from a trip to New Orleans, where my target was NOT Jazzfest, but the most incredible rock'n'roll event of 2003: the 2nd annual Ponderosa Stomp! If'n you never heard of it, that's a shame. Last year's lineup of rock'n'roll pioneers was not well-publicized, but it was nothing short of shocking. This year's was too much for this boy to pass up (even if it meant an 18-hour ride in the truck), so me and my gal blasted on down to the Mid-City Lanes (a.k.a. Rock'n'Bowl) bowling alley (which is completely decked out in 1950s décor and machines) for the Stomp. If you have a few minutes, here's a report of the acts that I was able to catch. By the way, you can dig complete lineup details at www.knightsmaumau.com! The Ponderosa Stomp occurred between Jazzfest weekends, on Tuesday (April 29), Wednesday and Thursday. Each night began at 1700 hours and ended around dawn the following day. The Tuesday night lineup featured blues and soul acts, for the most part. We missed most of the King Lloyd Band, which played blues. Jimmy "T-99" Nelson came on with some Texas blues that boogied real slow. Most of his songs included the lyrics from Joe Turner's "Roll 'Em Pete!" I kept asking myself, "Is this song the same as the last song he sang?" The Kenny Brown Band followed with funky blues. Then the Sun Ra Arkestra took the stage in their sparkling costumes and gold and silver hats. They began with what sounded like bebop, then played some spacey jump blues! You could actually dance to it, which surprised me. The Sun Ra boys played all 3 nights, and I didn't understand why. I guess the promoter loves their act. The next set featured soul singers from my hometown (Detroit) Gino Washington and Nathaniel Mayer. The kats got down with backing from N.O. and Memphis hipsters on the stage. One of the best features of the Stomp was that the organizers went through the trouble of getting full horn sections, piano players and even sqeezebox players to reproduce the sound of the artists' original records. Gino Washington ponied all over the stage and did all his early killers like "Out Of This World" and "Gino Is A Coward." Nathaniel Mayer's voice is shot, but the dude can ENTERTAIN. He came on stage wearing a white suit and green silk shirt, dancing like a young James Brown. Mayer held the crowd in the palms of his hands singing Detroit soul like "Village Of Love." I can't take my eyes off the guy whenever I have the fortune to catch Mayer's act. Washington told me later that he's gonna put together another legends of Detroit R&B show this summer. Can't wait! The acts that came after were pretty much blues. Eddie Kirkland of Detroit played a fine and mellow set, but the mellowness was making our eyelids droop by midnight, so we cut out to go bar-hopping in the French Quarter. Wednesday night promised a frantic mix of rockabilly and blues, so I fortified myself with a crawfish po-boy sandwich before we made the scene. Joe Clay was first, and he performed behind a drum kit, with an electric bassist and guitarist. I was a little disappointed, because I loved the set Clay did up in Green Bay last year, where he jumped around the stage hanging onto a flattop guitar. Anyway, his voice is still hot and he warmed up the crowd. Deke Dickerson and the Ecco-fonics backed up many acts that night, although Deke didn't get to play his own material. That was fine by him, considering the kool kats he was playing music with! Also spotted in the crowd that evening were Roman Self, Ronnie Self's son, and Bob Timmers, the man behind the Internet's Rockabilly Hall of Fame; Big Sandy was there all three days, just hangin' out, as well as record collector/label owner/Viva Las Vegas organizer Barney Koumis. Somebody told me that the Norton Records folks were there, too! After Joe Clay, Deke and his band (Chris Sprague on drums, John from Australia on string bass, and Eddie Clendening on rhythm guitar) got on stage to help out: Jay Chevalier! Chevalier has a GREAT voice, and he didn't hesitate to hit us over the heads with "Castro Rock" and "Billy Cannon" (a song the Planet Rockers turned into "Billy Thunder"). He was tremendous! Next up was Eddie Bond with the Ecco-fonics. Bond's voice was in fair shape, and he let loose with nervous versions of "Slip-Slip-Slippin' In" and "Flip Flop Mama" among other Mercury recordings. Bond chose to stand in one place and sing, so he wasn't much to watch, but sounded fine as wine. Lil Buck Sinegal followed with more funky New Orleans blues. When I saw that Sun Ra was skedded right after, we went outside where jasmine and hyacinth scented the spring air. Came back inside for Jimmy Lee Fautheree with Deke. That was one of the best sets of the night, considering it was a real surprise. Fautheree confessed he hadn't sung rock'n'roll since 1960, but you'da never guessed. Deke sang harmony on tunes like "Love Me," "Can't Find The Doorknob," and "If You Don't Somebody Else Will" (which they rocked up - great googa mooga!). I reckon that's as close as Deke will get to the old Dave & Deke Combo's set list. They played a little bit of "Raunchy" and Fautheree told a story about how he played the lick backstage at the Louisiana Hayride when Bill Justis was hanging out. Justis promptly took the melody back to Memphis and had a monster hit with it on Sam Phillip's Phillips International label. Fautheree played his own leads on guitar, and he hot dogged it just like the old days. Dale Hawkins rushed up to the stage afterwards, and went right into his wildass set. No doubt, he was among the most entertaining kats. When they got to "Suzy-Q" Deke called up the one and only James Burton to play the licks he invented for that song back when he was 15 years old. KILLER-DILLER! The Hawk swooped out as quickly as he swooped in, while Burton stayed on stage with Deke for a set of Ricky Nelson, Elvis Presley and Merle Haggard (with vocals by harmonica bluesman Lazy Lester - Deke: "This is in the spirit of a genre-busting event.") and they ended with Bob Luman's "All Night Long." Burton's strat picking was incredibly fluid. Everything sounded complex and looked easy. The next set included Paul Burlison, Rocky Burnette and DJ Fontana. They took it easy, playing mostly Johnny Burnette Rock'n'Roll Trio songs. Scotty Moore joined them for some Elvis numbers, as did Deke. Big Sandy was invited to sing "My Baby Left Me" and I'm sure that made his night complete. Moore stayed on with Deke's band to play quite a lotta blues. I discovered that Deke's a fine blues guitarist (ain't nothing he can't play, huh?). Billy Lee Riley followed with more blues as well as his Sun rockers - all rang real pretty between my ears, yassir. Around midnight they got Tony Joe White up there for his own set. He played with just a drummer and sounded OK, but it was WAY TOO SLOW for 1 a.m.! Went outside again for an hour or so. Came back in to find Jerry McCain taking the stage. I really looked forward to his set, hopin' that he'd dig into his early Excello blasters, especially the rockers from the "Choo Choo Rock" LP ... No dice! He played one song I recognized from the 1950s and the rest was more mellowness - which would be OK if it wasn't nearly time for the rooster to crow! I sleepily watched Ray Sharpe take the stage with Deke's band. I'd seen Sharpe in Dallas several years ago, and his set was all blues. So I was surprised to hear the kat ROCK from start to finish! Ray Sharpe was THE rockin'est of the night, as he jumped up and down, hit some hard licks on the guitar and wailed on "My Baby's Gone," "Linda Lu" and "Monkey's Uncle" just tearing up the joint. I don't know how anyone stayed sane during Ray Sharpe's set! It took a while for Guitar Gable to take the stage, and with him was King Karl and a guy named Lil Bob. King Karl did the swamp classic "Irene" and some cool rockin' tunes before we started feelin' like mush and had to leave for the night. Thursday was billed as swamp pop and blues, but there was some good jazz played by the AFO Executives Reunion (all the "executives" of the AFO record label were musicians). Clarence "Frogman" Henry came on after that, and he slaughtered everyone in the house. He's THAT good in person! Frogman's set was as close to hearing the New Orleans sound of Fats Domino's era that we got at the Stomp. C.C. Adcock, guitarist and bandleader, hosted the "Swamp Pop Exravaganza" next, and they hit home run after home run. NO DISAPPOINTMENTS, folks! Warren Storm played drums and sang his "Prisoner Song" and "Mama Mama" just like that greasy Nasco 45. Johnny Allan was a perfect swamp pop singer. John Fred was frantic, especially on "Boogie Chillun." Roy "Boogie Boy" Perkins had me jumpin' with his "Drop Top." I never heard of singer TK Hulin, but that guy has a VOICE! King Karl filled in for Rod Bernard who was sick. Karl sang "This Should Go On Forever," which he wrote, and Bernard took into the pop charts in 1959. Biggest surprise was a rare appearance by Phil Phillips who sang his "Sea Of Love" twice to many ovations. His voice is still the same. I was completely knocked out, my senses were reeling from all the great music and entertainment. I went outside and got caught up in a conversation with one of the organizers, so I didn't get back until Sam the Sham hit it. He's a big kat with broad shoulders and he was wearing a bright red suit. The Sham took us on a rollercoaster ride, but everything was perfect. He started with "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Ring Dang Doo," then played some cajun music, followed by the blues, followed by something that sounded like disco to me (what the heck?!?) and back to "Wooly Bully" by 3 a.m. He was another kat who had a powerful voice. He was funny, too. "Don't start no mess and there won't be one!" he said to the crowd. As the next act took the stage and started into that New Orleans blend of blues and funk, we hit the stairs ad let the night wrap itself up. I heard that the fest didn't make the money they needed to pay all the artists, so if the Ponderosa Stomp survives to see another year, perhaps the organizers will book fewer acts. And the average age of the headliners reminded us all ... Let the good times roll and enjoy it while it lasts!!! Craig "Bones" Maki Craig "Bones" Maki er primus motor i Bones Maki & the Sun Dodgers. |