The !!!! Beat - Goes On

Austin journalist Michael Corcoran recently had a cool facebook post which sent me looking for a rather obscure TV show from 1966 that played a lot of Rhythm'n'Blues, Blues & Soul called "The !!!! Beat." Trying to find some footage of Freddie King to celebrate his birthday on September 3, he stumbled upon the series - but read for yourself:



Watching several shows on youTube I was hooked and watched all shows that were available, some wouldn't play, as they were taken down due to obvious copyright infringement. But bits and pieces, even single clips with some of the performances of the 26 episodes can be found all over the internet. Spending some time with Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown in 1980 in Bern, Switzerland, he was always a favorite of mine, glad to see him being the leader of the backing band, The Beat Boys, which also included saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman.



Through Dallas journalist Robert Wilonsky and his piece in the Dallas Observer, I later found that Dallas was chosen as a production hub, because Nashville at that point in time didn't had any color TV station / production yet. After the show disappeared, the tapes were thought lost, but as to Wilonsky, rumor has it that they were bought at one time by Willie Nelson:

... for decades the show was thought to be lost -- till, that is, Willie Nelson began going through and selling off his personal belongings when he had the taxman breathing down his neck in the early '90s. Rumor is, the entire collection was in his possession.

Bill "Hoss" Allen, originally a radio DJ out of the Tennessee area was one of the first DJs to spin black music on the radio, according to some sources as early as in the mid 1940s. Unfortunately the show didn't last but a year, and the story has it, that "Hoss" didn't take the end to lightly:

Allen hosted all but the final episode: Legend has it he was so distraught over its cancellation he fell into a bottle and couldn't make it to say farewell. Which is why Otis Redding is seen below hosting an episode -- the final one, which appears to have been shot in October '66. Yes, Otis Redding hosted a show taped at WFAA.



I also found out that prestigious German re-issue label Bear Family bought the whole series and released a 6-DVD set for the greater public in 2005 with extensive liner notes in the booklets accompanying the sets. A search revealed that the discs are currently on sale (and much cheaper than at amazon). Well, the whole set is now in my Christmas wishlist.


Sources: Michael Corcoran, www.bear-family.com, youTube, Robert Wilonsky,

Sturgill Simpson & Stephen Colbert - Unofficial "Waffle House" Etiquette Song

It took me 25 years of living in the States to finally make it to a Waffle House on a recent trip (March) to Atlanta. I was simply ignorant and unaware, as there are only two in all of Central Texas and Mexican breakfast and/or Tacos are everywhere and cheap.



So on Monday night, country artist Sturgill Simpson, who just released "A Sailor's Guide to Earth" some days ago, visited the "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," to perform a raucous swamp-rock, including full horn-section version of "Brace For Impact (Live a Little)."



Yet before Simpson was able to literally blow us away, he was invited and asked by host Stephen Colbert to do a "commercial" for "Waffle House." As Stephen mentioned, "Waffle House" has it's own songs on its jukeboxes, well according to slate.com, "the all-day breakfast chain that has become a Southern institution, actually has its own music label, which has produced songs such as “There Are Raisins in My Toast” for its restaurants since the mid-’80s."

As the tables were almost turned over faster than we could eat, I was never able to check out their own jukeboxes and am simply wondering what would rhyme with sausage and hash-browns.

Stephen and Sturgill's take on the unofficial song is hilarious and quite right deals with a lot of good manners missing of the late night crowds I have seen in IHOPs and other early morning breakfast places. Yes it may as Sturgill sings "You're killin' your hangover, but you're killin' my mood."



Next time I'm gonna go to a Waffle House, I'm gonna search for the jukebox. Watch the two performances below and comeback here, I will review "A Sailor's Guide To Earth" in a couple of days.

Sturgill Simpson & Stephen Colbert - Unofficial "Waffle House" Etiquette Song

It took me 25 years of living in the States to finally make it to a Waffle House on a recent trip (March) to Atlanta. I was simply ignorant and unaware, as there are only two in all of Central Texas and Mexican breakfast and/or Tacos are everywhere and cheap.

So on Monday night, country artist Sturgill Simpson, who just released "A Sailor's Guide to Earth" some days ago, visited the "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," to perform a raucous swamp-rock, including full horn-section version of "Brace For Impact (Live a Little)."

Yet before Simpson was able to literally blow us away, he was invited and asked by host Stephen Colbert to do a "commercial" for "Waffle House." As Stephen mentioned, "Waffle House" has it's own songs on its jukeboxes, well according to slate.com, "the all-day breakfast chain that has become a Southern institution, actually has its own music label, which has produced songs such as “There Are Raisins in My Toast” for its restaurants since the mid-’80s."
As the tables were almost turned over faster than we could eat, I was never able to check out their own jukeboxes and am simply wondering what would rhyme with sausage and hash-browns.
Stephen and Sturgill's take on the unofficial song is hilarious and quite right deals with a lot of good manners missing of the late night crowds I have seen in IHOPs and other early morning breakfast places. Yes it may as Sturgill sings "You're killin' your hangover, but you're killin' my mood."

Next time I'm gonna go to a Waffle House, I'm gonna search for the jukebox. Watch the two performances below and comeback here, I will review "A Sailor's Guide To Earth" in a couple of days.