Greg Brown tells you why he's proud to play in this true "dump".

[MiddleFingerMom]

.
This song has always kinda reminded me of Tom Waits'
"The Piano has been Drinking".
.
"Mose Allison Played Here"
.
The Bellyachers played last night.
Everybody got sick.
Don't even try dancin',
your feet'll just stick.
.
The band signs its posters,
"Fuck you, McGill"
but that's just the good part,
the bad part's the smell.
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDgT60WzjwA
.
.
My band used to LOVE to play dives. We had 8-9 people in
the band and we played one of our dive-iest dives down in
Wilmington, DE (where the houseband punk lead singer would
dress in nothing but a transparent raincoat with a pack of
Marlboro's in one pocket). The joint would fill up... but
often during the first set, the "crowd" might be 2-6 people.
My favorite line was that "we LIKE playing to crowds like
this because if you turn ugly, the band can kick ALL y'alls
asses".
.
How's THAT, Skittles?
.

[tigereye]

1. what a great songwriter!

[abq e streeter]

2. A little history--that's about an Albuquerque bar I played many times in the 90's

it was called the Dingo Bar. I actually liked playing there. I was always treated fairly by the owner ( Miguel, not McGill) but of course , he WAS a bar owner, and I've met very few that weren't at least a little shady...He had a lot of different styles of music in there, including The Bellyachers. I was in blues bands at the time and as I said, played there often and it was my favorite place to play in town. The Bellyachers were "indie" rock, and I used to see many good local "indie" and punk bands there too besides blues...
And Miguel brought some great national shows there too, including Mose Allison. I was there for that. Also saw Nils Lofgren there, standing about 8 feet away from him. Good national-level blues guys like Tommy Castro and Anson Funderburgh too... I also remember Rick Derringer's band showing up on jam night and playing a whole set ...

I have no idea what happened that stood out to Greg Brown as being so horrible ( I 've played in infinitely smellier/ divier places ) but obviously he never played the REAL dives of ABQ if he thought the Dingo was a smelly pit.

[MiddleFingerMom]

3. I think his point...

.
...may have been not so much the factual "diveness" of the bar as his
admiration for Mose Allison and his work.
.
Same for Tom Waits' "The Piano has been Drinking" -- maybe the club
wasn't as bad as he depicted, but it might not have been as incredible
a song had he been more "realistic".
.
Like I said, we LIKED playing dives. "Joe's" (I think the full name
may have been "Joe's Sportsman's Lounge") had been a real dive-y dive
for almost half-a-century when I encountered it as a customer, and had
been known for booking QUALITY music (both local and national acts)
throughout all those decades -- swing, bigband, rockabilly-type early
rock-and-roll, hippie jam bands, glam bands, etc, etc, etc.
.
Our goal as a band was to not only play there (not too difficult), but
to be asked to come back (in our minds, a sure sign that we were putting
out quality music).
.
Played our first PAID gig there (we got our start -- and a GREAT one --
opening for free for a hot local reggae band). You set your own cover
price at Joe's and your people collected it at the door. We set our cover
(as always) at a LOW 2 or 3 dollars -- we thought of ourselves as a
"working man's band".
.
End of the night. Rendesvous and off-loading at the drummer's house. Sat
at a huge round table and divvied up our money. After expenses, we each
got one crisp new ten-dollar bill. We had been working on our all-original
music for TWO YEARS before we felt ready to hit a stage. It worked out to
less than minimum wage for the night.
.
WE WERE FUCKING ECSTATIC!!!!!
.
They will PAY us to do this!!!!! (Ended up playing there numerous times.)
.
After two years of work, we were an overnight local success, sometimes
pulling in $1500 at a club, but keeping our 2-3 dollar covers when we
played our favorite venues -- true dives.
.
Never realized our dream of playing a place where chicken wire across
the front of the stage was necessary, a la "The Blue Brothers"... but
you just can't have EVERYTHING!!!
.

[abq e streeter]

4. Never played a chicken wire place either...and always wanted to

Just thought that as a musician you might find it interesting to know something about the actual place that Brown was writing about. Was that "overnight success" band in Tucson? The bass player in the main blues band that I used to play with at the Dingo had lived and played in Tucson for several years ..in the 80's ( I think). Tall guy , who's also an excellent artist, named Jeff . Also , were the Rocket 88's a Tucson based band too? A friend from here used to play guitar with them. I haven't been to Tucson for many years. Last ( and actually only, outside of jamming with local PHX bands) time I played Phoenix was a couple of years ago at a bar convention at a fancy resort hotel in Scottsdale...


P.S........ I LOVE The Piano Has Been Drinking

[MiddleFingerMom]

6. I did find it VERY interesting...

.
...I had always thought the bar to be a total creation from his
head -- or at most a compilation of all the crappy joints he had
played.
.
My band was outside of Philadelphia late 80's or so -- I didn't
move to Tucson 'til 1998.
.
Rocket 88's play a lot in Tucson, but they're out of Phoenix.
.
Probably the biggest blues name to come out of Tucson is Sam Taylor.
Guitarist par EXCE-FUCKIN'-LENCE. He comes back to town to stay for
short periods, usually has a coupla gigs (though I've never seen a
whole night of him). What I have seen is what he so often does --
he'll walk into a bar cold off the streets, join the blues band
onstage -- and without a need to warm up to it in the slightest --
he just BURNS THE PLACE DOWN!!!
.
Plays a coupla songs, thanks the crowd and the band and walks out.
.
Nothin' but embers in his wake.
.
I HIGHLY recommend seeing him if you ever get the chance.
.
One of the local favorites is Al Perry. Credited as being one of
the creators/inspirations of and for the cowpunk genre of music.
Has a GREAT radio show of really odd and collectible Arizona music --
mostly western/cowboy stuff. I had a comedy/novelty show and once
did an entire hour of songs about rodents. One of the few instrumentals
I EVER played was for that show and it was an Al Perry song called,
"Gerbils". When I told him that I used his song for my "Rodent Show",
he was impressed.
.
"Rodent Show?", he asked. "An HOUR about RODENTS? That's weird".
.
I smiled.
.
And he said, "No, that's REALLY weird."
.
I GLOWED like a bazillion fireflies. It was one of the compliments
about my shows of which I am most proud.
.

[Kali]

7. Sam died last year.

ooo according to wiki Squidd is who got him to come to Tucson:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Taylor_%28blues_musician%29

[MiddleFingerMom]

8. Usually, I shrug off...

.
..."celebrity" deaths. I mean, millions of people die every day -- and
none of them is less than "celebrities".
.
But I witnessed and enjoyed on occasion the wonder and magic that Sam
brought to people.
.
According to that Wiki article (thanks), he was MUCH more accomplished
than I was aware of.
.
His death does diminish the world.
.

[Heidi]

5. !

I _lovelovelove_ Greg Brown! So many favorites to choose from, but this is my personal fave: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjdOB1AnCZ8

Canned Goods
Well, let the wild winter wind bellow and blow.
I'm as warm as a July tomato.

Cho: There's peaches on the shelf, potatoes in the bin.
Supper's ready, everybody come on in.
Taste a little of the summer.
Taste a little of the summer.
Taste a little of the summer.
Grandma put it all in jars.

Well, there's a root cellar, fruit cellar, down below.
Watch your head now, and down we go.

Well, maybe you are weary and you don't give a damn.
I bet you never tasted her blackberry jam.

Oh, she got magic in her, you know what I mean.
She puts the sun and rain in with her beans.

What with the snow and the economy and everything,
I think I'll just stay down here and eat until spring.

When I go down to see Grandma, I gain a lot a weight.
With her dear hands, she gives me plate after plate.

She cans the pickles, sweet and dill,
And the songs of the whip-or-will,
And the morning dew and the evening moon,
I really gotta go down and see her soon.

'Cause the canned goods that I buy at the store
Ain't got the summer in 'em anymore.
You bet, Grandma, as sure as you're born,
I'll take some more potatoes and a thunderstorm.

[MiddleFingerMom]

9. "Canned Goods"...

.
...is my favorite of his BY FAR.. but I've spent a LOT of time searching
for the version from his "The Live One" release -- 13 or 14 minutes long
with the incredible story of going to visit his Grandma,
,
The little uncle farmers married to the huge aunts who, upon his arrival,
would CLUTCH him in to their enormous breasts... making him wonder if
a boy was ever "bosomed to death".
.
Much clearer lyrics, too -- the two other live versions I found were
somewhat mumbled onstage.
.