Boo Boo Davis explains his name!

Fun live audio session on a European tour with James Boo Boo Davis who is a classic bluesman of the old school-a group whose numbers are shrinking rapidly sad to say.

Leon Russell and Glen Campbell -way back when!

Dig this 1964 footage of Leon Russell making like Johnny Depp and featuring Glen Campbell on banjo. Go Leon Go!

Joe Pass /NHOP duo-holy crap!

Joe Pass and Niels Henning Orsted Petterson playing a little Donna Lee........yowza!

Sugar Pie-Mercy!!!!

Not much needs to be said about this blues Queen-the great Sugar Pie DeSanto at a recent SF street fair. Her work on the blanket on an asphalt street defies her age which is uncertain but she had hits in the 50's........THIS is the blues-also some nice work on guitar by old pal Steve Gannon-this is really amazing!

Mr Cleanhead-Eddie Vinson sings and plays

The late, great Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson was a master of the intersection of blues and jazz. Here's a classic sample of his magical talents. He's the one who gave me the nickname Dick Deluxe when I backed him once!

Scotty Anderson-guitar genius!!!!!

The great Scotty Anderson having fun in the studio. If you don't know Scotty hang on-he's really the best!

Willie the Lion in the UK!

The fantastic Will "the Lion" Smith doing the Fats Waller classic Carolina Shout on a UK TV show in the 60's. The history of American jazz piano in 2 minutes-astonishing!

Snooks Eaglin-oh hell yeah!!!!!!!

The great Snooks Eaglin-one of my absolute favorite artists of all time ripping up the New Orleans classic Red Beans . George Porter Jr. of the Meters on bass, Kenneth Blevins on drums and Bonnie Raitt's pianist Jon Cleary. Dig Snooks' guitar technique-especially his right hand-incredible. One of the most underrated bluesmen of all time.

Ike Turner before Tina in 1959!

I suspect there's master's degree thesis in this clip featuring young Ike Turner and his Rhythm Kings on local St Louis TV in 1959. Note how Ike and the other black musicians are referred to as "boys". Note the whites only dancing in the studio. The hilarious kicker though is Jimmy Thomas doing Splish Splash and instead of getting out of a tub he gets out of washing machine-low budget! Has America changed much in 50 years-I think so.....

Ernie Borgnine on getting old!!!!!!!!!!

Priceless, instant YouTube classic! The great actor on how he's looks 65 at 91-go Ernie!!!

Doug Sahm in Cisco Pike

The late great Doug Sahm in the Kris Kristofferson vehicle Cisco Pike. Sort of playing himself.......the movie's kind of a stinker but this is the best part!

Dive bars in Las Vegas

Sick of blowing all the dough on fancy clubs you feel you are being put down in? Here's some of the Vegas I love! I play at the Double Down on Wednesday nights when I'm in Vegas and it's even dimmer than it appears here!

Ask a Chola!

This is some very funny stuff from the emerging underground phenomenon "Ask a Chola". Boy howdy!

Sean Costello covers Robert Ward

The late Sean Costello was an incredible talent who died way too young. This video is a performance of "Love is Amzing" by the legendary Robert Ward. Simply great.

Freddie Blassie twisting with Dick van Dyke!

A great gag from a 1962 Dick van Dyke episode. The great Freddie Blassie in his prime guesting on the sitcom and having some fun with the "twist craze" sweeping the country at the time.

Johnny Valentine in 1962!

When I was kid fixated on wrestling my biggest hero was the late Johnny Valentine. This time last year virtually no footage of him was on YouTube but seemingly the pile grows every day.

This is him from 1962 in St Louis and among the curios included in this otherwise desultory match is the crowd sitting around picnic tables (!!!!) and the inclusion of moonlighting baseball player Joe Garagiola announcing-poorly IHMO. Garagiola who later went to the Today show and became a national announcing icon also had another weird role in my life. When my grandfather died in St Louis I was wandering around the Kutis funeral home while my Dad made arrangements. I happened into a room and saw the first dead person I'd ever seen-Joe's Mom who was in an open casket......

Victor the Bear versus the Destroyer

A classic gimmick match between Dick Beyer (the Destroyer) and Victor the Wrestling Bear. It was taped in the 60's at LA's famed Olympic Auditorium and is narrated by Mr. Beyer rather hilariously. Even Vince McMahon doesn't attempt to book animals anymore!

Jorma's Fur Peace Ranch

I found this promo for the Fur Peace Ranch. My old pal John Hurlbutt was running a very cool record store in Columbus when I met him around 1994. He told me about Jorma Kaukonen from Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane fame opening a music school on a ranch in rural Meggs county. It's been going for many years now and happy to say John is managing the ranch and all are in good health. Looks like a great time!

Jerry Reed and Chet Atkins burning!

If you think of Jerry Reed only as a comedian don't forget he's one of the world's greatest guitar players. Here he and Chet Atkins do a little number and notice the great right hand technique used by Jerry-badass!

Robert Nighthawk on MAxwell Street 1964

The amazing Robert Nighthawk singing and ripping on slide on Chicago's Maxwell Street in the early 60's. The singing and slide playing are everything great blues is about-simply stunning. The dancing and the scene are long gone but the influence of this music lives on.

Otis Rush-THIS is slow blues......

Introduced by the great Roosevelt Sykes, a young and pompadoured Otis Rush kills on "I Can't Quit You Baby" later covered by Led Zeppelin. I love Zep but I doubt Plant or Page could ever come up with anything this deep-this is truly incredible. The great Dave Myers on bass, Fred Below on drums and wow.........

Percy Mayfield at home

Blues pianist Mark Naftalin produced a great documentary of his friend and mentor Percy Mayfield and this scene is priceless. In addition to a casual run through of his hit for Ray Charles "Hit the Road Jack", Percy slips into the kitchen for a little "milk"! Great stuff from the poet of the blues!

JB Lenoir in Chicago 1965!

Part of an amazing documentary by the great Swedish artists Steve and Ronnag Seaburg on blues great JB Lenoir. JB is clearly amused by the translation for the Swedish audience being done by Ronnag who has become a noted avant garde poet as well as filmmaker. Thanks to their relationship with JB and further films including trips to Sweden their is great archival footage of this mostly forgotten blues great.

Joe Sullivan-the stride piano king!

Here's the great Joe Sullivan the great stride jazz pianist playing and chatting with Ralph Gleason the esteemed SF critic and TV host. Some fantastic playing and few funny stories.

Mr Excitement-Jackie Wilson!!!!!!!!!!!

Hank Ballard told me that one thing to be sure to avoid when on a package show was to go after Jackie Wilson. When Hank and James Brown would tour together during their years on Federal/King records, they always studied Jackie's every move. Here's "Mr Excitement" on the old Shindig show.........think Michael Jackson did a little studying as well?

Coltrane on paper!

Somebody went to a lot of work to sync this transcription to the music-fun stuff! The great Coltrane composition and recording of Giant Steps!