It isn’t news that rampant corporatism has killed creativity in the arts, or more precisely, prevented creative artists from getting wide exposure.  There are a lot of bands that would have been staples of FM radio in the old days, but can’t get in the door now.  Mumbo Gumbo is a great little band out of Davis, CA that’s fronted by two very talented women, main singer-songwriter Tracy Walton, and songbird extraordinaire Chris Webster.  They also have one of the best rhythm sections around in drummer’s drummer (and producer) Rick Lotter, and bassist “Mikey” Palmer.  They just released their first CD in five years, Wishbones, which I haven’t had a chance to pick up yet, but I’ll report back on it.

They started out as a cajun-style party band, and although they still intersperse that throughout their repertoire, they’ve matured into a very adult band with its own unique sound.  Here’s a taste of zydeco on a tune called Julio.  (You don’t have to open an account to hear the cuts at MediaFire.  Just scroll down.)  Here’s Tracy singing lead on Daisy Chain.  Tracy has shown an exponential development since the beginning of the band, and is now a world-class songwriter.  Tumbleweed showcases the impossibly gorgeous voice of Chris Webster, she of the enticingly ambiguous sexuality.  She’s one of those women whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  When you see her initially, especially if it’s a pic, you think, “meh.”  But when you see the band live, she’s mesmerizing.  You want her.  Bad.  And that includes women.  Anthony Jones rocks, especially Rick.  Their website has links to buy the CD’s.  I’d suggest starting with Potluck and Seven.

Regular readers know that I’m a big Feat fan, and my wife and I go to Jamaica every year for Feat Camp.  Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett always take a night for their acoustic show, and last year, they did it from the big stage for the first time.  It was something to watch two guys with acoustics get a whole crowd rockin’ and dancin’.  They recorded a CD of the act a few years ago, Live From North Cafe, which I picked up after last year’s show.  You can get it at the Feat website.  Much of the playing on it is simply astonishing.  Paul works out his signature slide licks on Down On the Farm, and they add some beautiful jazz chordings to All That You Dream, turning it into a completely different song.

I think I wrote about the Lovehammers CD back when it came out, but I was still doing my Warren Zevon impression then, so I can’t really be sure.  I thought then that it was one of the best CD’s of that year, and I still think that.  Sure, it’s in the formula of modern rock popularized by Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but the difference between it and, say, the latest 3 Doors Down CD, is that the songs are original and well-crafted.  The playing and singing is great, and it has killer production.  It’s a fucking crime that the record company didn’t get behind it and give it the push it deserved.  For those who don’t know, Marty Casey was a “contestant” on “Rock Star INXS,” a reality show that auditioned singers for the job of fronting INXS.  He finished second, which kind of pissed me off at the time, because I think the fix was in for J.D. Fortune, but in retrospect, J.D. was a better fit for the band, and I loved the CD they made.  These tunes are from the CD Marty Casey and Lovehammers.  Marty rocks.  Marty waxes lyrical.

Speaking of Warren Zevon, here are a couple of cuts from Life’ll Kill Ya.  I wrote about it here.  His take on Ebbis from Mebbis, Porcelain Monkey.  The title track.

Buy these CD’s.  Play them.  Love them.  Touch my monkey.  They should be known, but life isn’t fair.  Didn’t one of our greatest presidents say that?

Update:  I thought I’d throw in a rock and roll book that’s worth buying.  It’s called Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards, by Al Kooper.  It’s hilarious, and informative, and entertaining.  He tells what might be the ultimate rock and roll story, about how he bluffed his way onto the session for “Like a Rolling Stone.”  Can you imagine being, through a series of small coincidences, in that place and time in rock and roll history, and bullshitting your way onto probably the seminal Bob Dylan song?  And pulling it off?  And having Dylan like it enough that he eventually asked you to be in his backup band?  My favorite part is the bit about how he’s an eighth-note behind everyone because he was terrified of fucking up the good take on a Bob Dylan song, so he waited to make sure of the chord everyone was playing.  When I listened to it after reading that, it all came back to me.  At the time, I remember thinking (along with a lot of other people, I would imagine), “Hey, that’s kinda cool the way he does that.  Gives it an added little punch.”  Kooper exaggerates that a bit in his charmingly self-deprecating way.  It only happened a couple of times.  It wasn’t long before he was comfortable enough to extemporize.  But it’s hysterical listening to it when you know what was really going on.  That’s the kind of inside nugget that’s the reason I read those books, and this one is full of stuff like that.