Buckeye Randy

A release by Michael Des Barres to share with all my glam rock friends. It's worth exactly one listen but it's fun! So many artists over the years have paid their respects to the glam era. I think my favorite was by Def Lep but they're all a good time.

It's interesting (to me anyways) that 'Stay With Me' gets included on some glam releases. I don't consider Faces a glam band. No surprise that Iggy and Lou Reed are included though the two songs had little to do with glam.

Enjoy!

Artist: Michael Des Barres
Title: It's Only Rock N' Roll
Released: October 11, 2024

Dyna-Mite
Love is the Drug
Moonage Daydream
20th Century Boy
Search and Destroy
Waiting for the Man
Fox on the Run
All the Young Dudes
*** on Feel the Noize
Stay With Me
I'm Eighteen
It's Only Rock and Roll

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Billy Don't Be A Porter

Buckeye Randy

I suppose it would be helpful if I added who did the original '70's glam version...

Dyna-Mite - Mudd
Love is the Drug - Roxy Music
Moonage Daydream - David Bowie
20th Century Boy - T-Rex
Search and Destroy - Iggy and The Stooges
Waiting for the Man - Velvet Underground
Fox on the Run - The Sweet
All the Young Dudes - Mott the Hoople
*** on Feel the Noize - Slade
Stay With Me - Faces
I'm Eighteen - Alice Cooper
It's Only Rock and Roll - Stones

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Billy Don't Be A Porter

Buckeye Randy

What: Ruf Records 30 Years Anniversary Tour
When: November 8, 2024
Where: Robins Theatre (Warren, OH)

Occasionally, I google up various artists to see if there is any info on upcoming releases or upcoming tours. While doing so a couple months ago I did a search on Samantha Fish. I stumbled across an upcoming tour titled, “Ruf Records 30 Years Anniversary Tour “. After reading the promo I learned it’s a tour featuring performances by artists that have been on Ruf Records. The tour includes Ghalia Volt, Canned Heat w/Bernard Allison and Samantha Fish w/Mitch Ryder.

The fact I did a search for on Samantha Fish is a little odd since I don’t own anything and I’ve never seen her perform. My interest is based mostly on the song “Deathwish” w/Jesse Dayton and the fact her most recent tour that stopped by a nearby small venue sold out almost immediately. As I've told Mrs. Buckeye, my interest has nothing to do with photos I've seen of Samantha in leather outfits that would make Suzi Quatro envious.

This concert looks really interesting, so I check on ticket availability. Winner, winner, chicken dinner! Tix have only been on sale for 15 minutes and I score two front row balcony seats at Robins Theatre. I’ve never been to this venue that is over an hour drive but I'm not scared. After doing a google search of the area I discover it’s across the street from the courthouse and there are two bail bond businesses on the same block. Still not scared, I love an edgy neighborhood.

The Robins Theatre was built in 1922. At time of opening, the exterior was in Italian Renaissance style and the interior had Vermont marble columns and grand staircases with ornate walls and ceiling. The 1400 seat theater remained in operation until 1974 when the doors were closed until renovations began in 2017. Renovations included restoring the original splendor along with adding modern amenities. I think it’s great, the very first concert venue I’ve been to with a chandelier in the bathroom.

I have always preferred tickets in hand, I’m that guy that prints out tix instead of having them on my phone or picking up at ‘will call’. Many venues now only allow electronic tix so I’ve slowly, albeit reluctantly shifted to the new era of technology, old habits are hard to break. After going through the metal detector and having the wand passed over my belt buckle several times, Mrs. Buckeye flashes her phone to the ticket taker…INVALID. Pardon me? Could you please try again? INVALID!

Panic races through my body as I begin to internally meltdown and imagine a stress filled hour drive home (i.e. blaming Mrs. Buckeye for no reason and later regretting it). We go to the box office that is next door and after a short wait we are issued a pair of old school tix with names and numbers. Nice souvenir and glad I said nothing to regret

The evening begins with an introduction by Ruf Records founder, Thomas Ruf (pronounced ‘roof’). I think it’s extremely cool that this guy from Germany has built a successful record label signing country, roots and blues artists. The music begins with Ghalia Volt who hails from Belgium. She is a one-woman wrecking crew that performs while seated with her guitar and a kick drum operated by her left foot, a snare with her right. Nice 20 minute set that was warmly met.

I witnessed what I believe was a world record for shortest time between bands. In less than 10 minutes, Canned Heat took the stage and went straight into “On The Road Again”. The only original member from back in the day is their drummer, Fito (Adolfo de la Parra). The new members were certainly age appropriate to have witnessed those early shows at Monterey Pop and Woodstock. I only mention this because I’ve seen other bands with one original member that have been surrounded by much younger band mates and the authenticity to the era is non-existent.

Most bands of this ilk run through a set of oldies for a trip down memory lane. While the band did include “Up The Country” and “Work Together” as expected they also introduced two new songs. I smile that Canned Heat is still pushing the envelope with recently released material from their 2024 album "Finyl Vinyl" even when performing as an opener. Also included during the set was a guest appearance by Ruff Record stablemate and guitarist Bernard Allison who performed two songs. Job well done by all.

The majority of the crowd was of the age expected for fans of Canned Heat and Mitch Ryder. I expected a much younger crowd since headliner Samantha Fish is only 35 years old. I do understand older gentlemen being attracted to Samantha Fish (smiling). However…it was apparent from the moment that Samantha took the stage that this older crowd was here for Samantha Fish. Does this mean that the musical category of blues is generating new artists but not new fans? I won’t overthink this because of the venue and type of show certainly could factor into the equation.

Samantha with her short curly tasseled blond hair and heavy eyeliner opened with "Wild Heart". She was backed by an extremely tight outfit consisting of Mickey Finn (keyboards), Ron Johnson (bass) and Jamie Douglas (drums). She started the show with a white SG and changed guitars between nearly song but by the end she was back to rockin’ that SG.

I don’t want to overstate or understate this; Samantha Fish and her band had the best sound I’ve ever heard at a concert…the very best. Maybe it was in part due to the natural acoustics of the theatre or maybe our location of being perched at the front of the balcony. The fact that the show was not over amplified probably helped as well. Don't get me wrong, the loud parts were loud but the dynamics were extreme because you could hear a pin drop during the quiet parts. The funny thing is that the videos I've watched on YouTube sound like any other concert, go figure.

Samantha was great as she changed up the pace from slow blues to robust rockers. She had the crowd singing choruses and she also played a knock-out version of her latest single which is a cover of, "I Put A Spell On You". The highlight for me was the song "Bullet Proof". Everything was great.

Lest I forget, Mitch Ryder came out a little over half-way through the show for a couple numbers. Mitch had to be led to a microphone, he was slightly hunched and appeared frail. Appearances can be deceiving because his voice was booming and anything but frail. I was hoping to hear some of his 60's classics but instead got two songs which are from his 2024 release on Ruff Records. First was "Tough Kids" which first appeared on Mitch's 1978 album (How I Spent My Vacation) followed by a Bob Dylan cover of "From A Buick 6". As quickly as he was led on the stage, he was led off the stage.

Samantha ended her set before the encore with one of her heaviest blues numbers, "Black Wind Howlin'". Normally, I feel an encore is a predetermined fate but I'm not so sure on this evening. The band returned to perform "Goin' Down South" which was from Samantha's time on Ruff Records. She can certainly rock out when so inclined.

I really don't know what else to add other than noting the coolest band t-shirt I saw during this well-seasoned evening of entertainment. It belonged to the keyboardist for Samantha Fish whose name if you remember is Mickey Finn. Mickey was wearing a T Rex Slider album cover shirt. The cool kids in the class will know why this is funny!

Great time, I'm a total fan now and I don't even care what she looks like (smiling). Well done!

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Billy Don't Be A Porter

Drjohnrock

I saw the Ruf Records tour in Cincinnati the night after Buckeye Randy saw it in Warren. I agree in general with the points made in Randy's review and will add some thoughts of my own.

The tour played Ludlow Garage, a legendary space in the late 60s/early 70s which saw a lot of legendary rock acts, including some, like the Allman Brothers, before they were massively popular. The venue closed in the early 70s. but reopened for concerts in 2014.

However, even though in the same building, the current space is very different from the original. Due to a hardware store now occupying most of the first floor, the shows are now in the basement, in two seated sections mostly separated by the kitchen for the club's upstairs restaurant. You'll see why I'm mentioning the club's odd layout later in my review.

Per my usual custom, I checked out the merch tables before the show. The tables had the biggest assortment of merch I've ever seen at any show: vinyl and CDs by not only the evening's acts but by other Ruf artists as well, Samantha Fish and Ghalia Volt t-shirts, and a tour t-shirt with the tour dates on the back--something I bought after the show.

Ghalia Volt's 23 minute opening set was extremely impressive. I've seen one person bands before but Ghalia was the best I've seen. In addition to using both feet to play a kick drum and snare, she also had a hi-hat and tambourine she manipulated with her feet. Her singing and guitar playing were first rate, and blues purists might consider her set the most authentic of the evening. I very much want to see her headling sometime.

Canned Heat was a big favorite of mine as a young teenager. And even though i eventually lost most of my interest in the blues-based rock I liked then, Canned Heat's brand of boogie music was always a bit different, being based on earlier forms of the blues, unlike a lot of other blues influenced groups. So I was glad to finally get to see them live.

The current version of the band includes lead guitarist and vocalist Jimmy Vivino (who served as guitarist and musical director for Conan O'Brien for many years), rhythm guitarist/singer/hamonica player Dale Spaulding (who has worked with a lot of people, including his own band), bassist Rick Reed (who has done stints with Paul Butterfield and John Mayall, among others) and of course Fito, drummer who has been with the band for over 50 years and has kept it going for the majority of that time. In addition to doing old favorites like "On The Road Again", "Going Up The Country", and "Let's Work Together", the band played two songs from their latest album, Final Vinyl, "One Last Boogie" and "East West Boogie". The two new songs, as well as "Whiskey Headed Woman" (featuring a fierce Spauldind lead vocal), were the highlights of their set for me. "East West Boogie", which seems a bit gimmicky in the studio version, really worked well live. It really sounded like a cross between the eastern and western parts of the world, with Spaulding showing a lot of versatility on the harmonica. The song really could, as Spaulding suggested, be a backdrop for belly dancing or snake charming. All in all, a fine set that surpassed my expectations, and the three songs they did with guitrist Bernard Allison were good as well.

Something I've never seen happen at a show occurred during Canned Heat's set. A bald headed man approached the stage and interrupted the start of a song to talk wit Vivino. After he lest, Vivino told the sold out crowd "Do you know who that was? That was our manager, Skip Taylor (their manager since the 60s)." It turns out that Taylor was concerned that Vivino (who was doing most of the stage patter up to that point), wasn't playing enough attention to the audience members to the left of the stage (remember what I said about the two separate audience sections?). Although Vivino made a joke of the encounter--"hey, I'm right handed!"--he was clearly annoyed by Taylor's interruption--as well he should have been, as ill timed as it was.

Samantha Fish has a lot of musical integrity. She has a voice that could have gotten her onto American Idol so she could make a lot of money doing vacuous pop music but instead has stuck with dong the type of music she wants to do. Good for her. And good for her for insisting that Mitch Ryder be part of the tour, as Mitch stated between the two songs that Samantha and her band backed him on. And she is very talented. She is an extremely talented guitarist, with inventive touches that kept her playing fresher than a lot of other blues-rock guitarists. She even showed a sense of humor by using an effect on one song that made her guitar sound like a cat meowing.

But despite the positive aspects of her set, I found myself getting a bit bored after an hour of her set. Again, most blues based rock doesn't hold the thrill for me it once did, so a lot of guitar soloing in that vein eventually grates on me. Or was it because I was a little tired from having to work that Saturday? Maybe a little of both.

All in all, though, it was a fine show that was well worth seeing. As a bonus, by sheer coincidence, the guy seated to my right was a guy I used to work with years ago. It was nice catching up with him between sets.

Buckeye Randy

Who: The Riders In The Sky
Where: Kent Stage (Kent, Ohio)
When: November 16, 2024

Date Night in Kent

The Riders In The Sky are a country western quartet representing a simpler time and certainly several decades before my time. What I know from their promo is they’ve been together for over 40 years and were regulars on The Nashville Network during the early days of cable. They have also won Grammys for their songs appearing in Disney’s Toy Story movies and are members of The Grand Ole Opry.

The band was dressed exactly how you would expect in their western wear with plenty of sequins. Members are; Ranger Doug on guitar, Too Slim on standup bass, Woody Paul on fiddle and Joey the Cowpolka King on accordion (stomach Steinway). The harmonies and musicianship are very good. They included some yodeling and plenty of G-rated comedy banter for this near capacity crowd on a Saturday night in downtown Kent.

I am amused that I was mere feet away from where I was in June when I was standing against the stage being blasted away by The Dictators. I’m like a chameleon.

Sooo…it wasn’t really like going to a concert, the expectations were very different. It was somewhere between going to a school play and going to a circus. Mrs. Buckeye summed up the evening with some comments. “Is this what we’ve become? I’m not ready for this”!

Very professional and entertaining band for people looking for reminders of a bygone era…I’m not quite ready to step in with this crowd but it was a fun time.

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Billy Don't Be A Porter