Tav Falco reveals the secret eye of the artist on the Todd-o-Phonic Todd show

Tav Falco talks about narrowly escaping a satanic cult, working as a railroad brakeman, Alex Chilton and more on WFMU. 

Here's the scoop...

Tav Falco recently appeared as a guest on the "Todd-o-phonic Todd" show on WFMU Radio. Although it originally aired on Saturday (October 4), the show has been archived right here: https://wfmu.org/archiveplayer/?show=156690&archive=277306

Following five tunes by Tav Falco's Panther Burns starting at around the 1-hour mark, Tav discusses his critically-acclaimed new 'Desire on Ice' LP (5 stars from Mojo, 8 out of 10 from Uncut) and his 'Urania Trilogy' of avantgarde films which will be screened soon in NYC.

Tav Falco – Desire On Ice

The songwriting of Southern rock ‘n’ roll provocateur Tav Falco is celebrated on his 14th studio album, Desire on Ice. With basic tracks recorded at Sam Phillips Recording Services in Memphis, Tennessee, Desire on Ice was created over an 18-month period by Falco and his longtime producer and musical partner, Mario Monterosso. Undoubtedly the most ambitious project in the artist’s 40-plus-year career, Desire on Ice features an astonishing lineup of all-star talent who are sympatico with his singular flair and vision. 

The lineup of featured players on Desire on Ice is impressive. The sessions were anchored by the members of Falco’s current touring band, Panther Burns: guitarist Mario Monterosso, bassist Giuseppe Sangirardi, and drummer Walter Brunetti. The guests include Ann Magnuson, Nicole Atkins, Jolie Holland, Bobby Gillespie, Pete Molinari, Kid Congo Powers, Jon Spencer, Rev. Horton Heat, Jimmy Rip, Chris Spedding, Boz Boorer, Richard Barone, Eddie Angel, Bubba Feathers, Chris Maxwell, Charlie Musselwhite, Mirko Dettori, Kai Eric, Rene Coman, Bertrand Burgulat, Alex Greene, Michael Perry Allen, Jim Sclavunos, and Ross Johnson, among others. Memphis writer and longtime Panther Burns confidante Robert Gordon has contributed new liner notes for the release.

'Desire on Ice' is available now on "black ice" vinyl LP, CD & digital from Org Music. Produced by Mario Monterosso. Get it here: https://orgmusic.com/collections/tav-falco/products/desire-on-ice

1. Prologue (Spoken word by Kid Congo Powers; guitar by Rev. Horton Heat)

2. Gentleman in Black (Vocal by Tav Falco; guitar by Jimmy Rip)

3. Cuban Rebel Girl (Vocal by Tav Falco; guitar by Chris Spedding; blues harp by Charles Musselwhite

4. Sympathy for Mata Hari (Vocals by Tav Falco & Jon Spencer)

5. Vampire from Havana (Vocals by Tav Falco & Ann Magnuson; guitar by Bubba Feathers)

6. Doomsday Baby (Vocals by Tav Falco & Bobby Gillespie; drums by Jim Sclavunos)

7. Crying for More (Vocals by Tav Falco & Nicole Atkins; guitar by Richard Barone)

8. The Ballad of Rue de la Lune (Vocals by Tav Falco & Pete Molinari; guitar by Boz Boorer)

9. Garden of the Medicis (Vocal by Tav Falco; piano by Bertrand Burgulat)

10. Lady from Shanghai (Vocal by Tav Falco; bass by Rene Coman; piano by Alex Greene) 

11. Chamber of Desire (Vocals by Tav Falco & Jolie Holland)

12. Epilogue (Spoken word by Nicole Atkins; guitar by Eddie Angel) 

R.I.P. producer/manager, music historian and cable-TV host Art Fein

Sadly, Art Fein, host of Art Fein's Poker Party and rock 'n' roll's best friend has passed away. He'll be greatly missed!

Dave Alvin remembers Art Fein

Extremely sad hearing of the passing of Art Fein. 

There is so much to say about Art. A music journalist, a  passionate (though always nicely cynical) true believer in rock and roll, rockabilly and other raw creations, a sometime band manager/advocate for The Cramps, The Blasters and other notable groups, a public access television host (check out his old Little Art's Poker Party shows on YouTube), a sneaky photographer and a complicated friend. I'll save the details for the eventual memoir but for now, I'll just say a belated, sincere thank you to Art, for everything he did for The Blasters and me. 

Back in the early days of The Blasters, when few outside of Rollin' Rock Records knew or cared who we were, Art cared deeply. 

In late 1979/early 1980, I was a wannabe poet working as a fry cook in Long Beach. I was also a clumsy guitar basher in a R&B combo from Downey who was beginning to write songs for my brother to sing. One of those songs was called Marie Marie. 

Long story short: Art Fein played Marie to a Welsh rock and roll singer named Shakin' Stevens, who quickly recorded my song and made it into a huge international hit (everywhere except the USofA). Thanks to Art Fein (and the ensuing BMI royalty checks), I was soon able to quit my job as a cook and pursue music.songwriting and rockin' n' rollin' full time. 

I can never, ever thank you enough for all you did for me, Art. Especially for ending my career as a fry cook.

Rock In Peace! - Dave Alvin

 

LINKS

Los Angeles Times Poker Party's freewheeling ace Art Fein

Get a copy of Art Fein's memoir Rock's In My Head (Trouser Press) right here.

Calvin Johnson previews new Gallows Wine album with "Pink Cadillac"

Calvin Johnson's new album Gallows Wine isn't out till April but you can hear his Crampsy shaker "Pink Cadillac" below.

Here's the scoop...

The first digital single from the Calvin Johnson album Gallows Wine [KLP287], "Pink Cadillac" was written by a fifteen year old Calvin, months before witnessing Tav Falco's Panther Burns open for The Cramps at Irving Plaza. The inspiration for "Pink Cadillac" is rockabilly from the Midwest and mid-south. The execution, by Calvin (and members of Hartle Road at Pompeii Studio in Columbus, Mississippi), is classic tear-down threnody. You can get a digital copy of "Pink Cadillac" and pre-order the Gallows Wine album via Bandcamp right here. Listen to "Pink Cadillac" below. 

 

Tav Falco has the Christmas Blues

Enjoy Tav Falco crooning the "Christmas Blues" and start celebrating the 12 Days Of Tav-mas right here. 

Watch Tav Falco's Panther Burns get down in Memphis

Here's Tav Falco and his current Panther Burns last week playing for the hometown crowd at Lafayette's Music Room in Memphis. 

Check out Tav Falco's tour poster – created by Gary Taxali – to see if the Panther Burns are playing a venue near you. 

90s Nostalgia: Tav Falco's Panther Burns in Germany

Here's Tav Falco reprising the Charlie Feathers classic "You Believe Everyone But Me" in Germany back in December, 1990. 

Tav Falco enlists Gary Taxali to create 2022 tour poster

There's no Toronto date scheduled as yet but Tav Falco will be rocking Buffalo's Mohawk Place on Sept. 12th. 

Here's the scoop...

         photo: Eugene Baffle

Tav Falco and his band Panther Burns have announced dates for a U.S. summer tour. Falco started his musical career playing alongside Big Star frontman Alex Chilton in the first lineup of Panther Burns in 1979. In more recent years, he has been backed by a trio of Italian musicians for both recording and live dates. The "Rogue Male" tour will run from August through October and include favorites from throughout Panther Burns' four decades of recordings.

 

The most recent addition to Falco's discography is last November's Club Car Zodiac EP. Released for Record Store Day by ORG Music, the vinyl and digital release features five tracks, including an electric cover of the traditional folk song, "House of the Rising Sun." The same musicians featured on the EP — producer/guitarist Mario Monterosso, bassist Giuseppe Sangirardi, and drummer Walter Brunetti — will appear on the concert dates.

 

The primary opening act for the "Rogue Male" tour will be this trio, performing selections from Monterosso's debut instrumental solo album, Take It Away. The album is available now digitally with a CD release following August 12. Last month, Monterosso traveled to Los Angeles at the invitation of Priscilla Presley for a pre-release screening of director Baz Luhrmann's Elvis. This Friday, July 22, he and his band will perform at a black-tie tribute to Priscilla Presley, honoring her efforts to preserve Graceland and promote Memphis music worldwide. The event takes place at Theatre Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee.

 

In 2019, Falco released his fourteenth studio album, the critically acclaimed Cabaret of Daggers. Upon its arrival, Mojo Magazine wrote, “Four decades into a career which began alongside kindred spirits Alex Chilton and the Cramps, Tav Falco’s new album conjures up a potent mix of blues, jazz and tango rhythms in which 1920s Vienna café culture seamlessly rubs shoulders with Beale Street juke joints.” At the time of the album's recording in Rome, Falco's home base was Vienna, Austria. This past January, he relocated to Bangkok, Thailand.

 

Falco was born in Philadelphia and raised in rural Arkansas. As a young man, he worked as a railroad brakeman for the Missouri Pacific Lines before studying theater and film at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He moved to Memphis in 1973. In the middle of that decade, he co-founded the nonprofit Televista video art-action group and filmed many notable blues musicians. His documentation is now regarded as historically significant and his footage of R.L. Burnside appeared in a CBS Sunday Morning segment in 2021. While with Televista, Falco also trained in photography and filmmaking under William J. Eggleston.

 

Falco is the only constant member of his band, Panther Burns. The group played its first show in a cotton loft in Memphis on February 10, 1979. Early years featured a revolving door of underground rock luminaries entering and exiting the band, including noted producer/session musician Jim Dickinson (Mud Boy and the Neutrons, the Dixie Flyers), and multi-instrumentalist Jim Sclavunos (Nick Cave, Lydia Lunch). Panther Burns thrived on the early 1980s music circuit and were a popular draw at such storied New York clubs as the Peppermint Lounge and Danceteria. Despite Chilton’s exit from the live lineup in 1984, the band carried on and has released a vast discography of albums, EPs, and singles for such crucial independent labels as Rough Trade, New Rose, In the Red, Sympathy for the Record Industry, and now ORG Music.  Watch the short tour preview clip below. 

 

PRAISE FOR TAV FALCO

“Tav has long been a hero/inspiration to Primal Scream. A true master of rock and roll and a cultural ditch digger on the same level as The Cramps. Thanks for all the great music, Tav. Stay Free!” — Bobby Gillespie, PRIMAL SCREAM

 

“I have been listening to Tav Falco’s Panther Burns since his first LP, Behind the Magnolia Curtain (1981), when Tav, along with The Cramps, turned a whole new generation onto the twisted pleasure of rock ‘n’ roll. He’s got everything... rock ‘n’ roll, blues, tango, style in abundance, and most important, but never overrated, SOUL.” – Jason Pierce, SPIRITUALIZED

 

“I don’t think folks give Tav Falco and the Panther Burns enough credit... Tav Falco is hip!” – Jon Spencer, BLUES EXPLOSION

That time Tav Falco & The Hellcats played Art Fein's Poker Party

Tav Falco's Panther Burns feat. guitarist George Reinecke were joined by The Hellcats for this Art Fein taping in the fall of 1989.  

R.I.P. George Reinecke of Busted Flush

Sadly, guitarist George Reinecke of Busted Flush and the Panther Burns has passed away. He'll be missed.    Photo: Rick McGinnis

You can see more photos of George Reinecke during his days in Toronto with Busted Flush taken by Rick McGinnis on Rick's excellent photo blog Some Old Pictures I Took right here. 

Happy Halloween!

Listen to music publicist/collector Randy Haecker play 3 hours of creepy classics from his own stash right here. 

Playlist

Part 1:

1) INTRO - "Welcome to the Party!" (Mondo Party 2000 / 2000)

2) JANIE JONES - "Witches Brew" (UK 7" single / 1965) 

3) THE CRAMPS - "Human Fly" (File Under Sacred Music / 1978)

4) DEADBOLT - "Billy’s Dead" (Voodoo Trucker / 1999)

5) VINCENT PRICE - "Witch Tortures" (Witchcraft: An Adventure in Demonology / 1969) 

6) THE FLESHTONES - "Screamin’ Skull" (Hexbreaker / 1983) 

7) THE SONICS - "The Witch" (Introducing The Sonics / 1967) 

8) BOBBY BARE - "Vampira" (Tender Years / 1965) 

9) REDBONE - "Witch Queen of New Orleans" (U.S. 7" single / 1971) 

10) FRANK SINATRA - "Witchcraft" (Sinatra’s Sinatra / 1957) 

11) LYN CORNELL - "Demon Lover" (UK 7" single / 1960)

12) DUSTY SPRINGFIELD - "Spooky" (U.S. 7" single / 1970) 

13) JODY REYNOLDS - "Endless Sleep" (U.S. 7" single / 1958) 

14) TAV FALCO’S PANTHER BURNS - "She’s My Witch" (The World We Knew / 1987) 

15) NERVOUS NORVUS - "The Fang" (U.S. 7" single / 1956) 

16) SCREAMIN’ JAY HAWKINS - "Little Demon" (U.S. 7" single / 1956) 

17) ED TWILLEY & THE CREEPERS - "Halloween Shindig" (unknown) 

18) THE HAWAIIAN PUPS - "Spook Opera" (U.S. 7" single / 1982) 

19) COMATEENS - "Ghosts" (Comateens / 1981) 

Part 2:

20) WHODINI - "Freaks Come Out at Night" (12" singe / 1984) 

21) SHOCKING BLUE - "Deamon Love" (Scorpio’s Dance / 1970)

22) DOZY, BEAKY, MICK & TICH - "In the Coven" (7" single / 1980)

23) GIRLSCHOOL - "Race with the Devil" (UK 7" single / 1980) 

24) THE RATTLES - "Devil’s on the Loose" (German 7" single / 1971) 

25) BLUE ÖYSTER CULT - "Godzilla" (Spectres / 1977)

26) THE BAGS - "Survive" (U.S. 7" single / 1978) 

27) SUBURBAN LAWNS - "Flying Saucer Safari" (Suburban Lawns / 1981) 

28) GLOO GIRLS - "Witch Is Witch" (Attention Shoppers / 1993) 

29) THE FABULOUS POODLES - "Vampire Rock" (Think Pink / 1979) 

30) BOBBY "BORIS" PICKET & THE CRYPT-KICKERS - "The Sinister Stomp" (The Original Monster Mash / 1962) 

31) JOHNNY OTIS - "Casting My Spell" (Songs for Swinging Ghosts / 2015)

32) JOHN CARPENTER - "Halloween Theme" (Halloween OST / 1978)

33) SUICIDE - "Ghost Rider" (Suicide / 1977)

34) THE HORRORS - "Sheena Is a Parasite" (Strange House / 2007)

35) BAUHAUS - "Dark Entries" (UK 7" single / 1980)

36) THE BIRTHDAY PARTY - "Release the Bats" (UK 7" single / 1981)

37) TRUE WEST - "Lucifer Sam" (True West EP / 1983)

Part 3:

38) GUN CLUB - "Ghost on the Highway" (Fire of Love /1981) 

39) FLESH EATERS - "See You in the Boneyard" (A Minute to Pray, A Second to Die / 1981)

40) RAMONES - "I Don’t Wanna Go Down in the Basement" (Ramones / 1976)

41) MAD PARADE - "I’m a Monster" (Mad Parade / 1984) 

42) MISFITS - "Ghoul’s Night Out" (3 Hits From Hell EP / 1981) 

43) MISFITS - "Halloween" (U.S. 7" single / 1981) 

44) ADVERTS - "Gary Gilmore’s Eyes" (UK 7" single / 1977) 

45) PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN - "Nightmare" (Disintegrate Me / 2017)

46) THE ENDTABLES - "Trick or Treat" (The Endtables 12" / 1991)

47) 45 GRAVE - "Surf Bat" (Sleep In Safety / 1983) 

48) SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES - "Sin In My Heart" (Juju / 1981)

49) BAUHAUS - "Bela Lugosi’s Dead" (UK 12" single / 1979) 

50) THE CURE - "A Forest" (12" Mix / unknown) 

51) THEN COMES SILENCE - "She Loves the Night" (Nyctophilian / 2015)

52) VIRGIN PRUNES - "Baby Turns Blue" (If I Die, I Die… / 1982) 

53) THE VEIL - "Manikin" (UK 12" single / 1984) 

54) DREAM SYNDICATE - "Halloween" (The Days of Wine & Roses / 1982)

One For The Weekend: Tav Falco's Panther Burns

Here's Tav Falco singing "Blind Man" from the classic Behind The Magnolia Curtain album available from Fat Possum. 

The updated 25th ann. edition of Robert Gordon's It Came From Memphis features Tav's photography

Watch a video of Alex Chilton playing "96 Tears" shot by Tav Falco

Tav Falco mounts Panther Burns 40th Anniversary tour

Although no Canadian dates have been announced for the Panther Burns tour, Toronto fans can see Tav Falco at Buffalo's Mohawk Place on May 26th. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — In celebration of 40 years as a recording and touring artist, Tav Falco today announces U.S. dates for his Cabaret of Daggers: Panther Burns 40th Anniversary Howl! tour.

Released in November, Cabaret of Daggers is the most provocative and best-reviewed album of Falco’s career, featuring newly-penned originals which question the sanity of our troubled times, alongside carefully-curated selections from the Great American Songbook. The album is available now on vinyl and download from ORG Music.

Falco is the only constant member of his fervent and fabled band, Panther Burns. The group played its first show in a cotton loft in Memphis, TN on February 10, 1979. The lineup for that show constituted Falco (vocals, guitar), former Box Tops and Big Star frontman Alex Chilton (lead guitar, vocals), Ross Johnson (drums) and Eric Hill (synthesizer). Early years featured a revolving door of underground rock luminaries entering and exiting the band, including noted producer/session musician Jim Dickinson and Lydia Lunch and Nick Cave multi-instrumentalist Jim Sclavunos. Panther Burns thrived on the early 1980s music circuit and were a popular draw at such storied NYC clubs as The Peppermint Lounge and Danceteria. Despite Chilton’s exit from the live lineup in 1984, the band has carried on and released 18 albums as well as numerous live albums, EPs, singles, and compilations.

Raised in rural Arkansas and coming to musical prominence in Memphis, Falco eventually took up residence in Europe in the 1990s. He has lived in Vienna since 1999 and the city’s Old World splendor infuses Cabaret of Daggers. The album was recorded last year in Rome and two of its featured musicians will accompany Falco on the U.S. tour dates, producer/arranger/guitarist Mario Monterosso and bassist Giuseppe Sangirardi. The drummer on the tour will be Walter Brunetti.

When asked what fans can expect of these U.S. tour dates, Falco says “We will raise our arms in gestures of moral, political, and poetic dissent, but with mythic voices that fit like fur-lined gloves. We will shake our buzzard hips, we will dance naked Tangos, we will soul-hunch the Hully-Gully, we will bring the Italian sun and ‘La Dolce Vita’ to uptight America.” Check the list of Panther Burns' upcoming shows following the tour teaser clip. Read a Q&A with Tav Falco on the BlackBook site right here.



Tour dates:
5/09:  San Francisco, CA — Thee Parkside
5/10:  Los Angeles, CA — The Peppermint Club
5/12:  San Diego, CA — Whistle Stop
5/13:  Tucson, AZ — 191 Toole
5/14:  Las Vegas, NV — Bunkhouse Saloon
5/15:  Tempe, AZ – Yucca Taproom
5/16:  Flagstaff, AZ — Orpheum Theatre
5/17:  Salt Lake City, UT — Garage on Beck
5/18:  Denver, CO — Lion's Lair
5/19:  Kansas City, MO — Record Bar
5/20:  Little Rock, AR — White Water Tavern
5/21:  Memphis, TN — Lafayette’s Music Room
5/22:  St. Louis, MO — Off Broadway
5/23:  Springfield, IL — Bar None
5/24:  Chicago, IL — Reggies
5/25:  Detroit, MI — UFO Factory
5/26:  Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place
5/28:  Woodstock, NY - The Colony
5/30:  New Haven, CT — Cafe Nine
5/31:  New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge
6/01:  Wayne, PA - 118 North
6/02:  Richmond, VA – Bandito’s
6/03:  Athens, GA — Caledonia Lounge
6/04:  Clearwater, FL — Poisonville Songs Project
6/06:  New Orleans, LA — d.b.a.

Tav Falco has the Christmas Blues

"Christmas Blues" is from A Tav Falco Christmas released by ORG Music back in November 2017. 

Tav Falco's Panther Burns @ Buffalo's Mohawk Place, May 16

Check out Tav's version of the Jim Reeves classic He'll Have To Go followed by Blind Man and Train Kept A Rollin'

Hear the Panther Burns' first-ever performance w/ Alex Chilton on drums!

The Panther Burns, ft. Tav Falco, were recorded at a rented cotton loft in Memphis February 11, 1979.

LINKS
Paste: Alex Chilton, 1975-1981
Bored Out: Ross Johnson Interview, Part Two

Happy Birthday Cordell Jackson

Late Moon Records founder Cordell Jackson with The Cramps' Poison Ivy in 1979.  Photo by Tav Falco

New film spotlights Memphis DIY music scene

Watch the trailer to Robert Allen Parker & Nan Hackman's forthcoming documentary below

"I Can't Wait" by Star & Micey
LINKS
Meanwhile In Memphis FB page
Goner Records http://www.goner-records.com/
Star & Micey http://starandmicey.com/