Much-anticipated John Lurie memoir The History of Bones on the way

"The History of Bones," the 448-page memoir of NYC musician, actor & artist John Lurie is published by Random House Aug 17.  

Here's the scoop from Random House...

In the tornado that was downtown New York in the 1980s, John Lurie stood at the vortex. After founding the band The Lounge Lizards with his brother, Evan, in 1979, Lurie quickly became a centrifugal figure in the world of outsider artists, cutting-edge filmmakers, and cultural rebels. Now Lurie vibrantly brings to life the whole wash of 1980s New York as he developed his artistic soul over the course of the decade and came into orbit with all the prominent artists of that time and place, including Andy Warhol, Debbie Harry, Boris Policeband, and, especially, Jean-Michel Basquiat, the enigmatic prodigy who spent a year sleeping on the floor of Lurie’s East Third Street apartment. 

It may feel like Disney World now, but in The History of Bones, the East Village, through Lurie’s clear-eyed reminiscence, comes to teeming, gritty life. The book is full of grime and frank humor—Lurie holds nothing back in this journey to one of the most significant moments in our cultural history, one whose reverberations are still strongly felt today. 

History may repeat itself, but the way downtown New York happened in the 1980s will never happen again. Luckily, through this beautiful memoir, we all have a front-row seat.

You can pre-order a copy of The History of Bones right here. Watch a Lounge Lizards performance of "The Incredible History of Bones" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien back in 1998 immediately following the hype. 

PRAISE

“There is a purity to John Lurie’s writing that feels almost spiritual—the stories unspool from him, seemingly effortlessly, with the fluidity of a great jazz player. Lurie has lived many lives—‘More than once I have witnessed the inexplicable,’ he tells us—and this book moves us through them all.”— Nick Flynn, author of Another Bullshit Night in Suck City 

“No other human’s strange struggles and triumphs are like this. I was transfixed reading Lurie’s yearning to make sense of it all, slamming his fist through the precious veneer of the early eighties New York art/music scene. Yeeeooooow.”— Flea, author of Acid for the Children

“Look behind John Lurie’s adventure so far and see how it flows from epiphanies: their arrival, their loss, the very possibility of them. Epiphanies consign an artist to life as a hunter-mystic, in a world where the impeccable and the tawdry are equally sacred—a hell of a place, and it’s from here that Lurie’s candor throws us epiphanies to take away. This is not a book headed for bookshelves; it’s coming to crash on your couch.”— DBC Pierre, author of Vernon God Little, winner of the Booker Prize 

“By turns comic, pissed off, and desolate, his raffish picaresque captures everything. . . . The result is an energetic, raucous reprise of an adventurously offbeat life.”— Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Lurie proves to . . . be a wry, sly, furious, and vivid storyteller. His raucously frank, sardonic, sex-saturated, compulsively detailed, and hard-charging memoir is incandescent with illuminations of his musical mission, including his film scores, his friendship with Jean-Michel Basquiat, and his conflicts with Jim Jarmusch. . . . Lurie leaves readers wanting more.”— Booklist

Here's Sally Timms & Jon Langford on a Brooklyn rooftop

Sally & Jon are joined by Jean Cook and Martin Billheimer for a frolicsome version of The Mekons "Hard To Be Human Again" 

Watch the Memphis '69 concert film

Memphis '69 features performances by Rufus Thomas & The Bar-Kays, Furry Lewis, John Fahey, Bukka White and many others. 

Here's the scoop...

Fat Possum Records to release the concert film, MEMPHIS ’69, via YouTube August 6th followed by DVD release on September 17th, featuring sweat-stained performances by Rufus Thomas & The Bar-Kays, Bukka White, John Fahey, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Johnny Winter and other luminaries.  Premiered at Slamdance, the documentary spotlights the landmark 1969 Memphis Country Blues Festival and is made up entirely of previously unreleased footage. 

Fat Possum Records will release the Memphis ’69 documentary film, capturing three days and two nights of the sweltering, interracial 1969 Memphis Country Blues Festival. Full song performances include a number of iconic Blues Hall of Famers such as Rufus Thomas & The Bar-Kays; slide guitar great Booker “Bukka” White; Sleepy John Estes with Yank Rachel; Texas’ Johnny Winter; Memphis’ own Furry Lewis, Beale Street sweeper who opened for the Rolling Stones; and North Mississippi bluesman Mississippi Fred McDowell. There are no talking heads, just the unfiltered shots of the concert and its surroundings from the time. Memphis ’69 will be available from Fat Possum on DVD September 17th. Preorder it right here. 

Other highlights include cult American primitive guitarist John Fahey; Moloch, with a young Jim Dickinson before his sessions with Bob Dylan and the Stones; Rev. Robert Wilkins—whose “Prodigal Son” was covered by the Stones—and family; Nathan Beauregard, introduced as estimated to have been born just a year after the Civil War; visual artist, grave digger, and bluesman James “Son” Thomas, whose clay sculptures has been featured in the National Gallery of Art, Brooklyn Museum, and the Studio Museum in Harlem; two-time Billboard R&B chart top ten artist Piano Red, whose songs were later covered by the Beatles and the Lovin’ Spoonful; and John D. Loudermilk, who saw versions of his tunes recorded by the Everly Brothers, Marianne Faithfull, Johnny Cash, and Eric Burdon & War and who wrote the now-standard “Tobacco Road.”

Additional performances include mesmerizing turns from a young Joann Kelley and “Backwards” Sam Firk; delta bluesman Lum Guffin; Memphis’ own Jefferson Street Jug Band joined by Fahey; the electric Insect Trust; and gospel group The Salem Harmonizers.

The footage was originally filmed by Adelphi Records founder Gene Rosenthal, who drove down from Maryland with a crew, shooting undaunted even as the heat reached 106 degrees. With over 40,000 feet of film, he spent his entire budget and just to process it, having to sell the cameras he had just acquired and leaving him with no ability to craft it into a finished film. Fat Possum’s Bruce Watson came on board in 2016, bringing with him filmmakers Joe and Lisa LaMattina, who have also done film work for Green Day, Rihanna, the Cold War Kids, Snoop Dog, Florence + The Machine, and Tom Morello. The LaMattinas then edited the footage, crafting it into the finished film. This was no easy task given that the audio engineer in 1969 was tripping on acid. Award-winning author and filmmaker Robert Gordon also served as a consultant. 

Watch Memphis '69 while it's temporarily available on YouTube... 

Happy Birthday Caetano Veloso!

Cheers to legendary Brazilian singer/songwriter Caetano Veloso on his birthday! 

Legendary Shack Shakers link up with Jello Biafra

The Legendary Shack Shakers version of "Rawhide!" w/ Jello Biafra is off their new album Cockadoodledeux out September 17th. 

Here's the scoop from Alternative Tentacles...

Join us now as those Legendary Shack Shakers mark their 25th anniversary as a band on Earth! To celebrate, they’ve welcomed former members to record an all country & western album! That’s right! From spaghetti western to bluegrass, western swing to rockabilly, Tex-Mex to Americana, the variety of the genre is on full display here friends!

Always ones to respect their history, the Shack Shakers have also invited a few local legends to “pick 'n' grin.” Kentucky stalwarts like Stanley Walker (Grand Ole Opry bandleader for Jean Shepard/Sun Studio guitarist for “Rockin’” Ray Smith) and Jack Martin (dobro-player for Lester Flatt) really give “them young ‘uns” a run for their money! And the always-ornery “Hillbilly” Bob Prather (Cajun fiddler and runnin’ buddy of Onie Wheeler) pitches in too! Just add the Dead Kennedys’ Jello Biafra, hillbilly royalty Chris Scruggs and an Old Crow Medicine Showman and you’ve got a recipe for what could ONLY be a Legendary Shack Shakers album!

 

Titling it Cockadoodledeux was admittedly, done as a reference to 2002’s legendary Cockadoodledon’t, an album which many fans were first made aware of the group. Indeed, this record was designed to bookend that other album. Cockadoodledeux serves to signal a bold new era. 

Just as the plucky, two-headed chick emerges from it’s egg on the cover, so too begins a fresh start for the bands’s creative energies. A millennium of fans both young and old, once again, get to lean in, listen and – as always – expect the unexpected!

You can pre-order a copy of The Legendary Shack Shakers new album Cockadoodledeux from Alternative Tentacles right here. Note: Albums will ship in October, 2021. Watch the video for "Rawhide!" below. 

Happy Birthday Dorothy Ashby!

Remembering Detroit harpist Dorothy Ashby with her 1958 version of 'Taboo' with Frank Wess, Herman Wright & Roy Haynes. 

Grab a Colemine Records sampler – 51 tunes for $20!

Since it's Bandcamp Friday, Colemine has a one-day offer of 51 tunes for $20 right here. Check the tracks below. Don't sleep! 

Colemine / Karma Chief Starter Pack

1. The Jive Turkeys - B.A. 

2. Ikebe Shakedown - Hard Steppin'

3. Los Sospechos - Jano's Revenge 

4. Monophonics - Like Yesterday 

5. On The Spot Trio - Suction

6. Tee See Connection - Take My Breath Away 

7. The Rugged Nuggets - Yo Todo Tu Yo

8. Fat Night - Things You Do

9. The Grease Traps - Street Sweeper

10. Gene Washington & The Ironsides - Got To Get Through To You 

11. In Motion Collective - M.T.A.

12. The Droptones - Young Blood

13. The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble - City Heights 

14. Orgone, Niki Crawford - Strike

15. Soul Scratch - Pacified

16. The Gripsweats - Ziggy's Walk

17. AJ & The Jiggawatts - It Is What It Is

18. Leroi Conroy - Tiger Trot

19. Jr. Thomas & The Volcanos - What A Shame

20. The Flying Stars of Brooklyn NY, Aaron Frazer - My God Has A Telephone

21. Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio - Concussion 

22. Black Market Brass - War Room 

23. Mestizo Beat - Featherbed Lane 

24. The Harlem Gospel Travelers - Nothing But His Love

25. Ben Pirani - Light Of My Life 

26. DeRobert & The Half-Truths - Judgement, Pt.1 

27.The Soul Chance - Give Love A Try 

28. Wesley Bright, Wesley Bright & The Honeytones - You Don't Want Me 

29. Jake Najor & The Moment Of Truth, Mixmaster Wolf - High Costa Living (feat. Mixmaster Wolf) 

30. Kelly Finnigan - Since I Don't Have You Anymore 

31. The Freedom Affair - Rise Up 

32. Joey Quinones, Thee Sinseers - What's His Name 

33. Ghost Funk Orchestra - Walk Like A Motherfucker 

34. Neal Francis - Changes, Pts. 1 & 2 

35. GA-20 - She's Gone 

36. Barbara Howard - I Don't Want Your Love

37. Bubaza - Ice Breaker 

38. Renaldo Domino - No Laggin' And Draggin' 

39. Dojo Cuts - Rome 

40. Rudy De Anda - Espume 

41. The Resonaires - Standing With You 

42. Kendra Morris, Eraserhood Sound - When We Would Ride 

43. Michael Nau - No Quit 

44. Andrew Gabbard - Promises I've Made 

45. M Ross Perkins - Wrong Wrong Wrong 

46. The Gabbard Brothers - Sell Your Gun Buy A Guitar 

47. Young Gun Silver Fox - Baby Girl 

48. The Winston Brothers - Boiling Pot 

49. Reverend Baron - Jackie 

50. Alanna Royale - Fall In Love Again

51. Joey Quinones - Love Me Like You Used To