Today's Alternate Reality

What if the Velvet Underground were popular in the 60s, and mersh bands were compelled to play their songs? Wouldn't you like to hear Big A&M Herb, Chicago, or Blood, Sweat and Tears* dish out "Sister Ray"? This may be the closest we'll ever get: the NY band Puttin' On The Ritz, originally a duo of vocalist BJ Rubin and drummer Kevin Shea, also of People and Mostly Other People Do The Killing, tackling the chef d'oeuvre off of the VU's none-more-black second album...

Puttin' on the Ritz - Sister Ray from BJ Rubin on Vimeo.

Not safe for work, unless maybe you work in a sex shop or leather bar...

OK, maybe it's more like an ESP-Disk band than a 60s mersh combo. But they've done the right thing, like Mookie, and recorded their version of the entire "White Light/White Heat" album, kind of like Stan Kenton doing "West Side Story." Click on the header for more info...

Today's lagniappe:



*Some acquaintance of mine, I can't remember whom, once said that it would be funny if David Thomas and David Clayton-Thomas switched places...of course, now there's that jazz/improv bassist Clayton Thomas to further muddy the waters...



Clayton Thomas (double bass) and Tom Chant (soprano and tenor saxophones and bass clarinet). Live at Robadors 23, Barcelona (Spain), April 22, 2010. First set, second piece. Clayton Thomas (double bass) and Tom Chant (soprano and tenor saxophones and bass clarinet). Live at Robadors 23, Barcelona (Spain), April 22, 2010. Second set, first piece.
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