E.T. (Extraterrestrial) to East St. Louis Toodle-Oo

"E.T. (Extraterrestrial)"  Outkast  ATLiens
"Early In The Morning"  The Bottle Rockets  Bottle Rockets
"Early In The Morning"  Harry Nilsson  Nilsson Schmilsson
"Early To Bed"  Morphine  Like Swimming
"The Earthmen"  Paddy Kingsland  The Sound Gallery Vol. 1
"Earthquake"  Deerhunter  Halcyon Digest
"Ease Jimi"  Nightmares On Wax  Carboot Soul
"Easin' In (From Hell Up To Harlem)"  Edwin Starr  Can You Dig It?  Music and Politics of Black Action Films: 1968-1975
"East of Eden"  Lone Justice  Lone Justice
"East St. Louis Toodle-Oo"  Duke Ellington  Rhapsodies In Black: Music and Words From The Harlem Renaissance

I love that Maria McKee was a raging maniac who sabotaged any hope the huge main-stream career her voice offered her by having a tendency, as a younger woman, to bark like a seal onstage.

It has been a while since I posted last, and in that time Etta James, Johnny Otis, and Don Cornelius have all died.  What I know about Johnny Otis is just what I have learned in the past few weeks - he discovered Etta James (in fact was the person who chose that stage name for her).  He co-wrote and produced, "Roll With Me, Henry" which is one of my favorite Etta James songs.  He wrote "Hound Dog" for Big Mama Thornton, and seems like the kind of person who should get more credit than he did.  Also - "Willie & The Hand Jive" (The ladies in the front are Marie Adams & The Three Tons of Joy, and there is a little Lionel Hampton at the end.)

So I have mentioned my dad's record collection, and in particular his number of early Chess/Checker recordings.  A few years back, when Cadillac Records came out, he saw the movie, bought the soundtrack, and roundly criticized everyone's performance in the movie as not being as good as the original (my dad's full response to this movie was more nuanced than mere criticism - it validated his musical taste, and launched him into a fit of self-aggrandizement where he believed he was one of the few white people in the world to appreciate Little Walter).  Except for Beyonce, who did a great job as Etta James in his opinion.  The reason for this is that my father had no historical reference for Etta James.  While he could tell himself that he understood Howlin' Wolf & Muddy Waters (and especially Chuck Berry - I am probably going to start praising Mos Def's performance just to see how agitated he will get), as a woman, Etta James has no place in my dad's musical world. He could not claim credit for her, so there was no reason to criticize Beyonce's portrayal.  In fact, since the movie introduced her to my dad, I expect his understanding of Etta James is roughly "she looks and sounds just like Beyonce (whoever she is)."

My first knowledge of Don Cornelius was as one of the two men who would tell us that Saturday cartoons were over (Dick Clark was the other).  I liked Soul Train better than Bandstand because it had an animated train at the beginning - I could believe cartoons were continuing for just that much longer.  This kind of sucks now - the music on that show has become an integral part of my music library, and it would be nice to be able to say that my 6-year old self was that aware of it all, but I can't claim there was even a passing knowledge of the show beyond its opening and the deep-voiced host whose appearance meant it was time to find something else to do.  A quick romp through you-tube demonstrates what Don Cornelius gave the world.  Soul Train provided an alternate platform for artists that most folks were ignoring (not just kids looking for the Mystery Machine).  Given the chance I would go back and make my child-self watch these shows for the James Brown appearances alone (See here when JB tells Don he is quitting music to tour HBCUs and figure out how to make them better).  Peace, Love, and Soul.