Author: Glen Harness

This guy gets Webb Wilder.

Just got back about an hour ago from seeing Webb Wilder and the Beatnecks at the Bluesboro in Murfreesboro. As always, the band played a great show. The Beatnecks tonight were Tom Comet on bass, Tony Bowles on guitar, and Jimmy Lester on drums (with an extra tom!). They did a rare two-set show.

I’ve heard about the Bluesboro Rhythm & Blues Co. for several years, but had never been there before tonight. We opted for the $29 package which included dinner for two and the cover for the show. The food was ok. The venue itself seems to be popular, since it was pretty much packed.

When we got there we ran into Webb and spoke to him for a few minutes. Then he went off to eat and change for the show and we went to find our reserved table. The crowd was an odd lot. Some, like us, were clearly there to see Webb. Others were there to apparently have lengthy discussions which entailed speaking as loud as necessary to be heard above the band.

Speaking as a former sound man I have to say the Bluesboro’s sound system lacked something. Midrange for sure, since it seemed like the sound was a little too harsh. We sat on the right side of the stage, pretty much in front of a couple of sub woofers and the flying speakers on that side. When the band started, about the only thing coming out of the speakers was vocals and the drums at a low level. I was surprised to not be able to feel the bass, since we were about 10 feet away from the subs; but by the end of the night that had changed.

As the first set progressed the sound man kept tweaking things until by the end of the set, the drums (especially the bass), the bass guitar, vocals, and Tony’s lead breaks on the guitar were coming through the mains. Also the volume was way louder by the time they got to the last song; I had to put the old trusty ear plugs in on that one (I normally always wear ear plugs at shows; we saw Sonny Landreth at the Mercy Lounge a few years ago and it was so loud that when my ears hadn’t quit ringing after two weeks, I had them checked and found out I had some temporary hearing loss, specifically around the 4kHz range).

During the break, the sound man turned up the volume on the music he was playing, and I had to keep the plugs in, which made it hard to talk. After about a 25 minute break, the band hit the stage again. It was still weird watching Webb sing and hearing his voice mostly in my right ear, while hearing his guitar from his rig on stage. After “Tough It Out” the show ended, but the audience apparently wasn’t in the mood for an encore, and the sound man turned on the music again. We spoke to Webb again before we left to wish him a Merry Christmas. He did give us a shout out during the second set, asking us how far we’d ever travelled to see him. I shouted “Chicago” but I’m not sure he ever heard.

Here’s the set list (I’m pretty sure the song order is correct):

Set 1:

1. Down on the Farm
2. I Just Had to Laugh
3. Sputnik
4. If You’re Looking For a Fool
5. Human Cannonball
6. No Great Shakes
7. You Might Be Lonely For A Reason
8. Poolside
9. Run With It
10. The Rest (Will Take Care of Itself)
11. Meed Your New Landlord
12. Stay Out of Automobiles
13. The Only One
14. Louisiana Hannah

Set two:

1. King of the Hill
2. One Taste of the Bait
3. Goldfinger
4. Pretty Little Lights of Town
5. The Devil’s Right Hand
6. Sittin’ Pretty
7. How Long Can She Last
8. You Could Be Cryin’ (not sure of the title; it’s an Otis Rush song)
9. Mary Lou
10. Move It
11. Battle Of The Bands
12. Flat Out Get it
13. Tough It Out

Webb’s next show in the Nashville area is at Puckett’s Grocery in Franklin. For details, check out his web site.

Another link under the music category on the site is for the San Rafael Band. The San Rafael Band is headed up by a fellow I’ve known for over 25 years, Rafael Vasquez. Rafael’s various versions of the band include a trio, and quartet, and the full band (which I think is 6 or 7 pieces). The web site that’s linked is one that I threw together for him a while back. Now, if he would only keep the upcoming dates updated…

Rafael plays guitar. Now that I think about it, that’s a major understatement. I’d have to say he’s one of the best guitar players I’ve ever heard (I’m not just saying that because he’s a friend; first time I heard him in the studio I was blown away). I’ve heard him play everything from jazz to disco to blues to rock to you name it.

In 1981 (I think it was), I did live sound for a band he was in called The Mix. Rafael, the bass player and the keyboard player were all session musicians at the studio in Knoxville that I worked at part time. (The drummer and lead singer was a fellow named Michael Kitts, who was maybe a little over 5 feet tall; he could really belt out the vocals while playing the drums).

One night we were in a club in Gatlinburg and Rafael was doing a solo and broke a string. I’ve seen other guitar players just completely freak out when they break a string (e.g. Alex Lifeson of Rush; I saw him go through three guitars in one song; every time he’d break a string, he’d stop playing, throw the guitar over to his guitar tech, and pick up another one). You could tell Rafael was “mad” that the guitar string had the nerve to break; instead of the normal length for his solo, he probably played three or four times as long. I just sat behind the mixing board with my mouth open; it was one of the best guitar solos I’ve ever heard (I’m getting chills just remembering it).

Anyway, Rafael’s thing these days is Latin Jazz. He plays around at a  lot of local Nashville Clubs as well as venues around the state. His site has samples of the songs from his two cd’s and his unfinished third cd, so head on over and check it out.

There’s a link on right side of this page to a singer named Vickie Carrico. That takes you to Vickie’s MySpace page where you can hear some of the cuts from her new CD “Never Been Hurt”.

Vickie might be a little over five feet tall. But she’s got the voice of a giant. She can belt out a song like no one I’ve ever heard.

I was first introduced to her music in the mid 80’s by my then-business partner. Her (my business partner) husband was a singer and song writer who’d worked some with Vickie. They took me to a show where Vickie was playing, and I was just blown away. Over the next few years, every time she and her band played in Nashville, I was there (mostly at the Bluebird Cafe). I also saw her sing backup with several performers. Of the folks I saw her sing backup for, probably the best one was a guy named Steve Davis. He had a song called “Take Time To Know Her” cut by Percy Sledge in 1968. He’s also had a handful of songs cut by Joe Cocker.

Anyway, I fell out of touch with Vickie in the early 90’s. I think she left Nashville for a while. Four or five years ago, she was playing at the same venue as Webb Wilder, the now defunct Trafalgar Square (a four story building downtown that had a different club on each level). The group she was with is called Kentucky Thunder (not the Ricky Skaggs backup band), which is fronted by Vickie and three other women (who all come from Kentucky, I believe). We alternated between the floor Webb was on and the one Vickie was on.

I hadn’t seen Kentucky Thunder play since probably 2003, even though I’d been watching the venues for their name. About a year ago, I did a web search on her name, and came up with an email address. Sure enough, it was her. I emailed her to find out what she was up to. Early this year, I discovered she had a MySpace page, and lo and behold, had four songs on it from her soon-to-be-released CD.

She’d had a record deal in ’88 or ’89, and recorded an album that was produced by Nigel Olson (she was even nice enough to bring by a rough mix of it on cassette when I was in the hospital in ’89). But that never went anywhere. Back then, she played rock and roll.

On the new release, she’s changed styles to a more blues oriented sound. We’ve seen her play a couple of times since the CD was released, and will be going to a new club to see her tomorrow night. This will be her last show this year, since she’ll be singing backup for Brenda Lee the rest of the month.

If you like blues, by all means stop by the Rutledge at 410 4th Avenuue South in Nashville tomorrow night. The doors open at 7 and Vickie goes on at 8.

UPDATE: Just got back from the show, and it was great as usual. Had never been to the Rutledge before, but I’m very impressed. The sound system is state of the art.

We went to Knoxville last Saturday night to take part in Webb Fest 2006. Basically, it was a special show for Webb Wilder’s fans who post on his message board at www.webbwilder.com. If you don’t know who Webb Wilder is, go check out his web site or his MySpace site.

I first saw Webb (and his band, the Beatnecks) play at the Exit/In here in Nashville in 1988 or so. I was impressed enough that when I saw a CD by the band in a local Tower records, I bought it. That CD was called “It Came From Nashville”.

Later I saw Webb on a local late night comedy show on Channell 4. He sung a song about Elvis Presley (called Blue Yodel #9) that was really funny. Some how I didn’t really keep up with the band, and it wasn’t until the Doo Dad album came out that I started getting interested in his music again. I took Brenda to the show where they debuted his video compilation “Corn Flicks” (which includes two Webb Wilder, Private Eye shorts) and got to see him play with Al Kooper.

After that, I discovered that he’d released an album called Hybrid Vigor that I’d missed, so I got that one. He came out with a couple more (“Acres of Suede” and “Town and Country”) that I also got. I listened to them a while, but didn’t really keep up with his career.

Then one day in 1999 or 2000, I was listening to WKDF in the car one evening. I was astonished to hear Webb was the DJ. That got me interested in dusting off his CD’s again. I’ll bet I played “Acres of Suede” 50 times in a row. I saw where he was playing at a little club called The Sutler, and decided to go. Brenda was sick, so I was on my own. The band outnumbered the audience. But they put on a heck of a show.

After that, Webb started playing more often in Nashville, and Brenda and I went to as many shows as we could (and still do). We’ve seen Webb play at numerous places in Nashville. We’ve also travelled to Chicago, Johnson City, Knoxville, Memphis, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Birmingham, and Huntsville, Alabama. We were at the taping of his new DVD “Tough It Out” in Birmimgham. That was a great show.

Last Saturday night, Webb Fest 2006 happened. Steve Mimms, the director of the Webb Wilder Private Eye shorts, was there. He gave the audience a preview of the new unfinished Webb Wilder movie, Scattergun. It featured Webb’s longtime drummer Jimmy Lester and his producer/co-writer, RS Field. I’m looking forward to the final release next year.

So, if you haven’t heard anything by Webb, go to Amazon or Webb’s MySpace site and preview some tracks. There’s not enough music like this being made. As Webb might say “Pick up on it.”

Oh, in case anyone is wondering, the title of this blog comes from one of Webb’s songs.