I was just going through the spam filter during lunch (joy of joys), and I found a comment signed “Dash Riprock.” This has nothing to do about anything, but I remember seeing them in the early 1990’s on leave right after the Gulf War, when a buddy of mine and I went to New Orleans and raised all sorts of hell for a few days. If I remember correctly, they played at Tipitina’s. I don’t remember much of their music, but I do remember that one of the songs talked about the bridge over Lake Pontchartrain.
Memories. I was young and skinny, so you know it has been a long while.
*** Update ***
Found it- the name of the album is Boiled Alive!
QrazyQat
When I was young and skinny, Dash Riprock was the dashing movie star who lusted after Ellie May Clampett.
de Selby
A long while, you say.
I had a little trouble making sense of what you wrote at first, because I only know "Dash Riprock" as a reoccurring guest character on The Beverly Hillbillies. His last appearance was in 1969. Played by Larry Pennell, for what that’s worth.
ppcli
QrazyQat beat me to it. I’m ashamed to admit that I remember handsome Dash Riprock, being threatened by Mr. Drysdale with a career-ending role as "Crabman" if he laid a finger on sweet, innocent Ellie May.
South of I-10
Oh John, I love me some Dash Rip Rock. I used to go see them back in the day, always a great show. If you saw them in the early 1990’s, I guess their drummer, Fred Leblanc, was still with them? He left and joined Cowboy Mouth at some point.
gbear
Is this the song with the bridge over Lake Pontchartrain? It’s a Lucinda William’s song called Crescent City. This version is by Emmylou Harris on David Letterman’s show. Great song.
amorphous
Just noting that if you saw them while on leave after Gulf War I, then they would be eligible to be played on "classic rock" stations across the US of A. The day they started playing Nirvana, I figured my life was already over, so I should just off myself.
Bordo
I’m old enough to remember Dash Riprock from "The Beverly Hillbillies" but young enough at heart to laugh out loud at the band’s song, "Let’s Go Smoke Some Pot," a hilarious anthem to the pleasures of cannabis sung to the tune of "Let’s Go to the Hop" but at breakneck speed.
South of I-10
@gbear: I can hear the song in my head, but cannot find a video on youtube. I am pretty sure that is not it. I think I have the disc at home, I will check at lunch.
That is a great song too and you just reminded me that Lucinda Williams is playing around here soon and I better see about some tickets.
Montysano
Dash Rip Rock is still out there, pounding it out in the clubs in the Deep South.
Early ’90’s at Tipitina’s, eh? I mighta been there. We left NO in mid-1991. I spent many wonderful nights at Tip’s.
norbizness
I saw Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians and the Black Crowes and Drivin n’ Cryin smokin’ pot (pot, pot).
Best SXSW lineup had them, The Beat Farmers (Country Dick Montana RIP), and Mojo Nixon back at Scholz’ Beer Garden in the early 90s, when nobody knew about the People’s Republic of Austin’s silly little music festival.
Laura W
I have vivid memories of where I was (Fresno for freak’s sake) and what I was doing during GW1. Not so good times.
At the risk of being the Debbie Downer I feel to be today, I heard this song on my walk earlier. I saw him do it live in the early 80s when I was super young and super skinny. Today it sounds more prescient and sobering than ever.
Sigh.
Sinister eyebrow
I saw them probably a dozen times when I lived in NOLA in the 80’s and 90’s, mostly by chance, at Tips and other clubs. I used to run into Bill, the lead singer, from time to time at Muddy Waters and a couple other NOLA clubs, and shoot pool with him. He’s on odd fellow, having originally started as a journalist but decided it was the most boring job he ever had so he joined a band.
Fred, the drummer, left or got kicked out long ago. One night they were playing Muddy Waters and Fred was pretty hammered. The stage is small and the back of the stage has double doors onto the street (to make setup easy for the bands). Well, they forgot to close the doors tight after setting up. Midway through their set, Fred drunkenly fell over backwards behind the drums, hit the doors which swung open, and rolled out of the club and onto the sidewalk. I think he became their ex-drummer shortly after that Keith Moon type spectacle.
Good times. I lived there again for law school from 2002-2005, but didn’t run across Dash. Had no idea they were still kicking around, but it doesn’t surprise me. They were always having too much fun to quit.
Incertus
@Bordo: That’s about all I remember from them as well. I think a DJ at WRNO (when it was the Rock of New Orleans) got in trouble for playing that during midday, but I’m a little hazy on that one.
South of I-10
I will look for my Dash disk tonight. Now I am going to spend half the day reminscing. Thanks John, I’m old!
We used to go see the Bluerunners all the time back then too. They are still playing and still great, but they played everything much faster back then.
Here is a little Cowboy Mouth for good measure. Cowboy Mouth is so fun live.
Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)
@Sinister eyebrow:
SE, did you ever make any of the Radiators shows at the Dream Palace? The Rads are one of my all time favorites, and David Malone might be the best guitar player that no one has ever heard of.
Good times, indeed. While my wife and kids have been back to NO since Katrina, I haven’t. I’m not sure my heart could take it. But I’m grateful that I was there for a while. It was one of the great cities of the world before it was carelessly allowed to drown and float away.
South of I-10
@Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon): I saw the Radiators at Tip’s. Great show!
Cannibal Club
"It’s the looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
[deep breath]
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
[deep breath]
ooooooooooooooooooooooooongest bridge in the world!"
DRR used to play Austin all the time, I saw them at the long defunct Cannibal Club, probably Emo’s, Black Cat and the Ritz. Wasn’t another fave Stairway to Freebird?
I shudder to think of the massive alcohol-related carnage that would follow a double-bill with DRR and their cousins in singing about drinking, Dallas’ Loco Gringos.
bago
Ain’t goin to goa.
tom.a
Dash is still playing, though infrequently. Saw them last year at JazzFest at Carrolton Station (which seems to be their yearly JazzFest gig). Still consistently one of the better shows I see there every year.
Texas Girl
@ norbizness
I think we were at the same SXSW. A friend of mine told me I had to go up to Austin for this little music festival. Off we went. Great music, not too many people, unexpected finds in small clubs. None of the hoopla of today. Good times.
I saw Dash Rip Rock (same friend, same "you have to see these guys!") somewhere along the way. Great, fun time. And Country Dick Montana (RIP)…the best of the best. No one could beat that voice. I remember hanging out with him on the porch of Rockefeller’s before The Beat Farmers went on stage. And The Pleasure Barons remain one of the most fun shows I’ve ever seen. They set up a bar on stage to keep things more interesting. Did you ever get to see them?
TheHatOnMyCat
I assume that this is an open thread. So here’s a story from about 20 mins ago …. I present it without comment, mainly because it just sort of threw me at the time and left me speechless.
Scene: Very large Safeway supermarket (one of their biggest) in the middle of large metropolitan area.
I am entering the store and headed for the deli to pick up some fried chicken and Hawaiian sweet rolls. A man is walking next to me and looking at the large screen tv that is near the register, which alternates between store scenes and a news summary. A shot of the president appears.
"Niggers" says the man.
"Um, what?" says I.
"Niggers. The whole world is nothin but niggers now."
I had no words. I just looked at the guy and walked away.
John Cole
@bago: The comment with that video is priceless:
Heh.
bago
Yeah. Been watching Alabama 3 for fifteen minutes now.
Edited for accuracy.
joe from Lowell
TheHatOnMyCat,
Reminds me of the OJ trial days.
Racist white people would just assume it was "safe" to talk like that around pretty much any other white person.
Were you around for that?
grendelkhan
Dash Riprock? Sounds familiar.
Montysano
@TheHatOnMyCat:
Even I have been somewhat gobsmacked by the vitriol directed at Obama since 1/20/2009. Here’s a smart, sincere, well-meaning guy who is trying to clean up one of the biggest messes ever left to a new president. "Niggers" is about the only explanation I’ve got.
TheHatOnMyCat
@joe from Lowell: Yes. I remember that period all too well.
Michael D.
Oh, kill me now!
bago
For those who need a primer in a goat named rance. Fun times.
J.D. Rhoades
You should have said "Yeah! Ain’t it GREAT?"
TheHatOnMyCat
@Michael D.: Good Christ.
Is there any particular reason we need Tennessee to remain a state?
Seriously. Anyone?
TheHatOnMyCat
@J.D. Rhoades: I should, but my brain was just cockslapped into total blankitude. I literally could not form a sentence.
I hope the luantic didn’t take my silence as acceptance.
The Grand Panjandrum
@TheHatOnMyCat: Yes. Two of them.
1. Nashville.
2. Memphis.
Just Some Fuckhead
I second the motion to strip Tennessee of statehood. All in favor..
Michael D.
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Let them hook up with South carolina and go their merry way!
Ivan Ivanovich Renko
Hey, wait a minute– Tennessee is my home state.
Nashville is also home to one of the two HB medical schools in the country (Meharry Medical College/George W. Hubbard Hospital, where I was born), one of the first HBCUs in the country (Fisk University, incidentally W.E.B. DuBois’ alma mater)
It’s not all redneck assholes.
jibeaux
I think I probably quote the Onion too much, but I have always loved one of their "man on the street" interviews about SC and the confederate flag: Wow, I sure would be ashamed to be from South Carolina. Now, what’s this about a flag?
Tennessee is just screwed up. There’s no income tax, no requirement to have liability insurance on your car. I think states should resemble the Wild West a little bit less.
Ivan Ivanovich Renko
By the way– just because a man is a redneck does NOT mean he’s an asshole.
It’s a tremendous leading indicator, though.
John Cole
Maybe some of you can help me with this one. In the middle 90’s, had to be around 95 or 96, the then girlfriend at the time and I took a trip to the beach, and we also spent a weekend in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. At any rate, at the time, there used to be a lot of great dive bars with live music, and I remember we went to one place that had a band that was apparently local, and it had a real Lowell Goerge/Little Feat sound to it. One song that my gf thought was hysterical was basically them singing about their girlfriend, who had somehow or another lied to them, and it was real soulful and hurt until the chorus, which went something along the line of “because she’s a lying, lying bitch, and she really really makes me sick.” It always reminded me of the Sam Kinison ditty to his ex in the execution of the song.
May have just been a local thing that no one remembers.
The Grand Panjandrum
@jibeaux: You’ll have to explain to me why not having a state income tax is a bad thing. I’m sure the state has other ways to raise revenue.
Michael D.
So, since this is an open-ish thread, my kindle will be here next week.
Any recommendations? And, no, recommending I send it back or dump it is not an option. :-)
John Cole
Another band I remember from that era was from Frostburg, MD, I think, with a huge horn section, named the Brothers Grimm. I really enjoyed them. They played at a party or two at my school.
pdf
I saw Dash Rip Rock open for the Cramps in NYC back in the early or mid ’90s. RIP Lux Interior.
joe from Lowell
"Trinity" by Leon Uris.
jibeaux
@The Grand Panjandrum:
It tends to be a bad thing in bad economies when states handicap their own ability to raise money. States typically cannot run a debt. I have heard property, sales, and income taxes described as a three legged stool. You chop off a leg of the stool, you are increasingly dependent on your other two methods to bring in the revenue, which gets harder when times get harder. The University of Tennessee sometimes does not OPEN in the fall because they do not have the funds. Their budget tends to vary unpredictably and take up inefficient amounts of staff time coping with the variances. I also understand that Oregon, which has no sales tax, periodically undergoes its own educational crises, but I know less about that.
Plus, not taxing income is pretty regressive.
The Grand Panjandrum
@John Cole: Was it Big Mutha Goose & the Grimm Brothers? They were a funk band, no?
Walker
@TheHatOnMyCat:
The Smokies are nice. But if they give those to NC, then they can go.
Lono
"loooongest concrete turd in the world!"
Pretty sure I was at that very show.
But I was bartending pretty much every Tip’s show in the early 90’s, and the late 90’s, the late 80’s and the early 00’s.
Ahh (foggy) memories…
@South of I-10:
We used to say that the only thing wrong with Dash was that Fred left and the only thing wrong with Cowboy Mouth…Fred’s in it.
TheHatOnMyCat
@The Grand Panjandrum: All right, they can stay. For the music and the food. The rest of Tennessee has to go.
Ivan Ivanovich Renko
In the midst of this potential Southern re-secession, I’ve always wondered– what happens to the black people in those states?
I should think we’d see FormerYugoslav-style civil war there right quick, complete with ethnic cleansing.
John Cole
@The Grand Panjandrum: Yes, it was a funk band (which is why I remember them). I remember thinking it was like James Brown met a Tribe Called Quest. It was a big band, too. Had to be at least 3-4 people on horns alone. For whatever reason, I remember being told they were from Maryland or thereabouts).
amorphous
@Michael D.: Set it on fire!
Actually, do you prefer fiction or good books?
The Grand Panjandrum
@jibeaux: I don’t buy the three-legged stool argument. State income taxes have wild up and down swings. When times are good taxes don’t go down generally. The legislators tend to spend what they have and aren’t thinking about tougher times. Sure they balance the budget. And then you have tough times, like now, and your taxes don’t go down. But they do have a lot of cutting in the budget.
I live in NH now (no state income tax) and the budget is being cut somewhat, but with an already lean budget it is not so terribly painful as it seems to be in other neighboring states (Vermont, Massachusetts, etc).
They have no sales tax except on prepared food (deli section at the grocery store, restaurants, etc). Everything else is tax free. They do have a fairly high annual car tax you pay to your town clerk when you register your car but that actually makes sense since most of that money stays local.
All in all I am not a big fan of state income taxes. The feds already gets enough of my money.
Michael D.
@amorphous: I’ve read everything from Catcher in the Rye, to Stephen King, to War is a Racket and Harry Potter.
If it’s good, I will read it. The good thing about a Kindle is that you can get a sample to read. If you don’t like the book, no worries.
Zuzu's Petals
Good lord, you knew it had to happen:
GOP lawmakers tout projects in the stimulus bill they opposed
I hope there’s someone shouting "hypocrite!" in every crowd.
The Grand Panjandrum
@John Cole: I vaguely remember seeing them a couple of times in PA (I think), but those were days that are a bit hazy. I lived in NYC at the time so I think it was some crazy middle of the night drunk road trips with a few buddies. (ala Raoul Duke (Doc Thompson) in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.)
jibeaux
@The Grand Panjandrum:
And, so, living in ornery NH probably suits you. It seems hard to me to run a civilized state on income from cars and macaroni salad, but hey, laboratory of the states, right? I am personally a fan of progressive taxation and top-tier public universities which open on time.
South of I-10
@Lono: Ha! He does like to hear himself talk, doesn’t he?
I’ve only made it to Tip’s a couple of times – one is the aforementioned Radiators show and the other I really have no idea who was playing, as the whole night is a little fuzzy. I did spend a lot time here in the early to mid 90’s.
srv
@bago: Man, one of these days I’m just going to the airport on a lark, and fly to the UK so I can get beat up at an Alabama3 concert.
amorphous
@Michael D.: In that case, first anyone who is buying from Amazon should try the Tuscan Whole Milk, disregard those who gave it negative reviews.
I very much enjoyed 1491. Also, BK is my favorite work of fiction so far. I will recommend GGS to anyone (whether you buy the premise is another thing). The original FNL and The Courting of Marcus Dupree were both excellent in the way that they weren’t really about football at all. And of course the best book ever.
That’s about all I can remember right now.
JL
Thanks John and the rest of the Balloon Juice staff. The recent posts and comments on global warming and the economic crisis have been excellent.
srv
@The Grand Panjandrum: You mean Rathouse Carol?
amorphous
@Michael D.: ruh roh, i’m being moderated. prolly cuz i linked amazon.
In short I recommend 1491, Brothers Karamazov, Guns Germs & Steel (plus Collapse as a followup), The Courting of Marcus Dupree, Silmarillion, and Friday Night Lights.
OK no more moderation I see.
The Grand Panjandrum
@jibeaux: Actually NH has plenty of little taxes and the UNH is a pretty good school that always opens on time. They also have better social services than some of the states with income taxes that I’ve lived in. Call it Yankee fiscal responsibility. They know how to squeeze every penny out of a dollar. Snowy roads get plowed, the schools are good, and the neighbors are quite friendly. That’s good enough for me.
jibeaux
I dunno, I’ve worked in state government a while in NC, and we’re not exactly spendy-go-lucky. There is no hot water in the bathrooms, paper is rationed, there is no travel or professional development budget although there are professional development requirements, and we once got an email from a very high up person, appointed by the governor, asking for extra hanging file folders. If a random taxpayer ever took a tour, he’d probably leave a tip out of pity.
Maybe, but Carolina’ll school ya in basketball.
The ongoing failure of this blog to discuss the everloving tedium that is professional football instead of college basketball is one of my greatest disappointments in life. That and the lack of hot water in my work bathroom, which is just gross.
Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)
@Lono:
Cowboy Mouth played a local festival recently, and it made me kind of sad. They’ve devolved into a lounge-act parody of themselves. Fred has to do the maniac-preacher thing, and "Jenny Says" has to end the show.
Much better to be like the Radiators: you just never knew what they might play, so they’ve retained the freedom to surprise the audience every night.
Ted
I also saw DRR live, back in the late 80s, but it would have had to have been in Ohio someplace. "Big Daddy Like Whiskey" is probably the song I remember best.
The Grand Panjandrum
@jibeaux: Oh, please, ANYONE can play a sport that requires you to wear underwear in public and put a round ball in a round hole. C’mon! Now hockey requires some real athletic ability and several skills. This is a hockey state. Jesus, the Dartmouth v. UNH annual meeting is all anyone was talking about a couple of weeks ago. We play basketball to keep in shape for hockey.
Wile E. Quixote
Michael D. @ 28
I don’t know what it is about me, but when I read stuff like this I don’t think "Kill me now". I think "kill them all now". Of course I also felt that the appropriate way to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Saint Valentine’s Day massacre two days ago was to take my Thompson and spend the afternoon at the gun range. As an aside I think I’d like to produce some a gay porn flick where black actors dressed as black union army soldiers have their way with white actors dressed as Confederate soldiers and the Confederates *like it*. I’m thinking that "Confederate Bukkake" has a nice ring to it as a title.
Sinister eyebrow
South of I-10 (and Lono)@ 58:
Jeez, walk away from a thread for an hour and look what happens…
Lono: If you tended bar at Tips in the 90s, then you’ve gotten me drunk on numerous occasions. Therefore, I blame you for almost all problems that afflicted me in the 90s.
South of I-10: Out of all the years I lived in NOLA, I never saw the Radiators. Not really my thing. Although I do remember being at a fantastic Cramps show at Tips one night. The patent-leather clad bass player kissed me on her way in the door. That probably has something to do with why it was so memorable.
Things are far, far tamer here in NC. Boring, even.
Chris Johnson
John- could it have been Fishbone or something?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHkRjt6TA_Q&feature=related
or the very similar Reel Big Fish cover?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdE7x0W3j9g&feature=related
Except I don’t think it comes off as soulful ever :)
passerby
@TheHatOnMyCat:
Given the size, shape and geographical span of TN, it could easily become E. TN, M. TN and W. TN each with a separate predominate social group, but that would give congress 6 senators from TN region so never mind. You’d have to gerrymander the hell out of it to get a decent bloc of progressives.
The one and only time I heard someone here in E. TN use the N word it came from the mouth of a Huntsville AL native.–and yes, I think she felt comfortable saying it just because she was in white company. Wrong she was. I spoke up.
Bordo
You can’t tar the entire state of Tennessee for the actions of some Republican goobers in the legislature. There are racist idiots everywhere. They may be a little more overt Down South, but haters are everywhere.
If I were the opposition party in Tennessee, I might question how and why it is this quartet of rednecks have the time and money to pursue frivolous legal challenges against the leader of the free world. I mean, is Tennessee immune to the current economy? Shouldn’t these rubes be worrying about their constituents? Or maybe they’re auditioning to sing back-up to uber-goober Eric Cantor??
Good Lord. The only thing worse than listening to Republicans when they are in power is listening to them when they are not. What a bunch of WATBs.
joe from Lowell
Wile E.,
For real, you have a Tommy gun?
Full auto?
How old?
AnneLaurie
When the suit gets shot down, as it will, can we have every single signee tried for treason and then hanged?
‘Cause I remember that was what these same "patriots" wanted to do to people like Senator Barbara Lee and Michael Moore during the reign of the C-Plus Augustus, only they didn’t see the need to bother with a trial before the hangings.
scarshapedstar
I remember the moms in my Cub Scout troop being horrified by "Let’s Go Smoke Some Pot".
Factoid: My father represented one of Dash Riprock’s members on a DUI.