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Peek-A-Boo

A few gigs up around the bend with the Mission Express. [Salt Lake, Denver, Fort Collins.] A couple duo shows with Stephie in Texas in December. And rescheduled dates for the Chuck & Charlie Sexton “East River Truckers” shows in Spain. You know what to do. Dig in below for up to the minute details.

There’s enough spooky stuff out there already to make your hair curl, so I’ll spare you a picture on this pumpkin I just carved which is a dead ringer for Billy Corgan.

Meanwhile, here’s a fun Halloween video. A little background: I don’t know if the magnetic poles somehow got inverted. But Berkeley, CA was always out of wack with the world. It left its mark on me. The Berzerkeley Records scene wasn’t well known, but Jonathon Richman for one always loomed large for me and my friends. Still does around here. And this band, the Rubinoos? I probably saw them like 20 times in high school. And although I’m not a power pop candy boy or a Bubblegum nerd, what I loved was that they were true to their school. Be it Spaghetti Western soundtrack music or the Archies, Beach Boys, Tommy James and the Shondells. Even the Jackson 5. They knew what they loved. And wore it on their sleeves. They weren’t wimps. It was always legend how they got seriously booed off the stage at Winterland opening for Blue Oyster Cult or The Starship and were all but kicked to the curb by Bill Graham. They took it as a badge of honor.

So here they are on Dutch TV with matching Fenders doing a pretty creepy doo-wop number; a cover of the Cadillacs Peek-A-Boo. [Hey, like I said, it’s Halloween. Stalker songs are as American as shaving cream all over a BMW.]

Oh, and stick around for the guitar solo where Tommy does the hand-off to HIMSELF on the piano.

Rubinoos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_J8-xN_CYw

PS: If you’re in Spain they are on tour there at this very minute. So, there you go.

GIGSVILLE:

11/7/2018 SALT LAKE CITY UT THE STATE ROOM - CPME

11/9/2018 FORT COLLINS CO THE ARMORY - CPME

11/10/2018 DENVER CO GLOBE HALL - CPME

Chuck Prophet and Stephanie Finch Duo:

12/13/2018 HOUSTON TX COFFEEHOUSE LIVE AT ST. ANDREW’S - CHUCK PROPHET AND STEPHANIE FINCH

12/14/2018 AUSTIN TX CACTUS CAFE - CHUCK PROPHET AND STEPHANIE FINCH

Chuck And Charlie Sexton “The East River Truckers” - (new rescheduled dates, old tickets honored at new shows)

1/24/2019 BILBAO,SPAIN KAFE ANTZOKIA w/CHARLIE SEXTON PERFORMING SOME GIRLS

1/25/2019 GIJON, SPAIN SALA ALBENIZ w/CHARLIE SEXTON PERFORMING SOME GIRLS

1/26/2019 GALICIA, SPAIN TBC w/CHARLIE SEXTON PERFORMING SOME GIRLS

1/29/2019 MADRID, SPAIN CHANGO w/CHARLIE SEXTON PERFORMING SOME GIRLS

1/30/2019 BARCELONA, SPAIN RAZZMATAZZ 2 w/CHARLIE SEXTON PERFORMING SOME GIRLS

1/31/2019 ZARAGOZA, SPAIN LAS ARMAS w/CHARLIE SEXTON PERFORMING SOME GIRLS

2/1/2019 VALENCIA, SPAIN 16 TONELADAS w/CHARLIE SEXTON PERFORMING SOME GIRLS

2/2/2019 CADIZ, SPAIN AULARIO LA BOMBA w/CHARLIE SEXTON PERFORMING SOME GIRLS

I like amplified music

We just completed a little run on the East Coast. With Stephanie back in the fold. (Thank you Jesus!)

A fun show in New Haven with songstress Amy Rigby at Club Nine (and yes, there was pizza involved). And a show in Maplewood, NJ, as part of the righteous “Rent Party” series where they raise money to fight hunger in their community. It was a beautiful old hall. Real old. Like England old. The kind of place where I imagine Buddy Holly might have played once upon a day.

Maybe he did?

Next up, the Bell House in Brooklyn. Although we play less and less of these gigs where after the crowd clears out the floor is covered in red plastic cups up to your knees, I still take real pride when I see a smattering of those red Solo cups on the floor after the show. So, when I was roaming around during soundcheck and I spied a portrait of the late great J Bellhouse on the wall of the bathroom replete with a philosophical quote from the man himself I got real happy.

The plaque under the portrait read:

“I like amplified music.

I like it to be loud.

And I like drinking beer from a red plastic cup.”

—J Roger Bellhouse

And then a rare day off in NYC before flying out to an Arts and Lectures gig (no that isn’t a typo! Arts AND Lectures, bee-atches!) at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, to wander the streets of the Village (and the aisles of Strand Books). I did take in the Velvet Underground exhibit. I’d been tipped off. Joseph Arthur said I had to see it. And I’d read about it that morning in the NY Times. In the Times piece there was a photo of Nico driving with a caption that read: “Nico was a pretty good driver” —John Cale.

That photo totally caught my eye. There she was. The OG Queen of the Goths behind the wheel of a very large RV or maybe a bus leaning over a BIG steering wheel. You know the kind—those flat horizontal steering wheels where the driver kind of leans over it. Like Mark Ruffalo in the film “Margaret.” (Please stop what you’re doing and watch that movie now.) Yep, Nico all bangs and blonde hair and chiseled cheekbones—those big, vacant blue eyes studying the road ahead. Looking like the most beautiful man in the world let alone the most beautiful woman. Just driving to the next gig.

Something about it . . .

I breezed through the exhibit until I came to that pic of Nico. Next to it was a picture of Maureen Tucker carrying a cardboard box in the rain that caught my eye. By the size of the box, I’m guessing she had a snare drum in there. The exhibit was kind of a tourist trap. But how else can you hang with that crowd? Uncle Lou is on the other side of the grass now.

ANYHOODLE: I did learn some things. Turns out it doesn’t matter if you’re The Velvet Underground, George Clooney, or the friggin’ pope, loading equipment in the rain kind of sucks. Then again, I don’t know. It kind of looked like Mo Tucker was smiling.

We have a few shows coming up. As usual, dig in below.

Meanwhile, The Mission Express is playing great. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: All a poet needs is a pen. A painter needs maybe like a brush and some paint? But people, a singer/songwriter needs an army. So grateful to have these guys and gal out there turning it all into music.

Onwards,

—CP

GIGSVILLE:

10/21/2018 NOVATO CA HOPMONK TAVERN COOKOUT SERIES - CHUCK PROPHET (SOLO)