I has been awhile since I have done a music diary. But somehow I feel inspired today...Ladies and Gentlemen (and everyone else) I give you, the Bonedaddys, a band centered around fun, world beat, and its founding percussionist and varying radically in both line up and style.
In the beginning there was the bone...and the bone was good...
They were an LA band and in fact at one point at least we had a mutual friend. A good high school friend of mine knew them pretty well. They have released about 6 albums since 1988 but really haven't found widespread fame. They remain something just a bit bigger than a local band who gets something of a wider following from time to time.
Nothing all that profound about them except they pretty much seemed to accept anybody with talent into their line up and would try out any style of music and no matter where they went with their music they always had fun and always stuck to some very basic roots of rock and roll...that means Elvis, Africa, Bo Diddley, you name it. They have played with everyone from Tito Fuente to Warren Zevon. But first they played with Bo...enjoy!
An early performance by the Bonedaddys was a romp with none other than Bo Diddley:
And I think that is "Kpanlogo," a Ghana style of dance music that influenced American rock...and clearly influenced the Bonedaddys.
Now I best knew their first album, Akoodea. Here is a song that later appeared on that album but from an earlier phase in their existence:
And a version from when I knew them:
Here they are with a different lead singer but during the era I knew them: (this one really shows off the founding percussionist (aptly named Michael Tempo) playing with all sorts of weird instruments)
More from the same concert, getting back to the African theme:
(I will leave out the more Rap inspired stuff they did from a similar era)
Now one of the places I saw them was free at the Santa Monica Pier...back in the '90's. But they were still playing the Pier in 2008:
More about the Bonedadys here: http://www.thebonedaddys.com/...
And let me, from afar now, plug the free Santa Monica Pier concerts...I have seen some great folks there including the Bonedaddys and Queen Ida. Tonight (Aug 15th) is the English Beat!
For those who are interested, my previous music diaries are archived here.