Blue Diamond Fillups, live in the studio

Fun time last night in Studio A at KWMR. Amanda told the story, so I’ll post the playlist along with some youtube clips. The biggest surprise of the evening was Flash’s voice. He’s got a great voice that can belt out great renditions of vintage Cash and Orbison. His voice was so big we had to move him far off the mic to keep the level down. Check out the following clip and you’ll hear what I mean.

A big influence on Blue Diamond Fillups and Jonnie, guitar and founder of the band, is Ronnie Dawson. We didn’t know much about Ronnie Dawson, but played a cut and then did some research. As is the case with too many popular artists of the 50’s and 60’s who suffered at American radio’s pop culture, Ronnie Dawson found an audience embracing his music in Britain in the 80’s that began a comeback of sorts. Now, with Rockabilly having wide-ranging popularity, from folks who listened to it when Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins were recording for Sun, to the 20/30-somethings with lead sleds, tattoos, and Betty Page pin-up girls, Ronnie Dawson might have a wider audience than he did when he was alive. Check out these Ronnie Dawson clips.

For the astute, you’ll notice one of Dave Alvin’s Guilty Women, Lisa Pankratz, on drums in the clip below.

Artist	Cut	Album	Label
Tim Hus	Bakersfield Music	Bushpilot Buckaroo	Stony Plain Records
Ronnie Dawson	Hot Hot Water	Rockinitis	Crystal Clear Sound
Blue Diamond Fillups	Wildest Dreams	Blue Diamond Fillups	Self Produced
Blue Diamond Fillups	Drive Like Lighting	Blue Diamond Fillups	Self Produced
Paladins	Going Down to Big Mary’s	Years Since Yesterday	Alligator
Wanda Jackson	Cryin’ Time	Heart Trouble	CMH Records
Johnny Cash	The Man Comes Around	American IV: The Man Comes Around	American Recordings
Roy Orbison	Ooby Dooby
Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers	So Lonely	Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers	Donysus Records
Dave Howe	A Face For Radio	A Face For Radio	Dave Howe Music
Carl Perkins	Blue Suede Shoes	Million Sellers, Sun’s Gold Hits	Sun Record Co

How did we miss the Galaxy?

Mike and I were hanging at the Station House Cafe for a quick bite pre-show and discussing our game plan for the evening. At the end of our meal we chatted with Cheryl, the owner, who asked us where we were headed. “Oh, you must be interviewing the guys who were just here eating, they were Rockabilly.” Another person we knew stated, “Yes, they just drove off in a red Galaxy!”

Ok, so we were in a small town, in a not large restaurant and we missed the “guys from the band” and their cool wheels. Well, it WAS dark and raining…. Anyway, we headed to the station and hooked up with Flash and Jonnie from Blue Diamond Fillups for a really fun show of live music and lively chat about Rockabilly. Minus base and drums these two were able to shake out some great tunes. Flash has a voice made for singing and Jonnie accompanied him nicely on acoustic guitar.

We expect that Smiley’s in Bolinas will be rockin’ when they plug in Friday (January 22nd) for four-hour show just down the road.

We were also able to connect with Dr. BLT for some catching up as he called in (as he has for every single one of our shows) from Bakersfield for an update. We had him request a Dave Howe song from Dave’s CD, A Face For Radio (BLT suggested the title track). Dave is another musician with a great voice who has recently been collaborating with Dr. BLT on some projects.

The play list is short, but sweet. Thanks for listening and let us know if you have any requests!