Reverend J.J. Vicars: News

Six new songs have been added to the Hillbilly Resistance album. Download the 6 new songs, along with the original 10 and an extra, at http://www.jjvicars.com/music-group-2.html

The Rockabilly trio was formed in 2002 when singer/songwriter Michael James Klunk hooked up with yours truly and bassist Michign Mike Horning. Several drummers were auditioned but none gelled so it was decided to stick with the classic Rockabilly trio format- vocal/acoustic guitar, electric guitar & doghouse bass. With Klunk's right hand from hell and Michigan Mike slapping the upright the percussion was covered. Add some reverb drenched electric pickings and the ghost of Sam Phillips seemed to nod in approval. 10 songs were recorded and mixed by Michigan Mike at his Doghouse Studio with the three of us standing in a tight circle facing each other. Backing vocals were overdubbed with all three of us on one mic.

In March 2010 I found a CD of Klunk demos including six songs we had never recorded. All but one, which we did record, were one track of Klunk accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. His meter was perfect and his rhythm driving, as always. All they needed was guitar and bass parts and they would be complete. I worked up guitar parts and also laid down bass parts until Michigan Mike could get his done. Two songs, WHAT I'M LIVING ON and SHE MAY BE YOUR WOMAN made it into my set lists with SDFR planned for some upcoming gigs. Since it will take some time for Michigan Mike to do his bass parts the demo versions have been uploaded already. Looking forward to hearing the songs with slap bass, a necessary componet of Rockabilly, but until then these are pretty groovy.

The J-Pop video I was in last month came out a couple days ago. Team JyunJyo YAHHOO. Two song single and there's  double-disc set with a DVD of the video and what is claimed to be a "making of" but is really just a second video using 'behind the scenes' footage. Nonetheless, I lucked into a feature part right at the beginning. How cool is that? http://item.rakuten.co.jp/hmvjapan/3861026/

Another day, another video. A few weeks ago I was in a J-Pop video and lucked out with a feature part. Today I was in a video for MYSELF, a Punk-Blues artist from New Orleans. Check out his new album at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/myself4 Shooting the video was Michael Condon who does all sorts of music videos and zombie movies along with a bit of journalism. Check out his stuff at http://www.alchemistm.com/ My co-star in the video was Steve Sangthip (link coming soon). We shot at a remote location during the rainy season which was quite an experience. Looking forward to seeing the finished result. When it's done and online a link will be posted here on the news page. Stay tuned!

On June 24th I was ordained by the Church of the Latter Day Dude. Today my Certificate of Ordination and Letter of Good Standing arrived in the mail. Reverend J.J. Vicars of the Church of the Latter Day Dude is now available for all religious services, blessings and consecrations including weddings, funerals and bar mitzvahs. So take it easy man, 'cause the Dude abides!

Just recieved word that former Skynyrd Honkette JoJo Billingsley died on June 24th. Our planned interview never materialized due to her illness but there's enough relevant info in some of our e-mail exchanges to make for a fitting blog/obit. She was an excellent singer with strong stage presence and quite a character.

J.J.V. is now an ordained minister of the Church of the Latter Day Dude. http://dudeism.com/ Dudeism is "An ancient philosophy that preaches non-preachiness, practices as little as possible, and above all, uh…lost my train of thought there." A combination of Taoism, Buddhism, quatum physics (reality perception), the Seth material (Jane Roberts) and Fo’-Shizzle-my-Nizzlism filtered through the Zen-like qualities of the Coen Brothers cult movie THE BIG LEBOWSKI and it's main character The Dude. Some times you eat the bar and sometimes the bar eats you, so take 'er easy and go with the flow... shit, I lost my train of thought again...

Marcus Birdman, who was also on the YAHHO video shoot, posted his Blog. http://jamaicaninjapan.wordpress.com/2010/06/14/my-first-j-pop-music-video/#comment-24 Included with his commentary are a few shots of fellow extras, the stage (from the bar) and our after-shoot excursions. Marcus is a talented photographer whom I hope to work with in the near future.

Saturday the 12th was an interesting gig, worked as an extra in a video for a J-Pop group, Team Jyun Jyo. http://www.teamjj.com/ I was one of the lucky ones who got a featured scene at the bar before the music starts. Had a blast hanging out with all the other crazy gaijin. Met a lot of cool folks including Mara, my "co-star". At the end of the shoot they snapped a few pics of the girls with the "audience". http://ameblo.jp/teamjj/image-10561811276-10588697817.html As soon as the video hits YouTube a link will be posted here on the News page. There was also another camera shooting a "making of" documentary so maybe something interesting (but not embarrassing) will pop up.

A batch of Mike Klunk demos were discovered in the Archives last month which included half a dozen that the group never recorded. The sound quality and performance were so good all they needed was electric guitar and slap bass added to them so Michigan Mike, who recorded the original ten songs, is joining the fray to bring these babies to life. The Rockabilly trio is back! Some of these new songs have already made their was into JJV setlists. Download the first ten songs at http://www.jjvicars.com/music-group-2.html

Jack Herer died today. His book THE EMPEROR WEARS NO CLOTHES is the definitive account of how and why cannabis was criminlized in America. Using the Freedom of Information Act he proves conclusively that DuPont bought off the government, which then created the "reefer madness" scare, shortly after patenting rayon in order to eliminate hemp from the marketplace. His book offers sound evidence on the indistrial, textile, medicinal and therepuetic benefits of cannabis and how the petrochemical and pharmacuetical industries lobby to keep it outlawed so they can increase corporate profits. Business as usual. Herer was a true patriot, one who loved his country enough to not stand idly by while corporate greed raped it.

Back in Tokyo recovering from jet lag. Despite the many obstacles I accomplished what I set out to do, minus playing the dates which can be done later with better and sane guys. Full story in the latest blog MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

The Southwest Spring Tour has been canceled. What started out with high hopes was seriously damaged by unnecessary aggravation, but that would turn out to be the least of it. There was more to it than I could know at the time. After flying half-way around the world and driving half-way across the country it all came to a head. My plans to offset the cost of moving my stuff back to Texas and establishing my name locally were seriously undermined. An oportunist was hustling me. See Blog entry for details including the racist hate mail he's been sending ever since.

2009 was a rough year for a lot of folks, and I'm no exception, but as I sit here writing this on December 31st the good stands out and bad becomes "necessary self-correcting measures".

The album I was working on, LONG WAY FROM HOME, was shelved halfway through recording. It sucked and I stewed over it for quite a while, but now that it appears the album will be finished elsewhere with a different rhythm section it looks like I'll have two halves that together will make both an accurate musical diary and an overall top-notch album. The guys on the first half couldn't do what the guys on the second half will do and the guys on the second half couldn't do what the first did. Regardless of any personal differences I stand 120% behind what we recorded.

In February I interviewed vocalist Jill Jones. That article became my first nationally published piece, appearing in Florida-based magazine GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS and may appear again in UK mag BLUES MATTERS. BLUES MATTERS deserves a serious tip of the hat for publishing many of my letters to the editor and getting me back into writing. I don't know what it is that people like so much about my writing but as long as they like it I'll keep doing it. The article avoided the usual Prince gossip that journalists have bugged her with and focused on her actual work as a vocalist, covering all of her albums. Engineer David Rivkin and Grand Royals bandmate Ian Ginsberg both contributed lengthy in-depth quotes. Jill and her manager liked it so much it now appears on much of her promo material. Thanks, Jill! I've been discussing musical collaboration with her and it looks promising.

A few months later I played the only Jerry & J.J. Vicars gig to date. The more both of us get back to our Blues roots the more similarities I hear in our playing. Not surprising, some of the songs he taught me when I first picked up guitar I'm still doing; COMIN' HOME, MEMPHIS, HONKY TONK, CHICKEN SHACK. Don't be surprised if I play all those on my last gig before shuffling off the mortal coil. When we lived in Cincinnati I played bass with his group, Jerry & the Hipswingers. We shot two videos but the one on my YouTube channel from Cincy is my favorite. Once he played on my gig, a private party, nothing special. This time we did a duo gig at Ben's Cafe with Mark Schwarz on bass and Jimmy Mack on drums. Mark recorded it and MP3s are on my website for download. There's also footage from a film crew who were making a documentary about Americans living in Tokyo but I don't know what happened with that. We repeated the show last week by recording his arrangement of Charles Brown's MERRY CHRISTMAS BABY, again with Mark on bass and available on the website.

This year's CD release was LONGHAIRED LEFTOVERS, a collection of leftover songs from Jindaiji Monkey studio. These were done for fun and when an album's worth of material was accumulated it was decided to eventually release it. Since LONG WAY FROM HOME was shelved indefinitely and I needed an '09 release it got bumped up. I made my keyboard debut, Suzi V plays organ on one track and Jeremy Gloff piano on another. I covered his "1987" as a disc-only bonus track. Two other songs feature Jay Lang, the cat from Sheep Dip who gave a teenage J.J.V. a break when no one else would. Jay sent some backing tracks which I put words and melody to. I have a vocal and guitar track on each, all other instruments are him. Jay also helped my writing endeavors by pointing out the famous Hemingway quote, "Show it, don't tell it." Mark Schwarz designed the jacket adding all the background items to a photo he took that includes the Modbird in her early stages.

The best came towards the end. A new venue opened up in Akasaka named Crawfish. Excellent room, fantastic gear (Fender tube amps!) and Carl and Jake are some of the best venue owners I've met. Chiharu Kawai was present for the first show there and filmed four songs which are now on my YouTube channel; WANG DANG DOODLE, STINKY TWINKY and DOWNHOME. Back at the Barge Inn, one of my all-time my favorite venues (in Narita near the airport), manager Bryan Harmon spent quality time with me, Mark and drummer Masaki Shibata fixing up the sound and lights. Our friend Oliver Richter brought out his camera and filmed all three sets, performed in front of a very enthusiastic crowd. Four songs in three videos have been posted to YouTube; TAKE ME ON DOWN TO MEMPHIS/ROCK MY WORLD, J.J.'s BOOGIE and BOOGIE ON DOWN all from the 1st set. Video from the 2nd and 3rd sets is being edited right now. The full unedited audio is available for download on the website, minus the first set.

The Barge Inn gig was the debut of the Modbird, the custom guitar Mark Schwarz built for me. Mark has been building guitars for years, his Rocket Revenger bass is well known around town. This is the first one he built to order and she's a beauty. The body draws its design from the Gibson Moderne and Firebird, though much smaller, and has a Strat bridge. The P-90 from my Les Paul Jr. I had when I was a kid sits in the back position with Fender Fat Strat in front. The pickguard is similar to a Les Paul Jr. A Fender neck does the job for now, until a custom neck is ready. The Modbird is now my main guitar and playing her is not only the most fun I've had on any axe in years she's also a feather in both our caps, the luthier and the player.

But the most lasting impression came from the least likely of sources, the TV. There was a short interview/documentary with an old woman who owns a barber shop under the train tracks near one of the busiest station in Tokyo. Didn't catch the station but it looked like the Shinkansen (bullet train) stops there. She lives in a two-story building ; the barber shop is on the first floor, her residence on the second. Many of her customers have been coming to her for 40 years. Sometimes they fall asleep in the chair. She lets them sleep. She charges customers according to what they can afford and if they're broke doesn't charge them at all. She lives modestly and always has enough. When the interviewer asked for her thoughts on the global economic meltdown she said, "People have been working for the country, money went to the bureaucrats. When they work for PEOPLE money will return to the people and it will get back to normal." Many folks I know back in the U.S. decided not to buy Christmas presents, or only select few, or to make a present to give. To me, that makes it one of the greatest Christmases ever; the crass commercialism normally surrounding the holidaze was dealt a sever blow, the vacuum filled with genuine concern for one another. At least that's how it looks to me. Some say it was a bad year but I disagree; it was a difficult year but that doesn't make it a bad year. People lost a lot of selfishness and remembered what's important.

Been busy filming and editing video over here at Annie Gator Records. Two new playlists are up on the YouTube channel www.youtube.com/user/jjvicars
The first is from 10/22/09 at Crawfish, a new venue in Akasaka. Jin Nagami on bass and Masaki Shibata on drums, filmed bu Chiharu Kawai. WANG DANG DOODLE (Willie Dixon), STINKY TWINKY, DOWNHOME and RAIN KEEPS FALLING all from the forthcoming album FULL THROTTLE.
http://www.youtube.com/user/jjvicars#p/c/2E0E6B7829892B63
The second is from 11/7/09 at the Barge Inn in Narita, three songs in four videos. Masaki Shibata on drums again and Mark Schwarz on bass weilding his infamous Rocket Revenger, filmed by Oliver Richter. This was the debut of the ModBird, the custom guitar built by Mark, and the first time two of his Broken Guitars appeared together onstage. TAKE ME ON DOWN TO MEMPHIS/ROCK MY WORLD and J.J.'s BOOGIE from the SCI-FI DINER album and BOOGIE ON DOWN (Freddie King), the closing number for that set.
http://www.youtube.com/user/jjvicars#p/c/CE1FE6DD33918622
Oliver Richter filmed all three sets from the Barge Inn and there will at least three videos from the 2nd set soon. In the meantime, there's also a video of "1987" from the 3rd set (unedited) on MySpace and YouTube. "!987" is the disc-only bonus track from the new album LONGHAIRD LEFTOVERS www.cdbaby.com/cd/jjvicars1 written by Jeremy Gloff,who also makes a guest appearance playing piano on TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE from the same album. Go to http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/gloff14 for the original "1987".

In '98 I was playing with my dad's Cincinnati-based Jump Blues band Jerry & the Hipswingers. We cut a demo video which sat on the shelf after everyone moved away. Finally I got a copy of the video and was able to convert the file for upload. And now here it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brUdLHvzkJ0

Not my movie, we're nowhere near ready to start on that. A movie I was an extra in last year is coming out. I'm in the crowd scenes during the concert and I doubt you can see me. But I'm there. http://symbol-movie.jp/

A little bit of web surfing on an otherwise boring, rainy night turned up something very interesting. Houston Jazz sax player extraordanaire is now up and running on the Internet. http://larryslezak.com


Larry was a family friend when yours truly was first getting his musical feet wet. He was already smokin' but every time I heard him he somehow managed to outdo himself. Larry is one of those rare musicians who is constantly honing and refining his craft. While visiting back home last year I had the pleasure of seeing his group at Ovations. It has been 15 or more years since I had heard him and much to my surprise he was even better. I think of Larry every time I hit the books to woodshed.



When I first mentioned bringing Jill Jones to Texas to record a Blues/Jazz/R&B album with real instruments (nothing against her current hit single on the Dance charts, but I'd like to hear her in that setting) Larry was one of the first names I mentioned. Now he's on the web and his site has a ton of content to delight your ears. I now invite those of you outside of Houston to discover a treasure we've known for many, many years.



A little icing on the cake; Larry's son Joe Slezak, my age, is on drums. Joe and I started out on drums about the same time. He took it more naturally than I did and stuck with it. Today he's as solid as they come. Playing drums was fun but I wasn't cut out to be a Jazzer. When I took up Blues/Roots guitar I found my niche at last. There's a couple Jazz flavored numbers on a future CD and I hope to have Larry and Joe on them. Got my fingers crossed.

He was one of the architects of the electric guitar, invented multi-track recording and reverb, pioneered new micing techniques and was one of the hottest Jazz guitarists ever playing elegant, melodic lines at breathtaking speed that seemed to defy the laws of physics. He reinvented music... he reinvented SOUND! He's one of the very few people who really changed the world.

I was working on getting to New York so I could see him at the Iridum. I really wanted to meet him; I'd be happy if he told me to fuck off! LOL He said that kids would be making records in their bedroom just like he did and that's exactly what I've been doing for the last few years (HI-TECH HILLBILLY, HEARTLAND, LONGHAIRED LEFTOVERS). Many times I've sat down at my Zoom 1608CD home studio to record or mix and thought, "I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for Les Paul. This technology that allows me to realize my ideas wouldn't exist."

When I started making those albums I didn't have much of a catalog, recording studios were prohibitively expensive and getting local musicians to play my music right was a headache (a frustration in babysitting, actually. Recording at home like this helped establish the sound, the style and the body of work. From then on getting gigs and getting musicians to cooperate was much easier.

LONGHAIRED LEFTOVERS is almost done. Today I planned on mixing the last song and getting on with the release. I'm tired of recording at home by myself and plan on selling the studio. Ironic, for me, that Les Paul died just as I was wrapping up this chapter of my recording career. Now I can concentrate on those faster-than-light licks of his. So far I can play one at half speed.

Michael Jackson died today. The official cause was cardiac arrest but I believe it was a case of nothing left ot live for. He was no longer a singer or an entertainer. He was a celebrity, and a charicature of one at that. During his heyday (THRILLER) he crossed boundaries as one of the first black artists (along with Prince) to be a staple of MTV and one the first R&B artists to feature prominent Rock guitarists on chart topping hits. BEAT IT just wouldn't be the same without Eddie Van Halen's infamous solo. Steve Stevens reworked Tommy Bolin's Echoplex tricks into the 'ray gun' effect that became the instrumental crescendo of DIRTY DIANA.



Over the last 15 years he became a running joke. Too much plastic surgery, too much rich celebrity indulgence, too many accusations and lawsuits. Now that he's gone I prefer to remember the popular culture icon of my youth as the groundbreaking entertainer he was 'back in the day' who crossed boundaries that today we can barely imagine existed.



Farrah Fawcett has also passed away today. Another popular culture icon whose name and face were everywhere. I don't often pay attention to the mainstream but when two of the most recognizable names and faces pass on it does remind you of passing eras and your own mortality.

The latest blog has been published. This one is about one of the very few things I enjoy in Tokyo, cafes. Can't wait to see what sort of enlightening response this one elicits. In the last one, about Tokyo's lack of live music, my detractors further emphasized my point by defending the plethora of amatuer noise makers that abound here and calling it music. And they were quite miffed that I didn't include that bunch, further emphasizing why I regard this city as a musical joke.

http://blog.gaijinpot.com/food-and-drink/ex-pat-cafe/2529/#more-2529

Sad news. The legendary Koko Taylor passed away yesterday in Chicago. I had the pleasure of seeing her a couple times and the privilege of meeting her once in '91 when she co-billed with Albert Collins & the Icebreakers. She tore up the stage like nobody's business. That was a singer who belted it out and a performer who grabbed the audience and held them there. Another one who raised the bar and kept it there. Read the full story at http://www.kokotaylor.com/news.html

Mark Schwarz is known as bassist and backing vocalist with Max Blues and J.J.V. The Kent, England native appears on the Max Blues album THE SUITCASE, along with the late drummer Shimpei 'dead eye' Ono, and on the upcoming J.J.V. album LONG WAY FROM HOME with drummer/engineer Bill Concello, also formerly of Max Blues. The release of LWFH has been pushed back from '09 to '10 and this summer will instead see the release of LONGHAIRED LEFTOVERS, a collection of leftover material from Jindaijii Monkey Studio. LEFTOVERS sees the credentials of Mark Schwarz expand to include photographer and graphic designer. The front cover shot was taken by Mark and features the J.J. Vicars model Broken Guitar he's currently building. Mark is also designing the CD jacket, adding his ownperverse twist to the infamous J.J.V. sick sense of humor. Mark- bassist, backing vocalist, luthier, photographer and designer. May da Schwarz be with you!

With LONG WAY FROM HOME delayed until next spring LONGHAIRED LEFTOVERS is being finished for release this summer. "Longhaired" as in 'longhair' music, as opposed to Blues/Roots, and "Leftovers" because it's mostly leftover material from the HI-TECH HILLBILLY and HEARTLAND sessions all recorded at Jindaiji Monkey Studio. Two more tracks, INDIAN SUMMER and RAIN KEEPS FALLING have been posted to the website. These rough mixes will be available for free download until the album is released.

SOUNDS OF YESTERDAY, TODAY -an article written for SparkleFox e-zine- has been published in the new issue. In an assessment of the current dismal state of the music industry several different culprits are described- corporate greed, childish expectations, and the general culture of instant gratification. The article can be read in its entirety here at www.sparklefox.com/advice-music-1.html
The Jill Jones article is on its way next. In it she details the Blues and Jazz she grew up listening to via her mother and grandmother, her start at Motown, her long stint as a session vocalist for the Revolution and her most recent albums TWO and WASTED plus projects in the works. An interesting behind-the-scenes look at the music industry from an artist with a long and impressive resume.

I interviewed Jill Jones for an upcoming article on her. Through the course of the conversation we covered her start at Motown with Teena Marie, her time as a backing vocalist with Prince & the Revolution, her critically-acclaimed solo debut on Paisley Park and why Warner Bros refused to promote it, TWO, WASTED, her MySpace music player, and a few upcoming projects. Very informative and a lot of fun to hang out and talk with such a classy yet downhome lady.