As Veezy Coffman says, musicians are 10% serious, 40% eccentric and 50% mischievous. And here in Floodlandia, that last proportion might be even higher, as Pamela illustrates in the two videos she shot at the Bowen House just last week.
Video No. 1: Dead Cat on the Line
Many blues singers have recorded this cool old song over the years, but for the performance above, we took our inspiration from the April 1934 recording by Flood hokum heroes Tampa Red and Georgia Tom.
And by the way, while The Flood has been known to make feline noises to accompany this number, in truth the "dead cat" in this title actually seems to be talking about fishing.
Back in 1998, words guru William Safire wrote in no less an authority than The New York Times that the phase "dead cat on the line" appears to refer to a dead catfish on a trotline, evidence that a lazy fisherman has not been checking his poles. In other words, ahem… something's fishy...
Video No. 2: Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down
So, the wonderful whackiness of our evening all started when Veezy decided to bring her gorgeous soprano sax — the near-100-year-old silver beauty she calls “Savoy” — to last Thurday night’s rehearsal.
At some point during that session, the other member of The Flood reed section -- harmonicat Sam St. Clair -- suggested that if she wanted to contribute yet aNOTHer new sound to the mix, she might consider a kazoo. (After all, we used to call the kazoo "The West Virginia saxophone” back in the day when the late Dave Peyton played that good-time instrument with us).
But Veezy already had her own plans for a new sound, coming up with a novel way to make a positively kazoo-like contribution to a tune when she …
Oh, but wait a minute; let’s not spoil the surprise! Just click below to check it out for yourself:
Veezy’s innovations begin about half way through this video, and, ahhhh, what gloriously goofy way to wrap up an evening of fun.
Glorious Goofiness