Chords for Phil Alvin Speaks 9-5-86

I saw the first time playing in the streets before the Blasters or anything.
We were just in New Orleans and I was looking for records.
Back in the 70s?
Yeah, I was probably 78, maybe 79, something like that.
And there was this band, there was a couple of older guys, older meaning like 30, right?
And then guys who were 15, 16 years old, they were all playing in the streets and marching.
Guy with an umbrella carrying a hat through, and really playing hot jazz.
_ When I saw that I had the opportunity, Lee Allen said he knew them and they told me to make this record.
So you formed the Blasters because you couldn't get in the Dirty Dozen Jazz?
[A] Right, exactly.
I couldn't find them.
I didn't know [Bb] what their name was then.
They walked off into the street and I saw them later on.
And Lee Allen says, oh yeah, well I know these guys.
And then I got Sun Raw and The Orchestra.
I got them.
They were kind enough to make this record with me.
Somebody had told me in Powers That Be on the last record,
we didn't get certain horn songs on the last Blaster record.
They said, horns aren't too hefty.
So then [G] they asked me to make this record.
I said, okay, I'll get Sun Raw and The Orchestra.
[E] Well, it is a pretty strange thing.
The guy's not called to do backup too often, is he?
Well, yeah, but Sun Raw, most jazz that people think about now, jazz doesn't appeal popularly.
It doesn't go out and talk to people, sing songs to people, try to get people [B] dancing or something.
It's more playing around with music.
It used to be jazz when Louis Armstrong and the guys played it, was jazz,
you know, like, I'll be glad when you're dead, you rascal, you da-da-da.
That's a Louis Prima song.
That's much more of the entertainment.
Entertainment jazz tradition is in rhythm and blues [N] than in rock and roll,
not inside what you call jazz.
And Sun Raw, who learned from Fletcher Henderson, always kept a show,
no matter how far outside, he's one of the greatest,
you know, third, third, whatever name you want to give to avant-garde jazz leaders.
John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, guys like that in the band,
the guys who founded some of these movements,
they always entertained on stage.
The music was done to entertain.
And now they got them out sweet basils in New York City clapping their hands.
I mean, the whole sophisticated audience,
with their blonde saxophones up their dresses. _
You know, it's phenomenal to see this.
The show's so great.
So if I could in any way point the finger at popular jazz,
which both of those guys are doing.
By the way, excuse me, I'd like to get a signal in about ten minutes,
because Phil's going to do some picking and grinning.
Oh, yeah, well, okay, I'll think about it.
But tell me a little bit about how you hook up with Sun Raw,
because this guy is an established jazz avant-garde guy.
It's very strange for you to record with him.
Right, well, it was a pipe dream originally.
So what I was going to do was call him and ask him
if he would help conduct a search through the junior colleges
to find, in high schools, find jazz players, kids,
that could play real hot jazz,
because they don't play it anymore.
It's not swing music.
I mean, it's supposed to have a different mood.
It's jazz.
And so when I was in Philadelphia [E] with the Blasters,
he was playing at this club, and we walked inside the club,
and I had no idea anything would happen.
I told some guy, I said, yeah, I wanted to ask him this thing.
Next thing I knew, Danny Thompson from the band was standing there.
He said, you want to ask Sun Raw this?
[Gb] He said, you want to see Sun Raw?
[N] Take me backstage to see Sun Raw.
Sun Raw, first thing Sun Raw said was,
I knew Gate Mouth Moore.
_ _ And he figured I was like a rhythm and blues guy,
which I am, but that's not what I was going to talk about.
So he mistook you for a rhythm and blues guy when, in fact,
you were a hot jazz guy.
I was going in as a hot jazz guy,
and was mistaken as an R&B character.
Happens to all of us.
Understandable.
And I said, well, what about Lucky Millinder and the Mills Blue Rhythm Band?
So then we started talking.
Wait a second, was Lucky Millinder hot jazz?
Oh, heck yes.
I like Lucky Millinder, I just didn't know I liked hot jazz.
I got a record by, I think perhaps the hottest record _ _
is Ride Red Ride by Mills Blue Rhythm Band
under the leadership, directorship of Lucky Millinder.
Lucky Millinder was, and that's like 1934, I think.
He was one of the R&B road bands, you know, traveling all over the_
I know about Lucky.
See, yeah, that's when Lucky Millinder made his R&B,
yeah, but he was hot jazz.
The roots of R&B.
But the roots of R&B, see, when they say the roots of jazz,
we have this thing, there was popular jazz in each state.
Guys like Putney, Dandridge, Cab Calloway is an example
of probably the most_
Cab Calloway, now you have a Cab Calloway song on here.
I got two.
You got Minnie the Moocher, what else?
I got five, actually.
It's not Minnie the Moocher on here.
It's the Ballad of Smokey Joe.
It starts with Minnie the Moocher,
but as soon as Smokey Joe is introduced_
You gotta write, you gotta [C] liner notes, Phil,
so you can get these nuances so people can understand.
Well, [Gb] they put the record on, I tell the story,
you can listen to it.
When you're done, listen to it.
[Ab] I heard the story and I mistook it for Minnie the Moocher.
Oh, well, that's because you only listened to one-fiftieth of the song,
which is perhaps my fault.
_ _ Inside the story of Minnie the Moocher,
it talks about Smokey Joe.
This is supposed to be all story songs.
Smokey Joe is this guy who had lots of songs put about him.
Smokey Joe married Minnie the Moocher,
he was the cocaine dealer and pusher for Minnie.
Kicking the Gong Around is part of this song,
which is where Smokey Joe runs out of drugs.
He's out in Harlem looking for Minnie,
who he's now shown how to do all this stuff.
And then the last [Bb] part of this_
So this is a drug instruction record?
[D] What's that? _
What exactly does kick_
I love that line.
It means to take opium.
[Bb] Oh, it's the Kicking the Gong Around.
You get up and kick the gong.
Address that one to me, Ted.
Why don't you ask about_
Why do you kick opium?
No, no.
Kicking the Gong Around.
_ Because when I saw Cab Calloway last year,
I asked him after the show,
I said, specifically, what does Kicking [Gb] the Gong Around mean?
He said, oh, we can't talk about that.
I said, yeah, give me a break, you know, it's 1986, just tell it.
So I said, is this like a synonym for going