Original Sloth Band: Personal Stories
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Nov 28, 2015
In 1969 I lived on Scollard St in Yorkville, Toronto's Greenwich Village. We were about 100 yards from The Riverboat club. Chris, Ken and Tom performed regularly there in that long narrow club where intimate contact with musicians, waiters and audience was unavoidable and delicious.Many a time I sat, laser focussed on Tom and his clarinet and his leather tube ( diga doo diga doo), out of which he coaxed the most amazing sounds by working a dowel which had a disc attached. It's called a friction drum. Tom's was homemade but it originates from the Brazilian Cuica.They were the epitome of cool in those days and I made a point of tracking them down at Mariposa on the Islands and other venues. Hustlin' & Bustlin' is an amazing recording of theirs. It's on Woodshed WS005. Chris was the only one who continued in the music scene as far as I know but all three remain deeply embedded in my soul.
HUSTLIN' & BUSTLIN' Woodshed WS005
Organ Grinder
Get Yourself a New Broom and Sweep Your Troubles Away
Diga Diga Doo
West Indies Blues
Tight Like That
Cheek to Cheek
Gimme a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer
.........
Honeysuckle Rose
Shout Baby Shout
Papa De Da Da
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Little Black Train
Memphis Shakedown
Hustlin' and Bustlin' For Baby
Muskrat Ramble
WHOOPEE AFTER MIDNIGHT - SLOTH RECORDS
Temperance Reel
The New Heartbreak Blues
The Sheik of Araby
Heaven
The Johnson Rag
(I Just Want To Be) Horizontal
Stealin'
..........
Rhythm King
Get A Job
How Long Blues
I'm a Vulture (for Horticulture)
Mandolin King Rag
He's Comin' in Glory
Buddha's Got The Blues
Apr 21, 2010
When my kids, now 34, were about 4 or 5 they had recordings of Ken and Chris's Junior Jug Band:
Chris & Ken Whiteley's Junior Jug Band! A joyful collection of songs for children.
Chris (guitar, harmonicas, trumpet, jug), Ken (guitar, mandolin, fiddle, tenor banjo, 5 string banjo, banjo-mandolin, dobro, accordion, washboard, washtub, washtub bass, spoons, etc), Mike Gardner (string bass, electric bass), Bill Byrans (drums), Phil Strong (drums), Ken Bloom (clarinet, zither, dobro), Mike Holder (pedal steel), Peter Appleyard (xylophone), Bill Beecroft (baritone sax), Jody Golick (soprano sax, tenor sax, bass vocal). With Cailtin Hanford, Jenny Whiteley, Daniel Whiteley, Elizabeth Macay, and the Spectrum School Singers.
Songs: Turkey In The Straw, Coney Island Washboard, Walk Walk Walk, Sun Medley (The Sun Is A Very Magic Fellow, You Are My Sunshine, Keep On The Sunny Side, The Barn Yard Dance, Rich Gal, Down By The Riverside, Walk Right In, The Fox & The Dogs, Old Rattler, The Skeleton In The Closet, Shake My Sillies Out, Purple People Eater, So Long It's Been Good To Know Yuh (Dusty Old Dust).