Happy Summer, everyone!
We love the Summer season here at Chandler Travis International – it’s the busy time of our year, with regular weekly shows at several venues on the Cape plus a bunch of fun outdoor town shows, as well as a few travels over the bridge. In honor of this hallowed season, we bring you two songs from the vault, both from the excellent RadioBall release “Let’s Music (RadioBall #5),” which was a compilation of recordings made during the Philharmonic’s formative years, during their long residency at the Kirkland Cafe.
The first song here, “Surf’s Up,” is a Beach Boys track, written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, which was originally part of the band’s legendary Smile album and ended up on their album Surf’s Up. I wasn’t there for the performance, but I’m guessing Rikki is playing a ring of keys during the early part.
The second song is a true classic! The Philharmonic playing “Wipe Out” with a drunk lady from the audience guesting on drums. Sheer brilliance ensues. Afterward, however, disaster struck. From Chandler’s liner notes to the album:
I have to admit that when it comes to the Kirkland, it’s the moments of heartbreak, tragedy, and disaster that come to mind first.
Like the time that really drunk older lady came up to play drums on “Wipe Out” (included here) and completely trampled poor Dave Harris’s trombone on her departure -immediately prompting his as well (she’s lucky he didn’t strangle her on the spot). The repair probably cost ten times what he got paid that night -but still, that’s one tasty drum solo.
By the way, one of my most favorite RadioBall tracks is also on “Let’s Music” – check out the excerpt of “Ivan in Paris” that closes the album. Slays me every time.