Please tell me it’s a hoax. Found this in my iTunes. . . Bugging out in rehearsal with the Mission Express on a Prince song. “Controversy” was one of about 5 records that were on repeat when I had my first love shack with Kara back in the day. . .
Posts Tagged ‘Chuck Prophet’
CHUCK PROPHET – ” Controversy ” Prince Cover
Posted: April 27, 2016 in MUSICTags: Chuck Prophet, Cover, Prince, The Mission Express
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CHUCK PROPHET – ” Alex Nieto “
Posted: March 24, 2016 in MUSICTags: Chuck Prophet, The Misson Express
My co-writer Kurt and I had been following the case, and when the civil case verdict came down letting the cops off the hook the song wrote itself in twenty minutes. Nothing’s going to bring Alex Nieto back, but a line has to be drawn. He was killed because techies moved into his neighborhood and saw longtime residents as a threat. And the cops thought his Forty Niner jersey was some kind of gang sign. Don’t they train these people?
From an e-mail from Chuck Prophet
“A few days ago Kurt Lipschutz and I were in my shoebox-sized “office” space in SOMA toying with our Temple Beautiful musical and I was absently strumming my guitar. We meandered into complaining about this, that, and the other thing when we got into the Alex Nieto civil case verdict which had just come in. We got charged up. “He was a Buddhist, Man! “He was born in General Hospital!” I hit the loudest chord I know (a “B” barre chord with all the remaining strings ringing open) and shouted to the walls, “Alex Nieto was a pacifist!” “A Forty Niners fan!!!!!” he answered back. Soon there were two chords going back and forth and we were digging what we were hearing bouncing around the room – 20 minutes later the song had pretty much written itself.
Later, we took a walk up 7th Street toward the Muni underground on Market, and the weight of responsibility to the memory of Alex Nieto began to sunk in. We argued over a couple of lines, fixed them, and parted ways. Coincidentally I had a session booked the next day at Matt Winegar’s new studio in his garage in Oakland. When I got there I picked up an acoustic and sang it to Matt. Then, he simply handed me his Gibson Les Paul and got behind the drums. We passed instruments back and forth and within a couple hours we had a track.
Some of the small details may be wrong, but the big picture is there. And I’m still not 100% sure I pronounced Nieto correctly. [I think it’s Nee-Eh-Toe].
What I do know is that Alex Nieto was a good dude, with no criminal background whatsoever, probably more of a contributing member to society than I am, and a good brother, and a son to two strong parents. He was killed by police eating a burrito in Bernal Heights, a gentrifying neighborhood that he grew up in and … he did not deserve to die.
He. Did. Not. Deserve. To. Die.
He was executed because a couple young white professionals new to the neighborhood where Alex spent his whole life were threatened by a brown-skinned 28-year-old in a 49er’s jacket. They profiled him as a gang member and called 911.
Yes, Alex had a taser. It was for his job as a security guard. In that park, as a result of those 911 calls, cops unloaded 59 bullets in and around him. A federal jury of non-San Francisco residents ruled that the four San Francisco police officers who fired those bullets and killed him two years ago did not use excessive force. How many bullets would that have been?”
You can also read the excellent Guardian article by Rebecca Solnit here.
CHUCK PROPHET – ” Night Surfer 3D Box Set ” 7″ Vinyl Singles Collection
Posted: January 23, 2016 in MUSICTags: Chuck Prophet, Night Surfer, Yep Roc Records
This limited edition box set includes all 12 tracks from Chuck Prophet’s critically acclaimed Yep Roc Records release ‘Night Surfer’, plus 2 bonus tracks, all on a total of seven 7″ vinyl singles. Featuring new artwork specific to each song on the record sleeves and unique 3D cover art and back panel art on the box. 3D glasses included! Vinyl collectors and Chuck Prophet fans alike will need to own this special release. There are a lot of little stories on this record. But they seem to add up to one big story. ‘Night Surfer’ is all about a musical path forward, about looking around and imagining where we’ll be in 20 years if we just follow that path.
I want to tell you about a few things,First of all, the long awaited NIGHT SURFER 3-D BOX SET is now ready for pre-order:http://tinyurl.com/ph7to5e
Yep. You heard me. The 3D Night Surfer 7″ Singles BOX SET Collection. A total of seven 7″ vinyl singles. 12 tracks from Night Surfer, plus 2 bonus tracks. And it comes with 3D glasses(!) This limited edition box features new artwork by the legendary John Foster and is guaranteed to be the envy of your friends and might even make Jack White a little jealous. Who knows? I mean we honestly doubt he’ll hear about it, but it’s certainly possible. It’s just THAT good. Plus we have it on authority that Uncle Jack is a sensitive dude and gets his feelings hurt easily. Whatever. Oh yeah, one more thing about the box set: just to keep it interesting, we’ve sewed a couple California Lottery Superstar Crossword Scratchers in there under the artwork. Do you feel lucky? Well then, what you waiting for?
PS: I made a Spotify playlist for the occasion. Songs that inspired Night Surfer. You can get to it this-a-way:http://www.yeproc.com/nightsurfergiveaway/
Meanwhile, I think the Mountain Stage I taped last month was broadcast last night or over the weekend… Honestly, I’m a little confused with the whole consult-your-local-listings part but I do know it was my seventh Mountain Stage appearance because they told me so. [Again. Do you feel lucky? I know I do]. Always a treat to play with the Mountain Stage house band. Everyone there is so cool and fun to work with. It was really hard to say goodbye. So hard in fact, I thought I’d take home a souvenir or two and shoved a couple interns into a flight case. Rolled those kids right out of there and I’ve got them chained up in the basement now. They write my tweets! In fact, one of them is writing this newsletter. As is always the case, you can check it out on the interwebs: http://bit.ly/1kW1kSZ
Meanwhile back in Gigsville: We’ve got some Bay Area gigs to announce. We’re playing New Years Eve in Berkeley. And we’re also playing Santa Cruz and Mill Valley. [See below for the official dates]. Before then, I’ll be making my way out to Chicago to play an acoustic show with my main man Joseph Arthur at the City Winery.
And then Stephie and I will be heading down to Todos Santos once again for Peter Buck’s annual Todos Santos festival in Baja, California Jan 14-23 (which, after four years of playing, I’m pretty sure is in Mexico). We’ll be there with way too many bands to name check but here goes: (Death Cab For Cutie, Jeff Tweedy, Old 97’s, Drive-By Truckers, The Jayhawks, The Autumn Defense, La Santa Cecilia, Filthy Friends, Torreblanca, Tigir … plus Mark Eitzel, Steve Wynn, Kevn Kinney, Joseph Arthur, and Surprise Guests!). Get more reliable deets here:http://todossantosmusicfestival.com/lineup
I had a great time out there on the Rock and Roll Indian Dance tour. Drove myself all over. Lots of East Coast shows. [Incidentally: People are nuts out there. Honking and yelling and drinking Dunken Donuts coffee. It’s wild. I love it]. Played a ton of cool gigs. Plus, I had a great time visiting with Joe Belock at WFMU and enjoyed a nice on-air chat.http://bit.ly/1WTgwlt
One memorable gig was a last minute show at The Saint in Asbury Park. As soon as I walked in I was like, “I know this place. Last time I was here a fight broke out. ON STAGE. It was 1999” [Carmaig might remember. Carmaig, are you out there?] And the bartender says, “Wellllll, there were words. But we don’t considerer it a fight, Chuck, unless the paramedics show.”
Yep. Asbury Park. I wandered around the Boardwalk and was happy to see three or four surfers out there; drinking up the waist high waves on tap as the sun was going down. I walked around looking for a turkey sandwich but to no avail. I did press my face against the glass of a 4th wave coffee joint that sadly looked like the inside of an Apple Store and decided to keep on walking. Everything’s changed. Nothing’s changed.
Tons of gigs… . Also, I wanted to thank my new friends up in Halifax, Canada for the very cool HUFF fest. They speak French up there, you know. I almost started smoking again. [Wait, was that on this tour?].
And also thanks to the folks at Technocracy for including me at their conference. We played a few songs and I made my best effort to convince the tech nerds in the audience that Jumpin’ Jack Flash is more interesting than anything Steve Jobs ever did. Ah, you know… doing gods work.
CHUCK PROPHET & STEPHANIE FINCH – ” Sorrow ” David Bowie Tribute
Posted: January 23, 2016 in MUSICTags: Chuck Prophet, Stephanie Finch
Performed by Chuck Prophet & Stephanie Finch at The Sad Bastard Night at Makeout Room in San Francisco 21st December 2015. David Bowie is really gone. Sure he was the OG shapeshifter and all, but what a singer. The Frank Sinatra of our time. I thought he would bury us all. I really did. We never really pick songs to cover. They pick us. Here’s one from the other night that we learned from David Bowie
CHUCK PROPHET – ” Tell Me Anything “
Posted: April 3, 2015 in MUSICTags: Chuck Prophet, Night Surfer, Yep Roc Records
There’s a lot to be said about “Tell Me Anything (Turn to Gold)”, the latest music video from Chuck Prophet. However, any description is best left up to the man himself, who goes into great and humorous detail about the video saying, “I’ve been a longtime fan of Steve Hanft. Steve is a legend, tirelessly creative, with a sideways vision of the world, and is probably best known for directing early Beck videos. His videos are always inventive and devoid of bells and whistles. He’s a punk rock auteur.
“Through a mutual friend we met up when I was in southern California visiting family and catching some waves. We got together at Cantor’s Deli on the day after Christmas, and bonded over surfing. All the while Steve watched me eat a pastrami sandwich as big as my head. When we got up to leave, he said, ‘So what do you want your video to be?’
Prophet was quite forward with his director: “I said, I want sex. I want nudity. And of course lots of violence, but not directed at women. You know, explicit but somehow tasteful. Steve and I are also both fans of noir, especially the under-appreciated subgenre of TV noir.
Steve said, ‘When you say nudity, I assume we’re talking about female nudity?’ And I was like, ‘No, male nudity too.’ We ended up with just enough male nudity to show people why there isn’t more demand for it, even from women!“
Night Surfer is out now via Yep Roc Records.
CHUCK PROPHET – ” Live At Sawyer Sessions “
Posted: December 13, 2014 in MUSICTags: Chuck Prophet, Sawyer Sessions
This August, we celebrated our first birthday! Equipped with a cake and Chuck Prophet as our musical guest, we threw ourselves a party at Mystery Brewing Public House. Our fellow community members and past Sawyer Sessions hosts came out to show their support for our series and raise a glass for what’s to come in Season 2.
Check out Chuck Prophet’s full set from our Celebrating Sawyer Sessions party, or thumb through the embedded video playlist to catch individual songs.
Tracklist:
“Wish Me Luck” (9:27)
“I Call Your Name” (5:08)
“Truth Will Out” (8:04)
“Tell Me Anything (Turn To Gold)” (12:57)
“Ford Econoline” (18:14)
CHUCK PROPHET – ” Ford Econline ” World Cafe Session
Posted: November 3, 2014 in MUSICTags: Chuck Prophet, Green On red, Night Surfer, San Francisco, World Cafe
In September 2014, Prophet’s latest album, Night Surfer, was released on Yep Roc Records. The album was met with positive reviews, Charles William “Chuck” Prophet is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. A Californian, Prophet first achieved notice in the American psychedelic/desert rock group Green on Red, with whom he toured and recorded in the 1980s.He has also recorded a number of solo records, and gained prominence as a musician and songwriter.
CHUCK PROPHET – ” Live on KEXP “
Posted: September 29, 2014 in MUSIC, NOTTINGHAM CITY VENUESTags: Chuck Prophet, Green On red, Night Surfer
recorded live in the studio August 8th 2014 at the KEXP studio’s in Seattle,
songs are “Wish Me Luck”, “Ford Econoline” , “Tell me Anything (Turn To Gold)” and “Always A Friend” Chuck will be over here in the UK later this year with a new album titled “Night Surfer” to promote with his blonde Telecaster and songs about heartbreak with influences of Dwight Twilley , Thin lizzy, Iggy Pop and the Knack. Chuck had an eight year run with Green On Red before embarking on a solo career
The Fat Angel Sings 