It is 2:12AM and I am back in my hotel room after the first day of the 9th annual Ponderosa Stomp. The STOMP is America’s preeminent festival of obscure (and sometimes not so obscure) American garage rock, soul, rockabilly, R&B, swamp pop, surf, Cajun and other native styles. The DNA of the STOMP is the singular vision of its founder Ira “Dr. Ike” Padnos – eclecticism you can dance to, obscurity with a groove. This is a vision that connects with the deep roots that join all these great American musical traditions. The STOMP is very near and dear to my heart and after coming for 7 years it never ceases to surprise, delight and educate in very deep ways.
Day 1 began @ 10:00AM with a dedication of J&M studios @ the corner of Rampart and Dumaine as an official Rock n Roll Hall of Fame historic landmark. The ceremony was attended by the great Cosimo Mattasa who ran the famed studio from 1945 to the mid-1960’s and recorded almost all the music that came out of New Orleans for most of those years and bandleader and arranger Dave Bartholomew. It was a small ceremony but well attended and much deserved.
After the dedication @ J&M (which is now a Laundromat) I attended a short series of clips put together by film historical Joe Lauro showing vintage film of artists that had played the Stomp in past years. This was followed by a fascinating (work in progress) film on the New Orleans piano genius James Booker. After this it was a series of conference interviews that lasted all afternoon. First with guitar master Duane Eddie, followed by singer Gloria Jones, the surf greats The Trashmen and one of the lead vocalist for Huey Piano Smith and the Clowns, Gerri Hall, who lead the audience in a sing-along of their smash hit “Doncha Just Know it.”
A quick dinner and off to the evenings show, tonight was almost a perfect paradigm if what makes the Stomp so incredibly special. At 8:30 was Texas rockabilly pioneer Huelyn Duvall, followed by one of the most authentic R&B blues shouters I have ever heard, the irrepressible Tommy Brown (think Roy Brown, Wynonie Harris, Joe Turner, etc). Tommy was followed by La La Brooks, the lead singer of the Crystals (“And then he Kissed Me”,” Da Do Ron Ron”, “He’s a Rebel”). Ms. Brooks has the most amazing afro (huge and beautiful) I have ever seen and is a stunning & gorgeous performer and singer (sorry to gush - I may be in love!). Her set was spot on pop perfection backed by Boston’s own Jenny and the Delinquents! La La was followed by group I had never heard of “The Relatives” from Dallas Texas. Their set of funky, blazing gospel harmonies was mind-blowing; driving, soulful and uplifting. The Relatives was followed by Chicano rock pioneers Thee Midnighters from East LA. They played an incendiary set of great garage rock including their 1965 local LA hit “Whittier Boulevard.” The final set of the night were the Mid-West surf giants The Trashmen who played a killer set of perfect 1960’s garage/surf music including their timeless hit “Surfin Bird” (played twice @ Dr. Ike’s request).
So in the course of about 4 hours one careened with a sublime internal “Ponderosa Stomp” logic from 1950’s Texas Rockabilly, to a late 1940’s/early 1950’s blues/R&B shouter, to sublime early 1960’s Phil Spector AM radio pop, to blazing, righteous gospel followed by 2 slabs of rocket fueled mid-1960’s garage rock. That my dear reader is the summation of what is so extraordinary about the Ponderosa Stomp; it is not for the faint of heart, it is (in a word) music geek central. It is for listeners (and they fly from all over the world!) that really see and feel the deep vein that runs thru all this great American music – God bless the Ponderosa Stomp.
For more info visit www.ponderosastomp.com
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