Sing Along With Lloyd

That would be Lloyd Miller of the Brooklyn band The Deedle Deedle Dees. I'm a big fan of the Dees, of course, for many reasons -- they rock, they're lots of fun in concert, and they know how to craft educational songs you'll listen to for purely un-educational reasons (hint: they craft actual stories). Also, they're a great bunch of guys.

It probably won't come as much of a surprise to you, then, that Miller doesn't just write original songs about historical figures, but he's also a collector of old songs. Miller merges those two aspects of his musical life on a set of mp3s he's posted to his Bandcamp page. They're songs from the 2009 edition of his annual Mother's Day singalong. Says Miller:

I recorded these tracks so that my bandmates for the event could learn the tunes. Like all the recordings on this page, these recordings are very raw. But I kind of like them. I thought I might as well put them online so everyone could have them.

In days of old (ie, 10 years ago? 5 years ago?), artists like Miller would have held on to them for a decade then released them on a B-sides/rarities collection. Now they get posted online for your free streaming or downloading enjoyment.

I'll re-empasize Lloyd's point -- these are definitely lo-fi recordings (midway through one track on his Nature Babies collection from last year, his phone starts ringing) and shouldn't be considered final products or actual releases. And he has an occasionally uneasy relationship with some of the songs (Miller, on his bluesy "Wheels on the Bus" from Sing Along With Lloyd -- "'Wheels on the Bus' is lame. I never liked it and I still don't. Even so, my daughter only wanted this song before bed for about a year and a half."). But they're still interesting to listen to for various reasons -- the singalong disk is great for parents wondering how to inject a little variety into songs they sing on a daily basis. But it's the new stuff I'm going to post below...

Concert Recap: The Deedle Deedle Dees (Phoenix, April 2009)

It was a whirlwind weekend for Brooklyn's Deedle Deedle Dees here in Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun. On Friday they played 3 shows at local elementary schools. Then on Saturday they visited the Children's Museum of Phoenix and played a couple sets in the gorgeous first-floor atrium. Nice mix of the history stuff and sillier, slightly younger stuff. But all I got is new stuff. Remember the "Have the Dees write a song" contest? Here is the winner:

The Deedle Deedle Dees - "Little Red Airplane" (Live)

One of the things I noticed about the show, both at the Children's Museum and at Church of the Beatitudes, where the Dees played a show Sunday afternoon, was just how much more active Lloyd Miller (Ulysses Dee) was than the last time I saw him play (at the Family Music Meltdown Bill and I put on in Austin in 2007). To be sure, the fact that Lloyd was without his standup bass was the primary facotr, but they interacted much more with the crowds I saw. Yay for between-song banter! Yay for band-assisted dinosaur feet!

The Deedle Deedle Dees - "Vegetarian Tyrannosaurus Rex" (Live)

Anyway, the shows were a blast. Look for the Dees' new album (from which 4 of the 5 videos' songs are drawn)sometime in September.

More video and photos after the jump.
The Deedle Deedle Dees - "¡Sí, Se Puede!" (Live) -- About Cesar Chavez, natch

The Deedle Deedle Dees - "Growl Growl" (Live) -- yet another suggestion from the "Have the Dees write a song" contest, this one about a 13-year-old kid who designed the Alaskan state flag.

The Deedle Deedle Dees - "Put On The Dress" (Live) -- Inspired by the true story of Bill Childs and his boyhood report on Susan B. Anthony. Warning (or promotion): punk rock ahead.

More pictures from the weekend:

Phoenix-Area Reminder: The Deedle Deedle Dees (and Record Store Day)

Don't forget, folks, The Deedle Deedle Dees are playing all over Phoenix this weekend. They already rocked a couple Valley of the Sun elementary schools today, and Saturday they play at the Children's Museum of Phoenix at 10 AM and 11 AM (no reservations necessary -- they're playing outside!). And Sunday they play at the Church of the Beatitudes (7th Ave./Glendale in Phoenix) at 2 PM.

And I'll even try to get to Stinkweeds' Record Store Day event. I'll probably miss the kids' music they'll have starting at 10 AM or so, but I'll stop by around 11 AM.

And I'm going to the symphony with Miss Mary Mack Saturday afternoon, but I have nothing to do with organizing that.

Live in Phoenix: The Deedle Deedle Dees (April 18 & 19)

I'm a little late spreading the news here on the website, but I've been looking forward the first appearances of the occasionally raucous Brooklyn band The Deedle Deedle Dees in Arizona next weekend. Ulysses, Booker, Innocent, and Otto will be playing no less than 3 shows open to the public. On Saturday morning the 18th they'll be playing 2 shows at the Children's Museum of Phoenix in downtown Phoenix, one at 10 AM, the other at 11 AM. The shows are free with admission to the museum. Then on Sunday afternoon the 19th at 2 PM, the Dees will be playing a show at the Church of the Beatitudes. Tickets are just $4/person, $15/family. The Church is at the corner of 7th Avenue and Glendale in Phoenix.

Long time readers will know that I've helped put on a show with the Dees, so I'm very excited to have 'em make it all the way out here...

Dee-mos, er, Demos from the Deedle Deedle Dees

One Myspace page isn't enough for Brooklyn's Deedle Deedle Dees, as they've set up a new page for demos for their upcoming album. They're set to record tracks for Dee-mocracy soon, but you can hear Lloyd Miller's (er, Ulysses Dee's) solo demos at Deedle Deedle Dee-mos.

If you're a long-time reader, some of the historically-inspired tracks (or at least their stories) will sound familiar -- "Bring 'Em In," "Little Red Airplane," and the Bill Childs-inspired "Susan B. Anthony." But there are a couple new (to me) tracks -- "Tubtubtubman" and "Growl Growl Alaska." I especially like Miller's falsetto on the latter track. The chorus on the former's pretty catchy, too...

I'm also highly amused by the random picture of a Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback -- Vinny Testaverde? -- as the artist photo on the page. Perhaps there's a song about them losing their first 26 regular season games. (Ed.: Just noticed that Lloyd said it was Trent Dilfer. The retro uni confused me.)

Which reminds me, and I know I'm off on a tangent here, but those initially hapless Bucs are the source for possibly my favorite sports quotation of all time. It was uttered by their first head coach, John McKay. After one of those first 26 losses, McKay was asked by a reporter what he thought of his team's execution.

McKay's reply: "I think it's a good idea."