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George Coleman“Bongo Joe”
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Buy It Now!
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George "Bongo Joe" Coleman, passed away Sunday, December 19, 1999, at 3:30 pm.
For the Obituary from the cover page of the San Antonio Express-News click here.
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Listen to some of the tracks!! (uses RealAudio®) 1. I Wish I Could Sing 2. Science Fiction* 3. Innocent Little Doggie 4. Cool It Right 5. Listen At That Bull 6. Crazy With Love* 7. Great* 8. Transistor Radio 9. Eloise 10. Dog Eat Dog * = Previously unreleased. All other selections previously available on ARH LP 1040. |
REVIEWS “There can only be one Bongo Joe, and that is the incredible George Coleman, in his own way as much an American original as Johnny Cash or Bo Diddley. Beloved favorite for many years at the New Orleans Jazz And Heritage Festival (where he once jammed with Dizzy Gillespie) Bongo Joe is perhaps the world's only virtuoso player of the empty oil drum (we're not kidding, folks), a man so ingenious that he could even turn petroleum refuse into something musical and sublime.Born in Haines, Florida, in 1923, like many others he gravitated to Houston, Texas (known as `Baghdad On The Bayou' because of its booming oil business) as a young man. Somewhere in the late '40s, Coleman volunteered to fill the drummer's chair in a local band, improvising around his lack of a trap set by building his own kit out of empty oil drums and tin cans. Having to lug a 55-gallon Texaco Firechief barrel from gig to gig hindered his musical progress through normal professional channels, but he quickly turned to free-lancing on the streets, playing on popular tourist piers and heavily trafficked places like Seawall Boulevard in Galveston, working his way up to legendary gigs at the San Antonio World's Fair and later the New Orleans Jazz Fest. The approach is primal, but not primitive: Bongo Joe drums on his oil cans with a thunderous, tympani-like effect, while discoursing rambling, insightful and hilariously funny lyrics that are often times more stories than songs. As Joe himself put it, `I rapbut not that bullshit they're putting down now. I play fundamental beat music.' And that it is`Almost 50 Minutes Of WORLD BEAT' the sleeve agreeably crows, and it's no mere idle copy. Whether draping his drums with an American flag or washing them in swirls of psychedelic green and red paint, there's something beyond the typical street-corner busker in Bongo Joe's personaa festive, unbridled quality that isn't just musical, but draws on a tradition of pure entertainment, with elements from sideshows, comedy and even the circus. One of the true treasures of the bountiful Arhoolie catalog, Bongo Joe is the kind of record that will immediately break up a typically drab radio day, lighting up the phone lines and waking listeners out of the lull of typical programming. Try `Science Fiction,' `Innocent Little Doggie' (if you think Joe was just a novelty act, listen closely to the poignant insightfulness of the lyrics), `Transistor Radio' (more wry commentary) and `Dog Eat Dog.'” (James Lien — CMJ New Music Report) |
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“Coleman will tell you that he's known throughout the land as Bongo Joe, although everybody else just calls him George. He can be seen tooling around various Texas towns on his Moped with a 55 gallon oil drum strapped to his back. Once he finds a new street corner to perform on, he unhooks the oil drum, attaches his microphone to a portable amplifier, and starts to wail away with his mallets.
Although he has a few standard numbers, most of his satiric songs are improvised on the spot. His humor and world view come through in simple, pointed numbers like "I Wish I Could Sing" and "Transistor Radio." The phones at WFMU light up almost every time this is played. Chris Strachwitz recorded Bongo Joe on the streets of San Antonio in 1968. A few extra cuts have been added to the CD since the earlier LP release of the same name.” (WFMU Catalog) |
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“Coleman's drum sound is unique and quite full, as if a small band were playing, with little resemblance to the Caribbean steel drum sounds one might imagine. The first tune is very honest in title, I Wish I Could Sing. Poor George really can't! Fortunately, we are spared his attempts at singing and listen only to his rapping, and what a satirical and social observer Bongo Joe is. In `Innocent Little Doggie' and `Dog Eat Dog' the ruthlessness and inhumanity of man to his fellow is captured by the observant eye, quick wit, and biting tongue of Mr. Coleman.”
(Marshall Miller — Broadside) |
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P.S. `Innocent Little Doggie' almost became a hit in 1969 when the BBC in London, England aired it repeatedly. We probably should have given this title to the CD, as we have in this catalog!
