RUBE WADDELL: Greatest Hits

Rube Waddell

Greatest Hits

© 2006 Rube Waddell (844667001051)

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AMERICANA GONE MAD-country western kitsch, lo-fi swamp blues, deranged sea shanties, cynical ukulele ballads, punk rock jug music to play loudly and often.

notes

Rube Waddell, San Francisco’s premiere junkyard rock band, celebrates the efforts of 4 years of songwritting and recording with their newest album entitled "Greatest Hits."

First known in 1996 for their guerrilla street performances, the Rubes have continued to delight and attract audiences through their past recordings and their continued raucous appearances around the Bay Area and beyond. Recorded in various San Franciscan living rooms, warehouses, and estuary buildings,their fourth album offers 17 all new, independently produced tracks that take the listener from the Latin influences of The Mission District up through a healthy dose of Lo-Fi swamp-punk blues; from sea shanties to Country Western kitsch; from Broadway styled vocal performaces to Mid East infused melodies and other places one wouldn't think going.

Named for the eccentrically brilliant, "touched," and erratic Hall of Fame baseball player/alligator wrestler/banton twirler/fire engine chaser, George Edward “Rube” Waddell, the band is made up of four multi-instrumentalists who stir this Post Modern musical stew with a varied array of instruments such as ukuleles, accordion, guitars, tin cans, toy piano, washboards, tin whistles, pump organ, musical saw, oil drums, harmonica, trumpet, sousaphone, banjo, tabla, and other rusted-out noisemakers.

Two of the Rube's other recordings are also available on CDBABY. "Stinkbait" and "Bound for the Gates of Hell." Their first, "Hobo Train," is out of print and only seen available on on-line auction sites.

reviews

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  • "...the most underrated music around...each song rocks"
    author: Reviewer Magazine

    The Bay Area is home to myriad musical legends and Rube Waddell is another in a long line of them. Rube Waddell is not a person, but a state of mind, consisting of Cap’n Feedback, Rev. Wupass, Mahatma Boom Boom and Max A. Million. This compilation of “Greatest Hits” is a 17-cut rundown of some of their best and also it is a collection of some of the most underrated music around. What Rube Waddell are all about are the results of an amalgam of musical influences and stylings, what with an admixture of tuba, accordion, ukulele and other assorted instruments, they bring a unique spin to rock and roll. I can recall their name from assorted spots when I lived in San Francisco and I’m glad now to have this collection of their “Greatest Hits” to remember the good old days by. Track #6, “Spongiform Encephalopathy” has a Tom Waits vibe to it, but my two favorites are #3, “Here’s to You” and “Jesus Didn’t Die For Me”, but each song rocks, hence the title, “Greatest Hits”. Their music is a perfect mirror to the interactive diversity and forward, expressionistic thinking that is the epitome of the Bay Area.

  • "Rube Waddell...a bucket load of musical madness and pure entertainment!"
    author: Big Beef & Beer (On-line Publication)

    Q:What do you get when you combine 4 parts evil genius, 1 part Delta Blues, 1 part Irish Folk, 1 part Zydeco, 1 part Johnny Cash, 1 part Leon Redbone, and 1 part Sabado Gigante Internacional in a rusty bucket all topped off with a wicked sense of humor and a bit of self-deprecation? A:You get Rube Waddell and bucket load of musical madness and pure entertainment! Cap’n Feedback, Reverend Wupass, Mahatma Boom Boom, and Max A. Million are the 4 musical geniuses whom serve as the base to this delightful musical concoction. Their style is best described as a rich array of earthy folk styles with whacky lyrics based on bizarre topics (Spongiform Encephalopathy). I can’t help but think Rube Waddell’s music is some of the best damn “beer and a shot” music I’ve ever heard. While listening I can think of nothing better that I would like to do than get stinkin’ drunk, puke on my shoes, and start all over. Unfortunately, I am no longer physically capable of performing such feats (at least frequently). The suffering that follows endures longer than any pleasure received from afore mentioned acts (if you’d like to help me overcome this affliction, please send cash). I’m sure as soon as I’m able, I’ll crank this eclectic collection at my next party. It will fit in well with any party mix on my iPod. I’m sure it will go great with some Jimmy Buffet, a couple Van Morrison tunes and a couple of crazy techno tunes (to get the chicas to dance). Frankly, not everyone is going to appreciate Rube Waddell. They are to music what Monty Python is comedy; only the brightest and the best will get it. That’s why I refer to them as evil geniuses. They are base yet sophisticated. They appeal to the lowest common denominator in an Encyclopaedia Brittanica sort of way.

  • "These hits are here to stay. For indeed, they are great"
    author: Nicole Gluckstern (Sf Bay Area Guardian)

    When the hardest-working rabble-rousing, sousaphone-toting junkyard band in San Francisco announced the release of their first new album in five years, you'd better believe I was first in line to snap one up. A cursory glance at the track titles might fool a fair-weather fan into thinking that some of these songs have been released before. In fact, this compilation of "greatest hits" is a collection of never-before recorded tunes. They are, however, familiar songs.The album opens with perennial crowd-pleaser "Tamale Lady," a ranchera-style ode to that legendary purveyor of bar eats, and proceeds to "Hobo Luv," a paean on Rube Waddell's favorite subject matter. Much like the group's live performances, Greatest Hits giddily lurches all over the stylistic map, with nods to rockabilly ("Jesus Didn't Die for Me"), sea shanties ("All for Me Grog"), and mad cow disease ("Spongiform Encephalopathy"). As usual, once you think you've got their sound pinned down, they wriggle away and do some other damn thing you weren't expecting. Although these songs lack some of the more inspired lyricism that made ballads like "Mawson's Will" on Stinkbait (Vaccination, 1998) such enduring favorites, I have no doubt that many of these hits are here to stay. For indeed, they are great.

  • Perfect Music for the Touched
    author: DPN, esq.

    This album is a twisted and delightful excursion into the realm of hobos, butchers, and eels. Truly wonderful and bizarre music -- "Yolanda", "Bottom Feeder", "Hobo Luv", and "Here's to You" are my highlights. The production of this album is fantastic; nicely produced and polished, but not overworked into a soulless Phil Spector blasphemy.

  • "It will restore your faith in humanity..."
    author: Jen

    I recommend, no, DEMAND that you pick up a copy of this album. It will restore your faith in this city [San Francisco], in humanity, in the ukelele. I have already added a clause to my last will and testament requesting that it’s played in its entirety at my funeral. If this cannot bring me back from the dead, nothing will.

  • "warp & woof, vamp and voomph...the mighty Rube Waddell
    author: Thurston Hunger (KFJC FM Radio)

    You want entertainment-on-a-stick, you’d be hard pressed to find a better deal than the warp and woof, the vamp and voomph, the scat and scoot, the bump and groin of the mighty Rube Waddell. Junkyard blues, a tuba held together by electrical tape, hotplate guitar, rockin’ ocarina, deep fried harmonica, it’s all here. They’ve got songs about bottom-feeders and other high saints of the low life. At times they’re belting out numbers so bellicosely it hurts *my* throat. You know it’s a KFJC-style band when the hit sing-a-long is titled “Spongiform Encephalopathy.” “Here’s To You” has a nice slap-your-cheek, clip-clop waltziness over a singing saw with bonnie handsome lad vocals; a frenzied interlude erupts, “drinking alone” has never been more festive!!! I like it when the Rube serves up a spitball like that, or when they dish out some chin music as they do on the ire-fired “Random People” which as an anthem for the anonymous even swipes a riff from Chief Knock-a-homa!! England had skiffle music, but Frisco has got scuffle music, courtesy the refined ruffians of Rube Waddell!

  • Officially my favorite Rubes album
    author: Senorita Overdrive

    Even though it's not a "greatest hits" album per say, it's officially my favorite Rubes album and one of my top three releases of the year. It's that good. After a rambunctious start with Tamale Lady, they churn out "hits" nonstop, their extensive variety fueled by the distinct creative talents behind the last two albums, with the addition of Max A Million. Songs about gnarly fish, doomed affairs, and that warm, congratulatory feeling you get when a peer goes on to become famous. You can hear a lot of the artists' personalities in here, and they all come together in a solid mix. Something that separates this from the first two is you can really hear the lyrics clearly and the production is a lot fuller. But in a good way. Standout tracks include "Tamale Lady", "Here's to You", "Bottom Feeder", "Winnipeg" and "The Way Home". Enjoy!

  • "...presented with wonderfully honest style and integrity...solid entertainment"
    author: BabySue.com (On-line Publication)

    These guys have been working really hard at what they do since 1996. Thus, they now have the well-earned respect of a large number of folks in the San Francisco area and beyond. Rube Waddell is Captain Feedback, Reverend Wupass, Mahatma Boom Boom, and Max A. Million...four guys who play accidental music that is created using a variety of instruments...and presented with wonderfully honest style and integrity. Greatest Hits features a whopping seventeen new tracks...all played with an appropriate disregard for the rules of music. In a world so full of phony music...you have to admire the folks who do it their own way, no matter what the consequences. The guys in Rube Waddell succeed in their main objective...to provide good, solid entertainment. Nifty tracks include "Tamale Lady," "Random People," "Yolanda," and "Redemption." (Rating: 5)

  • '...expertly and imaginatively performed...a wacky good time! '
    author: Aquarius Records

    The madcap post-modern musical quartet from SF have returned! They bring with them their trademark bulging grab bag of homespun instruments and styles such as zydeco, vaudeville, exotica, swing jazz, Appalachian folk, swamp blues... the list is endless. Musically they're often quite reminiscent of the eccentric'n'eclectic Captain Beefheart, Ween and Frank Zappa. Vocally, they possess the disgruntled yet endearing gruffness commonly associated with the likes of Tom Waits. The big picture is usually quite loosey goosey in mood, razor-sharp irreverently witty lyric-wise, but always expertly and imaginatively performed. Really, who can resist a song about one of the Mission District's icons -- the late night saviour of three-sheets-to-the-wind growling bellies, the Tamale Lady!! Note: Greatest Hits is actually an album of all brand new songs, not a best of per se... 'though we guess time will tell if the album's title rings true. Nonetheless, always a wacky good time!

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