Diddley Squat
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Diddley Squat

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"Mary4Music CD Review of "Milk of Amnesia"

Quick! Which one of the following names is that of a real blues band?
A) Phil Fender and the Amps
B) The Diddley Squat Blues Band
C) Bobby Burnes and the Slide Burns
D) Big Bad Bertha & the Bohemian Blues Babes
E) Sundown Slim and the After Dark Blues Band

If you said A, C, D or E, thanks for liking my ingenuity but you're wrong.
If you said B, you must either know the band, be very lucky or have a sense of humor similar to, and as warped, as theirs.
Indeed, the DIDDLEY SQUAT BLUES BAND is as real as it gets, as the following review will testify.



Diddley Squat
"Milk of Amnesia"
BY PETER "BLEWZZMAN" LAURO, © JANUARY, 2006


Make no mistakes about it, despite their off beat name, their extremely humorous style of writing, and their whole aloof attitude the DIDDLEY SQUAT BLUES BAND is a serious bunch of very talented musicians. "MILK OF AMNESIA" is a collection of 11 very funny, uniquely interesting and slightly bizarre originals that are perfectly performed.

The Diddley's, or the Squatters if you will, consist of: JIM COBB on Guitar, Resonator, Harmonica and Vocals; RODNEY BEAL on Bass Guitar; MORRIS ELDRIDGE on Drums; RICK SIMS on Alto, Tenor and Baritone Sax and Kazoo & Jug.

The title track "MILK OF AMNESIA" is a riot. It's about drinking a little, or in this case a lot too much tequila - which by the way is what the drinker refers to as the 'milk of amnesia'. Watch your woofers on this one - there's some serious baritone being blown out by RICK.

"MAN OF COLOR" is a wonderfully clever song. It's about a man who claims he is a person of color, but it's not his race that has anything to do with it - it's due to the fact that he turns red when he's hot, green when he's sick and blue when he's cold. There is a lot of great guitar pickin' from JIM on this one.

It's no secret who he's singin' to on "REASON FOR THE BLUES". This one is a real soft and sultry and features lots of good alto sax by Rick and nice brush/cymbal work from Morris.

Another very clever song, with lyrics that are unfortunately becoming way to true, is "$30 A MAN BLUES BAND". It's about a band who quits their day job to travel from bar to bar playing in front of drunks making requests - all for $30 a man.

"YOU DON'T KNOW DIDDLEY SQUAT" is one of the hottest tracks, musically. Everyone's in the pocket on this hot jam. RODNEY and MORRIS are profound on the bass and the bass drum with RICK tearing up the tenor sax.

"OCD BLUES" is by far the bluesiest track of the lot. Jim gets in some serious blues licks on Guitar and Harmonica and really belts out some good old blues on vocals. Rick also supplies an abundance of sultry sounding blues on the Tenor Sax. This may very well be the best track on the disc.

So the next time some one says to you "you don't know diddley squat", you can beg to differ with them. Just tell them that indeed you do and that DIDDLEY SQUAT happens to be an excellent blues band from Texas that is, although different is style, very reminiscent to Little Charlie and the Nightcats.
- Peter "Blewzzman" Lauro


"JazzNow CD Review "Milk of Amnesia""

Diddley Squat Blues Band
Milk of Amnesia
Almost Famous Productions
Jim Cobb, guitar, resonator, harmonica, and vocals; Rodney Beal, bass guitar; Morris Eldridge, drums; Rick Sims, saxophones, jug, and kazoo.

This band hails from Texas and after winning first place in the Sonny Boy Society Battle of the Bands, opened the King Biscuit Blues Festival in 2004 to rave reviews. This is the second CD for the group, and all the cuts are Jim Cobb originals (one cowritten with Sylvia Carrell) except two penned by Rodney Beal.

Cobb handles all the vocals on this CD with a zesty tale-telling style. The opening cut, "A Hard Man Is Good to Find," is a jaunty jump-blues number. Throbbing rhythm is the background for the clever lyrics about the ill effects of drinking too much tequila on "Milk of Amnesia" with a staggering accompaniment by Sims on baritone saxophone.

"Man of Color" has a country-western melody, while swinging jump-blues is the theme for "You Are the Reason (for the Blues)" with Sims wailing on alto saxophone throughout the tune.

"Harley Fever" opens with the sound of a motorcycle starting up and leads into a shuffling guitar strumming session with Sims lending a hand on kazoo and jug. The drummer does a tasteful cymbal introduction to "$30 a Man's Blues Band," and the lyrics are colorfully descriptive about "another hit song by the $30 man," which is probably a personal statement!

With a spicy guitar solo, definitive drum support, and an awesome tenor saxophone interpretation "You Know Diddley Squat" relates to being overextended in life with your paycheck late and everything else falling apart.

My favorite tune runs for ten minutes and is clearly a standout. On "OCD Blues" Cobb growls out the vocals, the guitar sizzles, the saxophone honks, and a little harp is thrown in for good measure. A showpiece of slow, deep-grinding blues!

This eleven-tune CD is notable for the originality of the lyrics and the appealing saxophone styling which lends an excitable diversity to this effort. The level of musicianship is high, and these guys are tight in their orchestration on every tune. This is one well worth seeking out.

By Dorothy L. Hill
- Dorothy Hill


"BluesWax Does The Biscuit"

I thoroughly enjoyed the entertaining set by Diddley Squat, a band that earned a spot by winning the talent competition held by the Sonny Boy Blues Society. Their long and lanky sax player, Rick Sims, had leopard spots and tiger stripes on his two instruments, something very cool that I hadn't seen before - T-Bone


"King Biscuit Blues Festival"

The official opening act was a group named Diddley Squat who won the spot in the 2004 annual Sonny Boy Blues Society Blues Challenge. These guys made a major impression on the audience with their original tunes and showman performance.
- Dorthy Hill : Jazznow


"Diddley Squat Caught 'Ya With Your Pants Down"

Diddley Squat is four extremely talented musicians with modesty and a great sense of humor. The recent CD Caught Ya' With Your Pants Down is alternately tender (on tracks like The Way You Do) and just plain corny (Cheat'n Recipe). Their songwriting is a mix of blues and rock, and they use subtle instrumentation with a clean sound. But what really makes Diddley Squat unique, besides their humor, is Rick Sims' saxophone and their willingness to experiment.
Listen to the track Down Hearted Blues and you'll probably be an instant fan. See www.dsquat.com for show dates or to buy CD's.
- SB Magazine


"Diddley Squat at Muddy Waters Nov. 4th"

As the hot Texas Indian summer of 2003 is coming to a close, what can one say but Diddley Squat! That's right Diddley Squat out of Ark Latex ,What!don't you know Diddley Squat? Because these guys do the Blues . Up one side and down the other, this band is a mix of B.B. King and P.T. Barnum all rolled into one , with a little Bo Diddley tossed in for good measure. Down and dirty blues, that is Diddley Squat. On bass Rod, and on guitar Jimmy. On the drums Moe and the sax, the manhim self ,the Saxman Rick blowing one mean and clean sax, No slop chop's here .On this evening a special guest Frank King .On guitar King kind of had a Buddy Holly style of pic'n, which fit well with the B.B.King /Bo Diddley style of Jim when he has ax in hand .The Diddley Squat was already on stage when I arrived .The band soon took a short break ,which I took advantage of and spent some time with the guys . Turns out that these guys have played for every where .From biker rally's to political affairs Diddley Squat, transcends age , race, and musical bias. Now you know "Diddley Squat."
- Darin Wakeley: DallasMusic.com


Discography

"DIDDLEY SQUAT's debut CD, "Caught Ya With Your Pants Down," has been played on public radio, as well as regionally, including 98 Rocks in the Shreveport, LA area. Their second CD, "Milk of Amnesia," is even more impressive. The Audio clips on this site are from the latter CD, which was entered into the 2006 "Best self-produced CD contest" by the Blues Foundation! "Milk of Amnesia" is now being played internationally (Italy, Poland, Argentina, etc.) and on radio stations all across the USA. Both CDs are available at www.dsquat.com

As a top shelf competitor, DIDDLEY SQUAT placed 2nd in the highly respected and well attended Sonny Boy Blues Society Annual Battle of the Bands (Helena, AR) in 2003. At their follow-up performance in 2004, they took 1st place. This landed them the honor of opening the 2004 King Biscuit Blues Festival (now The Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival, another annual event in Helena, AR, and one of the most famous and respected blues festivals in the world) and a coveted sponsorship (by SBBS) at the IBC in Memphis in 2005! The International Blues Challenge is where the crème de la crème of the world's unsigned blues artists compete for prizes including international recognition, musical equipment, and choice gigs in the future. Entry into this Challenge is exclusive and by sponsorship only! In 2006 the band returned to the IBC, this time sponsored by the Shagbark Blues Society of Paris, TX.

Most recently, in October 2007, DIDDLEY SQUAT won the Texarkana Blues Society's compitition and is again headed to Memphis in 2008, this time with TBS sponsorship and their new personnel, including the addition of the red-hot female singer/percussionist Sylvia Carrell and the replacement of their previous drummer with the awesomely smokin' Val Nail.

Additional Credentials:

Pinetop Perkins' Annual Homecoming 2005 & 2006 - Hopson Plantation, Clarksdale, MS

Louisiana State Hog Rally, Opened for .38 Special and Bad Company on separate occasions - Shreveport, LA

Alleyfest - Opened for Eddie Money in 2005 and Delbert McClinton in 2006 - Longview, TX

Texarkana Blues Festival, 2006 - Opened for Big Jack Johnson - Texarkana, AR

Paris, TX Blues Festival, 2005 - Paris, TX.

Leadbelly Blues Festival 2006 - Shreveport, LA.

T-Bone Walker Blues Festival 2006 and 2007-
Music City Texas Theater - Linden, TX.

Texarkana Blues & Bar-B-Que Festival 2007 – Texarkana, TX

Shreveport/Bossier City, LA Casino appearances:
Boomtown Casino
Diamond Jack's Casino
Horseshoe Casino
Isle of Capri Casino
Sam's Town Casino

Photos

Bio

Diddley Squat's original blues songs and unique arrangements of cover tunes range from Delta to Chicago-Style Blues and Memphis to West Coast Swing. This highly entertaining band comes from the East Texas bayou country, and is comprised of five dedicated, and highly talented, full-time musicians: Jim Cobb (guitar/lead vocals), Sylvia Carrell (percussion/lead vocals), Rick Sims (saxophone/backup vocals), Rodney Beal (bass/backup vocals), and Val Nail (drums). Each brings their own rich history to the stage, and they come together in perfect sync to deliver a high-energy blues experience you won't soon forget.

Whether it's the chill bumps you get from listening to Jim's signature guitar licks and Sylvia's soulful vocals, the undeniable desire groove to Rodney's funky bass walks, Val's toe tappin', heart thumpin' drumbeat, or the urge to swoon when Rick serenades you with the sax, you're sure to enjoy the Diddley Squat experience.

You've entered the realm where the term 'Diddley Squat' means TOP NOTCH BLUES BAND! Take a peek at their list of credentials and you'll get the idea, but hearing, is believing. Whether on the festival stage, in the corner coffee shop, or on your car stereo, you simply must hear them! Then you too will be among the ranks of the constantly growing population who can proclaim…"NOW I KNOW!"

See www.sonicbids.com/diddleysquat for video, performance dates, and stage plot.

Contact Kent Hayford @ Rock-N-Country for booking information @ 318-990-0258 or kenthayford@yahoo.com