[AGL] Omar and the Howlers

[Fontaine Maverick]

Good tunes on that website.
Michael, your grey background, blue lettering is irritatingly hard to read. 
Odd that Gerry's reply kept it, then your reply to him didn't.
Miz Grumpy
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Eisenstadt" <mike.eisenstadt at gmail.com>
To: "survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s" 
<austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>
Sent: Sunday, July 22, 2007 12:31 PM
Subject: Re: [AGL] Omar and the Howlers



> Yes, Dykes, not Sykes. For their upcoming dates,

> http://www.omarandthehowlers.com/home.html

>

> ----- Original Message -----

> From: Gerry

>

> Omar came to town with the original Howlers back in about '78. They were

> from Mississippi, a 5 piece group, not bad but not distinguished. They

> struggled in Austin, never got any traction. It didn't take too long 

> before

> most of them went home, but he stayed. His real name is Kent. I thought 

> his

> last name was Dykes???

>

> In addition to being a hell of a blues guitarist he is also quite a

> comedian, one of the funniest guys you will ever meet. When things were

> still not going well for him I once suggested that he try being a stand-up

> comic. He was a big man with a big beard, seldom smiled, kind of rumpled,

> all of which made him even funnier when took the stage. But he stayed with

> the blues and before long, fronting a power blues trio, he began to score

> (mostly out of town). I was glad to see him get it going. Did not keep up

> with him over the years. Is he still playing blues for a living?

>

> This weekend I received my Netflix selection "The Doors", an Oliver Stone

> movie. While I can't say that I necessarily liked it a lot, I thought it 

> was

> an excellent depiction of the '60's rock scene and all its weirdness. One

> particularly revealing sequence is a party at Andy Warhol's place. I was 

> not

> a big fan of the The Doors but I thought they had some excellent tunes for

> the times. Morrison's life was short and wasted but at least he didn't 

> have

> to reorganize the band and tour in the 21st century playing songs he had

> written as a teenager to keep paying the bills...

> G

>

>

> ----- Original Message -----

> From: Michael Eisenstadt

> To: austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net

> Sent: Sunday, July 22, 2007 7:54 AM

> Subject: [AGL] Omar and the Howlers

>

>

> listening to a set of Omar Sykes and his Howlers.

> he easily holds his own with other singers in the

> same genre.

>

> yet when he was at a venue on the Drag many years ago,

> the sound volume was so loud that i wound up having

> to listen from the sidewalk.

>

> thanks to Internet radio i am more into music now that

> i had been when i just had the Austin stations.

>

> between the Columbia University student radio station

> and studio radio at Harvard (both of them non commercial

> to boot) there is primo stuff almost 24 hours a day.

>

> more jazz and blues than other genres but also classical

> and ethnic like Indian. wkcr once played a 48 hour sequence

> of ragas at the exact time when they are traditionally played.

> the 2am ragas at 2am and so on. i almost cratered from

> lack of sleep, i couldnt turn it off.

>

> www.wkcr.org <-Columbia U

>

> www.whrb.org <-Harvard