Don’t Wake the Scarecrow

Photo gallery and video links are at the end of the review

The show was bound to be an awesome night from the moment it was announced as an A.A. Bondy and Willy Mason show. It came as quite a pleasant surpise that Simone Felice’s new group The Duke and the King were announced as another opening act. We got to the Bowery Ballroom early on December 9th, 2009, first on line before the doors opened. Minutes before the doors opened we got glimpses of everyone exiting and doing some last minute city-walking. First The Deacon, Nowell Haskins headed out the doors, followed soon after by Simone Felice.



I brought up that I went to the City Winery show and talked to him, reminded him that he signed my books. He thanked us for coming and assured us we were in for a treat by saying “Oh we’ve had a lot of shows since then….it should be a special show tonight”. When I mentioned how I heard the Midnight Ramble show (at Levon Helm’s) went well he sounded so happy that Levon asked him to sing with his band. They left to pack up some stuff and after seeing Willy Mason leave and AA Bondy and Macey Taylor (his bass player, also in Mystic Valley Band) entering, we were let in.

Willy had a nice opening set of 10 to 12 songs, and knows how to hold the audience’s attention while alone on stage. Nice mellow set that included some chatting with the audience. The crowd ate up everything that the young guitar player sang and the place was very crowded towards the end of Willy’s set.

Once Willy finished up we got to see The Duke and the King do what they do best. Play from the heart and make everything just feel so natural. There was a small bit of technical difficulties when starting the first song. Simone’s guitar was plugged in but it didn’t seem to be working. They switched it up and the show quickly got under way.

They ran through a pretty normal setlist that they’ve been known to play. I was sad because they didn’t play “This Place We Call a Home” but we did get a bunch of the classics. Songs included were Union Street, Don’t Wake the Scarecrow, The Devil is Real, If you Ever Get Famous, Morning that I get to Hell, Helpless, One More American Song among others. They played Suzanne which I was glad to see…….I love it when Chicken steps up to the mic to take over. Simone stepped behind the drum kit for Suzanne and it was just magical watching him banging away while his head was thrashing back and forth with a big smile on his face. Simi and Chicken had a little one on one section at the end of the song. The band looked very happy on stage and seemed to be having an amazing time.

Finally, the headlining act came out. AA Bondy, Macey Taylor (bass) and Ben Lester (drums, slide guitar) took to the stage. Bondy was amazing in his ability to go from heavy, feedback-filled swampy jamming to soft, melodic finger picking. His between-song banter was hilarious as always. Before the song “Oh The Vampire” Bondy began saying “Fuck Twilight…..that stuff is bullshit. I wrote this song before all that Twilight, True Blood bullshit. Here’s a song called Oh the Frankenstein”.

We also got to hear him talk about how he has a funny job and that he’s glad for it. One of my favorite talking points was “Fuck Scrappy Doo. I never like Scrappy Doo, Scooby was way better. Sometimes when I’m watching it i’ll say Oh sweet Scooby Doo is on…..then I can tell by the animation that he’ll be there and then I see Scrappy and say ahhh shit.” He also mentioned liking Scooby’s cousin Scooby Don’t.

Stage banter aside….the show was awesome. He was joined on stage by an extra drummer and trombonist (apparently members of Elvis Perkins in Dearland) for a feedback-filled version of Killed Myself When I Was Young. Bondy performed the hell out of tunes from both of his albums, as well as beautiful covers of My Funny Valentine and I’m So Lonesome I could Cry where Bondy was on stage alone for some intimate music that was dedicated to different people. He finished up the night to a chorus of cheers and laughter, and left the stage to heaps of applause.

The Duke and The King - Photos | Videos
A.A. Bondy - Photos | Videos

A.A. Bondy and Simone Felice are no strangers. The two have shared the stage together many times in the past but December 9th will mark the first time Bondy is playing with Simone’s new group The Duke and the King. The show takes place in New York City at the Bowery Ballroom and also features the singer/songwriter Willy Mason, another friend of the Felice Brothers.

A.A. Bondy is just returning to the states following a slew of tour dates in Europe with The Felice Brothers. On the current tour he will be playing shows with Willy Mason and Elvis Perkins. So far his last date is the NYC show with Simone Felice and Willy Mason. The Duke and The King are also spending some time touring Europe currently and will be coming back for a few select U.S. shows in such unique venues as Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble and a Philadelphia Church (where they’ve apparently played before). Both of these acts are just raw, real examples of music at it’s bare minimum. Stripped down to it’s heart and soul. Be sure to catch these two when they come to your hometown.

A.A. Bondy - There’s a Reason

The Duke and the King - If You Ever Get Famous

A.A. Bondy tour dates
The Duke and the King tour dates

Buy Tickets to AA Bondy/Duke and the King show at Bowery Ballroom

Awesome performance from a usually awesome show. Seriously, watch some of the other artists who have played this. It’s a never-ending list of great musicians. Anyway, here’s the video of Simone and co playing “The Morning that I get to Hell”.

UPDATE: “The Morning that I get to Hell” was taken down from Youtube. Here’s the band playing “If You Ever Get Famous” after the taping of the show.

Just beautiful.

Thanks to a member of FrankiesGun.com, the Felice Brothers / Duke & The King message board, for sharing this news. I’m pleased to present a handful of videos from Paste magazine. I guess Simone and crew recorded a few songs and now Paste has the videos.

Click here to go to Paste and view the four songs.

Good news for all you Simone Felice fans…..I just added photos and videos from the Duke and the King’s concert at City Winery this past Tuesday. It was an amazing show and I plan on having a full review up soon. Anyway below are some samples…..click the links to go to the pages.

Sample Photo: (click to enlarge)

Sample Photo: (click to enlarge)

Click here to go to the Duke and the King - Live at City Winery Photos page.

Sample Video: Don’t Wake the Scarecrow

Click the image below to head to the Duke and the King Video page.

The Duke & The King, the new group formed by good friends Simone Felice and Robert “Chicken” Burke are tearing up the music scene with countless great reviews - for both live shows and their debut album Nothing Gold Can Stay. They are currently on tour supporting the album and are about to begin a string of European dates. Below I’ve gathered a bunch of links to recent reviews and interviews for those that are fans…and those that just want to know more about this phenomenal group.

Download Now: The Morning I Get to Hell by The Duke & The King

Here’s an amazing video of Simone playing One More American Song

Album Reviews:
“If Simone Felice ever finds himself in hell, he’ll manage to somehow make it sound pretty good…. Felice and Burke write songs that are honest, raw and sometimes painful, as evident on their debut CD.”
-NPR Weekend Edition: Saturday

“The overall sound is supremely sun-kissed, with swathes of high harmonies shadowing Felice’s every beautiful melodic twist. It is, surprisingly, ‘70s west coast FM rock that seems to be a constant sonic reference (perhaps for nostalgia’s sake), though often with enough of a modern rhythmic feel to never feel unsure as to which decade this record was made.”
-Americana UK

“Neil Young meets Marvin Gaye on the kind of record that cults are made of.”
-Word Magazine

“a wondrous album… the music is sweet, soft and for the most part, hopeful.” 4 stars, album of the week
-Sun Times

“Felice’s songs are trim and chiseled, most notable for their sheer honesty and attention to detail… Brilliant.”
-Boston Globe

“The duo swaddle their songs in subdued arrangements that would have sat well among the Laurel Canyon balladeers of Asylum Records: acoustic guitars, pianos, and restrained rhythms, sewn together with subtle detailing, warm harmonies, and a peaceful easy feeling.”
-The Independent

“Songs so perfectly formed they might have been around forever”
-The Daily Telegraph

“They have pulled off a quite remarkable feat on Nothing Gold Can Stay - one of my favourite albums of the year. Each song somehow sounding like a classic, each live performance suggesting we are in the presence of a rare, fiery brilliance.”
-The Guardian

“Simply has to be the must-have album of the year so far.”
-Maverick Magazine

““One More American Song,” on which Felice makes bittersweet nostalgia especially heartfelt, really keeps Nothing Gold Can Stay from being just one more American folk album.”
-Paste Magazine

Show Reviews:
The Basement - Nashville TN

Mercury Lounge - NYC

The Chapel - Philadelphia, PA

Interviews:
-The Duke and the King embrace sorrow and joy on Nothing Gold Can Stay

-Poetic Memory: The Duke and the King

-NPR: All Things Considered

Many thanks to Chuck Smith and his beautiful videos we have just received. Click the image below to go to the newest addition to our video section - The Duke & the King. These few videos take place in Woodstock NY, and give us a glimpse behind the curtain into some rehearsals. Please do yourself a favor and check out these videos….Simone Felice is a true artist and The Duke & The King are a wonderful group. Nothing Gold Can Stay the debut album for The Duke and the King will be available in the U.S. on August 4th.

Here’s a great review from our friend Digger over at Takethisbread.blogspot.com. He caught Simone Felice’s new project The Duke & The King at Union Hall in NYC. 

Faith Rewarded: The Duke & The King - Union Hall 5/20/09
About 100 or so hardcore fans, friends and family of the Duke and the King watched the debut performance of the band at Union Hall in Brooklyn. They came to the show, mostly, without having any idea what the band would sound like, what kind of songs they would play. The fans came mostly, because they had faith in the artist. The Duke and the King did not dissapoint. For those who worried that the music might take on too much of a melancholy live show, there is nothing to fear.

This band, while still playing some beautiful ballads, rocked the house. They opened with one of Simone Felice’s finest songs, “Dont’ Wake the Scarecrow”. The rendition was probably the best i have heard yet. Simone introduced it as a “Hudson River Song” , and delivered a searing performance, which was capped off by a shocking vocal coda by Robert “Chicken” Burke, which raised a few eyebrows in the Hall for those who had never heard his amazing voice. They followed that with their new single “If You Ever Get Famous” , which was pretty faithful to the version on the record. Simone then introduced the next song by bringing the audience back to the very early days of the Felice Brothers, when they played the Subways of New York City. He explained that “we sucked” and that there were songs that they learned to get people to stop and sing a long and hopefully, give some money. There were others, like “Waterspider”and “Going Going Gone”, that people just walked on by as they played it. He said they wrote Water Spider for Harriet Tubbman (which he has said before) and also about Ghandi, and John Lennon, and Martin Luther King, and laughing he said “prince” and “Mike Tyson”. Very nice version and great interplay with the crowd.

The King, Chicken Burke, then left the drum kit for the only time all night for lead vocal on the funky slow jam, “Suzanne”, Chicken had a nice little breakdown in the middle of this song in which he talked about how loneliness is a big part of the rock and roll life . Simone followed with a long meandering spoken word rap about “Beware of the Beast called Man” which had the audience hanging on his every word and then just at its most anxious moment he called out “Pharoah, My Pharoah, my girlfriend is dead….” of “The Devil is Real” . Some artists sing songs, some paint great landscapes , and some rare individuals, emote art through every pore of their skin.

Simone Felice, like John Lennon, is totally incapable of being uninteresting. What he says you may or may not understand or agree with, but you will be entertained. There are no bathroom breaks, cause you never know what you might miss, what he might say, because his filters are off and his words are like James Dean’s car careening recklessly down a winding road. This version of “Devil” was outstanding. They followed that with “Union St”, a reminiscence of perhaps a simpler America. “Lose Myself” had a nice speech in the middle by Simone, about a sinful world, and how we all gotta use love and music and each other to find shelter from the bad world as he referenced Bob Marley and Eminem. An excellent live number with an excellent drum fill at the end by Chicken Burke. Simone then called the King “a Bad Motherfucker” in the “Country of Stank” and said the next song “Your Belly in My Arms” “Me, Ian and James recorded this song when we first started to play, and it was ah..a fictional song then, and well, its taken on a whole different meaning now”. Very intense performance with nice harmonies by the King. One of my favorite lines is “Woke up with the driver crying “Birmingham” , kinda transports you to that place.

Simone then told a story about the early days of the Felice Brothers when James wanted to buy a keyboard, but was told by Simone and Ian, “fuck you, every thing has got to be made out of dirt and wood and meat and barbeque” but he said they finally relented, and then explained why they used a electronic beats for “The Morning that i Get to Hell” . There was a lot of singing along in the crowd for this new song. “Mercy” followed, perhaps the best ever version of this song as it ended with two shots of heavy metal thunder.

The band proved to be very tight for a new outfit and a big part of that was Chicken Burke driving the show skillfully through the set. After Mercy came crashing back to Earth, Simone gave a heartfelt tribute to his brother Ian, with stories of listening to music, dreaming and writing poetry together, with “American Song” about down on their luck characters in the post Gulf War Bush Years. Radio Song was improved with Burke’s Charlie Watts channeled beat, making it sound like garage rock from the Stones Tattoo You era. Burke again went Van Morrison vocally on “Annabelle, You Blow My Mind” on the outro to Radio Song.They ended the show with a rousing rendition of the Beatles “Don’t Let Me Down” complete with Simone Felice hurling himself into the fray of the audience, twisting his legs and swinging his Fender around dissapearing amongst the fans then to crawl back to the stage and deliver the lyrics with every morsel of strength he could muster.

When fans of the Felice Brothers see this show they will no longer be sad that Simone is not touring with the band. They will see an artist of this ability needs more leg room to display his considerable talent, and fans get a lot more out of it.

Not surprisingly, Simone greeted fans after the show with hug and kisses and many met Chicken Burke for the first time and he is a very charming fellow.

The Duke and The King-Belly In My Arms

Simone Felice, one of the most animated stage presences i’ve ever seen, is set to release some new music in his new band The Duke and the King. There will be a limited edition four song 7″ EP out in the UK in May, one week before their London Debut. Then the full length album is set to hit shelves in July for the UK and in August for the US. The debut album, Nothing Gold can Stay is sure to be a must-have for music fans. The group’s Myspace page states the following:

These bitter-sweet songs speak of a time just out of arm’s reach. Days when kids rocked to We Are The World on a new thing called the Walkman, shooting BB guns into the sky only to see The Challenger come crashing down, tweaking bunny-ears cause boy do I want my MTV. A time when pop wasn’t a dirty word, when the golden era of 60’s and 70’s radio still sailed from the boom-box, still echoed in people’s heart.

You can read the whole text here. I’ve been a fan of the Felice brothers for close to two years now, and I will forever follow the works of Simone Felice after watching the man perform “The Devil is Real” at the 2008 Bonnaroo Music festival. The spectacle of seeing the band take 5 while Simone and brother Ian captivated a tent full of audience members for the chillingly beautiful tune was too much for me to handle. I was hooked and will support anything the man (and his brothers) do in the future.

So far the information about this new group has begun leaking out here and there. Simone, taking a break from The Felice Brothers to pursue a group where he has more of a leadership role, is baring his soul with these songs. Thankfully, his participation in the Felice Brothers band isn’t completely over, as he will join the band here and there for shows. Soon after the announcement of Simone’s partial departure, songs appeared online from the band. Simone released the news that the Duke & the King is made up of himself and friend Robert ‘Chicken’ Burke.

The band set a few tour dates (one in New York that has already sold out) to introduce the new outfit and songs, so be sure to go see them if possible. Recently they appeared on 100.1 FM WDST - Radio Woodstock to promote the tour dates and their upcoming album. While there they talked about where the album name came from and played the first track off the record. You can watch the full video below and download an mp3 of the performance underneath that.

The Duke and the King - Live at WDST

Download this performance in mp3 format by clicking here.

Tour dates and other news can be found on their Myspace