Battle of the Bands Update

The Flying Burrito Brothers

On paper, both of the contests in yesterday's Battle of the Bands competition on Dr. John's Record Shelf look like upsets, as number eleven seeds The Flying Burrito Brothers and the Rock'n'Roll Trio knocked off the Rascals and Stooges (each seeded no. 6 in their bracket) respectively. But it wasn't close in the first case, as the Burrito Brothers swept the judges away (guest judge this week: the Rock Doctor Rob Thomas). There was a little more controversy in the second match-up, as Art Vandalay seemed almost personally insulted that the Rock Doc and I preferred the Trio to Iggy and the other Stooges.

Rock'n'Roll Trio

But honestly, as much as I like and respect the Stooges (who performed "Search and Destroy"), how can you vote against one of the quintessential rock tunes of all time: "The Train Kept a'Rollin," especially in its original state? This exemplifies one of the features we built into the contest: any group might score an upset behind an unquestionably great song in round one, but in subsequent rounds they have to go with another tune. The Stooges, with a somewhat deeper catalog, would've had more great material to draw from, had they advanced; while the Rock'n'Roll Trio now must be represented by less familiar stuff. We'll see what happens. By the way, the Burritos won behind "Christine's Tune" which was up against "Groovin'" by the Rascals.

There are four more weeks left in Round 1. In Round 2, we know that The Byrds will be taking on the Doobie Brothers, the Sir Douglas Quintet goes against the Beach Boys, Creedence Clearwater Revival faces Big Brother & the Holding Company, and the Kingsmen will battle the Standells. Also, Chicago faces the Outsiders, the Crickets take on the Shadows of Knight, the Velvet Underground meets the Cowsills (talk about a mismatch!), and the Remains tangle with the New York Dolls. Other groups that have advanced (though their second round opponents remain to be determined) include the Lovin' Spoonful, the Gants, Steppenwolf, Spirit, the Electric Prunes, and the Bobby Fuller Four. The whole competition will continue to unfold over the next few months on my radio show, which can be heard Sunday nights at 5:00 at 90.9 fm if you happen to be in SW Montana (at 90.9 fm).