Gigs

Once in a while, someone shows up at a Fullertons event with an audio recorder. The rest is rock 'n' roll history. Or an unreasonable facsimile.

The recordings below include songs by Leon Fullerton himself (with links to lyrics and liner notes), songs by artists who influenced him, and songs by artists he influenced - a trip straight down that crooked roots musics highway to the heart of the heartland. 

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The Maine Market at Riverside Park
Westbrook, Maine, July 23, 2016.
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Featuring:
​Bob Barton on drums, Charlie Bernstein on guitar, Paul Hunt on guitar and percussion, Jim Katsiaficas on guitar, Sue Silvestri on bass, and Waterford Slim on harp.

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Lead vocals: Waterford Slim
"When you're schooling yourself in any brand of music," Fullerton often his nephews Del and Raphie, "go to the source. Johnson is the blues source."

(The recording starts at 00:22.)
Vocals: Charlie Bernstein
Fullerton was a pushover for women who growled. See "Swamp Dog" lyrics and notes at Doublewide!

Lead vocals: Jim Katsiaficas
Fullerton, a sometimes-truck driver, included several trucker tunes in his repertoire. He consistently denied, however, being the inspriation of Lowell George's trucker classic "Willin'."

Vocals: Sue Silvestri
Fullerton: "I always say the best jazz tunes were all by cats named Louie. The truth is, they're all by guys named Louie or Mose."

Lead vocals: Paul Hunt
​Meeting Fullerton backstage at a Farm Aid concert, Mellencamp said, "I have a lot of your singles, and I'll never part with 'em." Fullerton said, "Shoot, I got a whole mess of Kraft singles out in my van, and you can take as many as your pockets can carry!"

Lead vocals: Charlie Bernstein
Ask not for whom the wagon rolls. Instead, see "When the Wagon Rolls 'Round" lyrics and notes at Ugly Roomer.

Lead vocals: Jim Katsiaficas
Fullerton biographer Rex Geronimo quotes the Tosspot Troubador: "There were a whole lot of anti-establishment folky types hanging 'round the house when I was a kid. 'Mole' was one of their favorites. Stick it to the railroad men! Root that mountain down!"

Lead vocals: Charlie Bernstein
Fullerton's trucker classic. For the whole story, see "Lone Star Special" lyrics and notes at Doublewide!

Vocals: Sue Silvestri
Fullerton said: "Hurt was the keeper of the key: Make it look easy. Make it sound easy. Take it someplace no on else ever can or will."

Vocals: Jim Katsiaficas
​Fullerton: "Those jump-blues cats broke all the rules. Left their big band buddies dazed in the dust. Without 'em, rock never woulda rolled."

Lead vocals: Charlie Bernstein
Fullerton was the founding arch-shaman of the First Church of Latter Day Cowboys. For his spin on the First Family, see "Paradiseland" lyrics and notes at Tunnel Vision. 

Lead vocals: Sue Silvestri
Introducing "Dim Lights" in concert, Fullerton often called it the song that described everyone he ever married (or tried to).

Lead vocals: Charlie Bernstein
One of Neon Leon's few love songs. See "My Baby Likes Me" lyrics and notes at Bar Grill Dancing Eats. 

Always good advice.
​(Instrumental)

Vocals: Jim Katsiaficas
Buddy Guy and Fullerton shared many a hydraulic lunch when their travels put them in the same town at the same time. "Mess with Buddy," Fullerton would caution tavern patrons, "and you mess with the best."

Lead vocals: Jim Katsiaficas and Sue Silvestri
A conversation over pizza between Leon's brother Lionel and members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band might have inspired the ground-breaking 'Circle' project, bringing hippies and rednecks together in the studio and on stage for the first significant time. Lionel is said to have said, "Look at those hillbillies, man. They're hippier than any of us. And I mean, like, they can play!"

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"I did not have a chance,
the way that music made me dance,
it was live music,
live music."
Dan Hicks