Michael Katon - Rip It Hard! (1994)

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Michael Katon - Rip It Hard! (1994)

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Michael Katon is the heaviest practitioner of true American roadhouse rock'n'roll and blues working today. His sound is raw, mean and spirited, combining lowdown blues and boogie with the amped-up approach of the highest energy rock'n'roll band you'd care to name. Katon's guitar playing is informed with the nastiest and tastiest tones imaginable with torrential slide work and astonishing string bending capabilities. His relentless energy and dedication to pouring every ounce of soul into the music is perhaps best described by an astounded fellow guitarist who said, "Katon won't stop beating on a guitar until he's squeezed every last thing he can possibly get out of it. That guitar is glad to go back in the case at the end of the night, believe me."

The first time I saw Michael Katon playing,he was blowing the roof off of some unnamed dump in the middle of Nowhere, Ohio,
shaking the walls down with a wild ass sound. Armed with a wall of Super Reverbs with a Strat plugged into 'em that was soaked in sweat and beer with the bridge rusted into place, he was playing with the kind of fervor that only a musician,a true road dog, can put into it. When music is your passion, it becomes part of your fiber and being, you realize that you're married to it, and you put everything real that's inside of you inside of it and you'll play no matter where, no matter
what.

Maybe that's why Michael Katon impressed me so much that first night. Here was a guy, playin' to a handful of nobody specials in a place the size of a phone booth and he was goin' at it like he was killin' rattlesnakes. He was up there on that postage stamp sized stage, the personification of hillbilly detachment cool, channeling equal parts Lightnin'Hopkins, Albert King,and Paul Burlison, while laying it down like he was knockin'' it out with big stage presence for the festival crowd.

Soon after that night his debut album 'Boogie All Over Your Head' was released to international raves, and Katon has hardly had time to look back. European tours to ecstatic audiences have regularly been the norm since that album's foreign release in 1984. A quick look through his gig itinerary finds Katon's no holds barred style equally at home in a variety of settings; sharing international music festival stages with the likes of ZZ TOP and Iggy Pop to blues fests with Junior Wells and Son Seals, or an intimate late night jam with Buddy Guy. No matter what the setting, Katon finds his true audience.

As the 80s moved into the next decade one Michael Katon album flowed after another, all of them preaching his roadhouse manifest; 'Proud To Be Loud,' 'Get On The Boogie Train,' 'Rip It Hard,' 'Rub,' 'Bustin' Up The Joint' and 'The Rage Called Rock'n'Roll'are all part and parcel of a musician whose raw,wild and inflammatory style is all of one piece.–- Cub Koda

Now as we head into the 21st century Michael Katon invites you to fire up your 'Bad Machine' and head out to the roadhouse,the party is just starting…………

Rip it hard - 4:18
(M. Katon)

Been all day since I seen my honey
Been workin' ten hours tryin' to make that money
Slavin' all day just to earn that dime
But now it's five o'clock and it's party time!

-Chorus
Rip it hard
Rip it hard
Rip it hard
Boogie all night long!

Well it's hard in the mornin' headin' out that door
Specialy when ya boogied all the night before!
I keep my eye on the clock when I'm towin' that line
We're gonna…

-Chorus

let me tell ya what I'm gonna do
I gotta tighten up my boogie shoes
Get a little bit of that "boogie juice"
Now look out baby I'm on the loose!

-Chorus

-Chorus

=====================================

Buncha loud boogie - 5:05
(M. Katon)

Turn on my radio
What do I hear?
A bunch of watered down
mamby pampy pap in my ear

-Chorus
Play me a bucha loud boogie
Yeah a buncha loud boogie
'Cause it makes me feel goodie
To hear a buncha loud boogie

Play me some hard rockin'blues
And shake the plaster above
It's that lowdown soundthat realy gives me a buzz

-Chorus

Don't play no hip-hoppin
Flip floppin - fashion clown
I need that pointy - toed boot sound to get me down

-Chorus

Don't watch no MTV
Don't watch no VH1
I play some Elmore James and watch my baby

She realy shakes her noogie
When ya play a buncha loud boogie

-Chorus

my little girlie is a rock-n-roll queen
she can hoochie coochie like you've never seen

Just play a
-Chorus

She realy shakes her noogie
When you play a buncha loud boogie

=====================================

You love me up - 5:23
(M. Katon)

You keep on teasin'. I keep believin'
You swear you love me, but then you snub me

-Chorus
You love me up but then you leave me down
Throw up my heart, then let it hit the ground
Swear I'm your man, treat me like your clown
You love me up but then you leave me down

You start your lyin', it gets me flyin'
Just when I trust you, yeah my heart breaks in two
Must be a stone fool, yeah for lovin' you
You thrill my heart, yeah but then ya tear it apart

-Chorus

Leave me down
Bridge

Your magic potion, stirs my emotion
Yeah you make me crazy, that's when my will gets lazy
You build my hopes up, and I think that I'm in luck
Soon as I believe, yeah that's right when you leave!

-Chorus

Leave me down
Bridge

I'm up on cloud nine, when you say that you're mine
But then I shatter, yeah when ya say I don't matter
Why do you tease me? Say that you need me
Just when I think I'm on the right track
Yeah, I got your knife right in my back

-Chorus

-Chorus

=====================================

Burn the joint down - 6:03
(M. Katon)

I'm makin' my way on to your town
You're gonna hear me commin' for miles around
I gotta guitar full of that boogie sound
Gonna crank it up and burn the joint down

It's gonna be a bash like there's never been
Just turn on the juice and plug me in
I track down fun like an old blood hound
Then let it rip and burn the joint down

Break out hell and burn it big
Honk down on it till ya flip your wig
May set fire to the whole damn town
When we crank it up and burn the joint down

=====================================

No more whiskey- 3:27
(M. Katon)

I drank enough whiskey make a young man blind
I boogied so hard I nearly lost my mind
Don't give me no more whiskey
I don't need no whiskey
It done made me crispy
Don't give me no more whiskey

Them barstools got a little hard to ride
With the co-pilot Jack sittin' by my side
Don't give me no more whiskey
Life gets risky
When I drank that whiskey

-Chorus
Don't give me no more whiskey
No more whiskey, no more whiskey, no more whiskey
Life gets risky
When I drink that whiskey

I drank and I drank and I thought it was funny
'till I woke up in jail the judge took all my money
Life gets risky
When I drink that whiskey

So at the end of the night when I can barely crawl
Here's what I tell 'em when they say "last call"
No more whiskey
Don't give me no more whiskey
Life gets risky
When I drink that whiskey

=====================================

Fried Jalapeños - 4:41
(M. Katon)

If you see my baby man won't you send her home
If you see my baby man won't you send her home
I miss her fried jalapeños, ain't had none
since she's been gone

You'll know her when you see her
By the fryin' pan in her hand
You'll know her when you see her
By the fryin' pan in her hand
Her fried jalapeños, hot as a man can stand

If you see my baby you'll recognize her right away
If you see my baby you'll recognize her right away
That jalapeño juice runnin' down her chin's a dead give away

So when you see my baby, tell her to come on home
When you see my baby, tell her to come on home
I miss her fried jalapeños, ain't had none
since she's been gone
I miss her fried jalapeños, ain't had none
since she's been gone
I need her fried jalapeños, tell her I can't wait long

=====================================

Lucky, lucky, lucky - 4:07
(M. Katon)

Lucky, lucky, lucky
Man I feel so lucky, I don't know what to do

Repeat

She finally quit naggin' me
Packed up her bags, walked out the door and said
"We're through"

Now there ain't nobody tellin' me where I can go
Ain't nobody sayin' "Pick up them dirty clothes!"
And when I switch on my TV
I get to watch all my favorite shows!

Lucky, lucky, lucky
I feel so lucky I don't know what to do
She finally quit all of her naggin'
Packed up her suitcase, walked out the door and said
"We're through!"

Now thereain't no more "Do the dishes!"
Ain't no more "Take out the trash!"
And on Fridays when I get my paycheck man
I get to keep all my hard earned cash

Lucky, lucky, lucky
I feel so lucky I don't know what to do
She finally quit naggin' me
Walked out the door and said "We're through"

=====================================

Big twin - 3:10
(M. Katon)

I feel low down I been away too long
Yeh I feel low down I been away too long
Who's been ridin' on my big twin
With you since I been gone

Yeh there's grease all on the paintjob
And the gears have all been stripped
Yeh there's grease all on the paintjob
And the gears have all been stripped
You got water in the gas line mamma
And your saddlebags are ripped

Well the tread' s worn off your tires
And your head gaskets blown
Well the tread' s worn off your tires
And your head gaskets blown
Who's been ridin' on my big twin?
With you since I been gone

There's miss fire on one piston
You're running kinda slow
The oil pressure's fallin feels like you're gonna blow
Yeah girl you done me wrong
Who's been ridin' on my big twin
With you since I been gone

Your clutch ain't hardly working
And your chain is hanging loose
Your clutch ain't hardly working
And your chain is hanging loose
Gotta blow out your tailpipe mamma
And give your battery some juice

Hey now mister sherrif, don't turn your radar on
Hey now mister sherrif, don't turn your radar on
I'm gonna kick down on the starter
Crank on the gas and I'll be gone

=====================================

Barbeque on my boogie - 7:16
(M. Katon)

I like a little barbeque on my boogie
A little hot sauce on the side
Repeat

And when my baby lets me taste her jalapeño
Man that's when I get satisfied

The little girl's red hot cookin'
Will make you come runnin' home
Repeat

She puts barbeque on my boogie
And hot sauce on my ice-cream cone

Bridge
You can't taste her cookin', without losin' your mind
Her hot tomallies send lightnin' down your spine
The little girl's red hot cookin' will make you come runnin' home
She puts barbeque on my boogie
And hot sauce on my ice-cream cone

=====================================

Big bad booty - 9:11
(M. Katon)

There's somethin' comin' after you every single day
On your television or magazine right there on display
There ain't no escape for every boy, girl
Woman or man
Everywhere you turn and look, it's all across the land

-Chorus
Talkin' 'bout big bad booty
Talkin' 'bout big bad booty
They tell ya bon ton roulette, with that big bad booty

President or housewife or an educated fool
The big bad booty never fails to make 'em drool
Listen what I say, there's a lesson to be learned
When the booty passe by
All their heads can't help but turn
Talkin' 'bout the

-Chorus
it's after you

=====================================

Wound up - 4:21
(M. Katon)

I'm wound up, I'm wound up tight
I'm wound up, said I'm wound up tight
I gotta play me some boogie, so I will feel alright

I'm wound up,as tight as I can be
I'm wound up,as tight as I can be
I gotta play my guitar so it will satisfy me

I'm wound up
I'm wound up
Wound up

repeat