THE BONESHAKERS : Gettin' Down Just For The Funk Of It

Randy Jacobs & SweetPea Atkinson

The Boneshakers!

Rattling your sacroiliac to the groove of some of the funkiest players around, is what them Boneshakers is all about.

Randy Jacobs is the lead guitarist and one of the most underrated players currently out there. Sans pick, R.J. slices up his axe using everything and anything - fingers, thumbs, the palm of his hand, his wrist... whatever. And it produces some of the sweetest, dirtiest funk that a man can coax out of a machine made merely of wood and metal and wires.

Randy's partner-in-crime is the OG soul singer SweetPea Atkinson. A man who when he isn't sweetly crooning and smiling at the girls in the audience, has a scowl on his face - a mean gangsta scowl - like he's got a blade in his pocket, and he ain't afraid to use it. Thankfully, I've never actually seen him angry (well once, he was really pissed off at someone who wasn't around and his demeanor changed and out came a string of swear words like I never heard before!!!) SweetPea of course loves old soul music and has told me stories about the old days traveling around singing, swinging', doin' his thang. He loves The Staple Singers and we've spent a great deal of time talking about the famed L.A. concert in 1972 known as Wattstax. He wasn't there, but those are his contemporaries and he's got great stories from back in the day.

Y'know earlier today, I was thinking about some of my musical heroes who have passed on and how sad it is that I will never again see Isaac Hayes, Gil Scott-Heron or Billy Preston. These 3 artists in particular have brought me uncountable hours of entertainment (and knowledge), and I was privileged enough to see each one of them at least a dozen times in various venues, either headlining or backing someone. 

It is with these thoughts in my head that I wanna shout-out SweetPea Atkinson, an oldie but a goodie and also James Gadson. Gadson invented some of the funkiest beats in music, backing Charles Wright and Bill Withers among others. Still alive and kicking, he used to play every Monday night at Harvelle's where I was always in attendance digging' on the authentic grooves from this legendary drummer.

Cheers to Don Was who was in the house tonight!!

Harvelle's Santa Monica : The Weekend Ahead

The Boneshakers : On-The-One & Then Some

The Boneshakers are an electric funk experience like none other. The 5 piece of Randy Jacobs (g), Dave McGraw (d), Tio Banks (k), Andre Barry (b) and legendary Sweet Pea Atkinson (v) electrifies the night!!

Randy Jacobs and The Boneshakers only come around Harvelle's about once a year. Tonight was the night!! Randy Jacobs is an amazing guitarist. In a club where amazing guitarists are featured several nights a week, Randy is the best of the best... knitting blankets of chik-a-chik funk and laying down blistering solos without a guitar pic. Randy isn't just a straight-up finger player - the boneshaker - hisself - uses his wrist, his palm, his digits - front and back - to play that thing! [MySpace][YouTube]

The frontman of The Boneshakers is the one and only Sweet Pea Atkinson. Sweet Pea is an O.G. soul singer who has seen it all and done it all. He doesn't sugarcoat a thing. One of the icons who's image looms high in the club, Sweet Pea also plays here as part of Was (Not Was).

Randy just released his CD The Return Of Randy Dynamite

it's available at all the usual outlets

Amazon - CD Baby - iTunes -

Bone Shake Me

The Boneshakers ain't fuckin' around. They came to play. Under any conditions.

In the news today, they said there's a tornado in Brooklyn. If the Boneshakers were in Brooklyn that tornado would have mellowed out under the bone shaking funk of The Boneshakers.

The Boneshakers consist of a baadasssss group of the music world's most hardcore funkateers. Randy Jacobs is a guitar hero. Like a surgeon, his guitar work is precise and cutting. The man doesn't use a guitar pick - he plays with his fingers, his thumbs, his wrist - his whole damn hand.


Sweet Pea Atkinson is a dapper crooner with an ability to emote like the Smokey's and the Marvin's and the Curtis' did. He's always impeccably dressed and always throws it down. And the audience always responds. God bless Sweet Pea Atkinson.(After the show we sat around and talked about Wattstax and Mavis Staples and Bonnie Raitt (whom he has played with in- addition to Lyle Lovett).


Johnny Kirkwood on drums laid it deep in the pocket and kept it on-the-one all night long. I love that.



T.O. Banks - who I've long been a fan of - plays the funky keys with outrageous ease. He channels the late great Billy Preston, which is really sayin' somethin'.

And the funkiest man in the room - the bassist. Known as J.V. Collier (not pictured) this is the one who holds down the bottom end and is one of the top guys in the biz. Incredible.

Neither tornados, inflamed esophagi, little practice time, tinnitus nor busted kneecaps have been able to stop 'em thus far.

They have several recordings available. I picked up 2 or 3 or 4 of them from a nice lady wandering around the club with a box of discs and a change purse. I'm all set.

This entry posted live from Harvelle's using BlogPress & the iPhone Hipstamatic photo app

Location:4th St,Santa Monica,United States

Harvelle's Weekend : Plan Accordingly!

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Thursday:

Kirk Fletcher : New-jack blues guitarist (formerly of The Fabulous Thunderbirds).Backing Kirk is Luke Miller/keys, Calvin Turner/bass, Lemar Carter/drums, and Kris Bradley on vocals.

Friday:

Club favorites The Boneshakers bring their super bad grooves featuring the vocals of Mr Sweet Pea Atkinson (Lyle Lovett, Was (Not Was)).

Saturday:

Prepare to dance and let loose, as Arthur Adams brings down the house with his home brew; combining legendary vocals and electric blues soulfulness.

Sunday:

Experience the dark erotic funky burlesque cabaret that is The Toledo Show.

Harvelle's is your one stop shop for an evening out. Located in the heart of Santa Monica's utopian downtown, Harvelle's provides the music, the cocktails, the cats, the dames and the whole dirty deal. If you've been, you know. If you have yet to, check it out; inside it's dark with red booths and a black and white checkerboard dance floor. It's always a great time and I'm usually hangin' out somewhere in the house.

See you there.

The Boneshakers : Crazy Osteology!

Harvelle's hosts The Boneshakers tonight. Experience Randy Jacobs - he tears, rips and shreds - one of my absolute favorite all time guitarists! Sweet Pea Atkinson (Was (Not Was), Lyle Lovett) handles vocals. Combustible forces making sweet soul and nasty funk all night long! A party in the making - this could be the hottest show in town.