Well, some exciting things happening on the DTB front! First of all, we are getting our set list really tight so that we can play for ALL our adoring fans in Los Angeles.We've also put together an acoustic trio so that we can play smaller, more intimate venues. This smaller group includes Carissa, Kevin, and Ellis. The songs sound fantastic and have really given new life to the songs we all know and love. I know what you are thinking: "how do I get updates on this fabulous band and their gigs?". Well, you can join our blog by becoming a "follower". Just scroll down the right-hand side of our blogsite and click on the "Join this Site" button.
To wet your appetite for DTB, below we have a few photos captioned by our very own Kevin...
Ellis contemplates whether lead-filled bongos were such a wise investment.
"I swear if Kevin says 'spank those bongos' one more time, I'll shoot him. No, I'll kill him. Then I'll shoot him."
Even with the headphones up all the way blasting AC/DC's 'Highway To Hell', Kevin still cannot drown out Ellis' bongo playing.
Kevin: "I swear to you guys - if I look at just the right angle I can see a little man living inside my guitar. I'm not kidding. Hey! He just waved at me!"
Ellis: "Ummm, Carissa....what did you put in those sausages?"
For certain, undisclosed reasons, Don’t Tell Betsy very rarely schedules a rehearsal for a night with a full moon. (This photo captioned by Darrell and compliments of That British Place Rehearsal and Recording Studios.)
She Already Knows is up on iTunes and Amazon. Download today for endless plays of your new favorite DTB single!
And while you are downloading this single, be sure to download our other 3 singles:
If you like this kind of stuff, why not become a follower? It's free! Just click the "Follow" button down the right hand side of the screen and it will magically let you know about all new additions to the site.
Now, this is something everyone can get into. Pretty girls who play rock and roll. And a whole year’s worth of them!!! This calendar is put out by The British Place. It’s a recording studio and rehearsal space. Check out their website and see what they’re all about and what they have to offer. And check out the girls who have recorded there!
(There is also information on how to buy this heirloom quality souvenir of the upcoming year)
And here is Neil Sedaka to tell us all about it. And the TBP girls are even cooler than the ones in this video. Can you imagine!!!
Why should we, here at Don’t Tell Betsy give a shit about this particular recording studio, you ask? There is are two very good reasons. One, it looks like a great place to record, but even more important!....Our very own Carissa is Miss December!! We, the band, would like to take this opportunity to state that Carissa has been an absolute delight since joining our motley, arthritic crew. Her voice and dedication have added new life to the group. (and boy can we use new life!) Plus, thanks to this calendar, we now get to do unspeakable things to her likeness for a whole 31 days at the end of next year! Buy one yourself.
Calendar Girl - Stars – It’s a pretty good song. Not nearly as good as December on the TPB calendar, but what is?
Here is the third Don't Tell Betsy spectacular promo for our upcoming video: Collect them!
Plus!! Don't Tell Betsy's brand new single, "The Way I Do". Give it a listen.
If you'd like to own this song, it be available below.
Grab the wife and someone else’s kids. (you wouldn’t want your own exposed to this kind of crap.) Shabby Road Studios is back with a vengeance. We’ve got new pics and our first video promo. We even had the lovely Lauren (Kevin's daughter) join us to photograph and film this epic in the making.
We’ve dedicated literally years, taking exhaustive media studies courses and personal hygiene improvement classes, in intense preparation for this exalted day. Enjoy.
Heineken is the one beer Ellis has when he's only having one. Therefore, Ellis has never had a Heineken.
This is what it would look like if Shabby Road Studios was sinking.
This is what every dad fears his daughter is doing every time he turns his head.
Why is everyone laughing and why are my pants suddenly soggy?
"If that asshole doesn't tune that guitar soon, I'm going to take it off him and El Kabong his fucking skull in.
"Nobody asked me if I wanted to sit on the stairs. What is this, Jews have to stand night?"
"Shit, I've got to puke but there's something seriously fucked about this toilet."
"Don't worry, that pill we gave her is safe, unless of course her head starts to melt."
OUR FIRST PROMO VIDEO!!
We spent thousands on this. We sure hope you like it.
And this is the very song, that this video is talking about. Though the video the video is talking about isn't done yet. That's why we only have a promo.
If you'd like to own this song, it be available below.
The Shabby Road Studios mob is back and recording a new song. They’ll be back at Sanctuary Entertainment to record the vocals in about two weeks but for now it’s balls to the wall rock & roll hell as they lay down their steamin’ tracks to “She Already Knows”. And just like on our last single, you are their for every painful, unentertaining second of it, because that’s jut how we treat our fans.
So buckle up, turn on, tune out, change your oil regularly and prepare for the musical ride of your young lives.
“How can something that large even form up your nose?”
Kevin demonstrates how he plans to get lonely sailors to come into our gigs.
Kevin and Ellis in fervent prayer. “Please Lord, let this pot before us be better than that really shitty last batch.”
“Dear Big D., could I buy some of that wild, wonderful, luxuriant hair off of you? Or perhaps I could just stand under it for a night and remember what once was? Signed an anonymous bandmate.”
Kevin tries to play it cool, but Carissa knows it’s only a matter of time before his double dose of Viagra kicks in.
“So I said to the custom’s officer, ‘How the hell should I know how five pounds of suspicious white powder got up my rectum?’”
So I said to the physician , “Longer than four hours? I thought the ad said longer than four inches!”
The band’s legal council strictly forbade me from posting any of the 237 captions I came up with for this picture.
“Dear mom, you were right. I never should have come to Hollywood. I just hope that one day I can summon up the courage to poison their Polygrip and come home.”
Finally….Ellis made a poo-poo!
Plus!! Don't Tell Betsy's brand new single, "The Way I Do". Give it a listen.
If you'd like to own this song, it be available below.
I went to see The Fab Faux Oct 23 at the Orpheum Theater here in Los Angeles. I've heard about them for years. If you like the Beatles (and who doesn't?) and haven't seen the Fab Faux, make a point to check them out next time they are through your town. As it turns out they will be back at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles around this time next year. Go, you will not be disappointed.
The band is made up of music vets, with Will Lee (from David Letterman's band) on bass & vocals, who has incidentally played with all the Beatles. Jimmy Vivino (Conan O'Brien's bandleader) on guitar, vocals and he doubles up keyboards as well. Other members include Rich Pagano on drums who is a fabulous singer as well. Frank Agnello on guitar, vocals and electronic gadgetry. And Jack Petruzelli on keyboards, vocals and guitars and really anything else.
In addition to the band they also had a two piece string section, dubbed the Creme Tangerine Strings with a violin and cellist and the Hogshead Horns, a veteran horn section made up of former Blood, Sweat & Tears, and SNL alumni rounding out the sound. Also on hand was a harp player they brought out for Eleanor Rigby. She also played auto harp on another tune on Sgt Peppers.
This band does not really do copies of Beatles music like say a normal tribute band does with each member playing the part of John, Paul, George or Ringo. They all play or sing whichever song suits their ability best. Sometimes the drummer sings a John song, sometimes the keyboardist sings a Paul song or Jimmy Vivino in fact sang a Ringo song. It doesn't matter. What matters is the interpretation and the musicmanship. They do spot on recreations of the songs and in this concert they they did the complete Revolver and Sargent Pepper's albums. What a treat that was and from two different eras of the Fab Four's repertoire. Will Lee was just fun to watch and he is so over the top excited to play this music as it was so obvious by the good time he was having, dancing around, jumping, running around and behind the stage during the songs. Don't get me wrong, the others had a great time too, and they all played and sang wonderfully.
From the opening notes of Taxman right on through Revolver it was as though you might've been there at some point listening the Beatles go through their set, but in this 5 piece interpretive way. Imagine five part harmony Eleanor Rigby done live. One of my favorite songs on Revolver, And Your Bird Can Sing with it's doubled harmony guitar was just great to hear live along with the 3 part harmony vocals. There were things you'd never think to hear in a concert as many times the musicians had to double up on instruments, or little additional things like triangle, bells, whistles, snapping their fingers, etc. You never think about how many parts were recorded in a Beatles tune until you actually watch a band try and put them all in live. I've never seen a band change guitars as many times as this one did. They really kept their guitar techs busy every song.
They took a break between Revolver so you could stretch, get a beer, or a t-shirt in the great looking lobby of the Orpheum. This was the first time I'd been to the Orpheum and it's a grand old theater and it was recently remodeled in the last few years, and I highly recommend going to see a show there. The sound is great from anywhere in the room and it wasn't overpowering either. The band then returned to the stage with the opening chords to Sgt Pepper's to which everyone just loved. They powered on through Sgt Peppers until striking the last chord on A Day In The Life, to which Jimmy Vivino set his guitar down on the floor in front of the amp letting it feedback.
For the encore they did a 6 song set, which included songs like Money, & Ticket To Ride. Jack Petruzelli came out and sang an emotional Oh Darling, which really put it over the top. I think only Mr. McCartney himself does it better and not by much. They ended with a great version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps featuring Jimmy Vivino on guitar solos and as a special bonus at the end, the original acoustic guitar demo version of George Harrison's was dubbed into it while Jimmy played searing Eric Clapton like solos over it.
Like they say, they are not a cover band, they perform the songs part perfect and dig deep into the music to recreate all the parts live, even if they were multi-layered, or overdubbed to great lengths as the later Beatles stuff was often done. You may hear things you never heard before on record or even thought couldn't be recreated but they are. Out of a score from 1 - 10, I give it a 12.
PLUS!! There's this neat video by OK Go - called Last Leaf. Animated entirely on TOAST! Yes Toast! Some may say, "can you animate on toast?" to which the answer is "Why yes, you can animate on toast!"
Plus!! Plus!!! Don't Tell Betsy's brand new single, "The Way I Do". Give it a listen.
If you'd like to own this song, it be available below.
The moment everyone has been waiting for! No, Radio Vickers hasn’t stopped drooling over bands no one has ever heard of. The other thing. The actual band the site is named after thing. Don’t Tell Betsy’s brand new song with its brand new singer is finally ready for its brand new world premiere.
So with absolutely no further ado, here is the song that’s been on the tips of everyone’s ears. Ladies and gentlemen, “The Way I Do.”
But first, it’s time to formally introduce the band you’ve been following and come to love in glorious pictures, captioned by ultra-super-amazing professional comedy writers. (How do they do it?)
So here is Don’t Tell Betsy, in no apparent order. (you can tell that because we’re starting with the drummer)
Ellis is on drums, when he’s not praying for more hair.
Big D. is on bass, when he’s not terrifying Japanese cities and towns.
Kevin is on guitars, when he’s not wishing that he’d never heard of the Buffalo Bills.
Darrell is on the couch and has no plans of getting up.
And Carissa is on vocals, when she’s not scouring the want ads for better looking bands.
Also thanks to Mr. Barry Fasman and Sanctuary Entertainment for his guidance on recording the vocals and putting up with us.
And very special thanks to Daniel K. for his mixing genius and additional instruments.
Oh yeah, and here’s the song. Hope you really likee.
GREAT NEWS!!!
You can buy this brand new, sparkling gem of a tune below! What could be simpler?
And should you be a total Don't Tell Betsy completist, here's our other song for sale at bargain, bargain prices.
They said it couldn’t be done…and so far we haven’t done it. But soooooooon! Yes, we will be premiering our new song, The Way I Do, right here on the Don’t Tell Betsy blogsite in less than 24 hours. (give or take) Get your hankies out ladies and germs, cause it’s a sad one. But, as consolation, we are offering one last round of laughs before we break your hearts. So here are some brand new pics of our recording sessions, expertly captioned by a sweatshop full of professional comedy writers.
Ellis and Big D. both spot a month old M & M in the carpet. This can only end in blood.
“It wasn’t an M & M. It was an old Teddy Bear’s eyeball.”
Kevin shows the band how he would walk down the runway, if he were on America’s Next Top Model.
Every time Carissa sneezes, all the dogs in the neighborhood stop mating.
Once, on a bender, Big D. attacked an entire busload of Japanese tourists that he mistook for Lilliputians.
“Idea: New names for band. How about Gramps with Amps or Grandpas with Guitars?”
When Kevin runs short of pot money, he routinely sells up to 6 pints of his blood.
“Maybe if I sit here and look as gay as possible, she won’t notice I’m staring down her top.”
“Ewwww gross! I knew those fuckers were staring down my top again. I just found a contact lens in my bra."
“Craig’s List. Singer available. Looking for bandmates who don’t just like, totally creep me out the whole fucking time I’m with them.”
“Rats! I guess I’m going to have to wear these glasses till I find my other contact lens.”
Absolutely nobody interrupts Ellis when he’s daydreaming about the tender white underbellies of penguins.
“Nope, I don’t see anything here about taking Viagra making your fingers go all stiff.
