You Say It's Your Birthday

This week is my birthday, so I always allow myself to look back on where my life has taken me so far and where I have to go from here. Since my birthday is in the summer, I usually celebrated it on the Island, so I thought I'd share a few tunes that reflect both the passage of time and the influence MV has had on my life. No matter how many houses are built, regardless of how many daytrippers visit with one set of clothes and a ten dollar bill (As some people used to say, they visit the Island with both, but don't change either one while they are there) it is one of the most beautiful places in the world.


Joshua Gone Barbados - Tom Rush
When I was a gawky, fat kid at the age of 16, I made about $15 a week at the Chilmark Community Center working for my brother who was the director (Talk about nepotism!). I would spend most - if not all - each week at the Mooncusser Coffee House in Oak Bluffs. That's where I first heard this song. Although it is quietly understated, it documents the brutal suppression of sugar cane workers on the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent. Rush's exceptionally fluid guitar playing intertwines with his plaintive vocal to capture the mood of subdued acceptance.


Born in Chicago - Paul Butterfield
If you've read this blog more than once, you know how obsessed I am with Paul Butterfield. He was really my introduction to the blues. At the age of 19, a few friends and I formed the Phoenix Blues Band , so named because it rose from the ashes before each performance. Our first "gig" was at the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club, and this was one of the ten songs we knew. Unfortunately, by the time the break came around, we had gone through our entire repertoire, realizing we still had another hour to go. We devised the incredibly clever idea of simply reversing the order, so we started back up, turning "Born in Chicago" into an endless jam. Nobody noticed it was the same tune we had just played BEFORE the break. Fortunately for the music industry, I abandoned my career as soon as that summer was over.


Amazing Grace - Judy Collins
Considering all the times I really pissed my mother off, she claimed she cried when I dedicated this song to her during a special birthday show I did on WVOI , the "Voice of the Islands". Let me start by dispelling the typical male myth that I have spent my life looking to replace her. We had more than our share of violent arguments over hair, clothes, language - you name it. I didn't want anything to do with her for years, but, as is frequently the case, the more I looked at her as a human as opposed to an authority figure, the more I began to like her. She had been a star athlete in high school and worked as a gossip columnist in the 1920s. She had a razor sharp wit and always wanted to be an actress, but her specialty was entertaining people, which she did very well. My birthday present to you, Mom, is that I forgive you for constantly referring to me as "that big dummy." I probably should have mentioned that her name was Grace.


Desolation Row - Bob Dylan
It has taken me a long time to appreciate Bob Dylan, but there is no disputing his status as a cultural icon, producing some of the best imagery of the Twentieth Century. I could spend hours dissecting the references in this particular song, but it is significant in the rise and fall of WVOI. One Friday afternoon in October, 1975, as I was doing my show, one of the station stockholders walked in and informed me that my career was coming to an end in 24 hours because the station was shutting down. Consequently, when I did my last show the following morning, "Desolation Row" was the last song I played before the station went dead. Talk about poetic justice!



Happy birthday to you whenever it occurs. Personally, I don't want any presents this year, because I given myself the best one of all - I no longer hate myself. As some famous rocker once said: " I was so much older then/I'm younger than that now."

Delaney & Bonnie

I'm back - barely - from the _______ reunion. Sorry I've neglected you, but the good news is I've got some new music to tell you about in the weeks to come, including tunes from my friends Scott "Doc" Allen and Bruce Burnside. I was wrong about drinking, shouting and clapping to "Gimme Some Loving" at the reunion, but pleasantly surprised when I put on a homemade Delaney & Bonnie CD and got a positive reaction to a handful of cuts from "On Tour with Eric Clapton".

Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett's credentials were solidly established before the album came out in 1970, Delaney as a studio musician in LA, and Bonnie as the only white "Ikette", performing with the Ike and Tina Turner Revue. Apparently, the duo met Eric Clapton when they were opening for Blind Faith. There's a pretty clear linkage between the "Tour" lineup and Derek and the Dominos, since Clapton put the Dominos together during that same year, using at least three musicians from the "Tour". 1970 also saw the release of "Mad Dogs and Englishmen", including "Friends" alumni Leon Russell and Rita Coolidge as well.

The opening cut - "Things Get Better" - is a prime example of what happens when the best session players get out of the studio and grind out the same tightly wound sound, the vocals, horns, drums and guitars blending perfectly in this uplifting tribute to love. "Poor Elijah - A Tribute to Robert Johnson" is a showcase for Clapton's slide guitar and Delaney's impressive vocal range, making you think that, if Robert Johnson had played electric guitar, it would sound like this.

"Only You Know and I Know" showcases the perfect blending of Delaney and Bonnie's voices, backed by a soaring horn section. The real killer on this quartet of songs is Little Richard's "I Don't Want To Discuss It". This closed out the tour, and it is nonstop, gradually rising to a frenetic climax, Delaney begging "somebody help me" as Clapton just keeps on jamming away.

There are six other Delaney & Bonnie albums, including one of my first records - " The Original Delaney and Bonnie - Accept No Substitutes" . This music is positive, uplifting and always provides a good time, probably because the affection between the two singers shines through every song.

See, reunions aren't ALL bad (just the food!).