12/12/12 - The Pre Apocalyptic Show of All Time

Mick Jagger said it best last night at Madison Square Garden with the comment about the plethora of old English musicians in attendance, but they weren't the only ones belting out the hits for humanity. Even if the Mayans are proven right in a week or so, at least, if you watched the marathon concert, you got to see an impressive lineup that may not be equaled - like the actual date - ever again.

I picked up the action in the middle of the Pink Floyd remnants (I don't mean that negatively!) doing what seemed to my ears like a fairly flawless "Comfortably Numb". The first thing that was obvious was the interplay among the musicians, trading off with each other, generally looking like they were having a good time, with the likes of Jimmy Fallon, Steve Buscemi, Adam Sandler and many others providing the comic relief and human interest stories in between.

Bon Jovi would have to get the judges' award for Best Jersey Boy, delivering the standard arena anthems like "Livin On A Prayer" and "Dead or Alive", but squeezing in some homeboy commentary about the heroes of the Jersey shore as well as teaming up with the perennial boss, Springsteen himself. Eric Clapton let his music do the talking, first with a sly acoustical version of Bessie Smith's "Down and Out" ,  finally wrapping up with a sizzling hot "Crossroads".; The choice to me was oddly symbolic, a musical timeline between 1937 and 2012 reinforcing the stature of the mysterious Robert Johnson.

The Stones did "Keeps Me Rocking" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash", Mick leading the assault as usual, probably knowing that most of the folks at home were wondering how he could move so well at age 69. Ron Wood seemed to be handling most of the trademark stinging guitar riffs, Keith Richard contributing a few as well. Their set ended kind of abruptly. Steve Buscemi mentioned several times after the fact that they had cut it short.

The Who contributed their usual solid and sardonic brand of hardcore rock, the crowd going nuts over "Baba O'Riley" (Just think of rows of financial analysts screaming" THEY'RE ALL WASTED!") not to mention "Tommy" , "Reign Oer Me" and a rousing, take no prisoners version of "Who Are You?" Roger Daltry and Pete Townsend must be vampires because they both looked and sounded exactly the same. Alicia Keys displayed her dazzling voice and dedication to New York.

Billy Joel chewed up the scenery enough to win the judges' Best Local Color award, the only person I heard using profanity the whole night, but  more importantly reeling off the hits - "Only The Good Die Young", " You May Be Right", and a long, jazzy as well as appropriate rendition of "New York State of Mind."

As is usually the case, I dozed off for a bit, waking up in time to see Paul McCartney. It was kind of surreal, as if the College of Cardinals had just gotten done meeting before the Pope appears. I was struck by his youthfulness, again wondering how many musicians there had entered into some sort of Faustian pact with the devil to stay forever young. I'll always be a fan, but the only tune I really liked was his solo rendition of "Blackbird". The rest of the music seemed either obscure or disconnected.

The only positive thing you can say about a massive tragedy like African famines, Haitian earthquakes and Hurricane Sandys is bring it on so the world's best rockers can jam again for money. As far as 12/21 is concerned. Michael Stipe was there but did not sing "The End of The World As We Know It." I guess that's a good thing ?
  

Blues for Butterfield

I was only sixteen when I first saw the Paul Butterfield Blues Band live in Boston, which then compelled me to buy their album "East-West", one of the first records I actually bought with my own money, along with "The Golden Road To Unlimited Devotion" by the Dead, and "Out of Our Heads" by the Stones. Paul Butterfield, who was born in December, 1947, was simply the best blues harp player I've ever heard.

Butterfield's technique combined the basic blues riffs from harmonica greats like Little Walter and Junior Wells with complex melodic runs suggesting jazz or fusion, especially evident in the harmonica solos on the band's monumental jam "East West" as well as "The Work Song." His transitions from note to note are seamless. Butterfield always seemed to coax the best out of the humble Hohner "Marine Band" harmonica, at times sounding like a saxophone or a keyboard. His playing style was unique, especially the fact that he played harp upside down.

Ironically, Paul Butterfield began his love of music by studying classical flute when he was a teenager, but soon developed a passion for the mouth harp. The nucleus of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band was formed when Paul met guitarist Elvin Bishop while both were students at the University of Chicago. They began hanging out with the likes of Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Otis Rush and Little Walter before stealing drummer Sam Lay and bassist Jerome Arnold from Howlin' Wolf's Band and forming a band in 1963. Guitar virtuoso Mike Bloomfield was added just before Elecktra released their debut album in 1965, just a few months after Bloomfield, Arnold and Lay backed Bob Dylan's electric debut at the Newport Folk Festival. Unfortunately, after the release of East/West in 1967, Bloomfield, Arnold and replacement drummer Billy Davenport all left the band.

Bishop took over on lead guitar with the release of The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw in 1967, Butterfield adding horns to the mix. One of my favorite tunes from Resurrection is actually a Bishop tune - "Drunk Again" - not exactly politically correct but full of sizzling guitar solos, but Butterfield also excels with tunes like "Driftin and Driftin' "as well as the Muddy Waters classic "Just To Be With You". "In My Own Dream" was the last PBB album I paid close attention to, once again a mix of traditional Chicago blues with jazz/fusion.

Butterfield had the distinction of playing  with a wide variety of artists, from Muddy Waters to The Band, but the music eventually consumed him. He died in Los Angeles on May 4, 1987, primarily from the effects of heavy drinking, joining a long list of talented artists who never got the monkeys off their backs, so to speak. 
I'll always be a Paul Butterfield fan - I just wish he had lived a bit longer.

Words of Farewell

America will elect a new President in the next few weeks, who may or may not represent change. Although I can not predict winners or losers, the only thing I know for certain is that my life will have changed by then- is, in fact, changing forever.

The song that first came to mind was the Beatles' "She's Leaving Home," the wistful vocals and maudlin lyrics accurately matching the emotional void and loss of control I felt when the reality finally took over, that I really had run out of options, that it was now to a matter of days. Deep down in my normally resilent inner core, fear began to dictate my every thought - what if I can't do it? - what if I can't make it? - what if I drop off the face of the earth forever? The house gradually became a darkened shell of its former self, dirty and sometimes disgusting, someone's else's property that I was allowed to stay in, much like the Gordon Lightfoot line about " a ghost in a wishing well ", the absolute bottom  happening over a year ago in the middle of the prolonged Hurricane Irene power failure when, surrounded by gutterring candles, I actually tried to play Little Walter's "Blues With A Feeling", trapped in what had once been my "dream" house.
You try - over time - to psych yourself out, just throw it off like Billy Joel in "Moving Out",when the going gets tough , the tough get going , the old college try, win one for the Gipper - but those phrases wear thin pretty quickly, and I don't think anyone really believes that crap anyway.

Some of the most plaintive ltrics about leaving that have always stayed with me through the twists and turns were written by Phil Ochs, whom I saw at the Mooncusser in Oak Bluffs at the clumsly age of 15. The words echo in my mind: "Are you going away with no words of farewell? / Will there be not a word left behind? / I could have loved you better , didn't mean to be unkind / You know it was the last thing on my mind." As I spend these final days and hours stripping away the memories, negotiating for dumpsters, jettisoning what I thought were attic treasures, sifting through the debris and chaos of seventeen years, I wonder what my words of farewell should be. As Delbert McClinton puts it on one of the cuts from "Acquired Taste" - "Can't nobody say I didn't try?" Or should it be Junior Wells wailing" Bab-ee / So all ALONE?" Or Mick Jagger wailing: "Time waits for NO-ONE / And it WON"T wait for me?"





   

Stepping Razor

Winston Herbert McIntosh - better known as Peter Tosh - died 25 years ago this month, ironically on September 11,1987, but not before leaving an indelible mark on reggae and Rastafarianism. His authoritative voice and solid musicianship are reflected in reggae anthems like "Get Up, Stand Up", "Legalize It" , or "400 Years."

Tosh got his start singing on streetcorners in Kingston with Robert Nesta Marley - BobMarley - and Neville O'Reilly Livingston - Bunny Wauiler - finally forming the band "Wailing Wailers" in 1964 under the tutelage of vocal teacher Joe Higgs. Apparently, Tosh was essential to the band because he was the only one who could play a musical instrument! The group scored with their ska classic"Simmer Down" before splitting up in 1965. The Wailers lineup didn't fully materialize until 1970, when brothers drummer Carlton Barrett and bassist Aston Barrett joined Tosh, Marley and Bunny.

Tosh's signature is all over the Wailers' music, in songs like "Stop That Train", "Small Axe", "Duppy Conqueror" , "No Sympathy" and his theme song"Stepping Razor"("I'm like a stepping razor/Better watch my size/I'm dan-ger-ous/Dan-ger-uos!"). Unfortunately, his life took a turn for the worse when an accident in Jamaica killed his girlfriend in 1973, leaving Tosh with a fractured skull. This reportedly made him more difficult to deal with, possibly leading to Tosh's decision to pursue a solo career in 1974.

In 1976, Peter Tosh released his best known song "Legalize It" on CBS Records, which quickly became the  anthem of pot smokers worldwide, followed by "Bush Doctor" in 1978 on Rolling Stones Records. Tosh and Mick Jagger had an instant hit with their duet on "Don't Look Back", elevating Tosh's status and briefly dominating FM airplay. Some of his best cuts - in my humble opinion - are on 1981's "Wanted Dread and Alive", like the title cut , "Coming in Hot",or "The Poor Man Feel It". I even made sure I went to a reggae shop in Montego Bay just to get a Tosh CD since my vinyl version was long gone.

Apparently, Tosh had just returned to Jamaica in 1987 when a gang of three men showed up at his house, demanding money. Although he protested that he was broke, the trio tortured Tosh for several hours before finally shooting him and two other men who, ironically, had shown up to welcome Tosh home to Jamaica. In August of this year, Peter Tosh was awarded the Order of Merit, Jamaica's fourth highest honour.

Peter Tosh was self made and pioneered a new musical form that grew to a global phenomenon - not bad for a poor kid from Grange Hall.  

May The Best Band Win

I'm beginning to think that the only artist who approved of his music being used at the Republican National Convention was Enzo Morricone, the Italian composer who came up with Clint Eastwood's signature theme song for his "spaghetti western" persona. Just imagine poor Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan, trying to relate to the audience in Tampa by touting his Ipod content - from AC/DC to Led Zeppelin - as well as his long standing affection for Rage Against The Machine, only to have his favorite band immediately turn their "rage" on him. Other rockers who cried foul over the GOP using their output included Twisted Sister's Dee Snyder, Tom Petty and even the mother of Thin Lizzie's lead singer Phil Lynott. This would be like Leonardo DaVinci preventing anyone from seeing the Mona Lisa unless they agreed with his politics. Art for art's sake - right?

On the other side of the spectrum, it was definitely different to see the Foo Fighters perform at the Democratic National Convention just hours before President Barack Obama's keynote speech, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. The lineup in Charlotte include James Taylor, Earth Wind & Fire, Mary J. Blige, Marc Anthony, Branford Marsalis, and even tireless Tony Bennett. It was obvious from the plethora of camera shots showing the delegates bumping to EWF'S "September" and rocking out with the Fighters that the music helped enhance the message.

The Republicans have long complained about President Obama's "celebrity" support, as if to say that Hollywood is filled with drug addicts, Communists, perverts, morally deficient sideshow freaks who are so brain damaged they can't understand the GOP's platform. It was oddly appropriate to see Clint Eastwood introducing Mitt Romney, as if the party was trying to prove it could attract movie stars as well. Eastwood made several comments that made it sound as if he would be burned at the stake by the rest of the industry for revealing his political philosophy, but it wasn't much of a secret anyway.

However, watching Clint's "empty chair" routine, I began to realize that - demographically speaking - he was an angry old white man introducing another angry old white man. It was even more unsettling to consider that some of the RNC's Top Ten artists are angry young white men. I really didn't want to generalize about either party's taste in music, but I couldn't help being a bit analytical. We are polarized enough in this country without me adding to it. Just make sure that, when you got to the polls, don't bring your Ipod!

The Thing About "That Thing"

Most of us think of Tom Hanks in terms of his unparalleled acting ability, the vast number of roles he's played , the inevitable description as the film industry's "Everyman" , but we don't often think of him as a writer and director, why is why you should check out Hanks' 1996 masterpiece, "That Thing You Do." The movie captures the rise and fall of the "One-ders", a very obvious play on the term  "one hit wonders", the bands that strike gold once only to fade into obscurity, like "The Night Chicago Died" by Paper Lace or "Brandy" by Looking Glass as well as many others. The movie is just about perfect in its depiction of the band's rapid rise and fall.

It's 1964 in Pittsburgh when Tom Everett Scott, as drummer Guy Patterson, joins up with Jonathon Schaech, as singer/musician James Mattingly, to form the band. They are officially discovered  by Tom Hanks, playing "Mr. White", a talent scout for Playtone Records, who proceeds to package them as the latest "teen sensations". The film depicts the process of manufacturing a hit, from the endless sucking up to the deejays who controlled the radio playlists to the touring shows of Playtone's hit artists, which Hanks captures perfectly, slyly poking fun at the names and personas of the mid Fifties - mid Sixties performers. The Onders' rise to the ultimate honor - their televized national debut on an ersatz version of Ed Sullivan, complete with screaming teens.

The first major crack in the Oneders' facade originates with James Mattingly, who begins to resist "cookie cutter" fame by demanding more input into the band's output, so to speak. The funniest aspect of Mattingly's quest for "creativity" occurs when Playtone's President Sol Siler (Played for max laughs by Alex Rocco) meets the Onders for a quick cameo, spending exactly 10 seconds with his "hottest" act before starting in on a massive deli sandwich, keeping up a continual dialogue with his entourage. Mattingly decides to take the initiative, planting himself squarely in front of Siler, innocently inquiring about maybe recording some original music for the label. The mogul's reaction is classic - he chokes on his corned beef,demanding that Mattingly be removed from his sight immediately, plus reminded never to speak unless spoken to, a moment that sarcastically summarizes the typical label-artist relationship of that era.

The fissure widens further when - once again - Mattingly freaks over a tongue-in-cheek photo caption supered over him during their TV debut implying that he's engaged. Liv Tyler does a superb job as Mattingly's girlfriend, faithful, broken-hearted after she follows him to California only to be spurned and humiliated , finally forced to speak up for herself, dissing Mattingly in front of the band and Hanks. The next day, Mattingly quits, walking out of the studio. Drummer Patterson watches helplessly as the band quickly unravels, Hanks' Mr. White providing wry commentary on the fact that most groups typically collapse and re-form, reassuring Scott's Guy Patterson that he has talent and a future. Patterson pays homage to jazz pianist Del Paxton (Bill Cobbs) who catches him playing solo in the studio after the break-up and ends up sitting in with him. All the loose ends are neatly tied up as Scott finds Tyler in the hotel coffee shop about to head back to Pittsburgh. They discover their love for each other, and head off for marriage and a great lifestyle on the West Coast. Hanks' goes to the trouble of letting the audience know the fate of the characters, with the ironic twist that the Mattingly character supposedly formed a new band and recorded three gold records for Playtone.

The movie exudes positive energy, tongue-in-cheek satire and captures the moment perfectly - when rock and roll was re-invigorated by the new wave of "teen sensation" bands - the Beatles the Stones, and who could forget - The One-ders !!!

Boogie Children – Happy Birthday John Lee Hooker and Robert Cray

Besides the fact that they were both born in August – John Lee Hooker, on either August 22, 1917 or maybe 1915, 1920 or 1923, depending on what kind of mood John Lee was in when he was asked the question – and Robert Cray, born August 1, 1953 – the two guitar virtuosos actually played together, Cray’s band in its entirety backing Hooker on 1992’s “Mr. Lucky.”, not to mention Cray sitting in on selected tracks from “Boom Boom..” Both musicians have made a mark on the blues.

“I’m the first person that really got the boogie goin’” John Lee claimed, as documented in Ted Gioia’s definite book “Delta Blues” (“Hooker’s Boogie”) , but he also said he couldn’t really explain what the sound was”…It’s just there…And it just comes out.” Most musicians complained that Hooker was very hard to follow, since he admitted he never played the same song the same way twice. His “boogie” music eschewed the typical drumbeat for a pulsating, throbbing sound defined totally by Hooker’s guitar. Although Hooker was born just outside of Clarksdale, Mississippi in the heart of the Delta, it was his migration northward to Detroit in the l940s that defined his music, gave it an edge. The raw power of Hooker’s first “hit” drove it to the top of the R & B charts in 1948, even though “Boogie Children” is really just one chord repeated over and over. Although he is best known for “Boom Boom” and a plethora of other one of a kind creations, one of my personal favorites is a relatively obscure but recognizably Hooker ditty called “Drugstore Woman”, in which he lampoons “drugstore girls” for wearing “lipstick and powder” as well as “nyyy-lon stockings”, a sort of gonzo social commentary pointing out that, when it comers to romance, don’t judge the book by looking at the cover. Hooker’s life reflected his music, especially “Whiskey and Women” in which John Lee points out” I had a lot of money at one time.” He survived and prospered over bad decisions and rocky relationships by simply jamming with everyone from Canned Heat to Carlos Santana to Keith Richard to Robert Cray until John Lee Hooker died peacefully in his sleep on June 21, 2001. Hooker’s powerful “boogie” sound combined with the raw and frequently raunchy lyrics on tunes like “In the Mood,” Boom Boom”, and “Crawling Kingsnake” stands out as a significant contribution to blues and rock alike.

Robert Cray’s prowess on the guitar is equal to Hooker’s, but his style is to pluck the notes out of the strings in precise, seemingly endless riffs instead of chord progressions. I was immediately drawn to “Smoking Gun” the first time I heard it, the fluid riffs matching the rising anxiety in Cray’s voice as he describes good loving gone bad, but infidelity and conflict figure prominently in some of his best tunes like “Guess I Showed Her” and :”Chicken in the Kitchen”. Robert Cray was born on August 1, 1953 in Columbus, Georgia but his breakout didn’t come until the release of his third album “Strong Persuader” which earned Cray a Grammy and the “crossover” (Meaning a song that can appeal successfully to two different musical audiences as defined by Billboard’s charts, like Country and Western and Easy Listening, or R & B and Urban Contemporary) single “Smokin’ Gun” gave him recognition. Cray’s artistry can be heard on three of John Lee Hooker’s albums, most notably on “Mr. Lucky” in 1992, the entire Cray band backing Hooker on the title track. Robert Cray has also opened several times for his friend Eric Clapton, and was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2011.

In a manner of speaking, the “boogie children” of August represent a generational leap from the down home backwoods sound that traveled from Mississippi to Michigan with John Lee Hooker to the more sophisticated urban musings of Robert Cray. They helped to shape Twentieth Century American music.

2012 Providence Roots Sound Session Sensation- Rock/Jazz/Ska/Soul/Salsa/Etc.

I've always maintained that the true test of a musician is a live performance - no chance to hide behind a phalanx of studio musicians or layers of synthesizers and drum machines, multiple takes and overdubs and the rest of the recording industry technology designed to enhance as well as manufacture talent. At an event like the Eighth Annual Roots Sound Session, held July 12-15,2012 in Downtown Providence, musicians have to rely on their own ability in the raw with the crowd as combination critics and reviewers. Fortunately, the diverse lineup and all aspects of the event, put together by Len Cabral and Providence Inner City Arts Roots Cultural Center, did not disappoint.

The urban block party atmosphere featured separate stages outside on Westminster and Mathewson Streets as well as the Roots stage indoors, the entire area fenced off and a section set up as an impromptu food court. The event this year encompassed Kid City on Saturday , a Saturday night parade, a Sunday Gospel Buffet and continuous music. We got there around 8:00 Saturday night, in time to catch Los Planeros del Coco stirring up a frenetic Latin mix on one stage and We Own Land pumping out metal on the other, with an appreciative crowd partying in between. Sue and I found a great vantage point on the steps of a church between both bands, basking in the battle of the genres until we decided to check out the Roots stage indoors. Roots is designed for comfort, from the artfully arranged couches and chairs in the front suggesting a very laidback living room to the tables nestled in the corners, along the wall and in the mezzanine overhead fronting the stage.

Back when I was a deejay on the Martha's Vineyard radio station, I used to do a jazz show. I didn't know a lot about the music at the time but, thanks to the influence of legendary Cape Cod "Night Train" host Otis Sutton , I began to appreciate the styles and complexities and influences that make it a unique American art form which brings me to the best music we heard that night - Michael C. Lewis Soul Jazz Experience. Although his exceptional trumpet playing clearly evokes Miles Davis, I first thought of Ramsey Lewis and US 3 (If anyone remembers them!)  and Pharoah Sanders, whom Michael has played with, as well as artists from Patti LaBelle to Jimmy Heath to Wilson Pickett. Michael Lewis pays homage to the greats, but makes the music his own on endless jams like "Cloud Parade" from his debut 2010 CD "Reflection" (Available from  Lewis' Cybervision Entertainment), the perfect progression of notes floating above and mixing with the interplay of strings, keyboard and percussion, creating an image, a feeling of serenity, casting a spell on the appreciative audience. We basked in Lewis soulful sound until the end of his first set drove us back outside, just in time to catch Brass Attack running through the obligatory Chicago number, but then nicely seguing into the Jackson Five before their set ended.

As the Big Nazo puppets mingled with street musicians waiting for the ska band The Agents to play, we heard some of The Silks' music from  the Mathewson Street Stage. I caught some incredibly good blues riffs but ended up drifting back to wait for ska. having been a fan of The Mighty Bosstones and The Specials among others. The Agents took the stage after a brief debate with the soundman, launching into their first frenetic trademark number, but after three songs Sue and I decided that the lure of Michael C. Lewis was impossible to resist and headed back inside to Roots. Our timing was excellent, because Lewis and the band launched into an incredible version of "We've Only Just Begun". showcasing an endless trumpet solo that took the melody apart and then rearranged it in endless variations - slash - riffs, inventing and improvising into a grand finale that had the laidback audience hooting and clapping.

Great music, great company, great event, lots of entertainment for a low price and remember - Sound Session 2013 is now less than a year away.

The Mistics of Matunuck

Luckily for me, my friend Sue not only has very good taste in music but also knows where to find it, which lead us to the Ocean Mist in Matunuck over the Fourth of July weekend after a hot day on the beach. The combination of ice cold drafts and the laidback environment would have been more than enough to ease into a long summer twilight, but combined with the sound of the Ocean Mistics, who get together Saturday afternoons at the Mist from 3:30 to 6:30 PM, it was remarkable.

The combination of steel guitar, fiddle, and lead guitar lent itself to a unique selection of tunes from "Dead Flowers" by the Rolling Stones as well as "Not Fade Away", to "Tiger By The Tail", a Nashville standard by George Jones, to an inventive, seemingly endless version of the Doors "Riders on the Storm". At one point, I decided to stroll down the beach in front, evoking memories of oceanside Caribbean bars , endless rum punches and Red Stripes , the band's solo riffs drifting over the gentle surf, a soundtrack for the slowly setting sun.

The Mistics lineup features Gary "Guitar" Gramolini, Steve "Sonny Boy" Burke, Dean Cassell, Mike Warner and Rick Russell. Gary Gramolini is best known for playing with John Cafferty and Beaver Brown. He prefers "...anything that connects back to the golden age music of the Twentieth Century, blues, country, the folk era, 60s' my generation awakening..." and goes on to list an electic mix of artists and music as influences, all of which are evident in the Mistics repertoire.

Sometimes the best music sneaks up on you, always a pleasant surprise when you don't know what to expect. Check out the Mistics Saturday afternoons at the Ocean Mist - you won't be disappointed! 

Champion Jack and Blind Owl - Born on The Fourth of July

I'm not sure if I 'd want to be born on a holiday, especially December 25, because you want people to pay attention to you but everyone's concentrating on candy or presents or in this particular case, fireworks. Fortunately for blues fans, July 4th happens to be the birthday of barrelhouse piano "professor" Champion Jack Dupree and Boston's own"Blind Owl" Al Wilson (Other famous Independence Day infants: Meyer Lansky, Steven Foster, P. T. Barnum and Calvin Coolidge).

Champion Jack was born in Louisiana. orphaned at the age of two, self taught pianist whose music encompassed the best foot stomping boogie woogie style. He had a wicked sense of humor as evidenced by my personal favorite - "Everybody's Blues" in which Champion Jack literally dedicates the blues to people in all walks of life from transportation workers - "These blues here/they're for the railroad men/they got a family on both ends/but don't want both ends to meet/you know what I mean" - to the hardcore unemployed - "These blues here/they're for them boys who don't do nothin'/I mean nothin'/sit around all day waitin' on that relief check/cuss the postman out if he ain't got it." During his  Depression era travels as piano player / cook, Dupree met boxer Joe Louis in Detriot, who convinced him to step in the ring; Champion Jack got his nickname by fighting 107 bouts, winning the Golden Gloves. He served as a cook in World War II, captured by the Japanese and held as a prisoner of war for two years. Dupree eventually settled in Germany, still making occasional forays back to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival up until his death in 1992.

Blind Owl Al Wilson was said to be so nearsighted that he laid his guitar on top of the cake at a wedding reception, but that didn't stop his unwavering vision of the blues as the founder of Canned Heat, playing guitar, harmonica and writing most of their songs. Wilson grew up in the Boston metro area, honing his musicianship in the Cambridge coffeehouse circuit. He performed with Canned Heat at both Monterrey Pop in 1967 and Woodstock in 1969, which produced Wilson's biggest "hit" song - "Going Up Country". Blind Owl also wrote the band's other best known song "On The Road Again"; his slightly eerie falsetto can be heard on "Country" as well. Wilson sat in on sessions with Son House and John Lee Hooker, who proclaimed Al "...the greatest harmonica player ever." Despite his exceptional career, Al Wilson ended up joining the so-called "27 Club," dying of an overdose in Topanga Canyon at the age of 27. He remains a significant but cryptic figure in the annals of both 60s rock and traditional blues.

Happy birthday to the Champion and the Blind Owl, gone but no way forgotten.  

Talk Trax

It used to be that talk radio was just that - all talk at first, then gradually expanding to include mindless musical bridges between segments, with equally forgettable commercial “background”music But, these days, music is a key part of the message.

I experienced it first hand one late night trapped in my car with only AM radio for solace needing stimulation to stay alert, when the tinny speakers abruptly vibrated with a cascade of :”metal” chords, truly a rarity in the domain of talk. Rather than Metallica intoning: “Now I lay me down to sleep…”, the next voice was that of talkmeister Michael Savage - The Savage Nation, making me wonder if the intent was to imply that headbangers liked the show, or if it was just an attention getter. It turned out to be the tip of the proverbial iceberg.. After all, those music bites were relatively predictable heavy metal chords, destined to straighten the listener's spine just in time for the host's next diatribe, but the repertoire has widened considerably.

Rush Limbaugh seems to be addicted to the opening to "My City Was Gone" - since it plays ad nauseum throughout his show, making me wonder what Chrissie Hynde would think. He also likes to throw in the baby boomer anthem - Mick Jagger pointing out that "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" - which in Rush's case, probably applies to his view of the Obama administration. Tom Petty's "Learning to Fly" has cropped up repeatedly apparently in relation to ongoing political campaigns, while "Rock the Boat (Vote)" by the Hues Corporation is the prevalent theme on one prominent Boston station relative to those pesky mid terms.

The level of sophistication is getting more and more cutting edge. During a sports talk show last week, I heard the opening to Led Zep's "Travelling Riverside Blues", James Brown grunts, the extended Keith Richards riff from “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking?”, more Tom Petty riffs, as well as the opening to “It’s a Long Way…” by AC/DC, which always makes yours truly dance around the room playing air bagpipes.Not to be outdone - I've noticed - is the inclusion of rock and blues on TV programming. The History Channel is promoting IRT: Deadliest Roads with Aerosmith's "Living On The Edge", while another one of it's programs - Pawn Stars - has a soundtrack that is a steady stream of blues and rock instrumentals. I was surprised the other night to hear Howlin Wolf's "Smokestack Lightnihg" all over a car commercial - innovative, but it didn't give me the same chill down my spine as the use of Jimi Hendrix' "Voodoo Child" a couple of years back in a Nissan Xterra spot.

I predict the next musical invasion of the media will crop up during newscasts. For example, lead ins to homicide stories might use Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", arson stories with the Talking Heads' "Burning Down The House" or "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash, business news could be dramatized with "Money" by the O'Jays, and there would be numerous choices for the weather - "Rain" and "Good Day Sunshine" by the Beatles, and "Starry Starry Night" by Don Mclean.I've concluded that there's only one viable lead in to the nightly news - "Ball of Confusion" by the Temptations..

Smokin' Joe Kubek and Bnois King Live in Woonsocket:Spring Rolls and The Blues

At one point during their blistering set  Saturday night (5/5/12) at Chan's in scenic downtown Woonsocket, Bnois King mentiioned that he and Smokin Joe Kubek had been playing together for 23 years, which probably explains why the two guitarists effortlessly trade off leads, delivering a potpurri of styles sounding at times like Jimi Hendrix, Bo Diddley, BB King, Chuck Berry and/or Eric Clapton. The "Blood Brothers" (The title of their first Alligator CD) always serve up a heaping plate of down home roadhouse blues with a dash of jazz, funk and exceptional slide guitar. Although it always seems a bit incongruous to go to a blues show in a Chinese restaurant, Chan's has become an outpost for some of America's best blues and jazz musicians on the road between New York and Boston. After the years I spent sitting in the mud at various outdoor concerts or fighting for standing room at a crowded bar, the idea of comfortably sitting at a table eating, drinking and listening has a lot of appeal. Predictably, the crowd is a bit older, contentedly munching away on Chinese comfort food, but reverting to a mini-arena audience as soon as Smokin Joe and Bnois took the stage. John Chan provided his usual efficient but affectionate intro, and the band took over.

Both Kubek and King are fully capable of fronting their own bands which is evidenced by the constant interplay between the two, pumping up "My Dogs Still Walkin'" with seamless breaks, then launching into a rollicking Chuck Berry style romp for "My Heart's In Texas" (Title track from their live CD). Their trademark brand of tongue in cheek social commentary is the focus of "Payday in America" (From "Have Blues, Will Travel") but Smokin Joe managed to squeeze in some fluid slide breaks that had the audience clapping frantically, a motif that reverberated throughout the set every time one of them finished a particularly impressive riff. "Texas Cadillac" matched a stinging psychedelic lead evoking Jimi Hendrix with a sly vocal and a driving beat, followed by another heavy duty crowd pleaser, "Burnin' To The Ground".

By the time I had polished off my spring rolls and started to eviscerate the chicken wings, I noticed that the place was full. The band switched gears slightly with "I Saw It Coming," Bnois King's wistful vocal underscored by the haunting refrain, before both guitarists went into a long slow blues punctuated by Bnois' nimble runs up and down the neck , trading leads with Smokin Joe's molasses slow slide much to the audience's delight. Their version of "Two Trains Running" basically turned the song inside out, at least compared to the Paul Butterfield version I'm familiar with, segueing into a dramatic build up that had the crowd wanting more. Smokin Joe and Bnois King always deliver, and their one night stand at Chan's was no exception. 

  

Dick and Don - The Eternal Veejays

The popular music biz in 2012 sufferred a major loss with the passing of entrepreneur entertainers Dick Clark and Don Cornelius. Although their names don't exactly resonate with the rap/hiphop/alternative/whatever audience, there is no question that the recording industry would never have reached its' zenith without their help as the frontmen of music television.

Dick Clark always looked like he was having a great time, right up to his final "Rockin New Years Eve" appearances when you could tell he was struggling. I never made fun of him even then - I admired him for having the courage to be himself. That's all Dick Clark ever did , which is probably why so many American TV households felt comfortable letting him into their homes in the 50s and 60s. He was clean cut, polite, respectful and constantly promoting clean cut and respectful white and black artists, who played to clean cut and respectful black and white teenaged couples. Clark was so earnest and so acceptable, a cheerleader who glossed over the paranoia about race music and the "evils" of rock and roll to attract a wider audience and sell more records. The amazing thing was that he stayed that way throughout his long career as if dipped in Teflon around 1959, to the extent that the "world's oldest living teenager" line began to seem like a description of a pop music vampire. Bottom line: he sold the music earnestly and tirelessly through the original music video: "American Bandstand."

Don Cornelius I recall most clearly from being in the Midwestern college I attended , catching "Soul Train" on the common room TV in my freshman dorm. His big voice and bigger hair set the stage for true Motown royalty, the early days of Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Mary Wells, Junior Walker, even Aretha Franklin. The music was hipper and funkier than "Bandstand", but the packaging was eerily similar - decent cleancut kids dancing to decent clean cut artists - designed to be culturally accessible to the average American living room. Unfortunately, my image of Don Cornelius is more or less frozen in that time and place, which may very well be a good thing based on some of the stories I read after his death. It was through his channeling soul music into the mainstream that I developed a lifelong appreciation for it.

Dick Clark and Don Cornelius played their maestro emcee roles extremely well, effortlessly promoting a new generation of black and white performers to an awakening and growing audience that embraced civil rights, no longer threatened by the spectre of "race" music. They were the original "promo" guys - they may not have witnessed the birth of rock and roll but they certainly helped guide it through its formative years.       

Will The Real Robert Johnson Please Stand Up?

In a manner of speaking, Robert Johnson was the Ozzy Osborne of Delta Blues singers, claiming to be in league with the Devil. Musicologists and blues historians like Ted Gioia ( Read his excellent book “Delta Blues: The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized American Music”) all agree on that aspect of Johnson’s brief existence but not too much else.

The facts of his life are sparse: born in Hazleton, Mississippi in May, 1911; married twice, cultivating women in every town Johnson played in, finally poisoned to death - supposedly - by drinking a bottle of whiskey laced with strychnine given to him by a revenge-minded club owner at the age of 27 near Greenwood, Mississippi. Gioia’s Delta Blues devotes a whole chapter to Johnson, documenting the stories passed down about his agonizing death, howling with pain as he slowly died from the strychnine on the floor of a fleabag rooming house. Nobody really knows where he was buried - there are three different markers for Johnson.

The myth of Robert Johnson revolves around a story that he cultivated, at least according to his fellow musician Johnny Shines. Johnson went to a crossroads at midnight to meet up with the devil, and handed his guitar over to Satan. The devil tuned it so Robert could play anything he wanted and then handed it back to Johnson in exchange for his soul. It is known that he started playing the guitar at the tender age of three and was also proficient on the harmonica.

Whether he took music lessons from Beezlebub or not,there is no question in my mind that Robert Johnson coaxed sounds out of his Gibson guitar that still resonate strongly from the grainy recordings he made in 1936 and 1937 at two different sessions in a Texas hotel. His biggest "hit" - Terraplane Blues" - sold about 5,000 copies. His ability to play rthymn and melody at the same time, coupled with sliding up and down the neck, create a unique, spellbinding sound, combining with Johnson's mournful wail to define Delta blues, at least for a generation of 60s and 70s musicians. His lyrics - as in "Stones in My Passway" - "Where did you stay last night? / Your hair's all messed up and you ain't talkin' right" - or "Come On In My Kitchen" - "The woman I love took her from my best friend/Some joker got lucky, stole her back again" - are just a few of the verses that have been incorporated into countless blues tunes.

Some blues purists contend that Robert Johnson would have faded into obscurity were it not for English musicians like Eric Clapton and Keith Richards discovering his 78s. Whoever – or whatever – he was, Robert Johnson’s unique musical style always casts a spell on you – just listen to “Hellhound On My Trail” or “Me and The Devil” and you’ll see what I mean.

Bruce Burnside's For All The World To See

The first thing that struck me when I listened to Bruce Burnside's latest offering, For All The World To See (Copyright 2012, Tortoise Humor Music) is his ability to draw on diverse musical sources that are woven into his songs, a hint of the blues,  a touch of country, respect for history and a commitment to respecting musical traditions. The lonely whine of  slide guitar , the distinctive echo of the dobro, and the plaintive sound of the lap steel  are just three of the  instruments showcased on this collection of 15 songs recorded from 2008-2011. His attention to detail is obvious in his fluid musicianship as well as his melodic voice and sensitive lyrics. Bruce plays mandola, mandolin, mando-cello,banjo, piccolo banjo and - of course - guitar on the different cuts.  I should admit that I have a biased opinion about his picking; I can still remember how well Bruce played "Mole's Moan" when we were 17.

He has managed to build his music with integrity and creative control, as well as working with a core of talented musicians, choosing not to compromise his creative vision by founding his own label - Tortoise Humor Recordings. As Bruce puts it in the CD notes: "With no enforced deadlines, timeliness, market statistics or progress reports, THR encourages persistence and patience. It's a company that believes the long, slow road to anywhere is more enlightening than the express lane to downtown." By way of illustration, just think about how many musicians crash and burn in the express lane done in by their quest to make it big 'downtown'. 

Bruce has frequently documented history through his music incorporating authentic instruments and lyrics, which is the case in "The Year of 1849" - an ironic tale of gold rush fever - and "Pullin' This Flatboat" , a paean to the "boatmen" who once provided the only transportation across America's rivers. 'Road Trip" pays homage to the legend of Robert Johnson, the lyrics suggesting the mythical confrontation between the cryptic Delta bluesman and the Devil that Johnson claimed took place at the "crossroads," although the song really refers to ethics, with the chorus pointing out that:"...At the crossroads, we should follow what we know is right. What we know is right." The instrumental "Tears of the Pueblo" is a sad tribute to the past, inspired by an experience in Santa Fe, and "Heard the Call" references the Old Testament stories of Elijah, Jonah and Moses .

Bruce describes the title tune - "For All The World To See" - as "..a declaration of love from time ever lasting," the instruments and vocals combining in a plaintive but positive affirmation that"...A love can light the darkest night..." His unique sense of humor comes through on "My Own Way" and "Bring Down The Lights." Bruce's latest musical offering is sprinkled with instrumentals that show off the talented players he works with - "Up This Mountain", "Troll Under The Bridge," "Underwater," and "The Wishing Well."

"For All the World To See" is a testament to Bruce Burnside's considerable ability and talent, available 24/7 at http://www.bruceburnside.com/. Bruce iinformally dedicates the collection to his grandsons Pryor and Silas, pointing out that: "...It is my prayer that over the next thirty or so years these songs will answer some of their questions and germinate others."   



  

Soul Survivors

As a rule, I'm not fond of February. It's short, cold and generally nasty, even though the month covers Valentine's Day, President's Day and public school vacations across the country. Consequently, I wasn't surprised to read that Whitney Houston died suddenly and unexpectedly, or that Don Cornelius committed suicide - the news just seems to fit in with all the other negative aspects of the month.

I first watched "Soul Train" when I was going to college in Ohio. I got into radio during my freshman year when a friend challenged me to do a show, and ended up doing afternoon drive on WOBC, the Oberlin College station. Not only did I play mostly black music - Curtis Mayfield, Aretha Franklin, The Temptations and The Four Tops, just to name a few - but my deejay patter was nuanced, loaded with the disposable "lines" I had listened to as a kid, coming out of the New York stations - "The rest of the best", "the tops of the pops," "the wax you can't afford to miss!" -for example - or - "Guaranteed to put more soul in your stroll - glide in your stride - and dip in your hip!" When I saw a young Aretha , Wilson Pickett or Motown act wallowing in soul on the show, it just enhanced my belief that it was the funkiest sound to be found even if I was committing cultural fraud by trying to imitate a black person on the radio. Don Cornelius basically took American Bandstand and created a soul version, complete with himself as the Dick Clark persona, the teen aged dancers for eye candy and the performers, opening up "soul" music to the white audience by using a format they already felt comfortable with. Imitation - whether it be my first attempt at radio or the parallels between "Train"and "Bandstand" - is still the sincerest form of flattery.

Whitney Houston deserved to live a lot longer. It's unfortunate that her audience is left with conflicting images - the Whitney who turns the national anthem into a signature once in a lifetime, never to  be equaled showstopper, and the Whitney who cringes as Bobby Brown curses her via cell phone on their "reality" show. Their tumultuous relationship played itself out to the final act with Bobby leaving the funeral service because he didn't want to make a scene. Although redundant, it needs to be repeated - judge the artist by his/her music, by their contribution to the arts, not their personal life. As far as I know, when we consider Picasso or Van Gogh or Hemingway, we don't dwell on how much they drank or whether they screwed up their relationships, so why is it that Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston are measured differently ? My final impression of the funeral was the legendary Clive Davis actually speaking - which he rarely does - about Whitney's divine talent. Coming from the man who discovered and nurtured artists like Santana, Janis Joplin and Earth,Wind & Fire, it was the best eulogy the music industry could muster.

 

Professor Harp's Master Class: Narragansett Cafe, Sunday, 1/29/12

I knew I would like Professor Harp's music the minute my friend Sue and I walked into the Narragansett Cafe in Jamestown  last Sunday afternoon, mainly because he was right in the middle of "Don't Mess With Cupid ", probably my all time favorite Oris Redding tune. The Professor's mix of Wilson Pickett, Motown, and downhome Delta blues paying homage to legendary players like Roy Milton to contemporary greats like Robert Cray is definitely my kind of music, turning a laidback Sunday afternoon into a toe-tapping, finger-snapping good time.

Professor Harp is a one man band in his own right, using a chromatic with a pickup , a unique sound that at times suggested a Hammond organ ,punctuated by runs on a regular blues harp played Chicago style as he alternated between the two. The band was lean and mean, trading riffs with the Professor, effortlessly grinding out long and danceable jams much to the delight of the crowd. His rendition of "Shakey Ground" got us on our feet , coupled with standards like "Midnight Mover" by Wilson Pickett and another tune that sounded suspiciously like "Funky Broadway", not to mention paying tribute to an earlier musical era with tunes like "Flip,Flop and Fly," and vintage rock and roll to boot.

Professor Harp goes by the official moniker as the undaunted Professor Harp, but his real name is Hugh Holmes , originally from Boston. According to his bio, the Professor played drums as an "undergraduate" until he heard a performance by George "Harmonica" Smith and decided to trade the skins for blues harp. The Professor describes his distinctive downhome mix as "roots" music- "It's whatever makes me feel good and moves me, so to speak." He's played with Luther "Guitar" Johnson and Solomon Burke. but his best known mentor was Muddy Waters. Professor Harp was introduced to Muddy at the legendary Paul's Mall by a mutual friend who suggested Muddy should allow the Professor to sit in on a few tunes. Although the blues great was at first unresponsive, Muddy stopped halfway through his next set and brought Professor Harp onstage. Waters called Holmes "Hugh The Professor of Harp" , while Solomon Burke labelled him Professor Harmonica Holmes, both of which led to the Professor eventually adapting his official title.

Check out his newest CD "The Undaunted Professor Harp: They Call Me The Professor" which  you can order online at http://www.professorharp.com/  or - better yet - go see the Professor live for a seminar - majoring in the blues but minoring in rock, funk, swing and rthymn and blues.

Remembering Etta

Unfortunately, I wasn't surprised when Etta James passed away , after reading about her health problems over the past few months. I'm left with disparate images of the woman and the artist.

My understanding of Etta James the woman is largely shaped by Beyonce's portrayal in "Cadillac Records", the most compelling image being when Adrian Brody's Leonard Chess finds her lying naked on the floor of her totally empty house, enlisting Jeffrey Wright's Muddy Waters to revive James before her heroin addiction claims her life. The movie character is bitter, tough, contemptuous and suspicious of Chess's romantic overtures. James' origins are alluded to in another powerful scene, an ill-fated lunch in a posh restaurant with legendary pool hustler Minnesota Fats, whom Etta thinks is her father. Her attempt at finding her roots ends with James bellowing at the waiter for another drink, determined to go on a bender after Fats categorically denies parenthood, the same bout with booze and drugs that ends up with her eating the carpet. The most poignant scene intercuts between Etta singing "I'd Rather Go Blind" in the studio as Leonard Chess drives away from 2120 South Michigan Avenue, having just revealed that he has sold the label, but he never makes it to the end of the street, dying from a heart attack in his signature Cadillac.

Etta James' music helped define rthymn and blues, a body of work that ranges from recognized classics like "Trust in Me", "All I Could Do Was Cry", and "Tell Mama" to her straightforward embrace of classic down home blues. My personal favorite is "That's Alright" from her 2004 compilation "Blues to the Bone" on RCA. Her voice reflects the right note of tired resignation combined with sarcasm, the rejected lover accepting the fact yet slyly questioning who her replacement might be. James' voice is  permanently enshrined for the audience in "At Last", the rich, smooth tones soaring in front of lush orchestration, each perfect note dripping with emotion, Etta's timeless tribute to love. She was at home in a wide variety of styles, but on "Bone", James reinvents classics like Howlin Wolf's "Smokestack Lightining", "Got My Mojo Workin" from Muddy Waters, and a particularly ominous version of John Lee Hooker's "Crawlin Kingsnake."

Etta James is gone, but will never be forgotten, and will be remembered for her art, not her life. Her voice, the way it cut through the medium as if Etta James was right there in the room with you, is her legacy.  

Deja Blues -Sugar Ray and the Bluetones Sweeten Things Up At Chans, 1/14/12

I really did think Little Walter had come back to life for a few moments last Saturday night when Sugar Ray Norcia sang "It's a mean old world - when you're livin' by yourself" to a dedicated, standing room only audience at Chan's in Woonsocket. Little Walter's career was popularized to a wider audience in the movie "Cadillac Records" - playing on a Chicago streetcorner, discovered by Muddy Waters, hits the top of the charts with Chess Records, finally dies in Geneva Waters' arms from a beating received over a gambling debt. Sugar Ray Norcia and the Bluetones paid homage to Little Walter with "Mean Old World" among others, but the show wasn't just about craftsmanship.

Norcia was born in Stonington, Connecticut and started playing blues harp in high school. He officially formed the Bluetones after moving to Providence, and the band started paying its dues in the 1970s, doing regular gigs as well as backing up Big Walter Horton, Roosevelt Sykes, Big Mama Thornton and Big Joe Turner. Sugar Ray joined Roomful of Blues as lead singer in 1991, touring and appearing on three albums, Norcia leaving the band in 1998. He has played with the blues best-known harpists - James Cotton, Billy Branch and Charlie Musselwhite on 1999's "Superharps", and is getting ready to hit the road as part of Billy Hummel's Harmonica Blowout with John Mayall, Billy Boy Arnold and Charlie Musselwhite again. The Bluetones have changed lead guitarists repeatedly, but "Monster" Mike Welch has been part of the lineup for about 10 years, along with the rthymn section of Neil Gouvin and Mudcat Ward and pianist Anthony Geraci.

Norcia and Welch traded riffs throughout the show at Chan's, the "Monster" taking over for a couple of tunes, his vocals sounding a lot like Howlin'Wolf, his playing -  like Sugar Ray's harp - straight out of Chicago, the notes fluid and melodic, but still tough and penetrating just the same. Both musicians have a symbiotic relationship as if they can anticipate each other's musical moves, a tight but seamless classic low down groove that had the audience clapping until their hands hurt. Listening to the sound of Sugar Ray's blues harp evokes the legendary players - Butterfield, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter - as well as his own originals, like "Too Many Rules and Regulations."

The band released "Evening" in 2011, which has resulted in four nominations for the Blues Music Awards coming up in Memphis this May, including best album. The music has the feel of a live show, most songs done in one take according to Sugar Ray, reminiscent of the Chess record sound that spawned Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf and Chuck Berry among many others.

Sugar Ray and The Bluetones not only keep on touring, but Norcia also plays regular gigs in Europe as well as the upcoming Harmomonica Blowout tour.  To buy the CD, read more about Sugar Ray and find out where and when the band is playing, check out http://www.sugarrayandthebluetones.com/.

  

Music, Money and Luck: The Casino Soundtrack

The first time I made the connection between gambling and music was lying by the pool at the Luxor in Las Vegas, amazed to hear Bob Marley wafting from the vast array of hidden speakers, plus ZZ Top, REO Speedwagon, Journey and the rest of the rock and roll anthems that strike a nostalgic chord with the baby boomers. I'm not a successful gambler, but I do know a bit about marketing. With "Sin City" intent on becoming a "family" destination, it made perfect sense to make Mom and Dad feel comfortable by spinning their favorite oldies so they would keep feeding the one armed bandits.

Music is an important part of the casino environment, an extra added attraction to placate the losers, along with free drinks and cheap food. Both gaming resorts in Connecticut not only have live "cover" bands churning out the tunes nonstop, but also provide a canny mix of over the hill rockers to the extent that, when I see the listings, my first reaction is to assume the band members have squandered their fortunes to the point where they'll take any gig they can get. The casinos on the Strip are no exception, the most notable in my memory being a kick ass funk fusion group set on a stage in the middle of "Central Park", the huge main floor of New York, New York, with the slots tucked away between artificial trees and fake shrubbery. I still have a gray plastic microphone that I got from the Motown Cafe, a short walk through the "park" , further enhancing what the gaming gurus like to call the "casino experience" with a perpetual tribute to the power of soul. The other ironic aspect of this cultural shift is that while Vegas grew up on the slick sophistication of the Rat Pack, Dino & Frank & Sammy &  Joey have been shoved aside by boomer favorites like Michael MacDonald, ZZ Top themselves and the other aging rockers still able to hit the road.

I experienced the linkage between gaming and music this past New Year's Eve at Rhode Island's own Twin Rivers. The massive open building was mobbed with revelers wearing ersatz top hats. Between the seemingly endless rows of nickel, penny and quarter slots and the central bar, management had planted a "cover" band, perhaps designed to keep the adrenalin up, belting out (What else?) "Don't stop BEE-LEEV- IN!" and the other Glory Days rock anthems while the patrons eagerly fed the machines.

Maybe it's time for a dose of reality in the casino mix. I think most people would appreciate Snoop Dogg's musical advice - "Got my mind on my money and my money on my mind- " before they bet the family farm. As P. Diddy points out -"It's all about the Benjamins baby!"     

Sliding Into January

Despite the fact that Elvis Presley (January 8, 1935) and the man who first recorded him at Sun Records Sam Phillips (January 5,1923) were both born in January, two acknowledged "masters" of the blues slide guitar also arrived during the same month - Mississippi Fred McDowell (January 12, 1904) and Elmore James (January 27, 1918). Ever since I saw Tom Rush press down on his guitar strings with a regular kitchen knife during a performance at the Mooncusser in Oak Bluffs, I've been a fan of the note-stretching style that has a down home feel to it, the molasses thick lazy chords seeming to hang in your ears the way the last note of the Beatles' "A Day in the Life" just seems to reverberate forever.

Elmore James is better known than Mississippi Fred, primarily for his "hit" song," Dust My Broom", first recorded in 1951. I had assumed it was his tune until I heard the Robert Johnson version, but the distinctive riff that propels the song became James' signature. Some of his other classics include "Baby Whar's Wrong?", "Strange Kinda Feeling" and "Can't Stop Lovin'" as well as Elmore's take on Hawaiian slide in "Hawaiian Boogie" but his place in musical history is cemented in place by the opening chords of "Broom".

I've only ever seen one Mississippi Fred McDowell CD , a live performance at the Gaslight in New York on November 5, 1971 called "Shake 'Em On Down" ( Tomato Records). His slide is powerful and strident, a throbbing, pulsating sound that gets under your skin. Before playing "Shake", I had only heard Bonnie Raitt doing a McDowell tune, and a brief live segment of McDowell at the Newport Folk Festival, discovering that Mississippi Fred wasn't able to quit farming in the Delta and devote himself full time to music until he was over 60. The Gaslight appearance is a relaxed, funky, spine-tingling mix of McDowell's commentary and his bottleneck slide on "John Henry", "Shake 'Em On Down" , "Baby Please Don't Go" and "You Got To Move", which was also "covered" by Mick Jagger. This was one of his last performances, allowing Mississippi Fred McDowell to give the audience a little insight into his craft""...I hope you're all enjoying my type of playin'...And that's the blues...Blues is a feelin', you understand. And I really feel what I'm playin'."

Of course more people know about Elvis Presley than have ever heard of Elmore James or Mississippi Fred McDowell, but their contribution is obvious every time you hear that distinctive melodic whine.