Mr. B.B. King look-alike, you’re not allowed on stage
I love music in general, but these days I’m going through a blues revival phase. I go through one of these every couple of months, during which I catch up on what’s went on while I was away, get some old stuff, read some blues history, and then move on to something else. This time, though, it’s gone on for longer than expected. I like to say I’m going through an extended rediscovery phase, but I know the real answer:
I’m growing older.
I’m not old enough to say that I saw blues legends when they were starting out. Hell, living as I was, in Bumfuck, South America, I barely had any access to them until the internet came along. I listened to the “classics”, or as classic as Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton get, mostly for historical purposes than for any real enjoyment of the actual music. Lately, I’ve been getting into the real classics, like Albert King, B.B. King, Robert Johnson, Buddy Guy, and I love it. A good (or decent, most likely) primer of the blues, even if way too short, is Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival. It’s obviously very guitar-centric, but you can catch the old and the new blues players, among with a couple of borderline acts, like Robert Randolph (more R&B oriented), John Mayer (very poppy blues), Vince Gill (chicken-picking country) and Dan Tyminski (of “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” fame). What I found most amusing was that most of these blues legends came on-stage wearing their back-stage pass. I mean, if a roadie can’t recognize B.B. King while working on Eric Clapton’s Guitar Festival, they should be summarily fired, do not pass Go, do not collect $200.
“I’m sorry Mr. B.B. King look-alike who’s carrying an exact replica of Mr. King’s 1967 semi-hollow Gibson guitar, you can’t come on-stage even though you are accompanied by Eric Clapton, Jimmie Vaughan and Robert Cray.”
nashira wrote:
You’re getting old, all right. ;)
Posted 31 Mar 2005 at 9:08 pm ¶
damn!! wrote:
¡What’s this! “Dear diary…”
Absolutely lovely.
I’m glad I live long enough to see this
Posted 07 Apr 2005 at 1:06 am ¶
Mozalbete wrote:
Eh… Uno?
Taco con mucho picanto por please.
Now I get the fact that all the books in your collection are in english.. even “Don Goyo” and “Huasipungo”.
Who’s counting anyway..
and yup.. much to my delight.. you are one old SOB
Posted 07 Apr 2005 at 2:59 am ¶
el manaba wrote:
I am not much into music but am glad to read ur blog, greetings from Bumfuck ;)
PS. Not mention getting older anymore, pls ;)
Posted 07 Apr 2005 at 5:17 am ¶
chronic procrastinator wrote:
Catching up with stuff released by the time you wasn’t even born huh?
Speaking of oldies I like Del Shannon’s songs, definitely rockier than B.B. King, anyway rock came from blues doesn’t it?
Posted 07 Apr 2005 at 3:28 pm ¶
alvarete wrote:
I might be the only spanish-born person that read “100 Años de Soledad” in english.
Yes, I did the mandatory “Read that shit in its original language” years later, mostly so I would not be strung by the balls by some friends *cough*bite me*cough*
So yeah, english for the win!!!!1oneshiftone
Posted 07 Apr 2005 at 4:39 pm ¶
Blind Willie wrote:
Signs you’re getting old:
A) Your top ten list of blues guitar players of all
time doesn’t include Stevie Ray Vaughn or Eric
Clapton.
B) You acknowledge the fact that Miles Davis created
the world in seven days.
C) You go berserk whenever a young punk tells you
that Dave Matthews reinvented music.
Posted 08 Apr 2005 at 2:53 am ¶
alvarete wrote:
I have a special thing for Stevie Ray Vaughan. As in, all his records and concerts, a bunch of bootlegs, even his rehearsals with David Bowie. I’m a fanboi. I love his playing style. Such a tragic ending. Excuse me while I wipe a tear…
Posted 08 Apr 2005 at 8:30 am ¶
Blind Willie wrote:
Tragic indeed. Makes me think of Magic Sam, who pass away at 32 (or was it 34?) leaving behind only two brilliant session albums, and some live recordings (which I’ve never heard). I don’t care much about critics, but for my money West Side Soul is one of the top three blues albums I’ve ever heard (compilations aside).
Posted 08 Apr 2005 at 5:23 pm ¶
dorothy hale wrote:
I read 100 años de Soledad in english too. Now there’s two of us.
This weekend I bought a double Billie Holiday CD for $9,99 (i’m so happy this music is not popular in this country)…all i can say is thay when they talk about “music to make love to” this is what they mean..;)
Posted 13 Apr 2005 at 9:13 pm ¶
Chase Ransom wrote:
Since I am probably the older of the repliers I have to put my two cents in on the whole “its a sign that you are getting old”.
For starters, I have also gone through “re-discovery” phases in recent years. One of the most extensive and memorable has been my re-living of the magic and sheer jaw-dropping amazingnessnessfivity (inside joke) of Led Zeppelin. Although I had them as part of my musical back ground growing up, I havent been able to pull myself away from it for a while. Stuff like “Ramble On” and “No Quarter” just blow my mind.
I dont think the re-discovery or recent discovery of older/better music is a sign of age, I think its a sign of musical maturity; which I think if you were never a musician, it doesnt have the same profound effect.
The other day I spent an hour listening to Roadhouse Blues by The Doors over and over again. Mind you, this is a song I have heard my while life, possibly (let me take a wild guess) a half million times. Regardless, I found myself re-enamoured with the song (keep in mind I dont even care for The Doors all that much). The fabulous simplicity of the song: the riffs, the harmonica just at the right times, the simply fabulous yet not ostentatious piano playing, etc. I love it.
Anyway, my position is that it isnt about getting old, becuase whay you talk about in the recent discovery of blues, is for example what I felt when I was a teenager when I would pick up a new band like (say) Tesla. Its the same feeling of discovery. You pick at it. You play some of it. You disect it a million times with headphones on to catch every last buried sound. Even the squeak the guitar strings make when the musician changes the position of his fingers.
But I digress. If you love Clapton take a peek at the music collection of Cream. I would recommend The Yardbirds (for Clapton) but it would be a task to figure out which period had Clapton and not Jeff Beck or Jimmy Page. Not that these are all that “Bluesy”, especially if your preference is the stylings of Stevie Ray.
Anyway. F it.
Posted 22 Apr 2005 at 2:04 am ¶