Blues legend B.B. King passed away earlier this week. I had the privilege of seeing him in concert three different times. Once was about 30 years ago at a club in Cincinnati. Another time was 20+ years ago at a theater in L.A. with two other blues forefathers, Albert King and Bobby “Blue” Bland. And I saw B.B. for the last time just a summer ago, when he opened for Peter Frampton. I must admit that when I saw him last summer, it saddened me a bit, because B.B. was nothing at all like the musician I saw at that club in Cincinnati. He was merely a shell of his old self, a former great just playing out the string, like Willie Mays for the New York Mets in ’72. As Willie himself said, “”growing old is just a helpless hurt.”
But then I remembered that B.B. was 88 years old last summer. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are the elder statesmen of rock and roll, but they’re 18 years younger than B.B. I don’t think Mick will still be strutting the stage like a proud peacock in 2033. Rather than be saddened by B.B. diminished skills, I should’ve been thrilled that he was still doing what he loved. R.I.P. B.B.
NPR had a nice story this week about how flexi-discs are making a comeback of sorts. To the uninitiated (i.e. pretty much anyone under the age of 40), flexi-discs were the cheapest, flimsiest 45rpm singles you could ever find. (Don’t know what a 45rpm single is? Get off my lawn!) Back in the 60s and 70s, they were usually freebies with the purchase of a magazine or a box of cereal or detergent. You often had to cut them out because they were printed right onto the product package.
To me, flexi-discs have never fallen out of favor, ever since I got one on the back of a box of Super Sugar Crisp cereal back in the 70s.
That’s right, I said Super Sugar Crisp… not the watered down name they changed it to when sugar became Public Enemy #1 to health experts. I have to admit it was a genius marketing move. Sugar was a no-no, so they changed the cereal’s name to Super Golden Crisp… and kept all the sugar in it. Brilliant!
I got the “Sugar Bears” flexi-disc; better taste in cereals might’ve resulted in better taste in music. The Monkees were on a cereal box flexi.
The Jackson 5 was on one!
Then again, so was my older sister’s teen idol crush, Bobby Sherman.
So maybe I was better off with Sugar Bear and his band after all.
Every week, LinkedIn sends me an email with “jobs you may be interested in.” Check out the sweet gig that was at the top of my list this week – a wedding DJ/MC in Davenport, Iowa.
Now granted, I did work at radio stations as a DJ for several years, but radio DJ and wedding DJ are miles apart. Radio DJs are totally cool, and wedding DJs are totally cheesy. Suggesting I might be interested in a wedding DJ gig is like suggesting that Michelangelo might be interested in a job as a house painter. (I’m really not that vain, just engaging in a bit of hyperbole.)
But maybe I should apply. I’ll send them an audition tape with me saying “OK, Quad Cities, please welcome for the very first time, Mr. and Mrs. Radar O’Reilly” and “Who’s ready to do the Cha-Cha Slide?” I have no idea how much it pays but I’m pretty sure I’d be eating cake every weekend.
Guess I should’ve stayed in radio, then I could’ve turned out like these super suave disc jockeys from WIXY-1260:
Pretty sure that’s Rob “Meathead” Reiner holding the basketball.
Tonight I was supposed to go see Jesse Malin in concert. He’s one of my faves and I love his new albumNew York Before The War. I even sent out a mass email a few weeks ago urging my friends to go see him. But he cancelled the show about a week and a half ago. (So much for my skills as a concert promoter. I’m no Don Kirshner.) He played Chicago last night, and he’s playing Pittsburgh tomorrow night, so it’s not like Cincinnati would’ve been out of the way. Looks like he booked an in-studio performance at a Pittsburgh radio station for tomorrow afternoon instead of coming here tonight. Can’t say as I blame him, as he usually doesn’t draw well here. Still, I’m crushed. Maybe next tour. Until then…
I saw a fantastic concert last night by Chuck Prophet and his band, the Mission Express. I’ve enjoyed his albums for quite some time, but this was my first time seeing him live and he crushed it out of the park. He looked a bit like Andy Kaufman, tall and skinny and resplendent in a suit that was some sort of pinkish-red. (I’m sure Sherwin-Williams has a name for the color, but I don’t.)
Chuck and his killer band (which includes his wife Stephanie Finch on keyboards, James DePrato on lead guitar, Kevin T. White on bass and Vicente Rodriguez on drums) rocked the Southgate House Revival (which is an old church) with a religious fervor. They played several tunes from his stellar new album, Night Stalker. Here’s a recent live in-studio performance they did at KEXP in Seattle, featuring 3 songs from the new release, as well as a tune he co-wrote with Alejandro Escovedo.
Chuck is a true road warrior – just a man and his band in a van. He even sings an ode to their mode of transportation on the new album with his song “Ford Econoline.” It would be easy to become jaded playing night after night in small clubs, but Chuck appeared to be enjoying himself immensely, even coming into the crowd to play guitar during his song “Willie Mays Is Up at Bat.” If Chuck Prophet & The Mission Express come to your town… and trust me, they will… please go check them out. You’ll love them. And “Love Is The Only Thing.”
I didn’t even know MySpace still existed, but apparently it does, and you can check out more Chuck there.
If you think National Public Radio is just a bunch of news anchors who speak in very calm, measured tones and talk shows about books or cooking, guess again.
NPR actually rocks. Their entire music section is fantastic. One of my favorite features is “First Listen” where you can preview albums in their entirety prior to their release date. Right now they’re streaming new releases from Dwight Yoakam, Calexico, The Mountain Goats, Waxahatchee, Wire, Jessie Baylin and Toro Y Moi. Take that, Pitchfork!
Kevin Sullivan on Warren piece: “Praise Warren. He also said, “You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long…” Jan 15, 08:48
Damian on Eternally Grateful… still: “Thanks for reading, and thanks for sharing that song, Chuck! You’re absolutely right that the Deadhead community is amazing.” Jan 15, 08:17
Chuck Wiggins on Eternally Grateful… still: “I’m ambivalent at best about the Grateful Dead’s music, but there’s no discounting the incredible community built around it. And…” Jan 14, 09:05
Kevin Sullivan on Spoken and Unspoken: “You lived the brotherhood Damian, and that is a full plate. Peace to you and peace to John.” Nov 18, 16:54
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