Many of the posts you read on this blog have me venturing out to the country and engaging on a hike with my dog Lucille. Well, the past weekend Lucille stayed home and I took the family dirt biking instead. It was certainly a different experience for us.
Unfortunately, I guess I’m not as familiar with the word clutch as I thought and lost control of the bike. One thing for sure, I realized dirt biking was not my scene. Later that night, battered and bruised my wife gave the following Twitter update:
DIRT BIKE ACCIDENT: @TheBluesBlogger sustains injury. He is fine… However, the shed will never be the same. More to follow. ~TBBW
Not wanting to concern anyone, I sent the following tweets the next day:
Yesterday my doctor gave me some good advice when she said, “You should really stick to hiking.”
“I feel very fortunate… Thankfully, the barbecue & lawn mower cushioned my blow on the way into the steel shed.”
As a result of my accident, there won’t be an @TheBluesBlogger post this weekend. However, I will be doing some random blips shortly.
It’s unusual for me not to bring you a post each and every weekend. I felt bad and was a little bummed Sunday night. So I went on Twitter and came up with ten music blips that randomly came to mind at the time… So, while my writing skills are a little off at the moment, I thought for those that are either not on Twitter, didn’t see my sidebar updates, or just missed it, I’ve decided to publish this post… I’ve also added two additional videos to further enhance the piece.
You can click on each highlighted blip to hear that individual song… Enjoy.
Blip 1 of 10: Let’s get this BlipFest started with The Allman Brothers Band “Whipping Post.” ♫
Blip 2 of 10: If you’re feeling funky… Billy Preston – “It´s Alright Ma (I´m Only Bleeding)” ♫
Blip 3 of 10: Pretty hard to feel down when you’re listening to Electric Flag “Killing Floor.” ♫
Blip 4 of 10: Some medicine for the soul. Gary Moore “Hard Times.” ♫
Blip 5 of 10: With music like this, I’ll be up & running laps in no time. Joe Bonamassa “Blues Deluxe.” ♫
Blip 6 of 10: Recovering from this weekend’s dirt bike accident. So you’re “Damn Right I’ve Got the Blues.” ♫
Blip 7 of 10: Now that the meds have kicked in, here’s a wild choice… Jimi Hendrix “If 6 Was 9.” ♫
Blip 8 of 10: Susan Tedeschi is a fantastic artist. Her song “Learning the Hard Way” comes to mind. ♫
Blip 9 of 10: One more to go. Hope u liked the selections… Here’s Junior playing “Hoodoo Man Blues.” ♫
Blip 10 of 10: That’s it for me. Nite everyone. Here’s Luther taking it back to “Sweet Home Chicago.” ♫
Thanks to all who sent their messages my way. I truly appreciate your concern in regards to this most ridiculous scenario…. I’m sore, but will be up and around very soon.
Fall 2007 while recovering from my heart attack, I began a period of soul searching. At the time, almost 20 years had passed since I tried my hand at writing… The following article was my attempt to get back into the writing mode. The piece was originally published on blogcritics.org on Nov. 13th, 2007… Google Analytics shows that a majority of TheBluesBlogger readers have never seen this before… And since it’s getting close to Memphis’ famous Beale Street Music Festival the first week in May, I thought it might be good timing to re-publish the article for those who may have missed it…
~ tbb
November 2007
I want to dedicate this post to my wife. She’s managed to stay positive as I hound her with all the trivial ramblings I’ve worked on for this blog… I got the inspiration to write a brief post about Beale Street in Memphis Tennessee while listening to my wife playing some tunes from her all time favorite artist Joni Mitchell.
What does Joni Mitchell have to do with the blues or Beale Street you may ask? Not as much as she has with jazz or folk music, but there are some influences in a few of her songs. One tune in particular is Furry Sings the Blues, written for her meeting back in the seventies with old time Memphis blues player Furry Lewis and her experiences of Beale Street and its music scene at the time.
Briefly for the folks not familiar with the history of the famous Beale Street: It’s a street that runs almost two miles in downtown Memphis from the Mississippi River to East Street. And is a significant location in African-American history and the history of the blues.
In 1909 a talented and gifted musician by the name of W.C. Handy and his band moved to Memphis and established themselves on Beale Street. This move would change the course of music history. Handy wrote many popular tunes including a campaign song for then Mayor Candidate E. H. Crump. The song Mr. Crump would later be entitled Memphis Blues and the song became huge. History has penned W.C. Handy “The Father of the Blues.”
Beale Street is not some ordinary street in the United States. It’s one of the most important streets in the history of blues music!
If Beale Street could talk, if Beale Street could talk,
Married men would have to take their beds and walk,
Except one or two who never drink booze,
And the blind man on the corner singing “Beale Street Blues!”
~WC Handy
Handy wrote the above lyrics from the classic song Beale Street Blues in 1916. For decades afterwards many famous blues and jazz players made their name on Beale Street. And helped develop the style that would become known as The Memphis Blues.
OK… Back to Furry Lewis and Joni Mitchell.
When the request was made Furry agreed to meet with Mitchell. She had a keen interest in his past. After all, he was one of the original slide guitar players in W.C. Handy’s band and played on Beale Street at that time. He not only had a first hand knowledge of the history of the blues, Furry was part of it! He greeted her with the same kind of down home kindness that he would treat any visitor. They discussed the old times and Joni observed his current surroundings and the vibe of the neighborhood at the time. I’m sure she left with an incredible insight and richer for the experience. Furry would not feel the same way. He point blank told her that he didn’t like her.
When Mitchell released her Hejira album in 1976 with the song Furry Sings the Blues, he hated the song and that woman, as he would put it that sang it. From what I understand, the song was inspired by this meeting, but mostly it was a commentary of the existing landscape of Beale Street which was getting very run down by that time in the seventies. The song paints a bleak picture of the current state of affairs on Beale Street as she recalled when she was there. The song was more about that mood than anything else. She only mentioned his name and a few aspects, but the song was never totally about him… However, many people close to Furry would disagree. Furry thought he should have received some kind of a royalty for singing about him.
Even though a section of Beale Street in 1966 would be declared a National Historic Landmark in 1966 and Home of the Blues by an act in congress in 1977, it still experienced a bit of a collapse. Many of the stores closed and it lost much of its allure.
It wasn’t until the 1980s that Beale Street started to once again receive the attention it deserved. This led to an economic revitalization, with many new clubs and attractions opening. The street has now become the home to a chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. The blues clubs and restaurants are now major tourist attractions in Memphis. Festivals and outdoor concerts attract large crowds to the street and its surrounding areas. During the first weekend of May, the Beale Street Music Festival brings major music to Tom Lee Park at the end of Beale Street on the Mississippi River. You can click on the link above to see this years lineup… The festival is the inaugural event of a month of celebrations citywide known as Memphis in May…
It’s interesting to note that Furry Lewis saw a resurgence of his career in the sixties and especially the seventies. He opened for the Rolling Stones in Memphis to crowds of over 53,000. He had a brief cameo in the Burt Reynolds movie, W.W and The Dixie Kings and would go on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson to promote the movie, where he performed Furry Blues. He also had a feature article in April 1970’s edition of Playboy Magazine. With all this publicity, his greatest honor came in 1973 when he was named as an Honorary Colonel by the State of Tennessee, becoming the first African-American ever to receive that honor. In 1981 Furry got pneumonia which led to his death. On his original tombstone that was purchased by his fans, the epitaph reads:
Blues Man
The following is a video of Joni Mitchell’s song Furry Sings the Blues and features a young Pat Metheny. It is not meant to spur any controversy. It is only meant to enhance the subject matter of this post. Perhaps Joni should consider a sequel to the song. A version that paints Beale Street in a more vibrant manner as it is known from its rich history to it’s vibrancy of today? What do you think?
For the past several weeks I’ve been experiencing writers block. The first time I can say this has happened since I started TheBluesBlogger site. Usually I’m never at a loss for words when it comes to discussing music… So I thought perhaps if I share a little of what’s presently going on, it might help me work through this.
After months of doctor visits and collecting data, my wife and I received the news that our 13 year old son was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome… I will not discuss
the details of Asperger’s as we are just beginning to understand ourselves. However, if you’re interested or curious, Tony Attwood’s site is a terrific source of information… The good news is my wife and I are beginning to find some answers to many questions. Now we can move forward with more awareness and structure in hopes of a bright future for our son…
I think we forget how confusing and challenging life tends to be in those teenage years. You face the confrontation of bullies at school, while trying to figure out all the things you have to do to please everyone. And all this while going through hormonal changes you know little about…
Just the other day my son asked the question,
“ Dad, what was going on in your life when you were my age?”
As I pondered this question, I started to drift off… It was always music that was my escape when life was hard to figure out…
During The Early Seventies
when my brother left town, some of his friends adopted me as their kid brother. As a result, my love of music continued to flourish while hanging out with the older crowd. I guess I was cool enough, because they took me everywhere. I never really had friends my own age because my interests were seen as peculiar to a normal 13 year old.
In my early teens, I started accepting the fact that the vibe was different in my household. Times were tough for us financially, and my parents had no other choice but to sell the house. My brother and sister would then move out and start a new chapter in their lives. This was probably my biggest angst at the time. The change in tone in my household was the reason I searched for different styles of music to occupy my imagination. It was just too quiet around the house…
In 1971 my parents and I lived in a small apartment. The scene was set for brand new tensions between my father and me… After my dad’s heart attack in 1969 things changed. It was a far cry from the times I remembered in the sixties… And I recall getting lost in my love of music and my newfound fascination for writing.
My son too would experience a father who suffered a heart attack. But modern medicine and technology would make life a whole lot easier for my family as compared to what we faced back in the sixties. ~tbb
Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy
I remember receiving a new stereo system for my bar mitzvah. Man, I think my father regretted the day he agreed to that purchase. I would spin stuff on that turntable that no one ever heard before. As crazy as it may seem, it was the following two Return to Forever albums that set the tone for my teenage daze…
I recall most of the group I hung out with totally blown away by Return to Forever’s album Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy. In 1973, RTF’s music had more of a jazz/rock feel. This album was very melodic, but lacked the traditional jazz sense of their first two albums. It’s an LP that started my awareness of fusion. There were sounds on that record that were completely new to me and to many others. It combined elements of psychedelic rock, jazz, funk and avant-garde jazz… Not something that went over well with my father.
The guitar playing of Bill Connors was a central focus for me. I was speechless as I tried to digest everything that was taking place. Connors would leave shortly after the band’s release of Hymn of The Seventh Galaxy; deciding to focus on a solo career. He didn’t have the same reputation as his successor Al Di Meola, but Connor’s guitar sound and scorching licks remained the talk of the fusion world for years to come.
Where Have I Known You Before
was the band’s fourth album. It marked even more changes to the group’s style and line-up at the time. Corea explored a more synthesized sound and together with Stanley Clarke, Lenny White and the debut of then 19 year old guitarist Al DiMeola, created a rock filled funky jazz masterpiece.
The band continued to echo the sentiments of other well known artists such as John McLaughlin & The Mahavishnu Orchestra and Weather Report; music that also fueled my imagination. The new sounds on these albums would increase the band’s commercial success… Return to Forever helped expand and characterize the fusion genre. They were responsible for adopting many rock fans into the jazz world for the first time…
During Those Teenage Daze
I thought about all the effort that must go into the making a final product like the ones I have mentioned here… And I fantasized how cool it would be to one day work in a recording studio as an engineer…
Return to Forever and its incredibly tight musicianship inspired me. Five years later, I would move and pack many of my albums; these being two LP’s making trip with me to New York City in 1979. The move eventually brought a new set of experiences I never would have dreamed…
When RTF Reunited in the Summer 2008
I was asked by their online promotion team to include a spot on TheBluesBlogger site. It certainly felt like I came full circle from my bizarre teenage influences to the honor of this request. If you’re interested that post can be found by clicking the link located here. ( Return to Forever will be coming out with a new CD called “Returns” on March 2nd,2009; assembled from last year’s tour. And also a live DVD that is to be announced in the near future.)
As I come back to the present times, I want to take the opportunity to tell my son how very proud I am of him. Son, I know it’s not easy, but we are all here for you. Life will toss many curves, but stick to your convictions and be patient. Keep studying and don’t lose your sense of humor. Stay positive and you’ll find your niche… And thanks for being there for me too!
What were you listening to when you were a teenager? How many of you were digging the sounds of Return to Forever in the seventies? Any thoughts musical or otherwise you would like to share? Your comments are most welcome.
The music seen and heard on this site are meant to enhance the enjoyment of the articles and the reader's overall experience. My intention is to honor the artists that have inspired me by weaving my personal experiences together with my love of their music... If you like the music you hear, I urge you to support them by attending their performances and/or purchasing their music. If you hold the copyright and would like me to remove your song or picture then please contact me. I will do so immediately upon request.
"If Beale Street Could Talk," as told by Rufus Thomas: 
Even though a section of Beale Street in 1966 would be declared a National Historic Landmark in 1966 and Home of the Blues by an act in congress in 1977, it still experienced a bit of a collapse. Many of the stores closed and it lost much of its allure. 
