Last evening the wife and I listened to the presents she “bought” me. Earlier in the day I had met a business partner of mine in Columbus. After the meeting, realizing I was in a metropolitan area, I searched out the nearest Barnes and Noble with the gift card my wife had given me in hand. Eagerly, I searched “History”, “Biography” and “Politics”. How appalling. “Politics”, bash Bush. “Biography”, Bush is a moron. “History”, future generations have already condemned Bush as the worst President in history.
I chose David McCullough’s “1776” and Walter Isaacson’s “Benjamin Franklin”. I am excited, but I have money left on the card and some “lady” is eying me a little too closely. I’m no rocket scientist, but if a “lady” is eying me, she is no lady.
Handily, this excuse made me to run to the music section of the store. Once there I made a beeline for the Blues Section. Heaven.
I held an exact album cover copy in a jewel case of THE man.
He was born in Mississippi. He was a draft resister in WWII, but also a monster of a man who won a Golden Gloves heavy weight championship in 1936 and played bass riffs as if God Himself was plucking the strings. He wrote music and lyrics, produced records and also sang.
This man influenced all music that followed. The Stones, Doors, Led Zeppelin, and Eric Clapton all did covers of his tunes. More importantly, so did the Yard birds, Koko Taylor, The Kinks, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Canned Heat, The Allman Brothers, Captain Beefheart, King Biscuit Boy, Shadows of Knight, Jimmy Witherspoon, Etta James, Long John Baldry, Sam Cooke, Big Mama Thornton, Paul Butterfield, Little Walter, The Spencer Davis Group, Mose Allison, Buddy Guy, Savoy Brown, and the great Jeff Beck and Stevie Ray Vaughn. This is just a small sampling of those that gave him credit for his work. Basically, all of modern rock and blues ripped him off shamelessly.
All of this wrapped in a suit, tie and a pork pie hat.
“I Am the Blues”, Mr. Willie Dixon.
If you only have one blues selection in you collection, this is it.
For an encore to our stroll down memory lane I chose Mott The Hoople’s “All the Young Dudes”.
We had a wonderful evening.
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