. . .

Butter died, Rick died. Levon got sober, I got sober. Gary Busey became a wingnut.

Twenty years, like it was yesterday.

Micheal B died. So did Richard Manuel.

Man, we lost some GREAT talents so long ago . . . I’ve sure appreciated your sharing your up close and personal stuff with some of my heroes of so long ago.

Me and a buddy, now passed on, used to argue who had the leads on Work Song, and East West . . . he liked Bishop, I was all OVER Mikey B . . . but Bishop could play . . . Mike, he MASHED!!!

His chops on Super Session, and with Electric Flag, post Butterfield, should have him Sainted Of The Blues.

Alas, I begin to digress . . . ;-)

james @ 105

Twenty years ago this May we lost Paul Butterfield but every time I hear him whether it’s him alone in the later years or with Mike Bloomfield I remember listening to him in the car asking “So, how do ya think this’ll sound this way?”

Was it 20 yrs ago?

The first LP I ever wore out (not scratched – I was careful) was Butterfield Blues Band. The one with David Sanborn on “In My Own Dream”. What a record.

Golden Butter.

Amos Garrett.

Geoff Mulduar

Long after the greatest of Butterfield.

Paul B, Michael Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop, Mark Naftlin, Jimmy Davenport, Jerome Arnold, and I’m missing two key players on sticks and bass . .

First Album with Born In Chicago, Look Over Yonder’s Walls . . . pure stinging hot stuff.

N then, East/West . . .

And, the greatest arranged song of all time, as alluded by James prior:

Work Song.

What they squeezed outta that song, and how they did it, is a musician’s marvel to this day.

Every lick counts, it’s a monster from start to finish, and the solo’s are off the hook.

And it’s still, the arrangement, on HOW they did what they did, that nails it for me.

Golden Butter, and One More Heartache, among others was fine, but . .

It was NEVER like it was with Butterfield, Bloomfield, Bishop, and Naftlin.

Some of the greatest music, and musicianship, ever produced.

Two albums. Priceless licks and moments.

And, they were Dylan’s backing band at Newport when Bobby Z came out electric . . . Hiway 61 Revisited, indeed! *G*

Oh, that would include Al Kooper, I think . . . ;-)

james @ 105

Sitting in a big house, riding on a saddle slung over a log suspended from the ceiling listening to Ray Charles and Etta James records while we drank saki.

Twenty years ago this May we lost Paul Butterfield but every time I hear him whether it’s him alone in the later years or with Mike Bloomfield I remember listening to him in the car asking “So, how do ya think this’ll sound this way?”

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band????

Sorry I’m late back to this, I dozed off from meds.

Yeah, Butterfield Blues Band. Later years he played in small venues with Rick Danko and Blondie Chaplin, Ron Leon playing bass, different guys always hanging around.

I tried like hell to keep the parasites away with their 8 balls and other nonsense. Tried to break his habit of Stoly and Coke (the drink) for breakfast. But it was just everywhere.

An amazing arranger. He’d hear things in his head and try to get them out together. I was like a kid watching and listening as various legends moved in and out of his life and house.

The saddle was set up in Levon’s house up on a hill and people would gather there to play, talk, whatever. But there were some destructive vibes there that cost people.

Butter died, Rick died. Levon got sober, I got sober. Gary Busey became a wingnut.

Twenty years, like it was yesterday.

This BoyKing Executive Order was written into law two days ago . . .

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news…..717-3.html

Kudo’s to AJ Fan and Crooks And Liars for breaking it . . .

This is gonna generate some heated analysis and discusssion . . . unless it prevents that sort of thing, which it is INTENDED to do . . .

I’ts 1933 all over again, for sure now.

No denying it.

For instance, Bobby Rush, 1st of Illinois, and his opponent Raymond Wardingley, totalled 249,949 votes, 85 percent of which went to Mr. Rush. Throw some wags about turnout and demographic structure on that, and you get maybe close to half a million voters, and a whole lot of people of all ages, probably in the neighborhood of 800,000 to 1 million. Given the pronounced urban/collar suburban presence on that list, it wouldn’t surprise me if seventy of them represented over 50 million residents, of whom well over half (median age in this country is well above 18, I’m sure) are potential voters. And I’m trying hard not to overplay that guess.

The core of this district was once the historic South Side “Black Metropolis,” but under the “Leave No Inner City District Alone Behind” program of the last couple of reapportionments, parts of that core have been parcelled out to other districts, and the 1st has acquired a large South Suburban extension.

At that
Good night and Good Luck

And there’s a new thread upstairs