Some things are worth coming out of retirement for.  Dickey Betts was born on December 12, 1943, in West Palm Beach, Florida. He hasn’t migrated too far from there and has been living in Sarasota, FL for a number of years. In fact, according to Wikipedia, Joe Perry of Aerosmith and Brian Johnson of AC/DC live there as well. (Bassist Duck Dunn and Moodies drummer Graeme Edge have passed on but also lived there. Now there’s a hell of a band right there.) I thought of Dickey not only because of his passing but also because I’ve been learning his (and Duane’s) solos from At Fillmore East’s “H ..read more

Hasta La Vista…Baby ..read more

“I’ve done and do everything I wanted to do. It’s incredible. I’d do it again.” = David Bowie Keep your ‘lectric eye on me, babe Put your ray gun to my head Press your space face close to mine, love Freak out in a moonage daydream, oh yeah! Wikipedia: “Moonage Daydream is a 2022 documentary film about English singer-songwriter David Bowie. Written, directed, produced, and edited by Brett Morgen, the film uses previously unreleased footage from Bowie’s personal archives, including live concert footage. It is the first film to be officially authorized by Bowie’s estate and takes its title from ..read more

“You are about to hear an opera for beggars. Since this opera was intended to be as splendid as only beggars can imagine, and yet cheap enough for beggars to be able to watch, it is called the Threepenny Opera.”  – Bertolt Brecht Wikipedia: “The Threepenny Opera is a German “play with music” by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay’s 18th-century English ballad opera, The Beggar’s Opera, and four ballads by François Villon, with music by Kurt Weill. The work offers a socialist critique of the capitalist world. It opened on 31 August 1928 at Ber ..read more

A club called The Fallout Shelter in the town of Norwood, Massachusetts (approximately 30 miles, 48km) Southwest of Boston is having their 2024 Winter Blues Festival tonight, Feb 17th at 7 pm EST. This is their Guitarmageddon! Ft Popa Chubby, Monster Mike Welch, Albert Castiglia + The Wicked Lo-Down. The show is sold out but their website says they are broadcasting the show live from their YouTube and Facebook channels. I have not tried this before but I’ll post both here and good luck. YouTube Facebook I am not familiar with every player here but I have seen a few. I saw Popa Chubby just abou ..read more

Wikipedia: “Love the One You’re With” is a song by Stephen Stills. It was released as the lead single from his debut self-titled studio album in November 1970. The song, inspired by a remark Stills heard from Billy Preston, became his biggest hit single, peaking at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1971.” When this song was released, I recall that Stills got a lot of flak from women who thought he was being cavalier about relationships with women. But I don’t hear anything in the song that says “Hey, guys.” Women can love the one they’re with as well. Although that said, in 1970, the do ..read more

Wikipedia: “Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, a movement that started with the release of the successful charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” in December 1984.” Soon after this event, Harry Belafonte began to think about an American benefit single for African famine relief. In fact, what he said was along the lines of “We have all these white bands doing stuff for bla ..read more

In my last post about the Beatles, I mentioned that the Grammys have never represented what I listen to, and hold no special appeal for me. This year was no different. Rock (for the most part) no longer makes the main show. Jay-Z complained about no representation in rap. Well, join the club, pal. So why did watch this year’s Grammys? Two reasons – Reason #1 – Joni Mitchell. Reason #2 – Billy Joel. And to some extent Trevor Noah as host. But minus those two…? Anyway, I am very happy I did watch for completely unexpected Reason # 3 which is – The surprise appearance of Tracy Chapman. You may no ..read more

I’m writing this just less than an hour before the Grammy Awards, an event I care about so little I once passed up the offer of free tickets to go see it when I lived in New York. The Grammys have never accurately represented anything that I listened to or for that matter, really shed light on the wide variety of great music that exists in the world. All that said, I happened to see an article that announced the winners of the Grammys. Or I should say, some Grammy winners. I guess they give some of them out in advance Anyway, what caught my was an entry in best music video that said ..read more

The Music Enthusiast, of course, gets bags full of fan mail every day. His team diligently goes through them and responds to each and every one with a personalized photo and forged signature. One of those pieces of mail caught my eye from a person who calls himself Cincinnati Babyhead which, to me, sounds like some kind of prison name.  He says -and I quote – “Maybe you could throw some blues in this year.” It was so simple and heartfelt that we decided to postpone our Tribute to Dan Hill and serve up a heapin’ helpin’ of blues. (A genre which, frankly, we’d never heard of.)  I don’t ..read more