An old flame...

I DVRed Eric Clapton's Cross Roads Chicago concert on "Great Performances". So far, I've watched Sonny Landreth burn the place down, A very tasteful Robert Cray and now am watching a Texas favorite Jimmie Lee Vaughn with blues legend Hubert Sumlin. BB King is walking to the stage.
Why isn't there more stuff like this on tv?

Ok, not every note is perfect. And when I'm practicing, I can do a lot of this stuff. But there is something transcendent about a guy like BB bending the the hell out of a note. Something greater than the sum of a good guitar and a good amp on a good day. And there is something life affirming about watching people, musicians, of different colors and creeds blending so easily, so effortlessly.

What I like so much about American music like Blues, Jazz, and Country (although slightly less so these days) is that it is so profoundly respectful and mindful of it's own heritage. I'm pretty sure guys like Vaughn, Robert Cray, and certainly Jeff Beck and Derek Trucks could tear BB a new one any day, and twice on sunday. But, there is a very open acknowledgment that the only reason they can do that is the hours spent listening to and learning BB's licks early on. So, there is always respect for the likes of a BB, a Robert Johnson, a John Lee Hooker. By contrast, who has ever heard Yngwie give props to ANYONE?

Well, it's getting hard to type and watch, so I'm gonna go spend some time with the blues.

:::EDIT::: OMG!!!! Albert Lee!!!!!!!!
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And that's enough for now.

Brian Norwood

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