Yeah, I know. "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" is about as cliched as you can get for a theme. But what the heck ...
The idea here is to recall, for better or worse, some of what I've encountered at concerts over the past three decades or so. Maybe you were there for some of 'em. I know you weren't there for the first show on the list:
THE GOOD
1. Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1982.
Picture two ancient blues singers, one of them blind and blowing on his harp, the other picking his guitar. A much younger percussionist beats out the rhythm behind them. And about a dozen college kids are in the basement of the student union watching the show of their lives.
The fellows had been doing their thing together since before World War II, but they still had the energy to roar through their time-tested repertoire for a couple of hours. And the few of us who were in attendance couldn't get enough of seeing those living legends go at it.
Sonny (the blind one) died in 1986 and Brownie in 1996. RIP, gentlemen.
(Stay tuned for more.)
The idea here is to recall, for better or worse, some of what I've encountered at concerts over the past three decades or so. Maybe you were there for some of 'em. I know you weren't there for the first show on the list:
THE GOOD
1. Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1982.
Picture two ancient blues singers, one of them blind and blowing on his harp, the other picking his guitar. A much younger percussionist beats out the rhythm behind them. And about a dozen college kids are in the basement of the student union watching the show of their lives.
The fellows had been doing their thing together since before World War II, but they still had the energy to roar through their time-tested repertoire for a couple of hours. And the few of us who were in attendance couldn't get enough of seeing those living legends go at it.
Sonny (the blind one) died in 1986 and Brownie in 1996. RIP, gentlemen.
(Stay tuned for more.)
1 Comments:
Gottcha on this one. I was one of the 12 people in the basement of IUP's Student Union that amazing evening. In fact I stumbled into the first set (almost by pure luck) & when they took intermission I ran two blocks down the road to drag your butt away from the party you were at. We sat from here to my computer screen away from Sonny Terry. It was almost unbelievable. Surely the music gods were smiling on us that night. It was an honor to be in their presence. I wonder if the other 10 people feel as fortunate as we do. I have to concur with this as #1! It edges out Zappa 1980 by a hair.
Post a Comment
<< Home