Monday, November 23, 2009

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack

We're still on this Allman Bros jag, which ain't all bad.  The great thing about Pandora is the associated music one gets when one chooses a particular band to define a station.  In this case... specifically the Allmans... one gets a lot of blues-based music.  Not the least of which is this:



Which got me to thinkin'... almost to the point where we were sorely tempted to go indoors and drag one of our Hendrix albums out and do an A/B comparison where "Voodoo Chile" is concerned.  But we didn't, coz the very next tune encouraged us to "get out on the street and leave our blues at home."  Which is more than appropriate these days...  A visual:

Ah.  And while we were leavin' our blues at home we returned... a slight return (Heh)... to that age old question: Jimi?  Or Stevie?  It's Stevie, for my money.  At the considerable risk of pissing off legions of Old Hippies who worship at Jimi's altar, of course.  And, truth be told, I'm one of those guys.  I have more Jimi music in my collection than I do Stevie's... but that's just a function of the relative size of their respective catalogs.  I like Stevie more because I believe he remained true... or truer...  to his blues roots, whereas Jimi broadened his repetoire in later years to get a lot more jazzy and improvisational.  (Yeah... I know "Red House."  Who doesn't?) Like all things where taste is concerned... you pays your money and you makes your choice, no?  I love 'em both, but I tend to fall down on Stevie's side when the discussion turns to "who was the greater guitarist?"

Just sayin'.  Your mileage most certainly may vary, if'n ya care about such things.  I most certainly DO care, Gentle Reader... much more so than I care about stuff that's in the news today.  I much prefer the simple pleasures associated with the complex alchemy of blending water, barley, hops and malt into a sublime beverage, the similarly complex process of blending aged tobaccos into a simple tube of pure pleasure, and the bending of notes on a Strat to the frickin' health care debate.  Call me simple if you like, but it is what it is.

5 comments:

  1. Stevie all the way. I never get tired of his music. I love watching him play; he was so into the music. He looked like he was in a trance when playing.

    Aug 27 is still a dark day in my book.

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  2. Agreed on 8/27, Rude. I'm just glad I got to see him before he left us.

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  3. I just wish you guys would quit making me feel like some old fart!

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  4. NOW you're talking!!! I was a bit of a late-comer to SRV, but when I found him I was amazed. Still love to listen to "Live At Carnegie Hall". That CD stays in my car and gets plenty of use!

    I never really was a Hendrix fan.

    (Prob. shouldn't tell you, but on really bad days on the way home I listen to Barry White. Hey, his voice is very soothing!!!)

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  5. Glenn: Sorry 'bout that, Bud. But: shoe, fit? ;-)

    Kath: S'funny about favorite CDs livin' in the car, ain't it? "Exile On Main Street" lives in my car... as do a couple of Santana CDs.

    I can't begin to rag on ya about Mr. White. The Second Mrs. Pennington taught me to respect him (and even love him in a certain place/time or set/setting) when we first met in the way, way back. He has his place and listening to him while horizontal can be rewarding. ;-)

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.