So there we were... sitting, reading, casually listening to Pandora... when Boz Scaggs' incredibly bluesy "Loan Me a Dime" slides out of my Very Expensive Radio like the whiskey-fueled cri d' coeur it most certainly is. It's the song's subject matter (and its delivery)... Mr. Scaggs wants the loan of a dime to call his old-time-use-ta-be... that can prompt one of those ill-advised three a.m. phone calls to your "old time use-ta-be." Assuming you've had your share of strong drink, of course. Don't ask how I know, Gentle Reader, but it's prolly not what you think. We shall NOT digress further, it being sufficient to say that happened well over 30 years ago in a place far, far away.
Back to the music. Hearing the tune sent me to the Tube o' You, of course. I'd hoped to find the original 1969 version of the tune (which was the one I heard on my VER, God Bless Pandora). Alas. While there appears to be one such... flawed as it is... AND it has that cursed "embedding disabled by request" bullshit. That version of the tune is here (a live cut done in '69; it features Duane Allman who played on the studio version) if'n you're inclined to go listen to one of the BEST blues tunes ever recorded, bar none. Mr. Scaggs is in fine voice there, the audio quality is excellent, and Mr. Allman's guitar work is simply... well, it's Duane Allman. No comparisons, adjectives, or superlatives really work. Note that the frickin' tune ends abruptly at the 9:55 minute mark, and that's a terrible thing... especially since it omits the guitar interplay between Scaggs and Allman. A rather poor mix of what's omitted in the first link is here. I say "poor mix" because the essential horn riffs are much more prominent in the original album mix. Ah, well. Everyone's a critic, right?
I DO go on. In the mean time there's this reasonable facsimile:
Can ya loan me a dime?
That late nite phone call, ain't we all been there, done that. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteThe ol' drinin-n-dialin thang. I had never heard that music, but it was great - maybe not as wonderful with my coffee this morning, but I can see you enjoying it during your happy hour.
ReplyDeleteLate night phone call - yup, did that about 30 years ago myself. Thankfully the person expected on the other end was not there - and my life moved forward in a much better direction.
ReplyDeleteIf the person had been there - I would have never met The Oracle. Thank God for small favors.
No dime, no drunk-dial!
ReplyDeleteI had the pleasure of seeing The Allmans during my early teen years. One of the best concerts I've ever seen to this day. I've got lots of Allmans vinyl, but NO cd. Got to update my collection so I can listen to some of that great driving music while actually driving!
ReplyDeleteKath: Unfortunately, yes.
ReplyDeleteLou: Yeah, the tune is much more suited to Happy Hour... or any time at night.
Kris: Small favors? A big one, I would think.
Moogie: Heh.
Buck - I should have included some kind of smiley-face-thing after my statement above on small favors.
ReplyDeleteIndeed meeting The Oracle may well have saved my life - literally. My high school sweetheart, to whom I was engaged when I met The Oracle, was an abuser. Emotional came first, the physical stuff had just gotten started when The Oracle and I met in college.
If the H.S. guy had been at the other end of the phone that night I called him, I probably never would have dated The Oracle - and who knows what would have happened to me.
I'm betting it wouldn't have been pretty.
Jim: I saw 'em too, a number of times. Best EVAH was a triple bill concert at SFO's Cow Palace on either New Year's Eve or New Year's Day (can't remember which)of 1970-something: Marshall Tucker Band, Charlie Daniels, and then the Allmans. Duane was dead by then but omigawd, WHAT a concert. It got pretty wild that night...
ReplyDeleteKris: I hear ya. Abusers should be publicly flogged, IMNSHO. Mercilessly.
Interesting coinkydink: TSMP was engaged to HER HS sweetheart when we first met; he was also an abuser.