Saturday, December 17, 2011

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack

Just because we haven't shared our soundtrack of late doesn't mean we've been without one.  Oh, no... there's always music in our life, even if it's only in our head.  This tune was part o' today's abbreviated outdoor Happy Hour, abbreviated because (a) we got a late start and (b) it was three clicks to the right o' "chilly."  But... here's what we were listening to:


That's the Ann Peebles version of a song Etta James does best, and it was Etta we were listening to today.  Alas, the Tube o' You doesn't have a suitable version of Etta doin' the tune, only a couple o' poorly-recorded live versions.  But Miz Peebles does an entirely credible version of the song, as you may have noticed.

I've been privileged to see Etta James on a number of occasions, the most memorable o' which was in a small pub in Camden Town (in London) back in the day, which is to say sometime during 1980 - 1983.  When I say "small," I mean SMALL... as in "could mebbe seat 100 people, with another 50 standing."  The Second Mrs. Pennington and I arrived at said pub about two hours before show time in order to secure seats before Etta's performance, knowing full well how small it was from previous experience with that venue.  The end result was we were both very well-oiled by the time Etta took the stage (and I use the term "stage" loosely)  but that did NOT diminish the experience in the least.  Miz James did two sets that night, if memory serves, and that evening was one of my very best musical experiences... which included the opportunity to say "hi" and thank her personally for her performance.  It don't get no better than that, Gentle Reader.

4 comments:

  1. Hey Buck! Funny you should mention Etta James.

    I just ran across this over at Pseudo's place. It's not all that funny...but layers of editorial oversight don't always work.

    http://49th-parallel.blogspot.com/2011/12/inapproriate-headline-of-day.html

    I don't know if the comment will show it, but it's me, LouzeeAndy

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  2. That's funny from an editorial perspective, but not from a news view. How sad. Why is it people hardly ever die in their sleep any longer? It's always cancer or sumthin' else that's equally horrible.

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  3. Great story and I definitely envy your getting to see and hear Etta up close and personal like that. I really enjoyed the bluesy A P sound track too, especially that funky organ.

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  4. That was a GREAT night, Dan. The music scene in London at that point in time rivaled anything Nashville or Austin has to offer. TSMP and I were out every single weekend (and oftentimes during the week, as well) and that is NO exaggeration, at all. Right place, right time... for ONCE in my life.

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