To the scumbag who assaulted Lester Chambers may you rot in hell.

On Saturday night at the Hayward Blues Festival Lester Chambers 73 of the Chambers Brothers was performing People Get Ready in memory of Trayvon Martin and was attacked on stage by a crazy Zimmerman supporter. May he have a speedy recovery.

38 Sounded Great

 I had heard that southern rock band 38 Special was playing a free show in Iowa on the day before the 4th. I did a little research on the band to see who was in the current line-up.  One thing that surprised me was that although not all the original members were in the band they are all still alive which is uncommon for most southern rock bands such The Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd who were plagued by death in the 70's. Donnie Van Zant one of the founders and whose older brother Ronnie died in the Skynyrd plane crash is still a member of the band, but as of 2012 has not been touring due to ear problems. The band's original lead singer Don Barnes and former Skynyrd bassist Larry Junstrom who joined in 1977 are the only two from their classic period during the early 80's. The others joined the band in the late 80's and mid 90's.

We left Minneapolis at about 2:30 and screamed down I-35 because they came on at 8 and we had an almost 5 hour drive. We made it with about 10 minutes to spare. I had brought a record of Wild Eyed Southern Boys to try and get it signed like 2 years before at that same location when The Grass Roots and Herman's Hermits played. Sadly it was not to be because for the autographs there was a $20 fee. Then out came the band and they jumped right into the classics with Rockin' Into the Night. Then from there on it was hit after hit. I knew the words to most of them because I had been listening to their greatest hits lately on my iPod.

 They may have looked older but they sounded just like they did 20-25 years ago. I did take some video for my YouTube account but not as much because I felt more like singing then standing completely still to get footage that wasn't shaky. Turns out I made the right choice because most of the videos were shot near the speakers where I was standing for most of the show which wrecked the sound quality. While going though all their hits like Second Chance, Back Where you Belong and Teacher, Teacher they perfomed a cover of ZZ Tops Just Got Paid which was fantastic. During that song was when I moved closer to the stage to try get some better videos and photos. Then they played some more songs such as Trooper With an Attitude from the 2001 comedy Super Troopers and Twentieth Century Fox. Then Don Barnes performed a solo which was quite good. Then it was back to the hits this time playing three fan favorites Caught Up In You, Chain Lightnin' which included strobe lights and a fog machine and their most popular and well-kown song Hold on Loosely. Then to top it off they played another cover Travelin' Band by CCR. Danny Chauncey who joined in 1987 is on the left and Barnes is on right. Overall it was fantastic show. 

Happy Birthday to Pinetop Perkins who today would have turned 100

Bobby Bland 1930-2013 The greatest blues singer period

On Sunday I got the news that The Lion of The Blues had died at the age of 83. I had just discovered his music in 2011 when he came up as a suggested artist on my Last Fm account.  I then seached the internet to find his most popular album. That album was 1961's Two Steps from the Blues. When I played the first track Two Steps from the Blues I instantly fell in love with his voice. Although he never received as much popularity his voice was equal to that of Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Ray Charles and Jackie Wilson.On their list of 100 greatest singers Rolling Stone placed Bland at 44 behind Bono, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, George Jones, and David Bowie which shows how little they know about music. He was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame not in the first class not the second, third, fourth, fifth or even the sixth but into the seventh class while more popular acts like The Kinks, Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel who came after got in. Bland was also known for his long lasting friendship and partnership with B.B. King in which the two released several albums together. Above is one of two appearances on Soul Train. On the right is Bobby with B.B King and another good friend Buddy Guy. King once said of Bland "There's no better singer in any genre." 

Happy Birthday to 4 late greats, guitar legend Les Paul, rock legend Jackie Wilson, Deep Purple keyboardist wizard Jon Lord and rock great Johnny Ace.

RIP The Dells lead singer Marvin Junior.

RIP Marshall Lytle of Bill Haley and his Comets 1933-2013

Lytle was the bass player for the Comets  from 1952 to 1955. He was also a member of Haley's country group The Saddlemen in 1951 before they became The Comets. Until his passing he was one of only two remaining Comets who played on Rock Around the Clock. The surviving Comet is Joey Ambrose who played tenor saxophone. Lytle had gotten together with the remaining Comets though the years and they did some tours mostly in Europe and a few on the east coast.  He still performed up until his death and I was lucky enough to have the chance to see him perform at last year's Winter Dance Party in Clear Lake Iowa which was a real treat.