A little something for Smackie, smackie and Katy....

[Van]

Smackie runs one helluva good radio show, plus he has adult tastes in music. Like 'Spray, he's also really good at finding and playing obscure requests. Great show, last night.

smackie (smackaholic) just knows what's up, with this guy. Can't hear this, and not think of smackie.

Katy? She's Katy. She just deserves it.

So, for here's to ya. Over this Christmas holiday, enjoy yourselves something real....

[PSUFAN]

I'm confused...you like these folks, so you subject them to this?

[Van]

You big gay fag.

[Smackie Chan]

Smackie runs one helluva good radio show, plus he has adult tastes in music.

Thanks. Comments like this make me glad that I opted against playing a set of Alvin & the Chipmunks.

Like 'Spray, he's also really good at finding and playing obscure requests. Great show, last night.

Boy, did I have you fooled. I didn't find jack shit. I just hummed your requests.

smackie (smackaholic)

That's it...I'm changing my nic.

Katy? She's Katy. She just deserves it.

What she deserves, and what I plan to give her, can't be delivered thru YouTube.

So, for here's to ya.

Ya know, I like SRV, I really do. And I also love the blues. But drummers have feelings, too, and I would just hate to be behind the kit for a whole show of slow-tempo blues. Small doses are great, though.

Seriously, though, glad you liked the show, and it's great to have true music aficionados listening. Always have a good time in there.

[Van]

Smackie, don't get me wrong, I also wouldn't want an entire set of slow blues; not to hear, or even to play. No way. Its effect is diminished if it's not used as a cool, moody change of pace. You gotta follow things like Little Wing, Riviera Paradise, Lenny or Tin Pan Alley with something like Voodoo Chile, Superstition, Crossfire, Couldn't Stand The Weather or Pride And Joy.

It's all about dynamics, and slow blues pieces allow for amazing dynamics, since there are no limits - sweetly subtle, or ragingly loud; a single, lingering note for eight measures, or a maniacal flurry - on what can be played over them.

Still, yeah, too much is too much. Gotta break it up, with things like this....

[Smackie Chan]

Pretty much sums up my thoughts, too. Saw Johnny Winter a few years ago play almost nothing but slow blues, and it wasn't a very good show. Saw him a couple years later when he sparingly mixed in the real bluesy stuff with upbeat material, and it was MUCH better.

[War Wagon]

My fave SRV tune:

[Van]

Wags, yep that one is totally bad ass. In fact, my avatar comes from that video.

Dunno if I could pick a favorite, but these two would be right there near the top....

[smackaholic]

Van, I hear what you are saying about wanting to mix it up and all and I do agree.....but..... Lenny is such a fukking masterpiece, that it doesn't need anything quicker to go along. It stands by itself, IMO.

For those of you out there that do not consider yourselves blues fans, I triple dog dare you to listen to Lenny (live at el macambo version) on a decent audio system, 5 times.

If you are still not a blues fan, you are a soulless tin eared dolt.

[Van]

smackie, Lenny definitely stands alone, and that is the El Mocambo version. So are the Voodoo Chile and Little Wing clips.

Still, an entire two-hour plus show of something at that slow of a tempo would be too much. Things like that have a lot more gravity when they're used as a showcase centerpiece.

[War Wagon]

Wags, yep that one is totally bad ass. In fact, my avatar comes from that video.

I didn't realize that, until now. That is very cool. I believe it was BB King who said Stevie Ray was a black man in a white mans body, the way he played the blues.

I was fortunate enough to see SRV live. Twice. Once in 1987 and then again in 1989 I believe it was. Not sure, but I also believe it was the 'before' and 'after' versions. Before and after he got sober, that is. Not that I could tell any difference. Both shows were great.

I damn near cried when I heard about the helicopter crash. Damn, but I loved that guy. VH1 had a great show about him. If you've never seen it, you need to, though it will bring back all the hurt of losing such a brilliant musician. I mean, it really pisses me off to this day that we lost a performer like that in his prime.

[Van]

I also saw him twice. I saw him at the Greek Theater, with Bonnie Raitt opening up for him. She introduced him by saying, "Hope ya'll are wearing your rubber drawers, 'cause you're gonna need 'em after seeing this guy...Stevie Ray Vaughan!" I also saw him at the L.A. Sports Arena, with Jeff Beck. He destroyed Beck that night, to such a point that Beck was in the L.A. Times a couple days later, saying that it wasn't fair to compare their performances, since Stevie was playing with his usual band while he was playing with a new band.

Thing is, when they played Goin' Down together for the encore, they were backed by Beck's band, not SRV's....

[Van]

Wags, also, yeah, the only time in my entire life when I ever cried over the death of a celebrity was when I read the accounts of that final Alpine Valley show before the helicopter crash. Hearing about how happy he was that night, with all his friends there...and the encore of Sweet Home Chicago, with his heroes sharing the stage with him...and how he was so 'on' that night, with everyone freaking out over how devastating he was...

Fuck. Yeah, I was working at the L.A. Times when I heard the news, and I lost it that day, for a little while.

Then, when I first saw this video...



...especially the part where Albert King is holding an SRV Strat, I lost it again.

[War Wagon]

Both concerts for me were at Starlight theater, an outdoor amphitheater (with surprisingly good acoustics) that only seats around 5,000 or so. With lawn seats and standing room only, they might be able to pack 8,000 or so in there. And pack them in they did. Still can't believe he played such a small venue. Seems to me he could have easily sold out a 20,000 seat arena.

But he was the main act both times. The Stray Cats opened for him the 1st time and Duane Allman the 2nd. Can't really imagine SRV playing 2nd fiddle to anyone.

[Van]

Both places where I saw him were large venues. The Sports Arena was something like a 15,000 seat arena.

[Smackie Chan]

The Stray Cats opened for him the 1st time and Duane Allman the 2nd.

I call bullshit.

[Van]

T'were the spirit of Duane Allman, I tell ya! Even dead, he kicked ass as an opening act!

He rode onto the stage on a chopper, too.

[Van]

That's only because everything reminds you of choking on lots of cumming dicks.

[War Wagon]

The Stray Cats opened for him the 1st time and Duane Allman the 2nd.

I call bullshit.

I'll second that bullshit and raise you fitty!

Ok, maybe it was Greg Allman. Whoever did I'm no angel

[Van]

That would be Gregg, yes. He sings. He looks like a heroin addict. He knocks up people like Cher and the suicidal porn star Savannah. He has kids with weird names.

Brother Duane played slide guitar, and he was long gone by the time you saw SRV.

[smackaholic]

I'll bet duane and stevie could have put on one hell of a show. Greg could stick to fukking cher. Not that he's a bad singer, but, Stevie was a damn site better as a blues singer. Stevie gets so much run for his other worldly axe skills that it is often overlooked that he was, IMO, a world class blues singer. Dude could have made a career out of being a blues band frontman. Wonder if he ever fooled around with the harmonica? I'm sure he could have mastered it as well if he had the notion to.

[Smackie Chan]

Smackie,

You got the SRV stuff with Lonnie Mack? Some great things on there. If you want it, let me know.

I have "Satisfy Suzie," "If You Have to Know," "Oreo Cookie Blues," and "Double Whammy." Is what you have from "Strike Like Lightning"? I'll surely take what you have - name your price.

Have you heard SRV w/ A.C. Reed do "These Blues Is Killing Me"? Great tune - it's on the Alligator Records 20th Anniversary Collection.

[Van]

Greg could stick to fukking cher. Not that he's a bad singer, but, Stevie was a damn site better as a blues singer.

You have just incurred the wrath of the Mayor Of Macon. Prepare thyself, for ye shall soon get Buttsprayed.

Personally, I tend to agree, though maybe not to the same degree. SRV was wildly underrated as a singer, but Gregg Allman had/has one helluva soulful voice.

[Smackie Chan]

Brother Duane played slide guitar

Yeah, that would be a bit of an understatement. Dude was badass with the slide.