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6-17-08
What is a "blue note"? A blue note is a variable microtonal lowering of the third, seventh, and occasionally fifth degrees of the major musical scale. This note is used frequently in blues music and gives a blues song its distinctive melancholy quality.

6-9-08 On a more personal note Sheila aka Ramblin Rosie also left us last week. Although she had written only a few reviews for me, she attended hundreds of shows with me and was highly recognizable on her scooter with her ponytail streaming out in the breeze.

She came into the music scene late in life after a brush with the Joe Ely Band which contained her dear friend Teye. That did not stop her from becoming known in the local music scene as well but she did occassionally take of for a jaunt to see Ely play somewhere or visit with her friend Teye down in Texas.

Not everyone knows that Sheila and I are related by marriage but assume I am blood relation because after all, who hangs out with their ex mother in law? But somehow we forged a new bond long after the marriage had dissolved and the boys & I had moved on down the highway of life. Virtually every day I spoke to her and emailed her on some topic of common interest. We helped each other in time of need. She took care of me after my surgery as I did for her when she had her knees replaced.

She was an original, an artist of many media who went from one project to another with great zeal and zest for life. She had many ideas that were uncommon and was ahead of the bell curve most of the time: she was against all the corn syrup added to our diet, for eating local and grass fed meat and poultry, and she was spiritual rather than religious. She will be missed by many of us but I can't help think she may be happier now, finally back with her "Donnie" and able to get around with out her canes or scooter.

6-3-08 Another terrible loss to the music world this last week was famed guitarist Bo Diddley. His major songs included, "Bo Diddley", "I'm a Man", "Say Man", "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover", "Shave and a Haircut", "Uncle John", "Who Do You Love?", and "The Mule". The assistant curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Howard Kramer said that Diddley's Chess recordings "stand among the best singular recordings of the 20th century."

Diddley was one of the pioneers of the electric guitar, adding reverb and tremolo effects often treating it as a drum to achieve his signature beat: bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp, often summarized as "shave and a haircut, two bits." He was influenced by Louis Jordan, John Lee Hooker, and Muddy Waters.

Altho born as Ellas Otha Bates on Dec. 30, 1928, in McComb, Miss., he was later adopted by his mother's cousin, Gussie McDaniel. Then he took on the name Ellis McDaniel, which his wife always called him.

At the age of 7, his adoptive family moved to Chicago, where he learned the violin at the Ebenezer Baptist Church. He learned guitar at 10 and entertained passers-by on street corners and by his early teens, Diddley was playing Chicago's infamous Maxwell Street for pennies.

Diddley, like other artists of his generation, was paid a flat fee for his recordings and said he received no royalty payments on record sales. He also said he was never paid for many of his performances. Diddley claimed he only received a small portion of the money he made during his career. Partly as a result, he continued to tour and record music until his stroke in May of 2007.

"I am owed. I've never got paid," he said. "A dude with a pencil is worse than a cat with a machine gun."

While recovering from his stroke, Bo Diddley was honored with a Mississippi Blues Trail historic marker placed in McComb, his birthplace, recognizing his enormous contribution to the blues in Mississippi. The stroke was followed by a heart attack, suffered in Gainesville Florida, August 28, 2007.

In 1987 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1996, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. The 1955 recording of his song "Bo Diddley" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as a recording of lasting qualitative or historical significance in 1997. He received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998. In 2003, U.S. Representative John Conyers paid tribute to Bo Diddley in the United States House of Representatives describing him as "one of the true pioneers of rock and roll, who has influenced generations". In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him #20 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2005, Bo Diddley celebrated his 50th anniversary in music with successful tours of Australia and Europe, and with coast-to-coast shows across North America.

In Oct 2005 Bo Diddley was scheduled to be the headliner of a fundraiser concert, to benefit the town of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, devastated by Hurricane Katrina was delayed since the "Florida Keys for Katrina Relief Concert" was scheduled at the time when Hurricane Wilma crashed through the Florida Keys again causing flooding and chaos. In January 2006, the Florida Keys had recovered enough to host the fundraising concert to benefit the now more hard-hit community of Ocean Springs.

When asked about the fundraiser Bo Diddley stated, "This is the United States of America. We believe in helping one another."

During his 50+ year career Bo performed for both President's Clinton and the elder Bush. He was instrumental in the crossover of so called "black music" to the mainstream and performed with greats such as Billy Boy Arnold, Otis Spann, Lester Davenport, and Eric Clapton. He has performed in every media from Ed Sullivan to commercials (NIKE "He don't know Diddley.") Bo Diddley will truly be missed.

For more on his career visit IMDB or Wikipedia.org or just tune into youtube or find your own favorite there.

4-5-08 Spring! ! !
Its finally here. As usual I have been too busy to get out to hear any bands so I have to content myself with recorded blues. Right now I am listening to the Danny Caron Band with Special Guest Charles Brown playing "With the Wind and the Rain in Your Hair" which I got for Christmas along with some recipes in a box set called "Cooking with the Blues". I also have been checking out the selections at my local library to expand my listening pleasure.

3-5-08 I can't let the passing of jazz and blues giant Jeff Healy on March 2nd go without comment. The blind rock and jazz musician died in a Toronto hospital after a recurrent battle against cancer. Jeff developed his unique style of guitar playing as a child after Retinoblastoma (a rare form of retinal cancer) took his eyesight when he was less than a year old. He taught himself to play guitar by laying it across his lap and by the age of six was performing in public.

That unique playing style, combined with his blues-oriented vocals, earned him a reputation as a teenage musical prodigy. He shared stages with Albert Collins, George Harrison, B.B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, ZZ Top, Jimmy Rogers, Little Feat, Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, and many others. A Grammy nominated and Juno award winning guitarist, he rose to stardom as the leader of the blues/rock-oriented Jeff Healy Band that gained international acclaim and platinum record sales with the 1988 album "See the Light." The album included the hit single "Angel Eyes."

The Jeff Healey Band also appeared in the Patrick Swayze film "Road House" in 1989 as the "bar band" in the Double Duece and supplied the soundtrack for the film. In 1990, a reader poll in Guitar Player magazine named Jeff the best blues guitarist and best new talent.

By 2000 Jeff had shifted his career into pre-war jazz, a genre closer to his heart and played the trumpet, clarinet, and acoustic guitar in his own traditional jazz band, called the Jazz Wizards. Jeff's long running CBC Radio Show "My Kinda Jazz" was supplanted with another on Jazz-FM out of Toronto where he regularly offered up music rarely heard from his personal collection of over 30,000 recordings of pre-war jazz.

His death occured just weeks before the release of his first rock/blues album in eight years. "Mess of Blues" is slated for a North American release on April 22 on the StoneyPlain label which had released his three jazz CD's.

2-2-08 HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY!
Did he see his shadow near you? Phil said six more weeks of winter for the east coast but the big news here in Wisconsin is that Jimmy did NOT see his shadow and we will have an early spring!!!
For more on Jimmy.

According to Wkipedia "Perhaps the earliest known American reference to Groundhog Day can be found at the Historical Society of Berks County in Reading, Pennsylvania. The reference was made Feb. 4, 1841 in Morgantown, Berks County, Pennsylvania storekeeper James Morris' diary: "Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate."

In the United States the tradition derives from a Scottish poem:

As the light grows longer
The cold grows stronger
If Candlemas be fair and bright
Winter will have another flight
If Candlemas be cloud and snow
Winter will be gone and not come again
A farmer should on Candlemas day
Have half his corn and half his hay
On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop
You can be sure of a good pea crop

This tradition also stems from similar beliefs associated with Candlemas Day and Groundhog Day. Candlemas, also known as the Purification of the Virgin or the Presentation, coincides with the earlier pagan observance Imbolc. For more on Groundhogs and Groundhogs Day look here
Wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_Hog's_Day.

1-1-08
HAPPY NEW YEAR and I hope you all have a healthy and prosperous one. Once again another year has slipped quickly by and the latest here is vacation. Most of my attention lately has gone to work, my new Scrabble group
and my webstore on eBay Jewelry Avon and all that Jazz which features New Sterling Silver and Vintage Avon including Vintage Jewelry, other Gifts and Collectibles.