AL KOOPER

I missed mentioning the birthday of one of the great
keyboard (and french horn) players in rock music.
The reason I mention Al Kooper was his unique
blues sound on many of his recordings, and just the
fact that he's worked with every major artist out there.

Al was born February 5th, 1944 in Brooklyn, NY.
Most people might know him as the organ player
for Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" and playing
keyboard and french horn on the Rolling Stones'
"You Can't Always Get What You Want"

What you might not know is, he was the
music director for my favorite 1980's TV show "Crime
Story" produced by Michael Mann. It took place
during the 1960's in Chicago and Las Vegas, and
had some actual scenes in jazz clubs with guest
appearances by Miles Davis. (Yes- crazy 1980's-era
Miles Davis, with his "new wave" look)
The show managed to get the essence of
60's Chicago and Vegas viewed
thru the greasy eye-lens of quiffed-mobsters.

Back to Al...
I think my first memory of Al Kooper is picking
up his autobiography when I was a kid, and
being grossed out after
reading about how he and his friends dropped
a load on their manager's desk (or was it the guy
at the music label).
Al called it a "Texas Twister" Anyone know if
this is still in the new edition? I should have
known he was a Brooklyn Boy! Maybe you
can ask him, if you're in NYC February 7th-
he'll be at B.B King's celebratin' his B-day

http://alkooper.com/
http://www.bbkingblues.com/

BO DIDDLEY

I didn't think this would end up being
my first post, but I just heard a
Bo Diddley song "YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK
BY IT'S COVER" on a commercial. I forgot
how great it is.

"Oh can't you see, oh you misjudge me
I look like a farmer, but I'm a lover
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover

Oh come on in closer baby,
hear what else I gotta say!
You got your radio turned down too low
Turn it up!" -composed by Willie Dixon

Some great lyrics.
I think the reason it caught my
attention was the anniversary of
Buddy Holly's passing yesterday
and certainly most people would
know what a huge influence Bo was
on Buddy. Also, check out Bo's
wiki page to see all the other
songs (some very recent) that
you can hear his signature guitar sound on.
It was simple, yet hypnotic. A
recurrent theme in blues music.
Most artists didn't always have full
bands, so they were left to make
up the rhythm on whatever instrument
they were able to get ahold of.
I think my favorite things about
Bo was his great sense of humor-
when asked about his financial
situation he replied "I am owed. A
dude with a pencil is worse than a
cat with machine gun" I was
going to look for a picture of a
cat with a machine gun, but I was
too tired. Also, nothing beats his
ad with Nike that he did years ago.
How many artists have the balls
to name a song after themselves?

The other thing I love about him
was his self-reliance. He made
box shaped guitars, with their
own reverb and tremolo effects.
Another thing you'll notice with
many blues artists- they often
made their own stringed instruments
sometimes using a knife for slide
effects. Cool!

Bo left us just last year- June 2, 2008