Hyde Park Blvd

Happy birthday one day late.  With Big Mama Thornton (and a very Chicago stage set) in 1965.

Clapton explains the degree of difficulty in making music that sounds so easy and then demonstrates the residue of hard work and talent.

Why Robert Johnson is under-appreciated. And why Eric Clapton isn’t.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TyzAAwJnIw&feature=related]In 1970 and 1971 I sat and listened to “Mississippi” Fred McDowell after concerts at Joe’s Place in Cambridge, a combination of hero-worship and a desperate attempt to learn some licks.

Fred would sit as long as the group continued to provide a passed bottle of apricot brandy. He was patient, I was clueless. This video reminds me of a lesson that focused on this song, Going Down to the River .

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTF9p45IMSE]This great piece is an excerpt from a 1969 documentary called “Blues Maker.” Originally, Fred played slide guitar using a beef bone; here he’s using his trademark bottleneck. The driving bass line is characteristically Fred, something he passed on to Bonnie Raitt.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIuVzSkwYr4]Everyone stole his songs and his licks. In New York City, he gave guitar lessons for $5, which included dinner (home cooked). You watched, you listened, you got your money’s worth. And maybe you learned a lick or two. But nobody since was the whole package like Rev. Gary Davis.