As I write this There is a young guitar aficionado somewhere who will be the next Uber musician climbing to the top. He will have stood on the shoulders of past greats and will pay his respects for all they have taught him. He has worked tirelessly on his craft and his speed, fluidity and creativity will reflect his essence. This special talent will be perceptible from his earliest playing and through out his career.
I must confess that I am biased about guitar players in general and my loyalties are rooted in the past. Not long ago I happened to find a you tube video of Joe Bonomassa, Jimmy Vivino and Herbert Sumlin. I am sorry that I don't remember the name of the fourth player, a young kid who reminded me of a Stevie Ray. On the stage these four men represented the blues past, present and future. Each played a solo, that showcased their unique skills. Each musician had stellar talent, and I fought against the urge to say who was the best. Try as I may I found myself drawn to Joe because his tone was perfect, his facility was impossible to deny and he could really sing. It has been a long, long time since I reconnected to another player. If you get a chance please check this out.
Your friend,
Allen B.
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3 comments:
Hi Allen,
It's been a couple years since I last posted. I was inspired to come back and say hello as I thought about today, the 30th anniversary of Michael's passing. Your thoughts on great players are spot on. I too like Bonamassa's playing; powerful and a voice to match. But I have to share a recent experience that brought it all home again to me. I was in the local Music store and spotted that they had one of the Mike Bloomfield reissue Les Paul's - a beautiful copy based on the one that disappeared long ago and that they had to re-engioneer entirley from pictures. I asked to see it and play a few licks and the sales guy gladly obliged. I thought finally a chance to see how the Real McCoy got those incredible sounds. I plugged into a '65 vintage Fender Super Reverb and so (I thought) I had all the fixins to make it happen. Mind you, I have played the blues for over 40 years now and a large part of my lead repertoire is based on Mike's licks that I painstakingly learned by listening and coying. But I never could get that elusive tone that was uniquely Mike's. So I proceeded to lay down some classic Michael licks. But lo and behold - you guessed it - having all of the ingredients for a great feast and putting them all together into the perfect dish are two entirely different things. It convinced me once again that Mike was one of a kind, never again to be duplicated. And no matter how long I (or others)try, the magic will never again flow through a person's fingers like that again. Here's to Michael and all of the joy he gave us during his all too brief stay on this earth. May he rest in peace.
Patrick
Love the blog, Allen.
Allen,
I just heard that Vintage Guitar magazine (June issue) will have some new info on Michael's missing Les Paul. Do you know if they have actually identified who has it and where it is?
Many thanks,
Patrick
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