Minor Wisdom

Guitar duet, courtesy of the Allman Brothers

The South is the source of soul. I can offer many proofs of that statement; here is just one: the Allman Brothers’ classic Blue Sky, featuring perhaps the finest guitar duet in the history of rock & roll. (Hat tip to Peter Athas, a.k.a. Adrastos.)

Mississippi John Hurt

No comment needed. Just watch this. (Hat tip to Andrew Lilly.)

Folks, this is the real blues, close to the roots.

If you like your blues close to the roots, then you’ll love this: R.L. Burnside doing See My Jumper out in the country.

Skip James, the Bach of the blues

My guitar tutor, Vincent, referred to Skip James as the Bach of the blues. An apt description. Here’s a pretty-good-quality video of Skip playing Crow Jane.

Bring me my running shoes

Tomorrow’s Rock ’n’ Roll Mardi Gras Marathon passes my front porch, right around the 7-mile split. For all competitors, I offer the good wishes of Lord Birkenhead in Chariots of Fire: “Good luck to you all.” And I offer something that Lord Birkenhead could not: this bit of musical inspiration by Howlin’ Wolf.

Merry Christmas, y’all

“Christmas is a special day,
Don’t forget to go to church and pray.”

—Fats Domino

Spencer Bohren: A solid citizen

This video is a commercial for Spencer Bohren, and I’m happy to post it for two reasons. First, Spencer is a solid citizen of Blues City. Second, the soundtrack is so damn good. Spencer is fine on the slide. But don’t take my word for it. Give it a listen.

Time (by Pink Floyd)

Here’s a classic by Pink Floyd. Every day I live, it hits closer to home.

My one quibble with Led Zeppelin’s “Mothership” ...

... is that is doesn’t include Living Loving Maid (She’s Just a Woman). (Note: Though the video goes on for 4:09 the song ends at 2:48.)

Vintage Ozzy

This weekend, the Voodoo Fest is happening in New Orleans at City Park. One of the headliners is Ozzy Osbourne. Ozzy has been at it quite a while. Here he is with his old group, Black Sabbath, performing Paranoid, circa 1970. On reading the lyrics, I think Melancholy would have been a more appropriate title. Maybe they didn’t want their song confused with Melancholy Baby.