We are bombarded with new experiences every day. You forget most of them, you remember a few things for a short while, and even fewer others for a long while. But the experiences you have in your early and mid 20's are just different. The people and things you are exposed to at that time have a way of sticking with you forever. I feel that if you want to look back and wonder why your life took the turns it did, then look no further than your 20's.
I love almost all kinds of music, but I probably would not have become the big blues fan that I am had I not been exposed in my teens and twenties to someone who lived for the blues. I would often tire of listening to the poor quality recordings of Lightning Hopkins and Howling Wolf at that time, yet now this music helps define who I am. It is a part of me because someone I loved brought it to my life, like it or not.
I was remembering today one of the best concerts I ever saw-Muddy Waters in 1975. He was playing at an old auditorium at a small college (Erskine) about an hours drive away. I went with old blues lover and our best friend. There were only a few hundred people there and every single one of them felt it that night. The auditorium seemed ancient, all dark wood with high ceilings, and lining the walls, huge windows that were open. I think it was Spring or Fall.. I remember the breeze was cool that blew through the windows. Muddy was powerful as everyone knew he would be. But what was unexpected, was the harmonica player, Jerry Portnoy. He was small, slick, and straight from Chicago. He came out in a tight black suit and had on white leather loafers. He carried a black briefcase that he opened up and it was full of silver harps. The cool breeze blew through the windows, you could smell the old wood and floor cleaner in the auditorium, and Jerry Portnoy was absolutely unbelievable. The harder they played, the harder the breeze blew and before it was over the room was in a frenzy. I will never forget the way it felt in that old auditorium that night and the power and mystery of it all.
Old blues lover is dead now-- today would have been his 56th birthday. Jerry went on to play with Eric Clapton and I recently downloaded some music of his from itunes. There are some good videos of Muddy and Jerry from a year later, 1976, on You Tube. The best one, that I've watched over and over this evening, is the performance of a song that I remember them doing that night, but had forgotten the name- it was Blow Wind Blow.
Oh yeah.
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