"Is it a man or a building?"

Well, it's actually a man named AFTER a building. This building:

Taj Mahal has been on the scene for 40 odd years now, and always on the fringe. While primarily a blues musician, he has a talent for blending the blues with other styles as well, often creating something entirely unique. No one can play the down-n-dirty, nitty gritty delta blues like Taj, either. I imagine he'd set Robert Johnson back a respectful step or two.

This is why it's difficult to pick one song to show you what his music is like. The fact that my Taj Mahal boots span 40 years pokes at the problem spot a bit also. Thus, I've posted two songs this week, and that isn't enough, either.

The first is an example of Taj playing traditional acoustic blues in his own distinctive style. You can tell that he's dead serious about his music, but that's only because he has so much fun with it. The song is one of his signature tunes, "Fishin' Blues", from New York City's Bottom Line in October of 1974. Taj is bursting with energy, and infecting the entire audience with that energy by force. You can tell they're having a lot of fun.

This song clocks in at 4:20, so smoke 'em if you've got 'em. Click here for "Fishin' Blues" at NYC's Bottom Line in Oct. 1974.

If this tune sounds familiar, you might know it from the Lovin' Spoonful's wildly inferior (IMO)  pop version in the film "What's Up Tiger Lily".

Fast forward 30 years to the Winnipeg Folk Festival in Manitoba, Canada. I now give you a taste of Taj's current flavor. His music of late has been injected with a Pacific island groove, a highly dancable electric mix of blues and beach. I toyed with the idea of using "Fishin' Blues" again, as it sounds very different from the one you've just heard, and he's STILL having a good time with it. Variety wins out, though, and I think this selection best displays the newer sound.  His band is called The Hula Band, and this is the "New Hula Blues".

Click here for "New Hula Blues" at the Winnipeg Folk Festival on July 8, 2004.

Next Week: You've known him as a funny actor for about 30 years, but he started as a funny musician. First to post his name in the commments wins a copy of the show!

Addendum: Kudos to Mark for being the only one to at least TRY to guess this, although I don't personally know of a musician named "Chrysler". That doesn't mean there isn't one! I guess ol' Taj isn't as well known as I thought. He certainly isn't as well known as he should be.

Inspired by a debate taking place here and here, I have, with painstaking research and great expense of time, compiled a list of

13 things the Jews have NOT been blamed for, at least to any great extent.

1. The extinction of the velociraptor.
2. The disappearance of Amelia Earhart.
3. Sunspots.
4. The Zulu Wars.
5. Empty toner cartridges (except in law and accounting offices).
6. The Dust Bowl.
7. Shark   attacks (except in law offices).
8. The high price of rosaries.
9. Photographic red-eye.
10. Jimmy Swaggart.
11. The heartbreak of psoriasis.
12. Stryper.
13. Ragnarok.

Who says these guys never get a break?

Here's a little musical exercise I saw at Cheezy's. The first step is to write down 10 bands quickly- the first ten off the top of your head. Mine are:

1. Pink Floyd
2. The Kinks
3. The Grateful Dead
4. The Moody Blues
5. Led Zeppelin
6. The Who
7. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
8. Jeff Beck
9. The Beatles
10. Phish

Then, there's the questions.............

1. What was the first song you ever heard by 6? "Pinball Wizard"

2. What is your favourite album of 8? It's impossible to pick just one, but I'm still very enamored of his most recent, Jeff.

3. What is your favourite lyric of 5? "Lots of people talkin', very few of them know the soul of a woman was created below."

4. How many times have you seen 4 live? Once. My first concert!

5. What is your favourite song by 7? I love their version of "Hoedown".

6. Is there a song of 3 that makes you sad? "He's Gone"

7.What is your favourite lyric of 9? I've delayed posting this for 24 hours because I just can't answer this question. I almost chose the 2nd verse of "Let It Be", but there are SO MANY OTHER good ones. Hell, the Revolver album alone has me stymied.

8. What is your favourite song by 1? "Echoes"

9. How did you get into 8? Through friends.

10. What is your favourite song by 4? "Watching and Waiting"

11. How many times have you seen 1 live? Three

12. What is a good memory concerning 2? Scoring a fantastic video boot of one of their 70's shows

13. Is there a song by 2 that makes you sad? "Celluloid Heroes"

14. What is your favourite song of 6? "Long Live Rock"!

15. How did you become a fan of 10? A friend who didn't like them but knew I would brought a disc over and played it for me.

* Not to be confused with "Copycatechism", which is plagiaristic religious instruction.

One of the greatest perks of collecting underground recordings is occasionally getting a show that you were at. This is even better when it's one of your favorite bands.

Hot Tuna has been one of my faves for the last 23 years. They originally sprang from another of my faves, the Jefferson Airplane, in the late 60s. The lead guitarist, Jorma Kaukonen, and the bass player, Jack Casady, liked to kill a little hotel time playing old time blues tunes as an acoustic duo. This eventually led to a "Hot Tuna" section of the Airplane shows, while the rest of the band took a break. After the band broke up, Jorma and Jack expanded Hot Tuna into a full electric rock and roll band, but never grew completely away from the Tuna's acoustic roots, and eventually started doing more acoustic shows than electric. Today, they have three tour schedules: One electric, one acoustic, and one acoustic with a mandolin player.

According to the band, the name came from one evening when the Airplane were tooling around Greenwich Village after a show. Driving slowly past one of NY's "street workers", one member of the band asked "What's that smell like fish?" The answer came back "Hot Tuna." That line later appeared in the song "Keep on Truckin'", hence last week's clue.

I've seen Hot Tuna many times, both electric and acoustic, but by the time this show came around it had been many years since the last time. Great shows come few and far between to New Mexico. Not only were they playing in Albuquerque, they were playing about one mile (as the crow flies) from my old place, at a dark little dive called the Sunshine Theater (one of my favorite venues in 'Burque). This was billed as a 3 piece Tuna with Barry Mitterhoff on mandolin, but it turned out to be basic, stripped down acoustic Hot Tuna. That didn't bother me one bit. I like the various lineups, but all I really need is to hear is Jorma and Jack doing what they do best, and that's exactly what I heard from my front  row seat!

Now from a collector's viewpoint, they can be a difficult band to collect, as they disapprove of electronic trading. Therefore, no downloads. I got this simply by trolling through posted lists, and happening to be lucky enough to find a guy in W. Virginia who had this as well as a Neil Young show I saw. I managed to set up a snail mail trade, and got both shows. It's an audience recording, which means that it's a little "boxier" in sound than the other things I've posted, but it still sounds great and is a joy to listen to. Listening to a recording of a show you were at helps bring back a lot of memories from that show, and is a terrific way to relive it, to some extent. Listening to this, I can remember the folding chairs in what is normally an open area, I can recall some of the people around me (some with their kids!), and I can feel once again how freaking COLD it was in that theater!

Now, I expected this to be a fairly easy one to guess, for two reasons. First, my regular readers include two other fans of San Francisco music, O'Tim and Mark. Second, I found Hot Tuna right away when I Googled the clue. However, no one Googled and O'Tim doesn't come to my blog as often as he should, the yankee bastich, so it took awhile. The two of them do-si-doed around each other for a bit. O'Tim answered it first in e-mail, and technically he posted it first publicly, but Mark also made the first public post that made it clear he knew the answer. Thus, I declared it a tie. I'll try to send off your copies next week.

While Hot Tuna does have many originals, the tune I share this week is a classic- Jessie Fuller's San Francisco Bay Blues. Many people are familiar with this song because of Eric Clapton's fine version, but I personally like this one much better. You can hear how the crowd's full attention is grabbed by the band and held until the song is over. I also picked this cut because it lets you listen to Jack show off a little.

Oh, and these guys TEACH, as well. If you play guitar, and want to learn from Jorma or Jack, visit the Fur Peace Ranch.

Click here for Hot Tuna playing "San Francisco Bay Blues" at Albuquerque's Sunshine Theater on Feb. 9,2004.

Next week: Is it a man or a building?

Several months ago, I named Fred Phelps as the Asshole of the Year. I honestly didn't expect him to have competition, but he does.

His competition is our STUPID, DISHONEST, AND THOROUGHLY AMORAL SHITSACK OF A PRESIDENT. Here's WHY.

So, researching  cures crosses a moral boundary, but:

Starting a war based on lies does not?

Shortchanging our troops on armor, then charging them for it, does not?

Cutting VA benefits does not?

Taking food stamps from children does not?

Consistently passing blame to subordinates is not?

Letting Haliburton rip us off is not?

Trying to give control of our ports to a country that aided our attackers does not?

Calling off the search for Bin Laden does not?

Taking personal revenge on political enemies does not?

Making it impossible for the sick and elderly to get less expensive medicines does not?

Putting friends in important jobs that they are not competent to perform, thus costing American lives, does not?

Breaking the FISA laws and then claiming that he is not bound by the Constitution does not?

This cocksucker-in-chief does not know the meaning of the word "moral", and if Jesus wastes one second on this piece of shit when he dies, then he's a waste of time as well.

I mean it. Christians keep whining that there is a war against their beliefs. Well, perhaps it's time for the rest of us- that is, people who actually give a shit about other people, instead of just caring about their own selfish interpretations of an ancient text- to GIVE them one. Baptists LOVE burning books. I bet a pile of Bibles would burn really well, also.

Where is the philanthropy that that Mark was talking about, when we tell our own people who are suffering from disease that they are not as worthy as someone yet unborn? I guess placing our own people above our stupid superstitions is more difficult than tossing some money overseas and patting ourselves on the back for it.

I also find it very telling that after 5 1/2 years, the first time he uses his veto power is when it might help someone who isn't rich.

How can anyone with human feelings and a conscience support this evil jerkoff????

Clarification, please: In mentioning Mark in the philanthropy part of my rant, I wasn't trying to pick a bone with him personally. I was merely referring to the philanthropy that was mentioned as a source of and justification for pride in that dialogue. It seems to me that the philanthropy we see in reality is a bit uneven. After all, charity and Federal funding both begin at home. I did not intend to imply that Mark is against sick people, or prefers little clumps of cells to the elderly, or is in agreement with Bush on this issue or any other. He is simply mentioned as the one who brought up the philanthropy I wanted to refer to, because it wasn't that long ago, and saved us from a long and boring recap. Of the philanthropy thing. That I wanted to refer to.

'Kay?

1. Streaking - It would have been better if it wasn't usually guys.....
2. Pet Rocks - People WILL buy ANYTHING.
3. Disco - What rock 'n' roller DIDN'T want to club Andy Gibb like a baby seal?
4. Rocky Horror Picture Show - I get bored as soon as the Time Warp is over.
5. Wacky Wall Walkers - I found one of these damn things in my chili mac once.
6. Rubik's Cube - Never solved it, but didn't really try, either.
7. Break Dancing - I was glad I lived in the country, where no one expected you to do shit like this.
8. "Baby On Board" signs - Oh, you have a kid? Maybe I'll try not to hit you, then.
9. Piercings - This can REALLY BE OVERDONE.
10. Wassuup? - This one almost made me homicidal.
11. Mood Rings - If you need a ring to display your moods, you just might be a little inhibited, eh?
12. Lava Lamps - A decorative way to tell the world "I smoke way too much pot".
13. Alligator shirts - Classic dorkwear.

As I've stated before, a lot of bumper stickers bug me a little. Not so much the funny ones, though I really don't see the point of telling the same joke every day for years on end. The ones I don't get are of the "I support this" or "I believe that" type. There's one I see far more than others, so I'm finally going to rant about it.

I know you've seen it, too. It's the one that says "Proud to be an American".

Now, I can hear some spines stiffening already, but fret not. This has nothing to do with my feelings about America, and everything to do with how I feel about pride.

I see pride as coming in two varieties. The first is deserved pride. This is the pride you earn through your actions. If you do a good job at work, you can take pride in that. If you buy a crappy looking house and fix it up so that it becomes beautiful, you have a right be be proud. If your children are polite and helpful to old ladies crossing the street, you can take pride in the fact that you raised them well. There is no harm in taking some pride in your accomplishments, especially if they took a lot of time and work.

Then there is another pride, which I call vain pride. This is the type that the Bible warns us about, the kind that cometh before a fall. This is pride taken in something that you had nothing to do with. This is the kind expressed in the bumper sticker.

Now, it would be appropriate if someone immigrated here, learned the language and the history, jumped through the hoops, took the test, and became a citizen. They've accomplished something. They aren't the people with the sticker, though. The ones with the sticker are soccer moms in SUVs and rednecks in pickup trucks. They are "proud" because they just happened to be lucky enough to pop out of the womb within the United States. Of course, they don't feel that other people who do that have a right to be proud..... not if their parents weren't citizens. Those people are, of course, a drain on our superior society.

This is a dangerous and egotistical pride. It says "I'm better than people who were born elsewhere- or SHOULD have been born elsewhere". It says, "I deserve to be proud simply because I AM." It's the type of pride that leads one to think that anything their country does is right, simply because it's THEIR country doing it. It's a pride that says " When America says jump, France should say 'How high'". It's a pride that actually had people expecting the Iraqis to shower us with love and thanks for bombing them.

What other accidents of birth are these folks proud of? Are they "Proud to be white"? "Proud to be tall"? "Proud to be non-Jewish"? "Proud to be upper-middle class"? Just how much pride can these folks take in their various natal situations? How much work does it take these folks just to be Americans? 

So there's my problem. It's a cheap, egotistical mindset, held by those that don't feel that pride is something that needs to be earned. It's vain and dangerous. Taking pride in something you lucked into is entirely inappropriate.

So what, you are thinking, would I suggest as being appropriate? Something a bit more humble. How about this-

"Thankful that I'm an American".

It seems like everyone else is doing this questionaire...............

GRUB-OLOGY

What is your salad dressing of choice? Thousand Island
What is your favorite fast food restaurant? KFC
What is your favorite sit down restaurant? Tucano's Brazilian Grill
On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant? 20%.
What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? Shrimp
Name three foods you detest above all others. Bananas, Liver, lima beans
What is your favorite dish to order in a Chinese restaurant? Kung Pao chicken
What are your pizza toppings of choice? Sausage, Mushroom, extra cheese, and more extra cheese.
What do you like to put on your toast? Strawberry Jam.
What is your favorite type of gum? I don't do gum.

TECH-OLOGY

Number of contacts in your cell phone? 15
Number of contacts in your email address book? Several dozen.
What is your wallpaper on your computer? Adam receiving the touch of life from the Flying Spaghetti Monster's noodly appendage.
What is your screensaver on your computer? Black screen.
Are there naked pictures saved on your computer? Yup.
How many land line phones do you have in your house? None.
How many televisions are in your house? One.
What kitchen appliance do you use the least? The coffee maker, since my stomach problems have made me switch to tea.
What is the format of the radio station you listen to the most? Talk, if I listen to local radio at all.
How many sex toys do you own that require batteries? None, but one is steam powered, and another requires a team of oxen.

BI-OLOGY

What do you consider to be your best physical attribute? My fingers. They can do things that normal fingers cannot.
Are you right handed or left handed? Right.
Do you like your smile? I never really look at it.
Have you ever had anything removed from your body? Wisdom teeth and an alien anal probe.
Would you like to? The other wisdom teeth, sure.                                                    Do you prefer to read when you go to the bathroom? No, I prefer to yodel. 
Which of your five senses do you think is keenest? Hearing.
When was the last time you had a cavity? A few years ago.
What is the heaviest item you lift regularly? Cases of table paper.
Have you ever been knocked unconscious? No.

MISC-OLOGY

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? Yes. Party the night before!
If you could change your first name, what would you change it to? Your Excellency.
How do you express your artistic side? Write, mostly. A little photography.
What color do you think you look best in? Brown.
How long do you think you could last in a medium security prison? As long as I have to.
Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake? Absolutely- medicine is not food.
If we weren't bound by society's conventions, do you have a relative you would make a pass at? I haven't seen a relative outside my immediate family in 15 years, so you can guess my level of interest.
How often do you go to church? As often as I'm invited to weddings.
Have you ever saved someone's life? Not that I know of, but who can tell?            Has someone ever saved yours? A doctor did, when I had a MAJOR asthma attack as a kid.

DARE-OLOGY

For this last section, if you would do it for less or more money, indicate how much.

Would you walk naked for a half mile down a public street for $100,000? Yes, but if the street in question is called CASTRO, I'll be running at full tilt.
Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100? No.
Would you have sex with a member of the same sex for $10,000? No.
Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000? No.
Would you never blog again for $50,000? Probably.
Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000? For that much, I'd pose naked in Humpty Dumpty.
Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? Depends. Some hot sauces could be done like that, others hurt just touching the bottle.
Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for $1,000,000? I'd have to see their voter registration card first.
Would you shave your head and get your entire body waxed for $5,000? Sure.
Would you give up watching television for a year for $25,000? Yes, but just for a year. I'll miss Jeopardy and TCM!

Rehearsals provide some fantastic boots, for many reasons.  First, they're always well recorded, because they're taken off the soundboard by the road crew. That means that the signal goes directly from the mixer, which puts all the instrument and microphone signals together in the proper proportion, to the recorder. This gives better quality, of course, than a microphone sitting somewhere in the audience an untold (usually) distance away. The music is interesting as well, because you are hearing the artists try out ideas that they may or may not use in concert. Some things sound cool, others sound half baked, but the fun is in listening to the idea develop. You also get to hear some of your faves screw up royally, which, of course, is what rehearsal is for. That is why they record themselves- to hear what they did with an audience's ear, and pick out the things that don't work BEFORE doing an actual performance.

In this case, the rehearsal recording is the only way to hear this particular band lineup, because it never happened onstage. David Bowie had tapped an unknown guitar talent named Stevie Ray Vaughn to play guitar for his "Let's Dance" album, which did very well in the stores. Stevie, at the time, was also in the process of recording an album- the second recorded, but the first to actually be released. He agreed to tour with Bowie, but then dropped out. Some sources say that he needed to tour for his own album, released just a few months after "Let's Dance".  Others cite "disputes". Either way, SRV was replaced, and went on tour with Double Trouble instead.

Now, on the surface, Bowie and SRV go together like ham and chocolate. Listening to the discs, you can spot several instances where Stevie's style simply wasn't appropriate to the song. Examples include "Heroes", where he tried to play Robert Fripp's part without the Frippertronics, and "Station to Station", where Bowie HAD to long for Carlos Alomar. However, he did sound good on a lot of songs, especially those written with a bluesy style in mind, or those re-arranged to fit him. This week I will share one of the latter.

TVC15 is one of my favorite Bowie tunes, and I like this version because it's very different from any other I've heard. This song normally has a honky-tonk sound to it, but this version is very bluesy, and lets SRV cut loose for a couple blues riffs. It's a fun listen, and an interesting glimpse into the band that never happened.

Here's David Bowie with Stevie Ray Vaughn playing TVC15 on April 27, 1983

Congrats to jollykay for figuring it out! The full show is already on its' way!

Next week: What's that smell like fish, oh baby?