….except that:

I'm gonna try to wake up tomorrow with out a hangover.

I'm gonna attempt to make only rational decisions.

I'm gonna try to be just a little more assertive.

No need to cut back on the tv time. I hardly ever watch it.

And I'll try to cut back on being so much of a megalomaniac!

……that is all.

Let's do another little comparison here, since the last one was so much fun!

I was listening to an old Son house cd the other day, and it struck me just how much his voice reminded me of Ralph Stanley's.

Of course, they both play very different types of music, but when I started to think about it, they have an awful lot in common.

First up, Dr. Ralph Stanley:

Ralph has a very distinct mountain style that really takes one back to the hills. I've heard folks say that his is the best/purest bluegrass voice.

For years, he only sang harmony, preferring to let his brother Carter take all lead vocals. Since Carter Stanley's death in 1966, Ralph has sang lead, and duetted with just about everyone in the old time community you could possibly imagine.

Ralph is also known for his slashing banjo style. He started out playing clawhammer, but after hearing Earl Scruggs, switched over to three finger style.

Seems like Ralph has always been in someone elses shadow. Always content to let his brother sing lead, and playing bluegrass banjo while Earl still walks the face of the earth.

Then, there's Son House:

Huge voice.

Son, too, lived in the shadow of somebody else. Apparently Charlie Patton taught Son how to play guitar, and although he (Charlie) is my favorite of the old guys, I've gotta admit that Son had the better voice.

Son appeared to be a bitter man. Seemed that any chance he had to bad mouth Patton, he took. I guess he was jealous. I've read that he was constantly taking pot shots at Patton's 'clownin'.

Patton, as anybody who's listened to him knows, was a whiz with a guitar (yes, I think he was better than Robert johnson) and took to playing his guitar behind his head, and between his legs, among other things. You coulda' called him the first Jimi Hendrix.

I think that Son, although a rudimentry guitarist, was one of the blues' greatest voices.

                                               ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Now, compare Son singing John the Revelator to Ralph Stanley singing Oh Death. Neat, huh?

Both men sing with a hell of a lot of natural soul. At times Ralph sounds like a blues singer, and at times, Son House sounds like a mountain singer.

You can't teach that stuff. It just flows outta both of them.

Here is another in my series of road pictures. No Photoshop or editing on this shot. I`d been bugging the guys to stop the bus for months and take this one. 

Book currently reading: Cormac McCarthy, Outer Dark. Yikes! Scary……. I absolutely love McCarthy's writing style. I used to think that he just made words up, but recently, somebody told me that he uses a lexicon of old and forgotten words in his novels. I haven't checked up on this, but it seems plausible.

McCarthy's books have a way of creeping into one's sub-conscious. In the past, when I discovered a new writer, I'd go out and read all of their books in succession. I don't do that anymore.

I remember reading a bunch of Hubert Selby jr. novels, one right after another, and almost killing myself!

Last cd listened to: Dwight Diller -Piney Woods

I don't think too many people outside West Virginia know about Dwight Diller, which is a pity because he's probably one of the best old time banjo players on the planet. He quietly continues to churn out cds every couple of years or so, of old and almost forgotten songs of his native area.

If you're into old time, or just great songs with spectacular playing, he's definately worth looking into!

Last Beer Drank: Um….. Bavaria, imported from Holland! Don't let the 'imported' handle fool you. A half-dozen tall boys of this shit is cheaper than the same amount of any local beer.

My pal Dirk is a highschool teacher, and his school decided to have a Battle of the Bands to showcase some of the talent there.

Last night was the big show, and I, as well as a couple of other Esteemed Luminaries, were judges.

There were five bands ranging in ages and musical styles -I forgot just how young grade nines can seem- and most were quite good- all things considered.

Well, after watching them perform their three songs each, we retired to the judges quarters (cafeteria) to assess the winner.

We all agreed that it would be a group of grade nines, who really came into the contest as underdogs. They tried hard, probably had a higher hill to climb, and it was quite apparent that they were totally committed to what they were doing.

Pandemonium! a couple of the other bands thought that they should have won, and although most were gracious, a couple were really pissed. Shit started flying, and some of the supporters of the other bands began breating us judges.

It was a hoot!  

Lately, I've had the time to dig out a bunch of my older cds. I've been playing a lot of NRBQ's stuff, and marvelling at just how great a band they are (were).

I suppose it might have been their penchant to drift towards insanity that kept them from becoming the huge band that they should have been, but then again, a lot of their crazyness added to the charm.

Who in their right mind would think to do a whacked out version of Bach's Capriccio on the same album that has a song about former professional wrestler turned impressario Captain Lou Albano? And then, on the same record, you'll hear an NRBQ original called 'You Got It', which is about as cool a rocker as you can get! Besides, what kind of deranged group of individuals would come up with a album entitled 'Tap Dancin' Bats?'

However, make no mistake about it, these guys can PLAY! There's a reason that Keith Richards recruited bassist Joey Spampinato to play in his band 'The Xpensive Winos.' Guitarist Al Anderson, when he isn't keeping half of Nashville supplied with hit records, lays down some of the coolest tele licks this side of James Burton!

On piano, and other keyboard type instruments is Terry Adams. Apparently, he's some kind of level 5 (what-ever-the-hell-that-means) classically trained musician. It shows. Adams seems to be the 'evil genius' behind the band, pushing them ever closer towards Ornette Coleman's dissonance, or perhaps Arnold Schoenbergs madness….. I always got the feeling that the other fellows in the band happily followed him off on his excursions, while gleefully chuckling inside.

This is a band that disarms you with their foolishness, and then sneaks up on you to bite you in the ass with their awesome playing and songs. 

Big Al left the band some years ago to pursue a carreer in song writing and solo projects, but the Q live on. Joey Spampinato recruited his younger brother Johnny to play guitar and NRBQ continues to roll.

As stated in my last post, I've been listening to a lot of Hound Dog Taylor lately. Every time I hear his stuff, I get a real blast of joy. Few other artists do this to me. Maybe the only other that I can think of at this particular point in time is Earl Scruggs, on a few of his tunes.

I just found these great vids on youtube. Put a HUGE grin on my face!

Earl playing 'Randy Lynn Rag' and Hound Dog playing 'Taylors Rock.'

Hmmm……. let's see…… let's do a little comparison:

Earl Scruggs:

Always in tune.

 A masterful musician (he pretty much wrote the book -they do call it Scruggs style, after all); A great writer; Always striving to integrate different ideas into his playing.

Great hats!

Thick southern accent added to his sincerity. 

Hound Dog Taylor:

Never in tune

 A masterful musician (at least at what he does. Great slide player -all three licks worth);

Hardly really wrote anything -but then again, in the great blues tradition, he 'borrowed' from everybody, and made it his.

Made four studio albums, and one or two live albums playing the same stuff over and over again. In other words found his groove, and was content to stay within it until the day he croaked.

Great hats!

Thick southern accent that sounded like jibberish!

….so, as you can see, the differences are huge, but the end result is the same. Hmmmmm……..

Last cd listened to: HOUND DOG BABY!!! Hound Dog Taylor and the Houserockers. Any one'll do. This, my friends, is the real deal! The most joyously raucous noise you'll ever hear! Buy one Hound Dog record 'cause you'll enjoy it, and then go out and buy another one 'cause it's the same as the first -only different. Kinda' like the Austin Powers series of movies…….

"When I die they'll say 'He couldn't play shit, but he sure made it sound good!'" Hound Dog Taylor 

And so we do!

Last book read: A Short History of Nearly Everything

Actually, it's a re-read. This time I'm underlining passages. …….seriously.

You gotta love Bryson. Who else can you say, that can write a travel book that makes you feel as though you're actually there? Thanks to him, I'll never have to take a trip to Australia, or travel the Appalachian trail in 2m of snow.

Big Secret: Before becoming famous as a travel writer, Bryson had written a couple of books about the English language. Made in America; and Mother Tongue. Awesome, both. Is there anything this guy can't do? huh?

Last Movie Watched: The Deer Hunter. UGGH…. why did I do that to myself? Hauntingly depressing.

Look who's sittin' pretty in the ol' #2 slot:

Better still, look who's lower on the ladder…….? HOLY SHIT this is an absolute shocker! How the hell does this happen?

What I find hilarious is that we're practically the only band on the list that is 'independant.'

What does that mean? It means we have no record label, virtually no promotion, no manager, no money………. yet somebody out there is playing the shit outta' our disc.

You might say, "but Joe, that's only Kamloops!" I don't care! Right now I'm in the process of bundling up all my Stanley Kubrick DVD's; my railroad memorabilia, my 'can't live without crap', 2 of my banjos, etc., and sending it all off to someone; ANYONE in Kamloops B.C.

Shit, I might even just move there!!!

Oh yeah, YOU'RE GOING DOWN SEAN LENNON!!!!

Now you can download tracks from our cd from Napster and Rhapsody. iTunes is on the way!

I've been browsing some of the music downloading sites, and it's amazing just how 'un-user-friendly' some of them are! eMusic wants you to download a player before you get to search their database. MP3 dot com's home page opens up on a fucking AOL ad leaving one scratching one's head wondering what to do.

I'm no computer whiz -hell, I can barely post to my own site- but doesn't it make sense to be able to just 'get to the goods' when looking for something?