5.19.2010
Stormy Monday Show with Bluesman Joe "Survival" Caruso
09:08 | 
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Sybil Gage's Stormy Monday Show |
Joe took us through his own devastating experience with Hurricane Katrina, in which he lost everything except for a few photo's (kept dry inside a coffee can) and a waterlogged guitar that he resurrected and still uses today. He discussed his experiences backing R&B legends like Ernie K- Doe, Johnny Adams, Johnny Taylor, The Neville Brothers and the time he spent touring Germany with Buddy Ace. And then he took us along on the joy rides he and his father would take when he was eight; parking across the street from the open doors of the Dew Drop Inn in New Orleans so that he could hear the music.
We heard quite a bit Joe's original music, and I especially liked the very spooky New Orleans song called "Voo Doo Lover" done up on an acoustic guitar to a scary perfection. Joe tickled our ears with a ripping John Lee Hooker cover of "I'm In The Mood" (with the Boogie Woogie Boo Fay Blues Band helping to singe the walls) and then turned us on to a great R& B artist he backed by the name of Mathilda Jones. (When you hear her it takes you back to a good old barroom sound like you haven't heard in a long time.)
You know it's radio, but we dressed for the radio spotlight. I had on a gown and he, after driving for 2 hours, changed from a plaid shirt to a white shirt with grey stripes to match his grey Stetson hat( which he found a way to keep on while wearing headphones.) That's Nawlin's style radio baby!
Joe Caruso and I recorded a duet a few months back called "Your Love Is With Me All The Time," which Caruso wrote and he had me play tonight. You'll be the first to hear it here, but it will be on his next CD and he'll certainly be back on the show soon.
Joe "Survival" Caruso is a heck of a nice guy and a splendid talent, and what an honor it was to have him as a guest on the Stormy Monday Show.
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5.10.2010
Lena Horne
This is how we should remember Lena Horne.
She came to prominence in a difficult time for black people , but also at a wonderful time for Jazz music. She had beautiful friendships with such luminaries as Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.
She was hip. She stood her ground against Hollywood; challenging the way black people were portrayed. And when she had an opportunity to "pass" for Latino, she turned it down flat.
She enjoyed 60 years of entertaining us in films, in clubs, on television. (I just watched a special two days ago, and you've heard her many times on my show.)
May you rest in peace for a job well done Lady. We are forever blessed to have witnessed you.
5.09.2010
Buddy Guy
Imagine being an inspiration to legends such as Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Page, Eric Clapton and I'm sure countless others. He has been called the bridge between the blues and rock and roll, so much so that Jimi Hendrix said that Heaven was lying at Buddy Guy's feet listening to him play guitar.
But Buddy Guy is also a flamboyant entertainer. I remember a quote by Jeff Beck saying that he once saw Guy throw the guitar up in the air and catch it in the same chord, and he was playing the guitar behind his back and picking it with his teeth almost 10 years before Hendrix adopted the moves. When Hendrix got really big Buddy Guy was accused of imitating him, but in reality Hendrix used to cancel his own engagements to go see Buddy Guy!
Guy was born in Leftsworth, Louisiana and is still performing at the age of 73 (See the video below from 2009). But what I love about Guy is his showmanship, his sincere smile and his interaction with the audience. I haven't ever seen a blues singer smile so much. He loves it when you sing along with him, and will often invite you on stage to help out with a tune. He can, and does, hold one note on the guitar for, oh… I counted at least 20 seconds, and that one note is a knockout punch just waiting for your ears to arrive.
Chicago Blues, that's Buddy Guy. He learned to play guitar on a two string diddley bow that he made from scratch. For 10 years one of his labels, Chess, refused to record him because they didn't understand his style and basically used Guy as a session man for recordings on albums for Koko Taylor, Muddy Waters, and Howlin Wolf. His career slumped in the late 1960's while the people he inspired rose to success, but it was revived when Clapton asked him to be in the 24 Nights blues lineup at London's Royal Albert Hall, in the late 80's. Now, Guy is a 5 time Grammy Award winner and has received 23 W.C Handy Awards ( more than any other artist) . He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, and his acceptance speech was simple, sweet and short “If you don't think you have the blues, just keep living". That’s blues, (and life) Buddy Guy style, and the reason why he is still such an inspiration in the world of music.
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