Tuesday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“Half of the game of baseball is ninety percent mental.”

Yogi Berra

Here is a little something for you blues fans:

On October 4, 1954 Stevie Ray Vaughan was born in Dallas, Texas. His father was a worker in a cement plant and his mother was a secretary. He had an older brother named Jimmie that played an important role in Stevie’s life. As with most teenagers he did not know what he wanted out of life but he knew it was not high school and dropped out. While he was growing up he played with loaned guitars and arrived at his own bluesy style. One day when he was 17 he was working in a burger joint and was standing on a barrel full of cooking oil to get something off of a high shelf. The top of the barrel collapsed and Stevie found himself standing waist deep in oil. It was then that Stevie determined the direction his life would go, it was music. He joined with several different local bands in the Dallas and Austin areas and honed his guitar skills to a fine edge. He finally got a stable band together named Double Trouble that was the band in demand in the Dallas/Austin area. His soaring guitar licks caught the attention of David Bowie and Jackson Browne and was a side man on several of their albums. It is strange but Duane Allman was also a side man with these bands plus Aretha Franklin. He came into worldwide fame when his band played at the Montraux, France Jazz Festival. Many in the audience did not appreciate his “hard” blues style but other renowned guitarists in the audience knew what genius they were hearing. In a very short period of time he and Double Trouble cut three albums each one more successful than the previous one. The money began to flow in and almost as soon as he gained notoriety he got addicted to booze (Southern Comfort) and cocaine. For several sessions Stevie was stoned out of his gourd but his guitar licks prevailed. He finally collapsed during a recording session and went to a detox unit in Georgia. The doctors there said he was just days or hours from dying. He came out of detox a different man and it showed in the next album. The magic was even more evident. One year he was voted as the best blues guitarist which was the first time a white man had received such an award. Stevie was encouraged throughout his career by his brother Jimmie who was a well know blues guitarist in his own right playing for The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Stevie was invited to participate in a concert in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin sponsored by Eric Clapton and Robert Cray. After playing early in the concert on August 27, 1990, Stevie was offered a seat on a helicopter headed to Chicago. Stevie accepted and the helicopter crashed into a ski slope during bad weather and there were no survivors. Later his brother Jimmie gathered snippets of different live appearances by Stevie and came up with that Elmore James classic blues song “The Sky is Crying” done by Stevie Ray which was a smash hit. Later Texas Governor Ann Richards (one hell of a woman) declared October 4 as “Stevie Ray Vaughan Day”. I don’t know what it is but it seems that those with the greatest future in sight get snatched away from us. You never hear about those that have reached the crest and are on the down slope going away. It makes me wonder.

This Date in History March 24

1765 On this date British Parliament passed the Colonies Quartering Act making it the responsibility of the American Colonies to provide quarters, or barracks, for the British troops that have been sent to the colonies, as inflaming as it sounds. Look at the date and tell me how the colonists were able to put up with this shit for 10 years without revolting. There was an order of priorities for which type of cover the colonists had to provide of the Redcoats. The very last on the list was a colonist’s house but it was there. Just to think that it was the responsibility of the land being invaded to be responsible for the housing of the army doing the invading. The arrogance of even thinking of such a thing arouses the Scottish blood in my veins and makes me believe that freedom and liberty are indeed worth dying for. Don’t test me. Don’t even go there.

 

1862 On this date abolitionist Wendell Phillips is scheduled to make a speech in Cincinnati, Ohio. Phillips was the son of a famous and wealthy family in the New England area. Wendell never had to work so he was looking for a “cause” to occupy his time. He chose freeing the slaves as his crusade. After the Civil War broke out, the abolitionists tried to persuade Lincoln to declare the reason for the war was to free the slaves. For almost two years Lincoln called bullshit on that and proclaimed the purpose of the war was to maintain the union. Then when that didn’t work after the Union army got their ass kicked in rapid succession and the Union supporters said “to hell with it, let them have their own country”. Then Lincoln changed horses and proclaimed the War was to free the slaves making it a moral issue. Anyway, Wendell Phillips got up on the rostrum in Cincinnati and started orating about how right it was that the war was to free the slaves and he was booed off the stage and had to be escorted off the premises under armed escort. Of course I am not an advocate of slavery, but Lincoln not staying with the original “cause” as being the preservation of the Union was at least suspect if not unconscionable in its sincerity. If you weight the freeing of the slaves against the preservation of this great nation, it is no contest. The freeing of the slaves was on the horizon anyway with the invention of steam powered machinery. But in Lincoln’s defense, he got the job done, justification not withstanding.

Born today:

1874 US escape artist Harry Houdini. He said “The greatest escape I ever did was getting the hell out of Appleton, Wisconsin.” His words, Ron P.

1902 US Governor of New York. He said “No man should hold public office that cannot make more money in private life.” Does anyone know such a person?

Died today:

1603 Queen Elizabeth I of England. When speaking to Sir Walter Raleigh she said “I have known many people that have turned gold into smoke, but you are the first person that I have seen that turned smoke into gold.” She was speaking of Walt bringing tobacco into Europe.

1882 US writer Henry Longfellow. He said “Talk not of wasted affection, affection is never wasted.” Hank sure had a way with words.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow