Another Music Direct Catalog observation

I saw Bloomfield (and the awesome Buddy Miles) in The Electric Flag in the Summer of ’68, at The Santa Clara County Folk-Rock Festival. Mark Naftalin was playing piano, Harvey Brooks bass, Nick Gravenites singing, and four sax players---two baritone, and two bass! The opening act was local band Fritz (Stevie Nicks’ and Lindsey Buckingham’s garage band), closers the doors.

Speaking of self-destruction, Skip Spence of The Grape was living in a half-way house in downtown San Jose after he was released from the nut house. He could be seen roaming the streets, bumming cigarettes. Damn LSD. He was the drummer on the first Airplane album.

Amen, Wolf. In the singer/songwriter genre, there are contemporary artists as great as have ever lived, imo. You’ll never hear them on the radio or see them on TV (Letterman and The Larry Sanders Show often did, though), and certainly not on Awards shows. With one notable exception: the Americana Music Association Annual Honor Show held in The Ryman Auditorium.

At that show you will see and hear the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Delbert McClinton, T Bone Burnette, Buddy Miller, Jim Lauderdale (often the host), Emmylou Harris, John Hiatt, Rodney Crowell, Richard Thompson, Levon Helm (after his passing, there was a great tribute to him, an assembled All-Star ensemble performing a great version of "The Weight"), Buddy Guy, Rosanne Cash, Irma Thomas, John Prine, Steve Earle, John Fogerty, Billy Bob Thornton, Loretta Lynn, Elvis Costello, Jason Isbell, Joe Henry, Maria Muldaur, Mavis Staples, Rhiannon Gibbons, Van Morrison, Dr. John, Gregg Allman, and hundreds more, even Robert freakin’ Plant!

Most of the above are pretty long-in-the-tooth, but that’s the reality: It takes some livin’ to get really, really good.