Monday April 27, 2009
I am not sure why it is happening on this tour but we seem to be meeting and mixing with a lot more Americans – and Australians. But more of that later. I need to tell you about the first weekend but have been held up by social commitments, getting the laundry done and sleeping in after 4.00am mornings. It has been wild in a manageable sort of way.
I have just left Tim, Baz, Rob, Richard, Guy and Brett at Fahey’s Irish pub over the road from the hotel. I left when the $2 shots started at midnight. Ken G has had an early night, which is hard to believe.
Some of them had been to the basketball up at the Superdome. Tim, Phil B, Brett and I went for dinner at The Country Flame (no rats). Apart from doing this it is almost an early night.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, Ken and I pick up Harleys and head out of town. Ken says I cannot wear my full gace Shoei helmet because other riders will kick sand in my face and call me a girl. I’ve been called worse. We are getting Fat Boys. When Tim and I were walking back from the bus stop after the Fest the other night I pointed out a Fat Boy to him. He wondered why I was insulting the owner who was standing next to it until I explained.
Friday April 24, 2009
Some of the group have bought chairs at Walgreen’s and are quite happy with them. As yet I have not taken the chair option but I might think about it. First thing I did was to get a bowl of Crawfish Monica – still as tasty as ever.
Booker T and The Drive By Truckers were superb. They started with four or five songs from the DBT, then did five from Potato Hole before finishing with another five from the Truckers, including the magnificent ‘Let There Be Rock.’ I said in my phone report to Brian Nankervis on Off The Record that if I could play guitar the only band I would want to be in is the DBTs.
Roy Rogers & The Delta Rhythm Kings on the Blues Stage were as dynamic as ever. During the gig Roy mentioned that the first time he was at Jazz Fest he was with John Lee Hooker. He said it was 1992 but I am fairly certain it was 1991 because I was here too that year. Roy’s gig that Friday night at Jimmy’s was the first club gig I ever went to here. I recall it because the support act – The Desire Brothers – were fabulous and I have never heard or seen of them since. Neither has Roy, although he vaguely remembered them.
I tried to get into the Mahalia Jackson Tribute but it was impossible. I determined that I will get to Mavis Staples early on Sunday at the Gospel Tent.
I caught a little bit of Terrance Simien and some of Spoon, who were interesting as always. many of the group saw Joe Cocker and said he was in top form.
This evening rob and I went to see Booker T and The Dirty Dozen at The Republic. It was a little disconcerting when the guy selling tickets could not tell us who Booker T was playing with and what time he went on. Eventually, it turned out that he was appearing with the Dirty Dozen, although we had thought it could have been with the Hill Country Revue. Anyway, the DD started the show around 11.15pm and about 20 minutes into their set Booker strolled on to huge applause, sat at the Hammond B3 and joined them for their numbers. This was punctuated by a great version of ‘Green Onions.’
The Hill Country Revue went on stage at about 1.00am and featured Luther Dickinson and Kirk Smithart on guitars – at times sounding uncannily like The Allmans. Singer Dan Coburn is a real talent, as I mentionbed last year when I saw the band at Proud Larry’s in Oxford. The band play the sort of blues that you wish young people could hear because it might turn them onto the genre.
By 2.00am it was time for us to hit the road but I ams sure the HCR played until well past 3.00am. Some of the group went up to Chickie Wah-Wah to see Roy Rogers and said it was terrific.
Saturday April 25, 2009
This morning Ken and Lise run into Jimmy Barnes down on Royal Street. He is here with his wife Jane and no doubt being guided by Pierre Baroni from PBS-FM, whom he mentioned when Lise and Ken said they were with me. They added that he was exceptionally friendly, considering he didn’t know them and they interrupted his sightseeing.
There were two undoubted highlights today: Pete Seeger and Johnny Winter. I was with Tim to see Pete and I have to say that we both thought that it was a surprisingly good and emotive experience. We both wanted to see the man who tried to cut the power cable on Bob Dylan at Newport in 1965 (though in an interview the next day out here, Pete says he can’t recall it but is pretty sure it is the sort of thing he would have done). We also figured that it was possibly the first – and last – time we would ever get to see him.
At 90, Pete Seeger certainly is in better shape than Johnny Winter is at 65 (more on that later). Though he only sings occasionally, Pete tends to lead the band and audience by speaking the lyrics. His backing band are The Mammals (who were out in Australia last year) and his grandson Tao Rodriguez Seeger – and if you had Pete as your grandad why wouldn;’t you use his surname? The arrangement works well. Certainly ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ was a highlight.
I then mosied on over to the Allison Miner stage to see Johnny Winter being interviewed by Scott Jordan. It wasn’t so much an interview as slow torture for the interviewer. As someone who does at least 100 interviews a year I really felt for Jordan, who I thought did a great job considering the monosyllabic answers from Winter. Jordan had done all his research, asked some good questions but Johnny, who had to be helped on and off stage and who did not look at the audience, could not elaborate on his responses. (I wish I had a tape of it to play to my radio students). At one point, Jordan said to guitarist Paul nelson, who was also on stage and who now manages Winter, what it was like touring with him. Nelson cleverly replied, ‘This could be the tour bus!’ It was an icebreaker and an acknowledgement (as jordan noted) that Winter prefers to let his playing talk for him.
All the while, Johnny’s fingers are moving rapidly and he seems to be playing some invisible guitar. When his previous personal problems are mentioned there is really no response. Nelson points out that Winter is now healthy and, later, when the guitarist has to be helped off stage we all got a sense of how sick he had been in the past.
Ken Gilmore nudged me and said, ‘Brian, write note to self’ and I took out my notebook and wrote, ‘Never interview Johnny Winter!’ At precisely the point things started to get uncomfortable, Jordan turned it over to questions from the audience, which turned into a series of accolades – with Winter never once looking up at the audience. My favourite was, ‘I saw you in New York in 1968 or 1969 at The Fillmore or The Palladium and I’ll never forget that show as long as I live.’ Er, which show was that?
Then I meet up with Tim and we get to the Blues Tent during John Mooney’s gig to make sure we have a good spot for Winter’s show, which we are hoping goes better than the interview. Suddenly jimmy barnes walked past and I yelled out, ‘Hey, Jimmy, come and sit with us.’ ‘Have you got two seats?’ he asked and when he received an affirmative he fetched Pierre and they sat down.
After the introductions and a chat about the festival Jimmy decides to buy us all a beer and Pierre is the go to man. I have to admit that in the past I have maligned Jimmy’s singing, apart from Cold Chisel, especially on the Soul Deep albums. However, I have to say that he is a great bloke and I am writing a note to self to make sure I distinguish between the singer and the song.
At the end of John Mooney’s set, Sarah, Ken and Brett come over to talk and Brett introduces Jimmy to an American as ‘Australia’s Elvis Presley.’
Luckily, Johnny puts in a slashing set, culminating in ‘Highway 61, ‘ though the sound mix is not good and the volume is too loud. But it was great to see him because, like Pete Seeger, we will probably never get to see him in Australia.
The evenings have settled into a routine of meeting in the lobby and going somewhere to dinner before a gig. This time, 8 of us go to the Chartres House Cafe next to One Eyed Jack’s where some of us plan to see Terry Reid. Dinner can be cheap but when you add tax and the mandatory 18 to 20% tip for being in a large group it can be a lot more than you anticipate. Amazing how a $20 dinner and drinks can become a $25 one or more depending on how many you are with.
Before I buy my ticket I ask, ‘Is this the Terry Reid we all think it is.’ ‘Yes,’ is the reply. Of course, Terry is the man who knocked bnack the gig with the New Yardbirds Ken G, the two Phils, Otto and myself enter. At this point there are some people milling around the door, one of whom is the man himself. Undeterred by celebrity, Kenny G goes to the group and fetches Terry, brings him inside to meet us and he turns out to be delightful. Looking and sounding a little like Keith Richard’s brother, Terry is continually cracking jokes. Ken buys him a whiskey – and then decides we all have to have the same: McCallum’s with just two cubes of ice and a splash of coke.
Now, after such an experience this could be a great gid or it could be a disaster. We have to wait through the appalling support act to find out. This is a local guy called Dax, who has too many friends in the audience who think he is great (he is not) and refuse to tell him the truth. A case of the Emperor’s new clothes if ever I saw one. Each time he does a cover version he tells the audience that they should go and check out this or that, as if his fans and others know nothing.
Ken and I meet a man who has flown his private plane from North Carolina for this gig and did not even know that Jazz Fest was on! I hope he is not disappointed.
Terry Reid comes on at about 12.30am and what a revelation. He is with a local band of keyboards, bass and drums (which at one stage I think is Johnny Vidacovich). It is sensational! Musically, I reckon that Reid must have influenced Jeff Buckley because a lot of their songs share the same epic quality. Reid’s voice is obviously world-weary but still marvellous and the gig stretches out to over two hours and finished sometime around 3.00am. At one point he launched into ‘Stairway To Heaven,’ only to stop and say ‘Oh, no, I didn’t get that gig did I?’
Afterwards, an enthusiuastic Ken G and I wander back up Toulouse. Well, I walk and Ken wanders, raving about the show. I can only but agree. After Ken goes off to bed I go over to Fahey’s for a nightcap and meet Pat and Tim, who seem to have been there for some time. Another pattern is set, the early morning post-gig meeting at the pub. I get to bed at 4.15am.
Sunday April 26, 2009
My task today is to see Mavis Staples but first I want to see The Pine Leaf Boys on the Fais Do Do stage. They are the new faces of cajum music and live up to their reputation. Like the Red Stick Ramlbers, I think they are capable of great things.
Tim and I get to the Gospel Tent during the set prior to Mavis by and amazing kind of avant-gared gospel troupe called Tyrone Foster & The Arc Singers. Something totally out of the box. We have great seats near the front of stage and Mavis and her band plus backing singers put in a powerhouse performance. I never get tired of seeing her. Towards the end of the set some post-college men arrive near us and proceed to treat the whole thing as some kind of private party. When mavis sings ‘Why Are We Treated So Bad,’ one of them taps me on the shoulder and says ‘treated so bad’, waving his arms around. I hold my tongue but think that for a white guy he doesn’t look like he has been treated too badly. One of their friends arrives, barges past and almost steps on my camera bag. When I stop him he looks at nme drunkenly and wants to shake my hand. I tell I don’t want to. Tim moans. I decide that I am just a little grumpy and leave to watch it from the side of the tent.
The day ends with Etta James and the Roots band on the Gentilly stage. Etta is looking good. Not as gaunt as when I last saw her, which was shortly after she had lost a massive amount of weight. She is now 71 but still sounds great. Much of the quality of her voice remains and to hear her sing ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ is still thrilling. She introduces ‘At Last’ by saying , ‘Beyonce, this is my song.’ One of the truly great singers of all time.
It might sound astonishing but after a very late night last night I decide that I need to sleep and, after a late dinner , I opt not to go to see the Del McCoury Band at Preservation Hall. It turns out to be a mistake. Rob, Ken, Lise and Richard go and later tell me of the marvellous blend of bluegrass and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Ken says it is either bluejazz or jazzgrass.
I am in bed early. Rule No.1: You can’t see everything.
