Iowa Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame?

Photo by Blues Historian

This is the best shot I could get of the amazing Dartanyan Brown.  Unfortunately my 30 dollar ticket wouldn't let me get close enough to get his picture.  I must admit that I have never been a fan of the Iowa Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.  I have been to a couple of these cluster F*(&^s and they are generally long boring sets of mediocre cover tune bands who were never very good in the first place.  Apparently artistic talent, creativity, or originality are not part of the criteria for getting in the hall.  Of course Dart has that and more.  After all he is in the Iowa Blues Hall of fame. Dartanyan Brown blew the doors off the old ballroom.  Granted he did do a couple of covers to appease the crowd, but he ended with a cool song some students in Des Moines wrote during a summer music camp that he ran. It was about how they were denied access to Youtube, which certainly hampered the kids in searching for video of some of the great blues and jazz musicians that Dart was teaching the kids about.  I also wish I knew who the guitar player was, because Dart brought in a kid that was channeling Jimi Hendrix.  Holy cow did this guy shred.  He was right handed, but he had his guitar neck inversed so that the lower strings were on the bottom much like how Jimi played left handed.  I had never seen a right handed guitarist play with the string inverted before, but he certainly sounded like Hendrix when he covered Purple Haze.  I left after Dart finished, because I really couldn't stand anymore cover bands.

This is why I don't understand the IRRHF, a few years ago I was there when Richie Valens was inducted into the hall because he had the mistfortune to die with Buddy Holly, and the Big Bopper in an Iowa Cornfield.  I mean I love Richie Valens, but geez why is he in the IRRHF because he died here???  It is obvious that it is all about the money with the IRRHF.  The high ticket prices, the select seating, extra if you want to dance and watch it on the big screen.  Crappy bands from 20 years ago, that only claim to fame is that they were the local band that everyone danced to before DJs came around and put us out of business.  I must admit that it is sometime funny watching some of these guys relieve their glory days from high school when being in a band was a big deal.  I also got a kick out of one band whos lead singer yelled "Rock and Roll!" at the top of his lungs, and then launched into one of the most putrid versions of Red House I have heard.

To be honest I don't see a reason to go to another one of these shows.  Most of my friends who would get in it were put in a few years ago.  Luckily for me The Blue Band, Patrick Hazel, and the Hawks all got in the same night.  That was a long night too, especially waiting for the Hawks.  That was cover band hell part one.  Just imagine going to the Holiday Inn back in the 70s and sitting through five different lounge acts before you saw the band you really wanted to see.  That is what I went through a few years ago from when the Blue Band got off the stage and the Hawks showed up.  That was painful indeed.  Tonight was a little better.  Dart came on early, and I only had to sit through three bands.  

I must admit that I have had better nights, but the nice thing about coming home.  Is my old record player is warming up right now getting ready to rock out on some 78s. Nothing like good old tube powered 1950s technology to play that great warm analog sound to ease ones mind after a night like tonight.

Photo By Greg Overton

UPDATE:  Dartanyan sent me a better photo  from the hall of fame night at Arnolds Park. 

Juan Meier: Red House

Blues from Argentina from Juan Meier playing a Jimi Hendrix classic. 

Jimmy Hendrix: All Along The Watchtower

Hendrix singing a Bob Dylan song. Jimi was a big Dylan fan and his lyrics really reflect that. This is a more laid back version of the song from the Ise of Wright concert with the Band Of Gypsys. At this point in his career Hendrix was getting tired of playing behind his back and with his teeth. He was playing more blues and playing them straight. Needless to say the audience was disappointed with him and later in the concert they boo him.

Stevie Ray Vaughn: Life Without You

Gee kids, this is how you do it. Nice thing about Stevie is that he could breath with his guitar. It is not a thousand notes a minute. Check the phrasing, of both his singing and playing. Plenty of silence. I know it sounds easy, but it is hard! Stevie just makes it look easy. Also check out how sometimes he plays chords, some time lead lines. Its not all the same bazillion notes a second. That's also what made Hendrix great. There is a good reason that these two guitar players are compared all the time. Same school, old school, blues school.

Alex Tintinalli:

Intersting kid doing the Stevie/Jimmy thing. Probably a bit on the rockside than blues. It should be interesting to see what happens when he gets older.

Eric Clapton And Sheryl Crow: Little Wing

Concert footage of Clapton with Sheryl Crow performing Hendrix's Little Wing. David Sandborn plays the hot sax solo around the 3 minute mark. Great performance by everyone.

Stevie Ray Vaughn: Little Wing

Stevie Ray doing a classic Jimi Hendrix song.

Stevie Ray Vaughan - little wing (live at rockaplast 1985)
Uploaded by -bouddha-

Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comming

Jimi Hendrix playing delta blues on an acoustic guitar!

jimi hendix hear my train coming
Uploaded by iowaluder

Jimi Hendrix: Red House

Classic! Enough said!!

Jimi Hendrix - Red House -gibson-
Uploaded by fuzz59

Jimi Hendrix: The Star Spangled Banner

This is another clip that was deleted from Youtube that I have found on Dailymotion. This is the historically significant moment at Woodstock when Jimi Hendrix reinterpretated the Star Spangled Banner. This is significant in many ways because the times then were much like now. It didn't matter how patriotic you were, if your politics were against the war then you were unamerican. Jimi loved America, and stated many times that his version was out of love. However, the rightwing of America convinced most people that Hendrix's version of the song was unpatriotic and were able to ban the song from radio. Unfortunately as the years go by many people just assume that Hendrix was some drug addled hippie freak, when in reality he was far from it. In fact he was probably more sober then the majority of people who watched him play. The stories of LSD in his head band were myth, and he didn't OD from heroin or any heavy drugs, but an accidental overdose of sleeping pills. What furthered the tragedy is that because the paramedics thought he was a drug addict they strapped him down in the gurney and he died of asphyxiation of his own vomit. Also many people didn't know that Hendrix was a veteran of the US Army. He was a paratrooper! So here is a guy who really was pretty straight laced, and thanks to right wing myth his life has been totally rewritten into a drug addled hippie freak. All because he was against the war. The Vietnam War! Things never change do they!

Hendrix Jimi - Star Spangled Banner
Uploaded by bebepanda

Buddy Miles RIP

Sad news from Texas, Buddy Miles has died. Miles was well known in Des Moines and would drop in to jam at the Cloud on Sunday Nights. He was best known for his brief stint with Jimi Hendrix and the Band Of Gypsies. The following is an obit from Illinois Blues.

IllinoisBlues.com is saddened by the passing of drum legend Buddy Miles.
He will be missed!

Buddy Miles  9/5/1947 – 2/26/2008
Legendary Drummer Buddy Miles  passed away this Tuesday, peacefully at his home
in Austin, TX. He was (60) sixty years old. He suffered from congestive heart
failure but the official cause of death is not known.

Buddy performed with some of the greatest names in music including Stevie Wonder,
Muddy Waters, Michael Bloomfield, Wilson Pickett, Stephen Stills, Neil Young,
David Crosby, Jack Bruce, Eric Burden, Peter Torque, Billy Gibbons, Prince,
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmy Vaughan, Rick James, Kool and the Gang, Jr. Brown,
Ike Turner, Pinetop Perkins, Jr. Wells, Koko Taylor, Johnny Taylor, Barry White,
Aretha Franklin, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Carlos Santana, Robert Lockwood, Jr.,
Billy Cox, David Bowie and others.

Buddy Miles recorded over 70 albums and performed in numerous world tours, television
commercials and videos. He is best known for his work with Jimi Hendrix
and bass player Billy Cox in Band of Gypsys.

Band of Gypsys recorded one album appropriately titled “Band of Gypsys” in 1970 at
Fillmore East in New York. Two of the songs on the album were written by Miles.
("We Gotta Live Together" and "Changes”).

In lieu of flowers; the family has asked to please make donations to the
Jazz Foundation of America specifically in Buddy Miles' name to assist with
funeral, and other expenses at www.jazzfoundation.org ; The Jazz Foundation of
America, at 322 West 48th Street, New York, NY, 10036, Attn.: Amy Cusma. 

Jimi Hendrix: Machine Gun

Hendrix live at the Filmore With Buddy Miles on the drums!

Guitar Shorty Interveiw

From the San Antonio Express News comes an interview with Guitar Shorty. One of the interesting facts from the interview is that Guitar Shorty married Marsha Hendrix step sister of Jimi Hendrix. The story tries to imply that Guitar Shorty's wild stage shows influenced Hendrix, and it is quite possible. Remember that nothing happens in a vacuum, as Guitar Shorty mentioned he got the idea to do wild stage shows from watching Guitar Slim.

Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Childe

A blues staple at least since Stevie Ray Covered it. Here is the original by the master himself.

Jimmy Hendrix - Voodoo Child
Uploaded by ptitdemon666