Photo Of The Week: My Old Bluesmoblie

Here is a picture of my beloved old bluesmobile. A 1988 Lincoln Towncar. That was a sweet ride! It was rear wheel drive, which made it not so great in the snow, but boy was it smooth on the highway. The big problem with it was it ate gas like crazy. I think I was lucky to get 20mpg out it towards the end. Neither of my current cars even qualifies as a bluesmobile, but as long as gas is 3.00 a gallon, I am going to stick to cars with 30mpg or better.

Photo Of The Week: The Frozen Tundra Of Iowa

It seems all over the Midwest and East coast of the US there is snow everywhere. I would think perfect timing for a white Christmas. I don't think things are going to get any warmer anytime soon around here at least so I think the snow will still be on the ground through Christmas. I am not a fan of the white stuff myself, but I find that I can tolerate it a lot better than when I was younger. I would get cabin fever in the winter, but now I just wait it out. Spring will come eventually!

Photo Of The Week: Jimmy Pryor, Gene Jackson, and Frank Strong

A great pic that I took during New Years Eve of 2003. Jimmy is sharp in his red suit. While Gene is laying down the beats on the drums. My former partner in crime Frank "Freight Train" Strong playing the harp. It was a great show that also featured Steve George, and "Chicago" Rick Lussie. We had a great crowd at the Raccoon River Brewery, and we played until they made us stop at 2am. It was a great night, and it was fun playing with Jimmy, Gene, Steve, and Rick.

Photo Of Te Week: Bob Dorr And The Blue Band

This weeks photo was taken yesterday at the Iowa Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. This is of the Blue Band signing autographs before the show. Bob is nearest to the camera, followed by Nate, Heath, Molly, Phil, Turk, Bryce, and Jeff. For more about the show go here. If you would like to see 40 pics that I took last night including photos of the Blue Band, Patrick Hazel, and the Mother Earth Band, The Hawks, and the Yeti Blues Band, then go to my myspace page, and check out the photos HERE.

UPDATE

Hmmmmmmmm very odd check the date on the above photo! I have no clue how that happened. Unless something strange happened and we have gone back in time two years, I think perhaps the date on my camera is suddenly wrong!:-) as Spock would say "fascinating"

Photo Of The Week: Jimmy "Midnite Cowboy" Pryor

Almost one year ago my hero Jimmy Pryor died. He was 90 years old, and lived a great life, but it still saddens me to have lost such a good friend. Jimmy was like a grandfather to me. He taught me about life, how to be a better person, and how to put on a show. Also, he led by example. He was good to his fans, and always had kind words for them. It also didn't matter if he didn't know them, he still treated them like his number one fan. The photo above was taken at what probably was his last live performance.










Jimmy was being honored for an article that I wrote about him in Living Blues. (To buy the magazine click HERE) The band performing that night was the Blues Instigators from Iowa City. They were very cool, and let Jimmy sing his famous Jimmy Shuffle. It was a good end to a great career. My only wish is that I had put a band together with Jimmy a few years earlier when I first met him, instead of six years later. However, from 1999-2006 we had a heck of a great time.

Photo Of The Week: "Chicago" Rick Lussie

Todays photo of the week, is the late Rick Lussie. Known as Chicago Rick, because he grew up in Chicago and hung out with the real deal Chicago blues players. Magic Slim, and Luther Allison were big influences on him. He was just one of many white players who learned Chicago Blues from the feet of the masters. Rick came to Des Moines in 1960 to teach school. He eventually became superintendent of Special Education for the Des Moines public schools. However, Rick loved the blues and was one of the few players who kept playing blues in Des Moines, long after its popularity died out in the late 60s. Rick was introduced to the Des Moines music scene by one of the legendary Grey brothers who happened to be playing sax in a Rock band that Lussie was playing in. He invited Lussie to go to his bar at the intermission. They went to the Sepia club, and as Rick put it years later. He never went back to Rock and Roll.

Photo Of The Week: John Woody Wood

Today's photo was taken back in 1999. John "Woody" Wood was a great friend of mine. We both shared the same birthday, although he was seven years older than me, he acted several years younger than me. He was one of a few musicians who I could truly call my brother. We both had family from the same small Warren County town of Milo, Iowa, and we joked about playing in Milo back in the 1960s. Woody as you can see was a ladies man, and he never had problems finding new girls, even after he was married:-) He also had a wonderlust that was never cured. He always was leaving Des Moines for greener pastures, and yet we could always count on his return like Spring following Winter. In fact, the last time he left many of us pretended to take bets on his return. Sadly, his last trip would never find his way back to Iowa. He left for California and started a band called Too Many Bad Habits. Over a three year period he returned to visit, but he always went back to California. Unfortunately he got sick with Cancer and through a short but valiant struggle he died in Texas seeking an elusive cure.
I think what I miss the most about Woody was his calming ability. Our band was a basketcase, and Woody was the sane one. He was the glue that held us together, and the fact that we lasted as long as we did is testament to his good humor. I can recall a few out of town gigs, that I felt sick and tired, both physically, and with the band, and wanting to quit before we left town, but Woody could get me to reconsider, and by the end of the night I would be ready to play five more gigs. I think that Woody could put things in perspective since he had faced things that would floor most people. When he was young he had incredible long hair. Then almost over night it was gone due to Alopecia. I am having trouble accepting thinning hair on the top of my head, but think about being in your mid 20s, and having no hair. What was amazing about him, is he was so cool with it, and accepting of it. In fact, the women loved it too.
Its on days like these where I miss Woody, Jimmy, and Chicago Rick. They were good friends who left far too soon. They were family to me, and to a lot of the blues musicians in town. They are people that you can't replace, and are hard to forget even a year later.
I hope that in the next few weeks to highlight some of the local blues guys who have left in the last few years, so that their memories can remain in cyberspace as long as this blog goes on.

Photo Of The Week: BVU In Winter

I know it is July, and it is hot, but I just wanted to give everyone a gentle reminder that it could be a lot worse. The photo may look pretty, but this photo was taken by me TWO days after we had 2 feet of snow fall on Storm Lake. It closed schools for three days, and all the roads leading out of town were blocked for 2 days. It was the biggest snow storm I had been in since the 1970s. I couldn't get my car out of the garage, and even if I did I had no where to go, so I walked around town in drifts up to my waist taking pictures. So even if you are hot now, just wait in 6 months you will wish it was summer again:-) OH BTW, for my friends south of the Equator, I know you are in the middle of Winter, but Spring is on the way!

Photo Of The Week Larry Station

Jimmy Pryor never had a posse, but he did have his go to guy when things got rough. Larry Station was his go to guy. If Jimmy needed a ride, or someone to help him out, Larry was always there to help him. Larry was Jimmy's biggest fan, and attended most of the gigs that Jimmy Played. In the mid 90s when Jimmy had some health problems, Larry was around to get him to the doctor, and give Jimmy encouragement to keep on going. Larry is still hanging out with the Central Iowa Blues Society, and you can still see him quite often at Blues On Grand.