Robert Johnson???

If you read Bob Corritore's newsletter you may have noticed the article in Vanity Fair, about the new Robert Johnson photograph. I am skeptical that it is Johnson, (he is the one holding the guitar) I did read most of the article, and it is half way decent. Unfortunately when dealing with Robert Johnson there is way too much fantasy, and political BS. It is hard to tell who owns what, or who owns what to whom.

Regardless, if you would like the read the whole article Click HERE. If you would like to check out the many posts I have written about Robert Johnson then just click on one of the tags below.

Some New Pics Of Erick Hovey's Silvertone Amps

One of the more interesting things about blogging is learning what is popular. Google has some great tools that help me monitor the site, and I always enjoy finding out what my most popular posts are on Google. One that has surprised me for popularity and longevity is a photo I posted of Erick Hovey's Silvertone Amplifier! (Click HERE) It actually makes sense since I know a lot of blues musicians who love anything Silvertone:-) For those who don't know Silvertone was the name of musical instruments sold by Sears. Most people know Sears for their guitars, but they also made all sorts of instruments and equipment to go with it. I have a Silvertone Clarinet and I played it in high school instead of my LeBlance, because it played a lot better. What most people don't know is Sears didn't build any instruments but they were built for Sears by other companies. I do know that my Clarinet was actually built by Selmer, which explains why it was so good.

That said, here are some more pics of Erick's amps because people just can't get enough of it:-) Erick is the typical American farmer, who over years of hard work and ingenuity has created his own cool amplification set up. He has taken several Silvertone guitar case amps, and built himself his own interesting guitar amp. I really can't explain all the bells and whistles to it, but it gets the job done and sounds great!

Click on the photos to enlarge!!!

Tom Gary And Paul Tillotson

Here are a couple of pics of me playing piano with Jazzman Paul Tillotson at the Cherokee Jazz and Blues festival. Paul is a topnotch piano player from New York City who was headlining the show. We jammed on a couple of tunes, one was a boogie woogie that sounded a lot like Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson's Boogie Woogie Dream! If you would like to see more photos you will need to go to the Gathering Places Myspace page HERE. If you have troubles getting in to see them, then you probably need a myspace profile, and add the Gathering Place to your friends list.

BVU Upsets Bethal University!!!!

I know many people will wonder what football has to do with the blues. Baseball and blues certainly go hand in hand, especially in Kansas City, when the Kansas City A's, and the Negro League Monarchs played near 18th and Vine, then catching some blues and BBQ after a game was a no brainier. However, in KC, it has become also customary to tailgate, and what is better than blues and BBQ! Today was a great day for a football game, as you can tell from the above photo BVU has a nice little stadium right next to Strom Lake. The sky was blue, the grass was green, and even though it was warm, there was a nice cool breeze off the lake! PERFECT!

BVU has some new uniforms, and at first I didn't like them, but they grow on ya, especially when they win:-) Last year they were blue and white, this year they brought back the gold for the alumni so they were very happy

It seemed like most of the first half was played in BV's end of the field, but Bethel coundn't score, and BV drove the field at the end of the half to take the lead 7 to zip. The second half started good for Bethel with a field goal, but BV drove the field, and scored a TD. Bethel's next series they threw an interception which the Beavers returned for another touchdown. At this point Bethel with about 10 minutes left scored two quick touchdowns to come within 5 of BV. Bethel had a couple chances late, but the Beaver defense stiffened, and BV won. Here is a clip of the last play of the game. Sorry for the quality. I was planing on buying a new camera for football season and I haven't got around to it.

BVU Upsets Bethel!!
Video sent by bluesman2001

It was a great game and a great day. Now to eat some dinner, or supper as we call it in the midwest, and then listen to some internet blues radio! Ah, yes a perfect day:-)