Tag: allman brothers band

Saturday’s Theme Music

Mood: Sunflective (it’s sunny, and I’m reflecting on life, the universe, and everything)

It’s Marijuana Day, don’t you know. That is 4/20. Add a 2024 and make it a Saturday, and you have the full day/date situation.

420 is a reference to the time to meet and light up a doobie. That time originated with a group of U.S. high school students meeting up at 4:20 PM to search for a marijuana field. I originally heard it was police radio code for marijuana.

Another warmish spring day has touched down in Ashlandia, where the coffee is fresh and above average. It’s 70 F right now. Despite clouds breaking in over the horizons, today’s high has a few more degrees to go. You know the floofs are in full agreement with tasting some warm sunshine, don’t you.

Today’s music is about Dickey Betts. Lead guitarist (a job shared for a period with Duane Allman) and vocalist with the Allman Brothers Band, he passed this week, 80 years old. Man, when ABB came out with “At the Fillmore East” in 1971, I bought that thing and added it fast to the rotation. I’ve had a version of that double album from vinyl to digital ever since. Still play it once in a while when a nostlaxing mood strikes. Nostlaxing would be nostalgic and relaxing. You get it, don’t you?

Once while listening to “Whipping Post”, my wife, who’d come to embrace electrified blues, entered the room and asked, “Who is that playing guitar?”

“That’s Dickey Betts and Duane Allman,” I answered.

She listened a bit more. “Wow, they’re good.”

Yes, they were good.

But the song hooked in the morning mental music stream (Trademark sliding) is a better-known Allman Brothers tune. This is “Ramblin’ Man”, naturally. This live version from 1972 has Dickey on vocals and lead guitar. He wrote the song, as well. Dickey Betts, 1943 – 2024.

Be strong and lean forward. Vote Blue in 2024. Fresh coffee is flowing. Mine is black and sugar-free. Best way to imbibe it. Here’s the video. Cheers

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Satitday’s Theme Music

The pull out of a late winter and snowy sub-seasons of winting and sprinter continues in Ashlandia, where the coffee houses rule. It’s Satitda, a reflection of how I sometimes hear Saturday spoken, April 15, 2023. Would’ve been payday for me in another era, a chance to spend some rubles on a treat, tank up the car, buy grocs, pay more bills. We always paid the bills, watched our expenses, and saved.

Pretty fine day out there, as it was yesterday. Tucker is out nesting in sunshine between bushes, as he did yesterday. Papi selected to come in, deciding grooming on the bed is preferable to the noisy outside where trees are being trimmed or removed at a neighbor’s place. Sunshine has won the morning. It’s a blue-sky 42 F but the weather managers say it’ll be 66 before the daylight segment of our day is drawn down. Sunrise was 6:30 AM and the sun ‘set’ will be at 7:52 PM. No rain for us today. No snow, either.

I have an old blues song circulating my morning mental music stream. It’s all about options and how to get out of a situation. “One Way Out” was recorded by some classic bluesmen but I didn’t hear of their versions until later. Nope, I know the Allman Brothers’ live offering from the early seventies. Part of this way out convo was about talking over some Am I The Asshole entries on Reddit and what people should do. Another take on one way out was while catering to the cats: “This is it. I’m not going to go open another door. There’s one way out right now, and this is it.” The little critters accepted and The Neurons tugged “One Way Out” from memory and here we are.

Stay pos. Enjoy your day as best as you can. I’m going to try to get some things done. More editing, of course, but also some cleaning duties and yard work. I shall begin my list by inhaling a fragrant cuppa coffee. Here’s the tune.

Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music

The records are in and it’s official: April was our rainiest on record. So, that’s good news.

But we’re still in a drought because so many previous years were dry.

Weather and climate change are as fascinating and challenging to contemplate as politics and quantum entanglement.

Today is Monday, May 9, 2022. An impressive sunrise, blasting around clouds, giving those dark boys silver linings, was struck at 5:56 this morning. The sundown show will start at 8:19 PM. Today’s high is expected to be 47 F, just five degrees from where we’re at. Storms are expected throughout the week, including today. Snow and rain showers are possible tomorrow.

All this weather had me singing “Stormy Monday” as recorded live by the Allman Brothers Band waaayyy back when. The neurons were taken by surprise; they were singing other things, filling the morning mental music stream with amazing melodies, but I called an audible. They’re still resisting it, so I’m about to blast it to impress upon them how serious I am.

Stay positive and test negative. Endure, succeed, thrive. Have some coffee. I know I will. Cheers

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

Rain is falling and the mountains peek coyly through the fog. The wheel has spun, landing on…click click click…Tuesday, January 4, 2022. Now you might think, of course, what day did you expect? But then you’re assuming that everything is just as you believe when actually — oh, never mind. Sunrise was a weak tea moment at 7:40 AM. We expect sunset at 4:52 PM. It’s currently 39 F but we expect to see 43 today.

The rain and warmer temperatures have chased the snow away from many areas. Down in town’s lower levels, there’s no evidence a snowstorm had struck. Up around my house and above my elevation (1800 feet), there’s still plenty of snow. The storm has moved on across the country, dumping its load, stalling traffic, canceling flights, pretty and vicious, as nature can be.

I have “Jessica” by the Allman Brothers Band from 1973 weaving its notes in the morning mental music stream. The Allman Brothers were a youthful favorite and I’ve never tired of them. Wore the needle and grooves out on some vinyl, broke a cassette tape, and found it on CD. The net lets me easily enjoy their music, along with all those other terrific, talented people that find and make music. Technology can be quite a cool thing.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax and boosters. Now I’m gonna sit back, sip coffee, and enjoy the song. This coffee is a potent dark brew, French roast. Its kick would make a shambler zombie fast. Which is just about what I need this AM.

Here’s the tune. Cheers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRDivUb5EeA
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Tuesday’s Theme Music

Yesterday, someone said, “I waste too much time. Every night, I think of the things that I wanted to do that I didn’t do, and think of the time that I wasted.”

I didn’t agree or disagree. I understand what’s he saying. When he said he was wasting time, he meant that he’d planned to accomplish things that day and didn’t. He did other things instead. In answer to my question about that, he said, “Read, watched the news, read more, ate and drank beer.” He laughed.

Was it really wasted time? No, just not time used as planned. But people get the sense they’re running out of time. They’re coming up on deadlines, end of life, a new week, month, or season.

I’ve drifted away from that. Part of my drift is because so much of what’s on our lists are impermanent matters given amplified importance. You got to sort through these things and decide what’s really important, and what’s just being driven by the ghosts of the past called tradition, or the demons of expectations.

Meanwhile, the conversation naturally kicked a song into the stream. Several, in fact. One that surprised me leaped in from 1972 and an album called Eat A Peach, when I was sixteen. That Allman Brothers album, released after Duane Allman’s death, had a lock in my playlist for over a year, joining another Allman Brothers favorite, At Fillmore East, a double live album.

The song that jumped out was, “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More”. It really came, again, as I stepped out and called in a cat last night. I looked up for the stars. The cat was right there, but clouds obscured the stars. From there came the song’s lines,

Lord, lord Miss Sally, why all your cryin’?
Been around here three long days, you’re lookin’ like you’re dyin’.
Just step yourself outside, and look up at the stars above
Go on downtown baby, find somebody to love.

ht to AZLyrics.com

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Sunday’s Theme Music

This song, “Ramblin’ Man”, was recorded a year after Duane Allman died. I was a big Allman Brothers Band fan when he died after a massive motorcycle accident. “Live at the Fillmore East,” released on July of 1971, was one of my recurring go-to albums. A month after “Ramblin’ Man” was recorded, Berry Oakley, Duane’s friend and the group’s bassist, died in a motorcycle accident a few blocks from where Duane had his accident.

Dicky Betts sang “Ramblin’ Man,” which explained a lot for me. When I first heard it, I thought, boy, Gregg’s vocals sound a lot different on this. That song, though, captured the uplifting, rambunctious, rambling spirit I often felt while I was traveling. The pace feels faster with the song’s guitar solos, and the notes make me feel like I’m soaring on a wind.

It’s a memorable song, and has been used in many movies and venues. Here they are, the Allman Brothers Band with “Ramblin’ Man” from 1973, my junior year in high school.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VxoXn-0Ezs

 

 

 

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Friday’s Theme Music

The temp has hung around thirty degrees F. for hours, locked into that position by an inversion layer that invited freezing fog in. The freezing fog accepted the invitation – have you ever known fog to turn down an invitation? – so here we sit, freezing and foggy. These energy leeching conditions must be countered. With what can I counter it? Pancakes for breakfast and French roast coffee failed. Let’s drag in some music to shift my ass out of my chair.

I’m sure each of you have a favorite that does it for you. I have a catalog of them, myself, but today, it’s the Allman Brothers Band doing that old Blind Willy McTell song, “Statesboro Blues,” as captured live at the Fillmore East, in all their glory. I wore out this album listening to it in nineteen seventy-one and -two.

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

Once again, I’m streaming music in via the Wayback Machine. This time, the rotary dial has spun around and landed on an Allman Brothers Band offering.

I spent hours listening to the ABA when I was in my teens, first on thirty-three R.P.M. vinyl, and then on cassette and open reels. I’d get prone on the shag-rug carpeting, lights off and the volume up, and let the music pummel me. I’d moved through those mediums seeking faithful fidelity, free of wow and flutter, and buzz and hum. Yes, I was insane.

“Ramblin Man,” written by band-member Dickey Betts, came out in seventy-three, when I was entering my senior year at high school. The song is off the album, “Brothers and Sisters.” A popular song, it’s probably one of ABA’s best known releases.

I offer it for your Tuesday pleasure, but it’s acceptable to enjoy it on other days.

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Today’s Theme Music

Theme music is often about setting the stage for what’s about to happen. It’s a familiar, establishing your expectations.

On some days, I like defiant theme music to play in my head. They’re not necessarily days when I battling conditions; these can also be days when I’m determined to complete a task or pursue a dream.

Other days find me seeking melancholy theme music for accompaniment, fun music, or dance music. Theme music that’s nostalgic to me is frequent. That’s not surprising. Nostalgia is all about trying to achieve a particular state of mind. For me, that balance was often about hopes and dreams, youth and maturity, satisfaction and eagerness to pursue life.

The weather also affects my theme music choices. Today’s song, though, hits in many areas for me. It’s pouring rain through balmy air and upset winds. So I’m reaching for a song that accompanies my mind’s drift toward nostalgia and weather but remains something that

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Today’s Theme Music

A series of dreams battered me like a line of thunderstorms. Winds blowing strong and steady, whistling around windows and eaves, brought up tornado memories. Only been in two or three but they have a memorable sound.

Songs were featured in my dreams but after hearing the wind and rain, I went with ‘Stormy Monday’. Many great covers of this T-Bone Walker song are out there, but I went with a sentimental favorite. Here is the Allman Brothers Band performing ‘Stormy Monday’ from their album, ‘At Fillmore East’.  Crank it up.

 

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