Thanksgiving’s Theme Music

Welcome to Thanksgiving in America. It’s not the shiny spectacle that we strive to create in the United States. In a lot of ways, today is like flipping back through history pages, and seeing an ugly time, and wondering, how did those people get through that?

Yes, Thanksgiving is a holiday, innit? My holiday vibe is a bit subdued today. I tried being upbeat, but, yes, I’m a little weary. A little pandemic’d out. A little elections exhausted, blended with hues of a little tarnished life syndrome. Gosh, this wasn’t how it was supposed to be, was it? No, not for this snowflake. As an average white American male, we’re not supposed to know shit like this. That’s for other people. Guess I have a tiny inkling about what those others endured.

Not really. No abusive parents. No food insecurities. No wondering if anyone, police or otherwise, are going to shoot me. No worrying about paying the rent or getting a job, or so much other shit that’s heaped on people through the sperm lottery. (Should the sperm lottery be called a spottery? It seems spotty, doesn’t it, hit and miss, about who has what.)

I don’t have COVID-19. I’m aging and male, so I cope with some enlarged prostate, some BHP. (I think that’s the proper letter combos.) I broke an arm in July, leaving me to rehab that arm, hand, wrist, and shoulder. (Yeah, it continues to improve…I think…) I have a lifelong pre-existing condition, hypertension, that I deal with. I’m a hopeful novelist, so I have all the angst, hope, and collective feelings associated with that.

Compiling the bottom line, I have a lot to be thankful for. Yet the blues have me today.

As it’s a holiday, I’m indulging myself with a blues favorite. Yes, it’s a repeat song, from a few years ago. Nothing like the blues to lift you, right?

Here’s Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble with “Cold Shot”. It’s a video of a live performing, as I wish he was, back when I was young.

Happy holidays. Yeah, and wear a mask, please. Time to go get some coffee cake and coffee. My wife made the coffee cake last night for today. Yeah, life’s not so bad here. Cheers

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble – Cold Shot (Live From Austin, TX) – YouTube

Monday’s Theme Music

Crank it up for this Monday gem.

I owe cats – natch – for this. The little beasts were unrelenting in requests for individual attention this morning. Pets and scratches were issued, food was given, words were whispered, and appeasement achieved. But at one point, as impatience was thinning — wanted to get on with writing, you know? — I told one floof, you’re running me ragged today.

That cracked open the song door. In sprang Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble’s 1992 rockified cover of Sonny James’ blues song, “Empty Arms”.

Tuesday’s Theme Music

Been listening to some blues streaming in my head and decided to share it with you. Here’s Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble with “Pride and Joy” from 1983. Turn it up!

Tuesday’s Theme Music

Thinking about the impeachment trial in the Senate took me to thoughts of denial and stonewall. This process sucked a line of lyrics into the stream of thought:

But this wall of denial was just built on fear.

Bottom line in my mind, turbocharged business as usual as Republican Senators screamed, “Nothing to see here,” and closed ranks to ensure there wasn’t anything introduced to be seen. Orwell would’ve been impressed.

Meanwhile, today’s theme music continues with the rest of that song, “Wall of Denial”, by Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble (1989). He died the next year, thirty-five years old, killed in a helicopter accident that took four others, as well.

I selected this cover from Late Night. Hope it works for you, too. Cheers

Tuesday’s Theme Music

It’s gonna be a hot one out there today, with warnings from the weather services to expect high temps between one hundred and one hundred ten degrees. Yet, the music in my stream is Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble doing “Texas Flood”. Then the oh moment arrived: he died in a plane crash on August 27, 1990.

I was just remembering that amazing talent.

Saturday’s Theme Music

It’s a Stevie Ray Vaughn Saturday. He’s one of those performers that I can say, I’ve never heard something that he performed that I didn’t like. His heart and soul were heard in his sound, no matter the venue or song. No matter what he performed, it seemed so electric and amazing, it seemed like he channeled a higher power.

Here’s SRV and Double Trouble with “Cold Shot”, live, 1985.

 

Today’s Theme Music

This song was in my head when I awoke.

I first learned of Stevie Ray Vaughn rather late. A literature professor introduced me to SRV’s work. Stationed at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan, in nineteen eighty-three, I was taking classes with the University of Maryland, and my wife and I became friends with the professor. He had several PhDs, acquired during his career as a professional student seeking to be a rock star by playing guitar with a local band.

He was incredulous that I didn’t know who SRV was and insisted on giving me a cassette tape of ‘Texas Flood’. I was hooked. Here is ‘Pride and Joy’, a good way to start a morning. Time for some pancakes.

Today’s Theme Music

The ol’ mental juke box is full of songs today. Yes, I still use a juke box in my head. I like the sound of the coin dropping through the mechanism.

I was going to use ‘The Sky Is Crying’ but discovered this video of Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble and Jimmy Vaughn performing ‘Texas Flood’ at the 1989 Presidential Inauguration Concert. Funny seeing SRV in some semblance of a tux. And there he goes, showing off, playing his guitar behind his back.

Crank it up, sit back and sing along.

 

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