Last Tuesday we said a sad fond farewell to Dave Lawrence.

Dave was an enthusiastic follower of this music blog. The David Bowie week back in January was done very much with him in mind. While a 'Midweek Spotlight' featuring an outfit calling themselves 'Two Cellos' was suggested to me by Dave on more than the odd occasion. [See reminder].

His music choices during the funeral were typically eclectic. Music from the spaghetti western 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly' by Ennio Morricone, a lesser known Queen track 'Innuendo' and the Stones singing 'She's a Rainbow'. 
My earliest memory of Dave was of his love for Santana. So I have chosen this instrumental track co-written by keyboard player Greg Rolie, a very young Neal Schon on guitar and of course the maestro Carlos Santana. Although not as well known as "Samba Pa Ti" or "Europa," many fans consider it a hidden gem in Santana's catalog > "Song of the Wind".  

For Dave: 

  

"The Fender Stratocaster is arguably the most popular and most emulated solid electric guitar ever" 

Launched in 1954 the Fender Stratocaster or 'Strat' went into production in October of that year. See the full story here: click 

Two of the finest exponents of this guitar: Jimi Hendrix who wrote today's featured Star Track, while Eric Clapton recorded it on the Derek and the Dominos album 'Layla'. 

The version here is a live recording from 2008. Eric Clapton is joined by Steve Winwood on stage in New York's Madison Square Garden, and over two nights they played a wide variety of old gems from which a double CD* (and DVD) have been released. 
Here they are playing a fantastic version of Jimi Hendrix's 'Little Wing' >

* Want more ? Then give 'Double Trouble' off this record a listen.

More Blues Rock and 'Stratocasting' to follow...