From a recently seen guitar post about great players of the Fender Stratocaster to a previous list by Joe Bonamassa of his Top 10 Blues-Rock Guitar solos of all time - Bonnie Raitt stood out amongst mostly male players. 

"Thing Called Love" from 1989 was the solo selected (by Joe) with "Three Time Loser" mentioned in the post for Bonnie Raitt's "supernatural slide work infusing the song with deep blues feeling as her 'strat' tones burn." 

On television this evening (BBC4 at 21:55) in "Sessions" you may well hear and see all of the above (from a 2013 concert). 

I'm going with "Thing Called Love". Written by John Hiatt in 1987 and covered on her breakthrough 'Nick of Time' album by Bonnie Raitt. The video is a live performance at the Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium, Oakland at the end of 1989 > 

Encore:

Try "Three Time Loser" from 'Later with Jools Holland' in 1994 (link here): Jimmie Vaughan and Jools are playing along with this comment noted: "after Jimmie's solo, Bonnie slinks up to the Mic in time! She is a great musician and gets my vote as the coolest chick ever to strap on a guitar."

This track was also performed at the excellent Oakland concert. (Link2 fyi). 

 

   

The English summer (or more accurately May, June, July, August and sometimes September) is a time for music festivals. There are events every weekend* and often there's a wide choice not just the one !

And boy have they grown in scale over the years. I shall be looking at this in the coming weeks, starting today at this weekends Cropredy Festival. Regular viewers will know my love of all things Fairport Convention and their Cropredy Convention has been attended in the past and provided Star Tracks on various Fridays:  

This year's proceedings kicked off with Merry Hell - Rewind One. While Morganway take to the stage this Saturday afternoon - Rewind Two.  

Sandwiched in between and headlining tonight are 10cc. Strictly speaking it's Graham Gouldman's 10cc as he's the only original member involved. The new line up have been going since 1999 and this UK No.1 from the late 70s has been played often. The video is a 2008 performance from a German Proms night with a full orchestra. 'Dreadlock Holiday' - 'I don't like reggae, no no, I love it !' >

* For example if you travel north of Oxfordshire to Derbyshire this weekend you'll find heavy metal fans attending 'Bloodstock' !

  R e m e m b e r i n g  

 -   R O D R I G U E Z   - 

Sixto Rodriguez (Sugar Man)

In 2012, the Oscar-winning documentary 'Searching for Sugar Man' saw two South African fans track Rodriguez down to see what had become of him.

Rodriguez launched his career in 1967 but initially struggled to find success in his native US and was ultimately dropped by his record label.
However, his music gradually developed a cult following overseas, and his records enjoyed significant sales and airplay in South Africa and Australia.
Little was known about Rodriguez in the country despite his music being so popular, and false rumours had circulated that the singer had killed himself on stage in the 1970s.

If you haven't seen the film, track it down, it's excellent. Rodriguez sadly did die earlier this week. 

I could have picked any number of his songs - here's 'Crucify Your Mind' - RIP 

Actually Video of the week - taken in our garden. Click on the white ▶ in the centre, then click again. 

Hummingbird hawk-moth

The hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) is a species of hawk moth found across temperate regions of Eurasia. And last week on our buddleia. 

  

Having recently mentioned the local music scene in the Hastings area was lively, I thought today we'd have some music from one of those local bands. 

Friends from school days in Robertsbridge Tom Chaplin (born in Hastings) and Tim Rice-Oxley met other band members, including guitarist Dominic Scott at Tonbridge college. Scott left in 2001 and Keane became known as 'the band with no guitars', thanks to their heavily piano-based sound. 

This is actually a song, written by Tim, about Scott leaving the band and is a favourite track of mine. From their 'Hopes and Fears' 2004 debut album 'This is the Last Time' >

For more local nostalgia check out 'Sovereign Light Cafe' from the 2012 record 'Strangeland' - the song is about the seaside resort of Bexhill-on-Sea. The café itself is on the west end of the town's seafront, opposite the offshore Sovereign Lighthouse, where it gets its name. Link 2 

  

I'm at the northern tip of the UK mainland. I've just walked into 'The Last House' in John O'Groats, which since 2019 has been home to a new brewery, bar and visitor centre. 

Amidst various bottles of beer and related merchandise there's a screen showing a video of the local area with music playing that has my ear. This is how I got to hear John O'Groats local band Neon Waltz and learn via a promotional postcard that NME called them "Scotland's coolest new gang" in 2015 and their 2017 'Strange Hymns' record being nominated for Scottish Album of the Year.  

My first thought was they reminded me of Explosions in the Sky, but that was instrumentally. All the songs I've listened to are more vocal, but this track sounds more like what I first heard. 

'Perfect Frame' from 'Strange Hymns'. Bit of a psychedelic video happening too. 

* YouTube has more videos and a new LP is due in September. 

 

Same flower, different butterfly, TN35 4AT

Hydrangea plant, Red Admiral (left), Peacock (right) butterflies. Taken in our garden. July 2023

   

Ever since moving down to the Sussex coast I've seen more 'live' music than I've managed in ages. The local scene here is very active. 

But today I'm away back to London for the only performance in England on their 2023 World Tour for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Courtesy of my son who got the tickets for this evening's stadium event. So along with over 60,000 fans I expect the band will be heard more than seen and if the setlist info is anything to go by this track from 1999 will be part of the show. 

This video is a classic of it's time and is the band's most watched on YouTube. 'Californication' >

   

Last weekend the BST Hyde Park concerts in London concluded, penultimately with Billy Joel, who'd played a set full of crowd pleasing 'Greatest Hits'.

I checked the setlist and his encore began with this classic. You've probably seen the video before, but worth another spin, given the nature of history and it's ability to repeat itself. As one person comments: "As an US History student I understand this song and realize we have not changed at all in 70 years".

Billy Joel's 'We Didn't Start the Fire' (lyrics and history) ... 'But we tried to fight it' 

NB: the visuals start with the vocals at 32 seconds in >

  F O O T N O T E  

Just a few hours after posting this track I came across a new version by Fall Out Boy who've created an update of 'We Didn't Start the Fire' - running from 1989 to 2023. With new lyrics and the chorus line reads: 'But we're trying to fight it' (click here to view) 

  

Amazingly after nearly 380 'Friday Music Spots' these guys have yet to feature. Though one of their best known songs did make an appearance in 2018 as FMS#135 (click link).  

Simon & Garfunkel are therefore long overdue. So without further ado from The Concert in Central Park in 1981 here is 'American Tune' > Art, you in the mood ?

FYI: 'The Concert in Central Park' has had a few recent outings on the Sky Arts channel.