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On Facebook the other day, I mentioned that early this week I had watched a "Great Performances" installment on PBS in which former Blind Faith bandmates Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton teamed up for a concert at Madison Square Garden this year.
The music was wonderful, as I expected it would be if both men -- now in their 60s -- were "on," and they were. The show reminded me of a very musically rich period of my life, circa 1971. It's the year, as I recall, that album-oriented FM radio stations really took off, and when baby boomers like me quickly embraced it as a viable -- and much preferable -- option to the pop fare still being dished out on AM stations. Baby boomer's offspring might find it difficult to imagine that the AM dial still was a strong component in radio listening back then, but it was.
A quick diversion: I worked four semesters as a DJ on the UW-Eau Claire AM station at the time, WSUR. There was a tiny snag with WSUR back then, however: Its programming could be heard only by people in the buildings on the UWEC campus. That has long since changed, but back then, it was a way for aspiring broadcasters to cut their teeth "on the air" without having to apply for and pay for FCC-required broadcast licenses.
A quick diversion: I worked four semesters as a DJ on the UW-Eau Claire AM station at the time, WSUR. There was a tiny snag with WSUR back then, however: Its programming could be heard only by people in the buildings on the UWEC campus. That has long since changed, but back then, it was a way for aspiring broadcasters to cut their teeth "on the air" without having to apply for and pay for FCC-required broadcast licenses.
But back to album-oriented rock on FM stations ... We were hearing a lot of Blind Faith, Traffic, Hendrix, Blodwyn Pig, Derek and the Dominos, Wishbone Ash and other non-pop music there, and all of it was a revelation. Blind Faith and Traffic, in particular, produced some eye-opening sounds and hooks, not to mention that they incorporated un-rocklike instrumentation into their repertoire. Horns -- saxophones, in particular -- were big in Traffic, and on the band's classic "John Barleycorn Must Die" album, the FM station I listened to in Milwaukee often played the album's horn-and-rhythm-rich lead tracks "Glad" and "Empty Pages" back to back. People who didn't know better (including myself at first) thought the two tracks were actually one!
I brought a lot of that music with me to Eau Claire and WSUR when I started my first semester on the air. I know our listenership was limited, but it still was something I enjoyed doing immensely ... and reflect back on fondly even today. It was one of my top "dream" jobs at the time -- right up there with playing Major League Baseball or performing in a rock band.
I brought a lot of that music with me to Eau Claire and WSUR when I started my first semester on the air. I know our listenership was limited, but it still was something I enjoyed doing immensely ... and reflect back on fondly even today. It was one of my top "dream" jobs at the time -- right up there with playing Major League Baseball or performing in a rock band.
In the Madison Square Garden show on PBS, Winwood and Clapton opened with "Had to Cry Today," the lead track on the one and only Blind Faith album (Clapton was never happy in the group, as it reminded him of his animosity-laden "supergroup" days with his prior band, Cream, so he drifted away after the album's release in July 1969 and one-and-only tour the following month. The two other members were Clapton's Cream bandmate Ginger Baker, the drummer, and guitarist and Winwood's Traffic bandmate and Ric Grech).
"Had to Cry Today," as performed in the Madison Square Garden show, was one of the few songs on the bill in which both men played guitar (multi-instrumentalist Winwood is a bit better known for his skills on keyboard). It opens with a delightfully driving guitar riff that repeats through the whole number. By the time Winwood and Clapton arrive at the point where they let loose on independent -- and simultaneous -- guitar solos that dazzle and amaze, the crowd -- and I -- were hooked. When they had finished the song, I did something I rarely do while watching TV: I yelped with glee and cheered. It was that good.
"Had to Cry Today," as performed in the Madison Square Garden show, was one of the few songs on the bill in which both men played guitar (multi-instrumentalist Winwood is a bit better known for his skills on keyboard). It opens with a delightfully driving guitar riff that repeats through the whole number. By the time Winwood and Clapton arrive at the point where they let loose on independent -- and simultaneous -- guitar solos that dazzle and amaze, the crowd -- and I -- were hooked. When they had finished the song, I did something I rarely do while watching TV: I yelped with glee and cheered. It was that good.
They eventually performed "Presence of the Lord" and an extended version of "Can't Find My Way Home," both also from the Blind Faith album; two instrumentally powerful renditions of Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile" and "Little Wing;" Clapton's "Forever Man;" and Traffic's "Glad" and "Mr. Fantasy."
I was so captivated, I found myself lining up Traffic and Blind Faith tracks to compile a homemade mix CD to burn. Perhaps it'll be ready in a week or two.
Oh ... if you weren't already aware ... the phrase between quotes in the headline -- Old Friends -- is a tip of the hat to Clapton; it's the title of a song he performed on one of MTV's first "Unplugged" concerts back in the early 1990s.
Oh ... if you weren't already aware ... the phrase between quotes in the headline -- Old Friends -- is a tip of the hat to Clapton; it's the title of a song he performed on one of MTV's first "Unplugged" concerts back in the early 1990s.
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