Electrical artistry

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Back in the good ol’ days, before the advent of the printed circuit board, they used to make amplifiers by soldering things together one piece at a time, one guy sticking things together bit by bit. This is one such outstanding example of what was once standard procedure, now practiced largely by boutique amplifier makers. This whole crazy mess actually makes sound, glorious sound, emit from a guitar in a wondrous cacophony of toneful toneliness. Being fans of good tone at Casa de Tom, this sort of thing goes over quite well.

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Obvious things you never knew

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Read that subtitle. That’s right, Peter Green “founder of Fleetwood Mac.” Lots of people don’t know about this guy. I didn’t know about him for years. Sure, I’d heard about every single cut off of “Rumors.” I’d heard “Black Magic Woman,” and “Oh Well,” but I’d never heard about this guy. Funny how things go in the world. This is the guy who started it all, and this is the guy who B.B. King said, was the only guy “who ever made me sweat.” He was good. He was damn good. He was a colossus, and comparatively few people have heard of him.

Fleetwood Mac started out as a stone blues band, and they were outstanding. There are plenty of recordings of the original lineup. You can Youtube them, read this book, buy one of the first four CDs, whatever. It’s out there, though, and it’s fantastic. Green was outstanding on “Man of the World, Lazy Poker Blues, Stop Messin’ Round,” and “Jumpin’ at Shadows,” aside from the previously mentioned tracks that actually receive radio airplay on occasion. (No, Carlos Santana did not write “Black Magic Woman,” though that is a great take on the tune.) This is not so much a plea or campaign for converts, but if that sort of thing interests you, check into it. It could be an introduction to some incredible music.

Neon Love Life

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A friend has been telling me about this new local band called Neon Love Life. If I could tell you where else to go and read about them I would, but last I checked they didn’t have much of a web presence. You can look ’em up on Youtube for some fan vids with really terrible sound quality. But that’s not what I was in for. These chicks rocked! Far as I know most of their songs were originals, and they just fired up and really gave it hell. I think I paid something like five bucks to see them, and I would have paid twice as much. Hoping I get to see them again.

Not a bad shot for being crammed in the absolute back of the room, really.
And, yes, I did post two pictures for this date. Too good to let them go.

Mo Brown

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We opened for this band tonight, Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights. They were pretty cool. The sound guy told me they were kind of like the Black Crowes, and he was right. Pretty good show. Lots of times I’m too tired to stick around for anything like this, but they sounded cool, and the bass player was a real nice guy. This is their sometimes singer, Mo Brown, who works with them when she’s not doing her own stuff. This isn’t razor-sharp photo quality, but I liked the whole mood of the thing anyway.

Melodiosa

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This thing is called a Sextet. What you’re looking at is only part of it. It looks like a paddle wheel from a river boat. It has SIX harmonicas mounted on it. There are little handles on the end of the frame that holds it all together, and you can spin it around to use the different harmonicas as you’re playing a song. They are used for old pop standards from the 20s and 30s and 40s. This sort of thing used to be much more popular than it is now. It’s impressive to see someone really work one of these things over.