I really have so many different interests, I find it difficult to start writing. Stream of conscience is hard. I always want to know why. I always need to know what the effects of my words will be before I say them. I'm a careful, tight man.
Why "On the South Side of Saint Louis"? Because my neighborhood is a part of me. I am it and it is me. Like my father and his father. If I'm not at work or at home, you'll find me at the church around the corner. That's where I was baptized, and that's where I plan and dream about making life better for those who live around me.
I thought I might ramble a bit as to how I arrived at this spot. Zillions of ideas flying through my brain at the same time as to how best to put borders on the one idea. Maybe I shouldn't try. Maybe that's what blogging is all about. I don't know.
Concert for George
The Concert for George, a tribute to George Harrison, was on PBS the other night and we all sat down to watch it. It brought me to tears several times. What exactly brought on the tears? Well, it's like this: Eric Clapton was of course a close friend of George's for many years. So he was the producer of the show. Jeff Lynn was there too. Jeff Lynn is one of the premiere rock producers ever. So the show was just plain good. But what really did it was the authenticity of the guitar work. George Harrison was "just the guitar" player of the Beatles. So they happen to be the biggest rock act ever, he's still just the guitar player. You don't hear the extended solos from Harrison that we've become used to in the rock n roll world. Typically, just 8 bars - sometimes 16. When he took the solo, it counted. It had melody. It meant something.
So Clapton was smart enough to get two great guitarists to back up the sound for this concert. And man were they good. The...