KUDZOOSOUTHERN MUSIC • SOUTHERN FOOD • THE SOUTHERN THANG

NOVEMBER 2018

TONY JOE WHITE1943-2018

JIMMY FARRAR

JEFF CARLISI: ARCHIVAL INTERVIEW

CDs: JIMI HENDRIX, THE STONES, McCARTNEY, COWBOY, BILLY GIBBONS

Michael Buffalo Smith ismakin’ it back to macon

buffalo’s first album since 2005 produced bylegendary capricorn producer PAul Hornsby.With special guests Tommy Talton, billy bob thornton & e.g.kight - with towson engsberg, billy eli, joey parrish, gregyeary and daniel jackson. available soon from cdbaby, amazon, itunes and everywhere good music is sold.

for updates follow buffalo on facebook, twitter and instagram.

www.michaelbuffalo.net

contents6 The Vine7 Letters7 In Memory of Jimmy Farrar9 Jeff Carlisi Archival Interview with the 38 Special Guitarist (2001)

15 Notes from the Dashboard of MyPickup Truck

16 Swamp Fox: Remembering Tony Joe White

23 Southern Rock Hall of Fame Class of 2018

24 The Rock & Roll Health Chick:All the Lonley People

29 CD’s, Vinyl & DownloadsEverything Old is New Again.Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Cowboy, BillyGibbons. Beau Weevils and more.

39 Sound & Vision: DVD and Movies

Page 31

Page 9

Page 16

KUDZOO“Covering the South...”Vol .8, Issue 29 November 2018

“the money came in sacks with contractsCarl Perkins’ Cadillac.”

THE VINEPublisher - EditorMichael Buffalo Smith

The “KUDZOO Army”Contributors

Tom Bell, Rick Broyles, JamesCalemine, Tom Clarke, Karen

Fann, Scott Greene , Julia LaRue,Dave Peck, Electra Posada,

Phillip Smith-

AdvertisingMichael Buffalo Smith

Advertisers, please direct yourcorrespondance to

michaelbuffalosmith@gmail.com

KUDZOO Websitewww.kudzoomag.com

Cover Photo: ©tonyjoewhite.com

KUDZOO Magazine is publishedQuarterly (at least)

PO Box 44Converse, SC 29329

email: michaelbuffalosmith@gmail.com

Submit books, CDs, DVD’s and Booksfor review consideration. Mail to theEditor at the above address. All sub-missions become the property of

KUDZOO Magazine. We will strive toreview as many as possible, but as inlife, there are no guarantees. Submis-sion of articles and photographs must

first be cleared by the Editor. Please E-mail an inquiry first.

Follow us on Facebookfacebook.com/kudzoomagazineAnd Twitter @BuffaloTribe

Hi Gang,Welcome to issue #29 of America’s Only Southern music

and food magazine, KUDZOO! We sincerely hope you guys enjoyit, and continue to welcome your thoughts, comments and lettersto the editor!

Well, it’s been a long time coming, but the Southern RockHall of Fame is alive and well, and currently living in cyberspace. Of course. we still hope for a museum one day to celebrateour brothers and sisters, but for now, your votes have been tabu-lated, and this issue we announce the first inductees into the Hallof Fame- Bands, Individual Performers, Sidemen, Industry Prosand Albums! Thank you to all who voted!

It seems like these days we are losing great talents left andright. Now we have lost two more, both of whom we tip our hatsto this issue.The one and only Tony Joe White was a stellar song-writer and unmistakable singer. My fondest memory is being atthe Americana Music Conference backstage at the Ryman and Ifound myself seated at the bar between Billy Joe Shaver andTony Joe White having a cold one. Tony Joe turns to me and says“Buffalo we’re gonna have to change your name to Buffalo Joe!”Funny. I miss him already.

The other passing was my friend Jimmy Farrar, bestknown as Danny Joe Brown’s replacement in Molly Hatchet.When I got to know him he was in Southern Rock Allstars andGator Country. Jimmy was a helluva guy and a great singer. Iwas thrilled to call him my friend. He can never be replaced.

For this issue we dug up a Special (as in 38) classic inter-view with Jeff Carlisi, done by Scott Greene 17 years ago. My howtime flies.

Be sure to check out all the reviews and our onboard rockand roll Health Chick’s column. She knows of what she speaks.

One of the hottest CD’s this month is by Earl and the Agi-tators, an all star band featuring members of Foghat and friends.It truly rocks. One lucky winner will win a new, sealed copy ofthe CD in a random drawing. Just email us at my address belowwith Agitators in the subject line! Be sure to include your mailingaddress so we can ship it if you win!

Until next time, y’all keep on rockin’!

Buffalomichaelbuffalosmith@gmail.com

Jimmy Farrar passed away on October29, 2018 at the age of 68. Jimmy was leadsinger for Molly Hatchet from 1980-82. Hedied from complications from congestiveheart failure, and kidney and liver failure.He had suffered three heart attacks in 2017,and had undergone bypass surgery.

Born on Dec. 8, 1950 in La Grange,Ga., Farrar got his start in the local Raw En-ergy Band where he met Rocky Manbrettie, aformer roadie for Molly Hatchet. Manbrettiegot Farrar's demo tape into the band man-ager's hand, and Farrar was offered the jobshortly after Molly Hatchet parted ways withthen-singer Danny Joe Brown.

He made his recorded debut on 1980'splatinum-selling Beatin' the Odds. Take NoPrisoners followed a year later, before Farrarsplit from the band and original lead singerDanny Joe Brown returned. After MollyHatchet, he sang in Predator, Section 8, theSouthern Rock All-Stars and the Dixie JamBand. Farrar later formed Gator Country, aband comprised of former members of MollyHatchet.

Photo Paul Natkin, Getty Images

JIMMY FARRAR DIES

LettersED KINGDear Kudzoo, Thank you for running your classic interviewwith Ed King. It was full of great stories. I wasdevistated to learn of his death, but reading theinterview made me smile. I met Ed some yearsago before the Tribute tour and we sat talkingfor over two hours. It is one of my happiestmemories. Thanks again!

Delores CainLos Angeles, CA

Delores.Ed was a superstar and a great guy. We wereproud to call him our friend. Glad you liked theinterview. -Ed.

COWBOYBuffalo, Your review of the new Cowboy album got meexcited to hear it, but I can’t find it anywhere!What gives?

Alan WiseOrlando, Fla

Alan. The release was delayed but it will becoming out in Novermber. It’s a good un! -Ed.

BITTER SOUTHERNERBuffalo,Did you see the essay in The Bitter Southernerabout “Freebird” being the worst song ever?Those guys are apparently not Skynyrd fans.

Stella CollinsJacksonville, Fla

Stella. Everyone has an opinion. -Ed.

https://smarturl.com/listenEATAwww.earlandtheagitators.com

www.facebook.com/earlandtheagitatorswww.foghat.com www.facebook.com/foghat

agitators@foghat.com

by Scott Greene

The following interview appeared in GRITZmagazine during our third year, in October2001.With the vast collective of 38 Specialfans still loving their music, we decided todust this on off and present it again some 17years later. This was the first interview con-ducted by my friend and Gritz contributorScott Greene. Hold on loosely and enjoy!

Jeff Carlisi, Architect? Were it not for arecession, he could be designing buildings in-stead of crafting guitar licks in bands such as38 Special, Big People, and Brian Howe. Andwhat is it about the West Side of Jacksonville,Florida anyway? In his interview, Jeff tells ushow he was born in Boston, but put down hisroots in one of the most prolific birthplaces ofsouthern rock. Architecture’s loss is certainlymusic’s gain.

Tell us, Jeff, where did you grow upand how did you come to live in thesame West Side neighborhood whereall the great artists of that musical pe-riod came from?My family was from Boston and my dad was aNavy man who had one dream, and that wasto fly. When World War II broke out, it was agreat excuse to take up flying so he did and itcontinued until his last tour of duty, whichjust happened to be in Jacksonville, Florida.We moved to Jacksonville after my first grade

year and I grew up there. I moved to Atlantaafter high school to go to college.

How did you get interested in playingmusic and how did you meet the guysin Skynyrd and 38?I got interested in playing when I saw theBeatles on the Ed Sullivan TV show. Iknew when I saw them play that I wanted todo that, and for me, it was not about the girlsor looking cool, it was to be able to make

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JEFF CARLISIArchivesGUITARIST RECALLS SPECIAL TIMES WITH .38 SKYNYRD AND MORE

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music and to play that electric guitar. Thefirst song I ever heard on the radio that mademe want to play music was Johnny Horton’sversion of “The Battle of New Orleans.” Myearly influences were well rounded but Ileaned towards guitar bands.

I was in this band called the Doomsday

Refreshment Committee. The keyboardplayer was an older guy and he asked me onetime if I had ever heard the blues. I said,“What is that?” and he pulled out some of thegreat blues players and I was blown away bythem and it really inspired me to play. Wewould go see the band Second Coming (ED.Note: An early Dickey Betts/Berry Oakleyband) play. The only problem was (that) Ron-nie was the only one old enough to get in asthe club was a bottle club. The rest of uswould have to beg the kitchen help to let ussit in the kitchen to listen. On Sunday at theForest Inn, they had these things called BeIn's and all the people would come out and sitaround and play and, over the course of time,we saw the Allman Brother's band form andtake off. I think that was an inspiration to usall seeing them from the beginning and seeingthem make it to the level we all wanted toreach.

While I was away at college, I played ina lot of country bands. In fact, while in schoolI got an offer to play with an up-and-comingcountry singer named Barbara Mandrel. Forme personally, some of my early influenceswere Allen Collins, Eric Clapton, Leslie West,Barry Bailey, and the bands Free and Cream

and on the coun-try side, JerryReed is aawesome player

So you were inJacksonville -did you knowthe guys inSkynyrd or 38back then?We all grew upwith in a fewblocks of eachother. I was inCubs Scouts with

Billy Powell and Leon (Wilkeson) ived twostreets over from me and I can rememberjumping on my bike and riding over to AllenCollins house, soyeah, we all knew each other and playedaround in different bands together. I still lookback in amazement at all the people who livedso close that made such a difference in themusical world.

Tell me about some of those earlybands.Well, one I remember was with Donnie (VanZant) and Ken Lyons and it was calledSweet Rooster, but that was just one of many.

So how did you get from Atlanta backto Jacksonville?When I got out of college with my degree inarchitecture, there was a recession on and nota lot of people banging down my door with

job offers, so I went back to Jacksonville. Ifigured I would just hang around for a year orso and see what happened, but within twoweeks I was playing in 38 Special. The bandwas only about a month old when I got backto Jacksonville.

How were those early days of the bandand when did you know you had madeit?Well, we knew we had something special butthe first two records were not very successfulby record industry standards. But when wereleased our third album, Rockin’ into theNight, we got our first radio top 40single and the record sold about a quartermillion records. That helped us stay aroundfor a few more records. Funny thing is, wenever looked back and said, “We have madeit!” - we just kept on striving for thenext plateau. When Wild Eyed Southern Boyscame out, we really knew we had createdsomething that was long lasting and thatwould stand the test of time.

Speaking of standing the test of time-tell me about the song “Four Walls ofRaiford” with Ronnie Van Zant.At that time, 38 owned a rehearsal hall inJacksonville and there was a sandwich shopright next door that went out of business, soSkynyrd bought that space and made it into arecording studio, which was great ‘cause wecould all hang out and if we needed to recordsomething, we could just walk next door andlay it down. Ronnie always wanted to havea project outside of Skynyrd because he lovedcountry music so much. One night Ronniehad this song called "When You Have GoodFriends" and he called some friends togetherand it included Don Barnes, LarryJunstrum, Steve Brookins and Allen Collins,so we recorded a demo of that song and whenwe were all leaving he ask me to stay becausehe had another song he wanted to work on. Itwas just he, I and Kevin Elison. Ronnie

started singing this tune and he was trying toremember the words so I said, "Hey, man,just get your piece of paper and look at whatit says." He looked at me funny and said, "Inever write any words down, man. I just singthem."

I was stunned and to me, that showedjust how much of a great songwriter he was.He knew just what he wanted to say and knewjust how it should sound and when the songwas done, it had his deeply inspired touch. Heremembered the words and he sang them tome. I heard it in a traditional American folkblues and (it) just so happened (that) Garyhad a Dobro sitting in the corner so I picked itup and started playing this arrangement. Atthis point, it was one or two a.m. and Ronniesat at microphone in the middle of the roomand sat two chairs face to face. He had a bot-tle of Jack Daniels. He opened it upand we spent about an hour working thearrangement out and getting inthe right frame of mind and recorded it inabout three takes. It was as pecial momentand one I will never forget.

Quite a bit, really, and at the time itwas done, I was a bit disappointed. But at thesame time, I was grateful that it was includedin the record and that people would be al-lowed to hear something that was so special. Iknow that they added Billy playing keyboards,

some other guitar parts and a bass line to itand my thought was that it lost its originalfeel, but I was still happy that it was includedin the record. Several years later, a fan inKansas came up to me and said, “Jeff, I wantto thank you for the song “Four Walls ofRaiford." I told him I wished he had heard itbefore the over-dubs. He said, “That’s the ver-sion I am talking about!” It was then I foundout about the box set from Skynyrd and thatit had been included on it. I ran out the nextday and got it and when I heard it I said,"Yes!" It was the untouched version and Icould feel the magic in the song again.

What record do you think defined the.38 Special's sound or style?Well, Wild Eyed was the greatest sellingrecord to that point but“Caught Up in You”came off of Special Forces and it was the firsttop ten charting song. The Wild Eyed South-ern Boys record was still the best sellingrecord we had and that was the image thatwas being marketed for the band, so I guess itdefined us as a band. I have to say that weworked hard to include as many differentstyles of music into our sound. We had JimPeterik as a collaborator up to the Tour DeForce record but he was getting busy with hisown band, Survivor, so I believe that’s someof the difference you hear on that record.When you take away someone who is as tal-ented a songwriter as Jim is, then you aretaking away part of what made those songsfrom the last three records what they wereand it’s not that they were any better or worsesongs, they just had a different sound. I thinkany time you add a new writer to that, you aregoing to get a different sound to the musicyou are making.

Tell me what your favorite song was toplay and any shows or bands youtoured with that stick out in yourmind?My two favorite songs to play were “Robin

Hood” and “Fantasy Girl” as far as sheer en-joyment of playing. As for bands, five stickout in my mind as great to tour and hang outwith: Rush, Hughie Lewis, Starship, BadCompany and Bon Jovi. All those bands weregreat to tour with and we also had a lot of funoff stage with them also.

Tell me about the band after Don(Barnes) left.Well, we got a tape from our manager of aband called Jack Mac and the Heart Attackand as soon as I heard it, I knew he (MaxCarl) was a talented singer and he joined usquickly along with Danny Chauncey. Wegot a good break as we had the song “SecondChance” and we put it on this record and itended up being our highest charting singleever. I know it was not what most folks thinkof as a 38 song, but we were tryingto redefine who we were as a band. We neverlooked at a song to see if it was a ".38" song.We felt a great song was a great song and itdeserved to be recorded and heard. We didtwo records and toured and hada good run ‘til Max decided he did not want totour and be away from/home so much, so wedecided to see if Don would come back andsee if we could find the magic we had before.

How long after Don's return did youknow it was maybe time for you tomove on? Also did you not write someof the songs off Resolution?Well, about a year in, we all started to feel un-happy again and it took maybe another yearbefore we had all had enough. We went ourseparate ways and yes I wrote some of thesongs that made it on to that release but Inever played on it. I think it really was like amarriage where we grew in different direc-tions and I truly wish them the best of luckand I am very proud of our time together andthe things we were able to do as a band. Ithink some of the music we made will standup as some of the best ever made and we are

all to be proud of that.

So how did you feel when you got homeand woke up the first day and therewas no studio time booked or bus wait-ing for you to hit the road on?It was kind of scary. You know, I had donethat for so long and everything was different.I took some time to spend with my daughteras she was very young and it was a great timeto be at home, but that longing to play wasstill burning in me and I wanted to play again.

So when did that happen and withwhom?

Michael Cartellone, who is now playingdrums with Skynyrd, was dating agirl I knew in Atlanta and she called me andasked if I wanted to get together with her andMike. We went out to a club where a friendwas playing and Michael and I ended up onstage playing and having a blast.When we were done, Michael said, “Man,that was fun! I am not doing anything (so)let's put something together.” I figured it wasone of those things musicians say to eachother but we got back together a few weekslater. In the time between the first jam ses-sion and this second get together I had run into Derrick St. Holmes, who Michael and lboth knew, so we asked him to join our bandand he said, “Sure, it sounds like fun.” Wedecided to add another player or two andmake it a well-rounded band. I had alwaysbeen a Cars fan so we got in touch withBen Orr and he agreed to joins us on bass.Next, we asked Pat Travers to take on theother guitar spot so we had a group of world-class players and a well-rounded sound thatincluded many different styles that would beblended into our own sound. The first timewe got together as a group to practice,Michael said, “I just got the call to try out forSkynyrd” and we knew he would be leavingus. I remember thinking, “Man, we just gotgoing and the guy whose idea it was isleaving!” So Pat said he would call Liberty De-vitto and see if he was interested. I thought hewas kidding - I mean Liberty was playing withBilly Joel but Pat said, “That tour is endingand who knows when Billy will go back out,”so Liberty decided he would join us also. Thisgroup of guys is the best I have ever playedwith and I have never had so muchfun.

How did you get the name Big People?We were looking for names and nothingstuck, Pat was talking to some guy back homeand the guy asked him what he was doing andPat said, “I am playing in this new band with

Jeff Carlisi, Liberty Devitto and BenjaminOrr (The Cars)” and the guy says, “Man, thatsounds like some big people” and that's howwe got the name. Pat left the band after abouta year tofocus on his own band.

So how did it go and what about whenBen first got sick?We did a tour opening for Styx and that wentwell until May of 2000. Ben was told he hadpancreatic cancer and we lost him fivemonths later. He was a trooper and when hegot out of the hospital he said, "When I falldown and can't pick myself up we'll know it'sover. Until then- we rock!" We played thatwhole summer and it was awesome. Heplayed with passion and fire and the showswe did were the best I can ever rememberplaying.

I think we all played for each other -Ben for us and we for him and that is whatmade those shows so special. The band willsorely miss him. So now Big People includesDerek St. Holmes (Ted Nugent) , Kyle Hen-derson from The Producers, myself, Libertyand Rob Wilson.

So tell me what folkscan expect from a BigPeople show?We play a collection ofour hits from our bandsand we are working onwriting and will berecording our first CD assoon as time allows.

Tell me about playingwith Brian Howe.He is a great singer and Ihave known him sincehis days in Bad Companyand he asked me to dosome shows and I have to

say it's been a really great time. We play goodmusic and the players in that band are topnotch. We have written several songs togetherand in the coming months, Brian and I aregoing to record them and continue to play to-gether and have fun.

Is there anything you would like to sayto the fans?I would like to thank them for their supportand for their interest in my work. I enjoyplaying music for them and I hope they willcome and check us out when we play. •

I would like to thank Jeff for his time, Its is arare thing to find so many talented peoplefrom one band who all show dignity andclass and I for one think it’s a huge part ofwhat makes their music so special. They aretruly role models for us all on how to treatpeople. I also want to thank Jeff for sharingfrom his personal collection of photos for thisinterview.-SG

NOTES FROM THE DASHBOARD OF MY PICKUP TRUCKAfter a successful year touring as The DevonAllman Project with special guest DuaneBetts, the sons of Gregg Allman andDickey Betts are joining forces to form TheAllman Betts Band. The new ABB includesDevon Allman, Duane Betts, Berry Oakley Jr.(son of original Allman Brothers Band bassistBerry Oakley), Johnny Stachela (slide guitar)and Devon Allman Project percussionists R.Scott Bryan (Sheryl Crow) and John Lum.

They will kick off 2019 with a new All-man Betts Band album and a Worldwide tourthat will feature new music, songs from theirsolo projects and classic Allman Brothers andGregg Allman tunes in honor of the 50th An-niversary of The Allman Brothers Band. Thenew album, slated for release in the Spring of2019, will be recorded at the legendary Mus-cle Shoals Sound Studios and will be pro-duced by Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell,Margo Price, John Prine and Elvis Presley).Former Allman Brothers Band keyboardistand current Rolling Stones keyboardist,Chuck Leavell will guest on the new album

with Peter Levin (Gregg Allman's key-boardist) handling keyboard duties for therest of the record.

The Allman Betts Band will launch aWorld Tour in March and perform through-out 2019 at festivals, theaters and historicvenues. #theroadgoesonforeverot everyonecan say they are not only in a top selling bandin their 80’s, but have started up a new bandas a “side project,” but that’s exactly whatCharlie Daniels has done. He had alwayswanted to play with drummer JamesStroud, so along with CDB bassist CharlieHayward and Billy Crain (The Outlaws,brother of long time CDB member TommyCrain) they formed the Beau Weevils andrecorded their debut album Songs in the Keyof E. (Review this issue). Be on the lookoutfor appearances by these youngsters soon. . ..In October, Billy Crain’s wife Sandy suf-fered traumatic injuries in a fall. At press timeBilly had just posted the following on Face-book: “I have really sad news. Dallas, Stella,and myself just got back from visiting Sandyat the hospital. The results came back fromher latest CT Scan and at some time during allof this, she has had a stroke. It could havebeen what made her fall so hard and receivesuch horrendous injuries. Tomorrow the Neu-roloical team will start assessing her. She willprobably stay in ICU the rest of the week andthen to Vanderbilt. They don't know howmuch, if any, she will recover movement onher right side. She is in grave danger of bloodclots so please keep praying. I love you all andkeep the faith!!!” We at Kudzoo are keepingSandy in our prayers. . . •

By Michael Buffalo Smith

Tony Joe White was an American treasure.When he died on October 24, 2018 at the age of75, America lost one of its true creative geniuses.

In 1969, Tony Joe came bursting out of theswamplands of Louisiana with his classic, “PolkSalad Annie,” a Top 10 Hit, followed in 1970, byBrook Benton’s soulful rendition of White’s time-less classic, “Rainy Night In Georgia.” Through-out the ‘70s and ‘80s Tony Joe White toured withsome of the biggest artists of the decade includingCreedence Clearwater Revival and James Taylor.The 1990s began with a bang, as Tina Turnerrecorded four of his songs for her multi-platinumselling Foreign Affairs album. While there was acertain “mystique” surrounding White in theUnited States, it was in Europe where he gainedlegendary status. During the 90’s he spent twoyears touring Europe with Eric Clapton and JoeCocker, among others. French audiences eagerlyembraced White as the ‘Swamp Fox’ and in 1998,he became the subject of a French produced doc-umentary: Tony Joe White-The Man From DownSouth. Throughout the years, White has hadsongs recorded by dozens of major artists includ-ing Elvis, Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, Etta James,Hank, Jr., Tim McGraw, John Mayall and WaylonJennings, (who recorded numerous White covers-including the ’99 release, “Closing In On TheFire”). He has written and performed jingles forMcDonalds and Levi’s 501 Blues and been fea-tured on movie soundtracks for Millennium, Se-lena and Hotspot. Back in 2003, I had thepleasure of speaking with White about hisfriends, his music and his new album at the time,The Heroines.

I have been wanting to speak with you forquite sometime, but with the new Hero-ines album, the time is just right. Thealbum is great.Oh, my son Jody got in there and surprisedeveryone with his ears and ideas and did a greatjob.

It’s a smooth thing. I want to go back andask just a few questions about your past,nothing incriminating, (Laughs)....Let’s stay out of the swamps (Laughs)....

Just for the people that might not know,please tell us where you were born andraised.It’s a place called Goodwill, Louisiana on thenortheast end near Arkansas, Mississippi, in thatDelta corner. We had a cotton farm.

When did you first become interested inmusic? Well my folks, mom and dad, five sisters andone brother - they all played guitar and piano. Iwas the youngest and he was the oldest and thegirls were in between us. Someone was playingsomething every day when we got through withwork and picking cotton. Someone was alwaysplaying music, Daddy on guitar. I heard it all mylife but didn’t really get into it. Then one daywhen I was about 16 my brother brought analbum home by Lightnin’ Hopkins. I heard thatold blues man with his one guitar and that micro-phone close to his foot and anyway we all got intoit. We were heavily into the blues growing up inour teens in that area.

Do you remember the first song that you

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swamp fox.IN MEMORY OF TONY JOE WHITE

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ever wrote?Yeah, it seems like I wrote a song called “Some-day.” After I left Louisiana, I was down playing inclubs in Kingsville, Texas. I remember a songcalled “Someday” that I had written then.

Your biggest claim to fame was “PokeSalad Annie.” How high did that chart inthe States?It was number 3 in America and then world-wide, into Europe and Australia. I had a recordright before “Poke” that happened and it madenumber 2 in Paris, France. At that time I wasplaying in a night club in Texas but had this hugerecord going overseas. I had never been any-where. I went over there and did some interviewsand toured with a guitar.

What was that song?It was called “Soul Francisco” and it was about

the hippie movement at that time. It was on myfirst album. It was during the flower childrendays. All of a sudden the guitar and voice clickedand people were buying my records. When I gothome from touring at that time “Poke” had kickedin here in America. It was out for about 7-8months and it looked like it wasn’t going to hap-pen with a record company. So I was back playingat the nightclub in Texas because you are alwaysplaying somewhere and you can’t sit around andwatch a record. We must have been selling 1000records a week in that nightclub of “Poke.” Therecord company would mail them to us and wewould buy them and try to sell them at that club.They said that they thought they would try to gowith something else. I told them that they coulddo that but that we were selling lots of thoserecords at that small club. Then a station pickedit up in L.A. and put it on the big list, you knowwhat I mean. Then it made it to finally #3 inAmerica and then it got followed up with “RainyNight in Georgia”. All of the sudden I was mov-ing.

That was a good one-two punch.Yeah, I think both of those songs had been writ-ten in one week. I had moved to Corpus Cristi bythen and I had heard Bobbie Gentry sing “Ode ToBilly Joe” and I thought, I am Billy Joe man, and

I know that life. I wanted to write about some-thing that I knew about and that was real. “Poke”was real because I had eaten a bunch of it when Iwas growing up; and rainy nights were real be-cause I had driven a truck when I got right out ofhigh school. That’s how those two songs cameabout and it is pretty amazing that they havestuck around.

Didn’t Elvis sing “Poke Salad Annie?”Yeah, he did come out with it in ‘72, ‘73 some-

where around there. His producer called me and Iwas living in Memphis by then. He phoned meand said he wanted to fly me and my wife to LasVegas and watch him do it and record it live on-stage. Elvis had been right in that little scene too,with Lightnin’ Hopkins and John Lee Hooker andall of us kids down on the river. Then we had allthat blues going. Elvis had been a big hero ofours. We combed our hair like him and I did hissongs onstage and the whole thing was just hap-pening. Then they were flying us to Las Vegas- itwas like a dream.

Did you get to spend some time with himand get to know him? Yeah, we hung out for about 3-4 days out therein the dressing rooms and stuff. And then wehung out in Memphis and saw him down there atStax and he treated me real good. He liked guitarand he would get me to show him some of theblues licks and stuff like that. He always seemedto really want to play. He could bang and make afew chords, but he really liked those bluesythings.

You were talking about “Rainy Night inGeorgia.” One of my favorite versions ofthat was Sam Moore and Conway Twittyon that country / blues album.Oh, yeah, it was chill bump time again, withConway’s voice and Sam and everything justkilled me on that album.

I remember playing that one song overand over. Yeah, they did it up.

I know that you have toured with all sorts

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of people. Who comes to mind if I askabout favorite people you have touredwith?That’s kind of hard, like naming your favorite

song. I have always had a great time with JoeCocker, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton. People thatyou really love their music and you’re glad to beout there with them. Then on the country side,Waylon Jennings was great and we went lots ofmiles together.

Wow, he was great. He was and still is.

I know Tina Turner has recorded lots ofyour songs. How did your relationshipwith her come about?It started with a demo I had done in my studio

here and a song that my wife and I had writtencalled “Undercover Agent For The Blues.” It hasme and my guitar, bass, and drums. I may haveput a tiny bit of organ on the back. It was verysimplistic. At that time Roger Davis was manag-ing Tina and they were in LA. I heard that MarkKnopfler played it for her because him and I hadbeen friends for a long time so I had sent him acopy of it. Then Roger called me and said thatTina wanted to record that song and that shewanted me to play guitar on it and wanted it tosound just like the old demo. Which was an oldanalog 16-track with hissing and everything.(Laughs) But is sounded cool. So I flew out thereand met Roger and we went over and saw Tinaand she was doing a commercial at Chevrolet,some car dealership thing, and we walked intoher dressing room and she was getting her make-up on. Roger and I were standing there and shelooked at me and started rolling and laughing.She was just dying laughing and couldn’t get herbreath. I was standing there looking at the floorand just thought maybe my pants were unzippedor something, you know? It was weird. She justcouldn’t quit. Finally she walked over to give me abig hug and said that she was sorry for laughingbut that she thought ever since “Poke SaladAnnie” that I was a black man. (Laughs). We hit itoff from that minute like brothers and sisters. Weflew to New York where they were going to recordand did “Undercover Agent for the Blues” using

just organ, bass, drums and me on the guitar.Tina was singing and doing it live. It was amazingto see her in the studio because she moves in thestudio just like she does on the stage. She is danc-ing and moving and then all of a sudden in themiddle of the song on the instrumental part shekicks the singing booth door open and struts outinto the big room where me and the drums are,and grabs the microphone off the cymbals andfinishes the song almost down on her knees like ashow. I am thinking, I hope they have that taperolling, man. So anyway, it came out perfect andshe came over and told me that there was a songon that tape that she really liked called “SteamyWindows” and that she really wanted to cut it. SoI was thinking that this must be a dream. Notonly playing guitar for her but having Tina cutsome of my songs. Then she cut “Steamy” thatday and that night Roger called and said that she

had heard two more songs on the tape that sheliked and wanted to cut the next day, but that shewanted to fly to Paris to sing “Foreign Affair,” andthey ended up naming the album that. I felt thatwould be a good one for her to start with. Weflew to London and cut the tracks. She wanted tosing it in Paris. One take in the studio and it wasover with. I think she did every one of those songsin one take. She did four of my songs and it mademe float around, man. To me, Tina was right upthere with Elvis and Lightnin.’

She is one of the best for sure. Just dyna-mite. I saw on your website a picture ofyou and some of the guys from the Jack-son Highway studio in Muscle Shoals so Iguess you recorded there some?Yeah, two albums there. The Closer to the Truthalbum was recorded there.

Did you work with some of the MuscleShoals musicians down there? It was always Roger Hawkins on drums andDavid Hood on bass and Steve Nathan on B-3.Once that was all cranked up you were rolling.

Did you tour with Clapton and Joe Cockerat the same time or was that individualtours?Separate. With Clapton I only did a few thingswith him. It wasn’t like my Cocker tour. Joe and Istayed out about 2 months. Clapton was as coolas he could be. He always had this portable pooltable in his dressing room and everytime I wouldgo in we would shoot some pool or snooker orwhatever it was that he had going. He was alwaysvery cool to me. He’s holding one of my songsthat he was thinking about recording. It was anold song called, “Taking the Midnight Train.” Itwas off an earlier album. Clapton and Joe andCreedence all had a good time on tour.

You were out with the original band withFogerty?Oh yeah, they had a lot of hits out and we hadthis so there was a lot going on. It was about 1973or 1974, right in there, and they had lots of hitsout and a couple of things going so we had somehuge crowds.Let’s play a form of word association. I

want to name a few folks and get yourbrief thoughts on each of them. Startingwith Bonnie Bramlett.She has a soulful voice. We did a short movie

together in Santa Fe, New Mexico called CatchMy Soul. That was when she was still with De-laney. I went down there to do the soundtrackand ended up playing a part in it. I just playedmyself and I was a preacher that played guitar.We stayed down there for about three months.The movie is pretty findable. They later renamedit The Black Devil. It has Ritchie Havens in it andhe plays Othello. It is a bunch of hippies livingout in a desert commune and that type of thing.

Bobby Whitlock.He is a very soulful man. We did a benefit in

Mississippi about four years ago and I was able tospend some time with him and he was trying toget things together and move along. I heard nowthat he has done that.

Waylon.He and I are dear friends and lived together in

Memphis for awhile. Him and Jessi came throughthere during Waylon’s rocking days. He was stay-ing up 1-2 days at a time. He came pulling inthere in an old Cadillac and he and Jessi weregoing to stay for awhile. He brought a Strato-caster in a tweed case to me as a gift. He is just sounbelievable. A friend of his had found it and itwas in good condition. So I put it in a safe here atthe studio and would take it out every now andthen for a song. The other day out in Phoenix theyhad a Waylon Day and Shooter (his son) is play-ing music now and I told him that I had some-thing I wanted to give him, but he had to comehome to get it. I told him that ‘58 Sunburst thathis Daddy had given me was for him. He is play-ing music and getting ready to play Waylon inthat movie about Johnny Cash. He is a great mu-sician who is fixing to have a great guitar. It ispretty amazing that it would come around likethat again.

J.J. Cale.He is the man. I just listened to him last night. I

have been digging him for years and we havedone a couple of shows together. In fact he cameto Nashville the year before last and he called me

and said “hey, man, why don’t you come to thislittle theatre that holds about 200 people and jamwith me.” Then he wanted me to bring a tiny am-plifier... I asked him why? He said bring some-thing tiny because he was playing real quiet onstage. I had this little, tiny Fender amp and ithad one little ten in it. J.J. had this little Peavythat you could almost put in your back pocket.(Laughs) He is playing on that little thing andhis drummer is playing on a snare turned bot-tom side up’ards with a brush and his girlfriendis playing an electric guitar but is not pluggedup. They were just doing this groove stuff on-stage and I joined them and played 3-4 songsand played really quiet. (Laughs)

Mark Knopfler.He may be my favorite guitar player or at leastin the top three. We have known each other fora long time- over there in London in the studiohanging out. It started years ago and he gave mea guitar, a beautiful acoustic guitar. He wasdoing a show with Chet Atkins and he came outto the house and of course we had to build a fireand get outside and crank a couple of acousticsup and have a few cold ones. Knopfler was outunder the moon with a fire going and did thesong “Brothers In Arms,” which is one of my fa-vorites - it doesn’t get much better than that.Then we went downstairs into my studio and Ihad this old blonde 330 Gibson that I had usedback in the Texas days. He started playing itand would not put it down and he just couldn’tquit playing it. So he got ready to leave the nextday and I told him to take that Gibson and put itin the car with him. He said “No,” he didn’t thinkhe could take it. I told him to go ahead and take itand it would be in good hands. I went out by the campfire the next afternoonand just kind of sitting there by myself and therewere guitar licks laying everywhere. (Laughs)Knopfler knows so many licks that they just fallout of his pockets. (Laughs)

Ray Charles.Not only did I know him but I was in Australiawith him a few months ago at a big outdoor festi-val. Jody, my son and I went to see him in thetrailer in the back and he had this guy with him,a bodyguard and we sat there for about 25 min-

utes going over tunes that he had done of mine.He did an unreal version of “Rainy Night in Geor-gia.” I mean it’s up there with Brook Benton’s. He

loves 3/4 time. It was kind of a country tune re-ally, and I thought about Waylon when I wrote itand then Ray came out with it and won CountryMusic Video of the Year with it. Ray says that thatsong was his life and that I wrote his life rightthere. I look back on those early days in Texaswhen Ray came out on that album of all thosecountry hits, “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” and allthat. I will never forget how good that was. I’vegot to renew my CD’s because I have burnedthem up. I will never forget “Born To Lose” and“I Can’t Stop Loving You” all those tunes. Thecountry side was not any stranger to him at all.

Let’s talk about the new album... what in-spired you to get together with all these

22

great female singers? It goes back to my son Jody. He has been work-

ing with me for about seven years and doing allthe booking and managing. He has now gotten towhere he really shines in the studio because hehas heard the music all his life. He came up to melast year and asked about doing some duets. Hewanted to know who I would want to do duetswith, females. I named six off the top of my head.Everyone but Tina was available. I had most ofthe songs cut already as demos and the oneShelby and I had written was already down. Itwas moving so smooth and easy and was justmeant to be. We came up with the name TheHeroines. Part two will be the Heroes. We canhave Joe Cocker and Ray Charles, etc. All of thoserecordeings, by the way, again, are one takes.Like , Emmylou came in and it was just me andher in the studio and took my voice out in thespots that I wanted hers and it sounded so good.It was in an old antebellum house here and thesound was so great. She sung it 3-4 times andthen we went back and used the first one.

(laughs)

Was this the first time you recorded withyour daughter?No, I had played guitar on a couple of her al-bums. The first time on mine though. Then shecame up a few months ago and did this unbeliev-able album here at the same studio in the oldplace, Jody was producing and I played the gui-tar, and we had a stand up bass and drums. ForMichelle this will be like Tapestry was for CaroleKing. You know everyone has “the album” - any-way it is that good.We cut it all here except formine. The Heroines we had to take the 16-trackand flew to L.A. and get Lucinda. We went outthere and it has all worked good. •

All photos from the press section of tonyjoe-white.com © The dfvd drgvrg rg ggvvgrvrrvAllThe Lonely People

The Beatles sang, All the lonely people. Where do

THE SOUTHERN ROCK HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2018

The people have spoken! The votes are in forthe inaugural class of the Southern Rock Hallof Fame. Thank you to all who voted. If yourfavorite didn’t make it in, worry not, this is ofa museum, look for updates on the Hall web-site southernrockhalloffame.org

BANDS The Allman Brothers BandLynyrd SkynyrdThe Marshall Tucker BandThe OutlawsThe Charlie Daniels Band

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMERSCharlie DanielsElvis PresleyStevie Ray VaughanOtis Redding

SIDEMENDuane AllmanMuscle Shoals Rhythm Section/SwampersThe Honkettes (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

INDUSTRYTom Dowd (Producer)Phil Walden (Capricorn Records c0-founder)Bill Graham (Promoter)

RECORDINGSAt Fillmore East - Allman Brothers BandPronounced - Lynyrd SkynyrdWhere We All Belong - Marshall TuckerLaid Back - Gregg AllmanLayla & Other Love Songs - Derek & The Dominos

The Outlaws (self titled)Strikes - BlackfootBrothers & Sisters - Allman Brothers BandSecond Helping - Lynyrd SkynyrdMolly Hatchet (self titled)

24

by Electra Posada

The Beatles sang, “ All the lonley people,where do they all come from? All the lonely peo-ple. Where do they all belong?” Well, let me tellyou…

Ever been in a crowded room and realizedyou felt lonely? Maybe you were playing in a barroom and didn’t feel like you were connecting toanyone. Some people don’t have a social networkand might not leave their houses for anythingother than trips to the doctor or grocery store.They may have developed a rapport with the staffat their favorite restaurant, but when it comes todoing something more meaningful, no one isthere. When something great happens, there’s noone to call up and celebrate with. When some-thing sad happens or they get sick, there’s no sup-port network. The holidays are especially difficultfor lonely people. Others are getting together withloved ones and celebrating, which magnifies thefeeling of being alone. Suicides increase greatly atthis time of year. There are 7.53 billion humans inthe world, and people are lonely! It’s tragic!

Humans are social creatures. Not manypeople can survive on their own for very longwithout others. Those who choose to be alone riskmental and physical health issues just from theisolation. That is why solitary confinement is theultimate punishment in our failing and barbaric“justice” system. But that’s a whole other topic…We have a primal drive to find a partner and con-tinue our species. We also have a mechanism thattells us there is safety in numbers. Before we livedin developed areas, we formed tribes and hadlarge, extended families. We protected the group,and many hands made light work.

There are a lot of people who choose not tohave connections for various reasons. Maybe theywere abused and/or got hurt so much in the past

that they won’t expose themselves to the risk ofpain. Maybe they were bullied in school or on so-cial media and are afraid of being attacked again.Maybe they don’t have good social skills or are in-secure. Maybe they got tired of trying and beingrejected. Maybe they’ve lost someone so special tothem that they don’t feel they can risk gettingclose and losing another.

Young people today have never known atime when you had to call someone up on thehome phone or ride your bike to their house inorder to hang out. If they weren’t home, you hadto learn patience, perseverance, make alternateplans and wait to connect. Riding bikes with myneighborhood gang, skateboarding, singing alongto records in my friend’s bedroom, sledding downthe huge East Tennessee hills, trick-or-treating asa group, scraping up any change we could findand going down to Kay’s Ice Cream, where wecrammed into a booth and loosened the tops tothe salt and pepper shakers, were some of thebest memories I still have after four decades. Wehad the time of our lives doing things that nowwould get our parents in trouble for neglect orabuse. Kids today don’t have that freedom. Be-cause of the creeps out there, they aren’t allowedto go exploring without adult supervision. Thatrobs them of a whole lot of fun and a host of skillsthey need later in life.

Some people never learned how to social-ize in person. Social media and texting have takenover actual in-person interactions. It kills me tosee a group of friends or a family at a table, andthey’re all on their phones! Or the parents are ontheir phones and the kids are craving their atten-tion. Don’t do that! Kids grow up fast and yourphone won’t replace their company or love in thefuture. If you don’t make the connection now, youprobably won’t have it later.

And what would we do if we lost internet?Would we still have friends? Your Facebook

The Rock & Roll Health Chick

ALL THE LONLEY PEOPLE

friend halfway around the world can’t bring youchicken soup or too many casseroles when you’resick or a loved one dies. Social media can begreat, but unless you actually spend time with the“friends,” you’re not connecting on a deeper level.

Loneliness is one of the reasons that sui-cide among young people is a rising epidemic.Kids are isolated for various reasons. Some arebullied, shunned or persecuted for their sexualidentity. Some kids are not included in a groupand don’t feel they fit in anywhere. vIt is com-pletely unacceptable for anyone to be treated in away that makes them want to take their ownlives! For kids to be lonely is unimaginable tosome. We assume they make friends at school,but a lot of kids don’t. For a young person withoutall the skills they need, life can be extremelypainful and scary. Suicide is one of the biggestfears for a parent, and one of the worst tragediesin life.

According to the Jason Foundation, sui-cide is the second leading cause of death for ages10-24, the second leading cause of death for col-lege-age youth and ages 12-18. Each day in ournation there is an average of over 3,041 attemptsof suicide by young people grades 9-12. Muchyounger kids are attempting and committing sui-cide as well. I had a friend whose 11-year-old soncommitted suicide. He was bullied at school andby his dad and stepmom. He felt alone and hope-less.

The elderly is the second highest group tocommit suicide, following adults aged 45-54. Menover the age of 85 are four times more likely tocommit suicide than any other group. Some rea-sons an elderly person may take his or her life in-clude dementia, illness, financial instability,alcohol or drug abuse, and of course, depressionand loneliness.

Of the maybe 20 elderly people I havecared for over the past 7 years, there was only oneI can remember who was not on an antidepres-sant. And I know for a fact, having spent a lot oftime with them in their homes and often beingone of very few, or the only person they inter-acted with “socially,” they were lonely. They hadusually lost mobility, so their activities were lim-ited. Often their families were far away and eitherdidn’t come to visit often, didn’t offer to take theirparent in, the parent refused to move or they

were estranged. Some didn’t have children andtheir spouse was gone, their friends were all goneor they couldn’t get out by themselves. They oftendidn’t feel well, etc. It was painful to watch. Aperson should not live a long life, get to the endand wind up forgotten, alone and wanting to die.

If you’re a musician, out on the road byyourself, pounding the pavement, there may notbe a lot of opportunities to truly connect with oth-ers. Sure, you’re playing for people, and they mayfeel the emotions pouring out of your music, ifthey aren’t engrossed in their beer and the peoplethey’re with. Some may talk to you after your set.But you’re probably not discussing how you andyour girlfriend/wife broke up because you’renever home and she got lonely and found some-one else. Or you’re setting up your gigs and talk-ing to the venue staff. But you’re probably nottelling them about how beautiful the sunset wasover the mountains on the way there and how itmade you homesick, or how your electricity gotcut off and your pipes froze, flooding your house,and you have to deal with that when you gethome in three weeks.

Those are the conversations we want tohave with people we know really care about us.We want a history with people. We want to knowhow that person ticks and if we can trust them.We want to have someone who will go to ourhouse and deal with the flood for us. We wantpeople we can do the things we enjoy with. Hik-ing with a friend is safer than hiking alone andcan be more fun. Some people want someone wholikes to have dinner and go to a movie, or theother way around.

My younger son apparently did some re-

search about “dating.” He told my mom that it’sbest to see the movie first, so you’re sure to havesomething to talk about afterwards, just in caseyou’re not connecting very well. That’s so smart!He isn’t just letting life happen. He is steering.That’s what we all have to do. And it’s not so easy.It’s easy to keep doing what you’re doing and notbe happy with the results. It’s much harder topush yourself to get off the couch, put yourselfout there and take risks.

There are many websites devoted to help-ing people of all ages meet others who are lookingto make friends with someone with common in-terests. They’re not dating sites. It’s a way to con-nect with others after screening them a little. Ifyou like to kayak, like my boys and mom do, youcan find others to go with. Meetup, Nextdoor,Meet My Dog… It might seem funny or sad on thesurface, but it’s a sign of our times, and I’m grate-ful people are identifying and addressing theproblem. Computers and social media, that arepartly to blame for the break-down of the inti-mate connections we crave, have found a way tohelp with the repair.

After school is over we’ve often gone outand gotten jobs. That’s one of the primary placeswe make friends. That can be a limiting and prob-lematic experience. When we have kids, we tendto make friends with other parents. When thekids grow up and leave school and activities, weoften lose those connections. Sometimes ourpartner is our only friend or person we interactwith regularly. It’s great when your partner isyour best friend, but it’s also limiting and prob-lematic, especially if you part ways or they passaway. If you divorce and his or her friends wereyour friends, sometimes you lose the friends too.

The solutions I’d like to offer are prettysimple. We just have to make ourselves do them.When I was in my early 20s, I had a short periodof wanting, but not finding, a partner. My momsuggested a few things. One was to accept offersto go out from someone, even if they didn’t seemlike an ideal match. She said I might meet otherpeople, through them, that I fit better with. An-other was to join a club. That way you know youhave at least one interest in common.

I often mention volunteering on my radioshow, Rockin’ Your Health. So many of the showstouch on loneliness or needing to make changes.

There are endless ways to volunteer and a subjectmatter for almost everyone. Visiting the elderly,taking them for a drive, delivering meals andtidying up their home are all wonderful ways tohelp. Helping animals is always popular and a bigneed. Working on the environment is incrediblyimportant and gets people out in nature, whichwe humans all need. Reading to little kids inschool, or helping them read is contributing tothe betterment of the next generation and directlyimproves their life and chances of success. Teach-ing music to kids or veterans with PTSD is won-derful. Music is proven to heal where otheractivities don’t, and it helps you as well. A lot ofpeople will donate instruments and song books ifyou put out a call. Helping veterans gives back tothose who gave themselves to our country. Askanother volunteer to join you for a cup of coffeeor lunch once you get to know them.

There are many music therapy charities.Bardsong School of Craft & Skills of Old, is a won-derful group of older musicians in Ohio, who are“traveling to local youth detention facilities andgroup homes and teaching crafts and giving mu-sical instrument instruction to the kids there.They accept donations of musical instruments re-pair them and teach the younger generation to setup and care for their instruments as well as teachthose interested how to play them. The youth thatshow an aptitude for their instruments are giventhe instrument free of charge.”

WeGave is in Florida and “provides thenecessary tools and resources for all veterans andservice members to be able to learn, perform andheal through music.” You can find both of theseorganizations on Facebook. A simple internetsearch can help you find other volunteer opportu-nities in your area. If you don’t find one you love,you can start your own!

If you live away from groups of people, youcan drive to the closest town or do volunteer workonline. Volunteering online also works if youhave limited mobility. It’s not ideal, but it’s betterthan sitting there watching T.V, for sure.

If you’re a musician on the road, talk tothose you love and feel comfortable confiding in.Tell them you’d like more connection. They missyou, too! Maybe friends or family can join you ona leg of the tour here and there. Try to arrange tocall certain people at certain times during the

week. You can also do video chats for a more per-sonal interaction.

My sister and I do a thing we call ThreeThings. We mostly do it when we’re goingthrough a really difficult time. It’s meant to shiftour view to the positive, but you can use it just tokeep in touch. It’s a great icebreaker or conversa-tion guide. We each come up with and text threethings from our day that were positive or we’regrateful for, and then we comment on eachother’s. You could do Three Things that meansomething to you in general, good or bad. It couldinclude things like, I got to my show on time andsafely. I played really well and got to do the thingI love for a living. I got free beer. Or, the hot guywas checking me out. I had to get a new tire, andI had to use all my money from the gig, but at

least I could pay for it. Shifting our perspective is paramount to

making changes. Humans are very adaptable. Wehave to be to survive. We are able to identify ourneeds, find solutions and make them happen.There are so many lonely people, just like us.Maybe you’re just what they’ve been waiting for!Please find your solution, go forth and create con-nections. Your mental and physical health trulydepend on it.

Electra (The Rock-n-RollHealth Chick) is an Inte-grative Health and Nutri-tion Consultant and Coach,specializing in the health ofmusicians. She is the co-creator and host of “Rockin’Your Health,” which isheard on FM radio,streaming on www.Elec-traLandRadio.net, and isarchived atwww.OurHealthRevolu-tion.net/radio. You can

find her online at ElectraLandProductions.netand on FB and Instagram at Rockin’ YourHealth and ElectraLandRadio.

LOOK FOR THE NEXT ISSUE OF KUDZOO ON JANUARY 18, 2019.

DEADLINE FOR ADS IS JANUARY 7TH

29

Billy F, GibbonsThe Big Bad Blues(Concord)

The legendry frontman for ZZ Top returnswith another high octanesolo album of smokinghot blues. The bulk of

the material was written by the good Rev-erend himself, although he couldn’t help buttoss is a pair of an apt covers of Muddy Wa-ters tunes- ’ “Rollin and Tumblin” and‘Standin’ Around Cryin,” along with “Bring itto Jerome” by Jerome Green and “Crackin’Up” by Ellas McDaniel. Gibbons wails theblues with as much passion as ever, and hisguitar simply speaks for itself.

“Missin Your Kissin” begins with a fa-miliar ZZ Top sound, a la “La Grange,” beforebreaking loose into a blues rockin bit of may-hem that features some fine harmonica workfrom James Harman, and “My Baby SheRocks” is full of passion and swager. “SecondLine” has a great ‘50’s/’60’s vibe, and “Let theLeft Hand Know” is a nice shuffle. “Bring it toJerome” is nothing but the blues, and “That’sWhat She Said” is a slow groove” featuringeven more of that magic from James Harman.

“Mo’ Slower Blues” is quite reminiscentof his band ZZ Top, with gutsy vocals and redhot guitar.”Hollywood 151” rocks in typicalGibbons style, and his cover of “Rollin andTumblin” serves a the cherry on top of thissweet musical desert. It’s a full tilt boogiewoogie that leads us to the final track,“Crackin’ Up, ” possibly the most unusualtrack here. I’m not saying it’s “different, butit would have felt home on Deguello. Goodstuff. -Michael Buffalo Smith

Beau WeevilsSongs in the Key ofE(Blue Hat)

Can Charlie Danielsdo no wrong? In addi-tion to his solo workand the Charlie Daniels

Band, he is now a member of a hot new bandcalled Beau Weevils, featuring Charlie on leadvocals, guitar and fiddle; James Stroud ondrums and percussion; Billy Crain on guitar;and Charlie Hayward on bass.

The band is a long held dream of Char-lie’s, who has wanted to play with Stroud foryears. CMA and ACM Award-winning JamesStroud's history as a musician, producer,music publisher and industry executive spansover 40 years. As a drummer/percussionist,he has played behind the likes of the PointerSisters, Paul Simon, Gladys Knight, Bob Segerand dozens more. Stroud achieved majorcountry music success producing albums forTim McGraw and Clint Black in the 1990s. Hewould go on to found his own independentlabel, Stroudavarious Records, and later, R&JRecords. Stroud has produced albums thathave collectively sold millions of copies, andhad over 100 #1 records, including threechart-toppers with country star Chris Young.Stroud also produced several albums for TheCharlie Daniels Band including HomesickHeroes ('88), Simple Man ('89), and Rene-gade ('91).

Billy Crain is a red hot slide guitarplayer known for his work with the Outlaws,The Henry Paul Band and many others. He'salso the brother of the late Charlie DanielsBand guitarist, Tommy Crain.

Charlie Daniels Band bassist Charlie

CD’s, Vinyl & Downloads

Southern music historian Michael Buffalo Smithpresents a series of interviews with some ofcountry music's biggest stars, assembled fromhis archive of over 15 years of conversations.Tthe volume is filled to the rim with countrymusic history, stories and photographs.

Includes one on one interviews with: Cowboy JackClement; Marshall Chapman; Marshall Chapman II;Bobby Bare; Jerry Reed; Tony Joe White; Jeff Hanna(Nitty Gritty Dirt Band); Greg Martin (Kentucky

Headhunters) ; Richard Young (Kentucky Headhunters);David Allan Coe; Shooter Jennings; Montgomery Gentry ; Charlie Daniels; Don Winters; Donnie Winters (WintersBrothers Band) ; George Lindsey (Goober); Peanutt

Montgomery; David Ball; Barney Barnwell; Ricky Skaggs;George McCorkle (Marshall Tucker Band) ; Billy Eli; PaulThorn; Kinky Friedman; Kara Clark; Hank Williams III ;

Unknown Hinson

AVAILABLE AT AMAZON.COM and LULU.COMSIGNED COPIES AVAILABLE FROM THE AUTHOR

michaelbuffalosmith@gmail.com

michaelbuffalo.net

MY KIND OF COUNTRY

WE ONLY HAVE ONE PLANET.

WAGE PEACE

31

Hayward is best known for playing bass onGregg Allman's critically-acclaimed album,Laid Back. His additional credits include per-forming with Dr. John and Alex Taylor.

Together, the Beau Weevils create aninfectious, swampy, Louisiana meets theDelta sound that will have you at “hello.” Thesongs, all played, seriously, in the key of “E”,are rocking, slide laden rock that will makeold school Charlie Daniels fans like myselfgrin like a stuck possum. It’s one of my fa-vorite Daniels albums ever, no kidding. Andlet me just say, one of my favorite records ingeneral. So good.

“Geechi Geechi Ya Ya Blues” kicks theset off with some New Orleans swamp rock,with Hayward and Stroud locking in tightly toset the foundation for Billy Crain’s amazingslide guitar and Daniels guitar and vocal. It’sa just plain fun song- not to mention a kickhearing Charlie spout off spoken word high-lights in French with his accent!

“Bad Blood” rocks like a mixture ofclassic CDB and ZZ Top, and of course thelyrics tell a story just like all of Daniels’ bestmaterial, and “Mexico Again” will make youwant to dance to the south of the bordersounds.

“Louisiana Blues” is a really nice bluestune and “Oh, Juanita” rocks with more ofCrains smoking slide guitar. “Smokey’s GotYour Number” is another rocker about high-way patrol catching speeders and distracteddrivers, and “Mudcat” is a great, swampy taleabout a man living back in the woods whocould play guitar and drink wine with the bestof ‘em. Another great Daniels character song.

“Everybody’s Gotta Go Sometime”swings and “We’ll All Have Some” is a funtune about sharing food and beverages,backed by some nice percussion work fromStroud. “How We Roll” is a rocker about aproud country boy that even name drops oneof Charlie’s prior hits, “Long Haired CountryBoy.” This song has Charlie written all over it.

Daniels wrote or co-wrote all ten tuneson the new album. Stroud and Casey Woodproduced the project with Daniels' managerDavid Corlew serving as executive producer.This one should be on your “must have” list,folks. Great writing and playing from guys wealready know and love.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

The Jimi Hendrix ExperienceElectric LadylandDeluxe Edition(Legacy)

Electric Ladylandhas been a favorite ofmine since my buddy

Doug Hooper first played it for me way backin the early 1970’s, and this version, author-ized by the Hendrix family, is a true tribute toJimi’s genius. There are three (count ‘em!)CDs and a Blu-Ray disc housed in an albumsize 48-page hardback book that is chock fullof rare photos and hand written lyrics andalbum notes by Jimi himself. It’s like openinga time capsule.

The 50th anniversary package is trulyspecial. First of all, the original album hasbeen remixed in 5.1 high resolution stereosurround sound by producer Eddie Kramer,making for the ultimate in sound dynamics.All of the great songs sound fresher thanever- “All Along the Watchtower,” “VoodooChild,” “Crosstown Traffic,” “Have You EverBeen (to Electric Ladyland)”. . . the music wasso far ahead of it’s time that is sounds newhalf a century later.Disc Two, “The Early Takes,” includes aplethora of demos by Jimi with just his guitar,as well as band demos and studio outtakesfrom the time period, including the excellent“My Friend,” along with demos of most of thesongs that ended up on the album, as well as

things like “Rainy Day Shuffle,” “Snowballs atMy Window,” and many more.

Disc three is Live at the HollywoodBowl 09/14/68, a part of Experience Hen-drix’s official bootleg series. The never beforereleased concert was recorded just weeks be-fore the release of Electric Ladyland. The Ex-perience sound at the top of their game on“Purple Haze,” “Fire,” “Sunshine of YourLove,” “Hey Joe,” “Foxey Lady” and more. It’sa hot one, folks.

The Blu-Ray disc contains uncom-pressed STS-HD master audio of the album,along with the video documentary At Last. . .the Beginning: The Making of Electric Lady-land, which originally aired as part of theClassic Albums TV series, and this versionfeatures over 40 minutes of additionalfootage not seen in the original broadcast.

This is a true treasure trove for us oldHendrix fans, a must have for your Jimi col-lection, filled with surprises, red hot guitarand genius dripping out all over the place.One of the finest reissues of late and a perfectgift for the classic rock fan in the family.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Paul McCartneyEgypt Station(Capitol)McCartney’s 17th soloalbum is, in a word, excel-lent. While it tends to gointo dark places at times,the music is as fresh as

anything coming out on record today. Sure,it’s cliche for me to say, but my God, at 76years young, this man ages like the finestwine. There are a handful of artists in this cat-egory - Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen amongthem- but the songwriting is there and hisvoice sounds as good as it did when he was aBeatle or a Wing.

Lyrics such as “I got crows at my win-dows/Dogs at my door/I don’t think I can

take anymore” on “I Don’t Know” show thatMcCartney has a firm grip on his mortality,while, at the same time having as much fun asever. (How many saw his “Carpool Karoke”visit to his old Great Britain stompinggrounds with comedian James Corden? Orhis comedy bits with Jimmy Fallon on TheTonight Show. As a life long fan, those arethe moments I live for).

The album is filled with melodic pop,including the beautiful acoustic “Confidante,”and “People Want Peace,” both finding Mc-Cartney channeling his long time song writingpartner John Lennon. Very nice.

McCartney is a rarity. While holdingtightly to his Beatles roots, he remains opento the changing landscape of modern music,which is on full display with the single “FuhYou,” a song that seems taylored to the swiftchanges of popular radio. Huge props for theoverall sound of Egypt Station go to producerGreg Kyrstin, producer of Adele’s Grammy-winning 25 album.

Tha album has everything a Paul fancould ask for- silly love songs, rockers like“Who Cares” and mini-suites “ Hunt YouDown/Naked/C-Link” and plenty of acousticguitar. All in all, Egypt Station ranks amongSir Paul’s finest solo work.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Cary MorinWhen I Rise(Maple Street)

It amazes me justhow much great musicthere is “out there.” Now, Iknow I am setting myselfup to look ill informed, but

after years of seeing the name Cary Morinaround, I was still convinced that he was a fe-male artist. There were several times in thepast where I came this close to checking out

one of his previous albums, but for some rea-son I got sidetracked. Bummer. I had no ideawhat I was missing.

Morin was born in Billings, Montana, amember of the Crow tribe of Native Ameri-cans. He played around the area here andthere before relocating to Northern Colorado,where his career took off.

The acoustic-based When I Rise standsas one of the finest albums thus far in 2018,chock full of acoustic finger picking, bluesand soaring vocals. The album features ten ofMorin’s originals. along with a brilliant inter-pretation of the Grateful Dead’ “Dire Wolf”and his take on Duane Allman’s “LittleMartha”is amazing. It’s Allman’s song, butMorin paints it in his own colors. There’s nota weak cut on the album, and “My Memoriesof You” will find your hand reaching for thevolume knob to turn it up louder. So good!

There are times when Cary’s fingerpicking is so good, you’ll swear its two guitarsbeing played together, but no, it’s just oneguy. One highly skilled and talented artist. Ifyou are looking for good music with a freshsound, look no further. This one is a winner.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

The Bennett BrothersNot Made for Hire(American Showplace)New York musicians, gui-tarist Jimmy Bennett andbassist Peter Bennett firstcame to my awareness as

the backbone of Alexis P. Suter Band. Theirpresence on blues-rock albums from BruceKatz, John Ginty, and Marcus Randolph cap-tured my attention even more. This summer,the Bennett Brothers released their debutalbum, Not Made For Hire, a powerful blues-rock album filled with a fistful of electric gui-tar and lots of groove. Drummer Lee Falcoand keyboardist John Ginty bring their mojo

to the band as well, forming a tight-knit outfitof musicians.

A searing blast of Texas-style electricblues greets the listener in “Junkyard Dog”.Falco holds nothing back on drums as hedrives this revving fully-loaded beast with rip-ping guitar from Jimmy. The B3 sounds ofGinty is sweet icing on this cake. The BennettBrothers give an intoxicating performance ina wonderful, riveting way in “I Just Don’tWant the Blues Today”. This one also fea-tures the lovely vocals of Linda Pino backingthem up. She definitely adds a layer of heart-felt emotion to the song. The rocking conta-gious riffs in “What’d I Do” have a fabulousway to burrowing right inside to my core, andI love every bit of it. The album ends in atremendous way when the needle drops on “IGot a Woman”. The guitar/organ intro gen-erates a wave of excitement and captivates myattention. Within ten seconds, the groove isset with a the funky rhythm and rides the spi-raling B3 organ delightfully to its cosmic end.

Not Made For Hire is the real deal.This is what Blues-Rock is all about.

-Phillip Smith

Cowboy10’ll Getcha Twenty(Crazy Chester Records)

It had been 37 yearssince Cowboy hadrecorded for CapricornRecords. The members of

the original band as well as subsequent line-ups had all come and gone, and the musicianswere all working on other projects. It was2008, and producer Johnny Sandlin pitchedthe idea to Tommy Talton of “getting theband back together,” recording a brand-newCowboy album, and just seeing what hap-pened. As one lucky enough to be in the stu-dio during the first sessions, I can promiseyou, it was sheer magic that happened.

All of the original band members gath-

ered at Sandlin’s Duck Tape Studios in De-catur, Alabama, together with Johnny for thefirst time in over a third of a century. Themusic just seemed to pour out of Talton, ScottBoyer, George Clark, Tom Wynn, Bill Pilmoreand Pete Kowalke. Following a second sessionthat featured later cowboy members includ-ing Bill Stewart and Randall Bramblett, theyguys had a masterpiece. The only thing is,there was a lot going on at the time, and theproject became entangled in red tape. Now,ten years later, that amazing music is at longlast available. Come along and enjoy it.

The record includes several tracks thatfeature the original band, the guys who cutthe Reach for the Sky and 5’ll Getcha Ten al-bums. One of the most poignant and beautifulsongs kicks off the album. “Maybe Miracles,”sung by the late Scott Boyer, is breathtaking.With backing harmonies by the other bandmembers, the harmony is a sound reminis-cent of The Jordanaires, back when theybacked Elvis. Lovely. Very nice, subdued gui-tar work from Talton and Kowalke only addto the ethereal beauty of the song.

Tommy Talton is on deck next with“Throw a Little Love My Way.” It’s a soulfullove song that finds Tommy on guitar and vo-cals accompanied by Bill Stewart on drums,David Hood on bass, Rick Hirsh on guitar,Scott Boyer on acoustic and Randall Bram-blett on B-3 organ. So nice.

“Positive Flow” is another track featur-ing the original band, an upbeat, happy songsung by Boyer with harmonies from Kowalke,Talton, Pillmore and Clark. Kowalke alsoadds some truly excellent lead guitar work.“Too Many Choices” also features the originalguys with a fun song sung by Boyer about themany choices we face everyday. Love the spo-ken word additions at the end.

One song I have heard Tommy Taltonplay a few times in the past is his “GetawayCars,” and I always loved it. For the album hebrought in drummer Bryan Owings, andbassist David Hood (Muscle Shoals

Swampers). Tommy sings and plays guitarson the track. Excellent.

“Let it Rain” brings Scott Boyer back upfor lead vocals and acoustic guitar, with Tal-ton on acoustic guitar and Hood, Stewart,Bramblett and Hirsch adding to another newCowboy classic. There are a lot of those hap-pening here. As in, all of ‘em! Natch.

Scott also sings “I’m in a Mood,” thisone backed by the original Cowboy. Boyergets downright theatrical with his delivery.While Scott’s singing is much better, the songkind of brings to mind Mr. Bobby Dylan. Tal-ton’s “wah wah” guitar adds bucketloads oftexture, making this another instant classicfor us Cowboy fans.

“I Don’t Get it” features vocals fromBoyer, Talton and Bramblett on a kind ofTraveling Wilbury’s type of tune. Awesome.These shared lead vocals never fail to get meexcited. I love it.

Boyer sings “River Doesn’t Run Here”backed by the second lineup with Stewart,Hood, Bramblett, Talton, and Hirsch. An-other pretty song. I just have to say, not onlydid every man on this album perform at thetop of their game, including producer JohnnySandlin, but Scott Boyer delivered some ofthe finest vocals of his career. It’s a great wayfor us to remember the man, the musicianand songwriter. So good.

Speaking of great singing and playing,Tommy Talton nails “Comfort Zone” joinedby Boyer, Stewart, Bramblett, and on bass,the great Charlie Hayward from the CharlieDaniels Band. Lest we forget, Charlie was alsobassist on Gregg Allman’s legendary LaidBack album that featured many of these guys.

Taken as a whole, 10’ll Getcha Twentyis one of the finest southern rock records tocross my desk in years. I truly cannot expressjust how much this album’s release means toan old Cowboy fan like myself. Releasing atthe end of November. Highly recommended.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Come See About MeA Benefit for the IBMATrust FundVarious Artists(Mountain Home)

Looking for a CD ofsome of today’s finestbluegrass music? This

compilation is just what the doctor ordered.There are eleven tracks, and every oner ofthem is a gem, from Doyle Lawson & Quick-silver’s “All the Good Things We could Do” to“If I Needed You” from the Lonesome RiverBand. The Grascals turn in a grass version ofthe Beatles classic “Help,” and Sideline soundgreat on “Their Hands Made the Music.”Tracks from other greats including DonnaUlisse, Balsam Range, Love Canon, Darin &Brooke Aldridge, Chris Jones & the NightDrivers and the Mountain Home Familyband.

A project of this type takes a lot ofwork and resources, including artists donat-ing their time and talents, so each of thesegreat artists deserve a hearty pat on the backfor aiding the IBMA Trust Fund, which inturn does great work for others. Support thecause, buy the album, enjoy the music.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

The Rolling StonesBeggars Banquet50th AnniversaryEdition(Abkco)

While Beggars Ban-quet has been reissued anumber of times in vari-

ous formats with various mixes, the definitiveversion took half a century to arrive, but it’shere now. The 50th anniversary edition (com-ing in November) sounds better than ever.

The last album recorded with the origi-nal lineup of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards,Brian Jones, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts,Beggars Banquet was recorded betweenMarch and July of 1968 at Olympic SoundStudios in London and released in Decemberof that same year.

It is available on budget priced CD, oras a special vinyl package.It incorporatesboth versions of the cover. The sleeve featuresthe original cover, the Michael Vosse photo-graph of a vandalized toilet (once deemed of-fensive) but includes an ‘overwrap’ of theinoffensive ‘wedding invitation’ version.

While there are no new tracks to beheard or bonus cuts, the new vinyl does comewith a bonus 12-inch vinyl record with amono version of “Sympathy For The Devil”cut at 45RPM. The reverse of this vinyl fea-tures an etching of the ‘toilet’ cover art.

Also included in the vinyl package is areplica of the rare Japanese bonus flexi disccontaining a phone interview with Mick Jag-ger from 1968, and a download code for thealbum plus the interview.

Beggars Banquet has been newly mas-tered by engineer Bob Ludwig, lacquers cut atAbbey Road and pressed on 180g vinyl.

The album has been listed in countless“best ever” surveys, including the Top 50 al-bums of all time as chosen by Rolling Stonemagazine. No small wonder. The gut punch ofan album gave us the immortal “Sympathy forthe Devil,” as well as “Street Fighting Man.”It’s amazing how well the music holds upafter fifty years. Hey, it’s only rock and roll,but I like it!

-Michael Buffalo Smith

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Amy RayHoller (Compass)Amy Ray turns out anotherexcellent solo album, filledwith good songwriting andvocals. As one half of In-

digo Girls, along with her solo work, Amy hasenjoyed a pretty steady and successful careersince her humble beginnings alongside EmilySaliers in Little Five Points in Atlanta in themid-1980. The album features many songsthat could easily slide into the country musiccharts, including the upbeat “Sure Feels GoodAnyway.” Holler was recorded at Echo Moun-tain Studio in Asheville, NC and featuresRay’s touring band.

The musical influences are obvious-from bluegrass to southern rock, gospel andmountain music, and there’s not a lame trackhere. The songs tell tales of love, addiction,honkytonks, touring and civil rights, backedby banjo, pedal steel and guitar, with a bit ofstrings and horns tossed in for additional fla-vor.

There are 14 original tunes here, withvocal cameo appearances by Vince Gill,Brandi Carlisle, The Wood Brothers, PhilCook and more, along with guest artists thatinclude Alison Brown on banjo and Kofi Bur-bridge (Derek Trucks Band).

The songs range from the rocking“Sparrow’s Boogie” with its horn section tothe lovely “Last Taxi Fare,” gathered togetherto make one fine Americana album that begsfor repeat listenings.

Holler is also available as a 2-LP vinylset, featuring a special lullaby.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Sean ChambersWelcome to My Blues(American Showplace)Florida’s Sean Chambers

presents his seventh album

and it’s a hot one. Many will recall Sean’s ca-reer launching stint as guitarist for the leg-endary Hubert Sumlin from 1998-2003.Chambers blazes across the fret board onthese 11 songs, beginning with the title track,“Welcome to My Blues,” and rocking all theway to the closing notes of “Riviera Blue.” Theset was produced by Ben Elliott, who hasrecorded classic artists like Eric Clapton, BillyGibbons and Keith Richards.

The band, consisting of Chambers withJohn Ginty on B3 and other keys. Todd Cookon bass and Moe Watson on drums is joinedby special guest Jimmy Bennett who playsslide on “One More Night to Ride.” Besidesthe original songs, Chambers puts his owntwist on Luther Allison’s “Red Wine” and” T-Bone Walker’s “ All Night Long,” and theband play “Boxcar Willie,” penned by bandmember John Ginty.

The album is loaded with great tracks,including “Cry On Me,” a tune that immedi-ately brings to mind Stevie Ray Vaughan &Double Trouble, and “Red Hot Mama,” a tunethat could hold its own alongside the best ZZTop number.

Welcome to My Blues is chock full ofblues you can use, with some of the finestlead and slide guitar you’ll hear anywhere.Highly recommended.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Geoff AtkinsonSovereign Town(Landslide Records)

Sovereign Town, the latestrelease from Melbourne, Aus-tralia recording artist Geoff

Achison is exquisite and timeless. Achison,who was awarded the Albert King Award atthe International Blues Challenge in 1995,centers the landscape of this new album dur-ing Australian gold rush of 1850. Recordingat Pilgrimage Studio in the historic miningtown of Ballarat, Victoria weaves another

layer of authenticity and connection into themusic. Joining Achison on this album is An-drew Fry on stand-up bass, drummer DaveClark, organist Liam Kealy and backing vocal-ist John McNamara.

A hint of impending doom lurks as theopening bassline kicks “Skeleton Kiss” off thediving board with an ominous and catchy de-livery. Achison’s melodic, raspy vocals re-mind me of Mark Knopfler’s on this track. Ittruly is a great song to lead the album with.Achison sings of a man’s journey to find hisgolden fortune which ends with little morethan bad luck and empty pockets in title-track“Sovereign Town”. The delicate melody andlyrical cadence is very Dylan-esque and drawsmy attention quite swiftly.

A beautiful new life is given to BenHarper’s 1994 forlorn tale of lost love “WalkAway”. Achison, taking a more rustic ap-proach, fills the song with a ton of heart andsoul. “Misha Bella”, a smooth jazz instru-mental showcases Achison’s guitar prowessand sounds so good. “Small Time Crime” isanother catchy-as-hell song. Achicson’sfunky guitar riffs have an uncanny way toburying themselves right into my subcon-scious. A magnitude of empathy washes overwith each listen of “World of Blue”. It is bril-liantly written, and passionately performed.The way he makes his guitar wail is breath-taking.

I love this album from start to finish.Give Sovereign Town a listen. You won’t re-gret it.

-Phillip Smith(Be sure to visit Phillip’s music review blog atphillycheezeblues.blogspot.com)

Earl & The AgitatorsShaken and Stirrred(Foghat Records)When The Agitators re-

leased their debut EP in2016, it blew everyone away

and left us all wanting more. Well, fellow ba-bies, the day has come and we have a rockingfull length album that is a sheer rock nd rolljoy.

Earl & the Agitators consists of Foghatdrummer Roger Earl, Scott Holt on guitarand vocals and Foghat members Bryan Bas-sett and the late Craig McGregor on bass. To-gether, the guys have a serious chemistrythat, when blended together, reacts by burn-ing down the house.

The all-star band also includes bassistRodney O’Quinn, guitarist Tony Bullard andpercussionist Mark Petrocelli.

All of the songs from the EP are here,from the beautiful “Love Isn’t Kind,” the in-credible rocking “Honey Do List,” a greatcover of Kris Kristofferson’s country classic,“Sunday Morning Coming Down,” and therockabilly “High Heeled Sneakers.” Agitatorsoriginals will blow you away, from “Where’sthe Rock n Roll” to “Fallen Angel,” and theband goes full on rock and roll on “LindaLu,”and one of my favorite cuts, “LonesomeTrain.” which finds Earl working the drumslike a mad man. It’s a great song.

“Gone Dead Train” burns with red hotslide guitar and “Fallen Angel” rocks like Zep-pelin meets Mountain. “Upside of Lonley,”which opens the album, is downright funkyand delicious. The lyrics are a hoot, with a guylooking at the positive things that come froma breakup, like watching the game all daylong, playing guitar whenever he wants andonly having to wash one coffee cup. Anotherbrilliant song.

Also included are a set of bonus tracks,recorded live, that find Earl and companycovering Willie Dixon’s “Let Me Love YouBaby,” Delbert McClinton’s “Standin’ OnShaky Ground,” the Stones’ “Wild Horses,”Eddie Floyd’s r&b classic, “Knock On Wood,”and the “Peter Gunn Theme.” So good. Sovery good.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

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If I Leave Here To-morrowA Film About LynyrdSkynyrd(Showtime)

One would thinkthat by now everythinghas been said and writtenthat there is to say aboutthe southern rock bandLynyrd Skynyrd. Over thecourse of several books,

many TV specials and radio specials, and afew documentary films, the story of Skynyrd’srise from the poorest section of West Jack-sonville, Florida to to top of the charts hasbeen chronicled, including a recent documen-tary called Gone with the Wind, a pretty goodone. Well, I asm here to tell you that the de-finitive documentary has finally arrived in If ILeave Here Tomorrow.

Kudzoo contributor Rick Broyles hasbeen video taping interviews with Skynyrdband members and associates for years, andsome of his footage was utilized in the makingof this fine film. Broyles managed to inter-view a lot of the band folks before they passedaway, so the footage is pure gold to fans. As apersonal friend to Bob Burns and Jo JoBillingsley, it is a thrill for me to have thisfilm. The producer did an excellent job ofpiecing together clips, many never beforeseen. Now, many critics say there is “nothingnew” in the movie, and while this may betrue, the story has never been told in a betterway in my opinion. If I had one criticism ofthe film, it would be that too much time wasspent on the plane crash, especially thefootage of walking around the crash site look-ing for pieces of the airplane that killed Ron-nie and company. It bothers me that such a

great rock band is mostly remembered fordying in an airplane crash. Can I get anamen? Still, If I Leave Here Tomorrow is anexcellent film.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

MelanieLive at the MeltdownFestival, 2007(MVD)

At the age of 71,Melanie Safka still ownsthe stage. When she firstgarnered the attention ofthe masses, she was play-ing a morning set at the

Woodstock Festival in 1969. She won overthat audience and has continued to win overfans every since.

The concert film from the 2007 Melt-down Festival in the UK finds Melanie onstage with her acoustic guitar, accomponiedonly by her youngest son Beau, a red hot gui-tar player. Yes, a few songs in she does indeeddeliver her biggest Top Ten hit “Brand NewKey,” sounding as quirky as it did so manyyears ago. For anyone who judges Melanie bythat one song, they are indeed in for a sur-prise. The rest of her music is much more folkoriented, and much of it is a bit more serious.

She delivers her rendition of “ RubyTuesday”and her hit “Look What They’veDone to My Song, Ma” with passion. Severalof the songs performed were co-written withher son Beau, including “The Ballad of CrazyLove,” a good one. “Lay Down,” a song shewrote about performing at Woodstock,is justas powerful lyrically today as it was in ‘69.Her cover of James Taylor’s “Carolina in My

SOUND & VISION

40

Mind” is quite nice as well. Beau not only delivers great accomponying

guitar, he is featured on a couple of outstandingacoustic instrumental workouts. Very tasty play-ing.

Also featured is a film of “Peace willCome,” from the Glastonbury Fayre in 1971, a re-minder is just how downright cute Melanie wasback in the day. Melanie in concert in the 21stcentury stands as a happy reminder of how im-portant many of the songs of the 1960’s were andstill are. It’s nice to remember the dreams we allhad back then of peace, love and universdal har-mony. It’s still a nice dream.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Glastonbury Fayre:1971The True Spirit of Glastonbury(MVD)The first ever Glastonburyfestival took place back in1971, bringing a wide varietyof popular acts to the stage inthe UK for a free outdoorshow. The magic was cap-

tured by acclaimed film director Nic Roeg and isavailkable now on DVD from MVD.

Performers featured at the show includedSteve Winwood & Traffic, Melanie, Fairport Con-vention, Terry Reid, Linda Lewis, and ArthurBrown.

It’s a kick to relive the magic of thousandsof young people, flower children as it were, hav-ing fun, smoking weed, dancing naked, rollingaround in the mud and dancing while promotingpeace.

The director does a great job of showinghow much work went into building the famous“pyramid stage” for the show. The roaming cam-eras truly capture the feel of the event.

Terry Reid, a powerhouse singer who actu-ally turned down Jimmy Page’s invite to be leadsinger for Zeppelin and recommended insteadRobert Plant, blisters the stage, as does FairportConvention, even though this is a post RichardThompson version of the band, they still soundgreat. Melanie is as cute as a bug in a rug, and

sings her songs with passion and heart, andArthur Brown reminds everyone that he was thefirst shock rocker, before Alice Cooper and worefull makeup onstage long before KISS.

Sadly, the man who went on to superstar-dom following this show is not seen in the film.David Bowie was onstage at 4 am. and accordingto history, the camera crew slept right through it.

Glastonbury Fayre may not be as huge afilm as say, Woodstock or Monterey Pop, but itdeserves to be seen. The crowd at the Fayre werepeaceful and the event should be a lesson on howto do huge outdoor shows correctly. It all comestogether nicely.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Yessongs40th Anniversary SpecialEdition(MVD)

One of the most loved prog-rock bands of all time, Yes wasfilmed in 1972 at London’s Rain-bow Theatre, and the movie was

released in theaters in the UK. Now, the fully re-stored film is available on a deluxe Blu-Ray withhigh def 5.1 surround sound, and includes a docu-mentary on the making of the movie and a collec-tors set of prints by the album cover artist RogerDean.

Steve Howe’s guitar and John Anderson’svocals sound as good as ever, and it’s great fun re-living Rick Wakeman’s glitter-rock onstage per-sona with sparkling cape as he displays hisamazing talents on piano, organ and Moog sythi-sizer. Watching the film reminded me of my highschool days, back when Wakeman was recordinghis succesful solo records like The Six Wives ofHenry VIII.

The band deliver their finest works, in-cluding “I’ve Seen All Good People” and “Round-about.” Anderson, Howe and Wakeman, alongwith Chris Squire and Alan White are at theirfinest here. Good stuff.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

www.foghatcellars.com www.foghat.com linda@foghatcellars.comhttp://foghatcellars.com/buy-our-wines-online/

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Featuring Interviews with members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blackfoot, the Rossington Collins Band, Gov’tMule, 38 Special, Widespread Panic, Col Bruce Hampton, Charlie Daniels, the Outlaws, the MarshallTucker Band, Molly Hatchet, Drive By Truckers, Blackberry Smoke, Devon Allman, Doc Holiday andarchival interviews with two famed roadies, Red Dog Campbell of the Allman Brothers and Moon

Mullins of Marshall Tucker!

FOREWORD BY CHARLIE STARR OF BLACKBERRY SMOKE

“I have known Michael for many years now and consider him not only a friend but a great writer! His way of accentuatingthe positive should be a lesson to music writers the world over. Buffalo rocks!” – Dave Hlubek (Molly Hatchet)

“Since I started reading Buffalo’s latest book, I can’t seem to get anything done. I can’t put it down. From Macon To Jack-sonville is full of life stories straight from the mouths of your favorite Southern rockers.” –Paul Hornsby (Producer and

Musician at Muscadine Studios, Macon, Ga. Formerly of Capricorn Records)

Mercer University Press, Macon, GA (www.mupress.org)

Also Available Through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Other Online and Brick and Mortar Book Stores!

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A CAROLINA BOY IN TEXAS. THE NEW EP FROM MICHAEL BUFFALO SMITH

Produced by Billy Eli & Jim Hemphill.With Billy, Jim, Joey Parrish & Michael McGeary.

Featuring Four Buffalo Originals.Painting Her Toenails • Empty Eyes • Karl Childers Blues

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