I suppose that the opening of my first letter to them pretty much describes the situation:
Dear Rob and Linda,Rob and Linda's web site wasn't really the sort of site to write home about, but, besides its rather extensive review of blues related materials, it had at least one very impressive element. One of its first sentences read:You don't know me but... (haven't you always wanted to receive a letter that starts that way?)...
Maybe you can help me. I came across your web page while trying to find a particular Albert King guitar solo. I've asked lots of people, and for some reason nobody seems to remember, but I still think it exists.
Ending: Whenever WizardNet cancels its "5 free megs web space with every account" deal.I admit it, that's the sort of approach toward which I can't help but feel an affinity. But what most impressed me was Rob's willingness to expound upon rather esoteric blues items:
well, you are close, i'd say. clapton stole many things from albert king. not that i'm complaining.Altogether we exchanged only three or four e-mail letters each, and that's not the sort of contact from which long-lasting friendships bloom, there was an openness and friendliness in those letters that made me feel an immediate rapport. I also liked the eclectic range of interests which their web site offered, including what was for me a rather esoteric profession. In one letter Rob also alerted me to a piece of music I'd like to get my hands on:for example, on the journeyman cd, listen to "pretending". then listen to albert king play "the hunter" on the born under a bad sign cd. it's the same lead-in riff, almost note for note.
the thing about "sunshine" is that it was not written by clapton. jack bruce explained that he and pete brown were up all night trying to come up with a catchy riff. someone says they even stole it from the kinks' "i've really got you"; there are similarities. but it's not really a "clapton song" in my mind.
as for clapton's solo, you'll have to tell me which version of "sunshine" you mean. the studio version is, in my opinion, the worst of the three. the second is the live version from live cream volume 2. but the best of all is the third version, recorded live in 1968 for the glenn campbell tv show (yes, he had a show, if you can remember that far back; it was cancelled after one season, i think). this version was previously unreleased but appears on the most recent atlantic 4-cd cream set. what clapton does on this version is try to make it sound "country," since it was for glenn's show. if you haven't heard this, it's really astonishing.
speaking of stravinsky, have you heard frank zappa's "in-a-gadda-stravinsky"? it's on one of his cd's of guitar solos, in which the rhythm section plays "in-a-gadda-davida" by iron butterfly and frank plays "rite of spring" on top of it. amazing!If anyone reading this has a copy of that recording, please contact me.
Pleasantly, in the preparation of this column I realized that I couldn't find the URL for Rob and Linda's web page. I remembered that I'd found it by running a search on "Albert King" and "Eric Clapton" but trying to do that again didn't bring the desired results. So I sent them a letter, asking them to send me the URL. The prompt reply had more than just the URL. My letter opened "you may not remember me". The response was:
sure i remember you. i was going to email you but i lost your address. my web site is at:How can one not feel friendly toward a stranger who sends you letters like that?
www.wizard.net/~lloydlr/home.htm
i wore my hanukkah tie to the office the other day, but nobody recognized it. i bought it in williamsburg in a store under the "christmas ties" rack. only in america! the manufacturer is "old saint nicholas tie company." makes about as much sense as kenny gee, neil diamond, and barbra streisand doing christmas music...
now i have to wear an x-mas tie to be politically correct. then i have to find a kwanzaa tie and a ramadan tie, if they exist...
have you heard the recent albert king/stevie ray vaughan cd? it's great.