Lend me your ear and I'll sing you a song

Jack and I continued our rock and roll tour last night with a Ringo (do I really need to say his last name?) and his All-Starr Band show.

These days, Ringo is mostly a peace and love caricature – singing mostly the songs he sang lead on as a Beatle, along with two of his solo hits – the wonderful “Photograph” and “It Don’t Come Easy.” So, it was a “I Wanna Be Your Man,” “Act Naturally,” and “With a Little Help From My Friends” nostalgia trip.

Which is exactly, for better or worse, what we expected.

And Ringo was A FREAKING BEATLE, so just seeing him do that was just fine.

Unfortunately, we missed the previous All-Star Band incarnations that featured Joe Walsh, Nils Lofgren, Levon Helm, John Entwistle, Dave Edmunds, Clarence Clemons, Ian Hunter, Edgar Winter (the list goes on and on…)

Instead, we got Todd Rundgren, Steve Lukather of Toto, Greg Rolie of Santana and Journey, and Richard Page of Mr. Mister.

Well, all fine musicians, but that meant we were treated to “Hold the Line,” “Broken Wings,” Bang on the Drum All Day” and “Oye Como Va,” and each one seemed as though Lukather jammed 57 notes where there should have been about a dozen.

Unfortunately, Lukather did the same to the Carl Perkins cover below; unlike George Harrison, who aptly demonstrated that less is more. Taste always trumps virtuosity.

All in all, Jack still thought it was great.

And that’s all that matters.

A destination that can never be reached

I don't have any photos of my dad's gospel quartet; in fact, I don't even remember them having a name.

Their existence lives only in memories: sporadic rehearsals at the pianist's home (a widow who lived a couple of blocks away), several performances at church suppers, and one evening at a retirement home where several residents would not let the group leave.

The de-facto leader of the group, one of my dad's best friends, had to announce several times,"now this really will have to be our last number." I was about 14 or 15 at the time, and that proclamation was music to my ears; I was only tagging along to these performances and my Santana, Jethro Tull and Alice Cooper inclinations did not mesh well with "How Great Thou Art."

Sort of ironic that I can now listen to "Abraxas" or "Aqualung" anytime I want, and have absolutely no inclination to do so.

But I would give anything to hear those old ladies on that summer night in Sonestown, Pa (I think), asking for one more song. And then hearing it.

In honor of that on this Sunday morning, I post the clip below. My dad's group would never do anything this uptempo, this rocking, this.....interesting. But the look is right, the time period is right, and it reminds me of the happiness my dad seemed to have when singing. If fact, the lead singer (Happy Edwards) bears a slight remembrance to him.

Bonus on this clip: at 2:06, piano player Joe Moscheo, who went on to play with Elvis, lets out a great and spontaneous "Ahhhhhhhh" when the moment grabs him.