The blues, sometimes, is about how big my schlong is. Or, other times, how long me and my monstrous schlong can go in the sack before we blow our top. Or, still other times, how good I am when we do, finally, get down to bed for that protracted session with my big schlong. Some songs, also, give specific instructions to the wimmen, like when Joe Turner says “Get outta that bed…get into the kitchen, make some noise with the pots and pans.” Put another way: making sure you got yours from me and my big schlong can make for a hungry man.
Is it any wonder, hanging out with these guys, the wimmen rebel? That typically leads to another classic type of blues: The lament. “37 Years Old,” by Rochester, NY resident Joe Beard, is a particularly tasty groove off his record For Real, with Beard and well-known sidemen Duke Robillard on the guitar, Jerry Portnoy (harmonica), and Bruce Katz (Hammond B-3).
Beard learned guitar at the side of Son House, who taught Muddy Waters the blues way back when, and also influenced Robert Johnson. Unaware that his early recordings were considered national treasures, House lived in obscurity in Rochester, N.Y. until, late in life during the 1960s, he was rediscovered. Beard just thought the neighborhood blues guy played some mean slide; he was just as stunned as anyone to realize he’d learned to play with one of the all-time legends of the blues.
We’re stunned at the beautiful sound these seasoned musicians make together. Bon appetit!
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