this is that picture described below, out front of sun.

i believe these four pix are being displayed in reverse order, so screen down and work up for proper order. this is part of the window display for tater red's on beale street in memphis. they sell kitsch, mardi gras, music, voodou, & all sorts of stuff, maybe a bit like tesoros in austin mixed with wacko in LA. the proprietor, leo, was real nice, as were the folks at a schwab's, an amazing 3-story 19th century general store where i got a religious candle, souvenirs for friends/family, and some fancy shaving cream for Dad. that night we ate at blues city cafe, where president bubba (& his saxophone, i suppose) eats when he's in memphis.

ha! are the kids on the right recoiling in horror? here's the apparently terror-inspiring brian b inside the actual sun studio, where surprisingly little was said of charlie feathers. musicians can still record here--only $75/hr. i stood right by the old house piano & got chills imagining the fingers that had worked those rails. the musician-guy guide mimicked a neat trick johnny cash once did. JC was going on the opry, which wouldn't allow drums (too much like "race music"), so he wrapped a dollar bill around the neck of the guitar to make that click-a-click sound you hear on "i walk the line." we had learned something, so we were happy. then we went in to "sun cafe" and bought malts. in walked steve buscemi in disguise shades & hat, but no one looked two times at him--just like we were in LA, or something!

this, of course, is out front of sun studios at 706 union in memphis. i hope i had jetlag, cause this ain't a great pic! oh well. memphis is historic american music ground zero, & folks showed us much southern hospitality. it maybe has usurped austin as my favorite american city. not that it matters to anyone but me. that was a big day: graceland, sun, stax, AND rock & soul museum.

recently we flew to atlanta to drive back in an ebay van brian b had bought. we were supposed to go with the band, but oh well: saw a bit of the south, anyhow. georgia, alabama, mississippi, tennessee, arkansas, oklahoma, texas, new mexico, arizona, then home: lots of rain, snow, wind, a little sun, & flowering land from east to west. this is from our visit to graceland. the "big elvis" suits had arms akimbo, so you wouldn't notice how large he'd gotten toward the end of his life. didn't matter. he was still the king. the place was amazing & we were moved, as you'd be or already have been.

count the days i'm gone

we're learning 13 new songs! well, one of them is actually two -- one old, one new (hint: see picture) -- with similar around-the-horn progressions. i'm happy cause one of the other "new" ones is a hank ballard tune. one of my prized musical possessions is a dupe of a concert h.b. did with the blasters from way back when. i'm glad we were doing "let's go, let's go, let's go" when mr. ballard passed away. it seemed respectful to already have that in the repertoire... art fein posted something i wrote at www.sofein.com, so go there to read musings from me and the fellow who wrote "the la musical history tour"!... i visited my dear friend donna in laverne & my friend ruben from the blazers last weekend... he is busy playing blues down in long beach and rehearsing with a new rhythm section and for a new LP... i am out on the latest cattie ness show (with big sandy)--on rehearsal day, my grandma had a birthday, and grandma comes first! oh well... just being able to tickle the ivories (or plastics) again is good enough for me! i'm sure cattie and co will have lots of fun at their fresno show with big s. go to www.cattieness.com for more information!