Here we are on the eve of my favorite holiday (anything that celebrates food is worthy of worship), and I'm bursting at the seams with all of the blessings for which I have to give thanks. Tomorrow I'll be bursting at the seams in another way. I'm usually in Italy for this oh-so-American holiday, but this year I'm going to Gretchen's. It's just as exotic and foreign. Well, I'm talking about her cats, Monk and Mingus. Abyssinians. Damn cute. So is her husband, Biff. But I digress… Where was I? Oh yeah, Blessings, with a capital "B." I've many. Frankly, too many to list here, but I do count them on a daily basis, just with more gusto toward the end of the year. Example: instead of counting "Great Friends" as one blessing, I break it down and count each of you individually. This year I'm having to rise around 5:00 a.m. to get through the entire list before I need to be at Gretchen's and Biff's at 2:00 p.m. Needless to say I'll be exhausted by the time I get there, but I'll be super happy! Dan, you're on the top of my list. Thank you for all you do for the Blues! You are a Thanksgiving Treasure! Now, WHERE IN THE HELL ARE MY THRONE AND MARBLE RECEIVING TABLE!?!? I'd like to add them my lengthy list of Blessings. Since we have Lionel Young's CD release party this Saturday, here's what our Senior CD Correspondent has to say about Beautiful Day. Honey Bee Sepeda Lionel Young's new CD, Beautiful Day, continues that distinctive brand of blues he has created with his electric violin and smooth vocals. The tracks on the CD are not always easy to classify; there is a definite country/roots blues feel to them that lets the listener experience the music without being overpowered by amps and a "wall of sound." But it remains a powerful CD at the same time with a complex sound that is unique and even has some dark edginess to it. The opening cut "Oh What a Beautiful Day," starts out like a slow, private morning prayer and builds into a powerful, upbeat, foot-stomping gospel song. Erica Brown joins in to provide some excellent backing vocals; her voice echoing and playing off Lionel's turns this into a righteous, tambourine-shaking, hallelujah brother spiritual. Makes you want to go out and get some religion if you don't have any already. And it's an added bonus to catch Erica's fantastic voice again! Lionel gets political with "Devil in the White House." The eerie backing music sets the tone, deep and dark enough to convince even the most conservative right-winger that we truly had demonic possession in the White house these last eight years. The lyrics are great, poking-a-sharp-stick in George Bush's eye, and finishes "there is a devil in the machine…there is a devil in the office of the President of United States of America…get out shooo… go away." You get no argument here. Where has this song been hiding these last eight years? This country needed it!!! I could have been playing this daily since "mission accomplished" was proclaimed so many years ago. I am not sure if "Hope is What We Got" was meant to be as political as "Devil in the White House," but it's the perfect song to follow it, similar to Obama following Bush. I think I might like this song the best; it's got a great catchy rhythm to it, and Alicia Fall adds some nice vocals. We needed this one to bring out and play during Obama's campaign. If nothing else, Lionel needs to cut a special version, change the words from "hope is what SHE got," to "hope is what HE got," send Barack a copy and get it played at the Inauguration. "Blues & Boogie Woogie," "Showbiz," and "Going to Have My Fun" all have that classic folk-blues sound, some really catchy slide, and superb finger-picking coupled with his smooth voice, sometimes reminding me of some of my old Sonny Terry-Brownie McGee's albums. "Showbiz" in particular has a happy-go-lucky, nice bouncy country beat. Lionel's version of "Summertime" catches the dozing-in-the-sun spirit this one was written for. It's hands down, the laziest, most lay-back-in-the-hot-afternoon-and-do-nothing "Summertime" I have ever heard. The living is about as easy at gets in this one. Fish might be jumping, but nobody's got the energy to go after 'em. This is slow and low as it's meant to be. Lionel adds in some great Louie Armstrong growls and moans in here as well. A fun tune. "Fire on the Mountain," has a fire and brimstone tone about it. His violin is often spooky, then classical at times, and downright menacing at others. This is a favorite of mine on the CD, and a perfect compliment to Lionel's voice which booms like a preachers throughout. The last cut, "Dark Was the Night," is almost a field-hand or chain gang offering. It has some of the most sorrowful violin in it, and Lionel's voice matches every note he plays. A sad song, but you can sure feel them blues in it. Bass guitarist Brian Gordon and drummer Jay Forest back up Lionel, as they did on his first album, and are joined this time by Eric Moon on keyboards and Kim Stone on Baja sexton. All in all, the album is a good collection of mostly original tunes, a nice addition to anyone's collection, especially if you are like me and your collection is heavy on electric and needing some good roots. These are 10 very solid cuts of country blues highlighted by Lionel's honeyed voice and magic violin. Chick Cavellero~
MEMO TO ALL
Dear All:
I leave you with a couple of favorite quotes of mine, and wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving! Honeybee
The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings. ~Eric Hoffer, Reflections On The Human Condition
Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel. ~Author Unknown
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Sat 11/29 - Lionel Young CD
Release Party ~~~~~~ Sun 11/30 - Jazz Jam w/ Mark
Diamond Tue 12/2 - Blues Jam w/ Dan
Treanor
Wed 12/3 - Songwriters Open
Mic Hosted by Jenn
Cleary
Guest: Scott Dale
Thu 12/4 - Joanna Connor Band
Fri 12/5 - Gretchen Troop
Sat 12/6 - Star Route
Some Little Known
Turkey Facts
How did the TURKEY get its name? (here are a few ideas)- It may have come from the wild turkey's call (when it is afraid) which sounds like "turk-turk-turk".
- The American Indian name for the bird was "firkee".
- Christopher Columbus the explorer took some of the wild turkeys of North America back to Europe. People liked the meat. Merchants from Turkey may have been trading some of these birds so they came to be called "turkey birds".
- Some say Columbus thought the turkey was part of the peacock family. So he decided to call them "tuka" which is the word for peacock in the language of India.
The wild turkey is native to Northern Mexico and the Eastern United States. Turkeys lived in North America almost ten million years ago . The turkey was domesticated in Mexico and brought to Europe in the 16th century. The American Indians hunted wild turkey for its meat as early as 1000 A.D. They made turkey "callers" out of turkey wing bones. The feathers were used to decorate ceremonial clothing. The spurs on the legs of wild tom turkeys were used on arrowheads and the feathers were used to stablize the arrows. Wild turkey became a source of food for the early settlers. The wild turkey nearly disappeared in the early 1900s because of overhunting and because trees were cut down to make way for farmland and communities. Ben Franklin thought the North American wild turkey should be the national bird (rather than the Bald Eagle) . Most of the turkeys raised on turkey farms are White Hollands. They do not fly. Adult turkeys can have 3,500 feathers. Most turkey feathers are composted. Feathers are spread out on fields, then plowed under in the spring. The feathers decompose and fertilize the soil. Big Bird (from Sesame Street) is dressed in a costume of turkey feathers. His costume is made of nearly 4,000 white turkey feathers (dyed yellow). Wild turkeys spend the night in trees. They roost (perch) on the branches. Wild turkeys can glide as far as a mile without flapping their wings. They can fly for short distances up to 88 km/hr (55 miles/hour). Wild turkeys can run 29 km/hr (18 miles/hour). The turkey has an unusual looking bare head with a beak, caruncle, snood and wattle. Turkeys’ heads change colors when they become excited. The male turkey is called a tom or gobbler. The female turkey is called a hen. Baby turkeys are called poults. According to the Guinness Book of Records the largest turkey raised was 39.09 kilograms (86 pounds) -- about the size of a large dog. How do you tell the HENS from the TOMS?- Once they mature, the toms are larger and have longer legs.
- Toms grow a beard (long black feathers) in the middle of the chest (breast). Very few hens grow a beard.
- A male turkey's head and wattle (growth under the chin) is larger.
- The tom's snood (a fleshy growth on top of the bill) is longer and hangs down the side of his face.
- Male turkeys gobble. Hens do not. Hens make a clicking or clucking sound.
Male turkeys strut about, gobbling loudly and holding their heads high. They stick out their chests, fan their large tails and drag their wings on the ground. They do this to attract the attention of the female turkeys.
Gobbling turkeys can be heard a mile away on a quiet day. Turkeys don’t really have ears like ours, but they have very good hearing. A large group of turkeys is called a rafter. Turkeys are related to pheasants. As male turkeys gets older they fight a lot. They may even attack people. Turkeys can see movement almost a hundred yards away. Turkeys do not see well at night.
A ballroom dance called the "turkey trot" was popular in the early 1900s. The dance was named for the short, jerky steps that turkeys take. Couples danced around in circles bobbing their heads like strutting turkeys. Turkey skins are tanned and used to make cowboy boots and belts. |
