Thursday, April 2, 2009

The Zig Gazette

April 02 2009

Thezigsband.com  Myspace.com/thezigsband

Jim Ziegler, Bill Raffensperger, Frank McPeters, Mike Johnson, Jim Downing

SAT 4/04 Mooney’s  Sunset Bar And Grill - Disney

Joe Went Sailing Once

               So this friend of Joe Hancock had a little money. They were hanging at the lake and the guy calls Joe up and says “Come on over – I bought a sailboat!”

               So the pal is reading ‘Sailing For Dummies’. They set up the mast on the catamaran and sailed blissfully out under a five mile wind on the glassy lake under a clear sky. They get to the other side of the lake, then they have to ‘come about’, or swing the sail to the other side. At exactly this point a gust came up and capsized the boat. It happens to be about 50 pounds too heavy for two skinny guys to right again.

               So they are rescued by Lake Patrol, who throws out a rope and rights the beleaguered vessel. Fine, now they commence to tack back across the lake, but they see dark clouds coming on fast. Once again the Lake Patrol saves their rears and tows them back to the ramp where they put in. They get the boat up on the trailer just as the storm hits, but the sail is still up. As they are trying to get it down, the mast breaks and comes down on top of the car parked next to them, creasing the roof.

SAT 4/04 Mooney’s  Sunset Bar And Grill - Disney

THE NEXT ALBUM

It may be The Blue Album, or Up To Our necks, or Farewell, Honeychild. So far we’ve done a couple of Zig originals, a couple of Ray Charles, a Bob Dylan, a Big Bill Broonzy, a Jimmy Reed, and Tell Mama by Savoy Brown. We also cut our patented derangement of “Apache” which we guarantee will sound huge and, dare we say it, trippy. Put it on and the kids will teach you to dance to it.

We also cut one that I’ve wanted to do for a very long time. It’s one of Jimmy LaFave’s early songs called “I’ve Got Your Picture”. I played with Jimmy in the early eighties and the first time I heard this song I wanted to do it. I could hear Otis Redding or Wilson Pickett covering it –it’s more soul than LaFave’s typical folk-rock. I thought it was one of his best songs. I asked him to send me a copy of it.

One day David Tanner showed up at my place; he’d just come back from Austin. “So you know Jimmy LaFave, eh? Talented guy.”

Sure do.

“He said to give you this.” And Tanner handed me a cassette of the song, recorded live in some bar in OKC in the mid-eighties.

He never recorded it until his second Bohemia album in 1994.

Most of us who are still playing in middle age are dedicated to music, of course, but few show the dedication that someone like LaFave has shown. He postponed any gratification to follow that dream. For twenty years or more, he kept writing songs and singing for peanuts. He slept on couches and criss-crossed the country in questionable trucks. He had no wife, no kids, and a small apartment he rarely saw. He was in a different bar every night, and saw a lot of life.

But he kept on and didn’t compromise his artistic vision. He writes songs that mean something, even if they’re sometimes just pictures on the highway.

He has finally reached the point where he van make a living, playing better places, selling CDs, getting good reviews from national publications, and even flying to some gigs. He finally got married and has a son. So you can have it, if you have talent and determination.

SAT 4/04 Mooney’s  Sunset Bar And Grill - Disney

FRI 4/3 Rockin John Henry’s Birthday Party

            As Neil Young would say, this is the event of the year. If you go out once a year, this is the night to go. It’s a whole long evening of first class Tulsa Rock and Blues, as good as you can get anywhere, and that’s just a fact, Jack. There’s barbecue too.

               One big set will be The Flash Terry Tribute, with virtually everyone who was ever part of Flash’s Band. He was like a father to some of them, and they all learned a lot from the old Blues wailing Bus driver.

               The Bop Cats will also perform, and the fabulous Wanda Watson Band. There are bound to be some one-of-a-kind surprises too.

               Proceeds help to preserve and catalog Rockin’ John’s immense musical archive and fund scholarships in music and broadcasting.

               John Henry’s massive record collection, which he called a library or an archive, is being inventoried and evaluated now. One assessor said that this is a major collection, because of a large number of rare and collectible records.

Many unique mementos will be on display and donated artifacts will be for sale too.

SAT 4/04 Mooney’s  Sunset Bar And Grill - Disney

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