Dear Clare from Maria
OK, it took long enough but here it is! Merry Christmas!
As I told you I was trying to find something very Chicago and nothing was jumping out at me. Then I remembered that I read somewhere that you loved the Blues. Well, I don't know if you are aware of it or not, but Chicago is a major Blues town. Especially the southside of Chicago! You may have remembered that I mentioned that I used to have a male roommate. Well, he is about the biggest Blues fan I've ever run across and very knowledgeable about the Blues. When we were roommates I spent a lot of time follwing him around to various Blues clubs across the Chicago area. And I'm not talking the major Blues clubs in the city, the ones where the "tourists" hang out. We used to go to back alley little bars where Blues was being sung like only Blues can be sung. We were often the only white people in the bar. But, oh, the music. Well one time we went to this little bar (which is not very far from the school I teach at now) called the Cuddle Up Inn. It was far from an Inn. It was a dirty old bar where I don't think I'd order anything in a glass. And that is where I fell in love with Johnny Laws! There was just something about this man and his voice. He was amazing. We saw him several times (hundreds?) after that first time. He usually plays the small south side bars. We got to know him and his wife Pat, and spent some time drinking with him. Unfortunately, drinking is on of Johnny's problems. And unfortunately he doesn't play very often anymore because of the drinking. But every once in awhile my friend will call and tell me Johnny is playing somewhere. I haven't seen him in many years, but I still miss him and those days.
Wolf Recoreds (the label Johnny is on) used to be in Chicago and then the owner moved to Vienna so all of the CD's are out of Vienna. Imagine my BIG surprise when I was cruising through Amazon online and saw that they had a Johnny Laws CD! (I got his CD's when he was playing at the clubs!) It was right then I knew that this was the PERFECT gift for Ms. Clare. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Close your eyes and think about a smoky little bar on the South side of Chicago. If you ever make it to Chicago, I promise you we will hit all the best Blues clubs!
As I told you I was trying to find something very Chicago and nothing was jumping out at me. Then I remembered that I read somewhere that you loved the Blues. Well, I don't know if you are aware of it or not, but Chicago is a major Blues town. Especially the southside of Chicago! You may have remembered that I mentioned that I used to have a male roommate. Well, he is about the biggest Blues fan I've ever run across and very knowledgeable about the Blues. When we were roommates I spent a lot of time follwing him around to various Blues clubs across the Chicago area. And I'm not talking the major Blues clubs in the city, the ones where the "tourists" hang out. We used to go to back alley little bars where Blues was being sung like only Blues can be sung. We were often the only white people in the bar. But, oh, the music. Well one time we went to this little bar (which is not very far from the school I teach at now) called the Cuddle Up Inn. It was far from an Inn. It was a dirty old bar where I don't think I'd order anything in a glass. And that is where I fell in love with Johnny Laws! There was just something about this man and his voice. He was amazing. We saw him several times (hundreds?) after that first time. He usually plays the small south side bars. We got to know him and his wife Pat, and spent some time drinking with him. Unfortunately, drinking is on of Johnny's problems. And unfortunately he doesn't play very often anymore because of the drinking. But every once in awhile my friend will call and tell me Johnny is playing somewhere. I haven't seen him in many years, but I still miss him and those days.
Wolf Recoreds (the label Johnny is on) used to be in Chicago and then the owner moved to Vienna so all of the CD's are out of Vienna. Imagine my BIG surprise when I was cruising through Amazon online and saw that they had a Johnny Laws CD! (I got his CD's when he was playing at the clubs!) It was right then I knew that this was the PERFECT gift for Ms. Clare. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Close your eyes and think about a smoky little bar on the South side of Chicago. If you ever make it to Chicago, I promise you we will hit all the best Blues clubs!
posted by madcow at 4:27 AM
1 Comments:
OMG Maria can sure tell a story, what a wonderful thought, gift and tale. Thanks for posting it Clare and thanks to Maria for sharing it. I was lucky enough to get a card form our Janet too - my only card. Thank goodness someone loves us!
Post a Comment
<< Home