MUSINGS & RAMBLINGS

The heavy clouds were in active moving cells with rain bottoms. It was raining on the ridge tops to the south and north with hints of open blue holes in a couple places. The grounds were full of rain puddles, some with hay or pea gravel dumped in them. People set up and huddled in blankets. The turnout was bigger than I might have expected and behind us people were coming in rain or shine. Not early enough in the line to get the better ground just uphill of the gold seating, I set up on the crown of the rise.

The Festival had done something foolish—they’d set up an umbrella-ed overflow gold seating area on the elevated area used as the dance pit in previous years, and uphill of the general admission area on the hillside. The result was that the dancing wasn’t nearly as good this year, the musicians couldn’t see the dancers, and the people sitting in that area had people standing in front to them. They complained a lot.

All that said the Russian River Festival books acts and lets them play. No combined acts or package shows. You get to see the regular acts with enough time and space to really show who and what they are and what they can do. This year continued the great lineups they’ve been able to put together in recent years.

Johnny Rawls was the first act of the day and the festival. I was looking forward to this, as Johnny's last visit here two years ago on a local tour had been really good. Johnny came out and his backup band was the Bad News Blues Band from Phoenix. I’ve seldom seen a better set under adverse conditions than the set Johnny put in. He knew we were all sleepy or just plain tired. He knew he was the first act of the Festival and we had no momentum. He provided the momentum. Doing a few songs off his new album that were thoughtful he gradually built up to his hot soul-blues tunes and people began to shake it despite the brisk wind still blowing. Johnny overcame an unreliable microphone that kept crackling and popping. No stage man came to fix the problem.

"Hey people! I didn’t come from Mississippi to have you sit on you hands and behinds! Let me ask you—How many of you out there have made love on the back seat of a car?" Lots of hands went up and there were scattered shouts.
"How many of you have made love on a sofa, I mean, really made Luuuuve on a sofa?" The audience began to develop some real enthusiasm. The shout-outs were a lot stronger.

"Let me ask you something...
How long has it been since you made love, huh?
Did you make love yesterday?
Did you make love last week
Did you make love last year
[The band came in behind Johnny and he began to sing]
Or maybe it might be that you plannin´ on makin´ love tonight
But just remember, when you start making love
You make it hard, long, soft, short
And be strokin´
I be strokin´

I stroke it to the east
And I stroke it to the west
And I stroke it to the woman that I love the best
I be strokin´

("Strokin’ by Clarence Carter (c))

Johnny and the Bad News Blues Band built this into a hot moving hip shaker and people were up and dancing as the clouds cleared more and the threat of rain went away. It was the No Rain dance. Strokin’!

Next up was Maria Muldaur doing her blues revival act. She turned in her usual competent set of classics that was appreciated by the audience. Mighty Mike Schermer was quite excellent on guitar. He sure can play. I was glad to hear that Maria is going back to the sort of semi-acoustic pre-war blues and rag material she did well way back when as a part of the Kweskin Jug Band. Hey, I’ve got a copy of that old Even Dozen Jug Band LP she’s on as an eighteen year old Maria D’Amato. This is the stuff she does right.

Wandering around the festival grounds I sampled the Thai food, bought a cheap straw crusher hat, and was disappointed that there were no CD booths (a number of vendors didn’t appear). I figured out what I was going to eat for lunch (red beans and rice, or links?) and where the "plastic facility" was located. Then I scoped out where the wine stage was. What I found there was a whole lot more than I expected.

I’ve seen Earl Thomas several times with soul and rock bands. I know him as a powerhouse of a singer with a huge range and wide material. I think he’s one of the best singers out there and I’m sorry the world hasn’t quite caught on to him yet. Of course, that means I get to enjoy his singing up close now. What I got that Saturday was as up close and personal as you can get in the blues.

Earl performed with only acoustic guitar player Steve Cooley from Santa Fe. It was stunning in its simplicity, intimacy, and directness. It was Earl singing for about sixty of his closest friends, delivering it right to each of us individually. "Stage presence." "Performance values." "Delivering a song." All those phrases are too weak and intellectual for what Earl did on the Wine Stage. The guy flat sang for us involving us with the show and selling every phrase, knowing the song and bringing us into it. Behind him Steve Cooley didn’t overplay the guitar parts, he left lots of holes which Earl filled or deliberately left empty. Steve played some of the best rhythm parts out of old blues and Earl knew what to do with it. We don’t see stuff like this much any more. Songs--where you can get with the words! Earl Thomas knocked us dead. I recognized lots of blues fans in the audience, they knew too. I went back to the wine stage three or four times and he did it every time. I bought all his CDs.

Coco Montoya was as "on" as I’ve seen him. He did a powerful set of driving rock-influenced blues having enough lyrical feel in the soloing to keep my interest. No, I’m not particularly a blues-rock fan, but Coco did it right. Fiery leads and some fine singing. Like several of the acts his vocals got buried in the sound mix and you had to strain to hear the song. The one thing I had a hard time with was the sound volume. It really was at "Sound Pressure" levels during Coco’s set, with my clothes pulsing with the bass player and the bass drum. I had to move to the back to save my ears. You could hear just fine all the way in the back. I had a Thai shrimp stick as I admired Coco’s playing without blood coming from my ears. A driving set.

Deborah Coleman unlike Coco was really blues-rock, quoting famous hard rock song phrases frequently. Her roots are firmly in the rock area. Her band plays that way for her. The drummer definitely was a rock drummer playing straight 4/4 time rather than blues time. Lots of bangs and crashes. Lots of people in the audience liked it and had a good time with it. Women were pleased to see a woman up playing up on stage. I liked Deborah’s singing more than her playing. The lack of dynamics was also wearying as the band played everything fast and never changed volume or time very much. I began to wish for more variety in songs, riffs, and rhythm.

At about 5:00 there was a long break as a complete set change and a quick sound check was done. Black clad musicians moved on stage and set up. The crowd milled around and many, seeing the long break for what it was, went for the last beer and refreshment stop. Anticipation began to grow. A full horn band with keyboards, two guitar players, and backup singers materialized out of those moving on stage. The band began an instrumental and showed some chops but cut it short.

The crowd roared as Al Green was introduced in full soul show fashion. Al had a smile that flashed out to the whole audience. "I LOVE YOU!" yelled out Al and the whole revival/soul show was under way. Al did some of his fine old songs while talking to us about going back to the days of 8-track tapes ("We go back that far together!"). All had the same trouble with the vocal mics being buried in the sound mix. He appeared to decide that he wasn’t going to be able to do certain things and he featured the band at times.

I don't know why I love you like I do
After all these changes you put me through
You stole my money and my cigarettes
And I haven't seen hide nor hair of you yet

I wanna know
Won't you tell me
Am I in love to stay?
Hey hey

Take me to the river
And wash me down
Won't you cleanse my soul
Put my feet on the ground

He tried "Take Me to the River" with the crowd but the sound from the vocal mic was weak. He carried on with it and sold it anyway. We all sang "Wash Me in the Water!" Al kept on loving us, and smiling at the beautiful setting sun and redwoods while looking really enthusiastic.

Al said, "I know there are people here who want to know, ‘Has Al Green lost It?’" Then he smiled and said, "Here’s one from back there."

Call me call me call me
What a beautiful time we had together
Now it's gettin' late and we must leave each other
Just remember the time we had
And how right I tried to be
It's all in a day's work
Call me

Losing your love, acting foolishly
Go on and take your time 'cause you're only losing me
Love is a long ways from here
Tell you it's all in the way you feel
If your love is real
Come to me
Call me --call me --call me-- come back home

The best thing I can do is give back your love
Let you go away feelin' free as a dove
If you find you're a long ways from home
And somebody's doing you wrong
Just call on me baby
And come back home
Call me call me call me come back home

That falsetto to die for was there—"Call Me—call me—callme-ahhh!" Ooohh, he really got me with the confidential low tones of, "Looosing your looove, acting foooolishly." Al really got me. It was ‘Church.’

Al did plenty of hits in his hour and a half and made it seem all new and fresh and part of the here and now. Not an oldies show, this was a revival of the spirit and we were the congregation of positive people. Testify on, Rev. Al Green.