Yesterday, Saturday, I slept 13 hours! I woke up briefly at 8 a.m. and still felt exhausted, and I crawled back into bed and slept until 2:15 p.m.! I hadn't felt well at the end of the work week and my hound way lying next to me like an insulator (my husband long ago had went to work), both leading me into a brief coma.
As you can imagine, the day unfolded quite languorously. Around 5 p.m., I found myself watching Cadillac Records, about the great blues label run by Leonard Chess in Chicago that helped launch Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Chuck Berry, Willie Dixon and Etta James. No one represented Buddy in the film, but he's a Chicago Bluesman through and through and was heavily influenced by all these greats. Anyway, watching it reminded me of Buddy, which led me to rewatch a favorite part of Martin Scorsese's 2005 rockumentary of the Rolling Stones (playing at the Beacon Theatre in New York City), Shine A Light. The next step of course, was that I needed to paint Buddy Guy as he appeared in that film, during the playing of Muddy Water's hit, "Champagne and Reefer."
Feeeeeeeeeeeeeel the power of his voice and guitar playing. Oh, so wonderful to behold visceral virtuosity, no? I've seen Buddy twice in person. The first time was at Alpine Valley, playing with Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmy Vaughan, and Robert Cray, the night before SRV's fatal crash. Ugh, I can barely type it even 14 years later. The second time was 2007 in Bridgeview, IL at Eric Clapton's "Crossroads" Guitar Festival. (I was thinking I saw him once more playing at Kingston Mines in Chicago, but perhaps I'm hallucinating.) Anyway, he is always, always phenomenal.
"Champagne and Reefer" from Shine A Light featuring Buddy Guy:
Here's a little blast from the past. One of the drawings I did for my 2010 Brooklyn Art Library Sketchbook project, "Coffee and Cigarettes," was Keith Richards spitting out his cigarette during that same song.
This gem is now in my home!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Sheri, for your purchase! (-:
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