Half Price Books

Half Price Books

One of my favorite places to shop is Half Price Books, so for my birthday last month, among other things, I received a Half Price gift card. I finally got the chance to drop in yesterday, and I found some treasures:

Book

  • The Most Dangerous Book: The Battle for James Joyce’s Ulysses (Kevin Birmingham)

CDs

  • The Legend Begins (Tony Sheridan and The Beatles)
  • Gene Vincent (Gene Vincent; 2 CDs)
  • The Chess Blues-Rock Songbook: The Classic Originals (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection) (Various artists; 2 CDs)

Hey, isn’t Father’s Day next Sunday? 😉

The Time I Met B.B. King

BB King Autograph

Blues legend B.B. King died two days ago, and I’ve been thinking a lot about him since I heard the news. I had the pleasure of meeting him when he appeared at the Executive Inn Rivermont in Kentucky back in the mid-eighties. A friend of mine set up the meeting, and once inside B.B.’s dressing room, I found him to be one of the friendliest people I’ve ever met.

When my wife and I went in, he invited us to sit for a while. Despite the fact that he’d just played two shows, he treated us as family and shared a few stories, one that included his own impersonation of Dizzy Gillespie. At one point, he asked me how I’d heard of him in the first place, and I told him I loved the Beatles and that John Lennon had said he wanted to “play guitar like B.B. King.” He seemed to appreciate the British bands that emulated American blues music.

B.B. King was a great musician and a great man besides, and I’ll never forget how personable he was that night. I should mention that the whole time we were there, he played blues music on a small cassette player. It’s as though he couldn’t be separated from the music, and to me and to millions of others, he never will be.

5 Hits That Ripped Off Classical Pieces

Beethoven

Here’s a list of five modern songs that were more than a little influenced by music written centuries earlier:

  • “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” Elvis Presley, 1961
    Plasir d’Amour, Jean-Paul-Egide Martini, 1784
  • “A Groovy Kind of Love,” The Mindbenders, 1965
    Op. 36, 6 Sonatinas for Piano, Muzio Clementi, 1797
  • “Because,” The Beatles, 1969
    Moonlight Sonata, Ludwig van Beethoven, 1801
  • “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” Oasis, 1996
    Canon in D Major, Johann Pachelbel, 1694
  • “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” Procul Harum, 1967
    Orchestral Suite No. 3 (Air), Johann Sebastian Bach, 1730

From Betts G: Infographic Guide To Music; Cassell; 2014 via Guitar Player.

I’m a Reader – The Jerrys

I'm a Reader

My new single, “I’m a Reader,” is available as a free download!

I’m a Reader

If it’s got what I want
If it’s got what I need
Then I’ll pick it up
And I’ll give it a read.
If it’s got what it takes
If it’s doing it for me
Then I’ll read it again
‘Cause that’s just me.

I’ve got to have it.
I love the smell of a page.
I can’t help it
‘Cause I’m a reader.

If it’s only a tweet
Or a Ulysses
Then I’m right at home
I’m feeling at ease.
If it’s only a word
Or a tome or two
Then I want to read it—
How about you?

You know I love it.
I love the words on a screen.
I can’t help it
‘Cause I’m a reader.

If it’s making me laugh
If it’s making me cry
If it’s telling me how
If it’s telling me why
If it’s got what I want
If it’s got what I need
Then I’m eating it up
‘Cause I love to read.

I’ve got to have it.
I love that reading all right.
I can’t help it
‘Cause I’m a reader.

Words and music © 2015 Jerry Schwartz