Newsgroups: bit.listserv.allmusic
Date:         Mon, 9 Nov 1992 21:37:21 EST
From:         Me <VME107@URIACC.URI.EDU>
Subject:      Re: 'Executive Producer' is an oxymoron

On Mon, 9 Nov 1992, 15:02:00 EST, Bloomdido (did I get it right?) said,
>
>But I *don't* have the equivalent of Beale Street available to me; I have
>the Sunday afternoon blooz jam at Johnny D's. And I still claim that the
>quality of that forum is lacking to the point where if you drag a newbie
>in and say, "Listen up, this is the bedrock music of our culture," well,
>you may well successfully convert said newbie to madrigals :-)

Mike, I'm surprised and perplexed!  Has no one told you of any other
good blues clubs in the BossTone area?  If this is indeed the case,
let me take care of this terrible oversight right now!
    Two of my favorite blues clubs in your area are the Yard Rock,
which is at 132 East Howard Street in Quincy, right near the old
Quincy shipyard.  They have a sign inside that claims they are
'arguably the best roadhouse in America.'  I don't know if I'd go
that far, but it is a great place to catch some great blues acts, both
(inter)national and local.  The last time I was there, I caught the
band 'Blues Time', with J. Geils and Magic Dick (but sans Mr. Wolf.)
IMHO, I enjoyed them more without Peter, since the only J. Geils Band
song they did was the wailing 'Whamma Jamma'.  The rest was pure blues.
    If Quincy is either too far, or too rough for your tastes, I would
suggest Harper's Ferry in Allston, I think.  I'm not sure of the exact
address, but they're in the book.  Another really great place to catch
all kinds of good blues acts.
    Finally, some radio stations have special blues programs that are
a very cheap alternative to going out every night to hear the music
you want to hear.  The Boston area station WGBH, 89.7 on the FM dial,
has a show called 'Blues After Hours' every Friday and Saturday from
9:00PM-1:00AM, with 'Blues Stage', hosted by Ruth Brown, preceding the
Saturday show at 8:00PM.  If you can pull in WBRU, out of Providence
at 95.5 FM, Monday night (actually EARLY Tuesday morning) from 1:00AM
to 5:00AM is 'Blue Monday.'  And if you have some super-duper kind of
receiver that can pick up WRIU (out of Kingston, RI) at 90.3 FM, then
Sundays from 11:00AM-2:00PM you could catch 'Blues With A Feeling', a
blues show that focuses primarily on acoustic and early electric blues.
    All of these things can go a long way towards changing your ideas
about blues in the Boston area.  If you listen to the WGBH programs
at midnight, they do blues band listings as a public service.  The
listings go on for about 10-15 MINUTES (!!! 8-) ) depending on the
week, and cover a region from southern NH to southern RI, and even an
occasional CT gig.  If you can't find good blues from there, you jest
ain't looking!  If all this overwhelms you, let me humbly offer my
personal assistance.  I'm always (well, almost always) ready and
willing to hit a blues bar, and from reading your posts, I think you
would be good company.  If you would like someone to accompany you,
let me know.  BTW, this is not a come-on, or anything (OK, DARON, LW?)<,
It's just that I really love the blues, and when someone expresses an  |
interest in the music, I get excited for them.   (Insert  ;-)  here ___|
    Well, gotta go!  Good luck, and let me know how things work out!

Jim Whitaker
Academic Computer Center
University of Rhode Island