My wife and I went out to a little club where someone we know plays in the band. It was a sort of mid-to-older crowd place. The music was rhythm and blues by a four-piece combo of two guitars, bass (the instrument, not the fish) and a drum.
The drummer only had one drum. He played it very loudly to compensate.
The bass player in these little groups is always a mystery. Do the other members just like him so much that they are willing to split the take another way? I can’t really say that I could identify his playing. I heard the lead singer and her rhythm chords on her guitar. I heard the accompanying guitar doing all sorts of things which I am sure must be musically clever, although much of this is lost on an ear that was trained to Hi-Fi.
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And then there were the refreshments. My wife’s order was a glass of zinfandel, which I managed to mispronounce as “ziff and dale� at the bar, and it didn’t help any when I tried to order a mudslide for myself. The bartender gave me a look, corrected my wine pronunciation, and informed me that they only serve beer and wine.
OK, I made a quick recovery and ordered a Coors. Sorry, no DOMESTIC beers (Well, excuuuuse meeee!). Instead, weird beers from all lands. My first bottle was called “33.� Just “33.� My second bottle was brewed in the Dominican Republic. I poured a little in my glass and did not actually drink any, as I am suspicious of beers brewed in warm lands. I include Texas.
I did manage to suspend my sense of financial reality, as this was, after all, “entertainment.� Cover charge $5 a couple (very reasonable), and cost of a bottle of “33� and a glass of “ziff and dale,� $19. I can buy a whole bottle of wine and a six pack of my brand of beer for that at the package store, but hey! The music was live!
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One of the early numbers was “Captain Midnight,� a good, peppy number. Toward the end of the evening I noticed that all of the numbers, pretty much sounded like “Captain Midnight,� with slight variations. I guess there is only so much you can do with guitar, bass and drums.
I think I may have hurt the guitar player’s feelings, though. When he came out to do a number with one of those harmonica things around his neck, I asked him if he was going to do the cymbals on the knees, too. Bob Dylan was never able to master this.
Bill Abrams resides in Pine Plains.
