River
Town Blues
by Gerry
Mandel
THE BLUES moves up from the river like a late night fog, drifting,
sifting, rolling up through the streets and neighborhoods, hanging a halo
around the streetlights and neons of Laclede's Landing, laying down a
burnished layer over the ancient bricks of streets and alleys. Street
signs read like chapters from a river city history book, pulling the reader
back to pre-Lincoln, fur trading times: Clamorgan Alley, 1st Street, Morgan,
Biddle, Commercial. The Clubs tonight are filled with The Blues for the
listeners, the talkers, the drinkers, the smokers... men and women, in
couples, in groups, alone, in Lafite's and Lucius Boomers, Hannegan's
- do the Irish really have the Blues? - and the grand palace for live
music on the Landing, Mississippi Nights.
The Blues drifts underneath the stainless, shimmering Arch, past the House
That Busch Built, with help from Stan and Gibby and Ozzie and Whitey and
quite a few others, heads south down Broadway and pauses for a long time
at BB's and the Oyster Bar, looking at the faded Phil's #2 on the south
wall of BB's. The bright purple neon of the Broadway Oyster Bar delivers
hope to the wandering blues seekers as they work their way through the
cold glare of Rally's, Taco Bell, Burger King and the Holy House of Bombers,
White Castle. All of 'em fast, cheap and tasty. But no deep-down satisfaction
like you get from The Blues. Nothing that feels so good as the bands at
the Oyster Bar on any given night. Patti and the Hit Men, Imperial Blues
Band, Soulard Blues Band, plus a heavy dose of cajun cooking from Dave
Karn. Another cold Sam Adams, please.
Up at the other corner sits BB's
Jazz, Blues and Soups. Has any establishment ever been better named?
Superlative in all three areas of endeavor. Speaking of BB's, YOU SHOULDA
BEEN THERE. The night the Variety Club Telethon ended, a Saturday night
in early March. Jim
Byrnes, he of Vancouver and "Wise Guys" and early years in St. Louis,
carried his guitar from the plush Adam's Mark to the "let's get comfortable"
BB's. He took the stage, along with John May's hand-picked pickers, and
didn't stop until 3 a.m. If it wasn't St. Louis, they would've gone on
til sunrise. And nobody would've left. The Blues just don't get any better.
Especially when the leader of the band is The Highlander, Jim Byrnes.
Erskine Oglesby had something to say, so did
Greg Hunt, Eric McSpadden - glad to see you back in action, Eric - Jacqui
Staton, Tom Hall, Kieth Dodier, Tom
Maloney. And Jim's sidekick from Vancouver on piano, Michael Kalanj.
The Blues gets thicker in Soulard,
so many places to cover. All of 'em pumping out The Blues, all of'em packed
with the faithful, feeling good, feeling hopeful, feeling so right. A
cross section of Life in St. Louis, the melting pot of music and history.
Steve Pecaro at the 1860 Saloon;
GG and the Magic Band at the Soulard Ale House. Is GG destined for BB?
Has anyone ever tapped into all 32 taps in one sitting? Buffalo Bob herding
his followers into long and narrow Molly's. Mojo Syndrome - love that
name - at Mike and Min's with Eric talking truth to the crowd. Yeah, Geyer
is rockin' tonight.
Note to Tommy Bankhead: "Retirement", according
to my dictionary anyway, means seclusion, privacy, retired from employment.
I went to your retirement party last year at BB's. And yet you keep showing
up, playing better than ever, digging deeper, pulling everyone together.
What's going on, Tommy? Must be the blend of blues and oxygen keeps you
young and vital. Don't use that "R" word again, man. The scene needs you.
Note to the Highway Department: About that sign at the Soulard exit off
I-55 North from I-44, the one that says Soulard Historic District. Add
a line: "The Blues Lives Here."
The night grows late. Cue the pullback from the chopper overhead. Back
from Soulard, from downtown, from the river, pull in the West End, the
U. City Loop, the County. You can see East St. Louis now, huddled across
the water like a tired spectator. Back, back until you see the entire
St. Louis area, sitting crouched and resilient and powerful. Relaxing
now, sitting quiet in the soft night twinkle of a river town. The sun
rises in just a few hours, burning up from The River, up from history.
For now, The Blues gets ready to sleep. Until tomorrow night. |
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