Some old school Blues singer’s, sadly at the end of their careers. Not best SQ either.
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Awesome…keep him on it! Looks like a nice Ovation…
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Whoops, I should have clarified. That was 15 years ago. He later did Stairway to Heaven on a 50th anniversary Tele to his 10th grade class. He now plays a Martin on occasion and has a PRS SE model at his apartment. All of the kids had multiple instrument music lessons, but the interests did not stick. They were the MP3 generation and now Spotify.
There is another of him playing Wish You Were Here complete with the other guitarist on the radio as in the original recording.
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Yep I certainly was! Portsmouth in the mid - late 60s was a great place for musical venues. I was a student at the then Portsmouth College of Technology, later Portsmouth Polytechnic, (and then University).
The Rendezvous Club, then in the Oddfellows Hall, Kingston Road, was a favourite haunt on a Saturday night (the club itself had a bit of a chequered history, but while it lasted was a great venue for the UK Blues scene). I actually managed to see such acts as Cyril Davies, the Animals, Long John Baldry, Downliners Sect, the Graham Bond Organisation, Manfred Mann, Alexis Korner, Alex Harvey, The Moody Blues, Zoot Money, John Myall, and many other pioneers of the early British Blues scene. Of course, many of these bands featured some very (or later to become) well known artists, for eg Ginger Baker was the drummer, and Jack Bruce the Bass, for the Graham Bond Organisation and I have already mentioned Clapton, McVie, and Flint with John Mayall. It helped that Fratton Park, home of Portsmouth Football Club (Pompey), was not a million miles away so, when playing at home, Saturday entertainment would be: watch a football match; then to the pub next to the Oddfellows Hall; and then to a gig at the Rendezvous - Oh Happy Days!
Portsmouth Guildhall was also a great venue for live music, for eg, in the early 1960s, I had seen the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters and Josh White, and in 1969 I saw BB King, John Lee Hooker, Fleetwood Mac, Ten Years After, John Mayall (again), Albert King and Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee. Oh for those heady days 
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David, You were certainly in the thick of it. I’ve read about most of these artists and bands and their role in the early British blues scene. But you lived it!
It is interesting to me to think about one’s self awareness when living through history. I experienced something similar in Texas during the early to mid 1970s and what is now referred to as the “Outlaw Country” era. Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Townes Van Zandt, Michael Murphey, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Jerry Jeff Walker, Doug Sahm, The Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Tx, and too many other artists and venues to list. I was young, but knew that the music scene I was experiencing was something special, and tried to soak up as much as possible. Maybe that’s true for all young music fans, no matter what the era.
Thanks for the reminiscing…this is all very interesting.
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Love Coco. I got to see him when he played in John Mayall’s band in the 1990s.
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Definitely worth experiencing Coco live. @garym . Likewise, I was fortunate enough to catch him with Mayall in 1993 and solo in '97 at the annual Beale St. Music Festival.
Yes it is great when you can be part of music history and, as you say, live it! It was good to hear of your own musical experiences with the “outlaw country” - I am also a fan of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. That opportunity is a little more difficult now, as live gigs have become much more commercialised (and expensive). In my days, clubs such as the Rendezvous, we’re more “open”, simple, and reasonably priced - the Oddfellows Hall was just that, a large open Hall, with wooden floorboards, and a simple stage. There were no flashing lights and expensive flashy stage effects, and you sometimes got to mix with the musicians in the pub, next to the hall, during the interlude (that doesn’t happen much now)! Having said that, there are still some small clubs around, l am still a member of a folk club run by a very old friend of mine (we were brought up together and lived, and played, in the same road back in the early 1950s!). I believe that @Chrislayeruk is also involved in such a club? I am also interested in classical music and support the City of Southampton Orchestra, which is made up of a mix of talented amateur musicians, retired professionals and student musicians. A good friend of ours, again of over 60 years, plays oboe & cor anglais in the Orchestra, hence our support.
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Yes, The Little Rabbit Barn. We operate as house concerts, with a small hardy bunch of volunteers, not for profit as all donations go to the Artists and sound engineer… The raffle funds the food and we do promote artists selling merch and chatting to people.
I can’t think of a better way to lose money as the intimate live music is pure magic, along with the great community we facilitate…
Connor Selby booked for later this year… https://www.connorselby.com/
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Reminiscing about the good old days made me think about those gigs back in the mid 60s, so try this from Alexis Korner.
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Yep, I’m a big fan of smaller clubs these days.
Hi Chris, Thanks for this confirmation. The Little Rabbit Barn seems to follow the same format as Forest Folk at North Boarhunt, near Wickham, Hampshire again with “a small hardy bunch of volunteers, not for profit as all donations go to the Artists and sound engineer (all though in this case the sound engineer is the son of the guy who runs the club!)… The raffle funds the food and Forest Folk also promote artists selling merch and chatting to people.”
Forest Folk (google.com). Long may this kind of club flourish!
Sorry for the off topic wander!
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TUNE-IN Radio on SONOS has a station called HD Blues.
We really like their selections. If you have not listened to it, please give it a try.
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Was scoping out Al’s blues’ recos and came across an unknown artist to me… Albert Castiglia?
So I entered the mysterious artist’s name in the youtube search bar, which I’m inclined to do when discovering new artists, and came across this gem of a live clip…
Pray tell Al, where’s a good starting point from his healthy discography? And please share some more.
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Oh man, yeah Albert has incredible talent and that intangible “soul” that cannot be taught and is simply a gift that a lucky few are born with.
Some favorite cover tracks he does are “Cadillac Assembly Line, “Hurricane Blues” and “Parchman Farm.”
A few killer original tracks are “Let The Big Dog Eat,” “Searching The Desert For The Blues,” “Up All Night” and “Knocked Down Loaded.”
A Brazilian Bluesman - Igor Prado - is maybe someone else you haven’t heard of. Check out the album “Way Down South” by the Igor Prado Band.
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Appreciate the feedback Al. Gonna have to scope out the tracks you reco’d from Albert’s discography. And I am liking the samples I’m hearing from the Prado Band album reco…kinda has The Fabulous Thunderbirds’ sound. And that’s a good thing.
Thanks and keep ‘em comin’.