By the 1970s Austin was a prime destination for the great blues performers. The Armadillo World Headquarters, the Ritz Theatre, and Antone’s featured the blues on their stages on any given night. Portraiture was a consistent feature of blues concert posters throughout the decade, culminating in the posters produced by Danny Garrett for Antone’s, the club that cemented Austin’s reputation as a blues town. Danny Garrett notes that Antone’s owner, Clifford Antone, “absolutely prescribed that every poster be a portrait.” Antone demanded respectful portraits that were free of exaggeration or comic touches. Garrett explains the process of acquiring source material for portraits: “When we did do portraits, whether it be a bust shot or full figure, we always strived to get something other than publicity stills that their [the musicians’] management would hand out because these were common currency. So that’s why we would turn to people like [Austin-based photographer] Burton Wilson, who was extremely helpful and accommodating.” Jim Franklin’s adaptations of Wilson’s photograph of Big Joe Williams are strong examples of this exchange among local visual artists.
I wrote about the great musicians who played with Isaac Hayes in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The recordings (”Walk on By,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” “The Look of Love,” “Do Your Thing,” “Shaft,” and many more) are tremendous, and I’m very proud of this story:
Over on Facebook a couple weeks back, Sean recommended this Cream bootleg as an argument for why Eric Clapton was once held in such high esteem as a guitarist. A god, even! And Sean was right. Clapton’s playing here is raw, powerful and exploratory – just check out the 16-minute “N.S.U.” And of course, the rest of the band isn’t too shabby either … they are really kicking out the jams here. Speaking of which, is there a tape of the MC5′s opening set?
