I was playing a gig this weekend. I saw a guitar player open tuning their guitar. Oh, the sweets sounds of a guitar that is open tuned. It is a richer fuller sound. It rings and the tone is deep. There are so many things you can do with a guitar and open tuning and it certainly got me thinking…

Richie Havens was one of the greatest folk singer I have ever heard. Listening to him over and over as a kid I learned the technique as a young guitar player how to play open tuning. Havens offered me that gift through his music. He also offered me a new way to interpreted songs. He would take cover songs and put a spin on them like no artist I could have ever imagined, and he offered that great gift to me as well. Richie Havens died yesterday at the age of 72 of a heart attack.

When I think about musicians who made the 60s, who forever would be a part of the 60s, Havens had to be one of them. I was a kid, too young to go to Woodstock, but oh, how I have memories of listening to him sing at Woodstock. Who was this man and how could he possibly sound this wonderful? I remember getting albums of Richie’s and listening to them repeatedly. The way he interpreted songs was magnificent. Songs like, Here Comes the Sun, or Just Like A Woman, these were breath taking.  Motherless Child and Freedom is what I will always remember him for.

I was gathering information last night about Havens and did not realize that he was the opening act for Woodstock, perhaps I was too young to remember and too young to remember that he played for three hours. I started seeing him as a kid more and more on TV. This Brooklyn native, whose father was a Native American, loved his sons’ voice and listened to him. Havens reported that his father had a knack for music. His family was very musical and so Havens began a Doo Wop group. At the age of 16, he started a gospel choir. I suspect he knew he had talent so he left NY and headed off to Greenwich Village.

Havens of course got into music and played wherever he could, mainly coffee shops as that was what folk musicians did in the 60s. He soon released some demos and eventually MGM picked him up. In 1967, he recorded his album Mixed Bag, which I thought was a perfect title for this album. On this album remains one of my favorite songs by him which is Dylan’s Just Like a Woman. That was when I noticed his open tuning strumming. I was unsure at first how he achieved to get such sound out of his guitar and making the guitar sound like it was saying grace. A friend of mine said he opened tuned. It was as if he used that guitar almost like a drum. He slammed it and strummed it, and I never recognized his chords. I learned through him how divine opening tuning could be.

He had a successful career and he released more than 25 albums, his last was in 2008. He kept busy by acting in the 70s, and in 2000, he started his own record label called Stormy Forest. Havens was an artist I listened to often. His music soothed the soul as far as I was concerned. It was deep and filled with emotions and feelings. I think that is one thing Havens did the best, he used his voice as utter expression and he used it well.

I will miss Richie Havens, but what I have is a collection of his music, a song in my heart, and the memories of trying to figure out how he got his guitar to sound so rich. Richie Havens was a folk genius who took the music to levels unimaginable for a folk singer. I can guarantee you that rock and roll heaven just got better!

Oh the wonders of Valentine’s day. It has got to be greeting cards number one biggest day. Flowers are purchased, candy is brought, and sweet nothings are whispered in each others ear.  There are so many things a person can do for this day of lovers it got me thinking…

It used to be people did not have telephones, little long cell phones or computers. Getting urgent messages to people was difficult and could take a while. Then in 1837, inventors created the telegram which is a message sent over a distance using a device called a telegraph and hand delivered by a courier. In 1851, Western Union was born and built its first transcontinental telegraph line in 1861.

Important to get a brief history of the telegram because it changed the way we communicated. It also changed the way we sent very special greetings in 1933. That is because it was the first time a singing telegram was sent. In the past, when the courier came with that yellow piece of paper, it meant something might have gone wrong, like a death. George P. Oslin, who at the time was the Western Union public relations director, decided to send a singing telegram from a fan of a movie star. Interestingly enough, the person that delivered the first singing telegram as a Western Union operator named Lucille Lipps.

Many people thought it was great fun to send a message this way and birthday wishes, anniversaries and yes Valentine messages were sent via singing telegram. The bottom line, if you were the recipient of a singing telegram, you would smile, laugh, and have a memory for a lifetime. Well that was until 1974, when Western Union suspended the service.

Fear not young lovers of singing telegrams. Western Union has decided to bring back the singing telegram. No, it is not couriers or operators delivering the song. We seem to be so much more modern than that. Western Union launched a website where customers can record and send their own karaoke-style audio messages to family and friends via email.

I know it just isn’t the same. I choose not to even call that singing telegram and in fact, a service that anyone can do with their computer. However, there are services that still do live come to your door singing telegrams, just make sure you have the money to dole out.

Indeed, once upon a time ago, singing telegrams could make Valentine’s day more romantic, more special, but those days are gone. I suppose what that means is if we want something done, we will have to do it ourselves. So excuse me while I go put my red on, and go sing to my special valentine. Happy Valentine’s Day everyone.

Cheering concert crowd from wikimedia

I was trying to recall my first concert I ever went to as a kid.  Oh yeah it was in a parking lot at the Sears on Broadway in Tucson Arizona. There was a fashion show outside and the Everly Brothers were there. I have very vague memories, but it was a rather big deal and I recall the parking lot had an awful lot of people. First concerts are great memories and it got me thinking…

Concerts were a big deal growing up when I was a kid. My mother used to take us to the state fair and we would see top entertainers there. I do not recall who the first entertainer I saw in a large concert hall was, but I could have cared less. I seemed more intrigued with the crowds, the sounds, and the size of the place. I had never seen anything like it.

The giant coliseum in Phoenix Arizona was bigger than I could ever imagine. I could not imagine what the performers must have thought playing to a full house. I also wondered why Tucson did not have a big concert hall like that. It would not be long before my dream concert hall would be built.

In 1971 a 9,300 seated concert hall was built in Tucson Arizona. They called it The Tucson Community Center, or TCC for short. It was a big deal. In fact, it was a huge deal. I remember getting tickets for concerts as a teenager. The ticket seller would show you a map of where the stage was, and then all the seats that surrounded that stage.

As kids, we all had names for the seating. There was front stage, which was about the first 50 or 60 rows of seats. Then there was floor seats. There was side seat, side seats by the stage, at the middle or in the back, and then there was what we called the nose bleed section, which meant, you could not see who was playing and it also meant you were too broke to get the good seats.

Some of the people I saw at the TCC included, Chicago, America, Cats Stevens, Bread, Journey, Starships, Heart, Neil Young, The Carpenters, Boston, at this point this  should be giving my age away. I think I saw so many concerts before I was 18 at the TCC that I have lost track.

I suppose the point is, as kids, big arena concerts were great fun. The vibrations made my feet shake, the energy of the crowd made my head spin, and seeing some of my favorites made me feel like I was a kid in a dream. It was something to look forward to.

The last time I went to a big arena concert as well over 25 years ago when I saw Eric Clapton, which I must say was wonderful still, I am glad that many shows have turned into smaller venues. The big concert halls when I was growing up were great fun, as an adult, I have no desire to be in the big concert halls however , they sure did serve their purpose.

One more thing I would like to point out about these wonderful shows growing up. Tickets were not that expensive. They range from 6.50 to 15.00 bucks, which made it well worth seeing your favorite, and in some cases not so favorite musicians perform live. Anymore I like the outdoor shows. I do not feel trapped in a wall of people, the sky and desert make a great backdrop and the ticket prices seem to be a lot less.

Still, concerts are one of my most memorable experiences growing up. I am unsure what my teenage life would have been without these wonderful events that I enjoyed growing up with. So, what was your early experiences with concerts?