Old Time Rock and Roll

 

Po Boy Views

By

Phil LaMancusa

Radio Relic

Or

Radar Love

        “Today’s music ain’t got the same soul: I like that old time Rock and Roll” (Bob Seeger)

        Okay, okay, you got your Jazz Fest; I’ve got my Jazz fest, it’s an awakening, it’s recharging, it’s a freaking cathartic epiphany for chrissake! I’m with ya, I smell ya, I got the fever too; however, when it’s done and the tents have been struck and the magic turns into miasma… whatcha got to get you through the tough parts here? OhhZee? Sure; but in rush hour traffic, or getting’ to work at dawn’s crack, or dodging those light runners, lane changers and speed demons that inhabit our roads, I need something other than Jazz and Heritage.

        No disrespect to the Guardians of the Groove but when I’m working long and hard, hand eyed coordinated and in a zone where no man has gone before, I need to hear Aretha demanding some R.E.S.P.E.C.T. or Mavis countering with ‘Respect Yourself!’; Stevie talking to his Part-time Lover; Elton doin’ the Crocodile Rock and/or songs from the seventies that I can sing along with. Steve Miller is a joker, a smoker and a midnight toker who gets his lovin’ on the run, while Stealers Wheel is Stuck in the Middle with You; the Eagles are takin’ it to the limit (maybe to the Hotel California); the Kinks are trying to get away from Lola and Paul McCartney wants to Let it Be while Paul Simon continues as a Boxer on a Bridge Over Troubled Waters.

        E.L.O. can’t get her out of my head, Marvin Gaye wants to (Let’s) Get it On, Al Green want to (Let’s) Stay Together and the Staple Singers want to (Let’s ) Do It Again and I say (let’s) turn the radio louder and sing like Joe Cocker or The O Jays, The Bee Gees, Queen, Spinners, Buckinghams, CCR, CSN&Y, BTO, MLRB and ABBA. Barry White, The Who, Fleetwood Mac and Santana. Janis, Jimi, Joni and Jim and hundreds, yes hundreds more who led a counterculture of musical revolutionaries through their day… back in the day. Jeff Beck, Peter Green, Eric Clapton, Janis Ian, and Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.

        This music came before social media, laptops, flat screens, cell phones, MP3s and personal computers; vinyl records played on turntables until they were worn out.   Tapestry, The Dark Side of the Moon, Songs in the Key of Life, Blood on the Tracks, Rumours, Rastaman Vibration, What’s Goin’ On, Exile on Main Street, The White Album, In the Court of the Crimson King, Workingman’s Dead, Trout Mask Replica, Paradise and Lunch. Eat a Peach, Tommy, Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. Sly and the Family Stone, the Temptations, Linda Ronstadt and The Brothers Johnson.

        Your Gramps had a ponytail and a pierced ear; grandma wore bell bottoms and no bra. We had outdoor rock concerts and Rainbow Gatherings (besides Woodstock); we had bands playing for free in public parks; we pissed off our elders and let our kids go naked. And now you (and I) have The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival where they, each year, pay homage to the music that we all love. It’s sights and sounds that I attend every year to get my festival/musical fix; it’s my drug of choice and I am addicted.

        However, “if you believe in forever, then life is just a one night stand; if there’s a Rock and Roll Heaven, well, you know they’ve got a hell of a band” (Righteous Brothers) and that’s what grooves me the rest of the year. Dr John’s album Gumbo (1972) The Wild Tchoupitoulas (1976) Professor Longhair’s Rock and Roll Gumbo (1974) Allen Toussaint; Irma Thomas; Ellis Marsalis (who I first saw playing on Bourbon Street), The radiators; Little Queenie and The Percolators.

        And yes, I’m a WTIX listener (so are Will and Lenny, the Mechanic Gods that keep my ’97 Lincoln Towncar running smoothly) and sure, I have to hear commercials for Pasta Sauces, Buttburgers, pest control companies and restaurants that I’ll probably never go to. I know the patter of the DJs and kinda hear news, weather because I generally tune out most everything except the music. The music brings back simpler times when I can’t even remember how I paid the rent much less where I was until I hear a song like Radar Love, Tumbling Dice or Fool (if you think it’s over). I do recall, with the help of those oldies (but goodies) that it was a time of (relative) innocence and a time of (complete) confidence.

        That’s what these days should be like for you and that is what I wish for you as you go to Jazz Fest. You should look back on these days with a smile as I do those days; they are so similar in many ways. We stood on the shoulders of the music that came before us; we believed in human rights; we fought hatred; we believed in saving the planet for our children; we were against war and greed. I still do believe that we can make life and living a more positive experience. I still do believe that we can make a difference, especially when I hear Otis Redding telling me that all I have to do is “try a little tenderness”.