(1) American blues harp legend Charlie Musselwhite - for my money, the best damn harmonica player on the planet - has four UK dates next month. I'm intending to show up at two of the gigs. He's an unbelievably good live act, I promise you; if you at all like 12-bar R&B, Chicago style, you owe it to yourself to be there too. In the meantime, here's a clip of Charlie with his current band, doing their signature track 'The blues overtook me'.
(2) The other forthcoming 'must attend' event is the debate over Israel's right to nuke Iran, featuring the clash of the Marxist titans Sean Matgamna and Moshe Machover. Yes, it's comforting to know that - at a time when capitalism really is in crisis and the British National Party is winning hundreds of thousands of votes - the far left is making the best use of its resources. Then again, it's been ages since we've had a good old public Trot bunfight.
The grudge match takes place on Sunday 12 October at the traditional North London Trot boozer of choice, The Lucas Arms, 245a Grays Inn Road, Kings Cross, starting 5.15pm. Does the League Against Cruel Sports know about this?
Most likely it'll be standing room early. Me, I'm turning up outside the pub with a sleeping bag the night before, just to be assured of a place.
(3) On a related note, here's four things that are frankly unlikely to be said at the said meeting:
* 'OK, we'll just have to agree to differ on that one.'
* 'Well, I have to admit that our paper got the line on [insert issue] totally wrong in [insert date].'
* 'I'm speaking as a member of the International Bolshevik Tendency. But if want to know what I really think on this one, well, personally ...'
* 'Why can't we all, y'know, just share the love?'
Similar contributions in the comments box below, please.
(4) Meanwhile, the far left blogsphere continues to expand at a rate faster than new recruits are coming through the door. Ladies and gentlemen, will you welcome Britain's greatest living Pabloite, Andrew Coates, who is sharing his vision of centuries of degenerated workers' states with the public at his fabulous new blog Tendance Coatesy.
Big up, too, everybody's favourite Stoke Newington teetotal groove merchant Paddy Garcia, sometimes seen in the comments box below. The site is called Latte Leninist.
Comments (20)
"everybody's favourite Stoke Newington teetotal groove merchant "
Hmmm, I think some of us have rather more colourful ways of describing Paddy ;-)
Even though I probably only agree with him on our mutual loathing of Stoke Newington Church Street, i'll probably give him a link as well.
Thanks for the tip about Charlie Musselwhite. Maybe the Trots could take up blues-harp instead.
Charlie Musselwhite is one of the best living, but I'd rate him a bit behind his friend, the late Paul Butterfield.
I used to copy his solos a lot and the sound he got was remarkable.
See:-
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn90uvj9Pgw&feature=related
Little Walter was the ultimate blues harp player and could even bend notes on a chromatic
I used to be able to play "JUke" note for note when I was around 17.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=g5ouLcdLnVA
Magic Dick of the J.Geils Band is pretty amazing, but not as soulful as Butterfield.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=a0q2Vy3fx2I
You a fan, Jock? You're right on your second point, but I suspect Callincos would be crap at it.
Prianikoff
Yes, I did mean 'best living' harmonica player. Obviously no one every came close to Little Walter.
If you could do 'Juke' note for note, I'm impressed. Did you hear that story that LW quit the Muddy Waters band when he played that track and got a smaller tip from the audience that the rest of the group>
Unlikely to be heard:
'The Spartacist league, while demanding the members of the utterly reformist AWL consider their organisations class-collaborationist politics immediatley, recognise that their position is similar to ours on interpenetrated people's, thus the only solution is for the armys of degenerated workers states, being North Korea, China and Cuba, enter Iran and Israel immediatley, to which the citizens must hail the red armies'
"here's four things that are frankly unlikely to be said at the said meeting:"
'that's a good argument, I've changed my mind'
'we should stop these petty meetings, sectarianism gets us no where'
'you are more modest and personable than I had thought'
'it is good to have these comradely exchange of views, without rancour or bad faith'
finally, a fifth
'that's a very pleasant aftershave you're wearing!'
very unlikely :)
I hope to be at the Sean -v- Moshe event, in order to defend basic Marxist principles (ie though we oppose an Israeli attack, in what bloody name, and on what bloody basis do we *oppose* it? -think, darn youse!)
Meanwhile, on the subject of harmonica players, here's the leader of the Sean Matgamna Orchestra giving the boys a pep-talk:
http://www.rockandrollbadboy.com/audio/BuddyRich.mp3
yes, I have been scratching my head wondering on what basis I would oppose a nuclear attack killing hundreds of thousands of people, so I'll definitely be going along to this meeting to try and work out a stance on the issue.
Think! though random loon, - Think damn youse! Abstract liberal humanism is no basis to oppose the West bombing brown Muslim people! Think! Think! Drink! Feck! Arse! Defend Marxist Principles! Drink! Think! Hic!
Been smoking that crack again have we Snowball? Tut tut ;)
"Ladies and gentlemen, Sean Matgamna will now take to the podium and respond to Comrade Machover -- through the medium of dance."
'Did you hear that story that LW quit the Muddy Waters band when he played that track and got a smaller tip from the audience that the rest of the group'
I hadn't heard that one, but I can well believe it. Walter was a musical innovator had a run of hits in the "race music" charts in the 50's, but never seemed to benefit from it financially.
He drank heavily and looked pretty rough when he toured the UK in the late 60's.
He continued playing the joints on the Chicago South Side and died following a fight, at only 38.
He was posthumously inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame a few years ago and "Juke" is now regarded as a seminal track in R&R history. I heard perhaps the first, "Rocket '88, in the late 60's via the James Cotton version, which has a great blues harp solo on it.
DB writes: 'Ladies and gentlemen, Sean Matgamna will now take to the podium and respond to Comrade Machover -- through the medium of dance.'
Well, anything would be better than his dreadful poetry.
Sean Matgamna, the British left's answer to William Topaz McGonagall.
Random Loon
Your insertion of the word 'nuclear' would be worthy of condemnation as appalling misrepresentation and crap debating standards. But actually, since the Weekly Worker beat you to it by a couple of months, it's just tiresome.
well you shouldn't have much trouble condemning a non-nuclear attack on innocent civilians either, should you? You certainly never had any problem doing so when it came to the IRA or the ANC.
"(2) The other forthcoming 'must attend' event is the debate over Israel's right to nuke Iran, featuring the clash of the Marxist titans Sean Matgamna and Moshe Machover."
I understand that the provisional title for the debate was 'The war for David Broder's ear'.
. . . . but now that David and his mate have discovered a job lot of old Solidarity pamphlets on eBay that's no longer the case.
Is ebay the new Porcupine Bookcellar?
"Is ebay the new Porcupine Bookcellar?"
It's certainly cheaper.
Is it within the Queensbury Rules for a fight to take place between an intellectual heavyweight (Machover) and intellectual featherwieght (Matgamna)? Only asking.
Machover by a knockout early on.