"Austin, September 14th, Saturday. ....we
then walked to the Castle Creek club, got the choice seats again. Lightnin' hit
the stage at the back of ten - he was amazing! In a bouncy mood, and everything
went right. He sat down on his stool, waiting for the loud clapping &
cheers to subside, said a couple of amusing things and, using his solid
electric Fender, broke into a brilliant instrumental boogie! He even stood up
& walked across the stage while playing a chorus - what a show!!!
Lightnin'
had the audience utterly in his power, admiring & loving him, clapping and
cheering him on. There he sat, wincing, frowning, laughing, occasionally
glancing at Carl on bass or Phil on drums, on either side of him. He puts on a
real show when he plays guitar, makes himself more dramatic even! He played
"My Starter Won't Start This Morning", "Mojo Hand", a slow
blues about <you know I love you, that's why you treat me like you
do...>. Carried on to do "Trouble in Mind" beautifully, "Ain't
It Crazy" - much of what he'd done last night. This set was possibly the
best real blues I'll ever get to hear live - my hero Lightnin' on top form! He
completed the set with a "Fishing Boogie", with the (sincere) intro.
that he came to Austin "to fish, but the water was a little too high"
- the words went <I got my hook in the water, and my cork bobbing on the top
(2x), When the fishes start biting, they ain't got sense enough to stop!>
Lightnin'
returned at about 12:20. The atmosphere was more severe, subdued & charged,
with Lightnin' feeling rather moody & looking sternly at Carl sometimes. He
still put on his act though, and joked some.
He
crashed into a raw slow blues instrumental, with biting & harsh blues
guitar (still using Fender, treble emphasized, so never mellow). Really mean
set! - so captivating and raucously evil! "What do you want with a woman,
won't do what she say....", "My Daddy was a preacher, my mother was
sanctified", "Shining Moon", the great "Mr. Charlie, do you
know, your rollin' mill is burning down?".
He played
solos much more often than sang, and seems to always do this - doesn't
improvise his words much at all except in studios now.... By the way he
recorded an LP for Sam Charters in June! Lightnin' was backed by Ron on
bass for last three numbers - "Good-bye Boogie", "Shake it
Baby" and "Back to Arkansas". He finally (he kept meaning to!)
ended on that, at 1:40.
The crowd
of us that know him took Lightnin' and the equipment back to the cars. Rusty,
Ann and Lightnin' took me to the Greyhound depot, I thanked them all, shook
hands after getting Lightnin's autograph (below), said good-bye to Po' Sam
Hopkins, and off they drove!
Got on
Northbound bus at 2:30" (for
Chicago).
 |
| To my friend from Lightnin' Hopkins |
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