Under cloudy skies, but mainly not very cold weather, a good crowd showed up for the Memorial-Day-Sunday “15th Avila Beach Blues Festival”. Lineup: Canned Heat, Elvin Bishop, Little Richard. We nabbed a spot next to SLO Blues Society, smack-dab in the middle in the back – great sound and stage view. One SLO woman brought a HULA-HOOP, so in and in front of the “Blues Society” booths became hula-hoop central, attracting many talented, almost exclusively female hula-hoopers. Ya hadda been there!
Musically, Canned Heat did a credible job of recreating its 60s sound, but with only one original member (the drummer) and lacking the persona of the original front man, the late Bob “the BEAR” Hite (a hard-core blues aficionado), it wasn’t quite the same. Elvin Bishop WAS quite the same (thank goodness!), noting for the SLO
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crowd that “...in Spanish, Obispo means …. BISHOP !” He also said he was excited because he had never heard Little Richard live.
Well, I hope Elvin dug it, but Little Richard, “the Georgia Peach, the best lookin’ man in show bizness”, seemed almost senile compared to his amazing shows I caught in the early 70s, only singing a few words of about five of his own songs, then letting the (amazing) band actually play them (the band - 5 horns, guitar, bass [his son!], other keyboards, drums). A lot of music-less time and stopping and starting songs, asking the audience if they were feeing good, inviting women onto the stage, shooing them back off, etc. Still, the crowd seemed to dig it and the band really rocked when it got going. Little Richard said he is 76 years old and you have to give him credit for keeping at it.
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