Delaney and Bonnie - Now you can play with them too

November 8^th – Something by way of selfishness.

I’ve mentioned here afore about doing one’s own Desert Island Discs (DID) but doing it for real. Not saying

Oh, well, it’s only fifteen, doesn’t really matter

but doing as if it mattered (which you’ll find it does once you settle into it) as if this really was your only opportunity to make the 8-disc choice. I know some of you have had a go at it and I also know how hard you’ve found it…me too.

If reasons were needed for such an exercise then let me say it allows one to gather together memories and emotions from one’s past and distil them, by way of the music that meant something at the time, those precious and important moments are brought back into sharp focus. Now, I’ll admit, if you’re a thinking person, some of these memories may well not be too welcome but personally, I’ve found it’s often a healthy occupation to revisit difficult times. Distance vaporises the rawer emotions and leaves just a scented smoke of remembrance denuded of the acrid taste that was all too noticeable when the events were actually taking place. Allowing these events room to breathe can also allow, if not forgiveness, then at least an understanding of the course of events and a reasoning of the individuals involved. Carrying resentments, like boulders in a backpack, can weigh one down and, if left, can become the defining thread of what has become you…bugger that. Making a serious effort to sort your DID isn’t the solution to reorganising your past, but it can be part of the solution, and what’s more it’s a harmless, enjoyable way to wile away a quiet time…if we ever get any that is.

I’ve got mine down to 9 and I was going to jot them down here at Christmas…when I can decide on the final eight. It did stand up for 8 about a month or more ago, but then I heard a track I’d not played for a good while and couldn’t think of a reason why it wasn’t on the list, hence back up to 9. The track was part of a live recording made in 1969 at the Fairfield Hall in Croydon and which formed the on part of the Delaney & Bonnie & Friends on Tour with Eric Clapton album released in 1970; the track is, I Don’t Want To Discuss It. Part of the reason this is such a standout track for me is the personnel involved. Apart from Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett (born this day in 1944) and Mr. Clapton there’s Leon Russell, Dave Mason, George Harrison, Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle, Jim Gordon, Booby Keys, Jim Price and Rita Coolidge all thrown in for good measure.

Anyone around back then and taking musical notice at that time will know these folk were part of the crème de la crème that made up the music world of the time; for those who weren’t around then, take my word for it, they were amongst the absolute tops only lacking the inclusion of Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix and Nicky Hopkins to be perfect. The other part of what makes this track special to me is that it reminds me of two things. Of a band I played in with a similar instrument line-up played by some very special friends, some of whom are now long gone. And secondly, of what it was like to take a song you were very comfortable with, go out on stage and play it full-tilt…on the ragged edge of collision almost.

This is one of those recordings that, if you’ve never had the chance to play in a rock band but always wanted to, will bring you closer to being there than just about any other, providing you turn the volume up load enough. So, either with or without headphones, play it very loud; I defy anyone not to get caught up in the sheer delirium of it…or maybe it’s just the musical meanderings of an old fella trying to recapture old friends and emotions long since passed…FI. It has intruded into my DID and made me stop and think…so I’ll settle for that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYKUr37HaHM