Last month I played at a mini-festival in Eilat together with Danny Shushan , Eli Hadad and Roy Young. I am not used to thinking of myself as young anymore, but Roy is 70 , Danny was a rock star around the time I was born and Eli played in a band I admired when I was in high school ...It was great to spend time on the road with them and watch them work their magic onstage.
Back in the 60’s rock was considered a youth movement, underscored by Pete Townshend’s lyrics “I hope I die before I get old” (thankfully, Pete is still alive , well and playing). I grew up feeling that the music I loved was something only the young could appreciate.
The turning point for me was when , at the tender age of 18 , I saw the great Albert Collins perform. Collins was the same age as my father, which, when you’re 18, seems pretty old...but he came onstage with 4 other guys the same age, cranked his Telecaster up to maximum volume and just rocked the house. I was so blown away by Albert Collins that I said “This Blues business is for me- You can still rock hard in your 50’s!”.
In 2017 Bobby Rush won his first Grammy award at the age of 84, and he is still touring , recording and performing better than ever (if you haven’t heard of Bobby Rush, you should definitely check him out - I’m a HUGE fan), and Buddy Guy (aged 84) still gives high energy shows that performers half his age can’t match.
So when I have the good fortune to meet people like Danny Shushan or Blues greats like Joe Louis Walker or Jimmy Johnson, I sit back , listen and try to learn, ‘cause they’ve been everywhere and done everything - twice - and I can still learn some tricks from these guys….
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