The scene was B.B. King's in New York City amidst the (finally!) waning days of the Minor League playoffs, and except for missing the glowing countenance of our friend, Susan, it was reminiscent of the first trip we took to B.B.'s to see Chuck Berry a few years back. We even commandeered a fancy-schmancy booth of our own again. There was me, Mark and knee grabber, Steve, who was something of a celebrity himself at the show due to the amazing autographed guitar he was toting with him for the occasion. (We nicknamed it "Smoo" for Susan and toasted her, and even legendary record producer Rob Fraboni stopped by our booth to have a look at it.)
I'll say right now there was no knee grabbing this time when one of our idols took the stage, but there was that same look of awe -- which also crossed my face a couple dozen times. The opportunity to watch the guy who played the coda for "Layla" was beyond the scope of my wildest dreams -- and I'm a pretty big dreamer.
Bobby looked very dapper indeed in his snazzy sequined yellow shirt and my spine just tingled for the whole show as one after another of the classics was delivered with acoustic fervor. All those beautiful classic songs from nature's perfect album -- "Anyday," "Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad," "Bell Bottom Blues," the title track -- as well as the one that wasn't on it that easily could have been, "Got to Get Better in a Little While."
Bobby's a known animal lover -- in fact when our cat, Frankie, went missing a few years ago, he posted words of support and information to us on Facebook. So it was heartbreaking to find out that the beautiful song that caps the Layla album, "Thorn Tree in the Garden" was written when someone got rid of Bobby's beloved dog. And now the song has a whole new and even more poignant meaning for me.
Now CoCo is one powerful force and they make such a great couple. She can sing, she can play guitar and she plays the hell out of the sax (even in high heels). One of the special aspects of the duo's mini-tour was picking up a guitarist in each city they had been visiting, and they couldn't have done much better than with known Clapton aficionado Godfrey Townsend, who I'd seen there at one of the Clapton birthday tributes. They melded so perfectly together it was hard to believe they haven't had extended time together, but that's real musicians for ya.
We queued up to meet Bobby and CoCo post-show, and I started shaking in my sneakers. When I got to Bobby, I told him that Layla was my favorite album on the planet. He responded, "That means the world to me." And I was so blown away by the moment, I forgot my plan to show off the Bobby Whitlock shirt I was wearing and have had for many years. Luckily, Bobby took care of that for me.
"You're wearing a Bobby Whitlock shirt!" he exclaimed. "Oh, yeah, I am," I laughed.
It's so wonderful to get to converse, even in passing, with people whose contributions have meant so much to you. "Thanks for being supportive and informative when our cat went missing," I told him while I was still keeping my shit together.
And Steve (the artist formerly known as "knee grabber"), already forever in my heart, earned even more cred for letting me have his Layla CD booklet to get autographed AND taking great photos -- first during the show and then of me and Mark with the dynamic duo after the gig.
It's months later and I'm still not over it. I think about that night when I hear any of the songs from that album. I think about it even when I'm not listening to it. Sometimes the blues don't hurt quite so bad.
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