Sep 4, 2015

British Blues Master John Mayall Hits the Road at Age 81--wsj blogs on the ronnie re

British Blues Master John Mayall Hits the Road at Age 81

 
   
 
Jeff Fasano
John Mayall, one of the first British musicians to fully embrace and perform American blues, was a pioneer. Throughout the 1960s, his band the Bluesbreakers granted PhDs in blues to a steady stream of musicians who became rock royalty, including guitarists Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor, who moved on to join or form Cream, Fleetwood Mac and the Rolling Stones, respectively. Other graduates included Fleetwood Mac’s John McVie and Mick Fleetwood, Cream’s Jack Bruce and Free’s Andy Fraser.
Now 81 years old, Mayall remains vibrant and active. After going five years without a new studio album, he has released two in two years, including the new “Find a Way to Care,” featuring his steady quartet.
Speakeasy talked to him on the phone from his Los Angeles home just before he set off for a 53-date, two-month tour of Europe.
You’ve had a very busy run here, with two albums in two years.
We’ve been touring consistently all these years. We do at least 100 shows a year, but our record company was just holding us back. I finally asked them to put something out or release us, which they did. I signed with 40 Below Records and we’re back in business, which is great because I really feel like this is the best band I’ve ever had.
Your Bluesbreakers were like the University of British Blues, with Eric Clapton being replaced by Peter Green being replaced by Mick Taylor, for instance. It enhanced your reputation but was it frustrating to constantly have to make a new band? Were you a difficult boss?
No. That was all entirely due to the musicians that I chose to be in my bands. They were free to develop their own styles and in very short time they were ready to put their own bands together. It was always that way. I was such a good bandleader that I allowed a band to develop in its own way. If someone was ready to move on, they were replaced with someone else who was ready to step up. They were all very young and they were just finding their own direction. The thing was to encourage them to go on and develop their styles and personalities — and everyone was pleased with that.
Clapton-Green-Taylor was a rather incredible run of guitarists.
You don’t think about those aspects of it while they’re happening. They’re all so different from one another but with such strong playing personalities. Eric was the right player for me to work with at the time. He was in the band for almost a year, during which he set off on a harebraned trip to Greece. He was just very restless and he moved on and formed Cream. He was a great talent, obviously, and Peter Green, the greatest pure blues guitarist of his time, replaced him. Mick Taylor was very young and was in the band for longer than the other two.
But this all happened in a short time and it’s a very short time of my career. They became big names and I understand why people want to know more about them, but there have been so many great musicians in the band, including Sugarcane Harris on violin; Larry Taylor on bass guitar; Walter Trout, Coco Montoya and Buddy Whittington on guitars and the list goes on…
Right, but those three went on to such landmark careers, and Clapton’s playing with you completely altered people’s perspective of what a guitar can sound like. His Bluesbreakers tone changed everything,
The amazing thing is it’s just the sound of him playing. He was just using a guitar plugged into a Marshall cabinet with a couple of 12-inch speakers. It’s really got nothing to do with the instrument or the amplification. He just astounded people with what he played because he was so good!
How has your conception of the role of a bandleader changed over the course of your career?
I don’t think it’s changed at all. You know what you want to play, and if you get the right guys it all comes together and clicks. We have a great time and it’s exciting and we communicate that to an audience. If we’re not excited and having fun, then they won’t be.
You’re 81. As a blues musician, what has gotten better and worse as you age?
There’s a maturity that takes place where you just understand what you want, but really it all has to do with who you’re working with. With this band, we’re so very creative and it’s different every night. We don’t play the songs and we don’t play things the same way and that’s what keeps it fresh and exciting. It’s an endless cycle and I think the new album is a testament to that.
Alan Paul is the author of Reckoning: Conversations With the Grateful Dead and One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band.


copied from blogs.wsj.com

Should Donald Trump Be The GOP Presidential Candidate: Not with that hair!

Geraldo Rivera Takes On Donald Trump.......

the ronnie republic: Geraldo Rivera Takes On Donald Trump.......: Geraldo Rivera. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Chloe Louise   Geraldo....Donald Trump is always ridiculing the folks that have come...

Geraldo Rivera Takes On Donald Trump.......

the ronnie republic: Geraldo Rivera Takes On Donald Trump.......: Geraldo Rivera. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Chloe Louise   Geraldo....Donald Trump is always ridiculing the folks that have come...

Geraldo Rivera Takes On Donald Trump.......

Geraldo Rivera.
Geraldo Rivera. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)




Chloe Louise 

Geraldo....Donald Trump is always ridiculing the folks that have come to the US from Mexico and horribly talking about sending them back....I wonder if he would take the same tone with the folks in Europe fleeing Syria....would he like to send them back, as well....saying it has to be done to take back our country. 

You see this is where Donald Trumps rhetoric is going to get him in trouble and why politicians talk the way they do. 

They have so many different political situations in the world--changing daily--the words of the politicians and world leaders really matter........Donald just might want to take these things into consideration. 

It would be interesting to see if he actually had a thoughtful answer to this political and strategic dilemma. He is constantly saying the US should stand up to the Middle East but let's see how he would realistically solve this important problem on the world stage without offending any groups of individuals or countries whose help we may need in the future. 

This is a much more complex situation--just shouting insults will not fix it.


It has to be said.........


Congratulations are in order to Geraldo Rivera for calling out his friend Donald Trump on false accusations regarding the folks from Mexico coming over to the the United States for work.

On a daily basis Geraldo Rivera deserves credit for his compassion and world view towards working class families from areas with less opportunities than the US.

As usual, along with the other great radio interviewers, Geraldo is not afraid to talk about a situation and go back and forth with the facts with his guest.  He is to be admired for acknowledging his friendship with the donald and his popularity but not being fearful of trumps potential for verbal punishment in a disagreement.

Good job, Geraldo, your intelligence as an interviewer and investigative reporter always shines through--Fox is lucky to have you.......perhaps you can school your cohort. Eric Bolling on world issues and what it means for the lives and welfare of workers everywhere to have a global vision. 

Geraldo Rivera along with the very gifted Noam Laden can be heard on WABC news/talk radio every week day morning from 10-12 AM.



Here is a link to fox News Latino to see the complete story......

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/opinion/2015/09/03/geraldo-to-trump-youre-wrong-boss-immigrant-murder-wave-is-
factually-false/



Also, here is a link to Geraldo Rivera's facebook page for this story and other stories on the issue:

https://www.facebook.com/GeraldoRivera







from Fox News Latino


Geraldo to Trump: You’re wrong, boss, immigrant murder wave is factually false

  • Trump and Geraldo.jpg
In a wide-ranging interview with America’s most incendiary public figure, Donald Trump, the leading contender for the Republican nomination for the presidency of the United States and I had the following exchange Wednesday Sept. 2 on my WABC Radio show. One of the many issues my longtime friend and former “Celebrity Apprentice” boss and I covered was the candidate’s contention that there is an illegal immigrant – mostly Mexican – violent crime wave.
Trump: A lot of the gangs in Baltimore, Chicago, St. Louis and Ferguson are illegal immigrants.
Geraldo: I think you’re wrong about that, boss. The crime wave we’re seeing is not a function of immigrants. It’s black on black.
Trump: In L.A. and Chicago you have tremendous [amounts of] illegal immigrants in gangs and they’re rough dudes.
Let me analyze Trump’s answer to this and other questions I asked.
Tapping into the primal fear many white Americans have about the “browning” of the nation, [Trump] has been catapulted to the front of the GOP pack. My dilemma is that after knowing Trump for so long, I believe he has been trapped by his own inflammatory rhetoric and his rabble rousing success into a position far harsher than necessary.
- Geraldo Rivera
Remorseless and violent, there is little doubt that long-established Latino gangs, many of whose “rough dudes” are indeed undocumented immigrants, have been a persistent problem for law enforcement in cities like Los Angeles and Chicago. Still, by a disproportionate percentage, the vast majority of big city murders in 2015 are homegrown, young black men killing other young black men from Compton to South Chicago to West Baltimore.  
A black-owned business in Memphis sponsored my favorite billboard of the year. It says, "Black lives do matter, so let’s quit killing each other."
Memphis is our third most dangerous city proportionate to population. Heavily African-American, it shares that distinction with the others in America's top ten most deadly. They are, in order,
1-Detroit
2-Oakland
3-Memphis
4-St Louis
5-Cleveland
6-Baltimore
7-Milwaukee
8-Birmingham
9-Newark
10-Kansas City
The number of murders in 2015 jumped by 33 percent or more in Baltimore, New Orleans and St. Louis. These are all cities with few Latino immigrants, documented or otherwise.
Talk of an illegal alien murder wave is factually false.
It is always easier to blame the outsiders for what ails us. We are the problem. This is the inconvenient truth.
But back to Trump.
I have known and admired him for decades. He is a superb builder who has made decent neighborhoods out of urban blight, reinvigorated the sport of golf, and created clothing lines and television programs from scratch, earning multiple billions in the process. He is a great American and now he is running hard and well for the Republican nomination.
But he is scapegoating Latino immigrants.
His off-handed and deeply disparaging remarks made during his announcement speech about undocumented Mexican immigrants have made Trump the poster boy for the xenophobic, nativist, Ann Coulter wing of the Republican Party. His attacks on Jeb Bush for answering a question posed by a Latino reporter in Spanish were absurd. Still, there is no doubt that Trump’s message is resonating with many Republican primary voters.
Tapping into the primal fear many white Americans have about the “browning” of the nation, the billionaire businessman and reality television host has been catapulted to the front of the GOP pack. My dilemma is that after knowing Trump for so long, I believe he has been trapped by his own inflammatory rhetoric and his rabble rousing success into a position far harsher than necessary to make the points about the need for border security and a legal reckoning for the 11 plus million undocumented immigrants currently estimated to be living in the United States.    
Geraldo: Do you believe that you could have made the same points without demonizing a whole race of people?
Trump: No, I don’t think so Geraldo, I really don’t. I think they are tough points; I think we have to make them tough. I think it has to be done properly, you need borders, I’m a believer in the wall; walls do work by the way. But I’m a believer in the wall and I have seen where people are pouring across the borders and big league, and I mean big league. What’s really coming across and going right back are drugs.
After I pointed out that a trillion-dollar wall could be defeated by a hundred-dollar ladder, our conversation turned to Mr. Trump’s outreach to the Hispanic business community.
Geraldo: You had a meeting yesterday with Javier Palomarez the CEO of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.  Did you meet with him first of all, because you wanted in some ways to communicate directly to the community to tell them how you feel about these issues and why [your feelings] may be more reasonable then how they are being portrayed?
Trump: Sure, he is the head of a large group … Hispanic businesses and that’s right up my line … And, by the way, the Hispanics are great entrepreneurs, the Mexicans are great entrepreneurs. Part of it is they work hard, have great energy and are great people. But I had my people reach out to him, he was happy about it. We had about an hour meeting and it was terrific. I think he was a terrific guy. We don’t agree on everything certainly but I think I agreed to do some kind of luncheon or whatever down in Washington, so I will get to inspect the Old Post Office (Trump’s new DC hotel project) as it goes up under budget and ahead of schedule. Unlike government, I am under budget and way ahead of schedule. Do you like that?
Geraldo: I do, but I want you to stay on point.
Trump: OK, but I get to check that while I go down. I like to do many things at one time, because he is having the meeting down in Washington. So, I will be going down at some point in October or whatever. I will go to Washington. That won’t be that easy a meeting because you’ll have hundreds of people and they will have constituents of his and they may disagree with me but ultimately we will all get along.
Finally, the candidate and I turned back to his deeply disturbing promise to eject all undocumented immigrants in the country.
Geraldo: But you’re talking about millions of otherwise law-abiding men, women and children, some kids born U.S. citizens. They are frightened to their core about things you’ve said about throwing them out. That’s a legacy you can’t have.
Trump: All I’m telling you is lighten up, it’s all going to work out. I’m telling you, I’m a great manager. And you know I’m reasonable, otherwise you couldn’t have come in second place on (Celebrity) Apprentice.
Geraldo: You’re very reasonable, that’s why I’m so shocked by some of this extreme language, it seems so unnecessary.
Trump: You’re going to find I have a big heart and I’m going to do it right. It’s not OK right now. Tremendous crime and those we’re getting out immediately, and you’re not fighting me on that.
Geraldo: I want the criminals out or in jail regardless of their race … but why doesn’t Trump, the charming, charismatic, original, successful [man I know], take the substance of what you want to accomplish for America and tone down the rhetoric, be the man that I know with an open heart, a practical idealist, who wants to accomplish what you did for yourself for the country. I think you can still say this is a problem, we need secure borders, let’s get the crooks and criminals out.
Trump: Geraldo, if I win, I’m doing pretty well.
Geraldo: You’re doing fabulous. I’m proud of you, everyone that loves you is proud of you.
Trump: A poll came out yesterday that I’m at 40 percent.
Geraldo:  But why not ease off a little bit?
Trump: I have no objection to that at all. You know I have a big heart.
Geraldo: That’s why I want to take you to a Puerto Rican restaurant.
Trump: I would love that.
Geraldo Rivera is currently a Fox News Senior Correspondent.Click here for more information on Geraldo Rivera.