Texas Cannonball was written by Rocky Athas and Buddy Miles for the Bluesberries album, to honor the master, Freddie King, who was a fellow Texan that inspired Rocky. The Bluesberries album was recorded with Buddy Miles and Double Trouble in 2002 with Jim Gaines producing the magic. Happy Birthday, Freddie King! Play it LOUD!
Time for a little guitar history lesson. In the 70's, Joe Walsh recommended a phenomenal guitar player named Tommy Bolin to replace him in The James Gang. A year later, Tommy moved on to replace Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple and his legacy grew. After his death, I met his brother Johnnie when we both played with Black Oak Arkansas. That friendship led to playing with Johnnie and Glenn Hughes for the Tommy Bolin Tribute tours and a great musical performance was released from that experience! We had such a rockin' good time working together that Johnnie offered me one of Tommy's acoustic songs that had never been released for my upcoming Miracle album and Johnnie played drums on it! Slow Driver is that song and as they say...the rest is history! Happy Birthday, Tommy!
YES! That is Tommy Bolin jamming with Lynyrd Skynyrd on his Explorer.
Experiencing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show changed my life and an entire generation of musicians were born. Their influence was immediate and long lasting. This recording of PAPERBACK WRITER is a tribute created by myself on guitar and bass with Walter Watson adding all the vocal tracks and drums. I recording the track using my 1966 Epiphone casino photographed below which includes my personal collection of Beatle dolls because I am just that kind of Beatle nerd! Enjoy!
Most of you know that I am a Beatle collector and I went so far as to record this tribute using my 1966 Epiphone Casino for rhythm work and 1965 Gibson SG for the lead and my vintage Hofner Beatle Bass! I had a blast recording this!
In 2002, Buddy Miles and SRV's rhythm section, Double Trouble, and myself went in the studio and created The Blues Berries album. We had a great time recording in Texas and this is one of my favorite tracks from the album. Please enjoy & share the good attitude with your friends!
Always remember that no matter what is going on in your life that "Life IS What You Make It" and smile and then turn it up LOUD & Play it AGAIN!
Please join me in wishing Eric Clapton a big "Happy Birthday" today. When I saw Eric Clapton and Cream as a kid, it changed everything for me. White Room was one of my favorites with Eric's amazing tone and melodic technique with a Wah-Wah on full display. I wanted to pay tribute to the master on his birthday staying as close to his original recording as possible using my 1965 Gibson SG and vintage 1969 Vox Wah-Wah. Please enjoy & SHARE! Thank you for your inspiration, Eric!
Walter Watson handled the vocals and drums on this recording and I played guitar and bass. It is available as a never before released bonus track on The Essential Rocky Athas - Volume I.
