Saturday, August 7, 2010

Day 5 of 30: Back Slider

A song that reminds me of someone:

Let me tell you about a guy. My uncle, Richard Perisho. If the journey of 1,000 miles starts with the first step then he was he kick out the door. As I was discovering the amazing music of the Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, etc, he and Mary (my aunt, his wife, my dad's youngest sister) were there to show me the submerged part of that iceberg.

He took me to see my second ever concert, the Reverend Horton Heat. So we're standing around in the Cain's Ballroom waiting for the bands to begin. I'm donning my newly acquired Joy Division shirt. Richard and his friend Alan are having an animated conversation about their new found love, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. I had liked most everything he'd thrown at me so far, and this idea of a "blues explosion" intrigued me. I give him a blank requesting Blues Explosion. Cassette is returned with Orange on one side; Extra Width the other. One blank 90 minute is all it took to change my view on the limits of rock-n-roll. At the time I mostly listened to Extra Width, and Back Slider still reminds me of Richard (and Mary) and all the music to which I had been exposed as a result of hanging out at their house.



Orange is the best rock-n-roll record ever made by the way. Just in case you were wondering.

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