Is my old man any good? Or not so good?

2008-03-11 20:48:35 UTC

Subject: Is my old man any good? Or not so good?

My dad who is 54, played some guitar in some New York clubs when he was
younger and I never knew really. I knew he finger-picked a bit on an
acoustic, but had no idea he could play electric blues guitar. I shot
some videos of him playing his new guitar and uploaded them, but he
doesn't know yet! :o)
Here's a link to the clips :-
http://www.georgeblades.com/video.html
Well...'is he any good?!
Curious!
C.C.

He also played in New Jersey and all around the west coast. He's played
with Clapton and Buddy Guy to name but two famous bluesmen. My
step-brother and step-sister also did not know about his past, neither
did his present-day wife. My mother knew though, but she never told me.
He was born in Atlanta, Georgia and has played there also. Jeez, he's
been around, I'll say that! So how come George Blades is not rich and
famous then? Hmm, he should be I'd say.
His url again..... www.georgeblades.com
Well?

Hi Boyd, thanks for your email...'in answer to your question, he plays a
Gibson ES-335 Tobaco Brown Sunburst guitar mostly and this is an original
and cost him around $10,000. He pays big money for his gear and 10
thousand dollars is peanuts to him, but he's not rich these days....'so
where's all the money gone then? You tell me!
You must've googled the wrong george blades btw as the link you sent me
was a UK link, not USA.
No, he's never been a boxer and no, he never payed an Epi LEs Paul.
Cheers.
Jim.

Could you please post to the newsgroup rather than email me direct?
Thanks.
J

Ah, I see. You can read the NG posts, but you can't post? Is that right?
Okay, I guess you really have cause to email me then! It's fine by me man.
J
P.S. How are things in Canada these days Boyd?
:-)

Hey Boyd! At first I didn't understand what you were asking, but now I do.
Sorry for not explaining about the vids website. I put it up but it was only
supposed to be seen by his friends in New York originally, then I posted the
link to it in the NewsGroup. I can see how it 'could' be confusing, but I
wanted it to be "surprise" when his friends atarted to email him saying "I
didn't know you played like that" and stuff, but the thing is that not a
single person
emailed him to say a word about it. I know there is something strange about
it all, but he'd never have posted the vids himself, so I did it for him.

Someone suggested "something sinister" might be going on coz I never knew he
played all those years ago. How close they came to the truth, they will
never know! I don't hate my dad or even dislike him, but I never saw him
when I was a kid as he split from us for another woman when I was only in
junior school. He got married again and had what he calls his "second
family" and since he showed up again just a few years back, we are all
suppose to act like nothing ever happened. Well, something sure as hell
'did' happen. I now have a son of my own and he is getting all the attention
that I never got from my own dad. BTW, I am NOT jealous or angry in any way,
just a son who was dumped along the way. He's a weird guy my dad, but I
don't know his past at all. It has been hinted at to me by the odd friend of
his that he DID play in bands in New York a while back, but I can't find
anyone to give me the facts. He certainly wont. He says he's never had any
lessons in his life...'really?! I find that very hard to believe for a
start. He also refuses to talk about his past and laughs when I ask if he
played in any
bands. I am sure he did though. He once gave me an electric guitar and I
still have it, and old beat-up Les Paul which I play some chords on and pick
a bit, mostly country-rock stuff, but I'd loved to have had him around
to show me how to play differently. I love mynew half-bro and sis very much,
I mean it ain't their fault what he did. I have a younger sister of my own
and she won't even talk to him, so I guess I at least have made more of an
effort to talk to him.

Hey guys....'please do NOT email him any of this stuff I have posted here!
He is nice enough, but he does have another side to him, so keep this
strictly in the NG. Guess you all know his email address, but I am pretty
sure that nobody could be as heartless as to back-stab me. I hope I'm right.

Boyd, I know you meant well, but sometimes being a detective can lead you
into places where there is a lot more going on than you'd like to know
about. You're a cool guy, but lighten up a little, and NO, I don't blame you
for the confusion. I take all the blame for that one my friend.

Cheers.

C.C. (Jim).