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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
MONTEREY – Picture 44 acts on three stages over a three day weekend – a potpourri of top-notch musicians from the world famous Neville Brother’s of New Orleans to lesser known local newcomers like the Dani Paige Band – against a backdrop of Monterey Bay, with delicious international flavored cuisine at every turn.
This year's Monterey Bay Blues Festival was blessed with sunny, balmy temperatures in the daytime from the mid 70s to the low 80s despite the forecast for gray 60s.
We arrived on Saturday in time to witness the set of Winnsboro, La. native Ernie Johnson, a favorite on the blues festival circuit.
We then caught the Saturday night closer of soul great Clarence Carter, who crossed over with his 1970 hit, “Patches.”
Carter, who is blind, is also known for his risqué repertoire. Adult themed songs like, “I Be Strokin’” and “Dr. C.C.” keep him popular with the mature baby-boomer R&B crowd. Standing absolutely still at the microphone, save for the movement of his hands on his guitar, Carter’s mellifluous baritone monologues kept the audience in stitches.
On Sunday, the first performance on the arena stage was for those inclined to appreciate gospel music. The feature was the heavenly sounds of the revered Mighty Clouds of Joy. Led by the great Joe Ligons, the Clouds went back to the country church of Ligons’ childhood and ushered forth songs he remembered being sung by his grandfather.
“My dad was a Gospel singer, his dad was a preacher,” said Ligons. “My grandfather didn’t have a strong voice, but I loved to hear him sing, 'Nearer My God To Thee.'”
Building as well upon the many years of great gospel recordings by the Clouds, Ligons built the spiritual tension into a wonderful explosion of joy, praising the name of Jesus in conjunction with the faithful in the crowd who stood exuberantly and joyfully.
The Clouds set list included “You Need The Lord,” “Praise His Name,” “Ride The Mighty High” and several others, including the Ojays' “Love Train” which started their set.
We had an exclusive audience with the great Teeny Tucker, who happens to be the daughter of the legendary Tommy Tucker. He was the composer of the blues standard, “High Heel Sneakers.” Tucker was one of many Chess Records artists who were left out of the critically acclaimed film, Cadillac Records.
Since 1963 when Tommy Tucker (born Robert Higginbotham) crashed the charts with the original version of the song, it has been recorded over 200 times, by the likes of Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, Sammy Davis, Jr., Jose Feliciano and many others.
Teeny Tucker started her career in her church choir in her hometown of Columbus, Ohio, at a very young age. Two of her best childhood memories was receiving a transistor radio for Christmas and discovering Mahalia Jackson on it.
She has spoken of visiting her dad in New York and begging him to let her stay up late to hear him jam with other musicians, then falling asleep under his Hammond B-3.
She branched into top 40 as a young woman and was persuaded into singing the blues by a European promoter familiar with her dad’s canon. The promoter thought she sang blues like her dad and offered to book her in Berlin if she would learn some blues. She learned 10 songs and was booked by the promoter and it launched her blues career. Teeny was well into her 30s at that point in her career.
We actually started Sunday evening interview off by swapping notes on a performance the prior evening of a lovely performer whose thin voice wasn’t able to withstand the rigors of a slamming, hard driving band.
I then remarked somehow to Teeny Tucker that the great Eastbay/World vocalist Lady Bianca had sang “Precious Lord” at my own mother’s funeral back in May. In a blues/gospel moment of synchronicity, Teeny admitted she had sung the same song at her own mother’s funeral back in February of this year. We then consoled each other with post funeral anecdotes relating to family dynamics.
I related to those in attendance, which included Teeny Tucker's bandleader, Robert Hughes, and my photographer, Gwen Windham, that Teeny would have been a natural to play the part of Etta James in the recent Cadillac Records film. Teeny then recalled a recent festival experience where she reprised the Etta James song, “At Last” and brought down the house.
CyberSoulChildren, I wish I could but play you all the audio tape of the interview. We covered a myriad of subjects in the 20 or so minutes the tape was rolling. She talked about her love of West Coast blues diva Sugar Pie DeSanto.
Teeny reminisced about sharing the stage in 2007 with the recently departed Chicago blues queen, Koko Taylor. She recalled what a kind, sweet woman Koko was and what a knock-kneed, nervous experience it was to sing a duet with the Queen. She will always remember the music tips that Koko gave her that day.
She recalled how early in her career under the compelling call of the stage, she drove from Columbus to New York in the dead of winter to audition at the Apollo Theatre. The payoff was the standing ovation she received.
As we ended our interview with Teeny Tucker she indicated that her forthcoming CD is nearing completion and should be released around Thanksgiving. She gave a joyous shout out to her fans old and new.
The Lake County News Crew then retired to the audience to witness her steaming set which included material from the forthcoming CD as well as a song written by her dad entitled “Daughter To The Blues.”
Monterey Bay Blues Festival Director Lee Durley composed a tune for Teeny Tucker that she opened her set with. She also did a bone chilling, gospel-inflected version of Bob Dylan’s “Serve Somebody.”
The finale was “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” the rouser popularized by Jerry Lee Lewis. Teeny, in a little history lesson, taught the crowd that the original version of the song was recorded by Big Maybelle who received $500 and an obscure footnote in the history of the blues for her efforts.
Teeny Tucker has enlarged Big Maybelle’s window of history with her current release, “Two Big M’s – A Tribute to Big Mama Thornton & Big Maybelle.” It’s a great album by a great artist celebrating the contributions to the world by two great foremothers of the Blues.
Information on the Monterey Bay Blues Festival can be obtained at www.montereyblues.com . Visit Lake County News next week for a CyberSoulMan report on the July 4 weekend Mississippi Valley Blues Festival in Davenport, Iowa.
Keep prayin’, keep thinking those kind thoughts!
T. Watts is a writer, radio host and music critic. Visit his Web site at www.teewatts.biz .
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- Written by: Debra Chase
Here your airy nest you build;
And, when bright days cease to smile,
Fly to Memphis or the Nile”
– Jacob Henry Studer, 1840-1904, “Birds of North America” (1903)
Once caught by the thousands to be used in women’s hats, eating insects literally on the fly, and returning year after year to the same nesting sites, the American barn swallow is one of the harbingers of summer. A beautiful low-flying bird, I always look forward to the spring nesting ritual and the summer babies emerging from the nest.
The barn swallow is also the species the slaughter of which aroused in the mind of George Bird Grinnell such indignation that he wrote a vigorous article in 1886 on the incredible waste of bird life for millinery. That of course soon led to the founding of the first Audubon Society.
On the farm the comings and goings of the barn swallow is as familiar as the clucking of the hen or the challenge of the rooster, albeit a bit more melodious though no less beneficial.
Reportedly this species eats 70 percent of its diet in large flies, and having them around a farm or any other area that is prone to large populations of unwanted flying insects is immensely useful.
When they forage they fly low to the ground with their mouth wide open “catching” flies, mosquitoes, moths and other insects. Not one to allow an opportunity to go by they often will get an easy feed by following the tractor out in the field to “catch” the insects the tractor dusts up.
The barn swallow is a very cosmopolitan bird, having the widest distribution of all the swallows, with different subspecies nesting in North America, Europe and Asia.
Being a long distance migrant, they adjust to the seasons so that they can follow the warmth. In western North America they summer from the southern parts of Alaska to the central parts of Mexico, and they winter from south Mexico to the lowland portions of South America.
Their Latin name (Hirundo rustica) literally means “swallow of the country” so of course they are usually found in open habitats such as marshes, lakeshores, fields and farms. Their nests are typically a cup or funnel made of mud, clay, grass and plant stems.
In today’s world they tend to attach the nest to the side of a wall or on top of a ledge, and they prefer old comfortable barns with open rafters that make it easy for them to get in and out of while providing needed shelter. Before barns they would have resorted to nesting in the caves and crags found in the natural world but they have adapted well to human structures.
Female barn swallows lay between three to seven eggs, which are of a creamy white color marked with dark brown.
Watch out if you are around a barn swallow nest, for they will defend it by swooping down and around any creature great or small that comes near the nest.
Both parents assist in the incubation, which lasts about two weeks, and once the eggs have hatched both parents take care of the young. After about three weeks the young will leave the nest.
A monogamous yet social bird species, barn wwallows tend to occur in small flocks and are often seen perching in a row atop a power line or fence.
The song of the barn swallow is a cheerful warble, but I can always tell when the barn cat is around for their call sharpens and quickens.
The barn swallow is a common bird, found abundantly across the state. They are protected under the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, but as the plight of the passenger pigeon reminds us, just because a bird is abundant doesn’t mean it is safe.
Climate change may affect them in a variety of ways. Any drought can cause weight loss and slow feather regrowth, and hot dry summers will reduce the availability of insect food for chicks.
Many aspects of their ecology may also be affected by climate change, such as earlier springs that may cause some birds to migrate earlier due to the warmer temperatures.
As the saying goes, “One swallow doesn’t make a summer.” I do hope our beautiful guests of the summer will remain abundant for many generations to come.
Debra Chase is the executive director of Tuleyome, a local nonprofit working to protect both our wild heritage and our agricultural heritage for future generations. She resides on a small family farm in Colusa County. Visit the group online at www.tuleyome.org .
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Bob Anthony Marino, 47, of Campbell and Rochelle Monique Eblen, 32, of San Jose were arrested by California Officer Steve Curtis on Friday morning, according to CHP Officer Steve Tanguay.
Tanguay said Curtis stopped Marino and Eblen for speeding shortly before 8 a.m. at Highway 29 and B Street south of Lower Lake.
When Curtis approached the vehicle he smelled marijuana, said Tanguay.
That led to a vehicle search, Tanguay said. When Curtis looked through the vehicle, he allegedly found not just marijuana but methamphetamine and 200 to 300 fireworks.
The fireworks Curtis found weren't just little bottle rockets and sparklers but mortars and other major explosives, said Kelseyville Fire Battalion Chief Joe Huggins.
Huggins estimated the cache of fireworks found was between 75 and 85 pounds. “These are flat out high explosive – the bad stuff,” he said.
CHP called Kelseyville Fire and said they had seized the fireworks, Huggins explained.
Kelseyville Fire then took the fireworks, photographed them and wrote a report, and contacted the state fire marshal, Huggins explained.
The amount of fireworks is so large that Huggins said the state fire marshal's office will send an investigator to collect the fireworks and take them back to the state offices in Sacramento.
Huggins said they had never seen such a large fireworks seizure. Tanguay added that since he came in Lake County in 2001, this was by far the biggest batch of seized fireworks he had seen.
Eblen was booked on felony charges of possession of a controlled substance and impersonating another individual, plus a misdemeanor bench warrant, possession of controlled substance paraphernalia and giving false identification to a peace officer. Her bail was set at $25,000.
Officials booked Marino on felony charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance for sale, transporting a controlled substance and illegal possession of an explosive, and misdemeanor charges of selling or using unclassed fireworks and possession fireworks without a permit. His bail was set at $15,000.
Both Eblen and Marino posted bail later in the day to gain their release from jail.
Officials weren't sure if Eblen and Marino were visiting the county or simply passing through.
With local officials concerned about dry conditions and the July 4 weekend, Huggins said, “This kind of stuff's not going to be tolerated any more.”
Eblen and Marino are scheduled to be in court next month.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The crash occurred at about 8 p.m. Friday near the Le Trianon Resort, according to the California Highway Patrol.
CHP, the Lake County Sheriff's Office and Northshore Fire were among the responders to the crash, which reports from the scene said involved more than one vehicle, one of which was overturned.
The blocked roadway didn't open up again until nearly 9 p.m.
In the mean time, a REACH helicopter transported one of the subjects to an area hospital, while two others went to Sutter Lakeside, the CHP reported.
Major injuries were reported, but the identify of the injured and specifics about their conditions were not available late Friday.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at