Disappointing Blues Jam

Every wannabee in the world wants to play the blues so bad--and they usually play so bad! Sonny Boy Williamson said that about the Yardbirds (with one Eric Clapton on lead guitar!) after they backed him up on his British tour in, what, '63? and it's still true today. A few years ago I was in a band that hosted a regular blues jam night in Fairfield, CA. Guitar (that was me), bass, and drums. The drummer didn't sing, the bass player sang two songs, and I had to sing the rest--and I'm at best a get-by lead singer--and virtually none of the jammers sang either! We usually had eight or ten guitar players show up, maybe a harmonica player or two, and no singers! I had to stay on the stage the whole night even if someone else was playing guitar (most of them played through my amp) so we'd have some vocals. The harmonica players would blow over the top of everybody, sometimes from the audience--we eventually hired a mediocre keyboard player because he could help with the vocals. I often had to play bass so the bass player could get a break--no bass players ever came in--and the only drummer who came to sit in thought he was Billy Cobham in The Mahavishnu Orchestra. I love playing blues if I can play with cats who have some taste--but that darn near cured me of ever wanting to play blues again. It was actually a relief when the club burned down and we lost the gig...
 
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