Jo Jo dig those spinning lights, way out games and dizzy heights below him. It’s all below him

Quick Hit

“Jo Jo” by Boz Scaggs (1980)

I was on vacation last week and started to frequent this coffee shop called ‘Jo-Jo’s Cafe”. It reminded me of the Boz Scaggs song “Jo Jo”. Very strangely (yes this really did happen!) when I snapped on the radio to drive to the restaurant for dinner they were playing “Jo Jo” on the radio. Just days before that I had purchased some great Boz Scaggs at the Fillmore posters.  These combined events had me thinking that the universe was implying something and I decided I better do a blog on Boz before I am struck down by lightening or something.

 Born in Ohio and raised in Oklahoma and Texas, Boz met Steve Miller while there were still in school. They went on to university together and Boz sang in their band the Marksmen, the Ardells and then the Fabulous Knight Trains.

People keep talkin' about me baby Say I'm doin' you wrong Well don't you worry, don't worry, no don't worry mama Cause' I'm right here at home

Songs Everyone Should Know

“The Joker”, The Steve Miller Band (1973)

  

If you were born under a rock as they say, you may not have heard this song, otherwise, I’m pretty sure you have. Released in late 1973 it went to number one in January 1974.

This song has some interesting lyrics. First of all, he makes reference to ‘Space Cowboy’ and ‘Gangster of Love’, both of which were previous Steve Miller songs.  Some people think it draws heavily from Allen Toussaint’s song ‘Soul Sister’. The cadence sounds similar to me, and similar to other Toussaint songs like ‘Working in a Coalmine’.

Changes come before we can go. Learn to see them before we're too old. Don't just take me for tryin' to be heavy, understand, it's time to get ready for the storm

Quick Hit

“Couldn’t Stand the Weather”, Stevie Ray Vaughan (1984)

On August 26, 1990 he had just played guitar with Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Robert Cray. He got in a helicopter that took him up from the ‘Alpine Music Theatre’ in Wisconsin. The helicopter crashed and that was the immediate, stunning death of one of the best blues guitarists ever.

He had only sobered up a few years before from very serious drug and alcohol addiction – he lived through that – but then his card was punched, his time was up.