The Last Bass Outpost

Here is why:

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/sting-puff-daddy-2000-a-day/

This is supposed to determine what part of the U.S. you're from.  Of course, if you're not from the U.S., there isn't much of a point in bothering with it.  In general, I found it accurate.  It was off several hundred miles for me.  But for most of the people around me who took it, it seemed fairly accurate.  This included someone who has lived half her life in the Southwest and the latter half in the Northwest.  It accurately determined that her original dialect was from Texas.  You'd certainly never know if from listening to her speak, though.  Yet, this is all based on the written language and terms various regions of the U.S. use which may be unique, etc.  If you want to take it, you'll see what I mean.  Response times may be slow due to so many people taking this right now.  If you want to, you can take it several times.  Because there are several versions of it.  By doing this, it ended up correctly determining that I displayed some Louisiana dialect characteristics.  I'm not from there, but did live there a number of years. 


http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html?_r=0

An American Masters's Jimi Hendrix documentary will be airing tonight on PBS, as this article indicates.  I'll just add that the performance at the Miami Pop Festival was considered something of a bridge in between Monterey and Woodstock.  If it wasn't as good as Monterey, it was definitely better than Hendrix at Woodstock, in my opinion, of course.  As is mentioned, the Axis:  Bold As Love album had been released not too long before the Miami concert.  The author of the article complains that Hendrix didn't play any Axis album songs in Miami except one:  "I Don't Live Today."  The fact of the matter is "I Don't Live Today" isn't from the Axis album, either.  No Axis album songs were performed at the Miami show.  Hendrix never liked that second album very much anyway.  Rarely are there ever any songs from it in his live performances.  Nevertheless, this CD is worth listening to.  Overall, the songs sound fresh.  There is an energy to the sound.  This was before the time when Hendrix started becoming jaded and complained about his own songs, like in 1970 at the Berkeley concert when he said on stage that "Foxey Lady" was something from a cartoon, or something to that effect.  At Miami, there is still a joy evident in the performance of "Foxey Lady," as well as the other songs.  Maybe just as important, Eddie Kramer was there to record this concert.  All Hendrix performances with Eddie Kramer recording and/or mixing sound better than ones that don't.  This CD benefits from that as, for example, contrasted to the Dagger releases (really official bootlegs) that don't have him. 

http://www.americansongwriter.com/2013/11/jimi-hendrix-miami-pop-festival-american-masters-jimi-hendrix-hear-train-comin/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/17/wrong-home-demolished-fort-worth-texas_n_3610466.html

I think this is self-explanatory.  An early Beatles gig in which only 18 people showed up because of poor advertising (and maybe because they weren't very well-known either at that time.)  This kind of thing can happen to the best of us.  They had just got back from their German tour.  (The one where they had to sleep in the bathroom?)

http://www.retronaut.com/2013/03/the-beatles-play-to-18-people-in-aldershot/

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/dan-toler-former-allman-brothers-guitarist-dead-at-65-20130225

I have a friend I haven't known too long.  He is really pretty good on bass and has been playing a long time.  Recently, he got into a band after not being in one for a really long time.  I just got an email from him.  I'm tempted to post the whole thing here, but I'll just paraphrase it.  Last night they played a gig and sounded pretty good considering they haven't practiced quite enough.  However, there were two other bands that played and my friend noted that the two bassists for those bands were superb, in fact, light years better than he was.  They were melodic, playing everything but a standard bass line.  Jazzers with a Beckish style of fusion.  They were playing chords above the 12th fret and one was finger picking bluegrass style laying down two lines at the same time .

The bottom line is that now this guy is feeling seriously inadequate today.  And considering what he has told me, I hardly know what to say.  I want to encourage him, but I don't much believe in the pep talk stuff unless it really has substance.  Any suggestions?