Greatness Courts Failure

Music

The Blues

Friday, May 15th, 2009

Snobwood Country Club coats and soothes their club house with coma inducing new age music, robbing golfers of strength and desire. It can even put the kibosh on your romantic aspirations. Hell, some quiet nights it seems to crawl across the course and finds its way onto our still uncompleted deck here at GCF’s clandestine world headquarters. It’s so insidious, the low frequency background noise can even drown out the soothing sounds of the bug zapper.

So thank the gods we don’t golf at Snobwood, no matter how pretty the cart girls are nor how well tended the track. We’ve got our standards – low they may be. We’ve also got truck payments, mortgages and high interest loans from strip club owners to contend with so fat chance we’re teeing it up there short of an invitation, tournament, or late night drunken trespassing. But that’s damn fine with us. Why? ‘Cause we don’t want to hear their John Tesh, Enya or Yanni, that’s why. We like the rock, the roll and the country. We want an adrenaline rush, our pistons firing to the beat, our endorphins in overdrive. And when we’re done playing, when the muni has beaten us to a pulp and our game, or lack thereof, has let us down once more, it’s off to the 19th hole for some cold, sudsy comfort and the blues.

Yes, the blues. Oh sure, you’re happy as a pig in shit about that birdie on 12 but look at your scorecard. One birdie does not a tour exemption make. I know, sorry to bring you down but the truth hurts. The blues, my friend, the blues delivers the truth. Your lover left you, the man’s coming down hard on you – this is life. Life’s a three putt. Life is full of shanks. So what do you do about it? You tell the bartender to tee up some Elmore James, Buddy Guy, or Muddy Waters – whatever he’s got. You’ve got some drinking to do my friend, some drinking and reminiscing. Order another round and remember that heartbreaker on 18 that left you $20 shy for the week. You’re gonna need the blues for your blues.

Recommendations

Elmore James – The Sky Is Crying: The History of Elmore James
Albert King – Born Under a Bad Sign
John Lee Hooker – Endless BoogieStevie Ray Vaughn – Texas Flood
Buddy Guy – Stone Crazy!
Muddy Waterd – Hoochie Coochie Man: Complete Chess Masters, Vol. 2: 1952-1958