Come on in, people, and be happy.
We’ve got good things to tell you.
Excuse me while I kiss this guy.
19 January 2002 Turlock California
28 January 2002 Chanhassen Minnesota
31 January 2002 Area 22 Newport Rhode Island
1 February 2002 Bank Street Café New London Connecticut
Every time I play at the Bank Street Café, someone asks me about my brother Dan who attended the Coast Guard Academy in New London.
2 February 2002 The Company Theatre Norwell Massachusetts After playing in Norwell, we fly over the amazing Atlantic Ocean to England.
13 February 2002 The Astor Theatre Deal UK I feel as if Charles Dickens may have written about Deal. Dover is a bit farther south down the coast and Southampton more so.
14 February The Brook Southampton UK We are on the Beans and Bangers Circuit.
15 February 2002 The Point Cardiff Wales As we were entering Wales, our driver said, “Do you have your passports?” I started and replied, “No, no one told us to…” He smiled. I fell for it.
The French call Wales le pays de Galles. It’s a Gaelic land of singers, poets, actors.
The Point used to be St. Stephen’s Church and it still feels like it.
16 February 2001 The Flowerpot Derby in the north and center of England.
Derby is pronounced darby, as in Darby Slick.
I asked a Black Country man how he pronounced the name of this big city and he said, “BUH min ghum.” Rather different from “Birming hayam,” as they say in Alabama.
17 February 2002 The Stables Milton Keynes UK Milton Keynes is about halfway between Birmingham and London.
Cleo Laine, the American singer, lives here and she and her husband created The Stables.
I was here at The Limelight in Crewe with Chad Quist, Lisa Mills, Todd Vinciguerra and Peter Albin.
20 February 2002 The Limelight Crewe UK
Crewe is in the northwest of England, in Cheshire, where the cat lives. Crewe is the home of the Bentley automobile.
21 February 2002 Picture House Beverley UK Beverley is near Hull on the Humber river, but Hull is industrial and Beverley is leafy and rural.
Brierley Hill is in Dudley.
Samuel Johnson grew up in the town of Lichfield, Staffordshire, on the east side of Birmingham.
22 February 2002 Brierley Hill UK This is where Robert Plant came and stole Lisa Mills away from us. Hood Robin.
Oh, well, I have stolen and I have been stolen from, and so it goes. Paul Kantner paid me the compliment of stealing Cathy Richardson from me.
And then once or twice the Starship took Sophia Ramos also, but only because they had to. They always have to.
I’ll just take it as a salute to my good taste in singers.
Just call me the unpaid talent scout for the Jefferson Starship. But I have stolen many a musician from them, and Jimmy Page saved my life once, so, eh?, we’re even.
Almost even.
23 February 2002 The Boardwalk Sheffield UK
24 February 2002 The Mean Fiddler London
27 February 2002 Piesel Fulda Germany
With Tom Finch, Peter Albin, Anthony Edman and Lisa Mills in Liverpool.
28 February 2002 Theater Rex Lorsch Germany
Der Speicher can mean a warehouse, a storage place.
1 March 2002 Speicher Schwerin Then we went to Schwerin, Germany, way up north. It felt like going to the end of the world.
2 March 2002 Blues Garage Hannover Germany
This is where we met Michael Spörke who wrote a book about our band called: Big Brother and the Holding Company, Die Band, die Janis Joplin berühmt machte. I translated this book into English. It is now called: Living With the Myth of Janis Joplin.
Michael has written a new book about Willie Mae Big Mama Thornton and I helped him with that one too. It’s an interesting story. We played many times with Big Mama and she was a fascinating character. Michael’s book is well worth reading.
3 March 2002 Alte Weberei Cottbus Germany Alte Weberei could mean the old weavery.
Cottbus is very far east, almost in Poland, and it feels like it.
4 March 2002 Hahn (which means hen) is the other airport near Frankfurt, smaller, a little easier to negotiate. It’s like La Guardia compared to JFK.
23 March 2002 The Powerhouse Pub Folsom California
6 April 2002 Center for the Arts Grass Valley California
20 April 2002 The Majestic Theatre Streator Illinois
We are open to all families.
3 May 2002 Avalon Ballroom San Francisco
23 May 2002 Melba Theatre Batesville Arkansas
24 May 2002 Pop’s Sauget Illinois
26 May 2002 The Waterfront Covington Kentucky
The Waterfront is essentially a barge and it broke away from its moorings this year 2014 and crashed into the Clay Wade Bailey bridge.
1 June 2002 The Thirsty Ear Columbus Ohio
2 June 2002 Motown Harley Davidson Taylor Michigan
14 June 2002 Constable Jack’s Newcastle California
15 June 2002 Lake County Fairgrounds Lakeport California On the west shore of Clearlake.
29 June 2002 Tussey Mountain Amphitheatre Boalsburg Pennsylvania
Beth Hart
7 July 2002
Musicians for Love, Janis in San Diego.
12 July 2002 Festival Grounds At The Pier Buffalo New York
27 July 2002 Kronberg Germany
31 July 2002 Woodstock Swiss style
8 August 2002 Point Breeze Webster Massachusetts
9 August 2002 Fall River Celebrates Fall River Massachusetts
10 August 2002 Ocean Beach Park New London Connecticut
15 August 2002 Coeur d’Alene Casino Worley Idaho
16 August 2002 Whitehorse Mountain Amphitheatre Darrington Washington
17 August 2002 Grant County Fair Moses Lake Washington
4 October 2002 The Landmark Hotel, room 105 Los Angeles
Dolores Park 1935
12 October 2002 Avalon Ballroom San Francisco
19 October 2002 Center For The Fine Arts Grass Valley California
20 October 2002 Spirit of Peace San Francisco Civic Center
James Gurley
26 October 2002 The Brookdale Lodge Brookdale California
27 November 2002 When musicians play snatches of other melodies during a solo, they are said to be “quoting.”
These are some of the quotes I use when s0loing on Blindman.
Alan Merrill and friends
Jennifer Espinoza
Sam Andrew
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