SUBTLETIES

Over the Labor Day weekend, I went to visit my mom in
Palmdale, California. I have been doing this often since I moved to
Las Vegas over four years ago. It has become a tradition that when I
leave her house, I always play Clear Light. It gets me from Palmdale
almost to Victorville, a long and tedious drive due to the slow
speed limit. The road is called "Death Highway" and for good reason.
Knowing what I know about this road, it has become the one
spot on the trip where I need a good morale boost. Besides the road
hazards, it is also the fact that I have to leave Mom until the next
visit. So, Clear Light is the perfect cure for that.
I first bought and listened to Clear Light in Palmdale so it
is appropriate that I play my favorite band of all time while there.
Yet after almost 40 years of listening to that record, I still
discover little things I've never noticed before! In this case, it
was the way Bob Seal plays rhythm guitar on Sand. I love that Doug
Lubahn song and have played it for years, yet have never played it
right. As dense as I can be, I just never picked up the subtleties
of his guitar parts until the other day. Hell, I've never played a
straight cover tune as it is, so this is not something unusual for
me. But just think about it. For what some people might consider as
short psychedelic ditties, even after 40 years, there are still some
surprises in there!
All you Clear Light fans out there, pull that CD or record
out, and listen to it again. Try to do this with a fresh
perspective, as if you've never heard it before. Let us know if you
have found something new that you never noticed before. I think that
would make a great message thread. This is Fred with his thread…
thread Fred… Fred thread…