First time hearing Lynyrd Skynyrd "Ballad of Curtis Loew" Reaction | Asia and BJ
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- čas přidán 12. 06. 2022
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This song really takes you deep into the soul of Ronnie VanZant. The respect and reverence is undeniable.
It's outstanding. I still sometimes get soft in the eyes listening to it; it's just so authentic and raw and wonderful...and touching.
I miss Ronnie! Just not the same without him.
@@tvgator1 He was a poet! He had so much soul!
well said.
Amen ronnie the true poet
One of their underrated great tracks.
There is NOTHING under rated about Curtis Lowe. I grew up listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd and I have ALWAYS been aware of this song and it was ALWAYS on play.
Underrated?? This is a pretty recognized all timer by them
They had a million. Imagine if the plane crash never happened,
That song was definitely a hit atleast around here when I was growing up
This song is an actual true story about a man who gave encouragement to a young boy named Ronnie VanZant from Middleburg, FL. That is an actual picture of Curtis Lowe and the Vanzant family still lives there which is a suburb of Jacksonville FL. Curtis being buried in clay is true too because Middleburg is Clay County, FL. Thank You for reacting to a gem from Lynyrd Skynrd!! 💜💜
No, it's not. The name Loew came from the theater chain, which is Jewish founded.
Actually this song is loosely based on Shorty Medlocke. Shorty's grand son Rickey played drums with Skynyrd for about a year in 1971. Currently, Rickey Medlocke is a guitarist wit Skynyrd.
It's a made up story. Nice try though.
Your wrong man. Look it up.do your homework.you might learn something
We all have a Curtis loew in our town,in Atlanta we have several and I love hearing them sing and play!!!
"There's a Curtis Lowe everywhere"' I loved that line. I've always liked the Blues, even when I was growing up in Scotland it was American Blues and R&B music that I was drawn to. I tend to think, now that I'm in my 60s, that what attracted me to the Blues is the pure honesty of it. John Lee Hooker once said that the Blues is "three chords and the truth".
I love your reactions to this music that has been the soundtrack to my life and times. ou bring a smile to my face and joy to my heart. Thank you!
John Lee Hooker was right!
Jim , I’m 60 now, when I was in high school, this was my favorite song, it brings tears to my eyes!
Well said.
And please don’t lose sight of the fact that this white boy most certainly didn’t hate this black man. This song was a long time ago and if there’s any real history behind it, boyhood would have been quite a bit further back. That would be my generation. Our parents had a few things wrong, but we didn’t hate anyone. This song is a beautiful reflection on that. Much love ❤️
All the southern rock bands grew up absolutely idolizing black musicians, and playing with them half the time. If you think a band like Lynyrd Skynyrd ain't hip to the struggle, then there's "Things Goin' On" that you don't know. Now THERE'S a song. Copyright 1973, with lyrics somehow written last week.
well said this crazy world needs to love each other❤️
@@joeday4293 0
Hallelujah thank you Jesus for all types of music
@@joeday4293 my parents taught me very well too my father was a little bit back in time but he come to like black people he loved black people and my mother well she was so precious and loved everybody
That is an absolutely beautiful tribute to a man that apparently influence to a young man to his music career.
Curtis Lowe is actually many musicians who influenced them
Skynyrd were amazing storytellers. The every man’s band 🔥
Ronnie was a great storyteller! He was such a southern gentleman poet. 💗
Ronnie Van Zant was a genius. He never wrote down his lyrics. Memory. They wrote so many great music. From the album Second Helping.
arguably one of their best songs, such a good story with some good life lessons thrown in there.
This is one of the greatest songs that Lynyrd Skynyrd has ever done. Hearing this takes me back to high school and listening to this on the school bus on a little mini boombox. Once again you both know how to make me smile. Stay safe Rock on and have a blessed rest of the week and I can't wait to see what you guys play next
A mellower tune from Lynyrd Skynyrd. Check out Gimmie Three Steps,They Call Me the Breeze, Tuesday's Gone and What's Your Name.
I’d pick my kids up from the church nursery when my wife was at choir and they always wanted to hear Curtis Lowe.
So glad to see this song on your channel - it doesn't get enough love among Skynyrd songs in the reaction world. Y'all need some "I Know A Little" next - it's a bop.
great suggestion
One of those tunes that brings a smile to my face, and a tear to my eyes... oh the memories take me back.
Y'all did good here!
I would have loved to have grown up with the chance to be able to walk down the road to listen to a talented guitarist play songs for nickels every day! What a childhood that would've been!
I never see anyone suggesting "All I Can Do Is Write About It." It's a change of pace for Skynyrd, but a very meaningful, beautiful song. It will be played at my funeral.
I haven't heard that fantastic song in many years...to the point I had forgotten about it completely!
Love that whole ( GIMME BACK MY BULLETS) album is really good
My favourite from them!
One of my favorite Skynyrd songs!
My absolute favorite song by them.
I have never heard a bad skynyrd song. One of the best bands in classic rock. this song is perfectly written by the way. Ronnie Van Zandt was a genius.
You can’t go wrong with Skynyrd. It is a true story in the sense that Shorty Medlocke was an inspiration for Ronnie. He also loved Son House (famous blues artist). These influences came from several folks, I think.
Don’t matter what’s going on in life we all knew a Curtis Lowe! He taught us many things about music! Love this track! Love the blues from the older gentlemen in our history that impacted all music in this world! The blues from the south influenced many in the music industry! Even Eric Clapton and Led Zeppelin!!
One of those great tunes that get overlooked when talking about great Skynyrd songs. The non radio hits are the best. Gimme Back My Bullets or the Needle or the Spoon would be a few that don't get much radio play that just kick ass and highly recommended. Great reaction, thanks!
Nope.....
"Things Going On" is the most overlooked.
My younger brother really only knew about Freebird and Sweet Home Alabama, and his wife knew a few more based on her only album of their Greatest Hits, and certainly those songs deserve their rightful place in the history of Americana, but I turned them on to all the other wonderful and often overlooked gold nuggets and they lost their minds, asking how they had never heard these wonderful songs before. I envied them wishing I could experience those songs again for the first time myself! I just get to enjoy it secondhand I guess, which was almost as good. As a guitar player, Allen Collins was always a huge inspiration to me... actually he was a god to me :-) The lead to Freebird drove me to play lead guitar... and probably madness... although it was the 70's, so it could have been the LSD and cocaine... I did grow up in a music store :-)
@@bruceb1534 LOL on the 70's madness thing...to funny. That said, I have to be honest, I was like your brother for a while. I was mostly into metal and knew Skynyrd from the songs on the radio. They had so many radio hits, never really thought the other stuff could top that. That was until me and a buddy took a road trip and all he had was Nothing' Fancy and Gimme Back My Bullets CD's. After 8 hours of listening to those nonstop, I was a big time fan of the non radio played stuff and started buying CD's of them. It was cool because it was in the late 90's and music kind of sucked. Got to listen to some old time rockers like it was new and fresh. Still like the radio stuff but the non radio stuff is my favorite now. That also got me to look into other classic rock bands and listening to their entire alums. Old Journey, Blue Oyster Cult, Bad, Molly Hatchet, ect... You would think I would have known that being a die hard AC/DC fan and liking the B sides better than the radio hits but needed to learn that lesson again later in life.
@@troyv8302 All references you make are just fantastic stuff. I had the good fortune of seeing some of those bands in concert back in the day, like this little unknown Aussie band that opened for an Aerosmith concert I went to back in the 70's named AC/DC. Instantly fell in love, and like you said, that sort of music carried us through the dark ages of rock in the 90's, but just think about this. I had to live through Disco. Thank God we had such awesome counterbalances to that. I'm still scarred by the tight polyester double knit pants that forced us to see more man junk than an orgy porno. (Talk about "printing" as someone who carries a concealed weapon would say.) :-) I appreciate your comments and I really appreciate the videos our hosts put out for us. Thanks all!
This was not a radio staple but I always liked it. Theses guys had a really full sound 3 great guitar player's an amazing piano player a bass an drums. One of my favorite bands growing up
Cool!
*Love this one, Tuesday's Gone, and Simple Man. Those are my top three Skynyrd songs.*
Personally I can't narrow it to 3, but those are in the top.
Add in Four Walls Of Raiford.
I'm 62 and have hated Freebird since the first time l heard it, especially in light of all the rest of their fantastic songs. And yet it's their most famous. Sometimes life just sucks.
@@bumblebeebob Yep...excessive radio play, doesn't mean it is the best from an artists catalog.
By far my fave Skynyrd tune!!
This IS a true story! Their songs are fantastic - great stories. Lynyrd Skynyrd was a great southern rock band, when that was a real genre. In the early 70's this band was a powerhouse..
The thing I love about this song, is that although the lyrics speak of a man that, by society's standards, would not be considered a successful life, because he inspired a young Ronnie VanZant, his name shall not only be remembered down through the years, but shall be remembered as "the finest picker to ever play the blues." That's cool, I love irony.
I remember this on my 8-track.
Soo touching! How about more....they all good!
Just saw Lynrd Skynrd last Fri night in Greensboro NC. When they played this the house went crazy it was so good I got goose bumps. An amazing song!
This song always reminds me of when I first started dating my husband. Back then everyone was all about how great “Freebird” was (you get REAL tired of it after 45 years!) but I loved this song and another called The Breeze. When I met Steven he knew all the lyrics to both songs…it was meant to be! We’ll celebrate our 42nd anniversary this summer! ✌🏼♥️🎶
We had a man in our neighborhood we called Pops. He sat on the corner, and played a harmonica. And drank a little whiskey. We all loved pops. He lived in the neighborhood with his wife. We would go over there sometimes after school and she would give us some homemade apple jacks. Contrary to popular belief here in the south and I’m 55 years old, we do judge people by their character and not the color of their skin. Everyone loved pops and he loved all of us. This song always reminds me of him. Thank you for playing this song. It pays homage to a great man who taught a lot of young boys so much❤
As sad as the song is, it's also very beautiful...a young child finding beauty in that man that the world had thrown away. Children love from their hearts! Music is very powerful!
awesomely said
The song was largely inspired by "Shorty" Medlock who is Ricky Medlock's grandfather who was a musician and raised Ricky. He was Native American and played in country bands. Changing him to a black blues player was more in line with the message that Ronnie Van Zant wanted to send about race relations.
What's really amazing is the sheer number of bands that came out of Jacksonville around that time. The Allman Brothers Band hit first. Then Skynyrd and Ricky Medlock formed Blackfoot.
Don't forget Donnie and 38 special
Absolutely
In the early 70s Skynyrd had songs that were ant-drugs, anti-racism, and anti-gun..
Curtis Lowe is a classic song !
Their song I Need You is a bit of a different sound from what you guys have heard from them but definitely one of their best songs. Also, Curtis wasn't a real person rather an amalgamation of influential people from Ronnie Van Zandt's childhood, namely the lead guitarist's grandfather Shorty Medlocke who would sit outside and let the neighborhood hear him play, that he took inspiration from to write the song.
This and simple man are my favorite Lynerd Skynerd songs. Although I love just about every song they did . But the radios would play a couple of songs to death both songs great Free byrd and sweet home Alabama. Great songs until they play them every day every hour. The same with stairway to heaven by Led zeppelin great song played to death. But now that I am older. I can listen to them with more appreciation. I also like old soul music . Marvin Gay and the commodores sly stone. And many more. . When music is good its good
I just love this song.🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Sang this song To my son most every night as I put him to sleep as an infant. Wonderful lullaby as well as beautiful music.
Amazing song. The similarities with this song ,and Elvis's influences with Blues and Black Gospel.
Church was in them, whether they were in church or not. LOL
@@joeday4293 Yes Sir lol.
Glad to see y'all do this one.I used to pick up bottles,too.knew an old black guy that would buy me and my friends wine.He could not play or sing but was funny and smarter than he looked.My dad caught 3 of us teenagers drinking and fishing with him under a bridge and I got a whooping and the old man was put in a nursing home.We called him Curtis Lowe and he called all of us YoungBuck. Thank u for the love.
You can see this like a movie in your mind. Great song.
BJ, you digging this song like you do inspires.
All time favorite Skynard song. RIP Curtis Lowe 💖🙏🕊
Ronnie Van Zant was the greatest singer/songwriter for the common, everyday working man to relate to.............EVER! His lyrical genius was and still is to this day second to none, continuing to touch generation after generation since his tragic death in the Skynyrd plane crash on October 20th, 1977.
As an old white dude in the deep south, I hope the message reached everybody. This song was made when I was a child, and I'm in my 50's. Way back then we had respect and admiration for each other regardless of race or color. Now I see you guys discovering this music and showing that same respect and admiration, This just shows that the idiots on mainstream and social media who say that there's a race problem in the US are only saying that to profit from it and because that's the way they WANT it. Thye rest of us out here in the world don't give a flying f@ck about that. We live beside, work beside and play beside each other without any problem,.You guys are great and I love watching you discover the music of my youth. Keep it up.
This is one of my favorite songs of all time!! From what I read Curtis Lowe is not an actual person but a composite of multiple people including the lead guitarists grandfather, shorty medlocke.
I've always loved this song. It reminds me of one of my uncle's who was an alcoholic. I remember people trying to shun him away and we were told not to be around him if he was drinking, but when he was sober, we loved to spend time talking to him. He was very smart and could work on any kind of electronic device and repair it. TV's, radios, fans, anything that was broken he always seemed to be able to take it apart and repair it. He never minded us young kids watching over his shoulder while he was repairing something. Then one day he left and was told never to come back. And he didn't. It's always left a place in my heart.... well this song reminds me of him, and so that was a long story to make a point.
"coming home" or "that smell" are both great Skynyrd jams.
Lend a Helping Hand, Was I Right or Wrong, Don’t Ask Me No Questions, and Down South Jukin. So many underrated lesser played ones.
@@laurakali6522 you beat me there Was I Right Or Wrong I had in mind. Of course all songs listed here are great... Double Trouble... I Know A Little.... and a song I learned 30 years ago and now my 6 year old granddaughter knows the words, and will soon know the guitar part
Mr. Banker
@@richardcranium5048 sometimes I think their lesser played songs are better than the same 5 we hear over and over. IMO….
@@laurakali6522 I concur
@@laurakali6522 Yes, indeed! I'm so tired of radio stations playing the same songs over and over, ad nauseam. And not only from Skynyrd, but by all the great bands.
So glad yall reacted to this song. Its an amazing song..
This is my favorite Lynnard Skynnard song. It tugs at my heart strings. So many artists are unappreciated.
Glad ya'll listened to this one. One of my favorites by them
Oh so glad y'all doing this. One of my most favorites from LS 💗🕊️
Our pleasure!
Such an underrated and heart felt song
This song creates such a visual, how can you not love it?
Mr Ed King bring it on the Slide guitar , his guitar and arrangement skills contributed so much to the band 🎸 RIP 🪦
I followed Ed on FB. I never met him but felt like I knew him. RIP.
Ed was a member of Strawberry Alarm clock before joining Skynyrd.
The song was roughly based on Shorty Medlocke, Ricky Medlocke's (early member of the band) Grandfather. Ricky Medlocke was later in the band Blackfoot who I believe ya'll reacted to? The Song "Train Train"? Which was written by Shorty Medlocke and he was the one playing the Harmonica on the track.
Rickey Medlocke grandfather not dad
@@jamestate5059 yep your right don't know why I put dad lol
@@charlessarver8350 😆
You guys seriously made my night. You reacted to two of my favorites!! AC/DC and Skynyrd! Such a great song 🙏
Wife here..It honestly seems as if I were born hearing Lynard Skynard...Amazing inspiration from this story..It has always touched a special place in my heart..Sooo on point so Vivid..,and Beautiful!
Some newer Skynard you might want to check out: "Jake", "Lucky Man" and "Dead man Walking" Think you would enjoy them all.!
The memories i have of hearing curtis lowe coming through middle and high school are just cool
But to this day Curtis still lives on and inspired Lynyrd Skynyrd. What an amazing legacy.
Respect. Respect for a guitar playin’ man.
I could sing this song in my sleep. One of my top 3 of all time for the chills it provides every single one of the one million times I've heard it.
Asia & BJ, their "Gimme Three Steps" and "What's Your Name?" are next for you!!
Such a Great Jam, definitely one of their best.
New Orleans definitely has some “Curtis Loew” legends. Look up Grandpa Elliot and Mr Okra. I miss seeing those guys around the city.
Growing up when I was about 10 there was a guy sort of like this and all us kids would go where he lived and listen to him tell us stories about his life. That was way back in the early 70s 70s even though our parents told us not to go we were always there. Good memories I’m so glad I grew up when I did
The most inspirational track by Lynyrd Skynyrd for me. Probably my favorite
"On the Hunt" is my all time favorite Lynyrd Skynyrd song
A crowd favorite. Everyone sings along with this one. It's so relatable as when I was a kid we did the same stuff. We'd go looking for coke bottles, turn them in and get some $$$.
My town knows a Curtis Lowe as well. Talented as hell, sober. Half way thru a thirty pack, he and his guitar will just blow you away...like going to a level you.ve never seen before...
Such a wonderful song. I recall the first time I ever saw the album Second Helping. Jeff played it for me. Soon had one of my own and this song has always been one of my favorites, probably for southern rock or blues rock THE favorite.
Ronnie wrote the song based on his experiences as a boy growing up in West Jacksonville, aka “Shantytown.” Curtis was a loosely based compilation of men he knew around town during the 50’s.
A strong component of Curtis was based upon Ronnie’s admiration for Shorty Medlocke, Ricky Medlocke’s grandfather, who played a mean blues dobro. Ronnie would spend a lot of time in his youth sitting on the front porch at Shorty’s house being entertained and influenced by his playing.
Van Zant’s writing prowess is legendary genius The rest as they say, is history.
I love how in the 3rd verse Ronnie changes up and sings directly to Curtis ....."cause curtis you're the finest picker"....
Positive, loving vibes. I've loved this song for 50 years. So soulful... a great fusion of Southern rock, the blues and the complicated history of the South. God bless you, Curtis Loew... you may not have existed, but you are a type of so many blues players. Respect, respect! Lynyrd Skynyrd got it just right on this one.
My favorite lynryd skynyrd song....my Curtis lowe was porter.....loved hearing him play as a kid.....rip...my friend....
Y'all are so awesome, when you two agreed that there's a "Curtis Lowe" where ever you are...someone who inspired you, someone who changed your mind about stupid stereotypes, someone who's just happy to be creative..
A H.S. friend of mine, turned me on to this song in the late 1970s. Great song.
Same here! This and Whipping Post! Thanks Butch. Love you & these songs still!
One of my all-time favorites. Sure wish they were still around. There was nothing like a Skynyrd show. 🤘🏼
This is my favorite LS jam.
There is a Curtis Lowe in all of us! It's all of our responsibility to pass your knowledge to the next generation. It can be musical ,spiritual, occupational, educational, or what ever you have experienced in your life! If we do this in a positive manner it will change the 🌎 God Bless All!
I'm a longtime Lynyrd Skynyrd fan and a musician and I was influenced by so much older black blues growing up and I can't tell you I still got goosebumps even during your reaction. You guys do such great reaction. You're not ever candy coating it you're just saying what you think about it and I love it. Thank you.
Always a concert favorite. Imagine a room full of 40,000 people all singing along. Ronnie said the best songs were about true stories.
“Curtis Loew” - per the song, “the finest picker to ever play the blues” - was an amalgam of musicians Ronnie Van Zant either knew or admired growing up, reportedly most specifically Shorty Medlocke and Son House, although Gene Odom, Van Zant’s bodyguard and best friend, said in his book, Lynyrd Skynyrd: Remembering the Free Birds of Southern Rock, that fellow blues musicians Robert Johnson and Rufus “Tee-Tot” Payne were also among Ronnie’s inspirations for Curtis.
Medlocke (whose grandson Rickey has played guitar for the current iteration of Skynyrd for over 20 years) was a country/bluegrass banjoist and guitarist from Van Zant's native Jacksonville, Florida. Rickey Medlocke has said that when he and Ronnie were kids, they’d sit on Shorty’s porch and listen to him play his Dobro (resonator guitar); in the song, Curtis plays the Dobro, while a boy from the neighborhood (the narrator) listens and claps along.
Son House was a gifted and influential Delta blues guitarist and singer from Mississippi whom Van Zant was a big fan of; he was also one of the key influences of artists such as Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. Another Skynyrd song, “Swamp Music”, mentions Son House by name. (For the record, Shorty Medlocke was white, while Son House, like the fictional Curtis Loew, was black.)
The “country store” in the song, where the boy telling the story would cash in soda bottles to get money to give Curtis to play for him, was based on Claude’s Midway Grocery in Jacksonville; the store has a different name today, but is still at the corner of Plymouth and Lakeshore, in Van Zant’s childhood neighborhood.
So, “The Ballad of Curtis Loew” was Ronnie Van Zant's fictional homage to real musicians he admired.
Ronnie Van Zant, wrote song Ballad of Curtis Lowe about Shorty Medlocke who he listened to as a young boy. Shorty plays opening harmonica on Blackfoot song Train Train with Rickey Medlocke, now with Lynyrd Skynyrd, and originally played drums with Lynyrd Skynyrd, both bands from Jacksonville, Florida
It is a true story. The man’s life was not a waste because his spirit still lives today in this song
overlooked gem: 'Poison Whiskey' Lynyrd Skynyrd
I love all skynard. wooweee my time. love u never ever forget them
The truth of this song is... this was a tribute to ALL the blues players who have come and gone. Skynyrd did an awesome job, we loved this when it came out - and still do...
The band's website says that the song is based on a composite of people who actually lived in the Van Zants' original neighborhood in Jacksonville, Florida. Specifically, the country store "is based on Claude's Midway Grocery on the corner of Plymouth and Lakeshore [Blvd] in Jacksonville." The specific spelling of the surname comes from Ed King writing the liner notes for the Second Helping and deciding to name the bluesman after the Jewish Loew's Theatre.[7] Some of the sources mentioned include *Claude H. "Papa" Hammer, Rufus "Tee Tot" Payne, Robert Johnson, and Shorty Medlocke,[8] the grandfather of Rickey Medlocke, Lynyrd Skynyrd's drummer during their 1970 tour and one of the band's current guitarists.[9] *2 African Americans and a Native American
To me this is by far their best song with the exception of simple man.. glad you reacted to it
Haven't heard this tune in years! Growing up in the South 30 years ago this was one of the most powerful songs of my youth.
True story but some details are tampered with for song writing. I had the pleasure of staying in his childhood home in Jacksonville this past weekend. I took a tour with his childhood beastie. Learned alot about the inspirations of the songs. Thank yall for sharing your take
RIP Ronnie
This is something Hank Williams experienced as a kid! Hank Williams Jr. even has a song about it called "The Tee Tot Song!"
One of my all time FAVORITES of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Every time I hear it, it's like the first time. 🎶🎧🎼🎹🎸📻
What a great song. These guys were certainly something special, which is why their music never goes away.
Makes you realize that although his life wasn't "successful" in common terms, he inspired a 10yo to become one of the most famous bands of all time. You never know what that child you teach is going to grow to be because of you.
We need more of this. There's so much more we all have in common then people think.Loved this song since I was a kid.
Respect talent ! Rock Country Blues Pop Soul Funk on and on so much great music ! Love great music this was !
Great reaction video.
Glad you guys are commenting on this great American band.
I had the great privilege of providing backline services to them on several occasions.
Few bands in America have been more misunderstood and mis-construed. Hate was definitely not a part of their personalities. Quite the opposite in fact. The sad reality that so many "Southern men" ,( and others flying Confederate flags on their pickup trucks all over America), adopted Sweet Home Alabama" as their anthem has projected values upon Lynyrd Skynyrd that they would not agree with at all. Numerous interviews and anecdotal observations including my own support this.
There was no Curtis Loew. There WAS a country store however, (Claudes Midway Grocery). The character of Curtis Loew is a composite of many characters that Ronnie Van Zant encountered growing up in Jacksonville Florida in the early 50's and 60's.
Curtis Loew is an archetype of a down on his luck but talented musician that seemed to be common then. I had my own Curtis Loews growing up in Oakland and surrounding areas in the 60's. They come in all colors but Ronnie and Allen wrote what they knew which was the rural South and it is particularly poignant because of the divides that existed then and unfortunately that persist today.
I have not ever heard this song without becoming emotional.
The fact that the Cutis Loews of this world so often pass through it undervalued and eventually forgotten is a travesty.
The fact that the color of a person's skin doubtless contributed to that travesty is a genuine sin.
Curtis Loew really IS everywhere.
Spot on.
Thanks for shining a light on this song and on Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Liked and subbed.
Sadly, the corner store is no more 😢
This song takes me back . I grew up in rural Alabama in the 50's when there was full segregation .Our nearest neighbors had commercial chicken houses ,they would raise about 5,000 fryers in each big house . A black handyman named Calvin worked for them . I don't remember how it started but when I was about 10 ,he and I started talking . He knew a lot of practical stuff ,he could fix or build almost anything . It got so that during the summer when I had no school ,I would make a couple of sandwiches and take them and a thermos of iced tea over and we would have lunch together . He would tell me about fishing , hunting ,farming ,raising chickens ,etc . When my dog got the mange ,he told me how to cure it . We moved away when I was14,but by then I was on the football team ,the baseball team,and running track so I didn't have much time to hang out with him. I never saw him again . Even though I was only a kid ,I could sense the wisdom of a man who was at peace with himself coming from him.
Most of us in the south during that time knew old, drunk musicians, black and white. They were good entertainment and great teachers. I learned to play from a couple of 80+ year old black men. I was 13, and while they picked at me to begin with, I learned SO MUCH from them about music, and life.
I grew up in Beaumont Texas in the 70s there was a older black gentleman that would sing the blues in front of the Piggly Wiggly grocery store that man did have no musical instruments his voice was so powerful,my grandmother would give me a $5.00 bill to hand to him as we walked in I wish I could recall his name.
Always loved this song, one of my Skynard faves, and learning guitar you gotta learn the blues scales, the feel of it is unequalled emotionally, might not be so good at it but the minor pentatonic blues scale is mandatory; I was driving in the mtns one evening, caught an FM blues radio broadcast, DJ played some Son House, that settled it for me, he became greatest delta blues player I've ever heard