By Steve Newton
It was clean-the-freakin’-basement day today, so I searched around for an album that might put me in the mood for getting some crap moved from one area to another.
I settled on the Climax Blues Band’s 1976 LP, Gold Plated, and the opening track on SIde One got me thinkin’ that, man, maybe Americans should give this tune a serious listen.
Everybody knows that the U.S.A. is on a hellbound train as far as racial strife and division goes, and that it’s getting worse and worse, stoked by the looming election. We’ve got our own problems up here in Canada with COVID-19 and the economy in the crapper, and we’ve got racial issues too, but nothing like the violent horror show down there with trigger-happy, neck-kneeling cops and assault rifle-packing teenage vigilantes.
That’s why I’m urging all my American readers to halt the craziness long enough to give a listen to “Together and Free”, which is all about folks getting along and stuff.
Not only that, but about halfway through there’s a tasty sax solo followed by an even tastier guitar wipeout courtesy frontman Pete Haycock.
Not sure if Haycock actually used the gold-plated Veleno guitar from the album’s back cover for that sweet solo at the 1:53 mark, but it sure sounds golden to me.
I actually like “Together and Free” more than the hit single from Gold Plated, “Couldn’t Get it Right”, although that’s a pretty funky number as well.
Here’s hoping the United States does get it right one day and finds a way to be together and free. Don’t force us peace-loving Canucks to impinge on that freedom by building a wall on our southern border to keep you squabbling hotheads out.