But wait, there's more. Hang on while I roll all the mids and treble off the mic's channel and boost the bass to max for my late late night "Underground Pop" show on our sister station, KTHC.
Tonight:
"Szabo, Santana, and the Grateful Dead"
Heard this on the local
college station's Friday morning
jazz show (!):
So after the intro, as the tune gets rolling, I thought it was eerily reminiscent of "That's It For The Other One" and wondered if it might even be a jazz cover of it, so had to look it up when I got home: "Lady Gabor", and sure enough, written by Gabor Szabo and first recorded with Chico Hamilton in
'62:
Yep, as is usually the case, the jazz guys were there first.
It was Bill Frisell on the Charles Lloyd version that threw me off with the modern guitar sound.
And while looking for that original version, stumbled across this interview with Carlos Santana who cites just how influential Szabo was on him, and I'm willing to bet Phil Lesh knew all about the Chico Hamilton record, too.. he was the "jazz guy" in the band, after all...
(And Tom Wolfe mentions in t
he Electric Koolaid Acid Test that Charles Lloyd was a favorite to be heard on the outdoor tree speakers at Kesey's place in La Honda, too, which the Grateful Dead were more than a little familiar with. )
"Gypsy Queen" by Szabo was the OTHER cover on Abraxas, btw.
Speaking of jazz guys being there first, Krupa's drum solo on "Sing Sing Sing":
Can't convince me that didn't influence Spencer Dryden's magnificent opening tattoo for "She Drives Funny Cars", especially since
Dryden was already a confirmed jazz drummer before he ever heard of the Airplane: