A beautiful rendition of the Jefferson Airplane folk rock song, “Comin’ Back to Me” from the Surrealistic Pillow album, written by the late Marty Balin.
Marty performing with his band at Jorma’s place in Pomeroy, Ohio 2014.
He goes to prepare a place for us.
Comin’ Back to Me
The summer had inhaled and held its breath too long The winter looked the same, as if it never had gone And through an open window where no curtain hung I saw you I saw you Comin’ back to me
One begins to read between the pages of a book The shape of sleepy music, and suddenly you’re hooked Through the rain upon the trees, the kisses on the run I saw you I saw you Comin’ back to me
You came to stay and live my way Scatter my love like leaves in the wind You always say you won’t go away But I know what it always has been It always has been
A transparent dream beneath an occasional sigh Most of the time I just let it go by Now I wish it hadn’t begun I saw you, yes, I saw you Comin’ back to me
Strolling the hills overlooking the shore I realized I’ve been there before The shadow in the mist could have been anyone I saw you I saw you Comin’ back to me
Small things like reasons are put in a jar Whatever happened to wishes wished upon a star? Was it just something that I made up for fun? I saw you, I saw you comin’ back to me
Last night Jefferson Airplane was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. The event also recognized Earth Wind and Fire, Herbie Hancock, Ruth Brown, Celia Cruz, Linda Ronstadt and RUN DMC. Additionally, John Cage, Fred Foster and Chris Strachwitz (Arhoolie Records) received Trustees Award honorees. The award ceremony was filmed for a future PBS Great Performances show titled Grammy Salute to Music Legends. I look forward to that broadcast when it airs later this year.
It was unfortunate that Marty Balin was unable to join the festivities. His doctor ordered that he not attend. I respect putting your health first. Balin issued a press release on Friday April 22nd assuring everyone that he is doing well and that he looks forward to resuming his 2016 tour in the near future. Tour updates are found at http://martybalinmusic.com/ I’m considering seeing him at The Iridium in NYC if its feasible.
I have seen various social media photographs from last night’s awards in my Facebook stream.
I liked this shot of (left-right) Jack Casady, Grace Slick (wearing Paul Kantner’s hat), Cathy Richardson (who sang for Grace) and Jorma Kaukonen.
The track on this compilation that I was unfamiliar with until the concert is “St. Charles”. I have come to appreciate this song immensely now.
Last week in concert an audience member shouted out “St. Charles” as a request and Paul Kanter and company went right with it. I love impromptu moments that take on other orders of magnitude. The Starship ensemble gave us a beautiful rendition of that song. I was swept along with the melody, vocals and the visual lyrics of this epic tale.
Rosemary bought us tickets to see the Jefferson Starship Paul Kantner 71st birthday gala at the Ridgefield Playhouse on Thursday March 15th, 2012. This secures our first concert for calendar year 2012.
Nona Hendryx is listed as a special guest star. You may remember her from Labelle who had the hit “Lady Marmalade“.
The concert listing also indicates there will be other guest stars appearing with Jefferson Starship that night. My personal wish is that it will include Marty Balin but I’m not confident he will be there.
This blog post is about The Capitol Theater resurgence in Portchester, New York.
The San Francisco Scene on the East Coast
When I look back on the concerts I attended at The Capitol Theater I was thankful to see the psychedelic sounds of San Francisco were well represented.
Our first concert at The Capitol featured Santana and John Lee Hooker at the late show on Friday June 12, 1970. We bought the tickets late and got seated in the balcony. You had a great seat no matter where you sat as the vantage points were all conducive for the stage. John Lee Hooker opened for Santana. I am embarrassed to say that I wasn’t a patient concert goer like I am today. We were rude to the great bluesmen and kept shouting for Santana. I regret my actions that night and wish I treasured John Lee Hooker’s set more than I did. It turns out that was the only time I got to see him play.
When he came back out for an encore we groaned but let me tell you this, he schooled us that night. He did a rendition of “One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer” that included the boogie blues beat that enthralled me. He turned me around with that number and I was cheering for him when he left the stage. Little did I realize how much Carlos Santana respected John Lee Hooker until years later when they recorded The Healer together.
Santana ripped the roof off The Capitol that evening. I recall they were bathed in a warm red light most of the night. I owned the first album Santana and played it all the time on my hi-fi system. Their percussive sound formed a rhythmic beat that kept us dancing out of our seats.
I didn’t see Santana in concert again until 2002, 32 years later. I have seen them live 15 times since the first show in Portchester. They are my favorite band and I have every one of the Santana recordings in my music library. 42 years of music and still going strong, Viva Santana.
The next concert by a band from San Francisco was our first concert by The Grateful Dead on November 7, 1970. I was sitting in the balcony the night of the Santana show when the sound system started playing Workingman’s Dead. The announcer stated that The Grateful Dead would be playing a bunch of dates at The Capitol in November. I ran right downstairs to the lobby box office and purchased our tickets for the third row.
Seeing The Grateful Dead and the New Riders of the Purple Sage that close was a pretty awesome deal. NRPS featured Jerry Garcia on pedal steel guitar. Jerry played right in front of us and he was spectacular on pedal steel guitar. He loved playing that instrument. He smiled throughout the entire NRPS set. I was especially taken with the vocals by John “Marmaduke” Dawson on “Last Lonely Eagle”.
The Grateful Dead played from 9:00 pm until 4 am the next morning, which was an incredible feat. I loved the energy the band gave off and how cosmic it all felt. You could tell they loved playing The Capitol. I loved the people twirling in the lobby and how happy everyone was to be there. I am glad this show was taped and I can play it often to relive the experience.
The following week Jefferson Airplane pulled into town. We attended the late show on November 13, 1970 which featured Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tunaand E Pluribus Unum. I was excited to catch Jefferson Airplane with Grace Slick on vocals, along with Marty Balin. They were a powerful combination with Jorma and Jack playing behind them. The JA set was a classic music choice of their catalogue. Hot Tuna was a surprise that night and they also featured Papa John Creach on fiddle.
We would see Hot Tuna again January 20, 1971 on a cold winters night. They headlined for a bill that featured Big Brother and the Holding Company and John Hammond. The funniest part of that show was that there were so few people in The Capitol due to the snow storm that we were invited to stay for the second show, which we did. The guy behind us tried to get an encore from Hot Tuna but Jack Cassady just told him come to the second show, its free 😉
Last night 
Rosemary bought us tickets to see the 
