EXTRA: Inaugural concert contact w/ people, or 'Bruce can’t dance' coverup

I find myself amused by the idea of an Inauguration concert to be held Monday night in Springfield, and not just because it reduces legendary Chicago bluesman Buddy Guy to the role of a warm-up act for Oklahoma native country music singer Toby Keith.

It reminds me of when one-time professional wrestler Jesse Ventura became Minnesota governor early in 1999 and held an inaugural concert featuring bluesman Jonny Lang and Delbert McClinton, with rocker Warren Zevon also appearing.

BOTH VENTURA AND new Gov. Bruce Rauner gave nearly identical excuses for not having the traditional inaugural ball; both said they felt a concert was something that would appeal to the masses instead of overly-stuffy politicos.

They may be right about one point – as someone who covered the Inauguration ceremonies held for Jim Edgar and George Ryan, the ball in Springfield always struck me as a third-rate attempt at replicating the Inaugural Ball held in Washington for the new president.

And maybe Rauner finds appealing the thought that Keith is a one-time Democratic Party partisan whose conservative ideology has caused him to identify with Republicans in recent election cycles.

Or maybe he just wants to hear “American Soldier.” Personally, I think Illinois could have done better – although I’m inclined to think that perhaps Guy could have been the headliner. That’s just my bias.

ALTHOUGH IF I really had to guess about the motives of Monday night’s events, perhaps it is that Rauner can’t dance all that well and doesn’t want to come across as silly-looking while trying to do the foxtrot or tango?

Let’s just hope he doesn’t slap a cowboy hat on to go with his Carhartt jacket and boots from the campaign season – that would come across as more foolish!

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EXTRA: Go Cab, not Obama, for blues

I watched the “Red, White and Blues” program broadcast Monday by PBS affiliates across the nation (the one that gives us President Barack Obama singing a couple of lines from the song “Sweet Home, Chicago”), and couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.

Buddy Guy (to the right) finally got to play the White House -- many decades after his work with the Big Names of the Blues such as Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters.



Yes, I saw that B.B. King and Buddy Guy were among the musicians included in the concert that billed itself as the “White House blues All-Stars.” And I’m not trying to claim that blues music is something that ought to be limited to black people.

BUT I COULDN’T help but notice the moment in mid-show where rockers Mick Jagger and Jeff Beck took the spotlight, and the fact that Jagger seemed to have a higher profile in the show than anyone else.

Perhaps the hard-core fans of the Rolling Stones (who in their early days covered a lot of blues standards) liked it. Otherwise, it seemed like a third-rate blues concert that could be heard in many nightclubs across the North Side of Chicago.

Would this Mick Jagger get near the White House?

So third-rate that I must admit to enjoying more the PBS program that followed – an “American Masters” documentary about the life of Cab Calloway, who had such a career even though too many people think he did nothing more than sing a song of jibberish near the end of the film “The Blues Brothers.”

So take it for what it’s worth. Somehow, the “real thing” when it comes to jazz and blues music sounds so much more enjoyable than the modern-day imitators. Then again, Calloway has a way of sounding inspiring – even when he’s in the most harmless of surroundings.

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