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My original photo for this challenge wasn’t quite embarrassing enough… so then I found this.
I’m really not sure who took the picture, but I think it might have been my little sister, Debbie. She’s a serious shutterbug.
FEATURED in “The Family Album”
CHALLENGE WINNER in “Music of the Spirit”
Hello, My name is Gene. I live in the Susquehanna river valley (West Branch), in the mountains of north central Pennsylvania. I strive to produce photographic images that are simply “true” to the subject, usually with minimal post processing. If something is beautiful or interesting enough to deserve a viewer’s attention, it justifies being captured just as it is …or as close to reality as possible.
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Comments
okay now that is really, really bad and I love it!!! LOL Check out those cool bar chords!!! But how cute were you!!!!
Trust me, it sounded far worse than it even looks! We really were just kids… 9th graders at the time. My friend Ralph had a much better guitar than I did, I was so envious of his gold Danelectro. This was my first electric guitar, a “Heit”, which is currently owned by a very good friend in Erie, PA.
What a “blast from the past”!
Embarrassingly,
Gene
– Gene Walls
Embarrassing? Bah, humbug. You sure these aren’t Stevie Ray & Jimmie?? Vaughan, that is – no relation to us, though my husband is RAY VAUGHAN. There’s a song about him, too ~ ‘Rave On’…. But I’m getting carried away here. LOVE this shot – brings back all kinds of memories.
Thank you so much, Sheila!
I am a huge fan of Stevie Ray and his brother Jimmie, too. It is such a shame that we will never get to hear any more fantastic SRV performances. At least Jimmies’ still plugging along just fine.
Just between you and me… I can assure you that neither my friend Ralph or I ever refined our playing skills to anything even close to the level of the Vaughan’s.
However, in this picture, we were probably playing a song called “Pipeline” (by The Ventures). We payed that number a lot back in the early days. Interestingly, Stevie Ray and Jimmy Vaughan did an amazing version of that tune in a great live performance. They actually payed it together on a single “double neck” guitar. That was a truly unforgettable performance! I saw it recently on the web.
Oops, now, I’ve gotten a little carried away…
Thanks for the very kind note!
All the best,
Gene
– Gene Walls
Go ahead, get carried away!! THANKS for pointing me to the Stevie/Jimmie ‘Pipeline’ duet. I cannot imagine how I missed that – thought I’d seen every SRV video on the internet; have seen the Dick Dale/SRV ‘Pipeline’ duet in a couple of incarnations, & now I’ve seen Stevie & Jimmie & have bookmarked it. What a performance – though have to say Jimmie looks pretty uncomfortable at times! I regret enormously the fact that I never saw Stevie in person. A friend of ours saw him at El Mocambo in Toronto, but we missed that scene (I do have the DVD of that gig, though). We did see Jimmie on a bill with Shemika Copeland & Buddy Guy in Buffalo a few years ago. As you no doubt know, Buddy loves to run around in the crowd to the dismay of his handlers, & he charged up the aisle I was sitting on, stood right next to me & WAILED. Oh, man – what an experience. Carried away, you say…. In my opinion, SRV was the best there’s ever been, hand’s down. And I’m deeply in love with a lot of guitar players, so I say this with all due respect to the many fine axe-wielders out there. Cheers, many & varied, Sheila
I agree with every word… except, I would place Stevie’s own personal guitar hero just one step higher… Jimi Hendrix
Jimi is still my “main man”! I think that even SRV would probably agree with that one. I have every studio album from SRV, and tons of live recordings, too. He absolutely kept Hendrix “alive” for me with the finest covers of Jimi’s music every produced.
That was a really great story about Buddy Guy! I saw him live in Chicago at “Legends” on S. Wabash, and he really knocked my socks off!
Polka dots & the blues… who’d a thunk it…
Luv dem blues!
– Gene Walls
LOL..rock stars in the making! I guess you wish you were a rock star…imagine the money!!! Cute shot Gene.
Debra
Thanks a bunch, Debra! I had my chance, played on two albums, but it wasn’t my destiny. Oh, well…
Best wishes,
Gene
– Gene Walls
What a great photo!!!
:)
Thank you so much, Sherry Lynn! We were just kids with big dreams…
Best 2010 wishes,
Gene
– Gene Walls
CONGRATULATIONS ON THE VICTORY WIN ON MUSIC IN THE SPIRIT!!!
This shot is GREAT!
Thanks a bunch, Allison! My sister, Deb, took the shot… I’ll pass the “congrats” on to her!
Best wishes,
Gene
– Gene Walls
Thanks for the great news, Larry! I am proud to have my “embarassing” old photo receive with this honor. I’ll tell my sister (the photographer) that her work got a really nice reaction from the members!
Gratefully,
Gene
– Gene Walls
Brilliant! And cool! I also didn’t know about that version of Pipeline. :o)
Thank you so much!
I’m glad you caught my discussion with Sheila about the Vaughan brother’s amazing version of “Pipeline”. I hope you were able to see it on the web. If not, just Google “Stevie Ray & Jimmie Vaughan – Pipeline” to see the YouTube video! It’s really worth the visit!
Kindest regards,
Gene
– Gene Walls
Thanks Gene
Now here’s a funny thing… once I found it I realised I had seen that video – and what a fantastic video it is of them playing together. But… maybe I’d seen a shorter version because I hadn’t realised, or remembered, they break into Pipeline at the end of it!
The version I grew up on, and therefore love the most, is the Johnny Thunders one.
Paula
Congrats Family Member
Love ‘N’ Laughter Kriss ♥
Yahooo! Thanks for featuring my old photo in “The Family Album”! Much appreciated!
Most gratefully,
Gene
– Gene Walls