So there I was, in this small town college, and my first Love had just broken my heart. I think a heart can only be broken once ...
And I was like 19 years old (this is Blog #19) and Preston Love was like, ancient and wise. I called him up, felt like shit. He came over. This was in Indianola, Iowa, folks - a very nice nowhere place with a little college that no-one has ever heard of (except my parents). And Preston came over! Wow.
We sat in this abandoned dorm room across the hall. We played music together. Gawd damn, that guy was my idol, and STILL IS! I miss you so fucking much, Preston, do you have any idea?? Yeah, we just sat there and played, me on guitar and he on sax. "You play pretty good, kid." 'Twas all he said. Man, that made me feel so good, so high. Then, I remember that I was in that same room a few weeks later with a cute girl, and my huge warm orgasm was no where near the feeling that I got playing music with Preston. Shucks. Can anyone other than musicians understand this? I mean, he was like 70 or 80 something, and I was just a teenie. Fuck! That's unbelieveable ...
And he saw that I was down, and he helped me. We played. I will never forget it. In that little, white-walled college dorm, swingin' with this ultimate Black man on tha sax. And I would croon with him, doing a scat to match his waterfall solos. Then back to guitar, and we'd get on a groove together, never ever heard before, totally improvised. I just thought, "This guy can play FOREVER."
Yeah, he taught me to play forever, never repeating a note or a phrase. He said, "You just ride that endless waterfall of ideas, kid. Every solo springs from your mind, from your life experience." He was so amazing. So natural. Now, I can hear melodies day and night, non-stop, and it's all due to you, Preston.
People started peeking their heads in, hearing this sweet music. They'd see this skinny (almost) white kid, and this battered old genius black sax man, sitting there, playing together. Isn't that incredible? Then we'd take breaks (not too long!) and talk about Life and Music. My life is music, and music is life, like Prince said. Preston was like Prince, or James Brown, or Miles or any of those guys' fathers! What a guy. Bad-ass to the fucking BONE! He'd tell me stories that you wouldn't believe. He'd definitely been there. Felt the blues, lived through. Music is the expression of the Soul. Fantastic tales, all true!
"Don't be too sad, kid. You'll live. Just feel the grief, and write it down."
Love! (Right here in this room ...)
-Todd