LIVE ON STAGE

i practiced on a ukelele
till my fingers were bleeding
it was in the late 50's
i was 10 years old
i graduated to a cheap guitar
with a buzz box

by the time i was 17 i had my fender
with the marshall amps
i was gigging in chicago clubs
the vibration is the thing i remember most
going through my body
primitive ritual

i love being on stage
smokes and drinks
i listened and learned the chicago blues
i listened a lot to the paul butterfield blues band
mike bloomfield, muddy waters, johnny winter,
it was raw, mississippi, delta driving blues
i had it in my soul

i added the driving riffs
we played lincoln avenue and old town
i played portland oregon when disco was king
we played to disco crowds with the chicago sound
and brought the houses down... goddammit!
the smoke, the glory, the adulation, the drinks
we had it all

it never leaves your soul
the art, the love, the being,
the music, the poetry, the togetherness
in this whole damn lovely world
we, the creative ones, are all live on stage
till the day we die