Just got back from San Francisco, California.  What a beautiful city…though I’m not sure if I could get use to the brisk temperatures. We rode the cable cars, saw the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges. Ate lunch by the water at the historical Ferry building. Toured China Town. Just a super cool experience.

BO DIDDLEY DEAD AT 79

Sad news. Here is a the story off of yahoo today:
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Bo Diddley, a founding father of rock ‘n’ roll whose distinctive "shave and a haircut, two bits" rhythm and innovative guitar effects inspired legions of other musicians, died Monday after months of ill health. He was 79.

Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Fla., spokeswoman Susan Clary said. He had suffered a heart attack in August, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak, and he had returned to Florida to continue rehabilitation.

The legendary singer and performer, known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat, was an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, had a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, and received a lifetime achievement award in 1999 at the Grammy Awards. In recent years he also played for the elder President Bush and President Clinton.

Diddley appreciated the honors he received, "but it didn’t put no figures in my checkbook."

"If you ain’t got no money, ain’t nobody calls you honey," he quipped.

The name Bo Diddley came from other youngsters when he was growing up in Chicago, he said in a 1999 interview.

"I don’t know where the kids got it, but the kids in grammar school gave me that name," he said, adding that he liked it so it became his stage name. Other times, he gave somewhat differing stories on where he got the name. Some experts believe a possible source for the name is a one-string instrument used in traditional blues music called a diddley bow.

His first single, "Bo Diddley," introduced record buyers in 1955 to his signature rhythm: bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp, often summarized as "shave and a haircut, two bits." The B side, "I’m a Man," with its slightly humorous take on macho pride, also became a rock standard.

The company that issued his early songs was Chess-Checkers records, the storied Chicago-based labels that also recorded Chuck Berry and other stars.

Howard Kramer, assistant curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, said in 2006 that Diddley’s Chess recordings "stand among the best singular recordings of the 20th century."

Diddley’s other major songs included, "Say Man," "You Can’t Judge a Book by Its Cover," "Shave and a Haircut," "Uncle John," "Who Do You Love?" and "The Mule."

Diddley’s influence was felt on both sides of the Atlantic. Buddy Holly borrowed the bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp rhythm for his song "Not Fade Away."

The Rolling Stones’ bluesy remake of that Holly song gave them their first chart single in the United States, in 1964. The following year, another British band, the Yardbirds, had a Top 20 hit in the U.S. with their version of "I’m a Man."

Diddley was also one of the pioneers of the electric guitar, adding reverb and tremelo effects. He even rigged some of his guitars himself.

"He treats it like it was a drum, very rhythmic," E. Michael Harrington, professor of music theory and composition at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., said in 2006.

Many other artists, including the Who, Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello copied aspects of Diddley’s style.

Growing up, Diddley said he had no musical idols, and he wasn’t entirely pleased that others drew on his innovations.

"I don’t like to copy anybody. Everybody tries to do what I do, update it," he said. "I don’t have any idols I copied after."

"They copied everything I did, upgraded it, messed it up. It seems to me that nobody can come up with their own thing, they have to put a little bit of Bo Diddley there," he said.

Despite his success, Diddley claimed he only received a small portion of the money he made during his career. Partly as a result, he continued to tour and record music until his stroke. Between tours, he made his home near Gainesville in north Florida.

"Seventy ain’t nothing but a damn number," he told The Associated Press in 1999. "I’m writing and creating new stuff and putting together new different things. Trying to stay out there and roll with the punches. I ain’t quit yet."

Diddley, like other artists of his generations, was paid a flat fee for his recordings and said he received no royalty payments on record sales. He also said he was never paid for many of his performances.

"I am owed. I’ve never got paid," he said. "A dude with a pencil is worse than a cat with a machine gun."

In the early 1950s, Diddley said, disc jockeys called his type of music, "Jungle Music." It was Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed who is credited with inventing the term "rock ‘n’ roll."

Diddley said Freed was talking about him, when he introduced him, saying, "Here is a man with an original sound, who is going to rock and roll you right out of your seat."

Diddley won attention from a new generation in 1989 when he took part in the "Bo Knows" ad campaign for Nike, built around football and baseball star Bo Jackson. Commenting on Jackson’s guitar skills, Diddley turned to the camera and said, "He don’t know Diddley."

"I never could figure out what it had to do with shoes, but it worked," Diddley said. "I got into a lot of new front rooms on the tube."

Born as Ellas Bates on Dec. 30, 1928, in McComb, Miss., Diddley was later adopted by his mother’s cousin and took on the name Ellis McDaniel, which his wife always called him.

When he was 5, his family moved to Chicago, where he learned the violin at the Ebenezer Baptist Church. He learned guitar at 10 and entertained passers-by on street corners.

By his early teens, Diddley was playing Chicago’s Maxwell Street.

"I came out of school and made something out of myself. I am known all over the globe, all over the world. There are guys who have done a lot of things that don’t have the same impact that I had," he said.

Just got back from New York City this last week. What a blast!
Rode the subway just to see what it was like. And it was pretty damn cool. We were staying at the W Hotel in midtown Manhattan. So we hopped the Subway down to the Brickyard and checked out the Statue Of Liberty. Very cool.
Last time we were in NYC was last fall. And at that time we stayed at The London Hotel in midtown right beside Central Park and Times Square. We were right around the corner from The David Letterman Show and ate at that Pizza joint that is in the same building as the Ed Sullivan theater.
Our next excursion will be San Francisco, CA.  in June. I’m definitely looking forward to it! In the past 8 months we’ve been to N.Y.C. 3 times, Amsterdam, Las Vegas 3 times, Phoenix, and Costa Rica.  
The world tour continues!

The Van Halen show in Atlanta was incredible. The band was tight. Alex Van Halen was a monster on drums, David Lee was fantastic (though he does look a bit like a space alien or something with that big plastic smile of his)
I was most impressed with Eddie Van Halen.
The guy played some of the most difficult guitar parts (at least for me) and did it EFFORTLESSLY. I’m talking some bad ass lead parts….super fast picking, impossible false harmonics, tapping…and he would just throw his head back, smile and rip them out like nothing.
It was also real interesting to watch his hands. They had lots of closeups of his hands while he played on the big screen and what caught my attention was the fact that on several parts that I THOUGHT were tapped, he actually just did these HUGE impossible spreads across the fingerboard and played them "normal".  That was just amazing to me.
It was a very cool thing to hear all those old songs raised back up and played again. I was a junior in high school when that very first Van Halen album came out. And I admit that I was just a little bit teary eyed as I watched them play.
The "newest" music that was played was from the album "1984", but damn it all sounded fresh to me. I guess because it’s been over 24 years since David Lee Roth has been onstage with Eddie Van Halen to do it right.
I’m hoping that they do a new album after this tour is finally over.

Hey gang! Just got back from 3 days in Las Vegas.
"What were you doing in Vegas Robbie?" , you may ask. 
I was house hunting! Put in an offer on a fat house with a pool that is just incredible. Big slide, grotto, waterfall…swwwweeeeettttt.
And yes, that means that I am leaving South Carolina very soon. I miss the nightlife of a bigger city. I first came to South Carolina from Ft. Lauderdale/Miami…and boy was that a culture shock! LOL!
Then I moved to Atlanta for a while before ending back up in South Caroina.
But at the beginning of this year I realized that I’m wasting my life sitting around here watching the Kudzu grow. I’m not getting any younger and I need to fulfill whatever destiny I have.
Plus I got sick and fucking tired of never having anywhere to go when I wanted to go out and have a good time. And that doesn’t even count the fact that in South Carolina….Jesus doesn’t like us to drink on Sunday. What a joke!
So I decided to move to Vegas baby! 24 hours, 7 days a week. Entertainment can be had everywhere. Crowds are everywhere. You can do as you please. It’s almost like having freedom or something.
Now here’s some other news…this weekend on May 11th I’ll be shooting down to Atlanta to check out Van Halen! YES!!!!!
I can’t wait! This is gonna be a blast!
Oh well, I’ve written enough.
When we finally get the closing on our house in Vegas we’ll be taking off into the sunset. I’m handing the keys to South Carolina over to my friend Kenny Swanger. Kenny, be sure to shut the lights off when you leave buddy.

The town of Clover, SC will never be the same again!  After playing the club Friday and Saturday April 25 & 26th we stirred up controversy…changed a few guys lives, and just had a great time. Big crowd showed up on Friday night all waiting to see Claudia. Jess, the owner of the club had told me that people were going nuts for us to get there as soon as he put out the pictures.
Seems like everybody wanted to see two very big things…I wonder what? LOL!
On Saturday, the club had a big cancer benefit. We came in and did a 3 p.m. show for free to donate our time to a good cause.
Saturday night was completely off the hook.
Drinking, music, boobies, and everybody having a great time.
Thanks Jess & Theresa for having us out.
It was a lot of fun. And Claudia and I practiced everyday for a week ahead of time as it was our first gig as a 2 piece unit. The practice was very boring as always, but the good thing that came out of it was it got both of our voices in top shape and we both sang better than we ever have in TPT.
The crowd response was just phenomenal as well. Surprised me, as I was unsure if we were going to sound good and/or be accepted as a two-piece.
We actually ended up sounding better and tighter. With all the practice ahead of time and both of us determined to kick some ass, I guess we had the motivation to do it right.
I think I’m gonna do some more gigs as a two-piece now. It was great fun and felt good.

Get ready! Cause here we come!
Just like the Phoenix rising from the ashes…Trailer Park Trash rises up to do it ONE MORE TIME baby!
Friday and Saturday nights April 25th and 26th are gonna be BIG in Clover S.C.    Claudia’s BIG boobs are gonna hold court, Robbie’s BIG guitar sound is gonna wail….

So come on out. I’m excited! Are you?

Hey everybody. There is a cool "rockumentary" coming out of The Stones playing the Beacon Theater in N.Y.C. at a special concert for Bill Clinton’s birthday party. It’s directed by Martin Scorcese, who as far as I know hasn’t filmed a live band since he directed "The Last Waltz"   This looks pretty good! Here is the trailer:    http://www.rollingstones.com/shinealight/

Well…I’ve spent countless days with the damn flu.  Yes, I took a flu shot to make sure this wouldn’t happen. And of course this years flu mutated right before it got to the U.S. and the shot was useless.
Bottom line is we won’t be playing at Chris’s Bar & Grill on the 22nd after all. Sorry.

Well…it’s the end of an era. And we took it out in style. We had a HUGE crowd both Friday and Saturday nights at Under The Moon! Biggest crowds I’ve ever played for at that club. It was sweet!
Matter of fact our last 3 gigs had the biggest crowds we’ve drawn at Chris’s, Rascals, and now Under The Moon.
Tony is now off to play on a cruise ship and open a new chapter in his life. Congrats to Tony.
Tony and I first started playing together 13 years ago. My friend Mike Shaw brought him out to see me playing in The Oath at a Greenville nightclub called DeWalkers. I hired him on as our keyboardist as we were moving away from playing mostly metal to playing more commercial style rock music that required keys.
In a bit of irony…Mike Shaw is also the person who is "taking him away"   LOL!  Mike has been playing on cruise ships for the last couple of years.
I would love to go with them too. But I have too many business and personal responsibilities to do so. So my friend Joey Jackson got the nod and IF he can stay out of jail, he might be able to do something with what’s left of his life. Maybe. If he can break the pattern of losing.
Maybe this will be his turning point as well.
Good luck Tony! We’ll always be brothers.
In the next couple of days I hope to put up some video footage of our final performance with Tony right here on the site. So watch for it.