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Teddy Young and The Aces
November 3, 2000 Own Lee's Place - Clarks Summit, Pa. Teddy Young and The Aces played at one of the most unlikely blues venues (or any venue) i've been to. I've never experienced Own Lee's or this band, so it was an adventure. Most bars and pubs are not equipped to handle bands - they seem to start out as bars, and after they're built and going for a number of years, they decide to hire bands and have nowhere to put them. If I opened a bar, the music would be the first thing accommodated - big stage, a dance floor, and then the cool bar, close enough for lazy people like myself, restrooms close to that, with room enough to turn around in and not hurt yourself, definitely some munchies (please, no more potato chips for me or packing my own snacks). Own Lee's is a pretty tight fit. The place is split into two sections, the bar, a long narrow wall separating that (sort of) from the area where the tables are and where the bands do their thing. Good thing the band had just three members or they'd have to stack 'em. As it was, the bass player spent most of his time up against the wall to give Teddy and his guitar some room. Inconveniences aside, the show was something special. The band was formerly known as the Young Guns - and they've been around for a while. We couldn't believe the blues we were hearing, where we were hearing them, and the blues sounds coming out of a three-piece band. The tambourines got a workout for sure. Great guys, too. Teddy stopped by at Table 5 on his breaks and hung out. He's a Pittston native and is doing a bunch of shows in our area. You'd better get out and see these guys while they're here. The songlist was great - the stuff on our wishlist. The one disappointment of the evening came when I looked around and noticed that we had the band to ourselves in that little room. At the peak of the evening, I counted 15 people - most at the bar, some playing pool, 5 watching the band, one of whom was passed out (not a member of Table 5) and didn't count. Kind of makes me angry to think that here you have an incredible blues band, pretty much entertaining our group, while people in northeast pa. are hanging around complaining that there's nowhere to go, no good blues bands, etc. etc. etc. Here we had almost four hours of hot blues and a great time. All for a $3.00 cover charge. They read Electric City and the Weekender, some check out this site for information on what's going on - 1300 people checked us out just this week, and the four of us are at a just about private show. Amazing. And pretty sad - for the bands, who may not play in this area again because of the poor showing, but especially for music lovers in this area - for those of us who might not ever get to hear them or any other decent band play here again. Okay, enough of the soapbox thing. It's up to you to decide whether to support music and musicians or sit around and bitch about the lack of both. The band made the kind of music that floats our boat. Teddy and his guitar made sounds I haven't heard often outside of the big venues. Some of the songs they did were: Down Home Blues, The Thrill Is Gone, Tighten Up, Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On, Don't You Lie To Me (i might not have the correct names for the songs, but i was scribbling fast to get them down so I could enjoy the show), Got My Mojo Working, Mary Had A Little Lamb (SRV version), a souped up and bluesy version of Spooky and Mustang Sally, You Don't Have To Go, Stormy Monday and others I just can't remember, and the finale that had us jumping, banging and singing like crazy people - Clapton's version of Crossroads. I haven't heard any local or well-known area band do that number and get away with it - and get it done well enough that even Clapton would approve. "So that's my story, this is all I have to say to you..." Check this band out as soon as you can, I'm looking forward to hearing them again. If you miss 'em you'll miss a great show and it'll be your own fault, and don't be complaining that you have to travel out of the area when you need a blues fix. copyright Nov. 4, 2000 We went out to see Teddy Young again when he appeared at the live taping of WVIA's Homegrown Music show with George Graham, recently. He was wonderful, and I thank my friend, Robert Macheska, for creating that fabulous CD for me of the show. We had a great time and Teddy and the Aces were fabulous. And once again..... hardly anyone in the studio even though you get free tickets..... Back to Own Lee's again to see Teddy on June 8th. Typically, it begins with my asking for a gin and tonic, "sorry no tonic". And this is a bar. Any limes, "sorry no limes". Can you turn the lights on in the back it's dark and we can't see our drinks in front of us. "Sorry, the bulbs blew out". and I'll bet they blew out a long time ago. Bulbs are cheap. And the band gets there and have to move all the tables and chairs themselves to create a space to play in. Isn't that Own Lee's job? or at least common courtesy? Good thing the band brought lights. We love that band, and it's really the only (own lee) reason i go there. I don't usually go to that type of place. and it's so unnecessary. Nobody seems to care about the place, the customers or the bands. It's dark, very small, not so clean, dingy, and certainly not into "becoming one with the customer". Can't tell me no one has mixed drinks, and gin and tonic is pretty darned popular. And people wonder why our favorite places seem to be two or three places who know how to take care of you. In fact, one could say we get the "red carpet treatment". But, the band was great, as usual, Teddy ripped through a whole lot of rockin' blues. And as usual, he played to pretty much the five of us sittin' there. And he added a friend on saxophone. Very cool. Add that sax to the really hot blues guitar, and I'm in heaven. He and I spoke for a while, and I ended up booking the band for our next bash. You should do that, too. Get
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