A 12 Year Old CD Review And An Old Story

You may be wondering why I am writing a review on a 12 year old CD. My childhood friend, Leslie, Posted a coupon on Facebook for Tedeschi's Trucks Band new CD. I figured before I run out tomorrow and buy the latest CD I should review the first CD that came out a little over 12 years ago.

I was driving down 101 going from San Francisco to LA. It was warm for February in 1998, I had time to burn. The tape deck in the Oldsmobile had quit months ago so I was listening to the FM as I headed south om a Sunday morning. When I got near Salinas, I had thought of taking Route 1 along the coast, the the DJ of the Salinas radio station introduced a new CD he had just received and he had played the first track and loved it so much he was going to play the whole CD with out interruption.

The first song was “Rock me Right” and boy did Susan Tedeschi's voice rock me right. I took a turn back to head south on 101 through the Salinas Valley knowing if I took Route 1 down the coast, the mountains would block the radio signal after just 10 minutes. All of a sudden I was transported back to 1969 a rainy day Friday August 14^th I played hooky from school, something I never did, but this was a special occasion. The greatest bands and artist of the time were going to be in a place I could drive to in upstate New York, Woodstock. I pointed my little red Alfa Romeo south to make the 300 mile trip To Woodstock , a town that is actually fairly close to the major metropolitan areas of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. It had been Raining for days but I was hopeful that the rain would stop.

What a contrast from the weather I was having in California. 75 degrees sunny and with a slight breeze from the Pacific. "Rock me Baby" made me think of Janice Joplin, but in a polished control and trained way. Susan still had a slight edge to her voice but it was definitely not the drug induced, who gives a F, that Janice had that made 17 year old boys like me me shiver at the though of that kind of woman.

Susan Tedeschi “Just Won't Burn,” her break out album produced By Tom Hambridge who has single handed kept the blues alive. That is a slight exaggeration but not a bold face lie. Tom is a complete music company onto himself, has the awards to prove it and a who's who of friends to back it up.

Susan's rendition of Hambridge's “It Hurt So Bad” put me over the top when I heard it leaving Salinas. Right then and there I made up my mind I had to have that CD.

The rain did not let up and a mountain of traffic seemed to be heading to Woodstock. It was dark and dreary with sprinkles of happiness braking out along the road with cars stranded by the side and folks getting together to make the best of it.

The CD's title song “It Just Won't Burn” written by Tedeschi, not only showcases her voice and guitar work but also her feeling for writing the blues, the lady has soul. You can feel the passion in her voice.

I have listened to this album so much over the years, usually as prelude to  “Big Brother And the Holding Company” . By the time “Angel From Montgomery” written by John Prime, the radio in the Oldsmobile was having troubles staying locked in. I stopped the car in a spot with good reception to listen to the rest of the CD.

The road to the hamlet of White Lake in Bethel New York where the concert was to happen was clogged with at least half a million happy souls. The dirt road got so rutted and muddy that I knew it was just a matter of time before the little sports car would get high centered. I saw a clear spot on the shoulder of the road and dove for it. Safely parked between a late 50's VW Camper Bus and a converted bread truck I made new friends and contributed the wine I carried in exchange for food and shelter.

The last song in the Album is a collaboration by Tedeschi and Hambridge “Friar's point” A classic blues rift. that closed out my 45 minutes of driving and day tripping. It is interesting how many people like me there are that love cars and music but more so the blues "the peoples music". We could hear the concert off in the distance as the rain continued but it did not matter as a bunch of strangers became friends for one night and partied away safely in the bus and the bread truck. In the morning the National Guard was offering free pulls for those that wanted to get back on pavement. I took them up on the offer said good bye to my mates and headed home to Plymouth New Hampshire, dropping chunks of mud on the way. Thanks Leslie, I promise the next time I will tell you ahead of time.

SHOGUN Prototype

SHOGUN Article and Video by Miguel Caparros


Late last year, Chuck Beck arrived at a car event I was at, not driving his usual Porsche 904A, but this little yellow Bomb. Chuck is known for his incredible Porsche 904A recreations that are absolutely fantastic. Aside from the fact that they look like a 904, these cars can actually be used on a daily basis as they have all the latest technology. Chuck's shop fabricates everything, the quality is beyond reproach, there is usually a waiting list for his cars. He opened his first shop after he left Shelby American where he was one of the original crew involved in the Cobra and GT 40 projects. He opened his own shop in Southern California. I have known about Chuck for a long time.

A crowd gathered around the little yellow car wondering what it was, Chuck was having fun as everyone guessed wrong. Being the show off that I am I chimed in with the correct answer. Chuck then started to explain about the origin of the SHOGUN.


Rick Titus, a race car driver, who had some connections at Ford, brought the idea and some drawings of the SHOGUN to Chuck Beck's Southern California Shop. With some mild blessing from a Ford executive that Rick worked with, Chuck located a crashed Festiva and got to work on building this car. If I recall correctly for this prototype the engine came from Ford via a damaged Taurus SHO that also donated many of its parts to make the whole thing work. The Yamaha built Super High Output engine is a 4 cam with 4 valves per cylinder. At the time the 220 horsepower was stout for a 3 liter 6 cylinder, being transplanted to a car that is 1,000 lbs lighter you end up with Supercar performance. Where the original Festiva engine was located, a radiator and fuel cell went in. The rear seat and floor were cut out and a fabricated sub frame with race inspired suspension went in along with the now mid mounted engine.


This car was a media Super Star from day one, even making the cover of most auto publications including Road & Track. There is no denying that this car was the right Idea at the right time. What was wrong was that it took two new cars to build it. You needed a new Taurus SHO and a new Festiva. Economically it made no sense but what killed it was Fords legal department. At the time that the SHOGUN came out I was peddling around in the car that looked very similar to it, and some said that the Renault R5 Turbo was the inspiration for the SHOGUN. Jay Leno used up a little of his Tonight Show salary and bought the first production car from Chuck Beck.

A 4th Of July To Remember

When I first decided to write a weekly digest, fears ran through me wondering if I could write some thing new every week. The answer is yes and no. The no part, is that my adventures are part of my history so I may have told or written parts of it at other times. The yes part is, there are still years of adventures to share and more to come that I have yet to live through..

Today being the 4th of July I searched for the most memorable 4^th of July adventure I had. Living in the San Francisco bay area we found ourselves torn on where we would go to watch the fireworks. The weather and the fog would dictate our choice. One wonderful thing about living in a great metropolitan area that is surrounded by hills (mountains in most places) and unpopulated open spaces in the way of regional and state parks is that on a clear evening you can see most of the cities of the bay from overlooks in the hills above Berkeley and Oakland. Our favorite point is just above the Berkeley Science building on Grizzly Peak Boulevard. The Boulevard runs on the ridge at an average altitude of 1,500 feet above the bay. Grizzly peak itself is at 1,770 feet of elevation sitting on the peak is a 200 ft antenna. Since there is very limited parking on the road, people park at the science buildings lot then hike up about a mile to the choice viewing spot know as the wall, right bellow the peak and the antenna. This also happens to be the choice spot where the local cafe racers gather each day to see the sun drop behind the golden gate.

On the 4^th , sunset is at 8:35, Fire works shows generally begin at 9:00 when the sky is almost dark. This evening, the customary fog was being held out in the ocean by a warm breeze blowing out from the Sacramento Delta. It was warmer than usual on the bay and the breeze was giving a clear view past the golden gate. I was looking towards the Golden Gate Bridge 10 miles away, as the last rays of the sun dropped off the horizon, just then I saw a spec go under the bridge. I though it was small aircraft but could not be sure. No one in their right mind would fly under the Golden Gate, your privilege to fly could be suspended until icebergs fill the bay.

The bulk of the crowd had settled in by 8:45, bellow the sounds of fire crackers, bottle rockets and whistlers were finding their way up to our perch. My eyes are always scanning, searching for movement, it has become a normal part of my awareness. I once again saw some movement on the bay that captured my attention. In the low light I thought I saw an aircraft go past Alcatraz at wave top level heading south towards the Bay Bridge near the San Francisco side. I was now transfixed on following the shadowy character that was purposely flying dangerously low to stay below air traffic and the military radar. His small slow speed might look at marine radar as a fast moving speed boat as he went under the bay bridge. I lost him behind the spans and I suspected that he made a left turn heading east and hiding his radar signature by the reflections that the metal of the bridge provide to marine radar.

It was now 5 minutes to 9, the fire works promoters seem to always set off a couple of flash bangs to notify to the crowd that the show will shortly begin, they also do it to get a reading on wind. Each of the 7 major shows that were within sight signaled that they were ready. My mind was trying to calculate where the phantom plane went. I did not see it turn to go south through the bay so I assumed that he was heading east hugging the Bay Bridge as he had to cross right in front of the the still active Alameda Naval Air Station just 3 miles south of the bridge. Sure enough I caught a glimpse of his shadow as he had to gain some altitude when he reached land and had to clear the ports giant container cranes and a couple of 10 story buildings. This pilot really knew the terrain as I doubt that even if he had radar he would not dare turn it on for fear of being blown out of the sky by an F16. I was able to follow his progress as his profile would sometimes be visible by the shadows outlined from the street lights of Clairemont Avenue.

At this point it was quite dark, it was one of those nights when the moon was only showing a slight sliver. Karyn was the only other person aware of the mysterious flier. She is every bit as perceptive and maybe more. I have always assumed, and right fully so that she sees and is aware of everything more so than most people. Our children were not to thrilled on having two parents with this ability. As the plane got to the intersection of Clairemont and Ashby. I asked Karyn if we had enough insurance in the event that he crashed into our shop. From this point it is all tight twisty canyons and I was certain that we would shortly see the fireball caused by his crash. The fire works are now going in earnest. Looking down at fireworks from a distance is a totally different way to see these shows. The bangs are not as loud and are out of sync with the display. Since we could see clearly 3 separate shows it was like people at a tennis match, Oakland to the left San Francisco straight ahead and Richmond to the right. Our heads were turning to follow the action and the oohs and aahs.

I gave up following the planes progress and got into the wonderful vista in front of us and snuggled with the most wonderful woman in the world. Just then a flash bang from behind and above us was startling. But it was not as nearly as startling at seeing a Cesna 150 rising 35 feet in front of you out of the canyon clawing at gravity as the plane rose straight up. I hoped he wold have his accident on the other side of the peak.. He flew straight up to a stall, nosed over and came swooping down close enough we could feel the prop and wing blast as he descended back down into the blackness of the woods in the canyon below. He banked to the left and repeated his performance at another gathering of people about 200 feet south of us. He continued doing his flying ballet to the fireworks in the distance and the cheers of the crowds for 15 minutes. He departed as he came in.

Ignorance is bliss, the crowd was loving the up close and personal Aerobatic display. In hindsight I was able to appreciate it, at the time the worst scene scenario was unfolding in my mind and I was powerless in being able to do anything about it. All ended well, thousands of people had a show and a 4^th of July to remember forever, Karyn and I got another great adventure and story to tell. No one knew who the crazy but extremely talented pilot was, I had a very short list of who I thought it could have been