Operation 365... Blog 51

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Archives - 57 Ricardo Gutierrez - 10-27-2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUr-LxcvCDM

This clip of Ricardo Gutierrez was filmed at my Open Mic on October 27, 2009. Ricardo was a regular at my Open Mic for quite some time. He always classed up the joint with his culture and diversity, routinely sharing Mexican songs written of centuries ago. Ricardo serves in the U.S. Navy and is currently stationed somewhere on the east coast. Here's wishing him safe work and a safe return to San Diego as soon as possible.

I played some percussion with Ricardo at gigs in 2010 and enjoyed that opportunity. He is an upbeat, positive, and humorous fellow. Here he is playing one of my favorites, the tune in which he screams "ZOOM!" That's not the real name, but that's what I always called it.

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Covers - 57 "A Face In The Crowd" by Tom Petty
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWNZuAX8XJQ

I gotta admit I'm not so much feeling doing the 365 right now. I'm not gonna lie. I'm tired. Not to complain as much as to explain. Teaching's draining and fairly thankless. I simply don;t want to be there. Lot sof other emotionally draining stuff going on too. From crazy dreams of loved ones dying to the much more real real but equally unpredictable blood feud I find myself in with my dad and stepmom. Essentially, they asked me for a favor and while I did it perfectly, it was slightly slower than they wanted it to be, so now I may never speak to them again. I told him he'd made a huge mistake (by making this nonsense into a blood feud) They took it as a threat. Talk about not knowing me... Who do they think I am, Al Capone? Nonsense. So I'm bushed and wanna nap and I'm gonna take one as soon as I'm done here.

One thing I'm not good at (no regrets there) is phoniness. I am much more comfortable with genuine behavior. So that's why I'm glad Tom Petty wrote "A Face In the Crowd." Found on his awesome album, "Full Moon Fever," this short and laid back jam delivers the mood that is exactly where I'm at right now. Thank you Tom. I hope to meet you some day and maybe chat and play a couple songs cause you seem cool and maybe you'd like my jamborees too. God Only Knows. That reminds me. I'm gonna have to do that one real soon.

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 57 "The Red Season"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e6FNxngWps

Sometime you gotta give yourself the opposite of what you think you need in this life. I was fading and didn't hink I could make it through ANY of my tunes. I figured I was just going to have to make something up about how tired I was and then I got a flash. I remembered "The Red Season," a high-energy rocker played often by my Jefferson Jay Band in its last incarnation before this one, exists. We played this one so often that I was able to get it done on one take even though I haven't played it in a long time.

I'm not inclined to super discuss what this song is really talking about so I'll tell you one or two other things about the song instead. First, it is the first track on my "Red" CD and we used to have a lot of fun playing it. Second, I have been writing in my books collecting thoughts, feelings, opinions, and lyrics since 1992. This tune was one I had a melody in mind for and lyrics, but I didn't play guitar yet so it had to wait years as until I figured out how to overcome that little caveat. Well, eventually, I learned to play guitar and came upon that lyric sheet and the whole thing became a song pretty quickly after that. Fun. That woke me up and cheered me up a little... just enough to take a nap... now.