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Blues Great Percy Strother Dies at Age 58

Minneapolis, MN, May 31, 2005 - Blues great Percy Strother passed away at his home in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 29, 2005. With his wife of 35 years and his son Percy Strother, Jr. at his side, Percy succumbed to complications from liver cancer and diabetes at age 58. Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 23, 1946, Percy Strother was revered as a gritty and soulful blues singer, an expressive and emotional guitar player and an outstanding songwriter. Percy left Mississippi at age 14 in the wake of family tragedies, eventually settling in the Twin Cities in 1969. His many career highlights included several European tours and constant touring of the U.S., playing premier clubs and festivals. His recordings included the release "A Good Woman Is Hard To Find," written by Percy and selected as Best Blues Song of 1992 in the Living Blues magazine Readers' Award category. In addition to his wife Roseanna Strother and son Percy Strother, Jr., Percy Strother is survived by stepdaughters Anita Higgins and Juliet Higgins, son Tyrone Strother, grandchildren Theresa, Daisha, Eboni and Tyrone Strother, Jr., one sister and four brothers, and countless fans and friends. A memorial service will be held on Friday, June 3, 2005 at 1:00 p.m. at Estes Funeral Chapel, 2210 Plymouth Avenue North in Minneapolis (612-521-6744). Interment at Hillside Cemetery following service. As Percy did not have adequate medical insurance, donations to help pay medical, funeral and family living expenses can be sent to Strother Family, P.O. Box 22193, Robbinsdale Branch, Robbinsdale, MN 55422.

More information on the life of Percy Strother. Percy Strother was born on July 23, 1946 in Vicksburg, Mississippi, located on the banks of the Mississippi River. Percy was one of six brothers and a sister. His father worked as a sharecropper and a porter and his mother was a teacher who supplemented the family income by doing odd jobs. Growing up in a farmhouse with no electricity, Percy's family looked to music for comfort and entertainment. Everyone in the family sang and loved the blues music that was literally born in their region. Percy's father was his earliest influence, teaching Percy his first guitar riffs and blues songs.

When Percy was eight or nine years old, his father was accused of killing a white man and he was hanged. Percy's mother was devastated, and the tragedy took a toll on her from which she would never recover. By the age of 12, Percy was working farm labor from sun up to sun down, using the meager pay to help feed the family. This type of work at such a young age, and under such personal circumstances, could break a person's spirit. Percy endured the struggles, in large part, by singing while he labored. Songs by heroes like Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson would get him through the days.

By his early teens, Percy was singing in clubs in Vicksburg and nearby towns. Always a devoted performer, Percy would walk five miles to one of the rougher clubs just to take the stage.

When Percy was 14 years old, his family lost their farm and his mother lost her battle with grief and alcohol. With no intention of entering a nearby orphanage, Percy took his younger brothers and hitchhiked out of town, staying for a while in Jackson, Mississippi. He soon made his way to North Carolina, where he worked cropping tobacco, and then Florida, where he harvested oranges and other fruit.

By the 1960s, Percy had traveled and worked his way to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As he had in previous locales, Percy sought out chances to hear live music and sit in with bands as a singer. His "day job" was typically grueling, working in a foundry. In 1968, Percy formed his own band with a home-base of Racine, Wisconsin, not far outside of Milwaukee. He then spent about four months living in Chicago, catching live sets by legends like Magic Sam, but not regularly performing himself.

It was around 1969 or 1970 that Percy Strother, along with his brother Max, visited relatives in the Twin Cities. Percy was impressed by the surprisingly rich blues scene in town, and settled in the Twin Cities for the rest of his life. In his early twenties and with plenty of tough life experience behind him, Percy was embraced by the blues community and encouraged and mentored by a new friend, Twin Cities blues legend Lazy Bill Lucas. Lucas, a piano player and singer who hosted house parties that were a focal point of the local scene, was known to exclaim "Have Mercy, Mr. Percy" when Strother stepped forward with his powerful vocals.

It was also during this period, in 1970, that Percy Strother married his wife Roseanna, with whom he would spend the rest of his life. Roseanna inspired Percy in every way, including his music, his songwriting and his focus on family. "Sharing my life with Percy was a gift," says Roseanna Strother. "He was a very loving and protective husband. Percy cherished me, and I cherished him."

Percy built a reputation over the following years as one of the Twin Cities best and most authentic blues vocalists, with a growling, haunting sound in the tradition of Delta-born legends like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. During the 1970s, Percy cut a single on his own P.L.S. label to get on Twin Cities jukeboxes and radio and generate a little more interest in his career. In 1977, a teenage R.J. Mischo encountered Percy's talents in a local music store and sought out his advice for Mischo's new blues band. Always one to help out and teach young, aspiring blues musicians, Percy took the harmonica player under his wing, a kindness that would be appropriately reciprocated by Mischo years later.

Percy performed throughout the 1970s and 1980s as a vocalist in the Twin Cities and other regional locations, but it was not until 1990 that he began playing guitar publicly. Other than early tips from his father and his keen observation of peers, Percy was a self-taught guitarist who decided to focus on the instrument mid-career. According to Twin Cities guitarist Curt Obeda of the Butanes, "One of the things that impressed me most about Percy was his lifelong pursuit of learning more about music and getting better. He could have just gotten up and sang and he would have been fine, but Percy was always trying to improve and find more ways to get his music heard."

In 1992, Percy Strother would finally gain international recognition for his blues vocals, recognition that he had not previously received or sought, for that matter. At the insistence of R.J. Mischo, the blues harmonica player that Percy had mentored years earlier, Percy participated in a recording that would go on to receive critical acclaim and help bring Percy into the spotlight. Ready To Go (1992 Blue Loon Records) by R.J. & Kid Morgan Blues Band Featuring Percy Strother was a recording in the style of 1950s classic Chicago blues. Percy finally had a proper recording to help spread the word.

Buoyed by the warm reception given to Ready To Go, Percy went into the studio in 1992 to record his own album, A Good Woman Is Hard to Find. Released that same year on the Blue Loon label, Percy surprised fans and the blues press by stepping outside 1950s style Chicago blues. With a horn section and tons of soul, the album established Percy as a huge talent in the R&B style of blues associated with the Memphis sound. Living Blues magazine picked the album as a runner-up for Best Blues Album of 1992 in their Critics' Awards, and readers picked the title track "A Good Woman Is Hard To Find" as Best Blues Song of 1992 (in a tie with Robert Cray's "I Was Warned"). The song was written by Percy for his beloved wife Roseanna.

With successful recordings helping pave the way, Percy Strother undertook his first European tour in 1993, including a live show for the national Dutch radio. Percy was so well received by the appreciative European audiences that he would return there to play festivals and clubs throughout his life, the last time in Fall 2004. He tirelessly toured in the U.S. as well, a welcomed regular headliner at clubs like Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago and the Terra Blues club in New York City.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Percy continued to add outstanding recordings to his discography. The Highway is My Home (1995 Black Magic Records), It's My Time (1997 JSP Records) and Home At Last (2001 Black & Tan Records) are the work of a powerhouse singer and versatile artist, whether getting low down with gritty Chicago blues or pumping up some soulful R&B.

Despite battling illness, Percy Strother continued to put on magnificent shows within weeks of his death. His final appearance was at Famous Dave's BBQ & Blues in Minneapolis on April 15, 2005. Percy played solo, and the packed crowd included many members of his family and his band. Percy put on a typically joyous and powerful performance, fielding requests and lifting the spirits of everyone in attendance.

Well loved for his music, Percy Strother the man was equally admired. His kindness and (sometimes disarming) sense of humor touched the lives of innumerable friends and fans. His love of family and the blues were rivaled only by his passion for fishing. "I have heard stories about people spotting Percy out fishing when most people would be sitting by a fire to get warm," said Twin Cities musician Paul Metsa. "Even when he was fishing he had style, dressed like he was ready to go on stage in his ever present hat, cape and snakeskin boots. Percy was the ultimate professional and he'll never be replaced. For my money, Percy's vocals were as deep and powerful as guys like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf." So refined was Percy's fashion sense, he was chosen to act in commercials and model for magazine advertisements that ran in Rolling Stone, GQ and other media outlets.

A true bluesman, singer, songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player and charismatic performer Percy Strother will be greatly missed by the blues world.

Taming the Beast

by BloomingMoon

This morning one of my cats pulled my hair so I bit her tail.

The End

(It's ok. I didn't have my "uppers" in yet.)

Dear Kay,

The saga of Chore Man continues. I think this might be a great book, a comedy, of course.

I think I told you I asked Chore Man for his keys to my house the same day I fired him, which he ignored, the firing part, but did return my keys.

Now he has this new scheme by which he thinks he will entice me to give the keys back to him. Keep in mind, I took the keys from him because he was repeatedly coming in here waking me up. Ok, so now his new plan is this. He keeps telling me he was here a couple time to give me some help but I wouldn't answer the door and he didn't have the keys, "so how can I help you if I don't have the keys and can't get in?"

As you can see, the logic here doesn't flow in any defined direction. If I didn't open the locked door to let Chore Man in, one must ask the question, "Why?" Maybe it was because I was SLEEPING AND DIDN'T WANT TO BE AWAKENED? That would seem to put a big hole in his logic for returning the keys to him, don't you think? I guess he has also forgotten to take into consideration that if he doesn't do any work, he doesn't get any pay. And, if he doesn't do it, it will just sit here waiting until he does it and will accumulate so it means more work for him. I have a vision of him standing in waist high snow putting on the last of the storm windows and me standing in the window waving as he trudges, ladder and windows in tow, through the snow from the garage to the house. Yes, he does give me a few gleeful moments.

Yesterday the social worker from the county human services department and the public health nurse were here to do a reassessment so we discussed "The Chore Man" situation. I told them I needed someone to do the inside cleaning and we could possibly allocate just the outside work to Chore Man, such as lawn care and snow removal. This idea was met with acceptance by the service providers. Now it is just a matter of getting this "Inside Person" to materialize.

I requested a specific person whom I know to be very thorough, reliable and a hard worker but this particular social worker is extremely slow at getting things done and is working with a new public health nurse who doesn't seem as experienced as the previous one. So, I shall put on my best "squeaky wheel" act and start with the emails and phone calls next week.

I realize that Chore Man has problems, which I told the service providers. His brain cells have packed their bags and taken the "Midnight Train to Georgia". However, the outcome of this is that things aren't getting done around here, like getting this house sprayed for fleas. Everything hinges on that. I can't get someone to come in here to clean or get a home health aide until I get rid of the fleas and I need Chore Man to carry the cats out of the house for me. We have set several dates to do this over the past three months but he either doesn't show up or comes a day late. As I've explained to him, the cats have to be IN their carriers before he gets here. I have a couple that are afraid of people and I would never find them to get them in the carriers if he were here. In addition, it is less traumatic for the cats to be enticed into the carriers with some canned food which they don't get on a regular basis than to be whisked up and forced into the carriers. THIS EVENT REQUIRES PLANNING, something Chore Man is short on doing. Planning is difficult for someone whose brain cells are locked in a suitcase for which nobody seems to have the key.

Focus, or the lack thereof, is also a problem. Yesterday I asked him to pick up a chicken dinner for me from the grocery store. He left here at 12:30 PM and arrived back here with the dinner at 5:00 PM, cold chicken in hand, which I asked him to put in the microwave. I found it in the refrigerator. Always good for a laugh, this guy.

Well, I have to go now. I need to plan Chore Man's day.



Your friend through all the changing seasons,

J T

Friday the 13th is here, and it's no ordinary
Friday the 13th!

To see why, let's add up the digits of today's
date:

October 13, 2006 = 10/13/2006

1+0 + 1+3 + 2+0+0+6 = 13 !

The last time this happened was Friday, January 13, 1520.

Happy Friday the 13th

BloomingMoon

Your Results:
Water Dragon



Cool, collective you are the guardian of the oceans, the water god's right hand and you can calm someone down or you can rage up a storm.

Immigrants have been coming into this county since time began. Ask youself this. Why has this suddenly become an "issue"? The answer is because it is a red herring, a way to distract us from the fact that we are spending 30 BILLON DOLLARS A WEEK on the war in Iraq. This is the real threat to our social security, not immigrants who are in this county illegally. And let's not forget this is an election year.

Why have we not heard about the 80 million that was taken away from medicare last year to pay for the war effort? Or the millions taken away from other programs for our elderly, disabled and poor such as fuel assistance, commodities and rent assistance?

If a person is in this country illegally, how do they go about getting a social security number and how will they be able to collect social security without a social security number?

In the mean time, illegal immigrants are working, paying rent, paying utilities, buying groceries and clothing all adding to the economy of this country.

In my opinion, the major problem with the current immigration issue is the amount of money and manpower being used to try to keep people, mostly, brown skinned people out of this country.

These efforts have already had negative effects in two areas. One is the increased cost being charged by those who are bringing people into the country. This can only result in families being seperated longer or even for life.

The second issue related to the increased monitoring of our borders is that people will and are taking greater risks to get here, resulting in more suffering and death.

Contrary to what the goverment is leading us to believe, there is no shortage in this county. We have an abundance of resources such as jobs, housing, food, etc. The problem is in the distribution of goods and services.

We live in a pyramid society with a few of the very rich at the top, a small middle income group and a large group of poor at the bottom holding up the rich.

In Minneapolis there is an organization which pays all it's employees equally regardless of their job. Each person is considered equally important to the function of that organization and achievement of it's goals. What a concept! If every organization did this we would have more equality in the distribution of goods and services in this county. But the white male patriarchial thinking prevails. What has happened to the words inscribed on the Statue of Libery, "Give us your tired, your poor, your masses yearning to be free..."?





BloomingMoon

So you think you are paying too much at the gas pumps? Thie is talking about BILLIONS in profit margins for US oil companies.

READ THIS:





Soaring Energy Prices Catapult Exxon Mobil 2nd-Quarter Profits to More Than $10 Billion
By STEVE QUINN
AP Business Writer


(AP) 07:38:52 PM (ET), Thursday, July 27, 2006 (DALLAS)

Soaring energy prices catapulted Exxon Mobil to a second-quarter profit of more than $10 billion and promise to ignite industrywide growth _ and public outrage _ all year.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC came close to matching Exxon Mobil Corp.'s 36 percent quarterly earnings boost on Thursday, posting net income of $7.3 billion, an increase of 40 percent from the year before.

The oil and gas industry's prolific profits come as motorists in the U.S. pay an average of $3-a-gallon at the pump and as Washington lawmakers consider opening to drilling areas of the Gulf of Mexico currently off-limits _ both of which have generated political backlash.

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said Thursday that American consumers have been "tipped upside down and have (had) their savings shaken out of their pockets at the gas pump."

Across the globe, energy-intensive businesses such as shippers and chemical manufacturers are feeling the pinch from higher prices, while oil exporting nations in the Middle East and beyond are experiencing rapid economic growth.

Crude-oil prices are hovering near $75 a barrel, and analysts do not foresee a sharp drop anytime soon given the world's rising appetite for fuel and supply threats that pump fear into the market.

"We continue to see demand growth year over year," Henry Hubble, Exxon's vice president of investor relations, told analysts. "We're selling everything we can make."

Other oil companies reported big numbers for the quarter this week as well. BP PLC reported its quarterly profit rose 30 percent to $7.3 billion and ConocoPhillips said its earnings rose 65 percent to $5.18 billion. Chevron Corp. will round the field of five majors when it reports its second-quarter performance Friday.

These five were expected to earn an estimated $33.6 billion, or a 32 percent boost, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. Already the first four have reported earning $30.16 billion.

And if prices stay at these levels, look for more record-breaking profits soon, said Fadel Gheit, analyst for Oppenheimer & Co.

"The rising tide lifts all boats," Gheit said. "Unless there is a price collapse of oil, you will see the second half of the year best its first half."

Exxon Mobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, said earnings amounted to $1.72 per share in the April-June quarter compared with a profit of $7.64 billion, or $1.20 per share, a year ago.

The results topped Wall Street expectations but came in behind Exxon Mobil's record profit of $10.71 billion set in the fourth quarter of 2005. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected the company to earn $1.64 per share.

Revenue rose to $99.03 billion from $88.57 billion in the prior-year quarter. That was short of Exxon Mobil's record third-quarter revenue of $100.72 billion _ which also stands as record revenue generated by any U.S. public company in a quarter.

Its shares fell 13 cents to close at $66.47 on the New York Stock Exchange after reaching an all-time high of $67.65 earlier in the session.

Exxon Mobil said it spent $4.9 billion on capital and exploration projects during the quarter, up 8 percent from a year ago, while distributing $7.9 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases.

Congress has been urging the big oil companies to put more of their profits toward boosting the supply of energy for consumers. And this week the Senate sought to help out the industry by working on an election-year bill that would open a large area of the central Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling.

By a vote of 86-12 the Senate agreed Wednesday to proceed with the legislation that opponents fear could clear the way to lifting a federal drilling moratorium that has protected 85 percent of the country's Outer Continental Shelf from New England to Alaska for a quarter century.

Hubble told analysts that Exxon will boost capital spending from the previously stated $19 billion by another $1 billion this year, though one-third of that increase is tied to rising costs for labor and equipment.

"That's a big midyear jump," said Bruce Lanni, analyst with A.G. Edwards.

Exxon Mobil's production has increased 6 percent from a year ago and 9 percent if the impact of divestments are excluded.

"For a company of this size to report that sort of production, that growth is quite remarkable," said Tina Vital, equity analyst for Standard & Poor's.

Exxon Mobil watched all parts of its business grow.

By segment, exploration and production earnings rose sharply to $7.13 billion, up $2.23 billion from the second quarter of last year, a reflection of higher crude and natural gas prices.

The company's refining and marketing segment reported a $264 million earnings increase to $2.48 billion, the result of soaring fuel prices, which offset reduced output at its refineries and, as a result, fewer gallons of gasoline, heating oil and jet fuel being sold.

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With the ever increasing price of gas and rapidly depleating physical mobility, I have spend more time shopping on the internet. There are some great bargains. Last week I got a new pair of huarache all leather shoes for $10.25 including shipping and handling. List price on these shoes on various sites I visited was $39.95-$49.95 plus shipping and handling.

A carton of cigarettes in Minnesota cost over $40.00. I get mine shipped to my house for $15.95 per carton, shipping is $8.90. I've searched most of the online discount cigarettes and found some of the cheapest available.

If you use dial up to connect to the internet take a look at localnet.com to see if they are in your area. You can find them by searching on Google or just type localnet.com in your address bar. They are adding more local access numbers every week. The cost is $9.95 per month for UNLIMITED access, no automatic disconnect and 24/7 tech support.

You might be aware that many of the clothing stores are now online and have a seperate web site where they offer discount coupons. Lane Bryant is one of them that also has an outlet store online called BCOutlet.com. Some times styles and sizes are limited but the reduced cost plus coupons makes it worth the time it takes to look through the online site. Usually around Christmas they will offer free shipping, especially on the Lane Bryant site.

If you are interested in more sources for online bargains, contact me.

Remeber back when there was always someone hoovering over you at a meal reminding you, "You have to eat your vegatables before you get any dessert"? And when you reached for that piece of cake you had your eye on all through dinner you heard, "Take a smaller piece. You'll never eat all that." Or, "No sweets before dinner, It will ruin your appetite". Then there was that ever persistent "Don't eat the candy. It will ruin your teeth."

It was then I vowed I'd never say that to my kids, if I had any and when I grew up I'd never follow any of those rules.

Well guess what? I eat dessert first, as big a piece as I want, two if I want them and might just eat the whole thing. I have ice cream for breakfast, if the mood suits me and might very well accompany that with a piece of last night's pie. As for my son to whom I DID set down all those rules, I suspect he would gladly join me in some chocolate marshmallow ice cream for breakfast, maybe with a piece of pizza.

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