Andy Santana at 1351 Lounge, St. Helena. 5/20/05

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May 21, 2005
Andy Santana and the West Coast Playboys at 1351 Lounge, 5/20/05

Andy Santana and the West Coast Playboys at 1352 Lounge, St. Helena, 5/20/05

There it was on 1351’s calendar as I was compiling the Sonoma Tune’s calendar: Andy Santana. I’ve seen Andy’s name for years, always appearing at a joint to the south of me. I’d only seen him sitting in for a few numbers at Benefits. I knew from that he was a good harp player and singer, but I was clear I’d never seen him do his thing on his own. This was too good to miss and I highlighted it on the calendar.

The roadtrip call went out and Mo, Lis, Big Dave Z, and I rode over the Mayacamas to St. Helena in the Blues van. As always I had that feeling of sadness for what St. Helena’s become from the nice country town it was in the 70s. The 1351 Lounge is about 15 feet wide and 120 feet long. The band is shoehorned into a back corner with the dancers right on top of them.


Andy started just as we got there and from the sidewalk I heard the sounds of swamp. I zipped in and got a seat and the happiness of them old blues washed over me. Andy played a whole set of tunes that were swamp or Little Walter and the band was just so funky and laid back. I hadn’t heard slow laidback like this in a long time; it took me back to when I was a kid downhome and the bartender at the Stumble Inn first let me sneak in the back.

This is a mean old world,
tryin' to live in by yourself
This is a mean old world,
tryin' to live in by yourself
Can't get the one you're lovin',
have to use somebody else

I've got the blues,
gonna pack my things and go
Yes, I've got the blues,
gonna pack my things and go
Well I guess you don't love me,
you're lovin' Mr. So-And-So

Sometime I wonder why,
can your love be so cold
Sometime I wonder why,
can your love be so cold
Seem like to me you don't want me,
I'm just an unlucky So-And-So
(Marion Walter Jacobs-"Little Walter")

Andy’s drummer hadn’t shown for the gig, but it was a few minutes before I really caught on that there wasn’t a drummer, the band was doing rhythm as thick as molasses. On guitar was Robert Sidwell of the Hucklebucks out of Sacramento, and bassist Mike Phillips holding down a whole lot of rhythm. Robert Sidwell did a magnificent job being Slim Harpo and Robert Lockwood on rhythm guitar. It was just so danceable in a downhome way. It was like little jukes and the crazy local blues band "Little Obie and the Creepers" when I was nineteen; your shoulders just wanted to do the pleasure hunch.

When Robert Sidwell cut loose on a solo he was a knockout, sharp and witty and still a part of the rhythm, his old P-90 LP dripping out the licks. Andy really got down in the alley with his harp playing and then broke out his old rebuilt Harmony H-64 and laid the wood on us with tough sounding rhythm licks and hard leads.

Man, this gig took me back to small bars on the wrong side of town and my old buddy Lionel playing the bass on his porch (Mama: "Lio-Nel, you boys play me some of those Lightnin’ numbers like "Black Cadillac!" "Aw Mama, why do you like those old things, you should listen to Archie Bell and Drells." "Well, I just like them.") Three guys sitting down and playing them old blues, it wasn’t flash at all. The contrast with the mirror ball and black lights of the 1351 was crazy and funny. The lights in the back were way down and everything white showed up purple.

Aww I'm itchin’
And I don't know where to scratch
Come here baby--Scratch my back
I know you can do it, so baby get to it

Aww you're workin with it now
You got me feelin' so good
Just lookin' up to the sun now baby
Oooooooooooo
This little girl sho' knows how'd scratch

Now you're doin' the chicken scratch
Aww, its lookin' good baby
Just get to scratchin’
That's what I'm talkin' bout
(Slim Harpo)

I’d like to thank Andy Santana and the West Coast Playboys for an unexpected night and for really rising to the occasion and covering misfortune with professionalism and knowing the old ways. I loved it and so did the yuppy crowd. Big Dave was laughing, Mo was dancing, Lis danced and kept saying "I haven’t seen anything like this in years! I tried to remember how to do the Uncle Willy up and down the floor.