| October 12th, 2004 10:12 PM |
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| Gimme Shelter |
Anybody see a Taj Mahal show recently? I'll be seeing him on Saturday night at the Crest Theatre here in Sacramento. |
| October 13th, 2004 05:45 AM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
Speaking of Taj Mahal, this was in the Republican on Monday....
Taj Mahal loves to come home
Monday, October 11, 2004
By DAN LAMOTHE
[email protected]
The moment he stepped off the bus for his Aug. 29 Celebrate Holyoke performance, everyone knew - Taj Mahal was home, and happy to be back in the area.
"Woooey! Look at you!" he said, twirling a teenage girl around in a pirouette before leading her onto his lush bus for a tour.
In the next few minutes, the blues legend made his rounds of Heritage State Park, a huge grin upon his face as he caught up with friends and family in attendance.
Bounding around in red patent leather high-tops, a fluorescent floral shirt, baggy jeans, and wrap-around shades, Mahal's cackle and enthusiasm charged the sultry air with excitement.
The 62-year-old's reaction to being back in Western Massachusetts would come as no surprise to people who hear him recall his childhood growing up in Springfield.
"Coming into the area, it's always great," said Mahal, a two-time Grammy-winning musician who has played with Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, among others, while releasing award-winning records like "Se�or Blues."
"It's a kick in the head to come back in and play music and run into a lot of old friends - some of whom were little kids when I left and are now grown people with their families," he said. "It's all nice."
Born in 1942 as Henry S. Fredericks Jr., the first years of Mahal's life came in Springfield as the eldest of three children born to Henry S. and Mildred Fredericks, the first black teacher in the West Springfield school system.
Henry Sr. worked a variety of jobs, exposing his children to a variety of cultures while speaking in Italian, Spanish, Yiddish and possibly Portuguese, Mahal remembers. Mildred kept the family on a tight leash while singing gospel music and pitching in with civic organizations.
While Mahal remembers Springfield as being "a great place to grow up in," tragedy did test the family in 1954 when Mahal's father died after a work accident.
Over the next few years, Mahal says the family moved to four different homes in Springfield while his mother coped with the loss of her husband, ultimately settling in the Old Hill neighborhood on Marion Street.
Mildred eventually remarried Hughan Williams, a widower with five children, and they had one child together.
Mahal remembers "The Hill," his nickname for the neighborhood, as an area that exposed him to great diversity while he participated in activities ranging from basketball games to soapbox derbies.
"The diversity in this area was always something that you don't realize (is there) until you go other places where people have never been exposed to one another," says Mahal, who has incorporated everything from Hawaiian music to African beats into his 40-year career as a blues musician.
After stints at both West Springfield High School and Westfield High School, Mahal enrolled at the University of Massachusetts Stockbridge School in 1961 to, in his words, "be the example of going to college for my brothers and sisters."
The experience was an eye-opener for Mahal, who said he has always had a strong inclination to spend time with people from many different backgrounds.
"It was really fantastic," Mahal said. "At that time, UMass was probably about 5,000 people, so you could get a handle on it."
It was at that age that he first fronted a band, Taj Mahal and the Electras, and legally changed his name.
"The reason for it was simple," said Mahal of the name change. "It was just dreams, that's all. It had a lot to do with Mahatma Gandhi in the late '40s and '50s, just my like thoughts about this person ... just thinking about, 'OK, people come up with great names, and this is a great name. Do it.' (So I) did it."
Sharpening their act in front of UMass fraternities and crowds at the now-defunct Quonset Club on Route 9 in Hadley, Taj Mahal and the Electras began making trips weekends to places as far away as Maine and Pennsylvania.
"The biggest thing that happened to us was a mixer that happened down at Smith College," Mahal said. "All the New England and Ivy League schools came to this big mixer, and (our drummer) passed out all these business cards. After that, we were always gone."
Mahal came back to "Swingfield" after graduation, briefly rejoining a vibrant local music scene that he said included everything from doo-wop groups to classical. But by the age of 23, he decided to move on - if he was going to make it in music, he needed to start over on the West Coast, he said.
"There was no shortage of music in this town. There's just never any real outlet," Mahal said. "... That's why I broke out and went to the West Coast ... I figured, 'Go out to California, what do they know?' At least it would be a new slate to start with."
Forty years later, Mahal now has a home in Hawaii, and remains active touring the country. Although he estimates he makes it back to the Springfield area only about once a year, he is grateful for honors the city has bestowed on him, things like having Monroe Street named in his honor.
"I think it's really great," said Mahal. "We've all been a part of things. It's nice to get your bouquets of flowers now, you know what I'm saying? ... It's always nice to know, it's always nice to feel it."
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| October 13th, 2004 04:31 PM |
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| 56DeSoto |
Yep, saw him on his last swing through NM with the Hula Blues Band. A fun, high-energy concert...and those ukeleles really do rock. You should have a good time, his voice still sounds great. |
| October 13th, 2004 06:34 PM |
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| Gimme Shelter |
Cool, thanks |
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