So there I was, drinking coffee and reading blogs and playing computer Solitaire and listening to iTunes when I decided to hit the iTunes Genius button* while a Ladysmith Black Mambazo song was playing. Fine, that song finished and the next one came on. I continued drinking and reading and clicking and eventually realized that I really, really, really liked the song that was now playing.
But I had never heard it before.
There it was, living in my iTunes library and I had never heard it.
Clicked over to iTunes to see what it was: "Ai Du" by Ry Cooder and Ali Farka Touré, which I had apparently copied over from Elder Son's iTunes at some point. According to the iTunes info, he had gotten it from his former girlfriend Rachel, who was a linguist anthropology major and who had broken up with him in 2006.
Now, I had heard of Ry Cooder, of course, but Ali Farka Touré? Who is he? A little googling and YouTube-ing, and I found that he had been a well-known and -respected Malian musician who died in 2006. The iTunes store even had 6 or 8 of his albums. Most of his music is more North African-sounding, but this song -- the one that had caught my interest -- is a treat for any blues fan. The vocals, not so much for me at least, but the guitar riffs! The beat! Sensual blues heaven.** This is the only version of the song I could find online. Enjoy.
* http://www.apple.com/itunes/whatsnew/and scroll down to "Genius Playlists."
** Yes, I am a fan of the blues, although not the canonical stuff, much to Elder Son's dismay. How can I like the music of Eric Clapton and the Stones without also loving Muddy Waters and every other pre-1960 black blues musician? Yeah, I'm just a fraud and an ingrate and probably listen to disco music when no one else is around. (Not.) So sue me. Such is life of the mother of The Smartest Son On The Planet.
