Dave Jensen and I went to the Midnight Ramble on Saturday, and we had a great time. It was a slightly different show, at least for us. The opening act was Steve Forbert, who was amiable and emotive and entertaining. Then the Midnight Ramble Band came on and did maybe 8 or 10 songs–“This Wheel’s On Fire,” “The Shape I’m In,” “Atlantic City,” “Good news,” “Tango of Love,” “Mystery Train,” “Dirt Farmer,” “Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning” (Teresa Williams!) maybe a couple more, crowd-pleasers every one. They were then joined by Stax recording legend William Bell, a smooth soul crooner of the old school, who did about a dozen numbers, possibly best known of which was “You Don’t Miss You’re Water,” and “Born Under a Bad Sign,” which was very exciting as he gave each band ember about 30 seconds to solo. Electrifying!
