Hot Tuna (Electric) headlines Bellingham's Mount Baker Blues Festival

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      Good news for '70s-rock fans who might feel like taking a quick musical trip Stateside this summer. Hot Tuna--aka guitarist-vocalist Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady--will be performing in Bellingham on Saturday, August 4, as part of the three-day Mount Baker Blues Festival.

      Hot Tuna was one of the most underrated rock bands of the '70s, in my unhumble opinion. Kaukonen and Casady formed it in the late '60s as an acoustic folk-blues side project while still members of the Jefferson Airplane, and although it evolved in different directions over the years, the blues remained a constant.

      I became acquainted with Hot Tuna big-time in 1975, the year they released the rock albums America's Choice in May and then Yellow Fever in November. Both discs took turns vying for airplay on my trusty Yamaha turntable, and I spent long hours entranced by the radarlike musical connection between Jorma and Jack, who had grown up together in Washington, D.C.

      But don't take my word for it. Check out these three tracks from America's Choice your own self, and then try telling me that '75 wasn't the Year of our Lord for sweet guitar-based tuneage.

      You can follow Steve Newton on Twitter at twitter.com/earofnewt.

      Comments

      2 Comments

      shoegazer

      Feb 10, 2012 at 8:36am

      Steve: Got turned on to Hot Tuna in the early seventies.Still think the best record they put out was 1972's Burgers.With Sammy Piazza on drums and Papa John Creach on violin,songs such as Highway Song,Sea Child and Ode to Billy Dean made it a staple at parties of the day.

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      Loretta

      Feb 10, 2012 at 8:42am

      Takes me back to 1972 at CFTK....
      sigh....

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