UPDATE: Post-race podcast from Sonoma is now posted. Because the numbers for the podcasts are consistently very low, we may discontinue the post-race versions unless business picks up. The other option is to simply post the full race chatter without editing or narration, so if you like the podcasts, tell your friends to listen-up each week...
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Jr. and J.R.: Leave it to the folks at Sonoma to provide the best celeb sightings (and we'll even forgive them for several years back as members of the stoned-beyond-coherence Grateful Dead stumbled and ambled through the pits). Last year, Chris Isaak and drummer Kenny Dale Johnson were a hit. Last weekend, it was all-universe wide receiver Jerry Rice. He was the most visible and charismatic NASCAR grand marshal in memory. (Thanks to BluMoon Group for the pic of Jr. and J.R.)
For some on the grid at Sonoma (OK, maybe just me), the biggest honor of the season was meeting Booker T. Jones, who provided a pre-race concert. Booker's credits are too numerous to mention here, but he's one of America's most accomplished musicians - from his lead role in Booker T. & the MG's (also starring Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn and the late Al Jackson Jr. - one of the greatest drummers of all time) which doubled as the Stax house band in Memphis - to recording with legends like Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Ray Charles, Sam & Dave and many, many more. He wrote "Bron Under a Bad Sign" with Albert King - which became a hit for Cream. Ironically, most of his Stax-era material was more famous after being ressurected by the Blue Brothers albums and film.
As a writer and/or producer, he was behind Willie Nelson's finest moment (the Stardust album) and others as diverse as Rita Coolidge and Bill Withers ("Aint No Sunshine"). He has also performed with other legends such as Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Boz Scaggs and Neil Young. Jones won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement honor in 2006.
Booker was polite, gracious and a pure pleasure to meet, and it was the thrill of the season for me,
Here's a version of Booker T. and the MG's biggest hit, Green Onions. A real classic.
and, by request, the slow version of "Time is Tight...." Bonus points if you can identify the other band shown watching from the side of the stage.
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