IN AMERICA On the Appalachian Trail near Salisbury, Connecticut. Photo by Allen Bacon

Still Working On The Blues

Eric Allen Live Performances

Southern California -Various Locations

Five scoops of Bosco (Out of five)

Reviewed by Allen Bacon, The Daily Bosco

Eric Allen, the quintessential Blues Traveler, has returned to American soil. 

The good news is that he never stopped telling stories, and delivering his gritty, authentic style of blues.  He has just been doing it in a different part of the world for the past few years. 

To the delight of his fans, the Indiana-born and raised Allen popped up in Southern California recently and has been playing in small venues all over the region.

In the latest live shows, Allen goes it alone without his band.  The sets are a wonderful mix of songs from his first two albums, (2021's debut Eric Allen, and 2023's Prowlin' Lobo Blues) and a briefcase full of new stories accumulated from his recent travels.

In one of the new songs, Somewhere Beyond, Allen looks out the window of a high-speed rail in Shanghai and relates the stories of the people in the region.

In Really Blue, the story centers around the devastating Malibu fires in Southern California.

The latest shows also deliver a collection of tales from Allen's upbringing in Indiana and Kentucky, and living all over America during his over 60 years

Moonshining, Back Water Blues, and a new song Cranes Creek Road are observations of life, family and friends growing up in Kentucky while 14th Floor and In Me are from his time spent in New York City.  There are songs and tales relating to his stay in Louisiana Bayou country. A couple are quite humorous.

One starts like this:

This is a tale of a guy, a woman...and another guy.....

So, to sum it up there are two guys, a woman...and an alligator...

All delivered with the grittiest, graveliest, honest voice. Along with his musical chops, this makes him one of the best living bluesmen and songwriters in America right now.

Allen told me he is honing, curating and releasing new single songs out on the platforms working toward his next album.  He has no time frame and doesn't seem to be in a rush.  But from what has been put out there so far and from the live performance I caught, it is going to be well worth the wait.  

In the words of the title of one of my favorite Eric Allen songs, He's still Working on the Blues.  

Thank God for that.

The Next to Last Diner On Route 66

Cafe 50's

Route 66 AKA Santa Monica Blvd

11623 Santa Monica Blvd

West Los Angeles, CA

By Allen Bacon, The Daily Bosco

Photo by Allen Bacon

I believe I have stumbled upon the formula for time travel on my walk of Route 66 through West Los Angeles.

Do you remember that scene from Back to the Future where Marty arrives in 1950's Hill Valley for the very first time and then enters a Diner?

That is exactly how I felt when I entered the Cafe 50's in West Los Angeles on Route 66 (Santa Monica Blvd.) .  This is because the minute you walk into the Cafe 50's universe, for all intents and purposes you have left the 21st Century.  

It would have even been better if there was a nearby record store blaring out The Chordette's Mr. Sandman.  

I was smart enough not to ask for a Pepsi Free.   I had coffee. No sugar. Just like Marty.

The Cafe 50's is billed as "The Last Diner on Route 66" (If you are traveling west) That was true when the diner opened in the 1970's.  Mel's Diner at the end of the Mother Road in Santa Monica actually has taken over that distinction.

Come for the 1950's food and the milk shakes. Stay for the memorabilia.  The walls are covered with Magazines, Newspaper articles, and Head shots from the 1950's.  And there are more classic Juke boxes per square foot than any place in America.  

The servers are dressed in the classic diner outfits from the 50's.  Now if they can just use 1950's expressions like "Swell" and "Jeepers".

I wanted to know if you could get a 1950's staple for breakfast. Steak and Eggs.  Yes you can but it was lunch time when I arrived so I had a cheese burger. As a lettuce wrap. No fries.  I could have had it 50's style but I had eaten a burger at the Shake Shack for Breakfast in Beverly Hills up the road earlier. So I stuck to my Keto diet. 

That was very Un-50's like but I am after all from the future.

The Last of the Mohicans

Even though the Over 100 year old Mascot of Fullerton High School in Southern California was changed from the Indians to the Red Hawks and most Native American imagery has been removed or covered up on campus, the Iconic Indian Chief Head Center Court will remain in the same place it has been for the past 75 years.  The School Gymnasium.

By Allen Bacon, The Daily BOSCO

Photo by Allen Bacon

Over the summer, the Fullerton High School campus, was quietly transformed from being "The Home of the Indians" to the "Home of the Red Hawks".

After a long debate, which dated back to the late 1960's, whether a Native American Indian Chief is an appropriate mascot for a school, a California state bill initiated by California Governor Gavin Newsome, was the proverbial nail in the coffin for the Indian Chief.

After over one hundred years of being known as the Indians, Fullerton High School is now known as the Red Hawks.

In a recent poll,  close to 98% of the Fullerton High School alumni surveyed say they will never adopt the new mascot name.  

There is more than one protest being organized by Alumni for this year's Homecoming Football Game.

Most of the murals and signage depicting Indian Chiefs, some of which were class gifts painted by former students,  were covered up by large format display signage this summer.  These new signs feature either a large red "F" or the new Red Hawk Logo.  It's significant to note that the Indian murals were not painted over....they were covered up.  

This is because the school administration learned a valuable lesson from a previous summer a few decades back when the paint crew painted over an iconic and historical mural on the outside of Plummer Auditorium.  The mural was eventually meticulously restored to the original state in 1996.

The idea is that the murals can be brought back later for special events or in the event there is a change of heart on the mascot name.  For instance, the FUHS Class of 1976 is asked to uncover their class gift, a mural depicting an Indian Chief, painted by a student in 1976, for their 50th anniversary this year.

There is also a provision of the State bill that says if a school gets approval from a local Indian Tribe they could re-institute the Indian Chief as the mascot.

There was one exception on the removal or hiding of the Native American imagery on campus.  

It is the original center court Indian Chief Logo that was in the old gymnasium on Pomona Street since the 1940's.  The center court has been in prominent display in the new gymnasium lobby.  The lobby doubles as a museum of Fullerton High School Sports History.

There was discussion over the Summer that the center court would be part of a permanent installation in the Fullerton High School Library highlighting the history of the school.  

The decision was made for the center court to stay exactly where it has been for the past 75 years.  In the FUHS Gymnasium.