wednesday’s worse…
courtesy of Nicky Alsmasy (http://almasy-photography.com)
They call it stormy Monday, but Tuesday’s just as bad
They call it stormy Monday, but Tuesday’s just as bad
Wednesday’s worse, and Thursday’s also sad
Yes the eagle flies on Friday, and Saturday I go out to play
Eagle flies on Friday, and Saturday I go out to play
Sunday I go to church, then I kneel down and pray
Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy on me
Lord have mercy, my heart’s in misery
Crazy about my baby, yes, send her back to me
All good things come to an end or so they say yet when it comes to a person’s life and particularly when that person was very dear to you it’s a pretty bitter-sweet pill to swallow… but it is nonetheless true. Wednesday 14th July 2010 was just one such day and the world truly is a sadder place for the passing of Jacqui Staton aka. Sugar Mama who for nearly a decade now has been the absolute vocal mainstay of Shanghai’s Cotton Club; and whether it was her nightly (a la Ronnie Scott) one “blackinese” joke or her drier than a black olive humour that first hooked you in you can be sure of one thing, it was Mama’s voice that kept you in that chair (or stool in my case) and had you coming back night after night for that fix of Staton sweetness.
Whether she was tearing holes in a Stevie Wonder cover or working wonders with a Matt Harding original you can be sure of one thing, things will never be quite the same again; her timing was second to none like a young Miles Davis, her punch that of a mature Etta James and her exuberance obviously coming from her days on the road with Ike & Tina Turner.
Sugar Mama was the real deal and for any wannabe musicians she set the bar mighty damn high.
What can we do on days like this… well Mama has to have the last word and I think she might just say “let’s give thanks to our Heavenly Father” and all we might say is amen.