When blues guitarist and songwriter Bernie Pearl, who, in the 1970s backed late blues guitar legend Freddie King (“Hideaway”) to tens of thousands of paying customers at Anaheim Stadium joined me at Internet radio station WPMD at the beginning of 2009 – I’m on at 9 a.m., he’s on at 3 p.m. – wpmd.org – it was akin to reliving those exciting days of the founding of KLON as a jazz station in September 1981.  He calls it “My Kind Of Blues” because he’s a realist.  KLON still uses his “Nothin’ But the Blues” and he’s not anxious to engage them over a radio show moniker.

Pearl’s “Nothin’ But the Blues” was already a staple on KLON while the station was owned by the Long Beach School District and was housed at the Long Beach City College campus on PCH, with Pearl as host as Southland Blues publisher Dan Jacobson as blues host just prior.   I have all the old program guides, but fetching them out and dusting them off to zero in on when and how would mean I’d have to clean the rest of the house.

When Cal State Long Beach acquired the station and shut down the student-run low power KSUL (to protests that lasted for several years), it was the end of something special (KSUL), but the start of something big (KLON).

I had been doing little or nothing at the time, having a day job and all that goes along with it, except I was acquiring 45s, LPs and even 78s at a steady clip, as my work gig afforded me generous field time, during which I managed to make stops at record sources along the way to pick up vinyl… from Lynwood to Carson – I had the St. Vincent de Paul distribution HQ wired, until they tore it down to make way for car dealerships – points as far as Ventura to the north to south Orange County were where I knew I could locate good used vinyl.

But I digress, so I’ll digress some more.  

We had just returned from a cruise emanating from Athens to Istanbul and every island in-between – I worked, therefore I had dough.  A few days after we returned, I visited the Ruth Bach Library to read the paper, check out a few books and pick up free stuff, among which was an early KLON program guide.

What I found inside changed my life.  I didn’t know about Bernie’s show.  I didn’t even know about the blues festival that had been held on a flatbed truck at Vet’s Stadium, within hearing distance of my home, in late 1980 – the only festival I missed in the 80s and 90s.  Bernie organized and played at these festivals.  

Digressing from my digression… if you or a loved one or a complete stranger would like to relive the experience this week, all you have to do is show up at the Rancho Los Cerritos in Bixby Knolls on Thursday (July 30) at 6:00pm because Bernie will be there, playing the blues, which he generally does only for paying customers at blues festivals throughout the land on a regular basis.  His is a very popular touring act, but you can see him for free this Thursday, and if you do, tell the band or the guy next to you or the guy telling where to park that Steve at lbpost.com gave you the word, whether or not that is really the case.

According to the press release:

“Pearl will open the concert with a set of traditional blues played on acoustic guitars, accompanied by bassist Michael Barry. He and Barry will then complete the show with his four-piece electric band, including Dwayne Smith on piano, and Albert Trepagnier, Jr. on drums. The free 90-minute concert, sponsored by the Arts Council of Long Beach and the Friends of Rancho Los Cerritos, begins at 6:00. Visitors are invited to bring blankets, lawn chairs, and picnic baskets for the whole family. Parking is free. The Museum and Gardens are open from 5:00-7:30. Rancho Los Cerritos is at 4600 Virginia Road, Long Beach. Call (562) 570-1755, or visit www.rancholoscerritos.org for further information.”

And I’ll tell you about my first contact at KLON.