CURTIS OBEDA:
I grew up as a teenager in Minneapolis. We moved up there from Chicago. And Luther had a regular tour---and one of his regular stops, he was in Madison. And he played at a club real close to my house called the Cabooze. It's a very big place. And Luther was there every six weeks. And if you ever heard Luther Allison play, you realize he could play everybody's style. He could play like Magic Sam, Freddie King, Otis Rush, Robert Lockwood.
And I was learning how to play the guitar, so I would keep a guitar in the trunk of my car. And after every set I'd run out on the break and try to recreate what I had just seen Luther do. So, even though I don't sound at all like Luther Allison, Luther Allison taught me how to play the guitar.
I listened to all these records, but you know it's very difficult if you don't see what they're playing. But I watched Luther, and all these things became magically clear to me. And so I was a very lucky man that he came every six weeks to give me another guitar lesson!
And his drummer at the time was a man named Robb Stupka. And Robb was an excellent drummer, played with him for many years, and later when I was putting the Butanes together, he and his wife happened to move to Minneapolis. So, I had the drummer that was in my head! 'Cause I had learned to play with Luther Allison, so all I had to do when I hired Robb---it was so easy. And people said, "Boy, you guys sound like you been playin' together a long time." And it's like, "Well, we have---but just not us!" You know? We all know the same songs and we all play exactly the same and Robb didn't have to change a thing. He knew half the songs I was gonna play. So I was a very lucky man. (7/15/00 A)
I grew up as a teenager in Minneapolis. We moved up there from Chicago. And Luther had a regular tour---and one of his regular stops, he was in Madison. And he played at a club real close to my house called the Cabooze. It's a very big place. And Luther was there every six weeks. And if you ever heard Luther Allison play, you realize he could play everybody's style. He could play like Magic Sam, Freddie King, Otis Rush, Robert Lockwood.
And I was learning how to play the guitar, so I would keep a guitar in the trunk of my car. And after every set I'd run out on the break and try to recreate what I had just seen Luther do. So, even though I don't sound at all like Luther Allison, Luther Allison taught me how to play the guitar.
I listened to all these records, but you know it's very difficult if you don't see what they're playing. But I watched Luther, and all these things became magically clear to me. And so I was a very lucky man that he came every six weeks to give me another guitar lesson!
And his drummer at the time was a man named Robb Stupka. And Robb was an excellent drummer, played with him for many years, and later when I was putting the Butanes together, he and his wife happened to move to Minneapolis. So, I had the drummer that was in my head! 'Cause I had learned to play with Luther Allison, so all I had to do when I hired Robb---it was so easy. And people said, "Boy, you guys sound like you been playin' together a long time." And it's like, "Well, we have---but just not us!" You know? We all know the same songs and we all play exactly the same and Robb didn't have to change a thing. He knew half the songs I was gonna play. So I was a very lucky man. (7/15/00 A)