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Preface: Groundhog's Day is fast approaching, and what better time to celebrate meteorological prognostication - or, in simpler terms, predicting the weather? The modern practice of groundhog-watching is likely based on archaic customs that have long been outdated by technology. But the question on everyone's minds come February is still the same: "how long will the cold last?" So this week, we'll celebrate the tradition by alternating between songs depicting clear and cloudy weather. Will the groundhog see its shadow and run back into its hole, or is warmer weather on the way?
Monday (1/28/08): Fleetwood Mac - One Sunny Day [The Original Fleetwood Mac, 1971]
Comments: "Wake up one morning, feel good one sunny day." When the weather's cold and blistery outside, it's easy to daydream wishfully about the summer. As winter slowly marches out, the warmer weather moves in, and one of these days, you might just wake up and find the sun shining brightly down on the world!
Tuesday (1/29/08): Bloomfield & Kooper - Fat Grey Cloud (Live) [Super Session, 1968]
Comments: In this live track, resulting from Bloomfield and Kooper's collaboration on Super Session, Bloomfield plays some characteristically expressive licks while Kooper provides an interesting melodical environment on the keyboard, even stepping out for a short solo. But fear not, soon the cloud will pass, and the blues will give way to blue sky.
Wednesday (1/30/08): The Allman Brothers Band - Blue Sky [Eat A Peach, 1972]
Comments: Sometimes a bright sun and a clear blue sky can be worse than clouds during the winter. I'm sure you know those days where it looks nice outside, but as soon as you walk out, the temperature forcibly reminds you that it is indeed still wintertime. Trickery! Well, at least you can stand inside, by a window, and take advantage of the heat of the sunlight. Ah, the spring can not come too soon.
Thursday (1/31/08): Pink Floyd - Obscured By Clouds / When You're In [Obscured By Clouds, 1972]
Comments: These two tracks, opening the Pink Floyd album serving as the soundtrack to the film La Valle (Obscured By Clouds), just go better together. After this album, the clouds parted, and Pink Floyd made history by revealing the Dark Side of the Moon. It was the end of a stormy period in the band's artistic career.
Friday (2/01/08): Robin Trower - Fine Day [For Earth Below, 1975]
Comments: "So good being alive on a fine day." This is the song I think of every time I'm strolling through a grassy meadow, underneath a bright blue sky with fluffy white clouds, showered in the warm glow of the sun, with a gentle breeze rustling through the trees. If you can't have the summer now, try imagining it. You're bound to feel better.
Saturday (2/02/08): Triumvirate - Ground Hog Blues [Triumvirate, 1973]
Comments: Today is the day! Now here's the irony of the system - if it's sunny, then the groundhog will see its shadow and run back into its hole, indicating more cold weather on the horizon. However, if it's cloudy, then the groundhog will not see its shadow, and will stay outside, thereby indicating that an early spring is on the way. Well, that's apparently how it works - the rest is up to the groundhog!
Sunday (2/03/08): B.B. King & Eric Clapton - Come Rain Or Come Shine [Riding With The King, 2000]
Comments: The moral of this story is, it doesn't matter what the groundhog predicts, whether you believe it or not. The fact of the matter is, weather is unpredictable, and the only thing you can count on is that it'll fluctuate between winter and spring for the next couple of months, until spring finally sets in after that last late snow. And no matter what the weather's like, we'll pull through as we always have before!