“Blues is the roots, everything else is the fruits”

Slow Ride entertains the PCEC with several Blues tunes with Ken (Snowman) Minahan on Guitar, Somchai (Oi) Sihaapai on drums and Tony (Tone) Stevens on Bass.

“Blues is the roots, everything else is the fruits.” So said one of the most prolific Blues songwriter, Willie Dixon. This along with other interesting facts about blues music was learned by members and guests at the Pattaya City Expats Club meeting on July 13. The group Slow Ride spoke about the Blues in between performing some Blues songs. The group consists of Tony (Tone) Stevens on Bass, Ken (Snowman) Minahan on Guitar, and Somchai (Oi) Sihaapai on drums. They are presently featured at Pattaya’s MOOD Café and Night Club at Thepthip Mansion Condo on Pratamnak Soi 6.

The PCEC introduces their officers for the coming fiscal year: (l to r) Roy Albiston, Chairman, Richard Smith, Vice Chairman, Wilson Fletcher, Sergeant-at-arms, Judith Edmonds, Treasurer, and David Garmaise, Secretary.

Ken explained that Blues originated in the days of slavery and evolved differently in the various countries where the slave trade was practiced. In the U.S., he said, Blues is the root of all American music. Wikipedia explains that the Blues originated in African-American communities in the U.S. “Deep South” from spiritual work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads. In the U.S., the slaves were not allowed to use drums in their music because their masters believed that the slaves would use the drums to communicate with other slaves in neighbouring plantations. Consequently, the slaves used song to relay messages from field to field; whereas their masters thought they were simply singing to pass the time in the tedium of work.

Member Darrel Vaught during the Open Forum gives PCEC members and guests the latest updates on Thai Immigration matters.
Hand clapping and voice were the earliest instruments. Other early instruments were the harmonica, the banjo and the diddley-bow. The last consisted of a single string of baling wire tensioned between two nails on a board over a glass bottle. The bottle is used both as a bridge and as a means to magnify the instrument’s sound. Sometimes a rock was also added. Ken mentioned that this was the source for the American singer Bo Diddley’s stage name.
The first guitars used in Blues music were made with cigar boxes. Slide guitars became a staple of the Blues. It is a particular technique for playing the guitar. Wikipedia explains that the term “slide” refers to the motion of the slide along the strings. “Instead of altering the pitch of the strings in the normal manner (by pressing the string against frets), an object called a “slide” is placed upon the string to vary its vibrating length, and pitch. This slide can then be moved along the string without lifting, creating smooth transitions in pitch and allowing wide, expressive vibrato.”
The Blues encompass a broad spectrum of music; within the U.S., there are regional variations. Ken said that the Christian religion was forced on the slaves and that, when combined with their Blues traditions, this led to gospel and soul music.

Ken mentioned the Diddley-Bow as one of the earliest handmade instruments used for the Blues. To listen to this unique instrument, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmuDGGgDio8& feature=related. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diddley_bow)

Slow Ride played several Willie Dixon songs. Dixon was born in 1915 and died in 1992. There are many Willie Dixon songs available on YouTube. The group also played a Sam Cooke song called “A Change is Gonna Come.” Slow Ride concluded their mini-concert with a rendition of “The Blues is All Right” that included some audience participation. Visit You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGpZQ60tvDk for a sample of their music.
Master of Ceremonies Richard Silverberg brought everyone up to date on upcoming events and called on Roy Albiston to conduct the always informative Open Forum where questions are asked and answered about expat living in Thailand, especially Pattaya.
For more information on the PCEC’s many activities, visit their website at www.pcecclub.org.

UNODC donates mobile-training unit to CPDC

Officials from Pattaya’s Child Protection and Development Center take possession of a “mobile training unit” donated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Japanese Embassy.

Pattaya’s Child Protection and Development Center will be rolling into more neighborhoods following the donation of a “mobile training unit” from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Japanese Embassy.
Human Help Network Thailand Director Radchada Chomjinda accepted the colorful van from U.N. officials in Bangkok July 9. Accompanying her were deputy directors Samphan Akrapongpanich and Suppaya Maneecharoen, along with Kanchanat Meemanas, the director of the Drop-In Center and other staff members and volunteers.
In her thank you speech, Radchada explained how the mobile unit will come into play in the CPDC’s mission.
“We are a non-government organization operating in Pattaya since 2009. Our aim is to help young people who have been physically and mentally abused on the street where they have lived or in disadvantaged communities where trafficking, drugs and crime are endemic.”
She said the van will help them visit schools, youth organizations and poor areas where children are at risk of being abused or involved with crime and drugs.

The unit comes equipped with a library.

“It also gives us the opportunity to provide information and support those who are already in trouble,” she said, noting the unit comes equipped with a library and multimedia equipment.
“We try to devise ways and means to make our visits to the troubled areas more interesting and less threatening to the parents and children we talk to and it is in this area where the mobile training unit excels,” Radchada said. “It is a mobile support unit for our social workers and outreach workers that can carry teaching and media equipment, which is essential to provide awareness and a help-line to those who are the most vulnerable.

The mobile unit has multimedia equipment that social and outreach workers can use to provide awareness and a help-line to those who are the most vulnerable.

“Our outreach workers go to the places where street children are known to take shelter or employment. The children are often begging, drug dealing or selling themselves. Our social workers patiently earn the trust of the children before offering them help and support,” Radchada explained. “The children are encouraged to return to their families or, if this is not possible, we offer a secure and safe environment at the CPDC on the outskirts of Pattaya. Any hard evidence we discover relating to child trafficking or criminal networks is passed on to the police and appropriate organizations.”
She also invited U.N. and Japanese embassy staff to visit the CPDC.
“We have 65 kids at the moment,” she said, adding there also are “10 chickens, three pigs, two vegetable plots that need some work, a number of very friendly dogs, some frightened cats, and not so sure how many fish are in our pond.”