2120 South Michigan Avenue

Next 2120 Event:  
Fri. Nov. 24, Strange Brew Tavern, 88 Market St, Manchester, NH   

2120 in August, 2023:

Photos by Eric Smith

• • • Announcing: "How Blue Can You Get?", a (2019) lecture/concert series sponsored by Boxford Cable Access TV. 5 lectures history of blues, 2 concerts, hosted by town libraries:

      • Wed. July 10, 2019, 6:30PM. Lecture #1, Flint Library, Middleton, MA 

      • Wed. July 17, 2019, 6:30PM. Concert w/ 2120, Gould Barn, Topsfield, MA

      • Wed. July 24, 2019, 6:30PM. Lecture #2, Flint Library, Middleton, MA 

      • Wed. July 31, 2019, 6:30PM. Lecture #3, Boxford Town Library 

      • Thur. August 8, 2019, 6:30PM Lecture #4, Topsfield Town Library

      • Tues. August 13, 2019, 6:00PM. Lecture #5 + 6:00PM Reception for photo exhibition, Georgetown Peabody Library 

      • Wed. August 21, 2019, 6:30PM, Concert w/ 2120 Georgetown Peabody Library 

• TV One, the cable channel (Verizon 271, 771, Comcast 214), will show a 1-hour documentary on B.B. King on Sunday, June 24, at 9:00PM, as part of the Unsung series. The program is the most comprehensive, in-depth study of the King of the Blues to date. [No claim of objectivity, I was a consultant and an interviewee.] See the trailer: TV-1 Unsung: B.B. King (press un-mute to hear Charlie Sawyer sing the Pepticon jingle.)

• March 17, 2017 issue of The Tri Town Transcript, regional weekly newspaper: Boxford Blues.

• Watch BCATv interview with Charlie Sawyer and Tokyo Tramps: BCATv: Interview, Charlie and the Tramps 

• Listen: a raw, wild-sound run-through of the Little Walter classic Just A Feeling.

• Facebook: 2120 South Michigan Avenue on Facebook

Eulogy for B.B. King: Bell Grove Missionary Baptist Church, Indianola, MS, May 30, 2015

Photos of blues greats: Charlie's Archives

Media posts:

• • • Read the story: Learning From the King, How a Legend Inspired a Life in the Blues, by Corey Francer, Hippo Press, March 7, 2013. From Avantis  to 2120 South Michigan Avenue.

• Harvard's House of Blues.  B.B. King plays and sings at Harvard's Lippmann House, 1980.  Hear B.B. play through a tiny practice amp and sing without a microphone.  A magic concert in a living room.

• Bistra: A Love Story The story of Bistra Lankova in America.

• Ashes To Ashes  A YouTube video starring Sophia Loren, Jayne Mansfield, Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, Israeli singer/song-writer Avner Strauss and American harmonica player Charlie Sawyer.

• 2120 In Concert, Bedford NH Library, Oct 5  YouTube video by Mojo Productions. Starring Sweet Willie "D", Mike Turk, and Ron Levy w/ the 2120 regulars.

• Blues, alive and well in the Holy Land. Eli Marcus' wonderful radio show, Traveling Blues, weekly on Radio IDC, Herzliya, Israel.  Episode 5 featured Charlie Sawyer and his Desert Island Half Dozen tunes. Podcast: http://tinyurl.com/travelingblues-5  First 8 mins are in Hebrew.

Japanese translation of The Arrival of B.B. King.  P-Vine Boxed Set: The Complete Recordings 1950-1965 

Photos by Cherie Hoyt, November 19, 2011, Strange Brew Tavern, Manchester, NH

Just released, two interviews with B.B. King, recorded by Harvard, posted on http://www.bluesisking.com. Direct links here :

• Interview 2007 on the bus  Recorded on BB's bus in Lowell, MA, 2007.

• Interview at Harvard 2004  Recorded in 2004, at Lowell Hall, Harvard University when B.B. King came to class.

PRESS RELEASE: *NEW B.B. KING INTERVIEWS ADDED TO HARVARD'S TRIBUTE WEBSITE*

The Harvard at Home website, Blues is King: A Tribute to B.B. King *(bluesisking.com)* has added two extended video interviews,conversations, really, with the King of the Blues, in which he reflects on his long life and career, and provides insight into the music he plays and sings with such passion. The first interview, from 2004, took place in class -- Charlie Sawyer's History of Blues in America class at Harvard Extension School.  The second interview was recorded by the Harvard at Home video crew on B.B.'s bus after his concert in Lowell, MA in November of 2007.

Charlie Sawyer conducted both interviews, which together total more than 73 minutes. The conversations cover technical questions such as,

"Why does your guitar sound so different on stage than it does on recordings?" (2004), and queries regarding his life and legacy, such as "How would you like to be remembered?" (2007).

First launched in 2009, the Blues is King website describes King as "an icon of American music...whose distinctive guitar playing and evocative voice have inspired generations of rock and jazz performers." Two of the prominent performers inspired by B.B. King, guitarist/vocalist "Monster" Mike Welch and rock guitar icon Jay Geils are featured in a video of a B.B. King tribute concert given at Harvard by Sawyer's blues band, *2120 South Michigan Avenue* in 2007, which is presented in full on the website. In interview segments, Mike and Jay, as well as Rounder Records producer Scott Billington and Charlie Sawyer reflect on B.B.'s influence and great contribution to

American popular music.

This website is a resource for blues scholars and B.B. King fans alike, according to Sawyer. It includes a gallery of photographs of B.B. King and other blues artists and a timeline of B.B. King's life, along with the tribute concert video and the interview videos. Sawyer says the materials collected here are a good online supplement to the voluminous collections of the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in B.B.'s hometown of Indianola, Mississippi. www.bbkingmuseum.org