Richard Lloyd

I had the strange experience  wednesday night of attending a recording session at Grant Avenue Studio by ex-Television guitarist Richard Lloyd ... one of the great rock guitarists ever to come out of the '70s New York scene (Television was the first band to play CBGBs), Richard is an eccentric by choice and natural inclination. Before ripping into the guitar shreds of Soldier Blue (off his 1985 solo album Field of Fire) he led his band, the Sufi Monkeys, in a few Buddhist mantras and a recital of the Lord's Prayer in ancient Aremaic. He had several pet rocks at his bare feet and little statues of Hindu gods lined up atop his amps. He performed some old songs and some very new ones, ending the night with a medley of five Jimi Hendrix songs, including Are You Experienced and Bold As Love. Jimi was a mentor of Richard's ... and Richard still talks about how one night Jimi punched him in the face during a drunken bender in New Orleans. It was a charming and bizzare evening. Weird and wonderful. Richard played the Absinthe Friday.