A Drop of the real thing

Now I have never been a great champion of the popular Erdington beat combo, but I am happy to acknowledge that Go Now is a fabulous nugget of pop gold - the only tune that ever made a Wings live show bearable when Sir Paul deigned to give Denny Laine a solo.

Ignore this next par if you're not a guitar nerd.

Laine played an exquisite twin-neck Ibanez, complete with tree of life inlay and Flying Horse pick-ups during his Wings sojourn. A single neck version was played by not only David Essex, but also Bob Weir, of the Grateful Dead. Glad you tuned in now, I expect.

Anyway, the Simply Red track is the naffest thing I've heard since a certain Freddie and the Dreamers B-side in 1964. Incidentally, the man who taught Jimmy Paige everything he knows, session legend and James Last Orchestra kingpin Big Jim Sullivan, played on most of Freddie's hits.

I'm getting further and further away from any discernible point, aren't I? Right, so let's hear it for BBC iPlayer, the wonderful piece of kit that makes it possible to watch the fabulous music on Later and still miss most of the Jools Holland bits.

Another set of brilliant musicians this week, with the Carolina Chocolate Dropsx outstanding. Fascinating that just as Senator Obama storms the White House, this trio is threatening to conquer the world with an almost-forgotten strand of American music - the black string band tradition that owed a lot to the Griot culture of Africa and early American minstrel music and which hugely influenced the white tradition that would eventually became bluegrass.

If you like the Memphis Jug Band, you'll love them, and they're doing amazing work integrating the tradition into modern hip-hop pieces. They're at the London Jazz Festival this weekend.