Dig This: Recent Episodes
Rich Buckland
My Fellow Americans,
Life is actually just a microscopic, deluded moment in time, so let's cut to the freakin' chase.
One look at American Idol or the MTV Music Awards can solidify my case.
It has been my contention since birth, that the answer to every difficulty we encounter on this sacred yet demented Stone, can be revealed with ultimate clarity through the ultra neurotic engagements of Music, Art, Literature, Film, Poetry and a good Pastrami sandwich.
Why would any sane human spend so must time on a film set (Do you know how long you gotta wait until your 8 second deliverance of an edited beyond repair line gets a chance to become a professional embarrassment etched in time forever? ) or expend so much energy in a recording studio, piecing together another ode to a man or woman who could not care less how much love existed within your digestive tract?
It's all about hymns and prayers and a quest for mercy and forgiveness and silence and faith and Bukowski and Lenny and Noam Chomsky and Oliver freakin Hardy. So Let's Dance!
This site shall explore the reaper, find a way to disarm the stench of injustice, discover some true loves and talk it all over before it's all over.
So what's the worst that my desires could produce? Failure? So sue me.
I'm going to require your assistance in making as much trouble for the grown-ups as possible. Let the record show that my childish heart yearns to disrupt the madness.
Join me Ladies and Germs!
MY HEART TOOK A LEAP - THE POETIC INNOCENCE OF THE SHANGRI-LAS" -
RICH BUCKLAND'S EPIPHANY NOTEBOOK
Like so many pre teens growing up in the sixites I slept with a transistor radio under my pillow. That receiver was the best friend a 12 year old could possibly have. It told me only what I wanted to hear and unlike the parental tunes regulary dispensed, I could slide the dial to another frequency and change the feel and tempo. 1964 was an extraordinary year for popular music and youthful urges. My wireless companion delivered the sound of pleading voices reciting urgent love calls through the night air. The first feminine intonations that whispered directly to my adolescent hunger ariived through The Supremes in June of that year. I would wait anxiously through the bedtime darkness to hear the DJ conduct another spin of the salvation revealed within a Diana Ross plea requesting an explanation to what would become the eternal question of "Where Did Our Love Go". I was fully captured by the gentle elocution each conflicted tone incited. She was conducting a sorrowful inquest, the meaning of which I was not experienced enough to comprehend and yet fully accepted. It felt like a sensual revolution emanating from the magic of a wireless, spiritual trasmission, but more importantly a glorious awakening having nothing to do with sexual messaging. It was my initiation into the significance of lonliness. And then it became more complex. In August of that same period, a group calling themselves The Shangri-las, dispatched a 45 revelations per second record titled "Remember (Walking In The Sand )" It ignited something dark and dramatic. This was my first migraine heartache and I understood the origin. It was the voice of Mary Weiss, the groups teen vocalist from Queens NY, the very borough I lived in. She was singing a story of such anguish, I just wanted to embrace her and make it better.
"Oh, no, Oh no, Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Remember (Walking In The Sand)".
The song and it's production were the child of a music business misfit named George "Shadow" Morton" But it was the urgent hurt of Mary Weiss that has lived within me going on 55 years.
I recall ruminating, " If this is 12, what the hell will 13 be like."
I began to find out when the next Shangri-las recording was released in December. The melancholy of "Remember" surrendered to another George Morton composition sung as only Mary and her partners could. It was called "Give Him A Great Big Kiss" and made me feel better about our fate and the abyss she had us both falling into only four months earlier. Teendom was just around my Queens, NY street corner. Hope and the sound of rock and roll transmitted by Murray The K, wrestled with the gusty winds which flowed beneath the Throgs Neck Bridge where my friends and I spent long summer days.
In retrospect Mary Weiss was my first true infatuation. The emotions were real, especially for a kid who cried over Jackie Wilsons "Lonely Teardrops" at age 7. Rock and Rhythm and Blues produced awakenings and sensations with no age restrictions.
After 4 marriages I still have similar questions posed by The Shangri-las and The Supremes .
I owe a great debt to those remarkable women and their sacred voices. If we are fortunate, the eternal flame of yearning begs new understanding with each sunrise. Just give the one you love a Great Big Kiss and always Remember.
Always.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a pervasive topic of conversation these days, and recently it’s been on my mind a lot as I endeavor to move past grief. It’s been over 5 years since my life partner departed suddenly - so suddenly that when it was happening, and for a long time after, I completely denied its reality. We know that death comes for us all, and no matter what age you are it’s probably best to prepare yourself, to make friends with the Reaper, and get ready to surrender to his scythe - (I heard that George Harrison used to rehearse his passing); Sarah Bernhardt slept in a coffin… but, very few of us are truly prepared, even at some pretty advanced ages - my father wasn’t reconciled to his fate even when it came at 96. The last phone conversation we had as he waited to be seen at the emergency room was fraught with annoyed bewilderment at being held there against his will.
It seems to be the primary topic of conversation that Rich and I are apt to discuss on any given day, and he has expressed frustration at my reticence to volunteer the dour details of my slide towards the inevitable, but really, why harp on it? Why dwell on the depressing aspects of life while you can still laugh ironically at those same concerns? Eat, drink, and be merry, I say. Of course, if you have to constantly watch your sodium and cholesterol while considering the lethal effects of the cocktail you’re sipping, your options for fun will be limited.
Anyway, back to PTSD… This week it’s been front and center of my consciousness because I recently consumed two items of popular culture that feature it - one 60 years old, the other recently released - namely, Rod Serling’s short lived 1965 television series, The Loner, starring Lloyd Bridges, and Christopher Nolan’s freshly minted sword and sandal epic, The Odyssey. In both, the main character struggles with PTSD - Bridges’ character in the aftermath of the Civil War, and Odysseus from his part in the atrocities recounted in the Iliad. Both men have experienced horrific and emotionally crippling events; they roam vistas rife with unremitting violence, and long to find home.
Rod Serling transplanted his WW2 experiences to the Western genre, and audiences weren’t ready for it’s moral meditations, ill suited to an escapist medium. Regarding the Odyssey, Jon Stewart has reflected that it seems like a sequel to Oppenheimer, Nolan’s rueful depiction of that protagonist’s bequest of a doomsday weapon to arm mankind with the power to destroy itself.
Echoes of PTSD resound everywhere - inside each of us, in the chaos all around, and throughout our popular culture. And, today I asked the oracle how to find peace with it.
QUESTION: HOW CAN I OVERCOME RESENTMENT?
The Oracle answered with Hexagrams 51 (Provoking), and 31 (Cutting)
Let’s examine those, along with a dream diary passage, and a song, “Cairns” composed during that time…
Chemayne used to collect stones that appealed to her. She would then cover them in varnish to make them glisten. After she died there were tons of them, and I started giving them away as gifts. One friend was so taken with them that he took a bunch and built some amazing cairns, a term which I hadn’t been familiar with, but which filled me with hope and pride for their future home.
The following song “Cairns” evokes that appreciation.
CAIRNS (Bill Mesnik)
Stones banded by layers of time
Stacking stone upon stone upon stone
Creates a monument
A tower sublime
Marking time
These cairns of stone
Chorus:
Fly away through Arches in the desert
To a windswept morning beach
Where the sun glistens on the pebbles
As you soar
Swiftly
Out of reach
You left no lost communication
Before your flight to the unknown
Just some orphans
With no destination
Lying lonely in our home
I’ll stack stone upon stone upon stone
And mark the trail of time
For some wanderer
To wonder on
Who left this cairn behind?
Buck Owens (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006), and Dwight Yoakam (b. October 23, 1956) : two master navigators of a very unique tributary along the stream of popular music, inspired and learned from each other - one, being the progenitor of the "Bakersfield Sound", and the other his adopted musical progeny. "The Streets of Bakersfield," originally recorded by Buck Owens in 1973, was revived as a duet between the two men in 1988, becoming a chart hit and a popular video.
Buck, whose career had gone dark after losing his friend and musical partner, Don Rich in 1974, was sparked back to life when Dwight came into his life. Here Bill and Rich attempt to connect some of the musical catalogue and biographical dots of these two musical giants.
Inspired by the clear and evocative 1985 translation of the I CHING, by Kerson and Rosemary Huang - a team of a poet and physicist-poet, I kept a diary of musical interpretations of hexagrams which appeared to me when I consulted the oracle over the course of a year.
HEXAGRAM 33: RETREAT (Bill Mesnik)
"Form is transitory, acquiescing in the flow"
I'm yielding to the circumstances, being still and letting go,
open to the transformation - going with the flow.
I'm gone with the flow in the grip of the tide
I don't know - nobody knows if I'll see you on the flip side.
What we see ain't what we get, it's not under our control -
the tide surges up, then leaves us flat in the midnight coaster roll
What's the point in making scenes, or, inscribing your little name in stone,
When the tide surges up and the beach is swept clean into endless, timeless unknown?
I'm gone with the tide in the grip of the flow - Whether or not I'll be purified
well, I just don't know.
HEXAGRAM 42: INCREASE (Bill Mesnik)
"The time of increase does not endure, therefore it must be utilized while it lasts."
One hand strengthens the other; on the other hand, I might fall.
Could you lend a hand, my brother?
I don't have much, but I could lose it all.
I'll follow your instructions; you seem to know the way,
I played right through the harvest, now my stores are empty at the dark of the day.
I heard warnings about the future, but I turned the other way,
music soothed my apprehension, and my passions held sway.
Now I'm looking for a harbor, and I saw your firelight.
Might I bide awhile in your cabin to pass away the dampening night?
HEXAGRAM 13: WATCHING (Bill Mesnik)
I'm watching - watching... letting things play out in time
Although I'm invested in the outcome, I'm just watching, and trailing behind.
In the dawn - the anxious dawn... before the pulse of the day,
Should it come to pass the shadows grip you, you may not be able to have a say.
We are travelers - fond travelers sharing this path for a mile,
Although I may want to protect you, we'll only be together a little while.
So, I'm watching, watching... letting things play out in time.
although I'm invested in the outcome, I'm just watching, and trailing behind.
The story of Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" has it all: a troubled, ambivalent creator, an unforgettable sax riff whose ownership has spawned controversy for almost 50 years, and a mysterious, compelling lyric. One of Scotland's leading artistic lights, Rafferty, who started as partner to the beloved comedian Billy Connolly in The Humblebums, went on the wow the world with Stealer's Wheel's irresistible mega-hit "Stuck in the middle with you, before torpedoing that early success. He refused to tour, and after going solo, became increasingly withdrawn into an alcoholic death-spiral, which ended with his death at age 63.
Bill and Rich, The Splendid Bohemians relate the story as only they can - with reverence, tempered with their unique perspective. Take a walk with us down BAKER STREET.
Hexagram 52: THE ARTIFICIAL DARK (Bill Mesnik)
The bird sings in his cage,
His song sounds full of rage.
I’ll cover him up - and he’s silent,
Asleep in the artificial dark.
This wine is the color of blood,
It releases its dreams in a flood,
I’ll sleep for awhile and be silent
Awash in the artificial dark.
Hexagram 62: THUNDER OVER MOUNTAIN (Bill Mesnik)
Thunder over mountain - fire in my soul
Holding steady, keeping quiet,
Trying to stay whole.
Burrowed in the mountain,
Waiting out the storm,
Fighting the urge to run away,
Trying to stay warm….
Time heals all wounds,
Time steals all…
Thunder on the mountain…
Listen to the squall.
As the flames roar up into the heavens
I’m rolled up in a ball.
Keep your shit together,
Morning’s coming soon.
Patience - all will be rewarded
With the setting of the moon.
Time heals all wounds,
Time steals all.
**Vanguard Records is best known for its eclectic catalog of pivotal jazz, folk, rock and blues recordings by iconic artists like Joan Baez, Linda Ronstadt, Buddy Guy, Charlie Musselwhite, John Fahey, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Doc Watson, Country Joe and the Fish and countless others. Most recently, Vanguard has carried forward the label's legacy of artistic excellence with a diverse roster including Barenaked Ladies, Indigo Girls, O.A.R. and Collective Soul.
Riding the tail end of the popular boom of commercialized Folk Music, Vanguard's unexpected mega-hit "Walk Right In" soared to the top of the pop chart. Looking for a long forgotten treasure to mine, Erik Darling and Bill Svanoe, doing what many had done before them, updated an old string band tune, composed by Gus Cannon and recorded with his Jug Stompers in 1929.
They arranged it for TWO 12-String guitars (one of which, a leftie model, had to be specially constructed for Bill), and adding the mellifluous tones of Lynne Taylor to complete the trio, the magic concoction was brewed to MOR perfection.
And, just in time for Gus Cannon, too! He had recently pawned his banjo to pay his heating bill, and the royalties and national recognition breathed new life into a long dormant career.**
The Mothers Of Invention- Paralipomeni Della Batracomiomachia Paris- 1970
The December 1970 Paris gig was a standout date during their European tour. The setlist included iconic Zappa tracks and heavy improvisations like "Dog Breath," "A Pound for a Brown on the Bus," and "Call Any Vegetable". The band featured an incredible lineup that included:Frank Zappa (Guitar/Vocals)Mark Volman & Howard Kaylan (better known as Flo & Eddie)Ian Underwood (Keyboards/Woodwinds)Jeff Simmons (Bass)Aynsley Dunbar (Drums)
Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention performed this legendary concert at the Gaumont-Palace in Paris, France on December 15, 1970. The show famously featured renowned French jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty
Batracomiomachia: Translates from Ancient Greek as the "Battle of the Frogs and Mice" (a classical comic epic parodying the Iliad).Paralipomeni: An Italian term for an appendix, sequel, or "things left out". The Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi wrote a famous satirical continuation titled Paralipomeni della Batracomiomachia in 1831.
1 | | Penis Dimention | 11:26
2 | | The Air | 3:53
3 | | The Dog Breath / Mother People | 4:23
4 | | You Didn't Try To Call Me | 3:34
5 | | King Kong | 32:41
6 | | Who Are The Brain Police? | 6:32
Inspired by the clear and evocative 1985 translation of the I CHING, by Kerson and Rosemary Huang - a team of a poet and physicist-poet, I kept a diary of musical interpretations of hexagrams which appeared to me when I consulted the oracle over the course of a year. The result was the album "9 Hexagrams," three of which I offer here.
44 : RENDEZ-VOUS (HEAVEN OVER WIND) / “Persevere” (Bill Mesnik)
It’s a dangerous hour when darkness reappears,
And a sudden shower of your fears drowns your dreams, chokes your screams,
Persevere!
Judge not, lest ye be judged, and lead me not Into temptation…
Persevere!
through the dangerous hour, when I’ve lost my will
When my soul is sour, and hope is nil
Find the will, Forge the will,Crawl uphill —
Persevere!
35: ADVANCE (FIRE OVER EARTH) / “Desire” (Bill Mesnik)
I want what’s on the shelf,
I kill myself…
I pray upon my knees,
I crave release.
I’ll change my point of view,
Each day is new.
The pull begins again,
Desire has no end.
I want your every part,
I kill my heart.
24: RETURNING (EARTH OVER THUNDER) / “Echoes” (Bill Mesnik)
Echoes are echoing from deep in the ground,
Churning, turning all around,
As far as I’ve come, I’ve come back around,
I’m hearing the sound of echoes, echoing from under the ground.
Shadows are shadowing from the room down the hall,
Dancing, glancing off the wall.
Every step that I take, I answer the call
Of shadows shadowing in the room down the hall.
Whispers, whispering from the waiting grave
Thrill me, will me to be brave,
Each moment arrives in a rush like a wave,
It’s the rush that I crave
As whispers are whispering from the waiting grave.
The Army (Bill Mesnik)
The war you wage is on yourself,
The soul you save is not your own.
The words you're saying were said before
by your enemy.
The code you honor
has no honor,
and all your wisdom makes no sense;
you seek for justice
but there's no justice from your enemy.
Don't fight back-
you will fail,
Your best defense is modesty.
The war you wage is on yourself -
Your sword and shield is modesty.
Inspired by the clear and evocative 1985 translation of the I CHING, by Kerson and Rosemary Huang - a team of a poet and physicist-poet, I kept a diary of musical interpretations of hexagrams which appeared to me when I consulted the oracle over the course of a year.
The result was the album "9 Hexagrams," which I offer here.
The first offering, "the Army" - which concerns advice on "leadership", was how the book responded to my question on the proper way to parent.
Ok, tomorrow is July 4th, our 250th year celebration of our Declaration of Independence. The temperatures are sweltering, both outside and politically. There’s been a lot of talk recently about the nation’s division, using words like “unprecedented,” but going back over elections past over the the last two and a half centuries, you find that to be a recurring American theme.
The founding fathers (about whom we’ve heard so many patriotic references lately) were embroiled in their own knock down - drag outs:
John Adams “Alien and Sedition Acts” of 1797 … that term sound familiar? Trump was evoking it recently during one of his ploys regarding deportation…. Made it a crime to criticize his administration. It backfired because Adams pissed off the moderates, and in 1800 Thomas Jefferson (the writer of the declaration of Independence) won the office with this “Free Speech” anthem:
It seems that the author of our Declaration of Independence might also be dubbed the “author of America’s Ethnic Cleansing policy”
In 1801, a few months after taking the oath of office, Jefferson wrote to James Monroe, then governor of Virginia, outlining his American Dream:
“White settlers, sturdy independent farmers, will increase in numbers and eventually cover the whole northern, if not southern continent… nor can we contemplate with satisfaction either blot of mixture on that surface,”
Moving on…
Let’s talk about THE CONSTITUTION for a moment.
You may have heard references to this document that we all, INCLUDING THE PRESIDENT, pledge allegiance to as members of a democracy. It’s a living document that guarantees us all our rights, and which requires a super majority vote by both the House (the people’s house) and the Senate in order to change, and the its only been amended 27 times since its ratification in 1789.
Living Document? Does that mean that hard won amendments like the right to vote, which people fought and died for to make us “a more perfect union” - can be taken away if a tyrant finds it a threat to their power?
The following songs illustrate the ongoing challenges that opposed, and continue to threaten our right to vote - (the 15th amendment, passed in 1869, which granted the right to African American Men), but which was impeded - by any means necessary - in Southern states, until 1965 with the passing of a federal ‘Voting Rights Act - (but, is currently being threatened again).
And the 19th amendment, finally passed in 1920, which gave this fundamental right to women (half of the population) - after many decades of struggle by the women’s suffrage movement.
Hearing these songs again, reminds me to keep some perspective during this broiling holiday season.
Thanks for listening everyone. Enjoy your holiday, and stay safe.
HOT FUN IN THE SUMMERTIME / SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE (EPIC, 1969)
The sweltering summer of 2023 is almost over, and all over the world folks are digging themselves out from under the epic disasters of the past months. Listening to this psych-soul ditty from 1969, one may be momentarily transported back to a cozier time of blotter acid and beach coolers.
The carefree tone of the record, however, belies the fact that at the same time that he was jamming on this anthem, an ever-increasingly paranoid Sly Stone was starting to hole himself up in his mansion with bowls of cocaine and a drum machine - from which he would emerge 2 years later with THERE’S A RIOT GOIN’ ON - transmitting a wholly different vibe. And, also, let’s not forget the murderous Altamont concert of 1969 (documented in the Rolling Stone’s film GIMME SHELTER), along with the concurrent killings carried out by the Manson kids - and you realize that everywhere you looked there were emblems of a time when chaos reigned, symbolizing an era of psychic climate change in America.
Well, nostalgic or not, music has powers to soothe and direct our minds to kinder, gentler regions. It gives us a moment to meditate and reflect - a time out before we have to brave the cacophony once again. Some say “nostalgia” is defined as a sickness - homesickness. We’re urged to be forward looking and adapt to whatever the future holds. But, it’s ok to take a moment to remember and savor the joys of summers past. Just don’t forget to wear your sunblock.
SUNLIGHT by The Youngbloods (RCA, 1969)
I’m a romantic; I admit it. I believe in true love, and the moments of ecstatic togetherness that enable one to transcend all the struggles and grief of life. And, this song reanimates this awakening each time I hear it: by the rolling chords off the nylon string guitar, eliciting the feeling of a fresh breeze of possibility; Jesse Colin Young’s falsetto voice (one of nature’s finest) projecting such hopeful innocence; and, the lyrics, which tenderly describe scenes of eternal bliss.
I loved Jesse and The Youngbloods from the first time I put down the needle on Grizzly Bear (the first cut on the debut album). It was a bonus disc from the Columbia Record Club, and since that moment, the relationship with Jesse, Banana, and the boys, during the RCA years, was a meaningful one for me. After they went to Warners, and subsequently split up, the love affair was over.
But, the remarkable Elephant Mountain, the last collection from RCA, produced by a young Charlie Daniels, delivered this song, along with Darkness, Darkness - in a collage of Sunlight and Shadow. Jesse said that this was the first song he wrote after moving to California, and I understand it. As a New Yorker relocating to the Golden State, I too was struck by the quality of the light which casts a spell that makes one unable to sense the passage of time, and the seasons. Years flew by, the mirror mocks me, but the romantic in me remains ever innocent.
MILLION DOLLAR BASH by BOB DYLAN with THE BAND (From the Basement Tapes, Columbia, 1967)
Ooh, Baby, Ooooh wee!
Ooh, baby, oooooh wee!
It’s that Million Dollar Bash.
I hear that chorus and I’m smiling. It’s a celebration, a party. Dylan and the boys are off the hard road, and they’re just having fun in the Big Pink basement with the Revox tape recorder. There has been some interpretative gobble dee gook about it being Dylan’s satirical payback to Andy Warhol and his pretentious Factory parties, with a salvo to Edie Sedgwick - the (“big dumb blonde) -, who dumped him, but really, that feels like a stretch. Those intimations might be there, but when Bob sings:
“Well, I’m hittin’ it too hard, my stones won’t take-
I get up in the morning but it’s too early to wake,
First it’s hello, goodbye, then push and then crash,
But we’re all gonna make it at that mIllion dollar bash!
It feels to me like an expression of sweet release. An appreciation for the moment at hand. And, imagining where the heads of the bar band turned folk-rock players assembled in that bucolic place were at…. -, the men who, for me, comprised the greatest American band in rock history - in the chrysalis from which they were about to emerge to ignite a musical revolution - I can feel the spontaneous energy of joyous creation.
Oooh baby, Oooh weeeee!
The concept to which The Rascals were dedicated was, in Felix Cavaliere's words, "Marvin Gaye's voice, Ray Charles' piano, Jimmy Smith's organ, Phil Spector's production and The Beatles' writing. Put them all together and you've got what I wanted to do." A White Rock band playing Black Soul music was a new idea for Pop in 1965. "The great thing about music in the 1960s was that people were discovering there was no color barrier in the business. We were respected by the Black groups we loved as much as we respected them," noted Cornish. The Rascals' music was dubbed blue-eyed Soul, a term Cavaliere never cared for. "I always hated the label because it created a separation between Black and White music. It was a marketing concept. As soon as you put a drum in music, it's R&B. I wish it wouldn't have been called blue-eyed Soul. My eyes aren't blue."
The band's first release for Atlantic was called "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" which rose to #52 in the U.S. in 1965, but it was their 1966 effort, "Good Lovin'" that made them Rock 'n' Roll stars. The song quickly rose to the number one spot on Billboard's Hot 100 and went Gold. They followed with two more Top 20 hits, "You Better Run" (#20) and "I've Been Lonely Too Long" (#16) later the same year.
The writing was a key component of the band's success, as sixteen of their eighteen chart records were written by Cavaliere alone or in tandem with frequent collaborator Eddie Brigati. As the song writing progressed, social commentary began to show up in the music. The group's growing ambition was reflected in the change from The Young Rascals to simply The Rascals. The word "young" had originally been inserted before the band's name for legal reasons. It seems there was a group named Johnny Pulleo & The Harmonica Rascals who claimed a proprietary interest. "We were embarrassed about that, 'cause we were trying to be a Soul band," said Cornish. "It wasn't The Silver Rascals or The Rockin' Rascals, it was The Young Rascals! And we had to live with it. By the time we got to Groovin', we said, 'Well, enough of this. We are The Rascals.'"
A high point for both Cornish and Cavaliere was 1968's #1 hit "People Got To Be Free". "The message in songs like 'People Got To Be Free' is as important now as it ever was," said Gene. It was written in reaction to the King and Kennedy assassinations that year. In fact, Cavaliere had worked for the RFK campaign. "That the song was #1 in places like Berlin and South Africa meant a lot to me," said Felix. Despite the initial resistance to the political nature of the song, it went on to become The Rascals' biggest-selling record. It was also their last #1 hit. The Rascals followed with "A Ray Of Hope" (#24 in 1968), "Heaven" (#39 in 1969), "See" (#27 in 1969) and "Carry Me Back" (#26 in 1969). Two other 1970 releases, "Hold On" (#81) and "Glory Glory" (#71) failed to crack the Top 40, and a song called "Love Me" was a miserable flop when it peaked at #99 during a one week stay on the Hot 100 in the Summer of 1971. The Jazz-tinged experimentation of later albums like "Peaceful World" and "The Island Of Real" (which Cavaliere once called "The best record I ever made") proved less commercial than the group's earlier Garage Band Soul. Management was less than supportive of the new directions the band was headed in and a switch to the Columbia label in 1971 failed to provide the new life they were looking for. Personal frictions were on the rise too, and eventually Brigati and Cornish quit the band. They were replaced with Buzzy Feiten (from The Paul Butterfield Blues Band) and Ann Sutton, who had sung with various Soul and Jazz groups in Philadelphia. By 1972, The Rascals called it quits.
We originally broadcast this episode of election nonsense prior to the debate of 2024, and listening to it anew we are reminded of how drastically things can change, while at the same time aligning eerily with the past. Happy 250th, everybody! The Gladiators are approaching the cage.
Chip Taylor (3/21/1940 - 3/23/2026)
Like a cat with nine lives, Chip Taylor’s persona embodied many iterations. Starting with his successful “songwriter for hire” status, penning golden hits like Wild Thing, and Angel of the Morning, up through his phoenix-like resurgence as an Americana elder statesman, the story of this man’s artistic survival, emerging as it did, out from the quicksand of addiction, stands as one of the Splendid Bohemian’s tales of celebration.
https://www.songhall.org/profile/chip_taylor
BROWSE THROUGH THE CATALOG OF CHIP'S RECORD LABEL "TRAIN WRECK RECORDS"
https://www.trainwreckrecords.com/
26 years ago, before the election of George W. Bush in 2000, I wrote, produced and starred in a show about the history of the campaign song, called "Muckrakers," with the fabulous Linda Kerns.
Given that this bicentennial election season is heating up, I thought it’d be fun to revisit some songs from elections past…
Let's look at one from 1856...
Some background: in 1854 was “Bleeding Kansas” - a bitter dispute between pro and anti-slavery forces over that territory, which led to the break up of the two major parties and the formation of a new one — THE REPUBLICANS — who vowed to oppose any further extension of slavery.
But, THE DEMOCRATIC WINNER OF THE 1856 ELECTION WAS….?
Many people consider him the WORST president we’ve ever had (until now) - because he might have prevented the Civil War, and he blew it.
I’ll give you a hint: he was a bachelor - girl he was engaged to as a youth committed suicide. One eye was nearsighted, the other far - so he held his head a a funny angle….
Got it? He was the quote: “most available, and most unobjectionable JAMES BUCHANAN, former Secretary of State to Polk, who once called him “an able man,” but added that, “he sometimes acts like an old maid.”
Nevertheless, Bucky won big! Carried every Southern state, except Maryland and six free states - proving that the majority still put the preservation of the Union above all else. And, that is exactly what Stephen Foster’s WHITE HOUSE CHAIR urged the voters to do.
WHO KNOWS WHAT TOMORROW MAY BRING by Traffic (United Artists, 1968)
The original line up of Traffic had it all: mysticism, funk, folk, world music, and a healthy dose of irony. For an acid head like me they were the perfect accompaniment for a trip through shifting patterns of synchronicity. Of course, Traffic was helmed by the one and only Steve Winwood, who as a teenager impressed the world, shouting the blues on “I’m a Man,” and “Keep on Running” with the Spencer Davis Group, and was now considered a full-blown genius. But they also needed Dave Mason for ballast, because after he left the rising balloon, Winwood navigated the group into extended jazz noodle-ville - (but, that’s another story!)
Who knows what tomorrow may bring from the group’s eponymous second album is a deceptively simple groove and mantra that resonates across genres, time-zones, and philosophies, releasing a blast of joy-filled dopamine to one’s synaptic receptors, even as one contemplates the evanescence of life. And, that swinging organ counterpoint is smoking!
As I felt the waves of dislocation beginning to distort my perceptions, Winwood encouraged me to “step outside” of my mind, and “float across the ceiling…” I trusted him, and so I did just that. And, it was good.
"CLARENCE CARTER SLIPS AWAY ON THE MYSTERY TRAIN"
When we speak of the deep soul drenched days when certain performers inhabited a heart full of soul so captivating and special that they were ordained as high priests of mournful and lustful magic, we will always recall Soul legend Clarence Carter.
Clarence boarded The Mystery Train today, May 14, following struggles with prostate cancer and a battle with pneumonia and sepsis. He was 90.
This blind Southern star from Alabama scored two Top 10 hits in the late 1960s and early 1970s with “Slip Away” and “Patches,”
After having hits on the R&B charts (including 1965’s “Step By Step” and 1967’s “Tell Daddy”), Carter landed on the pop charts – as well as, concurrently, the R&B lists – with 1968’s “Slip Away,” a song that highlighted Carter’s powerful and emotional baritone voice with a lyric in which the singer implores his married lover for a secret rendezvous
Two years later Carter released his biggest pop hit, the Grammy-winning (for Best R&B song) “Patches,” which rose to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Mr. Carter also recorded a number of raunchy novelty songs eschewed by mainstream radio but finding success in later years: The 1968 “Back Door Santa” was sampled by Run-D.M.C. for the 1987 single “Christmas in Hollis,” and the even more explicit “Strokin'” from 1986 was featured on the soundtrack for Eddie Murphy’s 1996 remake of The Nutty Professor as well as in William Friedkin’s 2011 film Killer Joe.
Sleep Well Clarence.
The first of the six covers that appear on Please Please Me is a mid-tempo ballad called “Anna (Go to Him),” which was written and first recorded by Arthur Alexander. Chances are that most people who hear the version sung by John Lennon have no idea who Arthur Alexander is—but the Beatles certainly knew, and so did the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan**: Alexander is reportedly the only songwriter whose tunes have appeared on studio albums by those three hallowed acts. Elvis Presley recorded one of his songs as well—albeit one that Alexander co-wrote—and so did Otis Redding and Tina Turner and Jerry Lee Lewis and Percy Sledge.
Don Covay recorded for several labels, including Blaze, Sue, Big Top, Fire, Arnold, Fleetwood, Columbia, Epic and Scepter, releasing 'Popeye Waddle' b/w 'One Little Boy Had Money' in 1962 for Cameo Parkway, which became a hit.Don was, by now, recording solo material, and material under the name of Don Covay and the Goodtimers.He penned the U.S. number 1 single 'Pony Time' for Chubby Checker, wrote a hit song called 'I'm Hanging Up My Heart for You', for the Soul singer Solomon Burke*, and wrote for* Gladys Knight & The Pips****, penning 'Letter Full of Tears', which made the top 20.Don formed partnerships with several associates including Horace Ott and Ronnie Miller.In 1964, when he signed to the Rosemart label.His debut single there with the Goodtimers, 'Mercy Mercy' featured Jimi Hendrix on guitar.The following year, Jimi Hendrix played again on the follow up single 'Take This Hurt Off Me' b/w 'Please Don't Let Me Know'.
Clarence Carter didn’t have it easy while growing up in Alabama; and being Black and blind was an extra burden, but he has overcome many other obstacles in so many ways. “I feel incredibly good about what I’ve been able to accomplish, but it was not easy. Our world presents challenges and barriers to success for people with disabilities, but I always wanted more in life and believe that the ADA helped me get to where I am today.”**
I would like to say that Carter now has three “B’s” behind his name, Black, Blind and Blessed. Carter is known for serious Blues music, which includes a string of R&B hits. The songs “Back Door Santa,” “Slip Away,” “Patches,” “Too Weak to Fight” and the dance hall hit “Strokin” are part of his Blues legacy.
How do you come up with a list of best covers of our greatest living songwriter? Splendid Bohemian, and Bob Dylan Maven Rich Buckland states his case as his partner, Bill Mesnik endeavors to keep up.
BOB DYLAN COVERS
- It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue : 13th Floor Elevators
- Baby, I’d Do it All Over You: Dave Van Ronk
- Foot of Pride : Lou Reed
- Tomorrow is a Long Time: Elvis Presley
- Baby, You’ve been on my Mind: Dion
- Sooner or Later : Emma Swift
- Who killed Davy Moore? : Gary Shearson
- Changing of the Guards: Gaslight Anthem
- Desolation Row: My Chemical Romance
- Restless Farewell: Joan Baez
- I’ll Keep it with Mine: Nico
- Blowing in the Wind: Sam Cooke
- I’m Not There: Sonic Youth
- One More Cup of Coffee: White Stripes
- Please Crawl Out Your Window: Wilko Johnson with Roger Daltrey
- Positively 4th Street: Johnny Rivers
Romanticism or misogyny? During the tectonic time of “Me Too” The Splendid Bohemians tackled the subjects of two artists inextricably linked to their romantic images: Sir Tom Jones and Charles Aznavour - both hugely popular and successful in their own times, but, like many with complicated artistic careers, coming under reexamination.
Spurred by a demand made to my wife to “shut off that stuff” by two disgruntled women while she was enjoying a Tom Jones CD, Bill and Rich set out to dissect the difference between romance and chauvinism when considering these cherished icons during this retributive age of Epstein, Trump, Cosby, Weinstein, et al.
Seems like a good time to replay this nugget from 2016. The list of predators is long and keeps growing, as evidenced by the recent resignation of democratic Gubernatorial hopeful, Eric Swallwell. So, we batted around the evergreen question of “can you hate the artist, but still love the art?” We ended up with no answers, just more questions.
Paul Simon set the standard for a New American Songbook. Reviewing these selections one is struck by the elegance of his melodies - on a par with that other Paul from Liverpool, but with a lyrical sophistication to rival America’s Nobel Laureate poet, Bob Dylan. “America”, as performed here by David Bowie, presents a barren landscape, - mirroring the mundane with the spiritual - to rival the literary prowess of a Hemingway; and the classically inspired “American Tune,” as interpreted by the wizard of New Orleans, Allen Toussaint, quietly goes to the heart of our nation’s ambivalence. I can’t contain my tears whenever I hear it.
Simon and Garfunkel were known as a unified entity. It took awhile for Paul to extricate himself from his childhood performing partner, Artie. Garfunkel, with his singular, choir-boy voice, needed Simon to provide the words for his divine instrument. But Simon didn’t need Garfunkel, and if Artie’s acting ambitions hadn’t interfered with Paul’s musical ones, Simon might never have had the confidence to go it alone. Lucky for us it turned out the way it did. Because, since going solo, Simon has amassed a body of work that defines America’s last half century.
- Ray Charles: Still Crazy After All These Years
- David Bowie: America
- Justin Townes Earle: Graceland
- Them: Richard Cory
- Wailin’ Jennys: Loves me Like a Rock
- Everything but the Girl: The Only Living Boy in New York
- Annie Lennox: Something So Right
- The Blue Airplanes: The Boy in the Bubble
- Blossom Dearie: 59th St. Bridge Song
- Allen Toussaint: American Tune
The “talk talk” continues wherein Rich and Bill “rage against the dying of the light,” to honor our past and opine on the socio-political conditions of the present.
It was a great reunion at the Hotel Bohemia. Bill and Rich got so engrossed in a variety of topics that we left the recorder running - and, as a result we'll be offering these conversational riches in two parts:
Part one balances the outrages of today against the comic geniuses of yesteryear, along with ruminations about pet relationships, being at Woodstock, and the formative influences of our lives.
Part two will focus on recent additions to the population of the Hotel, namely Country Joe McDonald and John Hammond, Jr.
Neil Young’s otherworldly ability to morph between raging metalhead to the most sentimental of romantics never fails to astound. Always uncompromising, this cranky Canadian has been inflexible in his stance to be unencumbered - and, prolific - recording over 45 solo albums, not to mention those classics created with Buffalo Springfield and CSN&Y. Surviving polio as a child, and a brain aneurysm in middle age, he kept coming back stronger than ever.
I’ve seen him live twice: at the Greek Theater during the Greendale tour, then again a couple of years back when my son and I flew to Tucson to celebrate the slower, less blazing, but still mesmerizing octogenarian troubadour. His music has been a touchstone throughout my life, starting with the iconic Reprise album “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere” which contained Down by the River - a dorm room sing along.
His vast catalogue makes it difficult to pick only ten covers, but the range here is evident, swinging from Pearl Jam’s live version of Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World to Emmylou Harris’s wistful floatation on Daniel Lanois’s diaphanous Wrecking Ball. Neil’s own vocal style is so distinctive that it’s tempting to disregard how beautiful some of his melodies are. I think you’ll find that this line up does them justice.
HEART OF GOLD (JOHNNY CASH)
MR. SOUL (THE EVERLY BROTHERS)
ON THE BEACH (BOZ SCAGGS)
KEEP ON ROCKING IN THE FREE WORLD (PEARL JAM)
A MAN NEEDS A MAID (DALA)
BIRDS (THE METERS)
LOTTA LOVE (NICOLETTE LARSON)
WRECKING BALL (EMMYLOU HARRIS)
BROKEN ARROW (WILCO)
HELPLESS (NICK CAVE)
Back in the Tin Pan Alley (and Brill Building) days there were song-pluggers, and there were vocalists, and never the twain met, but this symbiotic relationship formed the successful division of labor for the great American capitalist record business. Whether they be based in NY, LA, or Nashville successful songwriters rarely had hits recording their own material. Hard to believe that it took Willie Nelson so many years to be recognized as his own best interpreter. Of course, that now seems ludicrous, given Willie’s status as “national treasure”. Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra and the like had their go-to writers and arrangers, Phil Spector, Don Kirschner and others kept their stable of regular creatives like Carole King and Gerry Goffin in little cubicles laboring to churn out dozens of standards weekly for their employer’s contracted recording artists. But, just like any actor worth his salt in Hollywood will tell you: “without good writing, you ain’t got shit”
Two of Country Music’s most covered songwriters are being honored here today, singing for you in their own voices: Guy Clark, doing “That Old Time Feeling”, and Harlan Howard performing “Heartaches by the Number.” These are craftsmen, whose practical, raw boned approach to their art yielded glittering treasures.
HARLAND HOWARD (1927-2002)
Harland Howard wrote over 4000 songs, 100 of which made the top ten Country charts. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters and Country Music Halls of Fame. There are tribute albums of his songs by Buck Owens, Waylon Jennings and Wille Nelson. He wrote I Fall to Pieces for Patsy Cline, Busted, made famous by Ray Charles, and the monster hit - I got a Tiger by the Tail for Buck Owens.
Here he is singing Heartaches by the Number, which a cursory dip into YouTube reveals covers by Ray Price, Dwight Yoakam, Guy Mitchell, Leon Russell, Paul Carrack and Kitty Wells, among others. There are no frills here, but I contend that hearing the voice of the man who created the song is a more personal experience, like someone reading you their diary.
GUY CLARK (1941-2016)
The ultimate example of an unsung (pun intended) man of influence is “Old No. 1,” the luthier’s luthier, Guy Clark. His Texas home-workshop was the Austin epicenter of the Outlaw Country Movement that transformed Country Music. Watch the scene from the documentary Heartworn HIghway with Steve Earle and Rodney Crowell sitting around Guy’s kitchen table, trading songs. Townes Van Zandt may have been the most elusive doomed romantic poet of that group, but it was Guy they studied with and trusted - the one they could depend on, the Zen Master of song.
And, what songs! They are like short stories, full of vivid characters, evocative dialogue, and carefully observed detail. Songs like Desperadoes Waiting for a Train, L.A. Freeway, My Favorite Picture of You (for his late wife Susanna - the magnetic beauty patiently putting up with the Outlaw’s shenanigans). Today, he favors us with That Old Time Feeling, a tune that insinuates itself into your consciousness through a stream of unforgettable images.
**THE BILLY STEWART DISCOGRAPHY
Singles:**
- Chess 1625: "Billy's Blues" / "Billy's Blues"
- Argo 5256: "Billy's Blues" / "Billy's Blues"
- Okeh 4-7095: "Baby, You're My Only Love" / "Billy's Heartache" (1957 with Bo Diddley, backed by The "Marquees")
- Chess 1820: "Reap What You Sow" / "Fat Boy" (1962) – No. 18 R&B, No. 79 pop
- Chess 1835: "True Fine Lovin'" / "Wedding Bells" (1962)
- Chess 1852: "Scramble" / "Oh My, What Can the Matter Be" (1963)
- Chess 1868: "Strange Feeling" / "Sugar and Spice" (1963) – No. 25 R&B, No. 70 pop
- Chess 1888: "A Fat Boy Can Cry" / "Count Me Out" (1964)
- Chess 1905: "Tell It Like It Is" / "My Sweet Senorita" (1964)
- Chess 1922: "I Do Love You" / "Keep Loving" (1965) – No. 6 R&B, No. 26 pop
- Chess 1932: "Sitting in the Park" / "Once Again" (1965) – No. 4 R&B, No. 24 pop
- Chess 1941: "How Nice It Is" / "No Girl" (1965)
- Chess 1948: "Because I Love You" / "Mountain of Love" (1965)
- Chess 1960: "Love Me" / "Why Am I Lonely" (1966) – No. 38 R&B
- Chess 1966: "Summertime" / "To Love, to Love" (1966) – No. 7 R&B, #10 pop
- Chess 1978: "Secret Love" / "Look Back and Smile" (1967) – No. 11 R&B, No. 29 pop
- Chess 1991: "Every Day I Have the Blues" / "Ol' Man River" (1967) – No. 41 R&B, No. 79 pop
- Chess 2002: "Cross My Heart" / "Why (Do I Love You So)?" (1968) – No. 34 R&B, No. 86 pop / No. 49 R&B
- Chess 2053: "Tell Me the Truth" / "What Have I Done?" (1968) – No. 48 R&B
- Chess 2063: "I'm In Love" / "Crazy 'Bout You, Baby" (1969)
- Chess 2080: "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" / "We'll Always Be Together" (1969)
Albums:
- Chess 1496: I Do Love You (1965) (Billboard No. 97)
- Chess 1499: Unbelievable (1966) (Billboard No. 138)
- Chess 1513: Billy Stewart Teaches Old Standards New Tricks (1967)
- Chess 1540: Cross My Heart (1969)
- Chess 1547: Remembered (1970)
- Sugar Hill/Chess CH-8401: The Greatest Sides (1982)
https://www.johncoltrane.com/
John Coltrane departed this mortal plane more than fifty years ago; today he remains among us, more alive than ever. His sound continues to grab the ears of an ever-widening circle of fans. His legend is stone solid: planted firmly in our culture as that of any 20th century musical giant. His saxophone sound—brooding, searching, dark—is still one of the most recognizable in modern jazz. His influence stretches over styles and genres, and transcends cultural boundaries. The modern ideal of music serving a deeply spiritual, connective purpose? A defining facet of John Coltrane.
To Coltrane, a musician was a message-giver; making music was an endeavor tied to a larger, greater good. “I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music,” Coltrane wrote in 1964 in a letter to his listeners, telling of a prayer to God. In 1966, less than a year before his death, he stated:
“I know that there are bad forces, forces that bring suffering to others and misery to the world. I want to be the opposite force. I want to be the force which is truly for good.”
Jazz journalist Nat Hentoff, who interviewed and championed Coltrane, praised him more soberly. “By the time A Love Supreme hit, Trane struck such a spiritual chord in so many listeners that people started to think of him as being beyond human. I think that’s unfair. He was just a human being like you and me -- but he was willing to practice more, to do all the things that somebody has to do to excel. The real value in what John Coltrane did was that what he accomplished, he did as a human.”
David Bowie, aka David Jones, aka Ziggy Stardust, aka Aladdin Sane, aka The Thin White Duke, aka The Man Who Fell to Earth had a vision of a future where everybody would be androgynous. Maybe the trans movement of today found its initial voice with him back in the ‘70s, when he proclaimed “make way for the homo superior.” Like so many others at the time, I glimpsed this insight that proposed expanding beyond the narrow labels to which I had been assigned.
Like an annunciating alien, David Bowie descended upon the earth to spread his message of an evolving species by employing his celestial musicianship and ethereal beauty. His music inspired others, as we will see from the following playlist, as did this ideal that combined rock and roll with science fiction and glamour.
Remaining faithful to the promise of his beatific vision, before he died Bowie prepared a final statement to be delivered posthumously: “Lazarus” in which he greeted us from the cosmos: “Look, I’m in heaven…” Even in death he remained eternally loving, and ever hopeful for our advancement.
All the Young Dudes (Mott the Hoople)
The Man Who Sold the World (Nirvana) / The Man Who Sold The World, 1970
Life on Mars (Seu Jorges) / Hunky Dory, 1971
Space Oddity (Brandi Carlisle) / David Bowie, 1969
Rebel Rebel (Rickie Lee Jones) / Diamond Dogs, 1974
Andy Warhol (Stone Temple Pilots) / Hunky Dory, 1971
5 Years (Cowboy Junkies) / The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, 1972
Heroes (Peter Gabriel) / Heroes, 1977
Under Pressure (Karen O and Willie Nelson) / Hot Space (w/ Queen), 1981
Ziggy Stardust (Bauhaus) / The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, 1972
What is a cover song?
It’s an act of devotion, an organic transmission from the essence of one soul into and through another. And, sometimes, by way of the revelations of time and lived experience, one might even surpass the original.
Prior to the era of electronic recording, no one “owned” their songs; they were passed on from generation to generation, and neighbor to neighbor - shared and mutating like the living organisms they were. We still retain an instinct to study art through imitation, but if the original exists, why bother? Because we are inspired - (meaning our beings are filled with the breath of their genius) - and we want to capture, and share a bit of that magic.
The Splendid Bohemians are proud to present a new series called “Cover Art - The Splendor of the Cover Song,” in which we’ll choose a selection of great covers of artists we cherish, by other artists that we love, or want to know more about, or have been surprised by. For our maiden voyage we chose Van Morrison - one of the most dynamic and multi-faceted songwriters of his generation. We’ll go beyond the expected choices like “Gloria” and “Brown Eyed Girl” (two of the most covered numbers in Rock) to explore the deeper recesses of Van’s catalogue, and excavate some precious musical gems. Enjoy!
Below is the list of selections, the artists, and the source material:
WILD NIGHT / JOHN MELLENCAMP AND MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO ( From: Tupelo Honey, 1971)
BRIGHT SIDE OF THE ROAD / RAUL MALO (From: Into the Music, 1979)
INTO THE MYSTIC / ALLMAN BROTHERS (From: Moondance, 1970)
THE WAY YOUNG LOVERS DO / JEFF BUCKLEY (From: Astral Weeks, 1968)
GLAD TIDINGS / MERRY CLAYTON (From: Moondance, 1970)
MOONDANCE / GREG BROWN (From: Moondance, 1970)
SLIM SLO SLIDER / JOHNNY RIVERS (From: Astral Weeks, 1968)
MADAME GEORGE / MARIANNE FAITHFUL (From: Astral Weeks, 1968)
FULL FORCE GALE / ELVIS COSTELLO (From: Into the Music, 1979)
BRAND NEW DAY / ESTHER PHILLIPS WITH THE DIXIE FLYERS (From: Moondance, 1970)
"Palisades Park" (from Wikipedia)
Chuck Barris wrote a song about an amusement park and it was suggested he use the name of an amusement park as the title. One night he was in Manhattan when he looked toward the New Jersey Palisades Cliffs, on which the amusement park sat. That was when inspiration hit and the title was added. Years later the Palisades Amusement Park closed, on September 12, 1971.[2] A tribute to New Jersey's Palisades Amusement Park, it is an up-tempo rock and roll tune led by a distinctive organ part. The track also incorporates amusement park sound effects, including the sounds of screaming riders on the roller coasters, and the quoting of a slower version of "Entrance of the Gladiators", played on an organ imitating a hurdy-gurdy or calliope. In the song, the singer takes a walk after dark and discovers Palisades Park, where he meets and falls in love with a girl. Among the list of rides and attractions listed in the song are: Shoot the Chute, Rocket Ship, Roller Coaster, Loop the Loop, Merry Go Round, Tunnel of Love, and the Ferris Wheel.
Chart performance
Released by Swan Records as a B-side to "June, July and August," "Palisades Park" broke in when a Flint, Michigan radio DJ played it by mistake. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 23–30 June 1962,[3] On the Hot R&B Sides chart, the song went to #15.[4] "Palisades Park" was the biggest hit of Cannon's career.[5]
And, check out Freddy Cannon's webpage:
https://www.freddycannon.com/default.htm
TWO CLASSIC SUPPORTING PERFORMANCES BY IRREPLACEABLE CHARACTER ACTORS IN FILMS WITHOUT WHOM WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN AS GREAT.
LAIRD CREGAR (1913-1944) from I WAKE UP SCREAMING (1941), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Wake_Up_Screaming
and MARGARET WYCHERLY (1881-1956) from WHITE HEAT (1949) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Heat
Here’s a cosmic riddle for you: A blind man and a mod walk into a bar…. Is it a coffee bar, with a make-shift stage on a corner platform, attended by the beatnik intelligentsia?, or is it a sweaty discotheque packed with beautiful people unabashedly swinging their hips? It’s definitely a transmogrifying chamber where the musical output of a sharecropper or convict from the work farm can be turned into sexy jazzbo stylings through the sleight of hand of some nifty cultural appropriation and syncopated finesse.
There are many manifestations of the “blues” and here we have two vastly different - practically unrecognizable from each other - masters - Sleepy John Estes (1899-1977), and Georgie Fame (born 1943) - existing across the pond, across generations, and across many layers of lived experience, but bonded by their singular love of this primitive music that started in the Mississippi delta, and went on to conquer the world.
SLEEPY JOHN ESTES
Everybody thought that Sleepy John Estes was dead because Big Bill Broonzy said so. Blind in one eye, folks called him “sleepy” because of a low blood pressure disorder, or some believed he had narcolepsy. He started recording in the 20’s with Hammie Nixon on harp, made some records, went basically “radio silent” throughout the 40s and 50s until Sam Charters rediscovered him in 1962, blind and frail, and kick-started his late in life fame. “Rats in my Kitchen” was recorded at Sun Studios in 1952, but it wasn’t until 10 years later that his recording career gained traction, fueled by those he was influencing across the pond, like Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin. Sleepy John always wrote about his life, and this record has an almost journalistic authenticity.
GEORGIE FAME
What can one say about Georgie Fame? The man has style for days, and it was thus from the very beginning - in shark skin suits, tab collars, and skinny ties. Born in 1943 as Clive Powell, Georgie Fame and his Blue Flames made their bones swinging his Hammond organ in the mod clubs of the early 60s, and had big commercial hits with Yeh Yeh, and The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde. Recently, he’s name checked all over the place, and has done notable collaborations with Van Morrison and others.
In Parchman Farm you can hear the undeniable influence of the coolest of the cool white blues men, Mose Allison, and the organ of Booker T and the MGs’ Green Onions - a persuasive combination. I’m sure that Bukka White, who wrote this bottle neck Delta blues shouter in 1940 had no inkling that his experience in the Mississippi State Pen would become such a sexy signature tune. You never can tell….
"In 1960s New York City lived a blind, often homeless man with a long, flowing beard, who dressed as a Viking and stood sentinel at the corner of West 54th Street and Sixth Avenue in midtown Manhattan. He sold his poetry and performed on custom-built percussion. His recordings are considered legendary pieces of original sound emanating from a unique artist who continues to be misunderstood and under appreciated."
"Nico was used to being treated as a physical spectacle. At the Dom, Leonard Cohen was a regular guest, and he began writing songs in hopes of seducing her. Her improbable bone structure, and her role in “La Dolce Vita,” intrigued prominent rock managers like Albert Grossman, who worked with Bob Dylan. But her songs were less appealing, and the Dom’s clientele often laughed through her set. She was eventually accompanied on guitar by Tim Buckley, and then by Jackson Browne, who had just arrived in New York. Browne became enamored with Nico, and before they fell out—she accused him of harassing her with obscene phone calls—he gave her two songs: “The Fairest of the Seasons” and “These Days,” both of which appeared on her 1967 début, “Chelsea Girl.”-
Here are a couple of ladies who span generations and genres. They can rock, swing, and croon like nobody’s business, and are renown for their independence. Wanda Jackson is a founding mother of Rockabilly and still partying at 88; She started recording in 1954, and just recently retired. Although she forged the magical fusion elixir that we call Rockabilly, she has also scored hits in the Gospel and Country genres.
Sarah Jarosz, 50+ years younger, studied at the New England Conservatory of Music, but remains pure Texas, like Nanci Griffith or Lyle Lovett - indie Americana artists who fuse country with jazz in an irresistible freshness. She has stated that she relishes expansion, collaboration, and experimentation, with a goal toward “honoring the song” and bringing it to life in the most exciting way possible.
Both women are accomplished songwriters as well as vocal interpreters, but today we feature them in the latter position - Wanda, from 1962, keens the vertiginous “Whirlpool”, by Fred Burch and Marijohn Wilken, and Sarah crushes Tom Wait’s “Come on Up to the House” with a funky mandolin.
SARAH JAROSZ
I first heard Sarah Jarosz about 10 years ago on Garrison Keillor’s radio show, and was smitten immediately. Her tender, and at the same time fluid voice and funky mandolin charms completely - reminding me of the great John Hartford and how he transformed bluegrass to Newgrass. She continued after Garrison left with successor Chris Thile, teaming up with Sarah Watkins, another star from that ensemble, and Aoife O’Donovan to form the trio I’m With Her. At 34, no longer a prodigy, she has become a contemporary bluegrass goddess, who keeps expanding her range. Here she essays Tom Wait’s Come on up to the House, in which she manages to combine spirituality with sex appeal - brilliant.
WANDA JACKSON
Whirlpool is like a psychedelic Torch Song. Uncharacteristically, Wanda takes the role of a vulnerable, love damaged damsel instead of the Take No Prisoners, kick-ass Rocker she usually projects. Released on Capitol Records and produced by their A&R exec, Ken Nelson, this cut obviously is swinging for the bleachers of commercial Country appeal, but its weirdness kept it from charting. However, it remains a monument to her range and dramatic power.
To counteract whatever "derangement syndrome" you might be experiencing at the moment, Bill Mesnik of the Splendid Bohemians offers an antidote to your psychic gray skies.
Today we're cracking open the big magnums of joy juice, and going back to the very beginning of the Sunny Side of My Street archives with 4 delightful infusions from the land of smiles:
100 Years From Today, by Jack Teagarden
The Pink Panther Theme, by Henry Mancini
Accentuate the Positive, by Johnny Mercer
and
The Hut Sut Song, by Horton the Elephant and Freddy Martin.
Take as directed....
DINO, AND SAMMY, AND FRANK - O MY!
What tomfoolery! It’s 4 o’clock in the morning, and these bad boys are just getting started. This recording is a rare glimpse into the real, live, Rat Pack experience - and, the slightly distorted, overloaded sound is just part of the cinema verite. “YOU ARE THERE,” as Walter Cronkite once intoned.
The year is 1962. Dean Martin has circled back to the 500 club in Atlantic City, where his career with Jerry Lewis first exploded, and his rat pack brothers in arms are there to support. For anybody devoted to, or interested in this celebrated entourage of 20th century entertainers, you can’t get any closer to the actual experience of being there.
The banter is not particularly clever (they’re enjoying themselves, I won’t say MORE than the audience, but equally, at least). There are lapses in taste and attention to keeping the show moving - (an extended drunken improv about stools is one example) - and, though the finest singers of that generation are not always on perfect pitch here, it matters not a jot! The real personalities of these icons is vividly on display. The pecking order and inter-relationships are fascinating. And, as far as sheer entertainment value goes: The band swings hard, the legendary Sammy Davis Jr. sings, dances, and does impressions; Sinatra and Dino croon medleys to die for, and the whole 40 minutes is boffo. Not to be missed!
“The 4AM Rat Pack performance presented here was privately pressed on vinyl as a special gift to very special 500 Club patrons.
We present this untouched audio from the original acetate as it represents the taste and feel of this historic occasion.”
By Don Altobell
I will never forget August 26, 1962.
I was 24 at the time and after having the good fortune of seeing Dean Martin's appearance at the 500 Club in Atlantic City on Aug 19 -- his first solo gig since his split with Jerry Lewis -- the following week gave me an added treat.
Thanks to a drawing I did of Dean, I was able to see his opening shows and also attend rehearsals. And 500 Club owner Skinny Damato introduced me to Dean, who autographed my drawing, which still hangs on my living room wall.
Fans knew that Dean's pal, Frank Sinatra, would join him midweek to conclude the engagement. Atlantic City was bursting at the seams, with all hotels, motels, and restaurants jam-packed. At the club itself, tables were pushed together to make room for more patrons. It was a bonanza time for Atlantic City long before the first casino was opened.
That closing night after early dinner, I made my way through the block-long line and was ushered inside by a policeman who remembered me after seeing me at so many shows. I didn't mind that I had no seat.
Dean was introduced as the star of the show and opened with "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" followed by "Volare," "On An Evening in Roma" and "Goody, Goody."
Then Sinatra sang, "I Get a Kick Out Of You," followed by Sammy Davis' Jr. doing "The Lady Is A Tramp." (Davis also imitated some actors singing the song including James Cagney and Marlon Brando).
Then Frank, Dean and Sammy clowned around and sang "You Are Too Beautiful," "Love Walked Right In" and "This Is My First Affair."
While Dean and Frank sang, Sammy danced to "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," "Too Marvelous for Words," "It Had To Be You," and "I've Got the World on a String."
Then all three stars joined to close the s
Today we present two piano instrumentals that explore the mysteries of Mist. Strictly speaking, a “mist” can be defined by some water vapor that obscures your vision, but how many more evocative instances can you think of where a mist appears in a story or film, usually preceding an arrival of some spiritual manifestation? There was a video game called “Myst” (spelled with a Y) which featured a series of puzzles saturated with a heady whiff of the arcane. Your sight is always obscured; your emotional restlessness is never assuaged.
Erroll Garner and Bix Beiderbecke were two jazz titans writing compositions separated by 30 years that hint at this other-worldly quality inherent in the idea of the Mist. Their music excites the senses and tugs at the heart simultaneously; it’s music that lifts off and keeps insinuating an urge to maintain altitude in an unresolved quest for landing, but never deciding on a perch.
ERROLL GARNER
Most of you probably know Johnny Mathis’s version of Misty, with lyrics by Johnny Burke, that was a monster hit of 1959, but Erroll Garner wrote the song as an instrumental 5 years earlier, on a plane flight to Chicago’s OHare airport, after seeing a rainbow through the airplane window. That’s a fitting image for the complicated feelings invoked here: a glimpse of hope through tears.
Influenced by Earl Hines, Garner played with spontaneous timing changes, liquidy octaval melodies, and improvised chordal voicings, and his contribution to jazz evolution was to reconcile the gap between BeBop spontaneity and Orchestral formalism. His style was so free that he was dubbed “the happy man” because this joy he exuded was so palpable. Misty was concocted from the eternal music of the spheres - maybe because his feet were not on the ground when he composed it.
BIX BEIDERBECKE
The comet of Bix Beiderbecke’s talent was a mystery in itself: dead from alcohol in 1931 at the age of 28, his cornet style and compositional originality continues to fascinate almost 100 years later. A self taught musician, Bix appeared from podunk Iowa and immediately became a ragtime sensation at the height of the Jazz era with The Wolverines, then with Paul Whiteman’s orchestra (along with Bing Crosby). He was a white man playing a traditionally black form of music, which was a novelty, and that made him easier to market to middle America - but such genius is color blind.
Although renowned for his horn playing, he composed In a Mist on piano in 1927 (he was 24), and it’s here that you see the influence of the impressionist composer Claude Debussy, the creator of such sensuous works as Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and La Mer. Is this Jazz? How did he do it? Clearly, Bix was in touch with mystical forces beyond human understanding, or maybe, like Robert Johnson, he just made a deal with the devil. Either way, the spiritual quest suggested by these chord changes transports us into a misty continent of emotional confusion.
Given that we lost Brian Wilson recently, and there’s been a lot of talk about the elimination of the affordable subcompact, I thought we could reflect a bit upon America’s obsession with the automobile. The BIG auto; the POWERFUL auto. Especially here in Los Angeles - you gotta have wheels - and you’ll be judged by what you drive. Once, while stopped at an intersection in my little Saturn, I was heckled mercilessly by some tweens on skateboards.
On the other side of the argument sits the Goddess Shania Twain - that Canadian Everywoman who raised her siblings single handedly, then went on to conquer Country
Pop music with songs like That Don’t Impress Me Much - where she declares that you may have a hot car, Hoss, but, that don’t make you a man in her book. She puts it all in perspective.
LITTLE DEUCE COUPE / THE BEACH BOYS
Nowadays, I drive a Prius, but occasionally I’ll admire the sleek lines of a Dodge Challenger, and fantasize that I could be that muscle car guy. The Prius is wimpy - ya gotta go for The BIG auto; the POWERFUL auto. I can trace this fascination back to ’63, when at the age of 10, I heard Little Deuce Coupe for the first time. I didn’t know what Deuce Coupe meant, but that was ok because Brian Wilson sang “You don’t know what I got!” I now know that the title refers to a 1932 Ford Coupe, and the whole California culture of the drag race was popularized around the country with the invocation of this souped up Franken-car.
There were other mechanical beasts in the Wilson canon: There was the T Bird of Fun, Fun, Fun; the “duel in the sun” opponents - the corvette Stingray vs the Mopar described in Shut Down, Granny from Pasadena’s brand new shiny red super stock Dodge, and their anthemic ode to the Chevy 409, but The Deuce Coupe was purportedly Brian’s favorite. You can thank Brian’s lyricist Roger Christian for these automotive articulations, but Brian knew how to implant them into our hearts and minds with his rhythms, melodies, and harmonies.
THAT DON’T IMPRESS ME MUCH / SHANIA TWAIN
This is where the macho mechanical mythos gets deflated: Shania lets us know in no uncertain terms what makes a man desirable - it’s not your looks, brains, and especially not your car. It’s your courage to commit, your ability to listen, your kindness and tenderness. These are the qualities that win you a place at her table and in her bed.
Because she doesn’t need you. Next to Taylor Swift, Shania is the most successful female Country recording artist. whose albums have spent 97 weeks as the Top Country Albums chart leader. Former husband/producer Mutt Lange may have helped to craft those catchy Pop hits around an image of an accessible Wonder Woman, but even if she hadn’t become a mogul, I have a feeling that Shania’s integrity and sense of who she is would never have faltered.
SPIRIT ANIMAL
JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL by Neil Diamond (Columbia, 1973)
There were alot of self-help manuals popularized in the 70’s; I remember gifting my mother the book “Your Eronneous Zones” (but that’s another story)…. My acting teacher in college based her syllabus on Eric Berne’s “I’m Ok, You’re Ok”. But one of the biggest New Age parables making the rounds was Ex-Aviator Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the story of an anthropomorphized Christ-like Seagull, who has to fly off from the pack to find his true self.
It was a zeitgeist sensation, and spawned a movie with this soundtrack by the immortal Neil Diamond. Maestro Diamond is currently in the middle of a career renaissance - his biographical musical A BEAUTIFUL NOISE is playing on The Great White Way, and although he struggles with Parkinson’s he continues to work on new music. No one was bigger in the 70s, and although the 1960s Neil Diamond that I loved, the Brill Building song plugger who wrote and recorded Cherry Cherry, You Got to Me, and Solitary Man had seemingly transformed himself into a borscht belt crooner, there was no denying his powers of voice and composition, no matter how cheesy the venue (The Jazz Singer?)
I chuckled ironically when I pulled this tape from the pile, anticipating mounds of Velveeta. But now, listening for the first time, I am moved to tears. (This is probably because all my youthful cynicism has given up the ghost). It’s a beautiful musical meditation produced by Tom Catalano, and arranged by Lee Holdridge, and Neil’s voice soars, aloft on chords of longing.
Indeed, the album out-grossed the movie by 10 million dollars, and garnered the 1974 Grammy for Best Original Score, demonstrating that although the radio-controlled gliders representing the flying birds in the film might have been fake, Neil’s inspiration was not.
There have been a lot of good to great films released this year - serious films, films with urgent political underpinnings, films that mix satire, pathos, and artistic ambition with such style that it salves my damaged psyche with a hope that there will be a light at the end of this dark tunnel in which we currently find ourselves. While there is a mordant undertone to many of these transmissions, there is also an implicit message from these artists that life will go on, and there is always love, joy, and gratitude to celebrate at the end of the year.
TRAIN DREAMS is such a declaration. Based on a novel by Denis Johnson, the film is a metaphysical meditation on ragged survival through unimaginable grief, and it encompasses all of life and death throughout its dreamscape of primeval imagery. Following the trail of tears of a misbegotten railroad logger, Joel Edgerton delivers the performance of a lifetime, and in the cameo of a wizened old timer-philosopher in the camp, William H Macy transforms to such a degree that he caps his distinguished resume with an Oscar worthy supporting performance.
The Splendid Bohemians nominate this darkhorse masterpiece for film of the year, and would like to honor it today by playing Nick Cave’s Train Dreams theme, along with 2 versions of Jackson Browne’s Shadow Dream Song (by Gregg Allman and Tom Rush), and Tom Wait’s Innocent When You Dream.
“You gotta have faith,” George Michael sang a long time ago. Given the unfortunate fate that befell that conflicted artist, it’s worth taking a moment to reflect upon how hard it is to find inner peace, and make a commitment to whatever faith you still possess during this Christmas season. Life is very complicated right now and holding on to love, practicing gratitude, and radiating good intentions will help to get us through these dark days.
We here at The Hotel Bohemia want to gift you a holiday sampler chock full of savory contradictions and sweet mysteries, delivered by Jan and Dean, Tom Jones, and Evil Wiener. Since Xmas celebrates the birth of the redeemer, and the gift Christ offered to the world, the three songs lined up today trace the arc of his sacrifice and our crisis of faith: The Annunciation (Jan & Dean); the Crucifixion (Tom Jones); and, finally, the Resurrection (Evil Wiener)
The Annunciation (T.A.M.I Show Theme: Jan and Dean)
Jan and Dean, like two sun-kissed Angels, announce to the world that a youthful era of optimism has begun. Rock and Roll will save the world, they proclaim, and, we, the youth believed it. In the T.A.M.I. show theme song you can feel the exuberance of their faith. Two years later, Jan Berry almost dies from a car crash, and today the Boomers are rapidly going down in shameful flames, but in this time capsule from 1964 none of that is on the horizon- it’s all smooth sailing ahead.
The Crucifixion (Charlie Darwin: Tom Jones)
Here the smooth sailing is over, and the all encompassing ocean is overwhelming a ship’s crew - they are drowning. From out of the God given pipes of Sir Tom Jones, a prayer goes out - but to whom? There is a deep crisis of faith portrayed here in mysterious utterances. Does Charlie Darwin represent an irreconcilable conflict between natural selection and charity? Did he try to tell us something that we weren’t ready to hear? That Survival of the Fittest must doom us? Just as Jesus cried out on the cross, “why have you forsaken me?” The crew here is also expressing a crisis of faith. Or, is there a conflict at all? In the end faith is all they have. They are crying out to God as the water consumes them.
The Resurrection (All Over the World: Evil Wiener)
Bill McCormick, aka Billy Sugarfix, aka Evil Weiner may have had some doubts about the existence of Santa Claus, (and by extension, the Savior), but he’s returned to the fold of the faithful. From the special edition EP from 1993 on the Flavor-Contra label, here is Evil Wiener’s goofy recommitment to his faith - and a joy filled Birthday Greeting to Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas everybody!
Today, we feature a Christmas cracker that offers some new perspectives on one of our most treasured holiday traditions - The Xmas Song: First, The Turtles, singing “Christmas is My Time of Year,” then, the esteemed actor, Harvey Keitel, telling an off the wall Christmas story, from the film Smoke.
Putting on a favorite holiday tape or CD as you wrap the presents or trim the tree was always a highly anticipated ritual - Frank, Dino, Elvis, or Bing never failed to make the season bright. In the 60’s Rock era, of course, Phil Spector’s album was a must. Every pop artist has made one, even Bob Dylan. It made Irving Berlin and Mel Torme millions. It’s generally a can’t miss proposition. But, I’ll bet you never considered these selections. One isn’t even a song; and then there’s the Turtles number, which is seemingly on the money, but not universally known.
THE TURTLES
"Christmas is My Time of Year" was written by the jewish Howard Kaylan and the Turtle’s bassist and veteran of the Modern Folk Quartet, Chip Douglas. Douglas also produced, populating the recording with such country rock luminaries as Gram Parsons and Linda Ronstadt. The track has a folksy flair with its twangy guitars and dobros. It’s military 4 on the floor marching beat gives it an overly perky, trying too hard feel, but it’s still a lot of fun - and that’s the mark of a good Turtles song. isn't it?: always promoting optimism and good feelings. Even when they’re singing dark material like PF Sloan’s “Let Me Be” the music counterpoints the dreariness with sunshine.
HARVEY KEITEL in SMOKE
Rich threw this curveball into the mix, and I LOVE IT! Mr. Keitel has always been a favorite of ours - and in this clip from Wayne Wang’s Smoke he knocks it out of the park with this shaggy holiday story negotiating the mixed up urges of conscience and larceny. At the end of the segment there is a black and white rendering of the story accompanied by Tom Waits, singing “Innocent when you Dream”.
And, it’s here that the overall theme emerges: Christmas is that time when we aspire to live up to our best selves. But, there are so many contradictory images that interfere with this aspiration. We are exhorted to consume, going into debt for the good of the economy, and to our peril. All around us we might notice that the lonely and disenfranchised are suffering worse than ever during this time. So, we look away, trying not to face the disturbing prospect that it could be us next year. We’re only human, after all - but, to be better more than just one day out of the year shouldn’t be asking too much. But, how to begin?
Rich and I are having a ball, reliving our memorable episodes and sharing the cream with you. Today we feature two dynamic instrumental tracks that warranted some our closer scrutiny: Hawaii 5-0 by the Ventures, and Telstar by the Tornados (written and produced by the legendary Joe Meek.
I hear Jeff Lynne has recently been sidelined by a mysterious infection, and had to cancel some performances. We wish the revered music producer and founder of ELO good health and a quick recovery. Today, Bill and Rich, The Splendid Bohemians would like to celebrate this versatile Rock stylist by playing two cuts separated by decades, from two vastly different incarnations, but somehow identifiable as his, if only by the unique sensibility in which these cuts are marinated: Imposters of Life’s Magazine by The Idle Race, and Tweeter and the Monkey Man by The Traveling Wilburys.
There are certain tropes that signify this creator’s hand: catchy musical themes, thick layers of horns and strings and witty Beatle-esque harmonies - (he even got to work with the resurrected voice of John Lennon when producing the Beatle’s ghostly “reunion”tracks Free As a Bird, and Real Love. Like so many of his generation, Jeff came up under the spell of the mop tops, and even this early recording by the Idle Race has that 1967 Psychedelic flavor, pre-dating by a year, but somehow reminiscent of his future Willburys bandmate, George Harrison’s song Savoy Truffle.
IMPOSTERS OF LIFE’S MAGAZINE
The personnel changes of the several Birmingham beat groups in the mid-sixties are too numerous to recite here, but one group, The Nightriders are notable because they took on a teenaged Lynne as guitarist in ’66 - and changed their name to The Idle Race (a more timely handle). Roy Wood of the Move, Jeff’s friend and future partner in the formation of ELO, helped the IR get signed, and influential DJ John Peel was an early and strong promoter of the group. Jeff’s tenure with IR was short lived however, and in 1970 he founded (with Wood) the legendary Electric Light Orchestra.
This early composition has all the hallmarks that would later define Jeff’s work: witty, yet Romantic lyrics; hard driving rhythms, but with plenty of surprisingly lush filigree. The ambition of the work, with its startlingly different movements, is impressive for such a young talent - but, at the core is Jeff’s unmistakable ear for the “hook” - marking him as one of the most reliable masters of Pop.
TWEETER AND THE MONKEY MAN
Tweeter and the Monkey Man, from 22 years later - demonstrates how far the musician had come professionally. Here Jeff is, arguably the lowest man on the totem pole of The Traveling Wilburys, a Super Group’s Super Group (with a Beatle, George Harrison, future Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Roy - fucking - Orbison…., yet his mark is unmistakeable. This tune, supposedly written by Bob Dylan, who spittingly delivers it like a parody of Springsteen’s New Jersey, drenched in a Sopranos sauce - and it’s just plain fun. But, the chorus, penned by Jeff with George Harrison, lifts the track to the existential level of a rock opera, giving it “the hook,” the drama and the flair.
The layers on this musical cake are delicious - there’s George’s sly slide work; the Lady Madonna horns, the timpani booms counterpointed by a tinkling piano riff; the building of the strings and horns and oohing and aaahing harmonies… they suck me in every time. Good stuff!
Reflecting upon this landmark recording made me realize how much Arlo and his song had been fundamental to my life-long, anti-authoritarian world view. And how, years later, when the war had escalated, and my turn came up for the draft, even though I escaped with a high lottery number, I was already weighing my draft dodging options.
I was only 14 when the song was released, but it hipped me to the absurdity of the war in Viet Nam, the legal system, and petty bureaucrats in general. Arlo accomplished this “us against them” subversion with genial irony, which he delivered with an easy charm - not to mention an impressive Travis picking style. It didn’t hurt that he had the name recognition as the scion of the OG of poetical protest singers, Woody Guthrie, whose song “This Land is Your Land,” almost became our national anthem, and was the adopted relative of “uncle” Pete Seeger, whose signature sing-along method of inspiring social change, which Arlo employs so effectively here.
It was a cultural bombshell, and a first in many ways: At 18 minutes, FM radio usually played it in three separate parts making each rotation an event. It was the longest song to ever gain radio play when spun in its entirety. However, here at the Hotel Bohemia, time has no meaning, so it can be played all the way through on a continuous loop.
Love comes in many forms - sometimes confrontational. Today’s episode is a paean to a couple of dominating dames that lit up the punk scene in the late 70s. Johnny Rotten once stated that the only person that actually frightened him was the gone too soon, Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex. That product of a Somali father and a British mother railed against consumerist culture, and her band’s career might have been short lived, but their single, Oh Bondage, Up Yours! with it’s bleating saxophone cavalry charge, blown by band mate Lora Logic, was a battle cry to aspiring Riot Grrls everywhere.
The other indomitable mistress we wish to spotlight, Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, is still rocking 50 years later. This survivor from America’s Midwest by way of England, - this vegetarian restauranteur/punk legend, who fronted one of the most thrilling acts of the era, scored multiple hits across the pop spectrum, including this classic, Middle of the Road.
X-RAY SPEX
Marianne Joan Elliot-Said died prematurely at age 53, but she lived abundantly, migrating through several personae. Early on, she was a hippie, sleeping in crash pads and nearly dying from sepsis, which she contracted from stepping on a rusty nail while bathing in a stream. Later, inspired by seeing the Sex Pistols, she had found her calling. Choosing her moniker from the Yellow Pages, wearing braces on her teeth and Day-Glo outfits, she became a sensation.
Like a comet, she streaked across the pop firmament and burnt out quickly, being diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1978. She pursued a gentler and jazzier sound for her subsequent solo recordings, and in ’83 became a Hare Krishna and a vegetarian. In February 2011 she revealed that she had been treated for breast cancer that had spread to her spine and lungs. She died later that year, yet in her short life she accomplished the nearly impossible: cultural immortality.
THE PRETENDERS
The guitar signature, driven by Robbie McIntosh on 1983’s Middle of the Road by The Pretenders creates an irresistible force, defining a clear road map for singer, Chrissie Hynde. It feels like she’s behind the wheel, with the high beams on, going 120, roaring through the Ohio night, around the bend of a Rust Belt highway. She was already 33, and a single mother, as she tells us in the song. With one fist held high, she assures us that she’ll be a survivor, and there’s no shame in that.
She’s listed by Rolling Stone as 114 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of all time, and at 74, she’s still going strong - still driving that muscle car of rock. This woman has ageless style and charisma. She is also a citizen of Great Britain, having moved there initially in ’73, and almost marrying Johnny Rotten, Sid vicious, and Ray Davies (she has a daughter by the Kink). After several misfires trying to start a band, her solo demo tape made it’s way to Dave Hill, the owner of Real Records who helped her put the original Pretenders line up together, and the rest, as they say is “Herstory”.
We’re so glad you’re enjoying our meanderings down memory lane to rediscover these classic Stack o’ 45s episodes you might have missed. We’re having a ball reminiscing about some of The Splendid Bohemians finest moments, so grab a Sazerac and kick back with the boys as you dig on this pair of Delta Royals: Miss Irma Thomas, The Soul Queen of New Orleans, and the self-titled “Emperor of the Universe,” Ernie K. Doe.
Edit Piaf once famously sang “Je Regrette Rien” (I Regret Nothing), and listening to the following heart wrenching live performances, I’m reminded that anyone claiming that spiritual stance must be in denial - or, crowing in battered defiance in order to buttress themselves against the memory of life’s cavalcade of pain and tortured conscience. For who can sincerely state that they have no regrets? No harsh word you wish you could have retracted?; No unsubstantiated suspicion that poisoned the well of a friendship or a faithful love?; Are you discounting the abuses large and small that have piled up so high that, somehow, you’ve become numb to them?; What about the road not taken…?
These songs tell tales about the burden of living under the crushing weight of regret. If you don’t shed a tear listening to them, your fluids need replenishing. The divine Spanish diva, Luz Casal singing Jackson Browne’s “These Days”, accompanied by the writer and his ride or die Sancho Panza, David Lindley on his keening fiddle is like hearing a penitent sinner’s weary confession; and, then there’s the incomparable Rufus Wainwright, in a duet with Sara Bareilles, delivering her own anthem with a thrilling operatic intimacy.
THESE DAYS / LUZ CASAL, JACKSON BROWNE, AND DAVID LINDLEY
The preternaturally wise Jackson Browne was sixteen when he wrote “These Days” for Nico, who intoned it with a teutonic world weariness that spoke volumes. What did he know then about regrets? Certainly, the intervening years have instructed the now 76 year old songsmith in all the permutations of tragedy, yet somehow, he has managed to valiantly soldier on, staying creative, performing, and advocating for humanity.
There is something almost mystical about the voice of Luz Casal, and the delicacy with which she interprets Jackson’s lyrics that transcends her heavily accented pronunciations. The words are sometimes hard to follow - but not the meaning - that’s never lost. Time collapses as the message of this song, originally brought into being by the foreign born Christa Paffgen - and resurrected now, almost 60 years later, by this Goddess, comes full circle to enfold the aging songwriter in the arms of his own mortality.
SHE USED TO BE MINE / SARA BAREILLES AND RUFUS WAINWRIGHT
Sara Bareilles wrote She Used to Be Mine as a show stopper for her Broadway musical, Waitress, and it’s a barn burner. Here, in combination with the musical magus, Rufus Wainwright it morphs into something entirely different from it’s template: it has become a religious act of forgiveness and redemption - an acknowledgment of life’s profound losses, and at the same time an appreciation for what was - a ritual of devotion that celebrates living in all its ecstasy and futility - the duality of darkness and light, love and death.
First Rufus sings alone, then Sara… but, when they harmonize the full extent of the love that was lost, and yet remains, lifts us up to the realization of the eternal knowledge that love is never lost. It is a requiem.
As the holidays roll around, and daylight retracts, the thoughts also cloud over to infuse the mind with a grayish motif. We’re encouraged to gather our loved ones close and practice gratitude for life’s bounty. But, what if life’s gifts have been obscured by the overwhelming influence of a mortal depression, a reflection of the disconnect between what we see around us - (disease, deprivation, tyranny, man’s inhumanity to man, etc.) - and, the opposing commercial messages which exhort us to joyfully consume?
Is this dark attitude the result of an imbalance of chemicals in the brain which can be easily adjusted by the ingestion of a pill? Or, is the undertow into hopelessness something more fundamental - an irreconcilable part of our genetic makeup - a part of life we just have to stoically accept and get on with?
Great artists reckon with these impulses by creating profound music. Today we celebrate two of the most striking practitioners of this heroic enterprise: Will Oldham and Nick Drake.
WILL OLDHAM
I See a Darkness is a masterpiece of simple straight talk about the things most of us never say. It expresses an honest representation of the apprehension that a sensitive soul feels, yet mostly keeps to themself about the inevitability of the abyss. Death walks beside us at all times, and, it helps to staunch the bleeding of fear by keeping our blindfolds on. But, sometimes, there is an urgency to share these thoughts with a friend or a counselor, and the monologue of this song invites us into that private conversation. It packs an overwhelming punch. Johnny Cash also interpreted this song near the end of his life as everything in his being boiled down to the basics.
Bonnie Prince Billy, aka Will Oldham is a DIY, Kentucky based actor-musician with a diverse resume, featuring projects with many collaborators. He’s a married man with a child, and perhaps all this inter-activity has grounded him and kept him productive. This makes sense - there is raw boned sense of the practical inherent in his style that complements the mystical.
NICK DRAKE
The doomed, etherial Nick Drake was not so lucky. He stood apart, and was other-worldly from the beginning, always uncomfortable in his own skin. His recorded output was sparse, and number of his performances minimal, yet profound in their influence. Dead at 26 from an overdose of antidepressants, Nick didn’t live long enough to see the reach that resonates with his work today, 50 years after his passing.
River Man, in 5/4 time plucked on a nylon string guitar, abetted by a serene string arrangement by Harry Robertson, is a mysterious descent into the deep waters of associative imagery. Nothing is overtly stated, but the character of Betty and the narrator going to see the River Man who has the answer to the meaning of life puts me in mind of the Millais’ painting of drowned Ophelia, floating in the river, surrounded by flowers. At peace at last.
You asked, and we answered. Since you enjoyed the Bobbie Gentry vs. Joey Heatherton marathon smackdown so much, we've resurrected two more tantalizing STACK O 45s archival episodes to enrich your day and fire your imaginations: You Don't Own Me by Leslie Gore, and Is That All There Is? by the one and only Peggy Lee.
There is an interesting theme coursing through these are three dynamic pop hits of the Brill Building era, all by one hit wonders, sung by extraordinary, up and coming stylists, and crafted by some of the most influential music men of the time:
Cathy Carroll’s 1962 hit, “Poor Little Puppet” (produced and arranged by Stan Applebaum, written by Howard Greenfield (Neil Sedaka’s partner, here collaborating with Jack Keller); 1963’s “Girls Grow Up Faster Than Boys Do,” by Earl-Jean McCrae (with the Cookies), produced by Gerry Goffin, written by Goffin and Carole King, also with Jack Keller; and Tracey Dey, singing “I Won’t Tell,” from 1964, produced by Bob Crewe, written by Crewe with The Four Season’s Bob Gaudio.
The theme is irony. All three feature tough minded, independent young females, endeavoring for autonomy in a man’s world, delivering songs written by powerful men who controlled every aspect of their creation and production. These appeared in the time pre-Women’s Liberation, and demonstrate strength, heartbreak, and a tension that pulls against the undertoe of subservience.
Taken in chronological order:
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“Poor Little Puppet” was originally recorded by Jan and Dean in 1961 as a sleepy, Everly Brothers clone, and it didn’t do much. But, here, as interpreted by Cathy Carroll, and helmed by Stan Applebaum, the tune takes flight in a punchier, more uptempo arrangement. It charted at 91 on the top 100 - Cathy’s only showing, and the surprise twist at the end is powerful, when the singer, looking in the mirror, admits that she herself is the puppet, whose strings are being controlled by the man whose love she craves.
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In 1963, The Cookies were on top with “Chains,” the Goffin-King hit, later covered by The Beatles, and “Girls Grow Up Faster Than Boys Do,” (also by those chart-topping songwriters), was perfectly designed for them and their irresistible lead singer Earl-Jean McCrae. When they sing: “I’m everything a girl should be.. 36-21-35,” it feels quite cringe-worthy nowadays. Irresistible is right, because Gerry Goffin proceeded to make a baby with the vocalist, even though his marriage with King remained undissolved until 6 years later. They even continued to write for Earl-Jean, creating (I’m Into Something Good - which she recorded before Herman’s Hermits)
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In “I Won’t Tell,” from 1964, the singer vows to keep her illicit romance a secret, so as not to hurt her sister. Tracey Dey, born Nora Ferrari in Yonkers, had made a name for herself as the “Teenage Cleopatra” capitalizing on the notoriety of the Liz Taylor blockbuster. She caught the eye of The Four Season’s maestro, Bob Gaudio when she recorded “Jerry, I’m your Sherry” , playing off the title of the group’s hit ‘Sherry”. Together with the production genius Bob Crewe, they crafted this pop classic the teenage Cleo. Tracey soon got out of the business, earned a Master’s degree from Columbia, and became a teacher and screenwriter. Clearly, this was a savvy entrepreneur from an early age. (Btw: the original masters of this recording were lost - so, this version was taken directly off a 45 disc). Enjoy!
Was it really a simpler time, way back when?
As teenagers, Rich and I pined for those older women who seemed to embody the tidal pulse of desire. For me, it was the Delta song-spinner Bobbie Gentry, whose Ode to Billie Joe, a mystery delivered in honeyed, but troubling tones, captured the world's - and, my imagination; for Rich, it was the slinky seductress Joey Heatherton, who complicated his yearnings by aligning herself with Bob Hope on those USO tours during the Viet Nam war.
The way podcast Stack of 45s would work was that Rich or I would nominate a song to be explored and celebrated, then the other would have a chance to bring forward their choice. In this case, my record, Ode to Billie Joe appeared first, and this inspired Rich to find and re-examine Gone by Joey.
Enjoyed back to back these episodes bring back some good memories for me. And, hopefully, if you've been with us awhile, you'll enjoy hearing these again, too. And if you're new to the party, you've got a treat ahead of you.
In the mood for some baseball?
Of course you are; it’s still our national pastime, after all, despite the threat of encroachment by football, soccer, basketball, Nascar and Monster Trucks. And now that the innovation of the pitch clock has trimmed down the times of games, it’s a little more dynamic than it used to be back in those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summers past.
This World Series has been a humdinger, breaking several records, but it ain't over yet - The Toronto Blue Jays now have a 3 game to 2 advantage as they return to their hometown field and crowd. What had seemed like an inevitable win for L.A. after game three, now is in nail-biting doubt. Just goes to show you that, in the words of Yogi Berra - "it ain't over 'til it's over!"
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is one of the best depictions of the creative process that I’ve ever seen, exploring where an artist’s ideas come from: those sources, personal and environmental that are processed via one’s family history, dreams, desires - and are then delivered through said artist’s private relationship with their tools - (in this case the Tascam Portastudio, Echoplex reverb unit, and a water-damaged boombox). I was thrilled by that examination, and by Bruce’s steadfast protection of his lo-fi masterpiece when it was being threatened by corporate pressure to compromise.
Jeremy Allen White is one of America’s finest exemplars of smoldering emotion, and the close ups on Springsteen’s anguished face were a tour de force of inner conflict. The protean Stephen Graham as Bruce’s complicated monster of a father found vivid expression with just a smattering of dialogue. And, Jeremy Strong - an actor capable of the deepest levels of immersion portrays Bruce’s guardian angel of a manager, Jon Landau with such grace, and generous restraint that it made me cry. Kudos to all.
The pace is pokey, and I personally could have done without the manufactured love story in which the actress, Odessa Young has the unenviable task of having to deliver clunky exposition, notably when she psychologizes Bruce for us.
But, all in all, for a story that chronicles depression and child abuse, the darkness is mitigated by the knowledge that our hero emerges from this crucible to become a happily married family man and cultural hero, and create a timeless work of art.
The Splendid Bohemians are honored to feature a couple of tributes to The Boss, which recognize his influence and influences: First, a duet with Bruce and Pete Seeger, the Patron Saint and Johnny Appleseed of folk music, singing Bruce’s still relevant- (sadly)- homage to John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath: The Ghost of Tom Joad. And, we’ll close with Ryan Adams’ honorable rendition of Nebraska, the title song from those sources which are celebrated in Warren Zanes book and Scott Cooper’s film
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This nation’s troubled history with Manifest Destiny will continue to haunt us for some time. Throughout the decades some Native voices have emerged and contributed to the ongoing cultural conversation: most recently on the Broadway stage, on film, and television, and this awareness might move us towards some, if not restitution for atrocities past, at least a dialogue that might point the way towards the future.
Today Double Trouble features the efforts of two important Americana artists, neither one Native American, but both identifying with them. Johnny Cash believed that he was part Cherokee- (a notion disproved by DNA). They both raised their voices in advocacy with the dispossessed. Pete La Farge wrote The Ballad of Ira Hayes, which Johnny Cash delivers here, and then Mr. La Farge himself mourns the disappearance of the Coyote as a consequence of Capitalism’s rapacious destruction of sacred lands.
JOHNNY CASH
From his 1963 concept album “Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian”, The Ballad of Ira Hayes tells the story of a WW2 War Hero, one of the men raising the flag over Iwo Jima in that iconic photo. Upon returning to the states, Ira had to confront the irony of his impossibly low status on home soil, and descended into alcohol addiction and death. Pete La Farge wrote 5 of the songs on Cash’s album, and became known, along with Buffy St. Marie, as one of the most prominent singer-songwriters concerned with Native themes.
Johnny Cash was a life-long representative of Native peoples, trying through his popular status to bring about an awareness of the wrongs that had been committed in the name of “progress”.
PETE LA FARGE
Given the focus of his creative output during his short life - he died, age 34, of a stroke - one might assume that Mr. La Farge was Native American, but not so: he was the son of an anthropologist and Pulitzer Prize winning novelist and a Rhode Island heiress. Growing up in New Mexico and Colorado, he developed a love of Native American culture, and that became his artistic touchstone.
Most famous for The Ballad of Ira Hayes, his tribute to a discarded, fallen hero, the song has been covered by Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger among many others. Here, in Coyote, La Farge channels the mournful sound of the dispossessed animal as it fades away into the ether, after losing its habitat to business interests - an issue we’re still dealing with today.
What is the fascination that we have with seductive avatars of oblivion? Carolyn Jones as Morticia Addams indoctrinated the adolescent me to the possibilities of the Succubus, and became my tween age, gothic sex symbol; the painting by Pre-Raphaeite John Millet: Ophelia (who floats beautifully in the river) hung on my dorm wall for years. Today, Double Trouble features a couple of ice queens who inspire detached sexual delirium, one contemporary, and one long gone, but still as magnetic as when she walked the earth: the enigmatic Lana Del Rey and Andy Warhol’s muse - Nico (nee Christa Paffgen).
LANA DEL REY
When Lana Del Rey sings “We were born to die,” you know she’s not fooling around. Her voice might be studiously without affect, but you can sense some psychic turmoil underneath. And when she purrs, “you like your girls insane,” she is obviously speaking from experience. Her Greta Garbo air of mystery smolders like an ember that could reignite and singe you at any moment.
Of course, LDR is vastly more multi-dimensional as an artist than simply existing as a blank canvas on which to project our emo fantasies. Her later work, such as her fifth album, the widely acclaimed “Norman Fucking Rockwell” has generous reserves of humor, complexity, and intelligence to ponder and appreciate. And, her recent marriage hints at even further explorations of domestic bliss. So maybe our gothic goddess will be embracing life going forward.
NICO
Speaking of blank canvasses on which we can project our fantasies - Nico, the fashion model, turned Chanteuse, was the ultimate receptive surface. She wasn’t even a singer at first, veering off key as she often did, but her voice with its hypnotic, Germanic drone had its undeniable charms. And, Andy Warhol knew the socko glamor that he was wielding when he saddled the Velvet Underground with her, making her their front person. Who knows if the group, as brilliant as they were, would have garnered any attention initially if it wasn't for Warhol’s 1960s answer to Marlene Dietrich.
Nico struggled with heroin addiction and died tragically young in a senseless bicycle accident, but before she left us she created, (with the help of Velvet’s veteran John Cale as producer) some unforgettable mantras. Frozen Warnings is one of the most compelling - It’s harmonium and droning viola conjure the sense of tip-toeing across a frozen lake and feeling the ice cracking under your feet as you try to reach the glaciated siren.
At risk of seeming sexist, it must be noted that the two prodigies of the bass featured here are female, and perhaps that, in some sense, informs their approach to their artistry. Listening to BC by Tal Wilkenfeld, and Esparanza Spalding’s Vague Suspicions, one cannot help but appreciate both the technical precision, and the soulfulness of their musical expression.
The bass rarely takes the lead in an ensemble - they are usually responsible for holding down the bottom with the drums. However, occasionally, the bassist will step forward into the limelight - Charlie Mingus and Jaco Pastorius come to mind - and, this inversion can lead to some amazing revelations.
ESPERANZA SPALDING
I was inspired to read that Esperanza Spalding had been afflicted with Juvenile idiopathic Arthritis as a child. That this was to be the launching pad for a career as master of one of the most physically demanding instruments imaginable - the upright bass -, puts me in awe. (She also plays the violin, guitar, piano and the oboe). Having the ears and instincts of a prodigy, she was given a full scholarship to the Berkelee School of Music, where she was also granted an honorary doctorate and professorship at age 20.
By the way: let’s not neglect to mention her singing, which is miraculous, lifting easily from conversational mode to a soaring airiness, there are unmistakeable echoes of Billie and Ella. Besides all this, she’s on a mission to make jazz more mainstream - attested by the title of the album Radio Music Society, from which this track derives. If anyone can accomplish this feat, it’s this Grammy Award winner.
TAL WILKENFELD
I first became aware of Tal Wilkenfeld when I saw Jeff Beck play A Day in the Life at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies. There was Beck, looking relaxed and dashing - delicately maneuvering his whammy bar… and to his left stood what looked like a street urchin with wild ringlets, following his every nuance, note for note, wielding a massive Fender bass, which was as big as she was. It was alchemy. Later, I watched the Live at Ronnie Scott’s video where you could really see the two magicians extended celebration.
She was around 20 at the time, possessed of a preternatural talent, and sidekick to one of the greatest guitarists who ever lived. Since then, the master has left this realm, and the apprentice has stepped forward to become her own front person - living in Nashville, playing with her band, and her calendar is filled with multiple special appearances and collaborations. And, to top it all, she’s jolly. Her sense of humor is obvious, partnering with comedians, Marc Maron, Spinal Tap, and Jeff Ross on their projects.
DT: STRING THEORY / TELEVISION AND KALEIDOSCOPE
The guitar as we know it has had an illustrious evolution, starting its journey in ancient Mesopotamia, then finding its earliest recognizable incarnation 5 centuries ago in Spain, and continuing to move through various cultures until blossoming into its electric manifestation in the modern era. It was the magic wand to the baby boom generation - suddenly, everybody had to have one to express themselves, along with a garage band with whom to practice their 3 chord fantasies.
Then, there were the transcendental wizards who blazed trails of such sonic originality that the instrument’s sound never got boring. Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck, to name a couple. Most of them were firmly rooted in the blues form. Today we feature two bands (Television and Kaleidoscope) whose unique recorded output, though small, blew minds with their sublime, far-reaching soundscapes - reaching deeply into themselves, and searching widely for other cultural inspirations to make original music no 60s/70s rocker teens had even heard before.
KALEIDOSCOPE
David Lindley merged his folk cred with Solomon Feldhouse who brought a middle eastern sensibility to the mix, and they struck world-fusion-rock gold. Lindley started off as a banjo picker, but could play anything with strings, and Feldhouse, a Flamenco artist who had grown up in Turkey, was giggling as an accompanist for belly dancers. Theirs was an unlikely, but unimpeachable partnership.
In this cut from their 1967 debut album, Side Trips, the boys take us on a magical mystery tour through the sanctum of the Egyptian Gardens, where Oud riffs twirl madly through the perfumed air, and scantily clad dancers hypnotize us with their charms.
TELEVISION
Punk music was completely democratic. It was said that you didn’t have to have chops to play; all you needed was passion. Not so with Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd’s band Television. Their debut album, 1977’s Marquee Moon immediately splintered that myth. The two virtuoso guitarist’s method of meshing their sound together threw down the gauntlet to any aspiring duelists, and their achievement remains unparalleled, and unchallenged.
It was an intellectual approach heretofore unseen in CBGBs, and the other dives of the lower east side. There was a jazz-like, improvisational element at work, and in the record’s eponymous cut, Marquee Moon, you can hear Verlaine and Lloyd spur each other on to increasingly ecstatic heights.
DT: STAYING HYDRATED WITH MARTY ROBBINS AND REV. AL GREEN
H2O - we can’t live without it. As the temperatures rise, physically and spiritually, you better keep plenty of the life giving elixir handy. The human body contains over 50% of the stuff, the earth- about 70 percent. It’s all around; within and without us.
From the book of symbols:
“River is vital fluidity: the rivers move through both the upper world and the lower world, over ground and underground, inside and outside: rivers of fertility and prosperity, rivers of forgetting, rivers of binding oath, rivers of commerce, rivers of blood and rivers of water, rivers of rebirth, rivers of death, rivers of sorrow…”
Two streams of much needed refreshment will be delivered by Marty Robbins and the Rev. Al Green today; dip in and be baptized.
MARTY ROBBINS / COOL WATER
Cool Water had been around for about 20 years when Marty Robbins included the song in his 1959 album Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, which also featured the hit “El Paso”. It was written by Bob Nolan, founding member of The Sons of the Pioneers, and had been covered many many times. But, nestled here, among the other songs that comprise this formidable concept album, it takes on a mythic resonance. As Marty urges his parched mule, Dan forward through the unending desert, his emotion choked voice cries out for an oasis of redemption.
REVEREND AL GREEN / TAKE ME TO THE RIVER
The Reverend Al Green became fully ordained in 1976, two years after he wrote and recorded this soul classic. In 1974, with the assistance of production wizard Willie Mitchell, he created this toe tapping ode to spirituality and lust. Al must have had an premonition of the rebirth that was about to occur, because’74 was also the year that his peccadillos came home to roost: when he was scalded by hot grits, wielded by suicidal, ex-lover, Mary Woodson.
And, this cut contains both the sacred and the profane in equal measure - not explicitly, but in the hip chugging funk juxtaposed with the call for baptismal relief. Rock n Roll has been called “The Devil’s Music:” Al may have strayed, but has since devoted himself to the gospel of rehabilitation.
ANCHORS AWEIGH!
This episode comes from diary entries written from March to August, 2018 - and, involve labyrinthian efforts to get my nephew into the Navy. My dreams were plentiful and disturbing, but nothing compared to the bureaucratic nightmares that lay before us. Enjoy!
The story of one of the sunniest and funniest personalities to emerge in the world of rock, the Turtles‘ Mark Volman, is being told in a book whose title is a play on the name of his biggest hit, “Happy Together”. However, unlike many memoirs, Volman’s own words comprise less than five percent of the text. Instead, this is a third-person oral history, much like Legs McNeil’s wonderful punk rock history opus from 2016, Please Kill Me.
Mark Volman’s Happy Forever is told almost entirely by 100 of his famous collaborators, rock scenesters, friends, and family, with the occasional sidebar from Mark himself. This six-decade-long narrative includes his rise to fame with the Turtles alongside his singing partner Howard Kaylan, their brilliant stint with Frank Zappa’s the Mothers of Invention, their solo career as Flo & Eddie, and their role as backup singers on mega-hits by Marc Bolan, Bruce Springsteen, Alice Cooper, the Ramones, Steely Dan and more.
Long ago and far away, around 1970, there was a smoldering rage that permeated through every strata of American society. Following a flurry of assassinations in the mid sixties, the Manson murders in ‘69, riots in Detroit, the Motor City in ’67, and in Chicago at the 1968 Democratic Convention, at Kent State in ‘70 with the murder of four protesting students - it seemed that the whole fabric of society was coming apart due to the country being mired in the Viet Nam war and the never ending specter of racism.
Step up to the mic Gil Scott-Heron and the MC5. In “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” Mr. Scott-Heron, in a performance that has earned him the title “The Godfather of Rap” in some quarters - eviscerates those couch potatoes who are watching it all unfold on tv, and that expect things to right themselves between commercial interruptions. And he does it with jazzy flair that made the absurdity of the whole situation crystal clear.. And, then there was the Motor City 5, those scruffy provocateurs whose manager, John Sinclair was jailed for two joints, who fought the good fight the only way they knew how: by “Kicking out the Jams, Motherfucker!”
GIL SCOTT-HERON
Scott-Heron’s combination of spoken word poetry with soul-jazz is a style which has made him influential throughout the decades. So much so that he was inducted as an influence in the Rock and roll Hall of Fame. In “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” he melds the two strains - one melodic, one verbal - together to deliver an unassailable message: there will be no change without intentional activism. It’s word play may be humorous, but it’s deadly serious. Now we have the internet and social media and people are less inclined to believe what they see, or even commit to any action because their attention is being relentlessly consumed. In 1970, despite the horrendous condition of the political scene, Gil Scott-Heron still believed that societal change was possible.
MC5
The same optimism resounds in Kick out the Jams by the MC5. These were kids who saw the wrong headed direction of their government, and tried, by assuming the outlaw stance of revolutionaries, to influence the youth. However, the enterprise was hobbled from the start by drugs, their association with White Panther Party founder, John Sinclair, - and, the radio censorship by their label of their most famous song because of the introduction’s unacceptable word “motherfucker!” They were a great live band of proto-punks, home-town heroes in Detroit, who never achieved the national prominence they deserved. It’s not the lyrics of Kick out the jams that are dangerous - it’s the exuberant energy of the offending word - that, ironically, created history.
Joe HIllA songwriter, itinerant laborer, and union organizer, Joe Hill became famous around the world after a Utah court convicted him of murder. Even before the international campaign to have his conviction reversed, however, Joe Hill was well known in hobo jungles, on picket lines and at workers' rallies as the author of popular labor songs and as an Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) agitator. Thanks in large part to his songs and to his stirring, well-publicized call to his fellow workers on the eve of his execution—"Don't waste time mourning, organize!"—Hill became, and he has remained, the best-known IWW martyr and labor folk hero.
Born Joel Hägglund on Oct. 7, 1879, the future "troubadour of discontent" grew up the fourth of six surviving children in a devoutly religious Lutheran family in Gävle, Sweden, where his father, Olaf, worked as a railroad conductor. Both his parents enjoyed music and often led the family in song. As a young man, Hill composed songs about members of his family, attended concerts at the workers' association hall in Gävle and played piano in a local café.
In 1887, Hill's father died from an occupational injury and the children were forced to quit school to support themselves. The 9-year-old Hill worked in a rope factory and later as a fireman on a steam-powered crane. Stricken with skin and joint tuberculosis in 1900, Hill moved to Stockholm in search of a cure and worked odd jobs while receiving radiation treatment and enduring a series of disfiguring operations on his face and neck. Two years later, Hill's mother, Margareta Katarina Hägglund, died after also undergoing a series of operations to cure a persistent back ailment. With her death, the six surviving Hägglund children sold the family home and ventured out on their own. Four of them settled elsewhere in Sweden, but the future Joe Hill and his younger brother, Paul, booked passage to the United States in 1902.
Little is known of Hill's doings or whereabouts for the next 12 years. He reportedly worked at various odd jobs in New York before striking out for Chicago, where he worked in a machine shop, got fired and was blacklisted for trying to organize a union. The record finds him in Cleveland in 1905, in San Francisco during the April 1906 Great Earthquake and in San Pedro, Calif., in 1910. There he joined the IWW, served for several years as the secretary for the San Pedro local and wrote many of his most famous songs, including "The Preacher and the Slave" and "Casey Jones—A Union Scab." His songs, appearing in the IWW's "Little Red Song Book," addressed the experience of virtually every major IWW group, from immigrant factory workers to homeless migratory workers to railway shopcraft workers.
In 1911, he was in Tijuana, Mexico, part of an army of several hundred wandering hoboes and radicals who sought to overthrow the Mexican dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz, seize Baja California, emancipate the working class and declare industrial freedom. (The invasion lasted six months before internal dissension and a large detachment of better-trained Mexican troops drove the last 100 rebels back across the border.) In 1912, Hill apparently was active in a "Free Speech" coalition of Wobblies, socialists, single taxers, suffragists and AFL members in San Diego that protested a police decision to close the downtown area to street meetings. He also put in an appearance at a railroad construction crew strike in British Columbia, writing several songs before returning to San Pedro, where he lent musical support to a strike of Italian dockworkers.
The San Pedro dockworkers' strike led to Hill's first recorded encounter with the police, who arrested him in June 1913 and held him for 30 days on a charge of vagrancy because, he said later, he was "a little too active to suit the chief of the burg" during the strike.
SUNNY SONGS: LOW YO YO STUFF by Captain Beefheart (WB, 1972)
We do what we gotta do to survive. We’ve got to activate our low yo yo stuff. Don Van Vliet, aka Captain Beefheart knew that better than most. Frank Zappa’s high school buddy and inspiration blew in from the desert fully formed as a cubist blues man. He reordered our mitochondria by breaking the order of music apart, and lyrically accessing a deeper realm of abstraction. But, this was always done with tongue in cheek, slightly, or at least with a wink. And, later, when the public outcry died down, he went back to the desert to paint and write poetry. I’m turning off the noise, he seemed to say, but never abandoning the low yo yo stuff. That’s the essential ingredient for the spice of life.
Low Yo Yo Stuff is the opening track from the Clear Spot album - certainly his most accessible record, produced by Warner Brother’s maestro Ted Templeton. And, it was almost commercial! Someone said this is the album to initiate you to Don’s weirdness by inviting you to put your musical toe in the pool, before diving into the deep end of Trout Mask Replica. That’s how it worked for me, and I’m grateful for having had the experience.
Today we feature two black female vocalists, born 66 years apart, both renown for their independent spirit, singing songs about trying to make love work - despite clear signs to the contrary.
As artists, they’ve both shunned the spotlight, maintaining the mystery of their magic:
Sippie Wallace quit show business for 30 years, preferring to express herself through her church organ, and LGBTQ icon Tracy Chapman staunchly separates her private life from her public one.
Sippie returned to the spotlight by way of the blues festivals of the 60s, and was celebrated and covered by Bonnie Raitt, among others, and although Tracy appears regularly to perform for political causes she champions, only recently did she resurface in a big way in the mind the general public, by way of an emotional re-appearance at the 2023 Grammy’s to perform her song “Fast Car” in a duet with Luke Combs, who made it a Country hit almost 40 years after its original release.
SIPPIE WALLACE
On this 1926 Okeh recording of “Special Delivery Blues”, we first hear the whistle of the approaching mail train, then the crescendoing piano rolls building up suspense musically. This wave of energy is capped by the immortal cornet of Louis Armstrong and the yearning phrases of Sippie Wallace begging for news of her man’s return. She wishes and hopes that the guy who left her will come back soon, but it doesn’t look good. Despite this, Sippie makes it clear she’ll keep up the vigil as long as it takes.
“The Texas Nightingale” built up her reputation playing tent shows, and releasing a spate of recordings that put her up there with Ma Rainy and Bessie Smith, but she decided to chuck it all and dedicate her musical talents to the Church, where she played organ for 30 plus years. During the folk/blues revival of the mid-1960s, she was rediscovered and enjoyed immense appreciation for another 20 years, until her death at age 88.
TRACY CHAPMAN
I love GIVE ME ONE REASON because it’s so simple and direct. Tracy is drawing a line: “I’m telling you that I love you, but you have to reciprocate, or I’m gone”. It’s clearly stated without equivocation, but as the verses add up, you can just picture her, standing in the doorframe, giving her object of desire just one more chance, then another, then another…. Drawing one line, then moving it back a bit. She doesn’t want to go, but it looks like she’s going to have to.
Tracy Chapman catapulted out of the Boston coffeehouse scene in 1986, 25 years after Joan Baez had accomplished the same feat, and her first single, “Fast Car,” a song which alluded to economic inequality, was ubiquitous - a definite anomaly during the MTV era, which shows that the public can respond to bare-boned honesty, (without bells and whistles), when they hear it. And, she has maintained her integrity as a socially conscious artist throughout the intervening decades.
Gossip, Tittle Tattle, rumors, hearsay, dishing the dirt, idle talk, back stabbing…. It’s not one of the seven deadly sins, but maybe it should be. How many friendships, how many marriages, and how many jobs have been lost through spiteful blather? In this episode of Double Trouble Howlin’ Wolf and Gene Pitney testify to the adverse effects of pitiless small town talk.
Mind your own business, “they” say; “discretion is the better part of valor,”, “People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,” etc. I’m sure you’ve heard them all, but how’s your ratio of disciplined restraint? That’s a lesson I had to learn the hard way. Gossip may feel like a way of getting closer to someone by sharing intimacies. But, the next thing you know that person tells the other person, and YOU’RE the odd one out. Best to maintain a lock-jawed policy of trust.
HOWLIN’ WOLF
Who’s Been Talking, from 1960, swings it’s savage message with a Calypso beat. Chester Burnett, the blues master trained by Charlie Patton and Sonny Boy Williamson; the discovery by a 19 year old Ike Turner for Sam Phillips and Sun Records; the neck and neck competition with Muddy Waters, and inductee into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame delivers his self-penned diatribe against the effect of cheap talk with his usual lupine swagger. “Who’s been talking?” Wolf wants to know, and when he finds out, whoa, the owner of those loose lips better hide, or they might get their jaw broken.
GENE PITNEY
Town Without Pity was a 1961 Kirk Douglas film with an uncredited, re-written screenplay by the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo, featuring a score by Dimitri Tiomkin, who also composed the theme for High Noon, among others. Town Without Pity was crooned by Gene Pitney, the heartthrob with the 3 octave range - and became Pitney’s first top 40 single. He garnered many accolades in a career which also boasted bull’s eyes as a songwriter, composing hits for Ricky Nelson with Hello Marylou, and Bobby Vee’s Rubber Ball.
In this bluesy lament in a minor key, Pitney tugs at our heart strings as he bemoans the besmirching of his purest love by the wagging tongues of spite.
In the summer of 2019, in the halcyon days before the Pandemic, Chemayne and I got to share a 25th anniversary celebration experience that we had put off for 5 years: an Alaskan cruise.
A year and a half later, the world was in chaos and Chemayne was gone, but these images and moments, preserved in the diary, live on.
Let's go north to Alaska together, accompanied by some amusingly connected travel dreams.
APOCALYPSE NOW!
JACKSON BROWNE AND CHUMBAWAMBA
Have T***p derangement syndrome? Don’t worry; be happy! Go with the flow. Things can always get worse, right?
The dual apocalyptic visions featured today may derive from decades past, when anxiety within the zeitgeist was running hot, but they look positively edenic in retrospect. “All Things Must Pass,” as George Harrison prophetically wrote, and if that includes our entire civilization, we best make our peace with it. No bomb shelter can save us.
Chumbawamba’s 1997 hit “Tubthumping” had that ear worm: I Get Knocked Down, but I get up again,” which signified a contagious resiliency. However, in this, their eerie cover of The BeeGees NY Mining Disaster 1941, the protagonists portrayed will probably never see daylight, or their families again. Jackson Browne’s elegant metaphor of the approaching deluge that will sweep everything under its power has always brought tears to my eyes, even back when I first heard it in college. Now, as an elder, the hopeful innocence of the doomed weighs like an anchor on my heart.
CHUMBAWAMBA
This group of anarchist-artists from Leeds, U.K., has been hard to pin down because their musicality encompassed so many different genres. Maybe that’s the source of the Trump campaign’s confusion when they tried to use the group’s one hit TubThumping as their campaign rallying cry before Chumbawamba put a stop to that. (Reminiscent of Reagan and his attempted coopting of Springsteen’s Born in the USA).
Ironic because they are known for having crooned such leftist provocations as “So long, so long, Margaret Thatcher,” and “The Day the Nazi Died,” in their long career of social protest. Their choice to cover the mid-60s BeeGees hit about a fictional mass grave in the making is intriguing. It sounds like a church hymn sung by an angelic choir.
JACKSON BROWNE
Before the Deluge, the last song on the 1974, Late For The Sky record - (a perfect album, in my opinion) - is Jackson Browne at his best: with a heart wrenching melody (aided by David Lindley’s keening violin), and a solid poetic metaphor that, in its specificity, encompasses worlds.
As we follow the travails of the pilgrims who just want to live freely and honestly, apart from the excesses and corruption of the modern world, we watch with trepidation as their annihilation through compromise approaches. The “deluge” may be interpreted widely as a metaphor for whatever impending disaster one chooses. When Jackson sings: “let the music keep our spirits high, let the buildings keep our children dry, Let creation reveal it’s secrets by and by, when the light that’s lost within us reaches the sky,” its a prayer… a prayer that the dark forces within us and surrounding us may somehow be quelled and quieted.
IT’S A CHOICE TO BE HAPPY
(Music and lyrics by Bill Mesnik)
What makes me happy?
Cause when I feel happy
I feel like shit
I can’t define it
I thought I was happy
But was I really happy?
I don’t know
I just can’t show it
Each soggy birthday cake makes me quiver and quake
A jog around the lake?
I can’t fake it.
What makes you happy?
Cause you always seem happy
Are you free from pain?
Oh please explain it
You say, “just be happy,
It’s a choice to be happy,”
It starts with me
I just don’t see it
You’re gracious and sweet with my air of defeat
When we pass on the street
You just greet me.
I’m gonna be happy
I’ve gotta be happy
Before I’m dead I’ll get out of my head
I’ll live and be happy
I’ll love and be happy
A smile comes first
For better or worse
I’ll dance in the sun
I’ll laugh and have fun
I’ll help everyone
(Maybe someday)….
ONE IF BY LAND, TWO IF BY SEA
PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS GREATEST HITS by Paul Revere and the Raiders (Columbia, 1967)
This group, this record: they were fundamental elements in the experience of the 13 year old Captain Billy. My band, The Full House, played a smokin’ cover of “Steppin’ Out”; Dick Clark’s WHERE THE ACTION IS tv show was a can’t miss, daily after-middle school check in; I coveted those Vox amps and Mark Lindsay’s ponytail. And, re-listening to this setlist 56 years later verifies that this band kicked hard and tight. Just ask Quentin Tarantino, who included two of the cuts for the soundtrack of ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD.
America’s answer to the British Invasion actually started earlier, in 1958, in Boise Idaho, when keyboardist Paul Revere and sax player Mark Lindsay met and collaborated in the instrumental group The Downbeats. Revere was the organist’s actual name, so the subsequent donning of Revolutionary outfits was a natural, if cringey gimmick. The fact that Mark Lindsay was also one of America’s best rock singers was a secret weapon.
The initial bombshell was dropped in April, 1963, in Portland, Oregon, when the group recorded the seminal rock standard “Louie Louie” in the same year and the same studio as the Kingsmen (the version everybody remembers): The Northwestern Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings, Inc. studio. But, that didn’t matter. Yes, The Kingsmen’s recording was a one hit mega-wonder, but, the Raiders became a national institution with a string of 12 top 30 hits.
The first incarnation of the Raiders dissolved around the same time that this collection came out, but they kept reforming in various line ups until Revere’s death from cancer in 2014. Like their contemporaries, The Monkees, there was a media hyped, manufactured quality (Producer Terry Melcher fattened their sound with the help of The Wrecking Crew), but the Raider’s street cred as musicians was impeccable, and very few could wail like Mark Lindsay.
HANK WILLIAMS, JR. / WHISKEY BENT AND HELL BOUND / ELEKTRA, 1979
I have a good story about Hank Williams, Jr., aka “Bocephus:”
My late wife, Chemayne grew up in the backstages and dressing rooms of the biggest rock n roll arenas in the Southeast. Her mom worked for a couple of regional mega promoters, and Chemayne had many encounters with such 70’s luminaries as Willy Nelson, James Taylor, Roger Daltry, Mick Jagger, Elton John, etc. One memorable meeting involved the son of “The Hillbilly Shakespeare.” I guess she was about eight, and Hank decided to take out and display his glass eye in order to tease her. Freaked her out so bad the memory was burned into her brain for all time.
Hank worked hard to cultivate his Outlaw image, and to both embrace, and out run the weight of his father’s immense legacy, and along the way he kicked the shit out of himself, but made some damn fine records. This album was created during his high point of the late 70s-early 80s when his combination of Country, blues, and Rock went main stream - between his monster hits Family Tradition, and All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down. He was so big that in the early 90s he became the identifiable voice of Monday Night Football. Not only did he embody his own “Family Tradition”, but America’s as well, it seems.
It’s worth noting also that the disc was produced by Jimmy Bowen, who also produced Frank Sinatra’s Strangers in the Night - which demonstrates some cross over wizardry in service of one of Country music’s arguably biggest cross over artists.
We got a couple of world-class curmudgeons here - who share more than might meet the ear initially: two native Californians renown for their curdled opinion of the world they inhabit, and the populace with whom they share the space; We’re talking Hollywood, specifically, but their bile was generous enough to accommodate the whole of humanity - in all its corrupt, hypocritical manifestations; both lost too early - victims of cancer’s cruelty; both musical geniuses with solid classical training and rock n roll credentials; and, funny? Goddamn right, they were!
Frank Zappa and Warren Zevon, two outlaws who could not be silenced or ignored are being celebrated here today. It should be noted that Frank was inducted posthumously into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame; Warren is still owed his due.
FRANK ZAPPA
The man loved freaks, and had to create his own label to promote them. From the time he appeared on the Steve Allen show in the early 60’s, playing the bicycle, to the early 90’s, when he visited Czech Republic as an honored guest to the President, playwright-turned politician, Vaclav Havel after their Velvet Revolution, and throughout his vociferous fight against censorship in the halls of our Congress, Frank always stood strong for freedom of expression, and against hypocrisy.
In “Plastic People” from his second album ABSOLUTELY FREE, you can hear so many elements mixed together that have become tropes: the abrupt changes in tempo and mood, the stinging social satire, the weird orchestration, the rock n roll name checks…. Good stuff!
WARREN ZEVON
We always knew that Warren was tortured by demons. He struggled with his alcoholism for a long time and was subject to depression. But, despite it all he kept his unique humorous perspective. And, with a prodigious gift for melody, he wrote some of pop’s most haunting ballads. He was, to borrow the words of Kris Kristofferson, a “walking contradiction” who could go to the darkest of dark sides, like in his rockers about serial killers, such as Excitable Boy and Werewolves of London - then, swing 180 degrees to express wrenching heartbreak in such timeless elegies as Hasten Down the Wind and Carmelita.
In Splendid Isolation you get both - the swinging of the hips, and the stinging of the poisoned barb. It has an autobiographical persuasion which illuminates the soul of a man who longs to be left alone - the world is just too fucked up to navigate. There’s a bitter sadness articulated, but its flavored with that ever-present Zevon wit.
CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC EIGHT BALL:
ALBERT KING LIVE WIRE/BLUES POWER
So, there were three “Kings” of the blues: B.B., Freddie, and Albert.
B.B. had the delicate simplicity. Less was always more with his virtuosity. He was a consummate communicator and showman, and much beloved. Freddie had the muscle and the size. A big man who stood 6’5’’, he was all grit and groan. From his early days when he recorded Hideaway, up through his resurrection in the 70s by Leon Russell’s Shelter label and the unbelievable propulsion of I’m Goin’ Down, Freddy blew the doors off whatever venue he graced, but this energy proved too much to sustain; leading to his untimely death at age 42.
My favorite was Albert. Also tall, 6’4,’’ he was nicknamed “The Velvet Bulldozer”. Brandishing Lucy, his Gibson Flying V guitar - his ear was impeccable, as was his timing, guiding him through licks that have such sinuous grace, as he bends those out of tune strings into perfect harmony, as if they are taffy - but, also displays deep emotional power - a stinging embodiment of the Cross Cut Saw in action. The sound he produced was beefy, yet lyrical at the same time.
His birth name was Nelson, but he copped the surname King, and claimed he was related to BB, in order to catch some of the latter’s reflected glory. It was a tough road for Albert, and though he never reached the widespread recognition that his namesake garnered, his influence on the younger generations - including Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughn is undeniable. Cream’s Born Under A Bad Sign was just a simulacrum - a note for note tribute.
In 1968, Albert played three nights at the legendary Fillmore West in San Francisco, and this recording, produced by Stax Records, documents that immortal outing. When you hear his dissertation on Blues Power - punctuated by those gleaming licks, that’s all you need to know.
Some philosophers posit the difficult truth that a world without grief would deprive us of a deeper appreciation of the evanescent beauty of life. Life cannot be grasped; it flows mysteriously from one moment into another - here, and gone. This is your moment to take it all in, so be present and celebrate it, they urge. When Stephen Colbert says that the devastating loss of his father and brothers in a fatal plane crash taught him gratitude one has to step back in awe and wonder to reflect on the heart tugging idea that grief may be a gift.
Today we feature two survivors of loss - physical and spiritual. When Lucinda Williams asked “If we lived in a world without tears, how would broken find the bones?…” she hinted at this enigma 17 years before a stroke almost took her life; Patti Smith survived a punishing revolving door of grief: losing her husband Fred, her brother Todd, her best friend Robert, and somehow she moved through it all to create one of the most incendiary recordings of her career - after an 8 year hiatus.
PATTI SMITH
Patti Smith is a national treasure - (I don’t throw that title around) - although, she’d probably demur saying she was just a chick from New Jersey who got lucky. But, anyone familiar with her memoir Just Kids knows it wasn’t luck that drove this waitress with artistic aspirations to migrate to New York City to seek her rock n roll fortune among the poetic luminaries of the era - it was true grit and an unshakeable confidence in her talent.
I admired her then - in Sinatra drag on the cover of her debut album Horses, with all that tomboy swagger, but I LOVE her now as our eternally youthful elder poetess, touring the world like a good will ambassador for the embattled Peace and Love generation. On the song Gone Again she rages against loss, even as she acquiesces to its inevitability.
LUCINDA WILLIAMS
Lucinda Williams is the ideal blend of tough and tender, of homespun heart and poetic sophistication. She is one of the best singer songwriters America has produced, and that’s saying something. She’s a short story Magus with an authentic Southern twang, whose autobiographical fiction stirs the heart like few others can.
Her album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, released in 1998, brought her to the attention of a much broader national audience, and her open hearted vulnerability proved both a blessing and a curse. Her artistic output and touring schedule accelerated, but in 2020, those wheels came off the axel, when a stroke took away her ability to play and sing. Thankfully, she’s been working her way back, and the last chapter hasn’t been written yet.
In November of 2016 the family attempted a vacation to Hawaii, which turned out to be a tropical roller coaster.
There were loads of psychic shenanigans, along with luaus, snorkeling, and gentle night time island breezes...
And, oh yes - Dreams Galore!
Love is mysterious, and the death of love even more so: it’s complicated, sticky, and heart breaking. When there are children impacted, as was the case with Marvin and Anna Gaye, and Richard and Linda Thompson, the emotional brutality can resonate for generations.
Is it worthy compensation if the anguish produces great art? Life is short - Art is long, and isn’t that what every artist hopes for, that their art will endure beyond the grave? Who can weigh that balance?
Today’s cuts illuminate couples in crisis: In the case of the Thompsons, they were dissolving a recording and performing team; in Marvin’s, he was being ousted by the sister of the man who gave him his break. Neither scenario is pretty, but the resultant music remains divine.
HERE MY DEAR / MARVIN GAYE
Anna Gordy Gaye wanted a million dollars as a divorce settlement from Marvin. She took out a warrant for his arrest for failing to pay alimony, and put a restraining order on him. Check.
So, a deal was struck: in exchange for $600K (1/2 in advance; half to be taken out of royalties), Marvin would produce a new album to get her paid. Check mate.
Initially intending to make a quick knock off, Marvin became fascinated with the project, devoting himself to making it a passionate sacrifice, detailing the death of love. It was a critical and commercial failure upon its release, but has since been reconsidered, and is now thought of as one of his finest achievements.
The title cut that introduces the album disturbingly cuts off in mid-phrase - a distinctly telling gesture.
WALL OF DEATH / RICHARD AND LINDA THOMPSON
Linda was pregnant with Richard’s third child when producer Joe Boyd got them into the studio to record the album “Shoot Out the Lights” - a record which Rolling Stone designated as #9 on its list of the “Best Albums of the 1980s”.
They were supposed to tour immediately after to promote the record, but unfortunately, this had to be delayed to allow Linda to give birth. In the interim, Richard, who had fallen in love with another woman, dropped the bad news on her as they set out on tour.
After being together for 10 years, and Linda converting to Sufi Islam for Richard, renouncing worldly pleasures, she was now trapped inside a loveless, commercial obligation, ironically, to promote their finest collaboration.
Wall of Death, which closes the album, depicts love as a dangerous carnival ride in which you take your chances at calamity, but still want to go back to ride, again and again.
Films featuring Allen Ginsberg or his work:
- Howl **(2010):
This film explores the creation and impact of Ginsberg's iconic poem, Howl, with James Franco portraying the poet. * Kill Your Darlings (2013):
This movie focuses on the early years of the Beat Generation and Ginsberg's relationship with Lucien Carr, played by Daniel Radcliffe.**
I'm Not There **(2007):
A biographical musical about Bob Dylan, featuring David Cross as a cameo appearance as Ginsberg.**
The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg **(1993):
This documentary offers a comprehensive look at Ginsberg's life, featuring interviews with friends, contemporaries, and archival footage.**
Heart Beat **(1980):
While not directly featuring Ginsberg, this film is based on Carolyn Cassady's memoir and explores the Beat Generation, including Neal Cassady and Jack Kerouac.**
We offer today two examples of eerie rock music - notable records that have been inspired by horror literature, and classic suspense. H.P. Lovecraft’s folky psychedelia, and Paul Williams’ soundtrack for Phantom of the Paradise both fit the bill for spine tingling tunefulness.
Rock’s dramatic possibilities seem obvious, but have rarely been successful. Theater would seem to be the ideal medium for rock music, but early attempts to mix the two were awkward because creators, trying to appease the commercial audiences of the late 1960s, were not attracting the young people — the folks who were actually listening to the cutting edge music of the time. This, of course, changed over the years, as the young people matured into middle age, and now into late-life. Today, they flock to see shows like Dylan’s Girl From the North Country. Rock is the standard musical vehicle for storytelling.
PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE
Paul Williams, the diminutive maestro of pop song craftsmanship starred in, and scored, Brian De Palma’s 1974 re-imagining of Phantom of the Opera, a Faustian fever dream. The composer of “We’ve only just begun” (originally a bank commercial), and many other pop hits, put his considerable chops on the line for this cinematic effort - which flopped everywhere but Winnipeg, Canada for some reason, and the soundtrack went gold there.
Williams, who started his career as a child actor, developed into a popular raconteur, a staple of late night television talk shows, and this exposure perhaps over shadowed his immense acting and musical talent. In this cut, “The Hell of It” his power is persuasive.
HP LOVECRAFT
George Edwards, a folk singer from Chicago, teamed up with Dave Michaels, a versatile, multi-instrumentalist, to create the Psyche band, HP Lovecraft. The name was chosen by their benefactors, horror aficionados Bill Traut and George Badonsky at Dunwich Records (a label also named for one of the horror master’s stories) - and the rest is history in the annals of Buried Musical Treasure. The lifespan of the group was brief, producing only two albums, with personnel changes happening practically from the beginning, but something significant was in the offing.
Spin Spin Spin, from the group’s second album is a good example of their unique mesh of folk style with classical flavors, featuring swirling harmonic pulsations - which conjure a mysterious aura. A definite time capsule from the Lava Lamp era.
Good ideas are elusive, and you never know when one is gonna smack you in the head - literally.
Sometimes, when life is squeezing the juice out of you, and things are going off the rails, it takes a minor cataclysm to put things back into perspective.
Then you can reset the whole narrative, and move forward.
Christmas, 2019 was like that for me.
Our artists today represent a very specific category within the folk music genre, which lately has come to be known as “Freak Folk”: one is a contemporary singer-songwriter, and the other is an “ancestral” group (when you consider they derived from the early 1970s, before there was even a category for it); one hails from the U.K., the other from California. However, both The Incredible String Band and Joanna Newsom share an “off the grid” sense of musicality and exist in a space well beyond any pop music fashion - past, or present.
JOANNA NEWSOM
Who doesn’t like harp music? It’s the preferred instrument of the angels, after all, and Joanna Newsom is indeed one of those. Whimsical, profound, incandescent - all these adjectives apply to this nerdy goddess, who, I was delighted to learn, is also the life partner of the silly comedian, Andy Samberg (and, cousin to the Governor of California). These personal stats ground her in a concrete reality that detracts a bit from her mystery, but, at the same time enhances her approachability.
Listening to The Sprout and the Bean is like being gifted a pass to the 100 acre wood to visit Pooh, or transported to an elven glade where everything - (animals, plants, earth, and water) is imbued with magic - where the pantheism between man and nature serenely collapses all sense of temporality…. Whoa…getting a bit woo woo here. Never mind all that. Just enjoy her otherworldly conjurings!
THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND
The Scottish duo of Robin Williamson and Mike Heron formed the nucleus of one of the strangest musical acts of the last century. It takes a moment to get past what initially seems like off-key meanderings to appreciate that there is a deep level of sophistication and prescience here, in terms of world music, that still sounds fresh and modern - over 50 years later.
Props to Joe Boyd, the genius UK producer at Elektra records at the time, for discovering, recording, and introducing this band of medievally dressed musical magicians to the world. And, they would have made an even bigger splash (no pun intended), if the inclement weather at Woodstock hadn’t delayed their scheduled performing slot - (Melanie grabbed it) - which forced them to crowbar their gossamer stylings within the hardest of hard rock line ups the next day. As a result, their ethereal charms went unappreciated. Our featured cut, Waltz of the New Moon displays their unique vision and vocal technique perfectly.
THE KEROUAC PROJECT: https://www.kerouacproject.org/
JACK KEROUAC SCHOOL OF DISEMBODIED POETICS: https://www.naropa.edu/academics/schools-centers/jack-kerouac-school-of-disembodied-poetics/
The thread of Jack Kerouac’s literary and personal life in the American imagination might be unwound succinctly in the following terms: ambitious and fun-loving young man leaves behind his small-town upbringing to chase heroes and dreams in the American West, finding along the way new paths to enlightenment while blazing a trail for generations of seekers to follow.
It is a theme familiar to most of us, because more than a few of our favorite novels embrace it. It is also, in the case of Kerouac, almost entirely a fiction. The man most associated with the peripatetic Beat Generation spent more than half his life in his hometown of Lowell, Mass., living with his mother. This master of the postwar American idiom grew up speaking the French dialect of his Canadian immigrant parents and actually attempted an early draft of On The Road (the book was eventually published in 1957) in the dialect of his Franco-American community. Despite the image of a modern spiritual seeker who eventually found a home in Buddhism, Kerouac was born and died a self-identified Catholic; and despite his iconic status as a chronicler of the road, the most prominent theme in Kerouac’s novels is a mysticism of place.
Kerouac’s mystical visions had another specific theme—the crucifixion. In Maggie Cassidy, Christ speaks to him from a crucifix after confession:
“My child, you find yourself in the world of mystery and pain not understandable—I know, angel—it is for your good, we shall save you, because we find your soul as important as the soul of the others in the world—but you must suffer for that, in effect my child, you must die, you must die in pain, with cries, frights, despairs—the ambiguities! the terrors!”
TheAutobiographical Novels of Jack Kerouac
Visions of Gerard (written 1956, published 1963)
About Kerouac's saintly older brother, who died as a child.
Doctor Sax (written 1952, published 1959)
Maggie Cassidy (written 1953, published 1959)
Youthful porchlight romancing in Lowell.
The Town and the City (written 1946-49, published 1950)
Vanity of Duluoz (written and published 1968)
Kerouac's last published novel, a memoir of early days.
On The Road (written 1948-56, published 1957)
Visions of Cody (written 1951-52, published 1972)
More about Neal Cassady.
The Subterraneans (written 1953, published 1958)
Kerouac's pathetic love story about a black girl who dumps him for Gregory Corso.
Tristessa (written 1955-56, published 1960)
Junkie prostitute girlfriend in Mexico.
The Dharma Bums (written 1957, published 1958)
Big Sur (written 1961, published 1962)
Desolation Angels (written 1956-61, published 1965)
Satori in Paris (written 1965, published 1966)
To spur my songwriting juices, I got this deck of "Oblique Strategies" cards, created by Brian Eno, designed to prompt creativity. Here are a few examples.
INSIDE / OUTSIDE
(Oblique Strategy: “THINK - Inside the work, outside the work”)
Inside - outside: it’s hard to reconcile
Inside is terrified, though outside may beguile
If I stay inside I just might hide from tribulations and the trial
Of outside’s obligations to display the latest style.
Inside is a cozy place, my home made out of bricks
Outside is an endless space, with hucksters full of tricks
Who wait around each corner to deliver blows and kicks
Or, subtler art to break your heart no medicine can fix
INSIDE - IT’S WARM
OUTSIDE MAY DO ME HARM
OUTSIDE - IT’S COLD
INSIDE I’M GROWING OLD.
It might agoraphobia, this reluctance that I feel
Or, maybe something nobler, some grace for me to heal
It might be something sinister, a cage of the mind too real
But, whatever the urge I need to emerge a person who can feel.
Inside - outside: sings out of harmony
A discordant strain of grief and pain
An obvious forgery
Turn on the light, step into the night
And accept what’s meant to be
Wherever you go, at least you’ll know
What it feels like to be free.
REVERSE
(O.S.: Reverse)
I’m stuck in reverse, and way round the bacK
The brakes are all worn and the axle is cracked,
The steering is worthless, it’s totally whacked
I’m headed for trouble and everything’s black (and everything’s black)
I’m up to my elbow in sulfurous muck
And as far as all I know I’m dead out of luck
But, if it’s not too late I’ll sell you my truck
Let fate steer the crate, and earn Satan a buck
Reverse ain’t the worst
If you face it with grace
It’s like running in place
Or, a pie in the face
Reverse is just relative
A black hole in space
It ain’t something you need to erase.
Perhaps I’ve been looking at my problem all wrong
Maybe Reverse is the point of my song
It could be “ass backwards” will make me last long
And, what doesn’t kill me might build me up strong.
FOOL’S GOLD
(O.S.: what are you really thinking about just now? Incorporate.)
HAVE A DESIRE TO CREATE, BUT NOT A SINGLE IDEA
WOULDN’T IT BE REALLY GREAT TO PULL AN “AVE MARIA”?
I’LL PRAY TO THE GOD OF ART
TO ASSIST ME AND OPEN MY HEART
OR AT LEAST TO MAKE A START
TOWARDS SOMETHING TRUTHFUL, SOMETHING BOLD, SOMETHING HONEST
THAT’S NOT FOOL’S GOLD.
IT’S NOT MY FINEST HOUR
BUT I WON’T LET MYSELF BE SOUR
I STILL HAVE HOPE FOR SUCCESS
AND THOUGH I SPEAK TO AUDIENCE OF ONE
WE’RE STILL HAVING FUN
SO FORWARD! AND DAMN ALL THE REST!
I SHOULDN’T COMPLAIN IF THERE’S NOTHING TO GAIN
BY YEARS OF WASTED TOIL
THE UNIVERSE HAS MADE IT PLAIN
WHY BURN REGRETFUL OIL?
I’LL PRAY TO THE GOD OF ART
TO ASSIST ME AND OPEN MY HEART
OR AT LEAST TO MAKE A START
TOWARDS SOMETHING TRUTHFUL, SOMETHING BOLD, SOMETHING HONEST
THAT’S NOT FOOL’S GOLD.
There is something that happens when two particular voices blend together that transcends all understanding or logic. And, when those voices share the same DNA, the magnetic pull is such that they become one voice. We’ve heard that family blend many times: The Everlys, The Wilsons, The Gibbs, The Andrew Sisters, etc. The list goes on.
One of the most uncanny examples of this phenomenon belongs to Charlie and Ira Louvin, those titans of Country and Gospel music. When they sing with religious devotion, such as they do here in The River of Jordan - you can hear God and his miracles working in every keening, harmonic fifth. The other song presented today features Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, - a pair of folks about as far from siblings as you can get, but whose vocal cords also combine miraculously.
THE LOUVINS
The first time I heard of Ira and Charlie Louvin was through Emmylou Harris’s 1975 version of If I Could Only Win Your Love, and I had to know from whence this other-worldly sound originated. Like a hound on the scent, I tracked down several recordings from the brothers, and sat open mouthed as song after song cut through me.
The Louvins, whose birth name was Loudermilk (cousins to the noted songwriter), had a contentious relationship, owing to Ira’s drunken temperament and womanizing. Charlie contemplated going solo, but Ira’s early demise, at 41, in a drunken car crash, made the decision permanent.
Ira usually takes the high harmony, but they had the ability to switch mid way through a song so that it was often hard to tell who was covering which part. Truly one of the all time great sibling singing duos.
ALISON KRAUSS AND ROBERT PLANT
A musical marriage made in heaven that no fiction writer could have invented, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss came together in one of the most celestial combos ever. The Led Zeppelin frontman, renowned for his soaring falsetto, melds with the rawboned steadiness of bluegrass’s sweetheart in an eclectic stew of influences that somehow create a single entity. Today’s featured song, Please Read the Letter, nestled among cuts by the Everlys, Gene Clark, Mel Tillis, and Townes Van Zandt was written by Plant and his Zeppelin brother, Jimmie Page, and is added seamlessly to the mix.
The resulting album, Raising Sand, produced by the curatorial genius T-Bone Burnett, was released in 2007, and swept the Grammies and Americana Music Awards, taking its place in the pantheon of beautiful enigmas.
2021 was a hell of a year:
My wife, Chemayne, passes in December of 2020, during the height of the pandemic;
The following year is spent stumbling in a maze of confusion - (to be honest, the smoke is just starting to clear);
Some solace is found online with a slavic angel of mercy;
Chemayne's cat, Boo, and I (the remaining survivors) learn to tolerate, and even find comfort, in each other;
Work, and music continue;
Red Dead Redemption 2 becomes an obsession;
and, of course.... there are lots of vivid dreams.
THE QUEER AWAKENINGS OF A WILD BOY PURSUING THE NOVA EXPRESS
On September 6, 1951, William Burroughs killed his wife, Beat legend Joan Vollmer. At a friend’s apartment, she balanced a glass on her head, at Burroughs’s behest. He had contracted a lifelong mania for guns from duck-hunting excursions with his father, and was never unarmed if he could help it. He fired a pistol from about nine feet away. The bullet struck Vollmer in the forehead, at the hairline. She was twenty-eight. He was devastated, but readily parroted a story supplied by his lawyer, a flamboyant character named Bernabé Jurado: the gun went off accidentally. Released on bail, Burroughs might have faced trial had not Jurado, in a fit of road rage, shot a socially prominent young man and, when his victim died of septicemia, fled the country. Burroughs did the same, and a Mexican court convicted him in absentia of manslaughter, sentencing him to two years. In the introduction to “Queer,” Burroughs disparages his earlier work and adds, “I am forced to the appalling conclusion that I would never have become a writer but for Joan’s death,” because it initiated a spiritual “lifelong struggle, in which I have had no choice except to write my way out.”
“There is no intensity of love or feeling that does not involve the risk of crippling hurt. It is a duty to take this risk, to love and feel without defense or reserve.”
― William S. Burroughs
“Silence is only frightening to people who are compulsively verbalizing.”
― William S. Burroughs, The Job: Interviews with William S. Burroughs
“Nobody owns life, but anyone who can pick up a frying pan owns death.”
― William S. Burroughs
“Hustlers of the world, there is one mark you cannot beat: the mark inside.”
― William S. Burroughs
“Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape. ”
― William S. Burroughs
“I don't care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it.”
― William S. Burroughs
“A paranoid is someone who knows a little of what's going on. A psychotic is a guy who's just found out what's going on.”
― William S. Burroughs
“Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.”
― William S. Burroughs
“Whether you sniff it smoke it eat it or shove it up your ass the result is the same: addiction.”
― william s. burroughs
“You were not there for the beginning. You will not be there for the end. Your knowledge of what is going on can only be superficial and relative”
― William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch: The Restored Text
“The first and most important thing an individual can do is to become an individual again, decontrol himself, train himself as to what is going on and win back as much independent ground for himself as possible”
― William S. Burroughs
“If I had my way we'd sleep every night all wrapped around each other like hibernating rattlesnakes.”
― William S. Burroughs
“I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it. My affections, being concentrated over a few people, are not spread all over Hell in a vile attempt to placate sulky, worthless shits.”
― William S. Burroughs
“When you stop growing you start dying.”
― William S. Burroughs, Junky
Dead or alive? Today, we feature one of each: two exquisite female singer-songwriters from the 70’s - one a heroin casualty, and the other a remarkable example of patience rewarded. Judee Sill could have been a Laurel Canyon diva on the order of a Joni Mitchell, but, an unquenchable, self-destructive thirst put a stop to her success; and, Linda Perhacs, a name lost in the archives of time, until a fluke, third-generational cult of folky weirdness reopened her long dormant chrysalis of talent.
JUDEE SILL
There is a recent documentary, LOST ANGEL, that covers the tragic spiral and conflicted soul of the artist Judee Sill: reform school alum, heroin addict, prostitute, prisoner… followed by the release of two widely admired albums, then, tragically, her untimely demise at 35 from an O.D.
But, it’s her music that matters and endures: startlingly original, quirky, deeply felt folk rock, tinged with ironic humor and pain, in a mix that elicits complex emotions.
As Jesus loved the sinners and rejects of this mottled world, Judee, fearing that she would be lost, longed for the salvation that the Savior would bring. And, in the persona of the “Phantom Cowboy” (also the title of a 1935 Western movie), Judee evokes that ever elusive “Action” hero that will come, rescue her, and carry her safely to heaven.
LINDA PERHACS
In this, our internet age, it’s been posited that everyone has the potential to be a star - but in 1970 there was a different algorithm working, and for a dental hygienist with musical talent… what were the odds?
Linda Perhacs’s brilliance had a shot at being acknowledged when the dental hygienist gave her demo to a patient, the noted film composer Leonard Rosenman. He got the message, and produced her first record, Parallelograms. It was released and sank, and Linda resumed her quiet life.
Cut to 2014 - 44 years later, and Linda’s record is rediscovered, thanks to “The New Weird America” folk music movement. It was repackaged and released on CD, and what a blessing to hear that ethereal, crystalline voice reanimated. And, at 81, with a couple more albums out, Linda is a dental hygienist no longer. She’s an inspiration to aspirants everywhere.
What a year 2014 was!
That's what motivated me to start this diary, which is now going on year 10.
It was such a hairy time, in fact, that as a way to process it all, I hit upon the idea of creating a musical diary, using the I Ching - (something I'd been obsessing about) - as my guiding structure.
My sister-in-law, Lea died suddenly, but before that Chemayne and I were mandated custody, by Court Order, of our nephew, Gunner.
Oh, yes... and, then, out of nowhere, I contracted Bell's Palsy, which paralyzed half of my face.
It's in the rear view mirror now, but, geez... that was trippy.
What we’re offering today is something completely different: two outlier artists (although one is a French icon) who created off-kilter, out of the box, almost unintelligible nuggets of artistic brilliance. These cuts are linked, not only by the fact that they both feature sinuous bass lines and orchestral flourishes, but that they are produced by artists whose stances were uncompromising, prickly, unknowable - and, touched with stardust.
SCOTT WALKER
Scott Walker, whose rich, deep baritone was first introduced to the world in the early 1960s, with the internationally famous group, The Walker Brothers (they weren’t) - and their hit single “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore.” When he went solo he faced an uphill battle, trying to gain public acceptance for his dark, and tangled personal visions. I became enamored of his work when I heard his musical evocation of Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal. By 1970, his solo career went silent. Probably, as a financial imperative, he rejoined The Walker Bros, for some moderately successful MOR cover filled albums.
But, in 1984 Scott’s mojo returned, triumphantly, with the album “Climate of the Hunter” from which this cut, Rawhide, derives. (Don’t worry about trying to figure out the lyrics - just let it wash over you). Against all odds, the “30th Century Man’s” time had come, and there was a whole new generation of acolytes, eager to drink the magic potions Scott was uncorking.
SERGE GAINSBOURG
Serge Gainsbourg’s unique 1971 concept album, Histoire de Melody Nelson, is a suite of songs telling the story of a doomed, illicit romance between a middle aged man and a 14 year old girl named Melody, portrayed by his muse, the dreamy actress and model, Jane Birkin, who also graces the cover.
Produced far before the “Me Too” era, this provocative and subversive pop-music drama was not offensive to the French; on the contrary, it cemented the French chameleon’s iconic status, and the celebrity couple became the subject of much tabloid journalism. His stylish, outlaw decadence generated a fascination that continues to this day.
Gainsbourg, born Lucian Ginsburg, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, was a manufactured creation. He took his nom de musique as a tribute to the English painter Thomas Gainsborough. And, after surviving the German occupation of France during WW2- (he recalled having to wear the Yellow Star, which identified him as a Jew) - he went on to carve out an indelible new identity of swagger, writing and producing over 500 pop hits spanning several genres. He was one of a kind.
Welcome to our new series, “The Beat Goes On,” where we will celebrate the work and enduring influence of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, and the other writers whom we identify as “The Beats.” - that crop of artists who worked to expand our consciousness, exploring the hidden possibilities of post WW2 America in the 1950s - Other significant names to be explored: Diane Di Prima, Tuli Kupferberg, Ed Sanders, Delmore Schwarz, Anne Waldman, Carolyn Cassidy, and many others.
We will also include jazz musicians like Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie, whose sinuous Bebop lines influenced the expansive prose of Kerouac and poetry of Ginsberg, and comedians like Lenny Bruce, Lord Buckley, Brother Theodore and Dick Gregory with their scathing critique and unmasking of our nation’s hypocrisy beneath the self-deceptive rhetoric of American exceptionalism. And, then there are their artistic children like Hunter S. Thompson, Charles Bukowski, Tom Waits and Lou Reed…. The list goes on.
First off: we need to define that confusing term “beat”… Once the satirists were able to pin them down, the Beats and their devotees were labelled “Beatniks” (a cold war epithet) and put into a farcical box. This is where I, as a child, first became aware of them through the character of Maynard G. Krebs on the Dobie Gillis show. The child-like, pre-hippie with the dirty sweatshirt and goatee, indelibly played by Bob Denver, later of Gilligan fame. He was a gentle figure of fun, not to be taken seriously.
But, the truth goes so much deeper. Kerouac defined Beat as short for “beatitude” - a state of grace, a codex for the maturing “peace and love” Baby Boom generation coming up - those in search of existence’s deeper meaning beyond the consumerist and war-like American culture being offered as our only option.
Well, boy, do we need them now!
HENRY MILLER INTERVIEW
Our inaugural offering is a 1964 interview with the writer Henry Miller, of TROPIC OF CANCER, TROPIC OF CAPRICORN, and THE ROSY CRUCIFIXION TRILOGY fame, among many others. This is an insightful, in depth look at a artist of gargantuan influence. Miller was interviewed by Audrey June Wood in Minneapolis during a speaking tour; he considered this interview to be one of his best. Miller discourses on some of his favorite books and authors and the struggle of writing well. It was released on Smithsonian/ Folkways Records.
Strictly speaking, Miller was not a Beat - he preceded them, and out lived many of them, making it to 88 in 1980, but he was their spiritual and artistic pathfinder.
Living hand to mouth, on the edge, abroad in Paris, writing free form in a raw, explicit, semi-autobiographical manner, telling the truth about sex, love, art, and struggle - he set the artistic compass for the Beats - as Dostoevsky and Walt Whitman had done before him. They are all part of a chain - a chain of searchers, and we are fortunate to have these lights to guide us on our own personal journeys to self realization.
Please enjoy…THE BEAT GOES ON.
Today we live in a cynical world. It’s pervasive, this debilitating disbelief in our institutions, our once assured tenets of groundedness. Now we doubt, not only what we see, but what we hear, and even our own thoughts. Are they indeed our own? Or, have they been shaped by the unrelenting marketers and influencers? Back in the 80’s - even earlier back in the 60’s the attitudes of boredom and mistrust seemed exclusively the province of old school Europe, in particular the French, who invented the perfect word for it: Ennui. The great bon vivant, George Sanders, in his suicide note explained that he was leaving his life because he was bored.
In the following offerings we celebrate a time when cynics could be appreciated as unique and exotic. CYNICAL GIRL by Marshall Crenshaw proclaims the lure of nihilism in a poppy, irresistible interpretation. And, THEM TERRIBLE BOOTS by the Orlons makes fun of a wannabe fashionista at the crossroads of burgeoning Mod style.
MARSHALL CRENSHAW
In Marshall Crenshaw’s 1982 eponymous debut album, CYNICAL GIRL chimed out so brightly it was a paused that refreshed. The singer wants a cynical girl who has no use for the real world, and this notion, wrapped in candy colored chords, invited us to embrace the “Debbie Downers” in our lives, and to realize there’s something comforting in the dark side. Maybe we could save each other.
Crenshaw, the latter-day, second coming of Buddy Holly even portrayed the Proto-Rock God in “La Bamba” and charmed the world with his unapologetic cheeriness. But the euphoria couldn’t last. His debut outing achieved his highest chart position, but it was a bracing example of positivity while it lasted.
THE ORLONS
This quartet of street-wise, Philly teens made the trsition from middlin’ Doo-Wop practitioners to dance craze mega stars with their triple crown of chart toppers: Wah Watusi, Don’t Hang Up, and South Street, evolving into one of Cameo-Parkway’s hottest acts. THEM TERRIBLE BOOTS from 1962 was the B-side to South Street, and rode that comet’s tail into recording history. It’s an evocative glimpse into that time when the cultural landscape was in transition from the staid 50s to the super-charged 60s.
The aforementioned cynicism is reflected in the mockery to which the dude who is wearing the mod clothes is subjected. But, he was just probably a bit ahead of his time. When the only male member, (and survivor) of the group, Stephen Caldwell, repeats the title phrase in his basso profundo, the whole salty world view clicks into place.
BUKOWSKI SPEAKS!!!!!
Cause and Effect -For Kurt Cobain"the best often die by their own hand
just to get away,
and those left behind
can never quite understand
why anybody
would ever want to
get away
from
them"
Bukowski writes with no apologies from the frayed edge of society.
“Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.”
“For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can't readily accept the God formula, the big answers don't remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command nor faith a dictum. I am my own god. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.”
**Bukowski's response to: “Do you hate people?”
“I don't hate them...I just feel better when they're not around.”**
“Find what you love and let it kill you.”
“If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery--isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And, you'll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is.”
“We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing.”
Bluebird“Bluebird” is one of Bukowski’s best-known poems and came late in his life during a time of great reflection. It deals with one of deepest-rooted human emotions: vulnerability.
Bukowski typically dealt with “hyper-masculine” subject matter, but this poem suggests that, like most men, Bukowski also struggled to live up to traditional notions of masculinity.
**there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I'm not going
to let anybody see
you.
there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I pour whiskey on him and inhale
cigarette smoke
and the whores and the bartenders
and the grocery clerks
never know that
he's
in there.
there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say,
stay down, do you want to mess
me up?
you want to screw up the
works?
you want to blow my book sales in
Europe?
there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too clever, I only let him out
at night sometimes
when everybody's asleep.
I say, I know that you're there,
so don't be
sad.
then I put him back,
but he's singing a little
in there, I haven't quite let him
die
and we sleep together like
that
with our
secret pact
and it's nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don't
weep, do
you?**
This was published in Bukowski's book "The Last Night of the Earth Poems" circa 1992
THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS
I've been keeping a diary and dream journal for ten years.
Recently, I hit upon the idea of revisiting and recording passages of the diary in a quest to understand myself better by connecting the dots between dream life and the time awake.
The first episode explored 2024; this second entry revisits a passage from 5 years earlier.
It was the summer of 2019. I experienced an earthquake, a car accident, and the difficult birth of an original theater piece, which came to be known as "Toxic Shocks".
The project was suggested in order to address some issues surrounding student's concerns, which will be enumerated within.
This necessitated a new approach to theatrical devisement (is that a word?) --, and I embraced the challenge wholeheartedly. Despite my being all in, things got a bit rocky.
The passages from the diary describe the difficult birthing process, and the effect on my dream life.
It seems as though the 12 bar blues structure is an immovable object, an obelisk of sacred, ritualistic, totemic authority. But the form contains multitudes of variety. Here are two examples of the plasticity of that container, which holds the magic blues elixir and can pour it smoothly, or have it gush out, uncontrollably, like a tidal wave. So, be careful when you put your lips to the chalice … the edges can be sharp, and the liquid it delivers may be too intoxicating!
Up first, we have Harvey Mandel, the “Snake”- a guitar wizard, brandishing and slashing his ax-cutlass like a pirate, as he boards equilibrium’s frigate docked inside your ear canal, with his own composition, 4pm; then, JB Hutto and the Hawks stagger through “Too Much Alcohol” like drunkards in search of another, much needed pint of medicine - with his razor sharp slide work JB illustrates those sensations perfectly, with an insistent, whimpering pulse.
HARVEY MANDEL
In 1967, Samuel Charters, for Vanguard records, in an early effort to reveal and showcase the second generation of Chicago’s blues scene, produced harmonica master, Charley Musselwhite’s first album STAND BACK! HERE COMES CHARLEY MUSSELWHITE’S SOUTHSIDE BAND, and caused a literal big bang in the hearts and minds of American youth.
This was Harvey Mandel’s first recording, and launched the notable guitar slinger for hire’s 60 year career, going on to join Canned Heat, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, recording many solo efforts, and landing one step away from becoming a Rolling Stone. Known as “the King of Sustain,” our track, 4pm, showcases the longest sustained electric guitar note at age 21, a feat copied by Jimi Hendrix two years later. Harvey’s inventive style is trademarked, and you can hear those clarion notes ringing out like a buzz saw, transitioning from one amazing improvisation to the next.
JB HUTTO AND THE HAWKS
The next cut, TOO MUCH ALCOHOL, also on the Vanguard label - featured on 1966’s Chicago / Blues / Today! Sounds almost like it could have been recorded in the previous century, when, fresh off the farm, players were captured in their first big city outings on lo-fi recordings - it’s that raw and spiky. And, yet, both Mandel and Hutto were breathing the same mid-60s Chicago air.
JB’s slide style was influenced by Elmore James, of DUST MY BROOM acclaim, and he carried that torch forward. The son of a preacher from South Carolina, Hutto made his way to Chicago after his father’s death in the early 50s, but ended up working as a janitor for 11 years, until, in the mid 60s, he was discovered and unleashed on the world by Vanguard.
In 2005, while visiting the gift shop at the downtown Los Angeles MOCA museum, I came upon a blank journal with a cover fashioned from a salvaged vinyl album by The Allman Brothers. It had the pink Capricorn label. As a lover of vinyl I grabbed it, and decided to begin a journal.
It’s been ten years, and I’ve been keeping this diary and transcribing my dreams ever since. Dreams, ideas for songs, and a chronicle of my family and interior life. I always intended to go back and see if there was some sense of something to be made out of it, and this is the first attempt at that.
I hope you find it interesting.
- Bill Mesnik, 2025
“The Interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind. “ (Sigmund Freud)
“In contrast to the subjectivism of the conscious mind the unconscious is objective, manifesting itself mainly in the form of contrary feelings, fantasies, emotions, impulses and dreams, none of which one makes oneself but which come upon one objectively.” (Carl Jung)
"Myths are public dreams; dreams are private myths. By finding your own dream and following it through, it will lead you to the myth-world in which you live. But just as in dream, the subject and object, though they seem to be separate, are really the same." (Joseph Campbell)
“One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.” (Salvador Dali)
DANNY KAYE: THE BENEFITS OF VERSATILITY
David Daniel Kaminsky (1911-1987), known to the world as Danny Kaye, was an entertainer that could do it all. He was as adept at pathos as he was at antic comedy, and he captivated audiences throughout the 1950s with his magic. His signature patter songs, represented by our first number: Anatole of Paris, were crafted for him by his business partner and wife, Sylvia Fine, and together they made film and Broadway history. This is a fascinating connection that deserves a deeper dive.
Danny resembled my adored uncle Teddy, and I always associated them in my mind. They had similar profiles and hair styles, and I was delighted to discover that his people and mine emigrated from the same town in Ukraine. Throughout my early years Danny Kaye’s warmth and silliness provided a safe harbor against the anxieties of childhood. He was my ideal tutor in the film Merry Andrew, introducing the Pythagorean theory in song.
Early on in his career, in 1934, Danny toured Asia - and it was there that he discovered and developed his skill at entertaining audiences who didn’t speak English, a key to his popularity with kids of all ages.
ANATOLE OF PARIS
This number comes from the 1947 film, THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY, adapted form James Thurber’s novel about the day dreams of a hen pecked magazine editor. Sylvia Fine worked up this ditty where Danny fantasizes that he is a French milliner who bedecks ladies in ridiculous hats - because, as we find out in the punch line - he hates women.
You can imagine the impish glint in Danny’s eye as he extrapolates on the outrages that he’ll commit to these chapeaux, and that’s one of the secrets of Danny Kaye’s success: the absolute delight he takes in wowing us with his lighter than air articulations.
I WONDER WHO’S KISSING HER NOW
And, here comes the other side of this complex coin - the opening up and sharing of his soulful humanity. This recording, also from 1947, has Danny - ever so tenderly - crooning over a lost love. The song, composed in 1909 by Harold Orlob, for the Broadway play, THE PRINCE OF TO-NIGHT, became a standard.
In the hands of the master, this rumination is akin to listening in on the singer’s private thoughts, as opposed to a performance. As we said in the intro, this artist could do it all, and here is but a sampling of his versatility.
The “Novelty” song has deep roots in popular culture. Masters of the form, like Weird Al Yankovic, Warren Zevon, Tom Lehrer, Spike Jones, and Allen Sherman have illuminated our consciousness and tickled our sense of the absurd. How much WAS that doggie in the window?…., WTF is Marzy dotes and dozy dotes about?…, They’re coming to take me away, Haha…(that one actually scared me). Probably each of us can recall from childhood some goofy ditty that either made you feel smarter, or got stuck inside your head like RFK’s brain worm.
Let’s give thanks to Doctor Demento for archiving and disseminating many of these gems for future generations, and my introduction to Larry Groce’s Junk Food Junkie came from one of his collections. Jerry Blavat’s One More Time, Back to School may not demonstrate the same amount of cleverness, but its delivered lustily by one of the premier DJs of his time.
LARRY GROCE
Junk Food Junkie comes from 1975, and is perfectly in key with today’s anti-woke sentiments. But, Mr. Groce delivers his mockery with such gentleness and good humor that it creates a universal warmth devoid of malice. Yes, he intimates, you can try to be upright and health conscientious, but the reptilian brain in all of us needs to be satisfied - even if it has to happen under cover of darkness. Hypocrisy is the target here, and Mr. Groce, cast as the titular shlemiel, puts himself first in line for ridicule.
JERRY BLAVAT
Jerry Blavat’s “Horatio Alger” story reads like a Martin Scorsese screenplay. His colorful bio, recounting his journey from son of a Philly bookmaker, valet to Don Rickles, mob-connected DJ and club owner, to broadcasting Hall of Fame icon, could be the stuff of a Netflix series. Known as “the Big Boss with the Hot Sauce,” and “the Geater with the Heater,” Jerry swaggered through his bigger than life life like a toreador. But, lest we forget - it was always his love of those Philadelphian musical goodies - that made him a beloved home town super hero.
1965’s One More Time Back to School, on the Cameo Parkway label, is an fascinating glimpse into his inexhaustible energy. It’s delightfully sadistic as the singer declares the end of vacation time fun. Not only that, there is something in the edgy cacophony of its production, with the clanging cowbells, that evokes that end of summer feeling.
What is it about a swing rhythm that sets hearts a flutter? It’s a universal truth. It may have started as an African secret formula, but it was co-opted and catapulted into white western culture by some hip caucasian standard bearers.
Here we’ll examine the psycho-physical connection through two seemingly unrelated musical delicacies: one by the undisputed titan of respectable jazz, and the other by a racially mixed group of Philadelphia teens who barely made it out before the doo-wop death spiral. Bongo Stomp, from 1962, by Little Joey and the Flips, doesn’t even feature real bongos (the drummer Jeff Leonard is simulating the jungle signature on his toms). But, it definitely swings. The other showcases legendary stickman, Gene Krupa, who showed the world his undeniable big swinging dick energy.
BENNY GOODMAN
1938 was ground zero, the big bang, the crossroads of Jazz and its soon to be birthed step-child, Rock n Roll. Benny Goodman and his band played Carnegie Hall and made history. First as a cultural event, and later, when the live recording was released in 1950 as a double album which sold over a million copies.
Bei Mir Bist Du Schöen is a defiantly wonderful conglomeration of Yiddish lyrics delivered by Martha Tilton- (remember, simultaneously, Hitler was ramping up his power in Europe) - and, an irresistible swing rhythm smoothly rendered - which breaks into a kind of super charged klezmer section. It must have been startling in 1938, and it hasn’t lost its power to captivate almost 100 years later.
LITTLE JOEY AND THE FLIPS
By 1962, Doo-Wop was about to be consigned to the dust bin of History, along with the crooners that had dominated the previous decade. The British Invasion was about to begin, which would turn the record business on its head.
But, just prior to that cataclysm, Joseph Hall and his 4 Pendleton wearing compadres arrive, dip dip dipping their striped hearts out, and they release this anomaly on Joy Records, which makes it to 33 on the charts. This was followed by only a couple more tries… then, oblivion.
Maybe it was that swinging “bongo” break that lifted the Frankie Lymon-esque knock-off to its catchy heights?
THE REVEREND OF KARMIC YOUTH-
1The Interpreter
2Starry Eyes
3For You
4Bloody Hammer
5The Wind And More
6Night Of The Vampire
7You're Gonna Miss Me
8I Walked With A Zombie
9Stand For The Fire Demon
10 When You Get Delighted
11 To Think
12 Warning
13 True Love Cast Out All Evil
14 Loving Isn't A Part Time Thing
15 The Looking Glass Song
As lead singer of Texas’ infamous 13th Floor Elevators — one of rock’s earliest, strangest and greatest psychedelic bands — Roky Erickson explored the far reaches of musical and personal extremes. The Elevators’ first two albums (Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators and Easter Everywhere, released, respectively, in 1966 and ’67) are essential classics whose far-reaching influence transcends genre boundaries. Following a nightmarish ’70s mental-hospital stint that reportedly had a devastating long-term effect on his mental health, Erickson’s subsequent work revealed a singularly brilliant songwriter and performer whose talent was no less impressive for the fact that he was singing about zombies, vampires and aliens. Indeed, the demons that abound in Roky’s songs are all-too-real reflections of his own troubled psyche, and the combination of the artist’s oddly poetic lyrical constructions and his bracing banshee wail makes it clear, as it wasn’t always, that he’s not kidding.
The Elevators fell apart in the late ’60s, when Erickson began a three-year stretch in a state mental institution to avoid criminal prosecution on a drug charge. He didn’t return to recording until the second half of the ’70s, with a string of one-off singles and the four-song Sponge-label EP (reissued in 1988 as Two Headed Dog). Three of the EP’s numbers were re-recorded for the 1980 CBS UK LP (the title of which is actually five unpronounceable ideograms). Roky Erickson and the Aliens is an excellent manifestation of his post-Elevators persona, expressing dark dilemmas through creepy horror-movie imagery. Roky sings such offbeat gems as “I Walked with a Zombie” and “Creature With the Atom Brain” in a tremulous voice that insists he’s telling the truth — or at least believes he is. Former Creedence Clearwater bassist Stu Cook turned in an excellent production job, bringing the hard electric guitars (and Bill Miller’s electric autoharp) into a sharp focus that underscores Roky’s excitable state. Erickson and band seem less unstable than the drug-crazed Elevators (best remembered for “You’re Gonna Miss Me”), but just barely.
SPLENDOR OF BOHEMIA PRESENTS- "IN THE BEGINNING"-
RICH BUCKLAND'S 2009 TEST EPISODE FOR WHAT WOULD LATER BECOME THE PODCAST SERIES THE WORLD COULD EASILY LIVE WITHOUT- OR CAN IT?
WITH WILLY DEVILLE, LENNY BRUCE AND OUR SPECIAL GUEST CHARLES MANSON-DIG THIS!
'69 AND THE CRIME ETCHED IN TIME -
"When I Was 17, It was not a very good year"
Rich Buckland
Well. Here is something I've yet to get over in all the years since I first read the grisly details of Sharon Tate’s murder in the Sunday newspaper’s Parade magazine when I was just a wacky hippie teen and beach Boys fanatic.
Cult-leader and killer Charles Manson and Beach Boy drummer and surfer Dennis Wilson were friends. For a while, at least. Good enough friends that Manson and his “family” of young women lived with Wilson for several months. Good enough friends that Wilson convinced the Beach Boys to include a song written by Manson, who had musical ambitions, on their album 20/20.
Which brings me back to the main bad guy, Charles Manson. I knew as early as the Parade magazine article that Manson and his “family” had gone to Sharon Tate’s house looking for Terry Melcher, who did not live there. And I knew that Manson’s actual target was this Terry Melcher, who I also knew was Doris Day’s son. As it turns out, he was an important producer in the music industry.
Yes indeed gand. The 60's was not all Peace, Love and Understanding.
In 1988, Melcher earned a Golden Globe nomination for co-writing the song "Kokomo" with John Phillips, Scott McKenzie and Mike Love. Recorded by the Beach Boys, the song was featured in the 1988 Tom Cruise film Cocktail and hit No. 1 (the band's career fourth overall) on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was certified gold with U.S. sales of more than one million copies.[18] Melcher later co-wrote and produced the band's 1992 studio album Summer in Paradise, which was the first record produced digitally on Pro Tools.
Charles Manson- The White Album One of the two great influences on the thinking of Charles Manson, along with the Book of Revelation, was the musical group the Beatles. According to Family members, Manson would most often quote "the Beatles and the Bible." The two influences were linked, in that Manson saw the four Beatles members as being the "four angels" referred to in Revelation 9. Revelation 9 also tells of "locusts"--the Beatles, of course--coming out upon the earth. It describes prophets as having "faces as the faces of men" but with "the hair of women"--an assumed reference too the long hair of the all-male English group. In Revelation 9, the four angels with "breastplates of fire"--electric guitars--"issued fire and brimstone"--song lyrics.
Manson believed that the Beatles spoke to him through their lyrics, especially those included in the White Album, released in December 1968. Several songs from the White Album crystalized Manson's thinking about a coming revolt by blacks against the white Establishment. He interpreted many of the songs idiosyncratically, believing, for example, that "Rocky Raccoon" meant black people and "Happiness is a Warm Gun" was a song about getting firearms to carry on the&
Ok, folks, we’ve got an unlikely pairing of unrequited torch anthems with an almost 40 year time span between them, featuring points of view which diverge 180 degrees. The first, from Cock Robin, showcases synthesized sounds which seem like they were caught in amber in 1985, and the second, an astounding display of songwriting and vocal pyrotechnics from prodigy of the moment, Olivia Rodrigo.
COCK ROBIN / WHEN YOUR HEART IS WEAK
The Europeans understand love…it’s Amore in Italy, L’amour to the French, In German it’s Die Liebe, and it’s Liefde to the Dutch. Perhaps this is why Europe is where Cock Robin’s music made its biggest impact. This song, “When Your Heart Is Weak” which only made it to #35 in the US, was a top 20 hit across the European continent.
Singer-songwriter Peter Kingsbury croons insinuatingly that he’ll patiently wait for his love object’s moment of weakness so he can pick the lock to her heart, and he clearly means business. (With an obsessiveness that borders on harassment, the song insists that her conquest is inevitable). As the synths swell in an oceanic tidal wave, the lover, who’s been waiting in the shallows for his moment, will swim over to his drowning muse, life preserver in his teeth, and rescue the maiden in distress - and she, eternally grateful, will be his forever.
OLIVIA RODRIGO / VAMPIRE
In the next scenario things have gone horribly wrong. Whatever strategy the “Vampire” of the title used to seduce this seething innocent, he left her wanting to eviscerate him publicly - which she has done in spades. This world wide chart topper, which started life as a plaintive piano ballad, was expanded, under Dan Nigro’s production, to become an operatic, pop rock anthem. Even the use of the epithet “fame fucker” did not deter the public’s monumental thirst to hear this song over and over again on repeat. (Although there is a clean version with the substituted “Dream Crusher” - which doesn’t quite compare, does it?)
Olivia is 22, model gorgeous, and has amassed an army of pre-teen followers (Ala Taylor Swift). Her outspoken opinions and free use of sexual language have alarmed some parents, but, Ms. Rodrigo is a nice, well brought up lady who only wants to be a good role model, and gifted with a prodigious talent that promises to carry her the distance, expect more musical revelations in the years to come.
Here is a “Sunny Song”, wherein the fleeting sunlight is a dappled reminder of the evanescence of existence. They’re all gone now: Bill Evans (piano), Tony Bennett (vocals), Henry Mancini (Composer), and Johnny Mercer (Lyricist), but their beautiful creation lives on to remind us to gather our rosebuds while we may.
Sadness, and gratitude run in equal measure throughout all of the song’s manifestations. The title itself derives from an 1896 poem by Ernest Dowson, taken from the Roman poet, Horace, whose latin translates as:
“The brief sum of life forbids us the hope of enduring long;”
The film for which Mancini and Mercer furnished this deathless song, was so tragic in its portrayal of addiction, that, even as a 10 year old, I mourned for the hopelessness of Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick’s doomed romance that should have produced nothing but happiness, but brought only sorrow.
In the magician's hands of Bill Evans, the chordal melody seems to waft in the breeze, and Tony Bennett’s voice, never more supple, interprets the wistfulness of unfulfilled longing with a seasoned perfection. The results: a collaborative triumph. Tony was quoted as saying that their recordings were “the most prestigious thing I ever did”.
Quite a statement from the acknowledged master.
When it comes to infidelity: can we have our cake and eat it too?
In the following two songs, written by the incomparable Don Covay, this theme is explored. The two men narrating these tales of inconstancy are in turmoil - one cheater feels guilty, while the other betrayer is suffering from hurt pride - because his woman is playing the same game. The soulful bard who created these parables of marital strife covers the gamut here: in the first you’ll hear the voice of the creator himself, Mr. Covay, on a special alternate track of “I Was Checking Out While She Was Checking in”; the second song, “I Stole Some Love” features one of his best interpreters, Peter Wolf, of the J. Geils Band.
Donald James Randolph, aka Don Covay aka “Superdude” left us in 2015 with a legacy of pungent excavations of the human psyche, often delivered with toe tapping, humorous perfection. Although he was a charismatic performer in his own right, he was known predominantly as a songwriter with an unerring instinct for hits. Starting out in the fifties as a chauffeur and opening act for Little Richard, Covay went on to pen a raft of chart toppers such as Mercy Mercy (recorded by the Stones), See Saw, and Chain of Fools, for which Aretha Franklin won a Grammy.
But it was in ’72, doubling as an A&R man for Mercury Records, that Don hit performing pay dirt with “Superdude,” which contained the following song-monologue, which we are honored to present here with this alternate take, where the singer ruminates on the irony of his unique situation.
In ’92, Don suffered a stroke, and Ronnie Wood of the Faces and the Stones, produced a tribute album entitled “Back to the Streets” which contained the Covay classic “I Stole Some Love,” delivered here with characteristic swagger by the one and only Peter Wolf - former front man for the J. Geils Band.
79 years old and still going strong, the ex late night DJ “Woofa Goofa”, turned undeniable Rock Star and raconteur, has recently delivered an engrossing memoir “Waiting on the Man: Artists, Poets, Drifters, Grifters, and Goddesses” about his life’s journey, and the iconic artists he’s encountered along the way- starting with his stint studying art at Tufts University, and rooming with David Lynch. (He was also married to Faye Dunaway for five years)…, so he knows a lot about a lot of stuff, including failed romance. And, on this cut, his tortured vocal attests to the emotional vise he’s caught in.
Right here, squaring off, from opposite sides of the Atlantic, we present: Dueling tag-teams of zaniness — wearing fanciful disguises, winking at traditional forms, and tweeting in a birdlike falsetto… Good stuff!
BEDAZZLED
The Faustian satire Bedazzled, created by genius comedian Peter Cook (who plays the Devil trying to bargain for souls), makes good use of the talents of his Chaplin-esque comedy partner, Dudley Moore (who you might remember from the hit films Ten and Arthur), who plays the shlumpy Wimpy Burger cook, Stanley, willing to bargain away his mortal soul for love.
The team first worked together in the early 60s smash stage revue BEYOND THE FRINGE, then coalesced on the BBC as Pete and Dud, (and, later, even more darlingly in the scatalogical bootleg recordings of Derek and Clive). In 1966, with Bedazzled they were on the rise commercially, and Moore, an Oxford trained classical and jazz pianist, wrote all the music for the film.
In this cut, entitled Leaping Nuns chorus, the sisters of the Order of Saint Beryl (including Stanley in full habit) show their devotion to the Saint by jumping on trampolines.
JAN AND DEAN MEET BATMAN
Also in ‘66, laboring secretly on a similar track, energized by the same Goon Show type inspiration, Jan Berry and Dean Torrance were working to expand, (but not abandon) their surf sound by adding a storyline and special effects, and creating some nutty theater of the mind.
Who knows where this might have led, if Jan’s tragic car collision a few week’s after the record’s release, (resulting in his massive head injuries), hadn’t sidelined the team’s ambitions? Perhaps a blockbuster TV series…?
There was always a comic element to the Jan and Dean performance style. (Check out the classic Rock concert film Tami Show, which they hosted). They may have looked like copper toned surf hunks, but maybe there was some Abbott and Costello lurking beneath the Golden Boy surface.
From the first moment I heard this ditty, it became my theme song. I learned to play it - (in a far cruder fashion than Ry, of course) and worked it into my set list. Just like the character Bill in the narrative, - (my name, btw) - my reprobate ways had also been domesticated by love. And, another harmonic convergence: I had even spent a year in Louisville, Kentucky.
Jack Yellen, the Jewish-Polish immigrant who wrote these Jazz-age lyrics, also penned Happy Days are Here Again, and Ain’t She Sweet. If he had only created these three songs, his oeuvre would have been impressive. His art was another example, like that of Irving Berlin and the Gershwins, of the affinity young Jewish musicians expressed for black culture. And, like the Semitic moguls of old Hollywood - they became reflectors of America’s aspirational self-image.
Ry Cooder’s Jazz album was not exactly an anomaly - he has always been a musical archeologist, but on this collection he strove for unparalleled authenticity. Check out his jaw dropping rendition of Bix Beiderbecke’s In A Mist. Sublime. He’s a national treasure, and if the jaunty swing-time on this number doesn’t get your feet tapping - check your pulse - you might be dead.
"GRIEVING IN THE DOLLS HOUSE"
**David Johansen passed away peacefully at home on February 28, holding the hands of his wife Mara Hennessey and daughter Leah, in the sunlight surrounded by music and flowers.
After a decade of profoundly compromised health he died at the age of 75.
David and his family were deeply moved by the outpouring of love and support they’ve experienced recently as the result of having gone public with their challenges. He was thankful that he had a chance to be in touch with so many friends and family before he passed.
He knew he was ecstatically loved.
"My mother and I would like to thank everyone for the fathomless love and support you’ve all shown us since we went public with David’s diagnosis.
We were able to make the last few weeks of David’s life with us as serene and anxiety free as possible. As well as alleviating some of our more pressing material concerns, this campaign did make David feel profoundly connected. He really did feel the love from everyone.
For the time being we will leave the fund open to contributions, to continue to pay off the debts accrued during David’s long illness.
We will share details about memorials and tributes soon. There will be several events celebrating David’s life and artistry, details to follow.
Thank you so much for the …LUV
Love,
Leah and Mara"**
THE GTO'S -"PERMANENT DAMAGE"- THEIR LONE VINYL FOOTPRINT
"HARDLY A CHEAP TRICK"
These seven young women left a permanent mark upon my perceptions of the feminine equation and artistic desires during what was known as the 60's Summer of Love.
So much to ponder about these girls who just wanted to have fun.
They left a legacy which when viewed through the lens of artistic achievement, made them the first female Punk Rockettes.
When the testimony is placed under the microscope of human triumph, destiny betrayed them.
They were the creation of a time (The 1960's) and a place (Laurel Canyon) where history tells us that the possibilities of inclusion could make a groupie as appreciated as Joni Mitchell.
Frank Zappa knew better.
Frank understood the nature of Permanent Damage.
The most famous and successful of the GTOs is Miss Pamela, currently Pamela Des Barres, author of the groupie-memoir I'm With The Band. Des Barres's new book, Let's Spend the Night Together, a collection of interviews with fellow rock groupies, was released on July 1, 2007. Miss Mercy's 'biography' was expanded at length within the chapter entitled, "Miss Mercy's Blues". Also within the book, Des Barres notes that Miss Cynderella died in 2007 under mysterious circumstances. Miss Christine died on November 5th, 1972, of an overdose in a hotel room, after spending close to a year in a full body cast to correct her crooked spine. Miss Lucy died of an AIDS-related disease in the early 1990s. During her time as a GTO, Sandra became pregnant by Zappa's resident artist, Calvin Schenkel, and had a daughter named Raven. Miss Sandra later moved back to San Pedro and eventually Italy with her new husband and three children. She died of cancer on April 23, 1991. Miss Sparky is still alive, but not much has been divulged of her post-GTO's endeavours.
In Circular Circulation, They Circle Continuously.
- Rich Buckland
DOUBLE TROUBLE: CINDY LAUPER AND MILEY CYRUS
Two towering, Olympian female voices, from different generations, aligning here to honestly testify about their love damaged hearts. They describe world’s of hurt, confusion, and finally, triumph in the face of loss.
Miley Cyrus “Heart of Glass”
I love Miley Cyrus - not only because she carries the flag of peace, love, and musical tradition with her Happy Hippie Foundation, and, at the same time, continues to reinvent herself and confound expectations, but because she’s one of the most captivating singers America has ever produced. Here she isn’t channelling Debbie Harry’s Blondie anthem, so much as honoring the past, and goosing the disco chestnut with rock n roll hydrogen. Displaying the vocal power of a roaring jet plane, Miley conveys a super sonic vibration alongside the mournful cry of an injured wolf.
Before I ever saw her, I auditioned for her Disney show, Hannah Montana. I’m glad I didn’t get that job, because the Miley that I was finally introduced to was not a preternaturally talented moppet, but it was The Wrecking Ball, the Can’t Stop Won’t Stop girl - the irresistible force for all that’s forward looking in this society, and at the same time Dolly Parton’s God daughter. What a combo!
Cyndi Lauper “I’m Gonna Be Strong”
When Cyndi Lauper emerged from the depths of Queens (my home ground), wearing orange hair and thrift store swag, singing about how Girls just wanna have fun, and mugging on MTV besides Captain Lou Albano, the wrestler, I loved her kookiness, but I was sure that she was not gonna be around that long. Boy, was I wrong. She demonstrated her amazing writing and vocal chops in all genres, spoke her mind faithfully about human rights, and in short order became a feminist icon. She has even scored big as a Broadway composer with the sensational Kinky Boots.
For over 40 years she has dominated our national consciousness, and this year, as she makes what she claims is her farewell tour, she continues to represent unwavering notions of integrity, self-respect, and professionalism with undeniable power.
Here she is reviving the 1964, Gene Pitney hit composed by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, with a gut wrenching, operatic dynamism that leaves me speechless.
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome back for more
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Let’s talk about dreams….
Dreams can be intoxicatingly erotic; they can be filled with loss and longing; you might be falling, trapped in an confusing maze, or carried across bodies of water in a leaky boat. I often have the actor’s nightmare - where I’m about to go onstage, but I don’t know my lines and I don’t even know which play it is. These are dreams from which I wake up in a cold sweat.
SUMMER WINE by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood (Reprise, 1966)
A Succubus is defined as a female demon or supernatural entity that appears in dreams to seduce men. This is probably what singer-songwriter-producer Lee Hazelwood had in mind when he paired up with the husky voiced Nancy Sinatra to tell the story of a cowboy who swaggers into town, and meets an alluring siren, who then invites him to spend the night partaking of her special home-made brew. He drinks too much of the elixir and wakes up the next morning alone, hungover, and without his silver spurs. This might have been a cautionary tale, but the smitten cowboy is left craving more of the same.
Understandable. Nancy had seduced us all with These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ and Sugar Town, and was at the peak of her magnetic powers. Teaming up with Lee was a smart move, too, because this Svengali was an American original; an independently minded auteur, with an irresistible basso, who, with his muse, went on to create many evocative and enduring tracks before going their separate ways.
The structure of the song is simple: Nancy sings only the recurring chorus describing her recipe: “Strawberries, Cherries, and an Angel’s kiss in spring…” This plays like an ear worm, stuck in the cowboy’s head as he relates his mysterious tale of submission.
HOW CAN WE HANG ON TO A DREAM by Mimi Farina (Philo, 1985)
Mimi Farina became a widow at age 21. The younger sister of Joan Baez, who was one half of an anointed, royal duo of folk music, was left bereft when Richard Farina, her husband and partner, rode his motorcycle into oblivion.
After casting about for years, trying to find her civic, and artistic footing (forming the charitable performing organization, Bread and Roses - and, even trying improv comedy) - she finally emerged in 1985, stronger and more confident at the age of 40, with a beautiful solo effort. Here she interprets the Tim Hardin composition HOW CAN WE HANG ON TO A DREAM? - which delicately puts all her trials into perspective.
Mimi died of cancer in 2001, leaving behind a legacy of fragile, dream-like beauty and wonder.
It seems that some people are too good for this world. I’m reminded of Richard and Mimi’s anthemic PACK UP YOUR SORROWS…”If somehow you could pack up your sorrows, and give them all to me….you would lose them, I know how to use them, give them all to me.”
Mimi did just that for us.
Today's Affirmation:
"She Let's Me Watch Her Mom and Pop Fight"
Writers: N. Blagman*, S. Bobrick
**Although she isn't much to look at,
And she isn't very bright.
I love her, I love her,
Oh boy how I love her
'Cuz she let's me watch her mom and pop fight.
To see a lamp go through the window
And watch them kick and scratch and bite.
I love her, I love her,
Oh boy how I love her
'Cuz she lets me watch her mom and pop fight.
And Friday night,
It's something wonderful to see
When her pop comes home with
Only half his check.
We split a candy bar
And watch World War III,
It's got necking beat to heck!
I'm gonna make that gal my steady
Because they're at it every night.
I love her, I love her,
Oh boy how I love her
'Cuz she let's me watch her mom and pop fight.**
Lennon and McCartney eloquently recited an affirmation stating that In My Life I Loved Them All.
The affection for certain artists and the melodic poetry they injected into our souls has remained in our wiring through the good, the bad and the uncertain times of our lives.
One beloved gentleman we cherish was known as Arthur Alexander. Known as June to his closest companions, he was a one of a kind country-soul songwriter and singer. It can easily be said that he invented the genre.
The fifth American studio album by the Rolling Stones, released in December 1965, contained the Alexander classic "You Better Move On". From that moment on I was hooked on his intimate honesty and at times, the violent dillemas created within the stories he told.
From "Anna" to "Rainbow Road" he took us into a world of hurt, light and truth.
"Anna" was first made familiar to us all through the Beatles cover version of this classic.
On June 17, 1963, they performed the tune for the BBC radio show Pop Go the Beatles and was included on their Vee Jay LP Introducing The Beatles.
In 1994, "Adios Amigo: A Tribute to Arthur Alexander" was released with industry legends engaging their versions of some of his classics.
Roger McQuinn, the man whose voice elevated the Byrds to historic heights recorded "Anna" for the occasion.
His reading of this tear stained composition is dealt a tender touch and inspires the notion that when the very best translate the very best, we are often rewarded beyond emotion.
On that same tribute recording, another unexpected performance is revealed.
Robert Plant, known for his howling , screeching and a jet plane vocal roar illustrated in the metal blues ventures of Led Zeppelin offered up a remarkable surprise.
Plant's ability to take Arthur's haunting chant' "If It Really Has To Be This Way" down a road of interrpretation few of us knew he could travel, is a revelation which should inspire every singer to better worlds.
Once again, proof of emotive genius is discovered when a vocalist of Plant's caliber is sworn to the oath of conveying the inner depth of the heart as written by a master of song craft.
And so we enter this new realm of Double Trouble with the talent and awe of three pioneers of popular music.
We double down on the voices of Robert and Roger as the giant shadow of Arthur Alexander
conducts a human orchestra of words, urges and the need to confess that which few are capable of expressing with such passionate poise.
Robert remains with us at 82 and Roger at 76.
Arthur Alexander boarded The Mystery Train on June 9, 1993 at 54.
Ladies and gentleman. Welcome To Double Trouble.
Rich Buckland
Hello Young Lovers!
Welcome to a special Saint Valentine’s Day TWOFER from The Splendid Bohemians:
Today we’re featuring two enchanting, encyclopedic British song stylists: Anne Briggs and Elvis Costello. First up: the majestic Ms. Briggs.
SHE MOVED THROUGH THE FAIR by Anne Briggs (Topic, 1963)
Barefoot and bedraggled, Anne Briggs became the muse of the British Traditional Folk Boom in the early nineteen sixties. Her short performance career of mystical magic was retired at age 27, leaving behind a limited, but monumental discography.
I first heard She Moved Through the Fair on Irish Heartbeat, made by Van Morrison and the Chieftains, and it’s ethereal message left me paralyzed with romantic longing. But, that was just the prelude to my discovery of the plangent tones from this Goddess of acapella Celtic song.
OPPORTUNITY by Elvis Costello and the Attractions (Columbia, 1980)
This cut from my favorite Elvis Costello album, GET HAPPY!!! Is R&B funky with a Stax inspired beat and tasty organ punctuations by Steve Nieve. The music is absolutely giddy, and although the acrid lyrics - (so typical of the former Declan Patrick MacManus during this early period) - may be pessimistic and sneering, the overall effect is energizing.
In fact, the recurring refrain: “this is your big opportunity….”, with the caveat: “don’t turn around” indicates the intense, forward-looking dedication with which this artistic social climber fueled his rocket-like ascent to the firmament of the musical masters. Although Elvis succeeded handily, his early anti-authoritarian stance reminds me of so many other also-rans that, in preparation for their inevitable fall to irrelevance and obscurity, padded the ground below with a protective “fuck you” attitude. But, you knew all along that underneath the bravado that they really craved the gatekeepers recognition.
The jaunty music belies the message of the sour lyrics, implying an alternate, more inspiring interpretation: Be alert! Recognize your opportunities and grab them while you can.
“Rock ’n roll is really swing with a modern name,” Freed once said. “It began on the levees and plantations, took in folk songs, and features blues and rhythm. It’s the rhythm that gets to the kids – they’re starved of music they can dance to, after all those years of crooners.”
HISTORICAL ALAN FREED MOMENTS:
Freed moved to WINS in New York in 1954 where his late night radio show became known as Alan Freed's Rock ’n’ Roll Party. His popularity was immediate and so was the criticism.
In July 1957, Freed was given his own nationally televisedrock ’n roll dance show billed as “The Big Beat" on ABC-TV. The show featured a mix of pop and R&B acts. Early reviews for the national show were good, but it was cancelled abruptly after Frankie Lymon, one of the show's black performers, was shown on air dancing with a white girl.The biracial dance scene enraged ABC’s Southern affiliates and the network cancelled the show despite its growing popularity.
Freed was featured in five of the earliest rock ’n’ roll movies – Rock Around the Clock and Rock, Rock, Rock in 1956; Mister Rock And Roll and Don’t Knock the Rock in 1957 and Go Johnny Go in 1958.
Freed was initially interred in New York, the city where he died at 43 in 1965. His family moved his remains to Cleveland years later and then to the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Museum 12 years ago, his son Lance Freed said.
“I thought this was the last move, but then I got this call to move him,” Freed said. “He said, ‘You’ve got to come pick him up.’ “
“The museum world is moving away from exhibiting remains” since ashes don’t help tell a story, he was told.
Bullshit. The Hall's Board simply felt human remains did not belong where they could depress those paying for admission.
Alan Freed Urned His Right To Remain In The Home That Utilized His Rock and Roll Signature As It's Way Of Earning Millions Upon Millions Of Dollars.
PLEASE VISIT THE ALAN FREED ARCHIVES AT:
https://www.alanfreed.com/wp/archives/
Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull has boarded The Mystery Train at 78.
In the 70's she was anorexic, homeless and addicted to heroin.
At the time of her passing she had acquired the status of legend.
Marianne was a genuine, brilliant artist in a sea of impostors.
**Sleep Well in that ocean you struggled so hard to master regardless of the merciless tears that passed by.-
Rich Buckland**
Henry St. Claire Fredericks, Jr., aka Taj Mahal is 82 years of age, and like that monument in Agra, he stands as an ageless edifice of blues - rock grace. On his latest recording he croons in that familiar rasp: “I’m too young to be this old,” and there’s no denying the truth of that declaration. As the years have passed, it’s gratifying to contemplate that, 60 years ago, Taj and Ry Cooder combined forces in the seminal, interracial rock group The Rising Sons, then went their separate ways to establish themselves as the foremost living treasures of Americana and world music. I would venture to say that, similarly to the white British rockers who influenced a generation when they recycled the blues back to America, Taj and Ry did the same thing, on their home soil, with more humility..
I have a distinct memory of being ensconced during an arduous Iowa winter, laboring to get this song down for my set at the student union: one man, one guitar,- trying to catch the funky groove of the thing. The syncopation between Al Kooper’s piano, Jesse Ed Davis’s guitar and Gary Gilmore’s bass, propels this cut forward, moving it along a track of joy - even as the singer is bemoaning his lost love.
That’s the thing about Taj: his ever-present, infectious humor is fundamental to his magical appeal. And, the fact that he took his name in tribute to Gandhi, a man of peace, speaks mightily to his personal mission to make us all happy.
PLEASE JOIN US AT DIG THIS!!!!! https://www.facebook.com/digthiswiththesplendidbohos/
A MESSAGE FROM STAX RECORDS PRODUCER, SONGWRITER AND VOCALIST DAVID PORTER:
To say I am saddened about the loss of Sam Moore would be an understatement. You see, it was the finality of the last living connection I had to God’s gift to all of our careers.
The experiences we had with each other changed each of our lives in amazing ways. Sam will always be remembered because of what he gave out of his heart and spirit, along with Dave Prater, in the combination of Isaac Hayes and David Porter, some amazing gifts to the world.
I believe his memory will be a blessing forever to the world. And now I am the last of that combination, so I must express what I know was in the origin of the spirit for each of us during the course of recording those records. They were always filled with passion, purity, individuality and believability grounded in soul. The combination made each of our lives major. I express my condolences to Sam’s family. May his memory be a blessing. -
PBS Concert Special Celebrating Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Nebraska’ Features Eric Church, Emmylou Harris & More
Recorded in his New Jersey bedroom, Bruce Springsteen’s 1982 album Nebraska has proved to be one of his most enduring works, a raw, haunted acoustic record populated by lost souls searching not for salvation but simply a reason to believe. On September 19, 2023, at Analog at the Hutton Hotel in Nashville, famed music biographer Warren Zanes — author of Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska — hosted an in-depth exploration of the album and the musician’s process.
Springsteen’s songs were performed by multiple legends in their own right, with Zanes’s spoken word storytelling in between.
“I wrote a book about Nebraska because the recording stayed with me over decades,” said Zanes. “Every time there was trouble in my life I reached for Nebraska. When I started doing events around the book’s publication, I quickly realized the best of them had music. When I went to Nashville, I had a remarkable cast of musicians to help me tell this story."
Musical performances from Nebraska include Emmylou Harris (“The Price You Pay,” “Nebraska”), Noah Kahan (“Atlantic City”), Lyle Lovett (“Used Cars,” “My Father’s House”) and The Lumineers (“Mansion on the Hill,” “State Trooper”). Two additional songs from Born in the U.S.A. are performed by Eric Church (“Dancing in the Dark”) and Lucinda Williams (“Born in the U.S.A.”). Between songs, Zanes offers insights from his book, about which The Boston Globe wrote: “Anyone interested in how music gets made — both the inspiration and the process — will be fascinated by Deliver Me From Nowhere, an amazing chronicle of one of the most unlikely albums ever recorded. And for students of Springsteen, it’s an absolute must.”
This recording, composed and performed by the criminally underestimated Rick Nelson and his right-hand man James Burton, is a tone poem of psychedelic disorientation. It lopes along, taking its sweet time, floating in mid-air, then seeps out through the singer’s enthralled brain in a sensual vortex. It reminds me of my virgin night of acid enlightenment, when I crawled across my cousin’s floor, following the swirling carpet patterns, whispering: “Oh, Wow,” over and over again.
The tune features the sitar, a trope of the time, sensitively voiced by a musician mysteriously listed as “unknown,” and they stand out as the unsung hero of the whole enterprise. Appearing as it did in 1967, Marshmallow Skies signifies that time in Rick’s career between his teen idol period and when he emerged, fully realized, as a progenitor of country rock. He’s in experimental mode here, searching for a new direction. And, with characteristic aplomb, he makes his case convincingly.
An interesting side note: “Marshmallow Sky” is also a flavor of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream - and, a sweet smelling iris which resembles floating clouds. Appropriate, I think.
Lucasfilm has about a dozen Star Wars movies in various stages of development. One of them is a prequel from James Mangold that will tell the origins of the Force, the mysterious energy field created by life that binds the Star Wars galaxy together.
In a recent interview with MovieWeb, Mangold opened up about what convinced him to make a Star Wars movie for Lucasfilm, sharing that "the really important aspects [were] the freedom to make something new." Mangold, who is co-writing the screenplay with Beau Willimon, explained that they wanted to find "a way on the page to say something original." With his movie set to take place 25,000 years before any other Star Wars project, Mangold will seemingly be freed from decades of lore. "I'm not that interested in being handcuffed by so much lore at this point that it's almost immovable, and you can't please anybody," the director added, suggesting that his Star Wars **movie may drastically shake up the fandom's current understanding of the force.
Announced in April 2023 at Star Wars Celebration Europe IV, Mangold's Star Wars movie will be part of an era dubbed "Dawn of the Jedi" by Lucasfilm. "The Force has become a kind of religious legend that spans through all these movies. But where did it come from? How is it found? Who found it? Who was the first Jedi? And that’s what I'm writing right now," teased Mangold at the time of its announcement*. Mangold has since cited Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 silent religious epic* The Ten Commandments as a major inspiration for the movie.**
However, it is unclear when exactly the "Dawn of the Jedi" movie will go into production, as there is a chance Mangold's next movie will instead be his DC Universe feature, Swamp Thing. The filmmaker became attached to Swamp Thing in February 2023 and has been juggling the screenplays for both movies ever since. DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has repeatedly stated that no DC movie will get greenlit until there is a finished screenplay that is worth turning into a movie, so there's a good chance that Swamp Thing may also be a ways off.
The next Star Wars movie to hit theaters will be The Mandalorian & Grogu in May 2026. When the movie is finally released, it will have been almost seven years since the last Star Wars movie, 2019's The Rise of Skywalker. The Mandalorian & Grogu is a feature-length continuation of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian. While plot details remain under wraps, Pedro Pascal's Din Djarin and the lovable alien Grogu will be joined on their first big-screen adventure by Star Wars Rebels character Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios, Sigourney Weaver (in a mystery role), and Jeremy Allen White, who will voice a grown-up Rotta the Hutt. Jon Favreau — who created The Mandalorian — co-wrote and directed The Mandalorian & Grogu, which was shot entirely in California between August and December 2024 and is currently in post-production&
This is a difficult artistic puzzle to sort out: a) Why is this, Doris Day’s signature song, the only cover that Sly ever recorded?; and, b), Is its delivery of “cheerful fatalism” a positive or a negative? The motto, cribbed by song writers Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for the Hitchcock film THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, from another film THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA, has a rich history of memento mori application going back centuries, and yet, here it appears in a fresh, compelling funk version for the modern era. It’s a brain teaser.
For me it’s all positive, albeit bittersweet. The young woman, voiced by Sly’s sister Rose, asks her mother and lover to allay her apprehensions about the future, and Sly, taking the lead on the response, bursts into an ecstatic response: “Whatever will be, will be…” which turns the angsty inquiry on its head. BE HERE NOW, is the imperative. The future will take care of itself.
AT THE HOTEL BOHEMIA WE BELIEVE YOU CAN'T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING UNLESS YOU KNOW WHERE YOU HAVE BEEN.
2025 COMIN' ROUND THE MOUNTAIN.
CAN YOU DIG IT?
**Drummer Buddy Rich died after surgery in 1987. As he was being prepped for surgery, a nurse asked him, “Is there anything you can’t take?” Rich replied, “Yeah, country music.”
Lucky Luciano was a mob leader who helped the U.S. work with the Sicilian Mafia during World War II in exchange for a reduced prison sentence. His last words were, “Tell Georgie I want to get in the movies one way or another.”
Donald O'Connor was a singer, dancer, and actor known for his role in Singin' in the Rain*. He also hosted the Academy Awards in 1954. O’Connor died at age 78 with his family gathered around him. He joked, “I’d like to thank the Academy for my lifetime achievement award that I will eventually get.” He still* hasn’t gotten one****.
Groucho’s brother Leonard, who was better known as Chico Marx, gave instructions to his wife as his last words: “Remember, Honey, don’t forget what I told you. Put in my coffin a deck of cards, a mashie niblick, and a pretty blonde.” A “mashie niblick” is a type of golf club.
As he was dying, Alfred Hitchcock said, “One never knows the ending. One has to die to know exactly what happens after death, although Catholics have their hopes.”
Blues guitarist Huddie William Ledbetter, a.k.a. Lead Belly, said, “Doctor, if I put this here guitar down now, I ain’t never gonna wake up.” And he was right.
Bo Diddley died giving a thumbs-up as he listened to the song “Walk Around Heaven.” His last word was “Wow.”**
***"It was Christmas Eve babe
In the drunk tank
An old man said to me, won't see another one
And then he sang a song
The Rare Old Mountain Dew
I turned my face away
And dreamed about you"-
Shane McGowen
A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU AND YOURS FROM YOUR SPLENDID BOHEMIANS!***
This cut, from Julie London’s album of the same name, became a camp classic. It’s undeniably bawdy, with the torch songstress purring like a mod Mae West, with tongue solidly in cheek. The original, generated by neutered, pre-fab bobble heads, The Ohio Express, is a prepubescent rocker, lacking any lubriciousness whatsoever, but, emanating from Julie’s throat it’s an open invitation to bed, or a post-coital pillow declaration.
Julie is Her Name, her first album, was released in 1955, and YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY was her last, arriving in 1969, when she was 43 years old. Being an aging sex star is hard, but doing it in the 1960s during the youth movement must have been agonizing. Following this, she retired from recording altogether to concentrate on her acting career, which served her well. In ’72, her ex-husband, Jack Webb, cast her in the tv show Emergency! alongside her current spouse Bobby Troup,- (the composer of Route 66) - and that show lasted 6 years.
In 2000, throat cancer claimed the life of the sultry voiced siren, after a lifetime of dedicated smoking. She was 74, leaving behind a discography full of yearning and heartache. I discovered her decades after her Hey Day, on a collection of Lounge numbers, and was smitten.
1) EVIL WEINER- ALL AROUND THE WORLD
2) AIMEE MANN AND MICHAEL PENN- CHRISTMASTIME
3) CHRISTY MOORE- FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK
4) FRANK SINATRA- CHRISTMAS SEALS PUBLIC SERVICE SPOT & I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
5) GEORGE JONES- LONELY CHRISTMAS CALL
6) MELVIS - I WANT TO GET LAID ON CHRISTMAS DAY - (1958)
7) MABEL SCOTT- BOOGIE WOOGIE SANTA ( 1955)
8) PORKY PIG- BLUE CHRISTMAS
9)THE RAMONES- I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT TONIGHT-
10) STAN FREBERG- I'M GETTING NUTTIN' FOR CHRISTMAS (1955)
11) STEVE MARTIN AND PAUL SIMON- SILVER BELLS- - (SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE REHEARSAL- 1976)
Dedicated to Chemayne Halverson (1/6/1967-12/23/2020)
This is a haunting song by Rodgers and Hammerstein, which expresses the indefinable mysteries of romantic love. An interesting word I learned which describes this feeling is “limerence,” which the Oxford dictionary defines as “the state of being infatuated or obsessed with another person, typically experienced involuntarily…” This revelatory gnosis occurred to me quite early, when I played the character of Emile de Becque, the aging plantation owner, in the Camp Sno Hill production of South Pacific, at the age of eleven or twelve. It goes without saying I was no Ezio Pinza, but I brought the heat
Signor Pinza (1892-1957) was an Italian opera singer who made the unlikely late-life transition into musical comedy matinee idol status after retiring, when he delivered this unforgettable ode to romance.
Many have had, as I have, this experience of love at first sight. It happened to me when I ran up a theater aisle, threw open the door to the hall, and ran directly into the woman who later became my wife. I still remember her soft warm breath, begging pardon in a Southern inflected voice.
Perhaps the romantic fantasies that have been pedaled to us in countless songs, movies, plays, films, and books have created unrealistic expectations. But, I still believe in that life actualizing dream, and Ezio Pinza is one of the reasons why.
**Maybe late-night TV shouldn’t be called “late-night TV” anymore, with so many viewers consuming it in clips the morning after, on their phones. Yet the genre’s hallmarks — the avuncular host, the sidekick, the band, the monologue, the desk, the guests — linger. Most were stamped on America’s consciousness by Johnny Carson.
A new biography about an old reliable, Bill Zehme’s “Carson the Magnificent” harks back to an era when doom and scroll were biblical nouns and Carson’s “Tonight Show” was a clear punctuation mark to every 24-hour chunk of the workweek — less an exclamation point, maybe, than a drawn-out ellipsis. “They want to lie back and be amused and laugh and have a nice, pleasant and slightly … I hate the word risqué … let’s say adult end to the day,” is how a producer in 1971 described the millions tuning in from home, to Esquire.
Carson went off the air in 1992, after three decades on “Tonight,” and left this Earth in 2005. Zehme, a journalist known for his chummy celebrity profiles, struck a book deal almost immediately but struggled to get purchase on his subject— “the ultimate Interior Man,” he despaired to a source, “large and lively only when on camera” — and then was diagnosed with late-stage cancer. He died himself last year at 64, and a former “legman” and friend, Mike Thomas, has finished the project, giving it a doubly valedictory feel.
There were plenty of earlier books to consult, like “King of the Night,” by Laurence Leamer (who wrote about Joanne Carson in “Capote’s Women”), “And Now … Here’s Johnny,” by a young Nora Ephron, and the memoirs of Carson’s eternal second banana, Ed McMahon. His lawyer’s tell-all, published in 2013, is tellingly unmentioned. Zehme and Thomas have taken, if not the high road, the yellow brick one, with Carson’s Midwestern background left in dusty black and white while the nitty-gritty of show business is buffed to a high Emerald City sheen.
Give the authors points for changing up the standard chronological format. We don’t get to Carson’s birth date of Oct. 23, 1925, in Corning, Iowa, until the 107th page; his rebirth on Oct. 1, 1962, in NBC’s Studio 6B, midwifed by Groucho Marx, being the main event.
On air, Carson would take on various goofy guises, including the turbaned Carnac the Magnificent. The book’s title, and its light glide over his womanizing and sometimes violent alcoholism, suggest that in real life, too, he was a master of disguise and escape. After an unpleasant first date with Jody, he gives her a cactus in a bedpan with a note reading: “Sit on this. It will remind you.” After they married, she would sometimes wake with bruises. “Did he hurt you, Mom?” Joanna’s son asks after blowups. Zehme attributes such behavior to a booze-poisoned “doppelgänger”; he credits Carson with destigmatizing divorce without considering how swiftly, today, his whole operation would be canceled.
Visiting a proto-couples counselor, Carson “would taste shrinkage for the first time,” but he was far more comfortable overseeing Carson’s Couch. He might have been his own best analyst. “My job is to give them that feeling,” he told the “Tonight Show” regular Tony Randall of his drowsing masses, “that there will be a tomorrow.” How very yesterday.**
You remember that anachronistic Sea Chanty internet meme a couple of years ago? All over the world people were recording themselves singing “The Wellerman”, proving the endurance of the Anglo folk tradition. You can thank Bert Lloyd (1908-1982) in the UK, for being the folklorist and song collector who documented and compiled many of these ancient songs, and for keeping the folk flame alive in the age of modern recording.
He started collecting songs when he worked as a sheep herder in Australia, and his index expanded while working on whaling ships. In 1938 the BBC hired him to do a radio documentary about sea life, and thus began his career as a journalist, creating the singular vocation of “professional folklorist”.
Sovay (or, Sophie), the much covered tale about a lady highwayman who tests the fidelity of her lover, appears on Bert’s Topic Records collection “First Person: some of his favorite folk songs”, and that’s where I discovered it. I have an affinity for this niche of song collecting, developed years ago, while researching the archive of Sing Out magazine in the Smithsonian library. It’s been a gift that keeps on giving.
**Okay. No one wants to spoil the party.
But according to the American Psychological Association, 89% of US adults reported feeling stressed during the 2023 holiday season.
It's a good news, bad news situation much like this podcast which is truly a conflicted search for the highway to heaven, if such a utopia indeed exists.
At least we make an effort to engage about the comforted and the awkward which is more than I can say for many who only pretend to do so.
The holiday season can cause stress for many reasons, including:
Being exposed to constant, over exposed or insipid Christmas songs everywhere from your radio to each elevator and mall assault across the USA. The Phil Spector Christmas Album is all I require. And I must admit that I have enormous affection for "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"-
Family gatherings leading to the desire to drink like Ray Milland in Lost Weekend-
Lack of time-
The demands of hosting gatherings-
The pressures of gift-giving-
Navigating complex family dynamics-
But here's the good news:*“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.”
—John F. Kennedy
“Friendship… is not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.”
- Muhammad Ali*
And more ultimate wisdom arrives in the truths of what I consider the greatest gratitude song ever written, THE REBEL JESUS as composed by Jackson Browne"But pardon me if I have seemed
To take the tone of judgement
For I've no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In a life of hardship and of earthly toil
There's a need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure and I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus"- In closing I leave you with the following:
"***I haven't been saved but it could happen yet."-
Robert Earl Keen
Amen Brothers and Sisters.* And The Beat Goes On-
Thank You Listening Gang.
-Rich Buckland**
I miss Amoeba Records in Hollywood. When I was working a few blocks north of there, I’d visit a few times a week during my lunch break. They had a warehouse full of oddities of all mediums and genres, books, films and memorabilia. It was on one of these mid day excursions that I came across an album entitled: “The Rough Guide to Psychedelic Africa”. This was earmarked and marketed for people just like me. The music contained therein varied quite a bit from my idea of psych, but I love discovering new stuff so I couldn’t pass it by.
“Guitar Boy” was one of the tracks on this collection, by Nigerian national hero - the musician, writer, sculptor, and musical instrument inventor Sir Victor Uwaifo (1941-2021), who achieved the very first gold record there with “Jeromi” in 1965. The genre is called High Life, developed in Ghana, a former British Colony on the west coast of Africa. It’s style is immediately recognizable as Afro-Cuban, with it’s fusion of Afro beats with western melodies played by guitars plucked in staccato arpeggios.
Guitar Boy was banned for awhile because of it’s connection to a failed coup in April ’67, which was led by a Lt. Samuel Arthur (later executed), who marched prematurely into Broadcasting House Accra, announced the coup, and ordered the record to be played. Wow! You can’t make this shit up.
From Bill:
Reflecting upon the recent death of Alice Brock, the lady who lived in the bell tower of the abandoned church in Stockbridge, MA, along with her husband, Ray, (and Vacha, the dog) -, and who hosted the now legendary Thanksgiving feast attended by young Arlo Guthrie, that time when he got arrested trying to do his hosts a solid by dumping their excessive garbage - which subsequently soiled his record, making him ineligible for the draft. Well, reflecting upon this landmark recording made me realize how much Arlo and his song had been fundamental to my life-long, anti-authoritarian world view. And how, years later, when the war had escalated, and my turn came up for the draft, even though I escaped with a high lottery number, I was already weighing my options.
I was only 14 when the song was released, but it hipped me to the absurdity of the war in Viet Nam, the legal system, and petty bureaucrats in general. Arlo accomplished this “us against them” subversion with genial irony, which he delivered with an easy charm - not to mention an impressive Travis picking style. It didn’t hurt that he had the name recognition as the scion of the OG of poetical protest singers, Woody Guthrie, whose song “This Land is Your Land,” almost became our national anthem, and was the adopted relative of “uncle” Pete Seeger, whose signature sing-along method of inspiring social change Arlo employs so effectively here.
It was a cultural bombshell, and a first in many ways: At 18 minutes, FM radio usually played it in three separate parts making each rotation an event. It was the longest song to ever gain radio play when spun in its entirety. However, here at the Hotel Bohemia, time has no meaning, so it can be played all the way through on a continuous loop. Alice will be hosting her first post-mortal Turkey Day, so let’s spin it again in her honor.
BEST WISHES FROM BILL AND RICH, THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS!
It’s jangly and jarring, but irresistibly hypnotic. Mark E Smith chants this incantation as if he is literally crawling out of his skin. The performance is teeth grinding punk rock in its distilled essence. a portrait of a poet in service to anarchy. And, funny. Deeply biting and ironical, this was DJ champion, John Peel’s favorite group. The lyrics here seem improvised, but he’s a gonzo beat poet extraordinaire - he’s written it all down, and delivers it with his signature repetition in a discordant bray.
“You don't have to be weird to be wired
You don't have to be an American to be strange
You don't have to be strange to be strange
You don't have to be weird to be weird”
After seeing the Sex Pistols in ’76 Mr Smith had a vision that carried him for 42 years through a ridiculous number of personnel changes. It doesn’t matter who is playing as long as Mark is at the mic. He said once, “if it’s me and your granny, it’s The Fall”.
Mark was a difficult, complex man who died in 2018 at the age of 60, leaving behind 32 studio albums and countless live versions. One could pick out practically any Fall tune, and experience that singular voice - “attitude personified,” one journalist dubbed it. I chose this cut because it makes me smile every time I hear it. I hate being in that condition myself, but it’s fun to vicariously share Mark’s flirtation with psychosis.
Quincy Jones Receives Posthumous Oscar, and Daughter Gives His SpeechAt the Governors Awards, Rashida Jones spoke on behalf of her father, who died earlier this month at the age of 91.
Before his death two weeks ago, the musician and producer Quincy Jones wrote a speech he intended to deliver at the Governors Awards, where he would receive an honorary Oscar at the ceremony created by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
On Sunday night in Hollywood, his actress daughter Rashida Jones delivered that speech on his behalf before a rapt audience.
“As a teenager growing up in Seattle, I would sit for hours in the theater and dream about composing for films,” she said while channeling her father, who was a Black trailblazer in Hollywood: “When I was a young film composer, you didn’t even see faces of color working in the studio commissaries.”
Nominated seven times, Jones was given a different honorary Oscar — the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award — in 1995, back when these awards were still part of the televised Oscar broadcast. To shorten that show, the honorary awards were spun off into their own event in 2009.
Jennifer Lawrence, Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Lopez staked their seats out early while the directors Luca Guadagnino (repping both “Challengers” and “Queer”) and Brady Corbet (“The Brutalist”) compared notes on film formats. The “Succession” stars Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin reconnected on the terrace outside the party; both men are supporting-actor contenders; Strong for “The Apprentice,” Culkin for “A Real Pain.” And the stars of “Emilia Perez,” Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Karla Sofía Gascón, proved to be popular presences in every corner of the ballroom.
The first honoree of the night was Juliet Taylor, who has cast more than 100 films over the course of her career including “The Exorcist,” “Terms of Endearment” and “Annie Hall.” While accepting her Oscar, she described her job as being “able to appreciate actors when they’re not all that likable and appreciate directors when they’re not easy.”
**Daniel Craig came out to present the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to the producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, who have served as the stewards of the James Bond franchise for nearly three decades. After taking the reins of Eon Productions from their father, Albert Broccoli, the half-siblings produced the last nine Bond films beginning with “Goldeneye,” Pierce Brosnan’s first foray in the role, all the way up to Daniel Craig’s final Bond outing, “No Time to Die.”
-**Kyle Buchanan
I’M ALWAYS DRUNK IN SAN FRANCISCO by Carmen McRae (Atlantic, 1968)
Here’s my San Francisco story: In the 1980s, Chemayne and I went there on our honeymoon, spending a week before flying to Hawaii. We stayed at The Red Victorian, a reconverted townhouse in the Haight run by a dedicated, middle aged hippie, Sammy Sun-Child. It was adjacent to the Red Vic movie house, where you lounged on comfortable couches and ate homemade delicacies. The movie that week was Meryl Streep’s Dingo ate my baby film “Cry in the Dark”. We made the pilgrimage, and had martinis at John’s Grill, the legendary steakhouse where Dashiell Hammett wrote The Maltese Falcon. It was a week lovingly emblazoned on my memory forever.
This song evokes these ruminations. The piano playing chanteuse, Carmen McRae weaves a sophisticated memoir of ironic delight, and I am in the throes of her conjurations. I discovered the tune on an obscure Atlantic box set entitled The Ertegun’s New York: New York Cabaret Music, meant to memorialize that special, hoity-toity Manhattan crowd, and it’s mythic entertainers. This version was released on the label’s 1968 album “Portrait of Carmen”, arranged and conducted by Benny Carter, in a much more fleshed out version.
Carmen, who started off aspiring to be like her mentor, Billie Holiday, perfected her own brand of behind the beat phrasing and ironic interpretation, finding her unique voice and style as a story teller of the first rank, honed by way of a disciplined acting training, which led to her success in the worlds of Cabaret, television, and film.
George Jones’s New YorkBY JAMES BARRON
George Jones Live At The Bottom Line- New York City- 19811 Ragged But Right
2 The Race Is On
3 Rollin' In My Sweet Baby's Arms
4 Bartender's Blues
5 Grand Tour
6 Tell Me My Lying Eyes Are Wrong
7 You Better Treat Your Man Right
8 White Lightning
9 Once You've Had the Best
AND MORE!
Hardly anybody would have looked for an “I ♥ NY” bumper sticker on George Jones’s tour bus. “The story of him and New York was he just didn’t want to come here,” said Jack Grace, a singer and songwriter who books performers for the Rodeo Bar in Manhattan.
Mr. Jones, a country singer with a plaintive voice and a complicated life who died on Friday at 81, told people he did not like Manhattan. But maybe he needed a geography lesson. He did not seem to understand that Manhattan was in New York or that, to many New Yorkers, Manhattan just was New York.
Steve I. Weitzman, a club promoter, remembered booking Mr. Jones for a show at Tramps on West 21st Street in 1992.
“He had a fabulous time,” Mr. Weitzman said, adding that at one point, Mr. Jones told the crowd, “I’m in New York” — with, as Mr. Weitzman described it, an almost giddy sense of excitement that one would not expect from a big-name star.
A year and a half later, Mr. Weitzman booked him again. Same place, same stage, same hopes.
“The agent called me a week or two later and said, ‘George is going to cancel. George didn’t like Manhattan,’” Mr. Weitzman said. “George didn’t know that Manhattan was in New York. The agent told me George would appear if I could find another venue that’s not Manhattan, but what place was there that was not booked? I tried upstate New York, but I couldn’t find anything that was not booked.”
By then Mr. Jones was known as No-Show Jones for the performances he skipped, often because of drinking and drugs. Allan Pepper, an owner of the Bottom Line in Greenwich Village, remembered no-show dates in the late 1970s. One was a two-night stand in September 1977 that coincided with a press party for Mr. Jones given by Epic Records.
“The only trouble was, Mr. Jones didn’t show up — at either the party or the performances,” The New York Times reported. “When last heard from, Mr. Jones’s Nashville office had no idea where he was.”
A story circulated about what had happened. “Somebody said he went out the bathroom window,” Mr. Pepper said.
Fans figured he had the jitters. “A lot of those people got freaky about New York,” said Mort Cooperman, an owner of the Lone Star Cafe on Fifth Avenue, referring to famous performers. He said he had tried to sign Mr. Jones for the same dates but lost out to the Bottom Line. “Some of them loved it and turned into glowworms, like Johnny Paycheck. He was turned on by New York.”
But Mr. Jones stayed away. Mr. Pepper said the routine — agreeing on a date, signing a contract and canceling the gig — became all too familiar. “I would be upset,” he said, “but here’s the interesting thing: We would announce there was a cancellation and the fans would come up to the box office window and ask us, ‘What was it this time? He got sick? He got into an accident?’ They were prepared for this. They knew he was No-Show Jones. So I rebooked him, and again he canceled on me.”
Mr. Pepper booked him again, in 1980, and as if to prove the cliché about the third time being a charm, Mr. Jones not only appeared, but Linda Ronstadt and Bonnie Raitt — who had been in the audience — joined him onstage for several songs. Mr. Pepper said that
"REHEARSALS FOR RETIREMENT" WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY PHIL OCHS-
"IF i CAN DREAM" WRITTEN BY EARL BROWN AND RECORDED BY ELVIS PRESLEY IN HONOR OF THE ONLY ROBERT KENNEDY IN THE DAYS FOLLOWING HIS ASSASSINATION.
"THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED" DIRECTED BY ROBERT CORMAN AND NARRATED BY CHET HUNTLEY.
"THE BEST MAN" DIRECTED BY FRANKLIN J. SCHAFFNER FEATURING HENRY FONDA AND CLIFF ROBERTSON.
“There’s something about the guy that I love…” This is what Rich remembered that I had said about DJT. I didn’t remember saying it, but I think I can relate to the veracity of his accusation. It’s the re-incarnation of the Trickster that I recognize from myth - the nihilist Puck, whose talent to amuse - to entertain us as he foments chaos - is something that, I, (as someone who spent half his life trying to understand the nature of charisma) - can appreciate.
Rich, as life-long activist, sees it differently: this, he feels, might be, perhaps, the last election he’ll see in his lifetime, and the end of every ideal he fought for in his youth. But, he’s a scrappy, latter day Dead End Kid, who ain’t ready to lie down in darkness. Dig our back and forth debate.-
***BILL MESNIK
Let's get ready to rumble.
In the blue corner, a childless, blackish Vice President from Oakland, CA who was inspired by John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" in her youth and presented with 107 days and a cat sandwich with which to salvage democracy.
A piece of cake kids.
In the Orange corner, a man with the graceless moves of Jerry Lewis on acid and who has never met a "fuck you" he didn't like.
A piece of crap kids.
Let the games begin.
The ball is in your court America.
I know you'll do the right thing because it's about feeding your family, right?
Wrong. It never was and once again we are forced to never forget.
As Robert Duvall recited in "Apocalypse Now", "I love the smell of Napalm in the morning".
We do, don't we?
Looking at my reflection in the mirror of social change I get it.
Deep policy was replaced by the red carpet pedigree of celebrity and the racist molester won every single demographic he insulted with the vitality of an elderly pro wrestling heel.
Hulk Schmuck.
Trump has spent his entire life learning how to throw the spitball.
Kamala had only 107 days to learn how to throw a fastball.
Orange is now truly the new black and blue.
Good luck and Good night.-
With gratitude to Norman Mailer, Barbara Dane, Dave Van Ronk, Tuli Kupferberg, Ed Sanders, Muhammad Ali, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, Hunter S. Thompson, Medgar Evers, Frannie Lou Hamer and *Ruby Bridges, the first black child to Integrate an All-White Elementary School in the South, on November 14, 1960, at the age of six. RICH BUCKLAND
Any self respecting devotee of fuzz and farfisa will genuflect at the mention of Talk Talk by The Music Machine, the brain busting bombshell that exploded in 1966 at the height of the garage band culture. Along with Psychotic Reaction by The Count V, and 96 Tears by ? And The Mysterians, The Music Machine ruled the airwaves that year. My middle school band, The Full House, could play 96 tears, but Talk Talk was a bronco that was harder to ride. And, the guttural snarl of lead singer Sean Bonniwell, as he spit out the red meat of his teenage angst, was an inimitable storm surge of passion.
But, as so often happens, the complications of keeping a band together pulled at the group’s threadbare fabric, and by ’69 the band was in shreds, and Sean was on his own. This cut, Absolutely Positively is off the album THE BONNIWELL MUSIC MACHINE (because he was the only one left), but features some of the original players before they split. After that, the Music Machine was no more, and Sean soldiered on through an unforgiving solo career.
But, I’m thrilled hearing the roiling organ arpeggios on the verses as Sean expresses the ambivalence of not knowing what he wants, but then, emerging with determination, as he stands firm during the choruses, declaring: “Absolutely Positively I want your love!”.
I’d like to say that this is one of the best love duets ever recorded, but I demur from superlatives generally. However, I can say with certainty that it’s one of my favorites. Maybe it’s the simple, straightforward vocal delivery of these two raw-boned, pioneer types that makes me cry every time they ease into the sinuous harmonies of the chorus. And, the lyrics complement the American Gothic soundscape as they sing: “See how the bramble and the rose intertwine…” It’s a performance for the ages from two people who obviously loved and trusted each other and were dedicated to their mission to share the folk music they cherished.
I’d never heard of Mary McCaslin or Jim Ringer when I ran across their album in the cut out bin at the old Rhino Records store on Westwood in Los Angeles. And, I’m not sure what induced me to buy it - perhaps it was the inclusion on the track list of “Oh, Death,” - a song I knew from Ralph Stanley-, that clinched the deal; Maybe it was the primitive portrait of the two lovers: Mary, with her modest, down cast eyes opposite the barrel chested, ruddy cheeked Ringer, who stares directly, and challengingly, from the cover. Whatever the draw, I’m thankful I spent the $3.99, and I’ve kept it close to my heart ever since for solace, to remind me that true love, even with all its thorns, is worth fighting for.
Breaking News!
FILM PREMIERE
Maureen Gosling's
THE 9 LIVES OF BARBARA DANE
"The amazing story of Barbara Dane, a powerful radical citizen-artist whose magnificent voice and uncompromising dedication to freedom, social justice and global liberation, continues to ring."
--Danny Glover, Executive Producer
WATCH
TRAILER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdkTz4Lihmwhttps://www.barbaradane.net/
DOC 'N ROLL FESTIVAL
October 27th, 2024 @ 5:30pm
LONDON - BARBICAN CINEMA 3
Director, Maureen Gosling will lead Q&A after screening
BARAKAN MUSIC FILM FESTIVAL
September 9th-19th, 2024
TOKYO
Director, Maureen Gosling at Sept 9th screening
Note from Bill:
5 years ago, about this time of year, Rich approached me about celebrating the extraordinary life of one of his major influences - (he had brought her to our high school in the late 60s to participate in a benefit concert to raise money for Native American schools). I had a lot to learn because Barbara Dane's career spanned most of the 20th century and a good chunk of the present one. And, I was grateful for the study.
Starting out as a teenager from Detroit, Barbara Jean Spillman began singing with Louis Armstrong, and went on to become a sensation in the world of jazz. But, she was too big for that container - she went on to become one of the most influential folk music activists and label owners in history.
Upon learning of her passing last week at the age of 97, it seemed fitting that we revisit that special archival episode. Listen, and be amazed!
"Bessie Smith in Stereo" said jazz critic Leonard Feather in Playboy magazine when Barbara Dane burst onto the scene in the late '50s. In 1958 Time magazine said of her: "The voice is pure, rich...rare as a 20 karat diamond." To Ebony magazine, she seemed "startlingly blonde, especially when that powerful dusky alto voice begins to moan of trouble, two-timing men and freedom... with stubborn determination, enthusiasm and a basic love for the underdog (she is) making a name for herself...aided and abetted by some of the oldest names in jazz who helped give birth to the blues..." The seven-page Ebony article--their first feature story about a white woman (Nov., l959)-- was filled with photos of Dane working with Memphis Slim, Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Clara Ward, Mama Yancey, Little Brother Montgomery and others...
I discovered this track on a WB compilation set named “My Mind Gets High”, and boy… upon hearing this cut did I ever started experiencing flashbacks. In 1968, The Holy Mackerel was explicitly created as a vehicle for young, up and coming singer-songwriter Paul Williams, whose heavily processed vocal, along with the sitar, places this psychedelic artifact squarely into its late 60s time zone, and although I didn’t start my hallucinogenic experiments until a bit later (around 1970), Wildflowers sonic acid bath trips me out nostalgically.
Paul Williams became a household name in the 1970s when his elfin voice and tiny stature captured America’s imagination on tv, radio, and film. It didn’t hurt that he had a prodigious songwriting talent, too: (We’ve Only Just Begun; Old Fashioned Love Song, etc). His brother, Mentor - also a songwriting Colossus (Drift Away) was recruited for his sibling’s manufactured band, as well - it was a hastily, and often reassembled group of rotating membership, which only lasted about a year or so.
Interestingly, Paul didn’t write this tune; it was penned by bassist Bob Harvey, who later worked for Elvis - and, indeed, it eschews the sentimental tendencies of its lead singer’s writing. This is more of a mood piece, which perfectly captures that moment when the acid starts to come on. Sublime.
Last May, my son Jasper and my daughter-in-law Hannah asked me what I would like for my birthday. I said what I always say:
“Surprise me.”
But then Hannah suggested that they get me an 8 track because she knows I collect them. She wanted to know which genre or artist I like. Also, she didn’t know how, or where to buy one.
“Ebay,” I said, and jumped on there to peruse the recent auctions.
I like them sealed, or at the very least in a less worn condition. The first delicacy to appear was this unopened gem, produced by the fine punks at Stiff Records in the year of 1978 (prime time for me).
It was a good choice: a vivid time capsule, recorded con brio at the crest of the New Wave, with latter-day Punk attitude. Ian Dury, disabled, misanthropic satirist, closes the show, spitting his signature “Sex and Drugs and Rock n Roll” - (did he coin that phrase?) Nick Lowe opens the tape with his patented Power Pop, and Elvis Costello is… just amazing. He croons a Bert Bacharach tribute decades before they even worked together, and detonates a searing explosion of his own “Miracle Man,” displaying the Promethean chops that would soon catapult him to stardom.
I feel like a grateful fisherman, after Poseidon unexpectedly washes something tasty up on the boat deck.
A note from Bill:
Rich says I'm too modest about discussing my Acting career - could be. But, today I have a story that I felt compelled to share about my "brush with greatness" with one of the greatest American actors of the 20th century: the titanic James Earl Jones, in a Shakespearean production of the rarely produced Timon of Athens.
It's one thing to work with an awesome talent, - and I've stood toe to toe with a bunch of Academy, Tony, and Emmy award winners -, but the heat coming off from this icon gave me one of the most fundamental and profound experiences of my early theatrical education.
Rich and I also welcome a few other recent check-ins to the Hotel Bohemia: the magnificent Cissy Houston (mom to Whitney); Linda Ronstadt's talented songwriting protege J.D. Souther, and the one and only Kris Kristofferson.
"He's a poet, he's a picker, he's a prophet, he's a pusher, he's a pilgrim and a preacher, and a problem when he's stoned. He's walkin' contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction, takin' every wrong direction on his lonely way back home"
(He claimed the song was not written about himself, but isn't every song... at least a little bit?)
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/nov/26/john-fahey-blues-folk-guitar-pioneer#:~:text=For%20the%20uninitiated%2C%20The%20Transfiguration,good%20survey%20of%20his%20style.
John Fahey (1939-2001) was a singular folklore musicologist, archivist, and record label entrepreneur who played his instrument like no other person alive.
He made weird, earthy, mystical music, and lived a life to match.
Bill and Rich are pleased to offer this excerpt from a 1979 Halloween concert given by Mr. Fahey in San Francisco at the famed Great American Music Hall.
Haven’t we all wanted to just get away from the complexities of modern life? Escape the city, quit our jobs, and hit the hammock on some island in the South Pacific? This has been a predominant theme of Ray Davies’ lyrical output. Life today is too stressful; the past was more orderly and harmonious. In this song Ray goes WAY BACK to an imagined eden, a primordial jungle, when there are no jobs, obligations, or need for financial security.
Perhaps Ray’s tunes were initially instigated by a compelling feeling of angst, frustration, and resentment, but, consummate artist that he is, he transformed those cringey feelings into ironic, joyous fuck yous for our vicarious pleasure.
Well, maybe it’s not so simple; maybe we can’t afford the time lost or the hefty cost of such a longed-for retirement. But, we can, at least, slip away for a few moments of psychic refreshment with our pals, The Kinks.
https://nickgravenites.com/
This singing-songwriting, blues legend carried the standard of the Chicago masters such as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, James Cotton, Junior Wells, and many others beyond the Midwest, to a whole new audience of flower children in California and beyond, when he fronted Mike Bloomfield's foundational "All American" band, The Electric Flag at the Monterey Pop Festival.
Maintaining his passionate devotion to his art right up until his passing at age 85, having released a new album shortly his departure.
Bill and Rich welcome Nick to the Hotel Bohemia, where he can continue to rip it up for all eternity.
Directly following this episode, Captain Billyl will be posting his 4 track tape of the Electric Flag's seminal album, "A Long Time Comin' in its entirety.
I scored this green plastic 4 track cart of musical magic on Ebay, along with Bookends by Simon and Garfunkel, and The Live Adventures of Bloomfield and Kooper, Vol. 2. I needed to acquire an antiquated device through which to hear them because 4s don’t play on standard 8 track machines, so I tracked down a heavy wooden Muntz cabinet model that still works. You have to change tracks with a lever - like an old time train conductor - (which is thrilling enough by itself) - but when I heard Nick Gravenites crooning “Groovin’ is Easy” and “Killin’ Floor” through the jerry-rigged Jensen speakers, I was hooked. I read that Mike Bloomfield had first approached Mitch Ryder to be lead singer, but he didn’t want to leave the Detroit Wheels. Nick was a better fit. This writer of “Born in Chicago”, and collaborator with Janis Joplin and Quicksilver Messenger Service was the Chicago to California connection that made perfect sense at Monterrey, where the band debuted.
I had forgotten that Bloomfield’s mission when he first assembled his cracker jack, “All American” band, was to encompass more native musical genres and to seamlessly mix R&B, Soul, Gospel, Country, and Pop. This was more than what the Chicago blues scene from which he emerged afforded. And, horns were part of the secret sauce. This happened at exactly the same time that Al Kooper’s Blood, Sweat, and Tears were forming. Unfortunately, heroin, and other intrusions caused Bloomfield’s band to break up before it could take its rightful crown, but this document, along with the soundtrack of Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson’s film, “The Trip” bears witness to their promised glory. Groovin’ may be easy, but Mike Bloomfield never did anything easy.
**Sixty-five years ago, “Kind of Blue”was recorded and performed by a young group of talented musicians —before they were jazz legends — under the leadership of the visionary trumpeter Miles Davis. Initial sales were slow after the August 1959 release, but then the album caught fire, becoming the best-selling jazz album of all time.
So why has “Kind of Blue”endured as the top classic jazz album for 65 years?
“I think of 'Kind of Blue’ as a timeless piece of work,” said James Kaplan, author of “3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool.”
“‘Timeless’ is a word that’s much overused these days, but this great album genuinely seems to exist outside of time in a way that’s hard to explain.”
Angelika Beener, an award winning journalist, DJ, producer and host, says “Kind of Blue” uniquely captures universal human emotions.
“Everyone loves this album, and it’s not because they’re forced to, or they have to, or they’re told to,” Beener said. “There is something deeply resonant. This album drills into sort of the deepest parts of sensuality and romance and contemplation and ecstasy and vulnerability. “
While Davis took the lead on the album, he was joined by several other talented musicians who helped craft his legendary work.
“He gave a great amount of latitude to the artists,” said Leon Lee Dorsey, an associate professor at Berklee College of Music. “You see interviews with people like Herbie Hancock that he trusted — the chemistry that they brought to the table, that whatever was going on, it was like a laboratory.”**
I have always been drawn to fables of underdogs and the unrecognized. This affinity was engendered early on in childhood, and marinated throughout 30 years in the acting trade, where I’ve seen many of the finest talents of my generation wither on the vine of show biz obscurity. This catchy girl-group number from the Cameo catalogue is spunkily delivered by a couple of black Philadelphia teens, whose exciting vocal energy belies some of the mysterious whispers of chicanery that surround the story of the record’s creation, and, afterward, the group’s precipitous disappearance.
Ann and Lillian Storey of The Twinkles created this ode to black rock n roll culture in 1957, (immortalized in the film Hairspray) - when Ann, or Lillian, (I’ve seen both credited) submitted their song to a contest run by local DJ Kal Williams, who put his name on it as co-writer, and then took it to Baltimore musician and record label owner Al Browne, who also put his name on it. Browne released it on his indie label, Peak Records in 1957. The following year Cameo, who had national distribution, changed the group’s name to The Storey Sisters and rereleased it nationally, where it went to #45 on the national charts. It was at this point that Ann, or Lillian’s name disappear from the credits. In short order, The Storey sister’s career was over, after having recorded only two more sides.
Bad Motorcycle is said to be slang for “Bad Motherfucker”, and these young women may have encountered some bad motorcycles during their short ride out of fame’s parking lot. VOOM VOOM VOOM!
This goofy confection of Sunshine Pop was so at odds with the popular music of the day that it seemed doomed from the start. The Dedrick family, (Chris, Sandy, Bruce, Ellen, and Stephanie), were so unhip that the classical-jazz compositional genius of Chris Dedrick and the sublime sibling harmonies on display were incomprehensible to the rock intelligentsia. (There were The Cowsills, of course…but….) For God’s sake, The Free Design were produced by Enoch Light, of all people - ( I always loved that name) - my dad’s “Easy Listening” guru; it was the music he had on in the background when he did his weekend paperwork.
They only existed as a group from ’67-’72, after which Chris pursued an award winning, film composing and arranging career in Canada. And, here’s where the trajectory of this esoteric ditty arcs interestingly: their only charting song, Kites Are Fun barely peaked at 114 on the “bubbling under the hot 100” list, after which the group plummeted to obscurity. But, later, much later, like an excavated Paleolithic fossil, their catalogue was uncovered in the 1990’s, and reissued by Trattoria, a Japanese record label. Since then, this tune has been lauded, covered extensively, TikTok’ed, and featured in numerous tv commercials and shows. And, now, no one can deny that kites are most assuredly fun.
What if your Amazon packages could talk? What if they had palpitating, expectant hearts as they sped to your house? And, what a let down, after you’d ripped them open, shredded them, and left them for the recycler. What ingratitude, after their selfless commitment to your happiness.
Tool-maker, turned bassist Gary Unwin brings this anthropomorphic idea to life, abetted by lead singer and Vox Continental organist Brian Bennett. Here, courtesy of the Hi Fi’s, a busy, up and coming band of wannabe British invaders plying their rock n roll trade in Germany (as the Silver Beetles had done before them) - you get all the cringy, crooning drama (along with thumping timpani) you could want - and it’s TNT.
I discovered this diamond on an obscure Star-Club singles vinyl collection that Rich sent me after I bought my new turntable, and it captivated me from the first play. Of all the possible lyrical manifestations, a monologue delivered by a cardboard box, once lovingly wrapped and sent by one ardent lover to another via “the parcel farm,” and then abandoned, was beyond unexpected… and, just what I needed.
http://johnnynash.com/
Texas born actor, singer, songwriter, producer, and entrepreneur, Johnny Nash (1940-2020) was a driven visionary that, undaunted by commercial challenges in the U.S. marketplace, relocated to Jamaica, founded JAD Records, discovered and signed Bob Marley, and helped grow Reggae's popularity around the world - first by covering Marley's "Stir It Up," then, by writing and recording this inspiring ode to survival and hope.
And, let's not forget that he was also the voice of the theme song to the mid-'60s cartoon show "The Mighty Hercules!"
Bill and Rich had fun uncovering and relishing this great artist's story of ingenuity and grit. We hope you'll enjoy it, too!
ALL HAIL NEW ORLEANS' ROYALTY! The boys pay homage to one of the greatest voices - (and most spiritual human beings) - ever to grace the earth. And, you can read the recently released memoir that reveals his triumphs and tribulations.
https://aaronneville.com/
Tell It Like It Is – OUT NOW!
Aaron Neville shares his story, complete with stories of overcoming struggles and finally achieving success, in his debut memoir ‘Tell It Like It Is’: now available! Read all about Neville’s incredible path through life and own the book here. Also, check out some of the events and media celebrating the release!
Some early reviews are in…
“Iconic New Orleanian, platinum-record singer and songwriter Aaron Neville, a Grammy Hall of Famer… candidly reveals his little-known personal and professional struggles.”
– Booklist
“A gratifying, spiritual, and hopeful against-all-odds memoir.”
– Library Journal (Starred Review)
“The author’s life has been an inspiration…A worthwhile musical survivor’s story.”
– Kirkus
Blame it on the Bossa Nova’s magic spell that the Samba craze swept the nation in the mid-‘60s. And, two of the main proponents of this joyful, sun-splashed celebration were Sergio Mendes and Herb Alpert. Herbie had the record label, A&M, and Sergio had the secret sauce, not to mention the lovely lead singer Lani Hall, who later became Mrs. Alpert.
Mas Que Nada, translated from the Portuguese, means “Whatever,” and the lyrics are insisting that whatever else may be happening, the singer passionately craves the Samba. The rolling syncopation of Mendes’s piano, along with the percussion and the siren call of Lani and her partner Janis make the seduction irresistible: this is just, good sexy fun, and you don’t have to understand the lyrics to get the message.
The song, originally written, recorded, and made a hit in Brasil by Jorge Ben, was spread around the world by Sergio and Herbie, making it to #47 on the Billboard Top 100. I hope that the tune’s creator took some pride and pleasure it that - (along with the royalties)… so, “whatever!”
“Bless the Weather” by Iain David McGeachy, OBE (1948-2009)— known to the public as John Martyn, is an emblem of the unfathomable mysteries of the universe: How could music so divinely comforting have emanated from one so troubled? Of course, treading the path of this maestro’s biography we find the familiar signposts of drug addiction, marital abuse, alcoholism, and psychic distress. And yet. this spiritual offering translates as only gentleness and pure peace. ’Tis a puzzlement.
Well, humans are complex, or as he himself wrote: “some people are crazy.” In 1980, after Martyn’s break up with wife and partner Beverly, this “father of TripHop” created “Grace and Danger”, which his friend and label owner, Chris Blackwell refused to release for a year because he felt it was “too disturbing”. So, I guess it wasn’t all hearts and flowers. And yet, even there, the folk-jazz improvisations, abetted by the agile bass fingerings of Danny Thompson, lull, even as they hint at a provocation.
Be that as it may, on this cut the soothing, vibrational waves of guitar and voice align my brain waves in such a way that I can feel my heart rate immediately relax. It is a meditation; a connection to the eternal one-ness.
Domingo Samudio (b.February 28, 1937), better known as "Sam the Sham" is a quintessential American entrepreneur: a huckster with limited vocal ability, who took a simple, Show biz concept: - a corny, lovable, Rock n Roll persona - a TexMex Pharaoh in a turban, created a raft of top 10 smashes, and in the process became immortal.
In 1965, Wooly Bully, a salsa flavored variation on the Hully Gully dance hit, started it all for Domingo, who continues on his journey to this day, sharing his colorful experiences and life lessons as a motivational speaker.
She’ll Return it is an obscure, minor league number from the Animals catalogue, a B-Side to their Ma Rainy cover of See See Rider. I first heard it on the album Animalization, which, along with Animalism are my two favorite collections by that band. It’s just a simple, 12 bar, blues progression, with basic lyrics insistently repeating one central phrase - “Love her -, she’ll return it.”
Over the years that mantra has burrowed deep within me, engraving itself into my consciousness as a prescription for all relationships - friends, lovers, children, students, even chance encounters. It’s a clarion call for kindness and empathy: (What the world needs now is love, sweet love; Cast your bread upon the waters; what goes around comes around) - delivered with funky syncopation, and good humor, never failing to bring me around when I’m sinking in the quicksands of alienation.
Eric Burdon is one of the all time great rhythm and blues therapists of any color or nationality. Take a seaton his rock n roll couch and get some perspective.
Raymond Barretto Pagan was born to Puerto Rican parents in New York on April 29, 1929. When he was barely four years old, his father decided to leave home and return to Puerto Rico. His mother settled in the South Bronx and raised her three children by herself. From an early age, Barretto was influenced by two styles of music: Latin and Jazz. During the day, his mother listened to the music of Daniel Santos, Bobby Capó, and the Los Panchos Trio. However, as Ray grew up, he fell in love with Machito Grillo, Marcelino Guerra, Arsenio Rodríguez, and the Jazz orchestra greats he heard on the radio; stars like Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington.
When he turned 17, Barretto enlisted in the United States Army and was sent off to World War II. While stationed in Germany, he heard the song that changed his life: “Manteca” by Chano Pozo and the Dizzy Gillespie band. When he left the army, Barretto returned to New York and, influenced by the percussion instruments that his idol Chano Pozo dominated, he bought a bongo. But he wasn’t satisfied with the sound, so he went out and spent 50 dollars on some tumbadors he saw for sale in a local neighborhood bakery. And that’s how he took his first steps onto the nightclub music scene. His first recording was in 1953, with Eddie Bonnemere’s Latin Jazz group at the Red Garter lounge in New York. In contrast to famous conga players of the time like Cándido Camero, Mongo Santamaría, and Patato Valdés –who started out with Afro-Caribbean rhythms and worked their their way up to Jazz– Barretto started out in the world of Jazz; it would be years before he would make a foray into other Latin rhythms.
The story of Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" has it all: a troubled, ambivalent creator, an unforgettable sax riff whose ownership has spawned controversy for almost 50 years, and a mysterious, compelling lyric. One of Scotland's leading artistic lights, Rafferty, who started as partner to the beloved comedian Billy Connolly in The Humblebums, went on the wow the world with Stealer's Wheel's irresistible mega-hit "Stuck in the middle with you, before torpedoing that early success. He refused to tour, and after going solo, became increasingly withdrawn into an alcoholic death-spiral, which ended with his death at age 63.
Bill and Rich, The Splendid Bohemians relate the story as only they can - with reverence, tempered with their unique perspective. Take a walk with us down BAKER STREET.
Redd Foxx was one funny motherfucker. And, hell on wheels. Apparently, he was the scourge of taxi drivers in Las Vegas, where he lived, worked, and is buried - because he would either throw up in the backseat of their cabs, or refuse to pay his fare, or both. As the “King of the Party Records”, Redd made 50 dirty albums (I have a few on 8 track) - before hitting national gold on Sanford and Son, that show about a junkman and his boy that ran for six seasons, starting in 1972. I just found out that Foxx’s birth name actually WAS Sanford - a factoid that makes me smile. If fact everything about him made me smile. I loved it each time he’d clutch his chest feigning a heart attack, and groaning “Elizabeth, I’m comin’ to join you, honey!” And, now, hearing Quincy Jone’s theme song again, I’m sporting a broad grin again in remembrance.
Q was a master of innumerable musical genres, coming up as he did as Dinah Washington’s arranger, Sinatra’s band leader, Film scorer par excellence, and Michael Jackson’s record producer, etc, etc. Here he’s channelling Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man” - and the funky clavinet makes me want to bob my head along with the syncopation.
Although the character of Fred Sanford was supposed to be in his sixties, Redd was only in his 40s when he made Sanford and Son, and he was only 68 when he died in 1991, having exhausted himself through a jam-packed roller-coaster existence. Rumor has it he died broke because the IRS has seized his assets two years earlier, so Eddie Murphy footed the bill to pay for his funeral. As Arthur Miller once wrote: “Attention must be paid!”
There was something magical about Rosemary Clooney: the girl next door with the velvet tones. A 1950s dreamboat that you imagined might bring you cocoa on a chilly evening, and rub your temples after you had labored for hours, toiling to create the perfect arrangement for her. A game lady.
I admit I may have been dazzled by the Show Biz glow reflected onto this goddess from her husband, Academy Winning actor, Jose Ferrer; her brother, Nick, the eminent broadcaster; her son, moody Thespian Miguel; and her handsome ne’er-do well nephew, George…
But, bottom line: It was Rosemary’s voice — the dulcet sound from one of the swingiest jazz divas ever, that kept me, and millions like me, listening. Her career took a dip, but like I said she was “game” — game enough to attempt to make a record with Wild Man Fischer - the psychotic that Frank Zappa had discovered. She eventually made a comeback that had staying power: this recording was made in 1984, and here, the seasoned, knowing conjurer invites us to drink her feel-good potion, and become re-intoxicated.
https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/communications-satellite-telstar/nasm_A20070113000
The Splendid Bohemians are taking you back to 1962, a time when technology held so much promise for a more peaceful tomorrow. Telstar, the communications satellite was launched, linking one side of the globe to the other; Kennedy announced the good news to the world, and Joe Meek created an eternal musical tribute.
Of course, we know (sort of) what happened to JFK, and Joe Meek…? Well, there’s a story, and the boys are opening the crypt to interrogate the ghosts. Join us!
“GONE” - JOEY HEATHERTON (MGM, 1972)
It all started with a friendly competition. We had just done an episode about my early crush Bobby Gentry and her iconic “Ode to Billy Joe”. Rich does a counterpunch here with a tribute to his own teen heartthrob, the pulchritudinous Joey Heatherton, daughter of Ray “The Merry Mailman” - a host of one of our after-school staples of kid’s programming.
When Rich is passionate about something I just have to stand back and let him rhapsodize, and here his eloquence is in top form. Later, as the story turns to a darker hue, he reveals that he actually had met his teen idol - his once forbidden love (because of her support for the Viet Nam war, which he opposed) - that had now come full circle, and could be expressed openly.
Little Willie John was a teenager when he recorded his first hit, “All Around the World,” for King Records, in 1955.
When his career faded in 1962, John was a grizzled veteran of 25. Although rock & roll was once the province of the young, few singers under the age of 20 have been able to communicate more than jittery restlessness or poignant ache.
Little Willie John did much more. Like his contemporaries Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and Clyde McPhatter, Little Willie John was a vanguard of soul.
THE HISSING OF SUMMER LAWNS by Joni Mitchell (Asylum, 1975)
Hail, hail Joni Mitchell! A survivor with a roller-coaster history of adventures, both artistic and existential. She’s still standing, albeit with a cane - (Polio couldn’t fell her; an aneurysm? Piffle!) From folkie goddess who pierced her madrigals through with a brutal, autobiographical honesty, through her jazzbo period where challenging experimentations were offered with Amazonian bravado. After Blue, my favorite Joni record was Mingus, wherein she introduced me to an hitherto unknown (to me) bass maestro by way of a seamless collaboration. She was loved by many, but was impossible to control, so her romantic paths were marked with scorched earth, but the genius gentlemen left behind could only carry the torch in her name through the ensuing decades.
The Hissing of Summer Lawns was dissed upon its release, coming, as it did, on the heels of her biggest hit, Court and Spark, but is now recognized as a masterpiece. She’s spreading out here, sonically and vocally. Her fascination with jazz voicing, the impressionist lyrics, a Burundi Drumline, tasty samples and loops - it was all ahead of its time. But, then again, so was Joni.
August 20, 2012- Scott sang a gentle song that became a hit and something of a theme song for 1967's "Summer of Love."
Scott McKenzie, best known for San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair, died Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 73. According to the singer's website, he "had been very ill recently and passed away in his home after two weeks in hospital." The Associated Press says he "had battled Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disease that affects the nervous system, and had been in and out of the hospital since 2010."
San Francisco, the AP reminds us, was written by John Phillips of The Mamas and the Paps. McKenzie could write songs as well. He co-wrote The Beach Boys' 1988 hit Kokomo.
Hang on to your hats, folks, it’s Frank Zappa time! Love ‘im or Hate ‘im, you have to admit that Zappa was an all-American original. Virtuoso guitarist, ground-breaking jazz-fusion orchestral arranger, and scathing social satirist, Zappa stood alone against legions of corporate sycophants, carving out a successful empire built from sheer hubris and talent. Plus, he was funny as hell.
In this cut from his 1973 Over-nite Sensation album, all of the classic Zappa elements are on display: the ironic lead vocal, the blistering guitar solo, the off-beat background harmonies (courtesy of Tina Turner and the Ikettes) and a suite of tempo and time changes. And, all in the service of the silliest, yet most relatable of premises: that fantasy of breaking away from the pack to live life on one’s own terms… as a dental floss rancher.
I was 11 when the Beatles first appeared in America, and I literallyowe my life, my career, and my marriage to the guitar I bought and learned to play because of their influence. I have the entire Beatles catalogue on 8 Track, including the post break up solo albums, so picking one for the return of Captain Billy’s Magic 8 Ball presented a real quandary.
Rich suggested, and rightfully so, that we celebrate Let It Be, that benighted lesser effort, released at the tail end of their partnership, because of the recent revelations made manifest by Peter Jackson’s Get Back, with its lovingly restored footage, that documents Let It Be’s creation.
That film put to rest the mistaken belief that the boys were at each other’s throats the whole time that they were grinding this record out. On the contrary, we witnessed them stripping everything back to the basics, and enjoying their collaboration as one of the world’s greatest live bands - even if it was only for one time, on a roof top.
***"I have reached an age when, if someone tells me to wear socks, I don't have to." Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you was*?" Satchel Paige (1906-1982)
"By the time you're eighty years old you've learned everything. You only have to remember it." George Burns (1896-1996)
"The wiser mind mourns less for what age takes away than what it leaves behind." William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
"You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred." Woody Allen (1935- )
“Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.” – Chili Davis.***
Are you ready? Ready for action? Ready for… whatever? I hope you are, because when opportunity knocks you better at least have your drawers on when you answer the door. They say success is when preparation meets opportunity, so you best be ready to jump when the light goes on.
This sassy stop-time number was written by the Mozart of the blues, bassist Willie Dixon for the one and only Muddy Waters, and with Little Walter’s chromatic harp chords chugging along behind the legendary frontman, it’s one of the most invigorating concoctions ever recorded.
Muddy is in full command of his ripeness, and when he declares that he’s been drinking TNT and smoking dynamite, I believe him. He’s ready to fight, fuck, Rock n roll - or, maybe all three at the same time. “I’m ready for you - I hope you ready for me,” he warns, and that ain’t no mere boast.
Kinky Friedman, the singer, songwriter, humorist and sometime politician who with his band, the Texas Jewboys, developed an ardent following among alt-country music fans with songs like “They Ain’t Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore” — and whose biting cultural commentary earned him comparisons with Will Rogers and Mark Twain — died on Thursday at his ranch near Austin, Texas. He was 79.
The writer Larry Sloman, a close friend, said the cause was complications of Parkinson’s disease.
Mr. Friedman occupied a singular spot on the fringes of American popular culture, alongside acts like Jello Biafra, the Dead Milkmen and Mojo Nixon. He leered back at the mainstream with songs that blended vaudeville, outlaw country and hokum, a bawdy style of novelty music typified by tracks like “Asshole From El Paso” and “We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to You.” He toured widely in the 1970s, with his band and solo, including on the second leg of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue in 1976. He performed on “Saturday Night Live” and at the Grand Ole Opry — Mr. Friedman claimed to be the first Jewish musician to do so (though in fact others, including the fiddler Gene Lowinger, had beat him to it).
Another performance, recorded for the TV show “Austin City Limits,” was reported to be so profane that it has never been aired.
**In the 1980s, after the band broke up, Mr. Friedman turned to writing detective novels, using the same casual irreverence that he brought to the stage in books like “Kill Two Birds and Get Stoned” (2001) and “God Bless John Wayne” (1995)
Yet there was a surprising earnestness behind his weirdness. Mr. Friedman founded a ranch for rescue animals. He and his sister, Marcie, ran Echo Hill Camp, which they inherited from their parents and which they offered, free of charge, to children of parents killed while serving in the U.S. military.
He spent an increasing amount of time on his ranch. The Echo Hill camp closed in 2013, but three years ago, he and his sister revived it, this time with a focus on helping the children of fallen service members as well as the children of refugee families from Afghanistan.**
“There was a volunteer who fixed a water heater who I went over to thank,” he told Texas Highways magazine in 2023. “He said, ‘You’re welcome. I’m doing it for Jesus.’ I told him, ‘I’m doing it for Moses.’”
Clay Risen
New York Times
Back in the day there was a commercial for a pain reliever called Anacin, which was so psychotically hilarious that its catch phrase instantly became a “viral” meme, way before that term was invented. Even as 10 year olds, we would go around screaming: “Mother, PLEASE, I’d rather do it myself!!” Imitating the emotionally wrecked housewife in the ad. Nowadays, such an outburst would probably result in a Xanax, Valium, Klonopin, or Ativan prescription.
Jo Ann Campbell and the folks at Cameo Parkway records wasted no daylight in capitalizing on this phenomenon when they created this winking homage. The singer growls at her mother when the poor parent is only trying to keep her little virgin from getting pregnant. But, the teen has other ideas: She’s out to learn about sex the old fashioned way (just like mom did) - and, when you see videos of Ms. Campbell, “The Blonde Bombshell” you’ll understand why there was to be no containing that character’s animal energy.
“I wasn’t bound to a style,” Al Kooper has said. He was talking about his guitar playing but just as easily could have been talking about the totality of Al Kooper, songwriter, musician, singer, producer, band director. “If anything, I was known for being in the right place at the right time and playing the right thing.” Kooper has been at the heart of rock & roll’s time/space continuum for much of its history.
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes emerged from the New Jersey Shore in 1974. Though they carried a significant influence (and some key personnel) from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, the Jukes evolved as more of a white R&B horn band in the Memphis tradition embodied by Stax Records. Organized by singer John “Southside Johnny” Lyon, guitarist and songwriter Steve Van Zandt (who decamped for the E Street Band in 1975 but continued to produce, manage, and write songs for the Jukes), and Richie “La Bamba” Rosenberg, the band is well known for its high-energy live shows and no-holds-barred songs.
The Jukes’ brand of raucous soul, roots-tinged rock, and bluesy reverie has flourished across the band’s long career. Rolling Stone named Hearts of Stone one of the top 100 albums of the 1970s and ’80s.
This is the story of a love song that sings from beyond the grave.
Lovin’ You started life as a lullaby for baby Maya Rudolph, the child of singer Minnie Riperton and songwriter Richard Rudolph. Stevie Wonder, who co-produced the record, plays the gorgeous electronic keyboard accompaniment. It was a late-entry addition to MInnie’s solo album Perfect Angel, and the baby oriented lyrics had to be adapted to make it more about romantic love. But the gentle feeling of bliss it conveys is a perfect rendering of maternal devotion, and to insure the communication of its original intent Minnie chants: “Maya, Maya, Maya, Maya” at the end - (a secret message to the future), before the record fades out.
Four years later Minnie Riperton was dead from breast cancer, and young Maya was deprived of her mother’s earthly presence. But her song of maternal love plays on.
At the time of its release, Lovin’ You went to the top of the charts, buoyed by Minnie’s extraordinary range, showcasing an unearthly cascade of descending notes. Listening to the song 50 years on, the composition, with its edenic landscape of ethereal chords and birdsong, and the voice of a perfect angel at the center - is the personification of a Sunny Song.
February 18th of this year would have been Lee Marvin's 100th birthday.
ROGER EBERT'S 1973 REVIEW OF "THE ICEMAN COMETH"
"There isn't a bad performance in the film, but there are three of such greatness they mesmerize us. The best is by the late R**obert Ryan, as Larry, and this is possibly the finest performance of his career. There is such wisdom and sadness in his eyes, and such pain in his rejection of the boy Don (who may possibly be his own son), that he makes the role almost tender despite the language O'Neill gives him. It would be a tribute to a distinguished career if Ryan were nominated posthumously for an Academy Award.
Lee Marviv, as Hickey, has a more virtuoso role: He plays a salesman who has been coming to Harry's saloon for many years to have a "periodical drunk." This time he's on the wagon, he says, because he's found peace. We discover his horrible peace when he confesses to the murder. Marvin has recently been playing in violent action movies that require mostly that he look mean; here he is a tortured madman hidden beneath a true believer.
I also liked old Fredric March as Harry Hope. He's a pathetic pixie who tolerates his customers for the security they give him. To be the proprietor of a place like this is, at least, better than being a customer. But not much better. And so for four hours we live in these two rooms and discover the secrets of these people, and at the end we have gone deeper, seen more, and will remember more, than with most of the other movies of our life."**
Harry Nilsson was a man in a hurry. There’s no time, people! Life is happening now, and if you don’t act fast and grab it, you’ll be outta luck. Dead at 52, the former Wunderkind, one of Rock’s most innovative song stylists, exited this earthly realm, having burned out his candle from both ends - in terms of life, work, and alcohol consumption - but, thankfully, he left behind a clutch of living monuments to his originality.
This song started life as a B-side to the magisterial Without You, whose soaring vocal allegedly caused Harry to burst a hemorrhoid. He never did anything half-way. And, almost 40 years later, it re-emerged as the musical fulcrum for Natasha Lyonne’s zany existential Netflix series Russian Doll, causing a reported 3,300 percent jump in Spotify streams. It seems you can’t keep a good song down, and every time Lyonne’s character re-awakens, Harry’s ear worm reanimates, winding her back up - a bobbing apple in the enigmatic tub of time.
So, you got something to do? Do it now; don’t hesitate! Make that phone call; say what you need to say. Tempus Fugit!
Segment One:A TASTE OF MONEY, A SCENT OF ORANGE
Segment Two: WILLIE NILE
**“The unofficial poet laureate of New York City.” - Uncut
"Better than most performers have to offer by far." -- Rolling Stone
“Clash/Social Distortion meets Pete Seeger…a true master songwriter!” – Hits
“Willie’s so good I can’t believe he’s not from New Jersey!” – Little Steven
“Crossing the power of the Clash with the social consciousness of Woody Guthrie…he’s stronger than ever!” – The Morton Report
“Willie Nile is a great artist. If there was any justice in this world, I’d be opening up for him instead of him for me.” Lucinda Williams
“The epitome of real, true American rock ’n’ roll!” – Pop Matters
“He’s a rocker’s rocker, protégé of the famous.” -- USA Today
“A man who embodies the true spirit of rock n’ roll.” - London Times
“RIVETING!...Springsteen, Mellencamp, Van Morrison…Willie Nile has earned his standing in that esteemed company! – Blurt
Segment Three:*"MY GAL SAL" Paul Dresser’s “My Gal Sal” is a song that beautifully captures the essence of love and devotion. Its universal message and enchanting melody continue to resonate with audiences, making it a timeless classic. Whether it reminds you of a loved one or simply brings a smile to your face, this song stands as a testament to the enduring power of music to touch our souls.*
- Also known as "They Call Her Frivolous Sal," this 1905 song by Paul Dresser has the distinction of being the first song ever performed in a motion picture film. This was of course The Jazz Singer **which was released October 6, 1927.
Dresser died in 1906 so had no idea his work would be so honored. In the film it is sung briefly (and ostensibly) by the teenage Robert Gordon, although it is dubbed by an unknown singer. * Since its first publication at New York in 1905, "My Gal Sal" has been republished a number of times including around 1960, and has also been fairly widely recorded. >> * In 1942, a musical film based on Paul Dresser's life called My Gal Sal was released. Victor Mature played Dresser.**
Can a song about unrequited love be considered a “Sunny Song”? Absolutely, if it’s as poppy and refreshing as this cut by Cleveland one hit wonders, The Choir, previously known as The Mods. At the time of the song’s recording, the midwest was teeming with British Invasion, Carnaby St wanna-be bands who had longer hair than their peers and groovier clothes, and managed to cobble together enough money to cut a single. In the case of The Choir, their local hit record got picked up and nationally distributed by Roulette, becoming a hit. And, it lives on in the Nuggets collection.
In Actor training, we are taught that subtext is everything. One doesn’t play the literal meaning of a line, but rather the intention underneath, which is often at odds with the words being spoken. Such is the case with this song, whose subtext - (the music) - is in direct opposition to the lyrics. The words are saying the situation is sad and hopeless; the music assures us that not only is hope possible, but I’m really ok, even at this given moment. Perhaps because the composer imagines that when the object of his desire hears him on the radio, they will surely love him. How could they not?
One of the greatest rock and roll songwriters, Jackie De Shannon has a way of marrying a catchy pop melody with a fresh lyrical insight that is unparalleled. During that shift from Rockabilly into the British Invasion, Jackie (often with partner Sharon Sheeley), kept the pop charts humming - amassing an impressive discography for anyone - let alone little Sharon Lee Myers from Hazel, Kentucky, a pert blonde girl singer with a husky alto, who was being marketed as cheese cake. But Jackie had far too much grit and ambition to have her career begin and end as a Brenda Lee knock-off. She drove through the 60s racking up 2 top ten hits along the way.
When You Walk in the Room is an excellent example of that magical melding of a great hook with an original turn of phrase. Starting as a B-Side in 1963, it was re-released a year later as an A side, and included in her album BREAKIN’ IT UP ON THE BEATLES TOUR! That’s right … She opened for the fucking Beatles.
What with all this, It might seem odd to say, but I believe that Jackie was underrated. Of her two biggest hits as a vocalist, one (What the World Needs Now) was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and the other one (Put a Little Love in Your Heart) was a bit of treacle co-written with her brother and two other folks. Neither of these tunes exhibit the wit, the grit, the sexiness, or the spark of her own tunes.
- Nov. 27, 2017
Wayne Cochran, who wrote a classic love-and-loss pop song while still in his early 20s, then morphed into an energetic rhythm-and-blues singer with a devoted following and an outrageous pompadour before finding a new purpose in a Christian ministry near Miami, died on Nov. 21 in Miramar, Fla. He was 78.
His son, Christopher Cochran, said the cause was cancer.
Mr. Cochran was a relative unknown trying to make it as a singer in Georgia in 1961 when he wrote and recorded “Last Kiss,” a heart-wrencher about a fatal car wreck.
“Well, where, oh where can my baby be?” it starts. “The Lord took her away from me.”
Mr. Cochran’s initial recording did not make much of an impact, but a 1964 cover by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers became a national hit. The song — which Christopher Cochran said was inspired by a real traffic fatality, though not one that his father was involved in — has proved durable. A Canadian group named Wednesday had a modest hit with it in the 1970s, and Pearl Jam did even better with a version recorded in 1998.
Mr. Cochran, though, veered away from teenage pop and into soul and R&B, developing a high-energy stage act with a band he called the C. C. Riders (the initials stood for Cochran Circuit). With his hair in a pompadour of epic dimensions, he put on a propulsive show that earned him the nickname the White Knight of Soul. He drew comparisons to James Brown.
James Brown: Godfather of Soul
James Brown set the standard for dynamic live performance in American music. Inspired by preachers in the Black church, Brown started out singing in gospel quartets. As the "Godfather of Soul," he transmuted gospel into secular music centered in the emotional conduit of the soul singer. As "the hardest working man in show business," Brown turned ballads into virtuosic theatrical turns—falling hard on his knees, busting into splits and half spins, popping the mike to the floor and back, each move ratcheting up the song’s emotional intensity. As "Soul Brother No. 1," Brown acted as a cultural leader, writing hit songs calling for Black pride. As a progenitor of funk music, Brown with his band created a stripped-down, rhythmically driven aesthetic that has influenced world music from reggae to Afrobeat. Much of popular music since the 1960s comes through James Brown’s moves and grooves. Hip-hop is unimaginable without him.
In my opinion, the song was better than the sit-com that spawned it. And, it had staying power, making it to the top of the pop charts. There is something transcendent being expressed here. As Thomas Wolfe said: “you can’t go home again,” Maybe not, but it’s something we all long for, and in this joyful three minute tune John Sebastian ties a ribbon around that sentiment. You left home with a desire to see the world and make your fortune; you’ve been beaten down and turned around, and find yourself back where you started from. But, son, we never left, and we’ll welcome you with open arms (and, some gentle teasing). It’s so good to have you back.
My first ever concert, at age 13, ten years earlier, was the Lovin’ Spoonful at Princeton New Jersey. The good-time jug band music of John Sebastian has always been a warming presence in my life. His inclusion at Woodstock was no accident; he is one of the all-time greats. What a coup it was for Hollywood to get him to compose a jaunty theme song for a goofy, yet heart warming show about “sweat-hogs” - those ne’er do well high school students that had to be quarantined in their own remedial class. When approach by the producer to consider the assignment, he composed it in one night, and when asked how he did it so fast, he owned up to the fact that he had been a sweat hog himself. I believe that it was that identification which inspired John Sebastian to go beyond “jaunty” to an honest evocation of romantic universality. I’m not crying; you’re crying.
FROM THE "WILD, WILD WEST" DEPARTMENT:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be on the ballot in Florida, his campaign announced Friday, after he secured a nomination from the obscure “Reform Party”—as his campaign deploys an aggressive and laborious strategy to secure his place on ballots in all 50 states.
The Reform Party, founded by former independent presidential candidate Ross Perot, voted Thursday to officially nominate Kennedy for its ticket in Florida, Kennedy’s campaign said.
In addition to Florida, Kennedy and his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, will also appear on the ballot in Utah, Michigan, California, Delaware, Oklahoma, Texas and Hawaii, his campaign said, adding that it’s collected enough signatures to also appear on the ballots in New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina, Idaho, Nebraska, Iowa, New Jersey and Ohio.
While Kennedy hasn’t secured ballot access in enough states to secure the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the presidential election, his presence on the ballot in just one of the six swing states (Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin) that are expected to decide the 2024 election could be enough to sway the outcome as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are consistently polling within single digits of each other.
Without the backing of an official political party, Kennedy is required to petition for ballot access in most states, though he’s attempted a workaround in several states by soliciting nominations from lesser-known political parties, including the Natural Law Party of Michigan and the American Independent Party in California.
Kennedy’s campaign has also filed lawsuits challenging ballot access rules in several states, including Utah and Maine, and his campaign has admittedly delayed filing petitions until the last minute to avoid challenges from the Democratic Party, his campaign spokesperson Stefanie Spear told the New York Times.
Not to glorify the use of narcotics, or anything, but this is the most joyous celebration of bored nihilism I’ve ever heard. Joey Ramone said he wrote the song when he was stranded in London during Christmastime, with nothing to do and nowhere to go. And, here, the boys are symbolically kicking down the doors of their hotel room and running amok for our pleasure.
These were my contemporaries: they were playing CBGB’s on the Bowery, while I was plying my singer-songwriter hack across town in the West Village. Geographically close, but two different worlds, and I, theatrically trained emoter that I was, missed the whole punk revolution that was brewing right under my nose. Talk about not seeing the forest for the tree! We might have been close in age, and just like me they had been born and bred across the east river - but they were the real deal: dedicated to the rock and roll lifestyle, while I was just visiting.
They’re all dead now - but, man, did they rage against the dying of the light. They immolated themselves, these four similarly named Icaruses, in pursuit of rock immortality. And, they achieved it. And, you can feel that undeniable energy in this romp - their call to arms against banality.
THE BEST GARAGE ROCK ALBUMS OF THE 1960'S:
https://www.albumoftheyear.org/genre/11-garage-rock/1960s/#google_vignette
I love that the new home owner portrayed in this song squares off against a threatening demon, declaring:
“Ain’t no Ha’nt gonna run me off!”
This is one ballsy gentleman, Mr. Jumpin’ Gene Simmons. And, fittingly Mr. Chaim Witz of Kiss fame, (another ballsy guy), took his name in tribute to this man.
Morris Eugene Simmons (1937-2006) started his career in 1956, at Sun Records, and opened for Elvis Presley, but he hit pay dirt after leaving that label and landing at the fledgling company of Hi, where he made this recording, which peaked at #11 on the Billboard chart.
It’s simple, repetitive, and silly, but, man, does it cook! And, when he croons “I’ll be right here when the morning comes….” It’s a statement of unshakeable positivity, a guarantee by a man standing his ground against supernatural forces, and you just know that even if they have to end up living together, Gene ain’t gonna be the one leavin’.
This cut off Jeff Beck’s second solo effort was produced by the magisterial George Martin, the Beatle’s north star. The song was gifted to Jeff by Stevie Wonder, who did so, (according to JB), as an apology for having released the barn-burner Superstition first, after promising to let Jeff have it. He needn’t have worried - the plangent tone and human voicing Jeff discovered while creating this track was akin to a 49er striking the motherlode. Fittingly, he dedicated the recording to Roy Buchanan - another guitar master of a similar tonal inclination.
It’s uncanny - watching Beck’s delicate hands on the Live at Ronnie Scott’s video: the fluidity that this whammy bar wizard achieves creating the illusion of a cooing human voice, pregnant with longing and passion, takes my breath away. As the bare fingers of his right hand caress the spring loaded whammy bar, sensuously modulating the pitch and vibrato, he makes love to his instrument. It’s pure romance.
The recent demise of this musical icon came as a shock because he always seemed like Peter Pan, eternally youthful, with his toned, sleeveless arms and bowl haircut - a shredding bad boy. Not just another British Invasion survivor from decades past, but an ever fresh and present musical force. Well, Thanatos, you may have taken his life, but, Death be not proud - his soul will live forever.
Neil Young, Talking Stick Amphitheater, Phoenix, AZ, 4/27/2024
RAGGED GLORY
Maybe Neil Young isn’t as spry as he used to be, but who is? At 78, to be playing hard core rock with the passion he displays isn’t only a goddam miracle, it’s a revelation. And, just like young Micah Nelson, who filled in for Nils Lofgren (who’s on tour with his other Sensei, Bruce Springsteen) to jam with Crazy Horse stalwarts Billy Talbot on bass and Ralph Molina on drums - demonstrates a generational melding that gives hope to us aging rockers. So, also when my son suggested that he and I fly to Phoenix to catch Neil’s latest (I won’t say last because who the fuck knows) tour, I gratefully accepted the familial love that was being offered.
And, what a show it was! The opening act of Reverend Billy and the Church of the Stop Shopping Choir was a weird, trippy, and funk-fueled way to begin the evening. But since combining positive energy against Climate Change with tornado-like rock and roll force is Neil’s thing, it didn’t surprise me that he recruited this legendary street performer to be his emissary.
The early spring evening temp in Phoenix was perfect, and Neil was in a generous mood to give this fans what they craved - the golden oldies from Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, Zuma, and Rust Never Sleeps - with a short acoustic interlude playing Comes a Time and Heart of Gold (which everybody sang along to). It felt like a fucking campfire. And, looooong kick ass jams, which is what my son was craving. Down by the River and Cortez the Killer were at least 15 minutes each. And, what Neil may have lost in dexterity, he more than makes up for with heart-tugging, sonic crunching lyricism. For my money, he’s one of the best rock guitarists who ever slung an axe.
There are compensations to getting older; one of which is sharing your heroes with your children, and having them love them along with you.
https://garagehangover.com/WELCOME TO THE 60'S GARAGE
https://www.the60sofficialsite.com/60s-Garage-Bands.html GET READY FOR A GARAGE HANGOVER
ALL THINGS BLAKE: THE POETRY FOUDATION https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-blake
The Meaning of “Once in a Lifetime” Byrne might have used preacher cadences as a jumping-off point for the song. But his message is more universal than regional, as he hints at the idea of someone living a life that has developed almost beyond their control. The refrain of You may find yourself supports this notion. Byrne implies that a person’s location, car, and spouse might not be anything they’ve actually chosen.
In the second verse, consciousness and free will bubbles to the surface. This is not my beautiful house, the unnamed protagonist snaps. This is not my beautiful wife. In the final verse, he looks for a way out. Where does that highway go to? he wonders. And then, in a killer of a final line, he realizes that somewhere along the way, his journey has created consequences: My God, what have I done?In the refrains, water, both to baptize this lost soul and to wash away his sins, floods over the proceedings. But even that isn’t enough to effect any meaningful change in the course of a life. Same as it ever was, Byrne direly intones. That stagnancy might have affected the folks struggling within “Once in a Lifetime.” But Talking Heads made sure with songs like this that they were never settling for the same-old, same-old.
Like a cat with nine lives, Chip Taylor’s persona has embodied many iterations. Starting with his successful “songwriter for hire” status, penning golden hits like Wild Thing, and Angel of the Morning, up through his phoenix-like resurgence as an Americana elder statesman, the story of this man’s artistic survival, emerging as it did, out from the quicksand of addiction, stands as one of the Splendid Bohemian’s tales of celebration. So much so that it has to be told in two parts.
BROWSE THROUGH THE CATALOG OF CHIP'S RECORD LABEL "TRAIN WRECK RECORDS" https://www.trainwreckrecords.com/
https://www.songhall.org/profile/chip_taylor
Inspired by a quote attributed to the eastern mystic Meyer Baba, Bobby McFerrin created this a cappella masterpiece. And, although Michael Musto of the Village Voice has proclaimed it the “worst song of all time”, and Blender Magazine snarked “it’s difficult to think of a song more likely to plunge you into suicidal despondency,” this irrepressible ditty stands as the cornerstone of a singular musical career, festooned with awards and encomiums, including a Grammy for Lifetime achievement in 2022.
It’s not so much the possibly insipid - (depending on your level of cynicism) - lyrics, it’s the purity and perfection of Bobby’s voice alone, albeit overdubbed, that communicates its message of joy. The son of an opera singer and a voice teacher, Mr. McFerrin possesses a preternatural perfection of pitch and tone that has enabled him, among many other extraordinary feats, to trade horn parts with the Marsalis brothers, or deliver a flawless William Tell Overture solo.
As a philosopher and exponent of music’s healing potential for the human brain, Bobby continues to spread his message. Since 2021, he has conducted “Circlesongs” at Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, CA, where audience members are encouraged to improvise alongside the master - a unique fusion of jazz and therapy.
Here’s an ironic side-note: George H.W. Bush used the song for his presidential campaign, and Bobby protested, saying he would not vote for him. Then, he stopped performing the song in protest. I guess he wasn’t too happy.
What was that Frankenstein music machine with all the dials, sliders, patch cords etc., that made other-worldly sounds that were supposed to resemble “real” instruments, like strings, horns and flutes, but didn’t?
It was the mighty Moog, invented by Cornell doctoral student and Theremin salesman, Robert Moog. He hooked up with musician-educator Herb Deutsch, developed the voltage regulation for oscillators and modulators, and the thing caught on.
The first time most of us heard it was on Wendy Carlos’ SWITCHED ON BACH record, which, by aligning itself to one of the world’s most beloved composers, became a sensation in 1968, and was a defining feature of Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. Not long after that it became an absolute must have for the Prog matadors like Keith Emerson of ELP. The Beatles also used it extensively on Abby Road, etc. The list goes on and on.
Speaking for myself, I’ve always found the Moog and the electronic sounds it made cold and clinical (though fascinating). However, on this record its positively cuddly, and it makes me smile when I recall that it was used by the Muppets for the Swedish Chef routine. Composed by Gershon Kingsley, this hit version of Popcorn was recorded by Stan Free of Hot Butter, and its lighter than air.
Like a cat with nine lives, Chip Taylor’s persona has embodied many iterations. Starting with his successful “songwriter for hire” status, penning golden hits like Wild Thing, and Angel of the Morning, up through his phoenix-like resurgence as an Americana elder statesman, the story of this man’s artistic survival, emerging as it did, out from the quicksand of addiction, stands as one of the Splendid Bohemian’s tales of celebration. So much so that it has to be told in two parts.
https://www.songhall.org/profile/chip_taylor
At the outset, let me apologize for liking this song. It was outre almost immediately after its release. At this point it is so retrograde that I think a person might be able to enjoy it once again for it’s ironic naïveté. But, I have always loved the way her voice swoops up on the name “Bobby”. It still brings chills. I was nine years old, and I wanted to be Bobby for my crush. It’s so interesting with the sober goggles of reflection to realize how programmed I was by popular culture to accept certain societal dogmas in terms of the relations between the sexes.
Marcie Blane was only 16 when she recorded it, and it was her only chart hit. Born Marcia Blank in Brooklyn, NY in 1944, Marci was discovered by Marv Holzman, an A&R man for Seville records, off of a demo she had recorded as a favor for a songwriter friend. The company changed her name and gave her this song to record, which she did, and, then, she went off to be a counsellor at summer camp. When she returned, she was a star.
But, the supernova of fame burned out quickly, and by ’65 it was all over - by her choice. She decided to go back to college and didn’t promote her records. The music business was too stressful for this simple girl, who just wanted to marry, teach, and raise a family - which is what she did.
An interesting side-note: On October 9, 2017, it was erroneously reported that a homeless Marcie Blane had died with out enough funds for a burial. It turned out that it wasn’t her: it was a woman named Mildred Maxwell, who had told everyone for 30 years that she was Marcie Blane. I guess a lot of ladies just wanted to be “Bobby’s Girl”.
With its distinctive 16-notes-to-the-bar bassline and unashamedly honky sax solo (played on two saxes at once),
Ian Dury and the Blockheads’ signature hit was certainly one of the more idiosyncratic No 1s of the 1970s. The same could be said of their inimitable frontman, who exemplified the post-punk era’s particular ability to allow unlikely and extraordinary characters to infiltrate the mainstream.
Just three years prior to reaching the top spot in January 1979, the edgy, twitchy singer-narrator-wordsmith dubbed “the Count Dracula of vernacular” had been the thirtysomething, struggling frontman of Kilburn and the High Roads, a seemingly washed-up, chaotic, bedraggled bunch of misfits and miscreants. Left with a severely withered arm and leg following a childhood bout of polio, Dury had already overcome disability, taunts and school days he described as “heavy-duty sadism” and “unmitigated hell” to become an unconventional but riveting live performer.
Jimmy Scott / James Victor Scott (1925-2014)
When Jimmy was first heard on records, the audience assumed it was a woman. He was a one of a kind jazz vocalist, a phenomenon who lived a challenging existence, trying to negotiate his intersexuality with the prejudicial attitudes and toxic stigma of the 1940s and 50s. This caused him to adopt an aggressively “male” stance in order to survive and maintain his equilibrium. The 60s and 70s brought some improvement - career wise, but his greatest recognition found him towards the end of his life. There is, however, an abundant and glorious discography that he left behind for the ages.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/jimmy-scott-hard-luck-singer-with-a-haunting-voice-dies-at-88/2014/06/13/270725b6-48c3-11e3-a196-3544a03c2351_story.html
https://www.discogs.com/artist/129731-Jimmy-Scott
It came roaring out of the car radio speakers like a sonic boom, powered by Dave Clark’s “Air Hammer” pulsating drum beats and Denis Payton’s beefy saxophone. (Clearly, this was inspirational to Clarence Clemons, when crafting Bruce Springsteen’s, E-Street sound.) Mike Smith, on double-tracked lead vocal and Vox organ may have looked like the leader, with his cute Paul McCartney face, but without a doubt this was the drummer’s party.
Dave Clark, (b.1939) is an entrepreneurial former stunt-man, who parlayed his Tottenham sound into a multi-million dollar concern; he owned all his masters from day one, re-releasing them, to universal acclaim, on CD in 1993; the other song writers in the group shared writing credits with Clark unquestioningly - even if he hadn’t written a line. The Dave Clark 5 started as a teenage skiffle group to raise funds for his school football team to go to the Netherlands, and, fittingly, this song became an anthem for several teams throughout the years. Can’t you just picture the screaming hordes bellowing GLAD ALL OVER when their team scores a goal?
Glad All Over nudged the indomitable Beatles’ I Want To Hold Your Hand off the UK’s #1 slot, and the band was inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame in 2008. It’s the pinnacle of Sunny Songdom - nothing but pure, adrenalized fun.
https://www.rpmchallenge.com/
“We work not only to produce but to give value to time.” (Delacroix)
Ten years ago I participated in the RPM Song Challenge: 10 songs in 30 days. I chose the theme of “Time” - (a fertile and elastic subject), for my inventions. Included here are 4 songs from that creative surge.
It is said that time moves more quickly the older one gets. My brain can’t compute that it’s been ten years since these songs popped into being; It seemed like a speck.
I hadn’t heard these recordings since that time - they had been committed to little mini cards, and salted away in an obscure container. I’ve since moved, and I thought the files had been lost to the sands of…… well, you know.
But, Eureka! I remembered that I had logged entries into my diary, notating the precise location of each tune: (which card, the sequence of titles, and timings for each). And, they appeared! Talk about foresight, and good time-management… temporarily.
So, in praise of our brief, yet glorious existence on this globe, allow me to share:
- Time Bends - An instrumental trinket, with one simple lyric stanza. It was created on a Mountain Dulcimer that had been gifted to me, and I recall becoming awestruck by its warm tone and craftsmanship. I felt that I needed to establish a relationship with it, and It didn’t disappoint - lovingly responding to my explorations with this haunting melody.
- 50 Years Ago Today - As the challenge was taking place, there was a lot of press coverage on the approaching 50th anniversary of The Beatles appearance at Shea Stadium, which immediately reconnected me with my 12 year old self, and we pondered how the relentless bulldozer of time had flattened us.
- Our Bodies Are One - Though originally written in 2014 in response to another news story about a devoted husband and wife’s long separation during his incarceration, and eventual death. As I listen to it anew, each line resonates with the tragic events that have transpired recently in a Siberian prison. I dedicate this song to Alexei and Yulia Navalny.
- Dada Dancehall - The music critic and historian, Greil Marcus a wrote a fascinating book connecting the dots between the Punk movement of the 1970s with the Dadaists of the World War I era. In this song, Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols time travels to the Cabaret Voltaire of 1916, to sing a duet with Hugo Ball, the creator of the Dada Manifesto.
The lifeblood during my youth was infused by the artists who plied their magical trade via the 45 rpm discs of the 60s and 70s. I never stopped to think about the business men who signed and recorded these artists, distributed their records, and got them played. Art is Art, and Business is Business, and apparently you can’t have one without the other. But, oft-times, in the Capitalist system, control of the means of production and distribution don’t equate with who gets to share in the pie. In many cases, the recognized artists are exploited and only the business men get rich. In this episode we take a closer look at the practices of a couple of the biggest players.
One of the positive aspects of the internet today is that the artist has more control over their product - which is more democratic, but without the gate-keepers of yore, it’s easier for your creations to get lost in the crush of competition. We look back at this time, not with nostalgia, but, not without a certain degree of awe, either.
Herb Alpert: you’ll never find a more beloved figure in the pop music world. A mensch. Did you think he was Latin? Nope. He IS an Angeleno, but….he was a Jewish kid, born in Boyle Heights; went to Fairfax High and USC. Before “cultural appropriation” became a dirty word, Herbie had a revelation while attending a bullfight in Baja - came back with “The Lonely Bull”, and ignited a career that has won him a Tony, 8 Grammies, and, a National Medal of Arts.
He is the only musician to have #1 hits, both as a vocalist and instrumentalist. In his mid-sixties heyday he outsold The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Frank Sinatra. Always smiling behind his trumpet, the handsome Mr. Alpert became an unlikely pin-up, then he scored big-time as a record producer and mogul (with partner Jerry Moss), and today, at 88, as an artist of renown, crafting massive sculptural installations and paintings, he continues to thrive creatively. I guess you could say that in addition to being a dedicated, hard worker, that he also was blessed.
The Mexican Shuffle, (or, as some may remember from the chewing gum commercials)- The Teaberry Shuffle, was ubiquitous. It was all over the tv. This is happy music, pure and simple. In the ad folks of all walks of life, just going about their business, start dancing whenever they pop in a stick of Teaberry gum. And, Herbie’s percolating soundtrack conveys that propulsion perfectly. (I recommend YouTubing it). The record received a sizable boost of recognition from this exposure - as did A Taste Of Honey (from the Whipped Cream and Other Delights album) - as The Dating Game theme song. Along with Motown and The Beatles, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass were the soundtrack of the 60s.
The first time I heard this tune was on Ricky Jay’s collection of songs about cards and card players. Subsequently, I heard Steve Earle’s story about how, when he was playing some dive for 4 or 5 people, Townes Van Zandt stumbles in and starts heckling him. It’s Outlaw Country lore: Townes demands Earle play Wabash Cannonball- repeatedly. Finally, Steve demurs, claiming not to know the song, but lays this - Towne’s own lyrically impossible gauntlet, line perfect, on his drunken hero, and thus begins a legendary friendship.
The words fly by so fast here that it’s hard to follow the narrative, which upon some study, reveals a poignant tale of a royal pair of Anthropomorphic, married playing cards doing battle through the avatars of Mud and Gold - a couple of hapless gambling addicts. The overall message being that winning and losing are matters of destiny, dictated by the fates, and beyond our control, so you might as well keep raising the stakes. Townes, an acknowledged tortured genius whose untimely death at age 52, left behind a sumptuous body of work, kept raising his stakes, living his addict’s life as though his demise was pre-ordained. Even with this song, which he claimed was not written by himself, but by a “giant pencil in the sky”.
Is it odd that Mr Mudd and Mr Gold would qualify as a “sunny” song? Not to me. Maybe that’s because I loved Ricky Jay’s winking panache, and he introduced it to me. Plus, Townes’s break-neck torrent of lyrical showmanship is a thrill ride, and I smile as my brain endeavors to keep up with the writer’s masterstrokes. Also, a good, ripping yarn will always bring a smile.
The 4AM Rat Pack performance presented here was privately pressed on vinyl as a special gift to very special 500 Club patrons. We present this untouched audio from the original acetate as it represents the taste and feel of this historic occasion.
What tomfoolery! It’s 4 o’clock in the morning, and these bad boys are just getting started. This recording is a rare glimpse into the real, live, Rat Pack experience - and, the slightly distorted, overloaded sound is just part of the cinema verite. “YOU ARE THERE,” as Walter Cronkite once intoned.
The year is 1962. Dean Martin has circled back to the 500 club in Atlantic City, where his career with Jerry Lewis first exploded, and his rat pack brothers in arms are there to support. For anybody devoted to, or interested in this celebrated entourage of 20th century entertainers, you can’t get any closer to the actual experience of being there.
The banter is not particularly clever (they’re enjoying themselves, I won’t say MORE than the audience, but equally, at least). There are lapses in taste and attention to keeping the show moving - (an extended drunken improv about stools is one example) - and, though the finest singers of that generation are not always on perfect pitch here, it matters not a jot! The real personalities of these icons is vividly on display. The pecking order and inter-relationships are fascinating. And, as far as sheer entertainment value goes: The band swings hard, the legendary Sammy Davis Jr. sings, dances, and does impressions; Sinatra and Dino croon medleys to die for, and the whole 40 minutes is boffo. Not to be missed!
By Don Altobell
I will never forget August 26, 1962.
I was 24 at the time and after having the good fortune of seeing Dean Martin's appearance at the 500 Club in Atlantic City on Aug 19 -- his first solo gig since his split with Jerry Lewis -- the following week gave me an added treat.
Thanks to a drawing I did of Dean, I was able to see his opening shows and also attend rehearsals. And 500 Club owner Skinny Damato introduced me to Dean, who autographed my drawing, which still hangs on my living room wall.
Fans knew that Dean's pal, Frank Sinatra, would join him midweek to conclude the engagement. Atlantic City was bursting at the seams, with all hotels, motels, and restaurants jam-packed. At the club itself, tables were pushed together to make room for more patrons. It was a bonanza time for Atlantic City long before the first casino was opened.
That closing night after early dinner, I made my way through the block-long line and was ushered inside by a policeman who remembered me after seeing me at so many shows. I didn't mind that I had no seat...
A Cherry Bomb is a spherical exploding device, banned in 1966, but whose pop is enjoyed throughout the nation as a salute by rebellious teenagers everywhere. A “cherry” is also a moniker for a virgin’s hymen, the “popping” of which was a badge of honor for teenage boys everywhere. Cherie Curry, the lead singer of The Runaways, an all-girl, hard rocking band devised by notorious L.A. huckster Kim Fowley, sang the anthemic Cherry Bomb - the explosive debut single by that group. And there you have it: a circle within a circle, a wheel within a wheel - a brilliant conceptual confluence for rock n roll rejuvenation.
But it wasn’t just hype and corsets - these players: Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Cherrie Curry, Jackie Fox, and Sandy West were the real deal, and this song - written on the spot by Joan for Cherie’s audition, exploded in people’s ears just like its gunpowder namesake, and it catapulted to #6 on the Billboard chart.
What is it about that (ch-ch-ch) stutter, used by David Bowie in Changes, and in a “G” variation by Roger Daltrey in The Who’s My Generation that lights up our fuses? It’s like the ticking of the ignition device right before the big explosion. And, the way Cherie calls out: “Hello Daddy, Hello Mom, I’m your ch-ch-ch-ch CHERRY BOMB!” is so defiant, and so perfect in that snide, teenage delinquent way, that I just can’t help but identify.
Today The Splendid Bohemians pay homage to three not only consummate artists of the guitar, but teachers of their craft as well - responsible for passing on the mysteries of their music to generations of thankful acolytes.
ARLEN ROTH:
Arlen Roth is the ultimate sideman and guitar teacher who has played with everybody. His first book, Slide Guitar, was published by Oak Publications when he was 21. Roth is a Telecaster enthusiast who wrote the book Masters of the Telecaster detailing the techniques of many famous Telecaster guitarists.He has been called "Master of the Telecaster.”
THE REVEREND GARY DAVIS:
A Piedmont style guitar master, The Reverend Gary Davis was a player who became a gospel singer, Christian minister, and teacher.The folk revival of the 1960s invigorated his performing career, when he performed at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. Peter, Paul and Mary recorded Davis' version of “Samson and Delilah”, also known as "If I Had My Way", a song by Blind Willie Johnson, which Davis had popularized. The resulting royalties allowed Davis to buy a house and live comfortably for the rest of his life, and Davis referred to the house as "the house that Peter, Paul and Mary built.
RY COODER:
He is a multi-instrumentalist, but is best known for his slide work, his interest in traditional music, and his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries. He is a much sought after film soundtrack artist, and he produced the Cuban music album sensation - Buena Vista Social Club (1997), which became a worldwide hit; Wim Wenders directed the documentary film of the same name (1999), which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2000. Cooder was ranked at No. 8 on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.”
There was nobody like Lou Reed, and there is no Sunny Song like Dirty Blvd: a black and white hellscape, described by a cynic past being surprised by any indignity - yet, still managing to extract beauty and hope out of the filthy miasma. When the Statue of Bigotry says: “give me your hungry, your tired, your poor, I’ll piss on them” you know this Jeremiah is decrying the bitter truth about our present times. Still, at the very last moments of his life, Lou was doing poetic Tai Chi moves on his deathbed to ease himself into the portal of eternity.
In the song, the cursed, downtrodden boy, Pedro finds a book of magic in a trashcan and dreams of flying away from the dirty blvd. For an urban portrait this grim, it’s amazing how uplifting the song becomes, and as the final chorus swells and Dion jumps in to add: “fly, fly away…” my spirit is soaring.
Lou was a Rock n Roll Animal through and through, but he was also a serious artist who aspired to lift the genre to the heights of great literature. And, on Dirty Blvd., those two poles are fused and magnetized, creating a Dante-esque journey from hell to heaven. He had gotten to the place artistically where he could say anything, in language so direct and stark, and still get you to sing along.
Richard Lewis
"This is Joyce, Richard’s wife. Thank you for your loving tributes. He would be beyond thrilled and so touched, as am I. In response to the many queries , I know Richard would appreciate donations in his memory to the Los Angeles based charity http://comedygivesback.com ***or the charity of your choice."
"*If you wish to know who Richard Lewis truly was, I urge you to see his greatest dramatic achievement, a 1995 motion picture titled “Drunks”.
As a comedian there were few who could match his Lenny Bruce inspired delivery.
Lenny's daughter Kitty was a friend of Mr. Lewis as she respected his comedic bravery.
The film is an enduring creation combining all of the creative and complicated parts that made this man one of the most unique artists of our time.
Richard was a grateful, kind and beloved recovering alcoholic and drug addict with 30 plus years of sobriety at the time of his death.
Lewis had been sober since the mid-1990s after ending up in the ER, feeling near death. He went on to become an advocate for others treading the same path, including actress Jamie Lee Curtis.“He helped me. I am forever grateful for him for that act of grace alone,” Curtis said in a series of Instagram posts paying tribute to her co-star in the sitcom “Anything But Love,” which aired on ABC from 1989-1992."
- Rich Buckland
Norm McDonald Over the years Norm McDonald made numerous appearances on various late-night shows, including Late Night with David Letterman and Conan, eventually assuming a revered “comedian’s comedian” stature as he routinely left Letterman, O’Brien and anyone within earshot in stitches. In one memorable 2014 appearance on Conan — which O’Brien’s Team Coco later posted on YouTube under the title “Norm Macdonald Tells the Most Convoluted Joke Ever” — Macdonald reduces the talk show host and his sidekick Andy Richter to tears of laughter and frustration with a rambling, shaggy-dog tale about Quebec, beluga whales, baby dolphins and an outrageous pun that prompts O’Brien to admit, “I love you, I really do.”
Shecky GreeneAmong the many notable stories about Greene's life used for material, perhaps his most famous include him driving his car into the the fountain in front of Caesars Palace and Sinatra saving his life when five men were beating him, per The New York Times.
On television, Greene starred as Pvt. Braddock in ABC's Combat! for eight episodes, and later made appearances in The Fall Guy and The A-Team in the '80s. His film work includes appearances in 1971's The Love Machine, 1976's Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood and Mel Brooks' 1981 hit History of the World: Part I, in which he played Marcus Vindictus.Leo GorceyLeo was every bit as recognizable to the average man and woman as Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Jimmy Cagney, Humphrey Bogart and Bob Hope.
The leader of the Dead End Kids, the Bowery Boys or the Eastside Kids, depending on the year, the diminutive Gorcey was the reason the series were successful. They sputtered and died after Leo opted out of Hollywood around 1956 and headed for his “ranch” on the Sacramento River near Los Molinos, living there for a good part of the time until his death, three wives and a dozen years later.
Noel Coward (1899-1973), that epitome of British sophistication, was an invention. He was entirely self educated, having left school at 9 years old to pursue a career on the stage. After a modest success as an actor, he switched to playwriting in 1924 with The Vortex - (in order to write a good part for himself) - and set the theatrical world on fire. The combination of his jaw-dropping verbal dexterity, bravado verging on ballsiness, and tender insight into the frailty of humanity bordered on the supernatural. In the 1920s he became the brightest of “The Bright Young Things,” the Beatles of his era.
His life story (too enormous to recount here) encompasses a litany of glittering highs, gut wrenching lows, dramatic intrigues, and an unparalleled output of creative work that would crash a computer. Yet, through it all the manufactured elan, the stylish ease with which he presented himself - as he encapsulated it his: “talent to amuse” never failed him.
This parody of Riviera society, recorded towards the end of his career, was written in 1938 for the Broadway revue Set To Music, and originally performed by Beatrice Lillie, a frequent collaborator. What’s amazing to me as I drink it in, is that despite being so specific in subject matter and execution, Coward’s universal appeal is undeniable.
THE NERVE REUNION
This is Bill Mesnik of the Splendid Bohemians with a musical tale that could Hit A Nerve with you:
Sometimes life surprises you, and families are created and sustained where you don’t expect. I belong to a garage band brotherhood, consisting of five late-life Peter Pans, swaddled in the moon-glow of teenage rock n roll dreams, and dedicated to the proposition that all musical talent, although not necessarily created equal, can restore rejuvenation to those who practice together.
We call ourselves The Nerve (as in: “of all the…”), and we are: Steve Rockwell (guitar and vocals); Rees Pugh (drums and vocals); Preston Maybank (bass and vocals); myself - they call me “Professor” (guitar and vocals); and our harmonica emeritus Bob Pescovitz, who relocated to Bellingham, WA. We’ve played in bars, bowling alleys, house parties, and street fairs….. for over 25 years, and I love them dearly.
When I retired and moved and hour and a half away, I thought, “Ok, that’s the end of that”, and even when our eternally optimistic leader Rocky vowed to organize a jam to anoint my new garage I have to admit I doubted that it would ever happen. But, lo, the waters parted last weekend and the Nerve reunited.
I offer this document as proof that miracles, even ragged ones, can come true. The cuts are: Kansas City, Tough Enough (with Ben Math sitting in) , Go to Work, Go to Church (my original), and Clyde Played Bass - worked up by Preston in honor of my new grandson.
Welcome To Hotel Bohemia
Eccentric. Rebellious. Amoral, quite often. But bohemianism was, maybe still is, about much more than just frightening the horses.
The writer Virginia Nicholson recently told the Today programme that "in a sense, we are all bohemians today".
But what is a bohemian, how do you spot one, and might you be a boho, too?
"Bohemian" was originally a term with pejorative undertones given to Roma gypsies, commonly believed by the French to have originated in Bohemia, in central Europe.
The Oxford English Dictionary's definition mentions someone "especially an artist, literary man, or actor, who leads a free, vagabond, or irregular life, not being particular as to the society he frequents, and despising conventionalities generally".
But the connotation rapidly became a romantic one. From its birth in Paris in the 1850s, and the huge success of Murgier's play Scenes de la vie de Boheme, the ethic spread rapidly.
Gypsy clothes became all the fashion, sparking a style which lives on today through lovers of boho-chic like Sienna Miller and Kate Moss. And artists and poets from Baudelaire to van Gogh characterised bohemian ideals.
Its foundations in the Romantic movement of the 19th Century imbued bohemians with an almost quasi-religious sense of purpose.
In Puccini's opera La Boheme, the poet Rodolfo and his friends do not shiver in their Parisian garret where Mimi's hand is famously frozen merely because of their poverty. Theirs, as Rodolfo has it, is a higher, if more sensual, calling.
I am a poet!
What's my employment? Writing.
Is that a living? Hardly.
I've wit though wealth be wanting,
Ladies of rank and fashion
All inspire me with passion;
In dreams and fond illusions,
Or castles in the air,
Richer is none on earth than I.
Although steeped in its French roots, the bohemian ideal transferred easily to many countries and cultures.
In Britain, the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the aesthetic movement of the 19th Century imbued bohemianism with a dangerous, dashing, social cachet. Later, the exploits of the Bloomsbury group - one of whom was Nicholson's grandmother, Vanessa Bell - thrust it into the cultural limelight.
Across the Atlantic, poets and writers like Jack Kerouac, William S Burroughs and Paul Bowles led their own offshoot. And the playwright Arthur Miller's prose conjures the musty essence of that temple of American bohemia, Manhattan's Chelsea Hotel, where "there are no vacuum cleaners, no rules and shame".
"Everyone has a view of what the bohemian is," says Nicholson. "The bohemian is an outsider, defines themselves as an outsider and is defined by the world as an outsider... A lot of people regard them as subversive, elitist and possibly just a little bit immature."
Bohemians were typically urban, liberal in outlook, but with few visible political passions and, above all, creative. Though critical of organised religion, they were keen - witness the pre-Raphaelites and Oscar Wilde - to defend and explore the religious spirit.
Above all, they defied the constrictions of hearth and home and the false morality which they believed underpinned it.
**In essence, bohemianism represented a personal, cultural and social reaction to the bourgeois life. And, once the latter was all but swept away by the maelstrom that was the 1960s, the former was doomed, too.
UNTIL NOW!!!!**
&a
David Lindley was one of a kind - The ultimate sideman. “The Prince of Polyester” played a mind-boggling array of exotic stringed instruments and musical genres with swing and inventiveness. One of the pillars of the Southern California folk-rock sound that dominated the airwaves in the 70s, this Sancho Panza to the dueling Quixotes of Jackson Browne and Ry Cooder was founder of the legendary 1960s world music pioneers Kaleidoscope, and deeply beloved.
When he went solo I guess it was too hard to pin him down commercially. For example, this satirical Hawaiian Slack-Key pastiche is one of several styles covered in his “Very Greasy” album - which also includes a cover of the Temptations Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone and Bobby Freeman’s Do You Wanna Dance (in a Ska rhythm). It’s a brilliant evocation of a drunken, middle-class, luau themed office party.
He was a humble genius, I suspect. When my wife went to see him in Santa Monica I asked her to have him sign my Kaleidoscope CD. She told me that when he saw it he was touched, remarking that he was surprised that anybody still listened to it. On the contrary, it remains a precious reminder of a musical giant who once bestrode the earth.
The earth shifted for me when I heard Uncle Dave Macon for the first time. This was when the Harry Smith Anthology was released on CD in 1997. The energy of this man, swingin’ his claw hammer banjo and elating me with his infectious humor, brought the sepia-toned 19th century to boisterous life, and I was smitten.
I began listening to, and reading, as much as I could get my hands on, and although the “Dixie Dewdrop” died the year before I was born, he was kinetically alive for me, lifting me out of whatever funk I happened to have been in, into a realm of pure joy.
What an inspiration for an aging aspirant: He was discovered by accident by Marcus Loew of the Loews Theatre chain at the age of 50, and elevated to the heights of radio stardom on the Grand Old Opry, and national recording acclaim. How fortunate that these technologies, though in their infancy, were around to document the power of this entertainment fireball.
He was a beloved amateur (in the truest sense of the word), who had simply enjoyed entertaining customers along his freight hauling mule line. This exemplifies Joseph Campbell’s assertion that if you just follow your bliss, everything will flow from that. This was simply how he lived, and as one of his band members attested: “all day long, from morning til midnight, it was a show.” And, what a show it was!
HOTEL BOHEMIA IS DESIGNED TO LEAD YOU TO A DESTINATION CONSTRUCTED WITH THE HOPE OF EXAMINING THE HOLY PAST, THE PUZZLING PRESENT AND THE POSSIBILITIES OF OUR IMPENDING FORTUNES.
THIS PROGRAM IS DEDICATED WITH LOVE TO THOSE WHO INSPIRED THE ARCHITECTURE OF THIS HOTEL BOHEMIA PREVIEW: MEL BLANC, PHIL OCHS, ANDY DEVINE, SAM LAY, EUGENE O'NEILL, ROBERT RYAN, NICK GRAVENITES, BEN WEBSTER, DAVID MAMET, AL PACINO, LEON FUCHS, CHUBBY CHECKER, BUDD SCHULBERG , ROD STEIGER, MARLON BRANDO, ELIA KAZAN, AL JOLSON, MURRAY 'THE K" KAUFMAN, TRACEY DEY, THE ROCK, JOHN BELUSHI, DON RICKLES, FRANK SINATRA, JOHNNY CARSON, JEFF LYNNE, RODNEY DANGERFIELD, DIANA KRALL, EDWARD R. MURROW, ROBERT THOM, ED BEGLEY, SYLVESTER STALLONE AND BILL MESNIK.
"I am a determinist. As such, I do not believe in free will...Practically, I am, nevertheless, compelled to act as if freedom of the will existed. If I wish to live in a civilized community, I must act as if man is a responsible being."
- Albert Einstein,
"Change is the law of life.And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."— John F. Kennedy.
1) All Going Down Together – Bobby Stevens of The Checkmates LTD-From The 1971 Album "Life". 2) Down We Go- Kaleo-By The Icelandic rock band Kaleo in 2016 and released as the second single for their second studio album on Elektra Records. 3) Mr. Nasty – The Remars- Written in 2016 by Film Director Steve Karras ("About Face: The Story of the Jewish Refugee Soldiers of World War II") and performed By The Remars. 4) They Watered My Whiskey Down – Phil Burdett- Recorded in 1993 By United Kingdom Singer and Songwriter Phil Burdett And The New World Troubadours -From The Album Diesel Poems. 5) Oh Baby Don’t You Weep – Part One – James Brown and His Famous Flames
6) Oh Baby Don’t You Weep – Part Two – James Brown and His Famous FlamesRecorded in 1964 and based upon the spiritual "Mary, Don't You Weep" it was recorded as an extended-length track and released as the first two-part 45 RPM of Brown's recording career. 7) The End Is Not In Sight- Russell SmithWritten and Performed by Russell Smith of The Amazing Rhythm Aces in 2002, this song was first released by Jesse Winchester in 1974.
There was a crippling blizzard in Iowa in April of 1973. Over a foot of snow fell, coupled with 50-70 mph winds. But, inside my dormitory at U of I, I was warmed by the eternal sunshine of Pentangle’s evocation of the 12th century. The plangent voice of Jacqui McShee, accompanied by John Renbourn and Bert Jansch’s jazz infused “baroque folk” sustained me throughout that challenging season.
Not usually one to subscribe to any woo-woo, New Ageist practices, I nonetheless became convinced that I had lived before as a medieval troubadour - a sensation that recently resurfaced when I was introduced to the Witcher saga, because I strongly identified with Dandelion, that narrative’s ironic balladeer.
Ms. McShee was my gateway drug to the time-traveling vocal intoxications of Anne Briggs, Shirley Collins, Maddy Prior, June Tabor, Sandy Denny, Kate Rusby, and others. A.L. Lloyd and Richard Thompson became my “spirit guides” through the library of Child ballads; a path which eventually led me back home to the USA via Alan Lomax and Pete Seeger. Song research became my professional passion and mission.
Willy O Winsbury (Child 100), a traditional Scottish ballad, has many variations and possible derivations, one of which originates in the recounting of James V’s courtship and marriage to Madeleine de Valois of France. In Pentangle’s deft retelling, Willy and Janet’s love triumphs over shame and death. You cannot ask for more than that.
The original line up of Traffic had it all: mysticism, funk, folk, world music, and a healthy dose of irony. For an acid head like me they were the perfect accompaniment for a trip through shifting patterns of synchronicity. Of course, Traffic was helmed by the one and only Steve Winwood, who as a teenager impressed the world, shouting the blues on “I’m a Man,” and “Keep on Running” with the Spencer Davis Group, and was now considered a full-blown genius. But they also needed Dave Mason for ballast, because after he left the rising balloon, Winwood navigated the group into extended jazz noodle-ville - (but, that’s another story!)
Who knows what tomorrow may bring from the group’s eponymous second album is a deceptively simple groove and mantra that resonates across genres, time-zones, and philosophies, releasing a blast of joy-filled dopamine to one’s synaptic receptors, even as one contemplates the evanescence of life. And, that swinging organ counterpoint is smoking!
As I felt the waves of dislocation beginning to distort my perceptions, Winwood encouraged me to “step outside” of my mind, and “float across the ceiling…” I trusted him, and so I did just that. And, it was good.
**Bizarre was originally formed in 1967 as a production company when Frank Zappa and his manager Herb Cohen negotiated their own production deal with Verve Records. The purpose of forming his own production company was to give Zappa complete creative control over his work and the works he planned to produce for others.
Bizarre Records was then established in 1969 along with a companion label, Straight Records****, with the intention to release albums by avant-garde artists on Bizarre, and recordings by more mainstream artists on Straight. Both labels were distributed by Warner Bros. Records.
However, the original Bizarre Records concept failed to work out as expected due to issues with distribution and management. This led to some very unusual albums on the Straight label (Captain Beefheart, Alice Cooper), and Zappa and The Mothers of Invention were the only artists who stayed with Bizarre Records.
When the original distribution contracts with Warner Bros. ended in 1973, most Bizarre and Straight recordings were re-issued by Warner and/or Reprise, and Frank Zappa moved on to launch a new record label, DiscReet Records.
Discography
Albums**
- Sandy Hurvitz – Sandy's Album Is Here at Last (r. d. : December 9, 1968) (c. n. : V6-5064)
- Lenny Bruce – The Berkeley Concert (r. d. : February 17, 1969) (c. n. : 2XS 6329)(1)
- The Mothers of Invention – Mothermania: The Best of The Mothers (r. d. : March 24, 1969) (c. n. : V6 5068)
- The Mothers of Invention – Uncle Meat (April 21, 1969) (c. n. : 2MS 2024)(2)[1]
- Wild Man Fischer – An Evening with Wild Man Fischer (April 28, 1969) (c. n. : 2XS 6332)(1)
- Frank Zappa – Hot Rats (October 15, 1969) (c. n. : RS 6356)(1)
- Various – Zappéd (r. d. : November 10, 1969; February 3, 1970) (c. n. : PRO 368),
- The Mothers of Invention – Burnt Weeny Sandwich (r. d. : February 9, 1970) (c. n. : RS 6370)(1)
- The Mothers of Invention – Weasels Ripped My Flesh (r. d. : August 10, 1970) (c. n. : MS 2028)(2)
- Frank Zappa – Chunga's Revenge (r. d. : October 23, 1970) (c. n. : *MS 2030)(2)
- The Mothers of Invention – Fillmore East – June 1971 (r. d. : August 2, 1971) (c. n. : MS 2042)(2)
Buck Owens (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006), and Dwight Yoakam (b. October 23, 1956) : two master navigators of a very unique tributary along the stream of popular music, inspired and learned from each other - one, being the progenitor of the "Bakersfield Sound", and the other his adopted musical progeny.
"The Streets of Bakersfield," originally recorded by Buck Owens in 1973, was revived as a duet between the two men in 1988, becoming a chart hit and a popular video.
Buck, whose career had gone dark after losing his friend and musical partner, Don Rich in 1974, was sparked back to life when Dwight came into his life. Here Bill and Rich attempt to connect some of the musical catalogue and biographical dots of these two musical giants.
DELICIOUS by Jim Backus and Friend (Jubilee, 1958)
This lascivious one-off came to me via Dr. Demento, the famed broadcaster and collector of novelty records. The evocative cocktail music by Mort Garson and Buddy Kaye sets the salacious scene. I immediately recognized the familiar voice of the tipsy seducer as Jim Backus (known for Mr. Magoo and Thurston Howell III). But, who was that sexy siren playing footsie with him? It was Kay Connell, who couldn't reveal her name on the record, as she was under contract at ABC-Paramount - so she remains deeply obscure, known to recorded history only as Jim’s “friend”.
Everyone loves to laugh; it’s contagious. JIm and Kay's chortling is so infectious that it sparks spasms of glee in anyone who hears it. I dare you to try to listen to this record while resisting the effervescent bubbles of mirth that these two wobbly wantons are serving up.
Jim Backus did some estimable dramatic acting, including as James Dean’s dad in Rebel Without a Cause, but he hit comedy pay dirt with Magoo, and later on Gilligan’s Island as the clueless millionaire. On this unique document, the actor demonstrates his powerfully persuasive comic gifts.
The singer-songwriter’s singer- songwriter; the Americana artist’s Americana artist, John Hiatt doesn’t get anywhere near the respect he deserves. From way back in 1974, when 3 Dog Night made a hit out of “Sure as I’m Sittin’ Here”, up to today, Hiatt has written and recorded more classic songs than most, and although his voice sounds like vinegar on sand paper, I love his unique vocalizations. He is one of my favorite singers.
Born in Indiana, just like that other heartland rocker-poet John Mellencamp, Hiatt represents a no frills, tell it like it is approach - (but with consummate lyrical style) - and, always with a wink. Even when he makes me cry with lines like, from “Icy Blue Heart”: “To melt your icy blue heart, Should I start - To turn what's been frozen for years Into a river of tears?” - I smile, appreciating his unerring craftsmanship.
Hiatt provided a ligature in the sinew of my marriage. Chemayne and I met in ’87 in Atlanta - and the album Slow Turning accompanied our journey northward to New York City. We saw him at the Bottom Line, sitting at a front row table, and when he asked for requests, I suggested Feels Like Rain, because we had made love to it. He obliged. Later, in ’95, after we’d moved to L.A., Chemayne dispatched me to Starbucks (of all places), where Hiatt was making a personal appearance, to get his new CD autographed. When he handed back the disc to me, he called me “Sir”. A true Gentleman Road Warrior.
"MY HEART TOOK A LEAP - THE POETIC INNOCENCE OF THE SHANGRI-LAS" -
RICH BUCKLAND'S EPIPHANY NOTEBOOK
Like so many pre teens growing up in the sixites I slept with a transistor radio under my pillow. That receiver was the best friend a 12 year old could possibly have. It told me only what I wanted to hear and unlike the parental tunes regulary dispensed, I could slide the dial to another frequency and change the feel and tempo. 1964 was an extraordinary year for popular music and youthful urges. My wireless companion delivered the sound of pleading voices reciting urgent love calls through the night air. The first feminine intonations that whispered directly to my adolescent hunger ariived through The Supremes in June of that year. I would wait anxiously through the bedtime darkness to hear the DJ conduct another spin of the salvation revealed within a Diana Ross plea requesting an explanation to what would become the eternal question of "Where Did Our Love Go". I was fully captured by the gentle elocution each conflicted tone incited. She was conducting a sorrowful inquest, the meaning of which I was not experienced enough to comprehend and yet fully accepted. It felt like a sensual revolution emanating from the magic of a wireless, spiritual trasmission, but more importantly a glorious awakening having nothing to do with sexual messaging. It was my initiation into the significance of lonliness. And then it became more complex. In August of that same period, a group calling themselves The Shangri-las, dispatched a 45 revelations per second record titled "Remember (Walking In The Sand )" It ignited something dark and dramatic. This was my first migraine heartache and I understood the origin. It was the voice of Mary Weiss, the groups teen vocalist from Queens NY, the very borough I lived in. She was singing a story of such anguish, I just wanted to embrace her and make it better.
"Oh, no, Oh no, Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Remember (Walking In The Sand)".
The song and it's production were the child of a music business misfit named George "Shadow" Morton" But it was the urgent hurt of Mary Weiss that has lived within me going on 55 years.
I recall ruminating, " If this is 12, what the hell will 13 be like."
I began to find out when the next Shangri-las recording was released in December. The melancholy of "Remember" surrendered to another George Morton composition sung as only Mary and her partners could. It was called "Give Him A Great Big Kiss" and made me feel better about our fate and the abyss she had us both falling into only four months earlier. Teendom was just around my Queens, NY street corner. Hope and the sound of rock and roll transmitted by Murray The K, wrestled with the gusty winds which flowed beneath the Throgs Neck Bridge where my friends and I spent long summer days.
In retrospect Mary Weiss was my first true infatuation. The emotions were real, especially for a kid who cried over Jackie Wilsons "Lonely Teardrops" at age 7. Rock and Rhythm and Blues produced awakenings and sensations with no age restrictions.
After 4 marriages I still have similar questions posed by The Shangri-las and The Supremes .
I owe a great debt to those remarkable women and their sacred voices. If we are fortunate, the eternal flame of yearning begs new understanding with each sunrise. Just give the one you love a Great Big Kiss and always Remember.
Always.
Call it “dream logic”; call it a time-collapsing mind meld. It came to me in a dream: a snatch of nonsense lyric and melody, an ear-worm summoned up from 60 years in the past. I didn’t know what it was, why it was teasing me, or precisely where it came from, but there it was… “and, so on, so on, so forth…” What was it?
I googled just that much, and up it came: “The Hut-Song,” sung by the eponymous elephant in Horton Hatches an Egg, a cartoon that I had watched as a toddler. And, digging back a bit further, I discovered that preceding that animated Dr. Suess adaptation, The Hut-Sut Song was a monster pop hit, with several cover versions - the most popular being Freddy Martin’s. Thereby, not only did I jump start my memory, but I made a new discovery, as well. So, here we are: A Sunny Song from the deep recesses of my sub-conscious. I’m including both versions because the pop hit has a whole backstory to explain the indecipherable lyrics.
I think the genesis of this whole mission was that I recently became a grandfather, and had been thinking about what books I’d like to read to the child. I was trying to remember the ones I read to my kids, and the ones that were read to me. I loved all the Dr. Suess books, especially “If I Ran the Circus”, and later, cogitating about what to include in the next round of Sunny Songs, this ditty bubbled up from deep within my gooey grey matter, and would not be denied.
So, my next question would be: Why was Horton the Elephant singing that song? It’s a house of mirrors.
Bayside High School in Queens, New York began an early celebration of its 80th anniversary, making it one of the oldest public schools in the five boroughs.
At a ceremony Saturday, U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing), state Assemblyman Ed Braunstein (D-Bayside) and state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) gathered with students, staff and alumni of the storied school to mark the occasion. The lawmakers presented proclamations declaring the importance of the school and the significance of the anniversary.
**Opened in 1936, and built during the Great Depression, Bayside High School was the first in the city to be constructed with federal funds from the New Deal-era Public Works Administration. The school cost $2.5 million.
Gregg Sullivan, chairman of the Friends of Bayside High School, ran through many of the great historical events the school had borne witness to.**
“This school takes us through a number of great human events,” he said. “The Great Depression, World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars and the J.F.K. assassination.
The school was also home to the very first Folk and Rock Concert to benefit education in Native American schools in the United States as produced by student Rich Buckland.
The historical significance of the school, and its 80 years as a single entity, were themes each speaker touched on.
“You have to love what Bayside has been and is for the community,” Avella said. “It is a historic school.”
Principal Michael Athy, speaking about his vision of the school—past, present and future—said the success of Bayside is due to its legacy as one of the most rigorous and community-oriented schools in the city.
Buck Owens (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006), and Dwight Yoakam (b. October 23, 1956) : two master navigators of a very unique tributary along the stream of popular music, inspired and learned from each other - one, being the progenitor of the "Bakersfield Sound", and the other his adopted musical progeny.
"The Streets of Bakersfield," originally recorded by Buck Owens in 1973, was revived as a duet between the two men in 1988, becoming a chart hit and a popular video.
Buck, whose career had gone dark after losing his friend and musical partner, Don Rich in 1974, was sparked back to life when Dwight came into his life. Here Bill and Rich attempt to connect some of the musical catalogue and biographical dots of these two musical giants.
How does one define Romance in the era of "me, too"?
Bill and Rich, The Splendid Bohemians, wrestle with this question as they examine the work of the man who was dubbed "France's Frank Sinatra."
Charles Aznavour (22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018), one of Armenia's favorite sons, was a cultural force as a singer, writer-composer, actor, and artistic diplomat around the world. His catalogue is voluminous. For much of the 20th century, Aznavour promulgated what the ideal of romance should be. Jean Cocteau once said: "Before Aznavour despair was unpopular". His voice describes the longing of desire, and the pain of regret. Can these emotions ever be considered out of date?
Getz and Gilberto - an immortal pair of musical lovers - The Czar and Czarina of sexy insinuation. The coolest purveyors of cool jazz, swinging sweetly with a Portuguese inflection. Just try to listen to them without moving involuntarily - you can’t. Before you know it, your shoulders will be swaying gently in the fragrant summer breeze that perfumes the air all around you with longing and lust.
This cut represents the epitome of what a Sunny Song should be: you can literally feel the warmth from old Sol on your face as you picture brown bodies frolicking along Rio’s beaches. It may have emerged specifically out of the time and place of Brazil’s Bossa Nova craze of the early 60s, but it’s timeless. The sound, the feeling, the groove - immutable.
Rich and I covered The Girl From Ipanema on a previous episode of Put On a Stack of 45s, so I won’t rehash the particulars of Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto’s biographies. Let the music suffice to tell their story - and, It’s so compelling that it leads one to wonder: were they, or were they not lovers? It doesn’t matter, there is no mistaking the true meeting of the minds and loins in their melodious connection.
***On Aug. 18, 1969, legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix stepped onto the stage at the Woodstock, N.Y., Music Festival and embarked upon an uninterrupted set lasting nearly two hours--one of the longest performances of his career.
FOUR MONTHS LATER...........***
December 31, 1969 -Prior to their two concerts later that evening, Hendrix and his Band Of Gypsys held an afternoon sound check and rehearsal at the Fillmore East.Fillmore East, New York Two Shows Prior to their two concerts later that evening, Hendrix and his Band Of Gypsys held an afternoon sound check and rehearsal at the Fillmore East. Later that evening, before a sold out crowd of 2,639, Hendrix rang in the New Year and new decade with two unforgettable performances. The evening’s festivities opened with a spirited set by the Voices Of East Harlem, an enthusiastic young gospel ensemble. With the anticipation of the sold out Fillmore audience heightened to fever pitch, Hendrix led his trio through a scintillating, seventy-five minute opening performance. None of the eleven songs presented had yet to grace an Experience album. In the place of signature songs like “Purple Haze” and “All Along The Watchtower” were confident renditions of “Izabella” and “Hear My Train A Comin’”. At midnight, Kip Cohen, the venue’s master of ceremonies, rang in the new year and decade buffeted by Guy Lombardo’s “Auld Lang Syne”. Never one to be upstaged, Jimi and company greeted the joyous house with their own inspired reading of the holiday staple. For Amalie Rothschild, the Fillmore East’s house photographer, the experience was an unforgettable one. “Then there was the countdown at midnight. It was the countdown that was a real scream. We’re talking about the end of the Sixties. December 31, 1969 turning into January 1, 1970–.A new decade. This was significant. After all, we were living through it and we knew that the Sixties were the Sixties. We had this big countdown on the [Joshua White] light show screen with this big clock 10, 9, 8, 7, 6…and everybody is yelling together. Then the light show screen pulls up and everybody is on stage–all the crew and the musicians. Hendrix, who is now on stage, launches into this amazing rendition of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and I filmed it [excerpts of Rothschild’s color film footage can be seen in the VHS/DVD Band Of Gypsys]. This was history in the making. You could not miss this. His performance was just so inspired. It was just terrific and I can’t find the words to describe it.” The recordings which make up both Band Of Gypsys and its two disc sequel Live At The Fillmore East certainly bear out Rothschild’s remembrances. Jimi’s celebrated work with the Band Of Gypsys stands among his most impressive and lasting achievements. After the show, Ian Dove of Record Mirror interviewed Jimi Hendrix for the January 10, 1970 edition of the British paper. Later that night, Hendrix retreated to The Café Caliph (previously known as The Café Au Go Go) in Greenwich Village where he joined The James Cotton Blues Band on stage for a jam.
Starting with the salutary opening voice over: “The Sir Douglas Quintet is back, we’d like to thank all our beautiful friends all over the country and all the beautiful vibrations, we love you…” - this Tex-Mex, flower-power rave up let’s you know that you’re in for a groovy ride. Doug Sahm’s Tejana inflected combo from the borderlands broke up after their weed bust, and he relocated to the Bay Area where his head was turned around by the Hippies up there. Inspired by what he was experiencing, he re-recruited 3 of his original compatriots, including his childhood friend, the sizzling Vox organist, Augie Myers, and they produced this powerful tribute to the Northern California scene.
I didn’t know much about this group, and what I did know was fabricated. They were dubbed The Sir Douglas Quintet by their record producer in order to capitalize on the British Invasion juggernaut that was happening in ’65, and their first single, She’s About a Mover struck gold. That’s all I knew until I heard this anthem with its indelible organ riff, and then my radar was properly installed. Years later, when Sundazed released The Mono Singles ’68-’72 I immediately bought it and it overstimulated my CD player. What a collection! Every cut is a gem.
The one time child prodigy who appeared with Hank Williams at the age of 12, before the Hillbilly Shakespeare met his untimely fate, also died too young. Doug Sahm was only 58 when he passed, but he left behind a trove of unforgettable music.
https://www.fayboundalberti.com/blog/2017/10/19/its-not-unusual-says-tom-jones-but-he-misses-the-point
What goes around, comes around. Tom Jones, the happily married man who claimed to have slept with 250 women in a single year opens up about his own sexual harassment early in his career.
- THUNDER ROAD (THE WORK IN PROGRESS- ORIGINAL ACOUSTIC TAKE)
- THE HEIST (FIRST TAKE OF THE WORK COMPLETED AS "MEETING ACROSS THE RIVER"
- BORN TO RUN (ALTERNATIVE TAKE)
- BACKSTREETS (ALTERNATIVE TAKE)
- LOVERS IN THE COLD (DID NOT MAKE THE CUT FOR THE ALBUM)
- A LOVE SO FINE (DID NOT MAKE THE CUT FOR THE ALBUM)
- JUNGLELAND (REHEARSAL)
I was a possessive motherfucker when it came to The Boss (he wasn’t “The Boss” yet; he was just a skinny, scruffy Pub-Rocker Poet). I discovered him early on, when I bought Greetings From Asbury Park on a whim, and I was so proud because I was able to spread the Gospel of Bruce to Rich, in return for the revelations of Astral Weeks and Love’s Forever Changes, among many others.
I saw him at Max’s Kansas City, with Bob Marley opening; We trekked out to Roslyn to see him at My Father’s Place, with a crowd so small we were able to stand at his feet in front of the stage; We saw him introduce Born to Run at the Bottom Line, just before the megaton explosion of fame; and finally, the last time was at The Palladium when he had just made the covers of Time and Newsweek simultaneously - which he name checked in the song Rosalita, while the crowd screamed.
At that moment I knew the romance was over. I couldn’t bring myself to see him in a stadium. I still bought the records up until The River, but I mourned the loss of my private knowledge. The entire world would soon line up to anoint him.
Here is a treat for Springsteen fans from the Born to Run Outtakes archives. It’s fun to hear the Easter eggs hidden throughout these cuts as Bruce works out the arrangements that would eventually make it on to the final master. Enjoy!
A major part of my sentimental education was connected to the keening, heart-throbbing tone of Emmylou Harris. And, this cut off her Pieces of the Sky album has me literally in tears every time I hear it. I can’t help it. It’s my romantic ideal personified; perfect love - unattainable, yet always worth striving for.
I was acquainted with Emmylou’s plangent sound before that, as muse and partner to the late Gram Parsons. I wore the grooves out on Grievous Angel’s Hickory Wind and Love Hurts, but this solo outing was something from another planet. Boulder to Birmingham, which I understand was a tribute to her fallen comrade is also a gorgeous tear jerker, but this cover of Ira and Charlie Louvin’s 1958 classic evocation of yearning destroys me without fail each time my ears and heart encounter it. Her seamless duet with Herb Pedersen, who follows her swoop for swoop, is flawless, and the longing for soul connection that it demonstrates cannot be described adequately with mere words. You just have to hear it.
Born in 1947, Emmylou is 76 now, and still lovely. With each new gray hair she’s grown more fetching. Of course, she ascended inevitably to the country music throne to which she was destined. Still, whether singing with a partner, or solo, her signature sound continues to clutch at my heart. Such sweet sadness.
“On a tree by a river a little Tom Tit, sang willow, tit willow, tit willow…”
This how Ko-Ko’s plaintive lament of unrequited love begins. When I was eleven, playing the challenging role of Ko Ko, The Lord High Executioner, in the Lake Massapaug Middle School production of The Mikado, I laboriously committed those delicious lyrics to memory, along some other tasty tongue twisters, - syllable, by succulent syllable, and I loved every minute of it.
It started a life-long obsession with -, and performing -, the wicked word-play of WS Gilbert - (played crustily in the film Topsy Turvey by the singular Jim Broadbent).
This recording, from the 1936 D’Oyly Carte production, is sensitively rendered by Martyn Green, who tempers its obvious irony with some gravitas, playing quite differently from the more expected, crudely mugged style.
Great verbal acrobats like Shakespeare, WS Gilbert, Cole Porter, Stephen Sondheim, and Tom Lehrer - can spin words like atomic particles, releasing a spray of electrons within our brain cells, sparking joy.
What a rush!
https://www.sinatra.com/
**Frank Flew Us To The Moon and Sang For The Lonely In The Wee Wee Hours.
They Were Very Good Years.
1) Downtown (Outtake)
2) It Was A Very Good Year (Outtake)**3) Something- Frank Channels George Harrison-
Meadowlands Arena- September 9, 1979
The Creators, a four man doo wop group from Bayonne, NJ, put Mary Ann Thomas upfront, cut a demo of this song, which they then brought to Lieber and Stoller - and the rest is history: The Boy from NYC was cool. And I, because I came from NYC, I was cool by association.
I didn’t own a mohair suit, hell, I didn’t even know what mohair was, but that sounded cool, too. And, don’t forget the pocket full of spendin’ loot, and the finest penthouse she’d ever seen in town. This was a notion of sexual chemistry to which a geeky 12 year old could aspire.
I wasn’t the only one: Brian Wilson was so inspired, he wrote the GIRL from NYC, and cribbed the Creator’s back up rhythm for Good Vibrations. “Oowah, oowah, c’mon Kitty": Not too bad for a cool ass ditty.
"Ah, the blessings of the cursed.
Shane McGowan’s torrid and mighty voice is mud and roses punched out with swaggering stagger, ancient longing that is blasted all to hell. A Bard’s bard, may he cast his spell upon us all forevermore." Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan
Lulu’s husky croon is unmistakeable. The Scottish shouter is a UK national treasure, and still gorgeous. Picking up the torch from Brenda Lee, and passing it to Miley Cyrus, Lulu was, (along with Dusty Springfield), foundational to the world-wide popularization of white, female voiced R&B. Her 1964 cover of The Isley Brother’s Shout, at the age of 15 cemented her vocal persuasiveness, and To Sir, With Love catapulted her into the dreams of millions of devotional worshippers like me. James Clavell’s film about a black teacher thrown into the deep end of London’s inner city school system, was part of Sidney Poitier’s cinematic triple crown of 1967, following: In the Heat of the Night (for which he won the academy award), and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? Everything about the project was poised for success, and the title song didn’t disappoint - driving to number 1 as it cascaded out of every car radio across America. I was 13 when I saw the film, and it made a big impression on me. Of course, Sidney Poitier’s journey from awkward novice to mentor was totally convincing (as were all his performances? - but it was Lulu’s voice that has stayed with me through the years. And, with each passing year it glows a little bit warmer.
There are certain artists with whom we share an affinity - those who have touched our souls in such a way that our lives are forever changed.
Such an artist was Patrick Sky: a folk singer of Georgia Creek descent, whose professional trials and eventual retreat from public life tell a compelling story.
Blossom Dearie: what a great name! It was her real name, too. Well, Margrethe Blossom Dearie - she dropped the first part, and that was a good choice for Show Biz, I think. And, that voice: light, breathy, girlish, delightfully witty - I loved it from the first time I heard it. And, not only was she a fantastic vocalist, but considered one of the great jazz pianists - Bill Evans was inspired by her chord work; that tells you something.
Everything I’ve Got Belongs to You comes off of her first album for Verve, deriving from the Broadway show “By Jupiter” by Rodgers and Hart, which ran for 427 performances in 1942. The Amazonian lyrics juxtaposed with the little girl voice is kinky perfection. And, her articulation - hilarious and sexy, delivers a delightful confection.
Though she was born in Upstate New York, she made her bones in Paris when she formed the vocal group The Blue Stars, which later became the famous “Swingle Singers”. Always entrepreneurial, she started her own label, Daffodil Records in ’74. I immediately recognized her voice from the educational recordings School House Rock and Multiplication Rock (the latter winning her a Grammy in 1973).
Blossom Dearie - an unforgettable name for an incomparable singer.
THE DIG THIS THANKSGIVING EXTRAVAGANZA-
AN AUDIO MOTION PICTURE-
MUSIC, GRATITUDE, INSPIRATION, LOVE, FAITH AND LAUGHTER- OUR GIFT TO YOU AND YOURS.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM RICH BUCKLAND & BILL MESNIK-YOUR SPLENDID BOHEMIANS **BILL MESNIK'S HOLIDAY INVOCATION
1) CHAPEL IN THE MOOLIGHT- THE ORIOLES
2) THANK YOU FOR BEING A FRIEND- ANDREW GOLD
3) IN MY LIFE- DIANA KRALL
4) I THANK YOU- SAM AND DAVE
5) THIS IS ALL I ASK- TONY BENNETT
6) LONG LIVE OUR LOVE- THE SHANG-RI-LAS
7) THE TRUTH WON'T FADE AWAY- PROCOL HARUM
8) THERE BUT FOR FORTUNE- PETER, PAUL AND MARY
9 ) THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER- THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS
10) i'LL BE SEEING YOU- FRANK SINATRA
11) VANLOSE STAIRWAY- VAN MORRISON AND GEORGIE FAME
12) A CHANGE IS GONNA COME- OTIS REDDING
13) THANK U- ALANIS MORISSETTE
14) MANY RIVERS TO CROSS
15) IT'S MY LIFE- BON JOVI
16) MORE I CANNOT WISH YOU- PAT ROONEY SR.
17) ALMOST HOME- CRAIG MORTON AND JELLYROLL
18) LISTEN PEOPLE- HERMANS HERMITS
19) AMAZING GRACE- ELVIS PRESLEY
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In 1985, the British rock band Dire Straits released the song “Money for Nothing.”
It is an undeniable rock classic. It also is a superb entry point for—of all things—judging the morality of capitalism. It is worth a listen as well as a classroom lesson.
The lyrics relay the perspective of a laborer. As he sees a video of rock musicians on MTV, he expresses envy. He strains in the delivery of appliances while the musicians enjoy great wealth and adoration with little hardship:
We got to install microwave ovens, custom kitchen deliveries
We got to move these refrigerators, we gotta move these color TVs
Listen here
Now that ain’t workin’, that’s the way you do it
You play the guitar on the MTV
That ain’t workin’, that’s the way you do it
Money for nothin’ and your chicks for free
As the song proceeds, the envy gives way to anger and resentment. There is injustice—even absurdity—in how wealth is distributed! An honest day’s work should be more valued!
No shit.
“Money for Nothing” is the dream of every generation. For society as a whole, there are two ways to get it. The first way is theft on a national scale. That means the extraction of goods and services from neighboring lands through warfare (i.e., pillaging and enslavement). The second way is through a set of property rights which aids the exchange of values and which permits innovation to flourish.
For ninety nine percent of human existence, we have chosen extraction. More recently, the right liberal attitudes toward commerce and diversity have won favor enough to inform our institutions.
While we still remain uneasy about the free-wheeling quality of markets, I think we can all agree that exchange is better than the old way to get “money for nothing and your chicks for free.” -Scott Drylie -
Assistant Professor of Economics, Cost Analysis, and Acquisition Management at the Air Force Institute of Technology in Dayton, Ohio.
The Wanderer is two minutes, fifty-one seconds of pure swagger. Imagine my surprise when I read a quote from Dion where he said it was essentially a sad song, and that the one of lyrics demonstrated the singer’s existential crisis: “with my two fists of iron - ( I always thought it was “two fifths of wine”) - and I’m goin’ nowhere!” Dion is a Buddha of self-reflection.
He has always been my rock and roll Sherpa since the age of 8 when my friend Larry Bader and I would play “Dion and Chubby Checker on tour”. Larry was Dion and I was Chubby (‘cause I was) - we’d put on the records and lip-sync our act. The Beatles took over as an obsession a couple of years later, but Dion was never far from my thoughts: he kept coming back through the decades: in the late 60s as a folky warrior for peace; playing coliseumson the oldie circuit in the 70s; in the 80s and 90s as a grizzled, born again survivor; then, producing a string of hit blues albums in the 2000s, And, he’s still at it, sounding better than humanly possible. At the age of 84 he’s producing some of his best work ever.- just listen to American Hero, his latest with Carlene Carter, and genuflect.
The long delayed Norton release of “Kickin’ Child”, an album he recorded for Columbia that was scrubbed, posits the notion that it was perhaps Dion, before Dylan, who first took folk music electric with the master producer Tom Wilson. He’s always been in my life, and I’m so grateful for that. If he had taken that doomed plane ride with Buddy Holly in ‘59… just think about what would have been lost.
**Vanguard Records is best known for its eclectic catalog of pivotal jazz, folk, rock and blues recordings by iconic artists like Joan Baez, Linda Ronstadt, Buddy Guy, Charlie Musselwhite, John Fahey, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Doc Watson, Country Joe and the Fish and countless others. Most recently, Vanguard has carried forward the label's legacy of artistic excellence with a diverse roster including Barenaked Ladies, Indigo Girls, O.A.R. and Collective Soul.
Riding the tail end of the popular boom of commercialized Folk Music, Vanguard's unexpected mega-hit "Walk Right In" soared to the top of the pop chart. Looking for a long forgotten treasure to mine, Erik Darling and Bill Svanoe, doing what many had done before them, updated an old string band tune, composed by Gus Cannon and recorded with his Jug Stompers in 1929.
They arranged it for TWO 12-String guitars (one of which, a leftie model, had to be specially constructed for Bill), and adding the mellifluous tones of Lynne Taylor to complete the trio, the magic concoction was brewed to MOR perfection.
And, just in time for Gus Cannon, too! He had recently pawned his banjo to pay his heating bill, and the royalties and national recognition breathed new life into a long dormant career.**
Samuel Laird Cregar (1914-1944) was the youngest of six sons of Edward Matthews Cregar, a cricketer and member of a team called the Gentlemen of Philadelphia. They toured internationally in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Laird’s mother was the former Elizabeth Smith.
Laird Cregar was educated at Winchester College in England, spending his summers as a page boy and bit player with the Stratford-upon-Avon theatrical troupe. Upon completing his schooling, Cregar won a scholarship at California’s Pasadena Playhouse, supporting himself as a nightclub bouncer when funds ran out. So broke that at times he had to sleep in his car, Cregar forced Hollywood to pay attention to him by staging his own one-man show, in which he portrayed Oscar Wilde.
After a few minor film roles, Cregar was signed to a 20th Century-Fox contract; among his first major roles was the middle-aged Francis Chesney in Charley’s Aunt, the first of several showcases for the actor’s delightful comic flair. With his sinister portrayal of the psychopathic detective in I Wake Up Screaming, he followed that up with the successful screwball comedy Rings on Her Fingers playing a con artist opposite Gene Tierney. Cregar became one of filmdom’s top “heavies” ? both figuratively and literally. Seldom weighing less than 300 pounds throughout his adult life, Cregar became obsessed with his weight.
After top billing in The Lodger, who may or may not be Jack the Ripper, the increasingly sensitive Cregar was growing tired of being thought of as merely a hulking villain. ...from: https://walkoffame.com/laird-cregar/
(From here the story takes a dramatic and tragic turn)
For more information:
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0187284/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
There is a corner off Route 66, in Winslow, Arizona which has been memorialized with a statue of the late musician Glen Frey, in front of a Trompe-L’oeil image of a red, flat-bed Ford truck, containing a girl (my Lord) giving him the once over. How many songs can you name that have been so celebrated?
Take it Easy, written by neighbors Jackson Browne and Glen Frey, was the cut that launched the juggernaut that was The Eagles - America’s answer to The Beatles, in the shadow of the latter’s dissolution. The joyous, three part harmonies signaled the commercial ascendency of Laurel Canyon Country Rock - and provided a hopeful reset following the emotional bankruptcy of the late 60s.
When I took my boys on a road trip to see the Grand Canyon, we stayed overnight in Williams, Arizona, also on route 66. I knew that Williams was not Winslow, but close, and that put a spring in my accelerator as I made the daybreak drive into the park.
There is a great “Be here now” mantra in the line: “We may lose, or we may win, but we will never be here again - So, open up, I’m climbing in… Take it easy!” Viewed through that lens, every moment can be an opportunity.
William Wyler’s intimate epic, from 1946—about three soldiers returning from the Second World War to their families in a small Midwestern city—profoundly and sensitively balances the private demons of scarred veterans and the press of public policies that leave their mark on daily life. Al Stevenson (Fredric March), a prosperous banker and paterfamilias, resumes his warm domestic life with a jaundiced view of country-club presumptions and a hint of a drinking problem. Fred Derry (Dana Andrews), a high-ranking bombardier with recurring nightmares, returns to straitened circumstances and a troubled marriage—and falls in love with Al’s grown daughter, Peggy (Teresa Wright). The third veteran, Homer Parrish, is played by a non-actor, Harold Russell, who, like the character, lost his hands in military service. Though adept with his prostheses, Homer, feeling diminished and dependent, breaks his engagement to the girl next door (Cathy O’Donnell). From lending practices to postwar Red-baiting, liberalized education to the fear of nuclear war, Wyler, working with a script by Robert E. Sherwood, captures the sense of history being written on the fly, of momentous shifts in mind-sets and expectations. In the movie’s nearly three-hour span, the chrysalis of an old world seems to crack open and a fragile new one begins to emerge; a deep and tender romanticism arises from the exposed vulnerabilities.
- Richard Brody
A musical phenomenon capturing America’s fancy during that Camelot period, just before Kennedy’s assassination, HELLO MUDDAH, HELLO FADDAH, Allan Sherman’s parody of “The Dance of the Hours” ballet, from the opera La Giocanda was a world-wide smash. (It made it to #2 on the Billboard Top 100, won the Grammy for best comedy performance, inspired books, a sitcom, a musical, numerous commercials, and has been translated into a multitude of languages.
Sherman, born Allan Copelon (1924-1973) was a tragic clown who died young from a combination of alcoholism, obesity, and diabetes. His career was a roller coaster which careened from being a successful TV game show producer to ignominious unemployment, then back up to the heights of comedy success as a performer, before plummeting back down to earth and to his early death at the age of 48.
Anyone who has ever attended a sleep away camp (as I did at Camp Snow Hill) can relate to this hilarious litany of mayhem, as well might the mothers and dads who may have gotten a summer vacation from parenting (but, also some separation anxiety). And, anyone who has ever attempted to write song parodies (me again - my finest hour being when Lewis Black performed my ditty “Candid Cancer” )- will count Allan Sherman as their Buddha - (his most notable descendent being Weird Al Yankovic). Brilliantly subversive, irresistibly charming - Sherman was a comedic supernova.
I’m sure almost everyone who interviews you must ask about “Time Is on My Side.” But could you talk about why you gave up playing it for a while in the middle of your career?
"Well you know, after a while, when you sing something that you know you’ve recorded, and you did the first national version of it, and when you’re singing, somebody tells you: “Oh, you’re doing a Rolling Stones song,” I got tired of explaining that I did it before the Rolling Stones. After a while that gets to be old. And so I stopped doing it, because I got tired of explaining that. They didn’t do their homework, they made assumptions. And so at some point you get tired of repeating yourself. Even now, I don’t do it as much as I do others. I sing it, but a lot of times it’s requested before I think about doing it, because I have so many other songs I can do.
I have a large enough repertoire that by choice I can either do all of my own material or I can do a few cover songs that I like. And by taking requests, it makes it simpler, because then you are doing what your audience wants to hear. And I’ll put it this way: Most folks leave satisfied that they’ve heard their favorite song.
In fact, “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is” — I recorded that back in 1964. I was at a show on the East Coast somewhere, and somebody in the audience asked me to play “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is.” I said, “Wow, I haven’t heard that request in a long time.” I sang it for them, and then when I got through, I asked them: “What album did you get that from?” They said, “We didn’t get it off an album. We heard it on ‘Black Mirror.’” You never know where you’re going to get a request from, or where they heard the song. And so I prepare — I put as much of my own material in my iPad, lyrically, so in case someone asks for it, I’ll do my best to do it for them."
Is there one song that you consider nearest to your heart?
"The only one that I could say I’m closest to would be the one that got me my first big hit, which was: Wish Someone Would Care". It became No. 17 in the nation, and if it hadn’t been for the British Invasion, it might have gone a little higher in the charts. There were some personal things going on in my life and I wrote the song because of those things. So that would be the closest to me."
IT IS TIME TO WALK WITH THE ZOMBIES! '
WELCOME TO THE PORTAL NO ONE LEAVES ALIVE.
HALLOWEEN IS UPON US, AND WHAT BETTER WAY TO CELEBRATE THIS TERRIFYING TRADITION THAN A "DIG THIS" JOURNEY INTO THE THE NIGHT OF THE VAMPIRE.
YOU WILL BE TRANSPORTED AND EDUCATED WITH DELIGHTFUL DREAD AS WE VISIT THE TALE OF ROCK AND REAPER ICON ROKY ERICKSON, A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SPOOKY SPLENDOR OF HALLOWEEN AND THE MEMORY OF JOHN ZACHERLE, THE HEAD MASTER OF THE GHOUL SCHOOL OF OUR YOUTH.
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Ok, this is an ironic first for SUNNY SONGS: an emo number about death. WTF? I can’t really explain why, when I set about devising a list of songs that make me feel good, this one popped into my head. Maybe it’s the unflinching devotion expressed by composer Ben Gibbard. It’s calm, simple, stoic, resolute. “When your soul embarks I will follow you into the dark,” he proclaims. No questions, no hesitation. His love is eternal, and conquers the fear of unending night. We’ll hold hands, he assures his love.
I can remember when I first heard it, riding in the backseat of a car on a roadtrip. It wasn’t loud, and took me by surprise, gobsmacking me, and causing me to well up instantaneously. I wanted to know who that singer was, wondering who could have rendered this perfect piece. I had heard about the band from Bellingham, WA, with the unusual name - Death Cab For Cutie, but I had never actually heard them. The name derives, I discovered, from a song title written by the British Bonzo Dog Band humorists, Vivian Stanshall and Neil Innes. Things just got curiouser and curiouser.
In the lyric Ben tells us that he was taught in Catholic school that “Fear is the heart of love,” and he is clearly doing his utmost here to countermand that dogma. Recorded solo, on a single mic during a session break, I Will Follow You Into the Dark may have failed to chart on the Billboard Top 100, but it went double platinum, was nominated for a Grammy in 2007, and has been featured in many many tv shows and films, proving that, sometimes, quieter is better.
"Moby Grape Just Can't Catch a Break"https://www.npr.org/2007/12/21/17498799/moby-grape-just-cant-catch-a-break
Bob Crewe1930- 2014
Inducted Into The Songwriters Hall Of Fame In 1995.
**While songwriter/producer/recording star, Bob Crewe, is perhaps best remembered for the notable parade of hits penned with co-writer Bob Gaudio for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, his songwriting credits began considerably earlier.
In the early '50s, New Jersey-born Crewe first tasted success on the music charts with writing teammate Frank Slay with a batch of hits for a variety of artists. Among the best known were "Silhouettes" and "Daddy Cool" for The Rays; "Lah Dee Dah" and "Lucky Ladybug" for Billy and Lillie; and Freddy Cannon's "Tallahassee Lassie" and "Okefenokee."
In 1961, Crewe also blossomed as a recording artist himself, with a pair of solo albums on Warwick Records. Kicks*, featuring "The Whiffenpoof Song," and* Crazy in the Heart****, both produced by one of the more colorful producers of that time.
Following these successes as a solo recording act, Crewe joined forces with songwriter Bob Gaudio, and good fortune struck almost immediately for the pair with the smash hit, "Sherry," for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Thus began a years-long association with an uninterrupted string of chart successes including "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Rag Doll," "Ronnie," "Walk Like a Man," "Bye Bye Baby" and "Connie 0," as well as the monumental Frankie Valli hit, "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You."
Other Crewe and Gaudio successes include "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine," for The Walker Brothers and "Silence Is Golden" by The Tremeloes. Following this phase, Crewe moved out again on his own to form The Bob Crewe Generation ("Music to Watch Girls By"), utilizing studio musicians and original material for instrumental music collections. Bob Crewe later teamed with writer, Charles Fox****, in penning the soundtrack for Dino De Laurentis' film, "Barbarella."
During the mid-sixties, Bob Crewe turned discoverer, locating a band known as Billy Lee and The Rivieras, which he later re-named, Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels, a major success on the charts with such Crewe-arranged smashes as "Jenny Take a Ride," "Devil With the Blue Dress On" and "Sock It to Me Baby."
As the '60s were coming to a close, Crewe had also established his own recording firm, Crewe Records, which owned hits by Oliver and Lesley Gore, among others. Later, Crewe wrote and produced the song, "Eternity," which became an international hit for Vicki Carr. Following a short stay with Motown Records, when he produced what turned out to be Bobby Darin's final album, Crewe rejoined forces with Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli, and bought back from Motown the tape master for Valli's "My Eyes Adored You," a song co-written with Kenny Nolan, which became a huge new hit for Valli on Private Stock Records. The song "Lady Marmalade," another joint effort for Crewe and Nolan, went on to reach hit status and also helped re-establish Patti LaBelle as an artist of major stature.
Still later, Crewe and Gaudio teamed with another writer, Jerry Corbetta, in penning the hit song "You're Looking Like Love to Me," for Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson. Crewe also collaborated with Corbetta and the writer, Ellie Greenwich, in producing the original cast album for Greenwich's Broadway musical, "Leader of the Pack."
In addition to his music, Crewe also owned impressive credentials in the art world. He has designed numerous album covers and has been featured in several one-man gallery showings, including The Earl McGrath Gallery and Thomas Solomon's Garage in Los Angeles.**
All it takes is one good idea; one spark of Promethean fire to ignite a life-long, multi-generational success. For Ross Bagdasarian Sr., it was a sped up tape recording of a nonsense scat phrase: “Oo-ee-oo-ah-ah; Ting-tang Walla Walla Bing Bang…”
Taking inspiration from “Duel with the Witch Doctor”, a volume sitting on his bookshelf, Ross bought a tape recorder and set about creating a silly rockabilly tune, featuring a duet with himself. By overdubbing his voice singing slowly, recorded at 1/2 speed, and then speeding up the tape, he created a high pitched character that charmed the world.
The resulting novelty record pulled Liberty Records out of near bankruptcy, selling 1.4 million copies and landing at the pinnacle of the Top 100 and R&B charts. He used the same technique to create the world wide Alvin and the Chipmunks craze which he then parlayed into a number of big records and an animated tv series. After Ross’s untimely death in 1972, the franchise was shepherd by his son, Ross jr. into a raft of hit, live action features running all the way up to 2015. 57 years of popular commercial product from one zany idea. Not bad.
Jimi Hendrix-
"Electric Church/ Red House"
An u**nreleased Jam session featuring Noel Redding, Mitch Mitchell, Lee Michaels and the great Buddy Miles
This track was originally intended for release on an album titled "Best Of The Bootlegs".
This album was scheduled for release by Warner Brothers in 1994 but was shelved by producer Alan Douglas.
All tracks were early demos and studio jam recordings.*JIMI HENDRIX ON THE BIG SCREEN:*
Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church presents the legendary guitarist in full flight at the 1970 Atlanta Pop Festival before the largest US audience of his career. This critically acclaimed film combines color, 16mm multi-camera footage of Hendrix’s unforgettable July 4, 1970 concert in its original performance sequence together with a new documentary that traces his journey to the festival amidst the dark shadow of civil rights unrest, the unrelenting toll of the Vietnam War and a burgeoning festival culture that drew together young people across the country who were inspired by the Woodstock festival.
Marty (1955) is the poignant, simple character study of a lonely, unmarried, lovelorn middle-aged, 34 year old son who works as a Bronx butcher and still lives with his love-smothering mother. By film's end, he and another homely 29 year old Brooklyn schoolteacher and female wallflower are liberated - both are triumphant over their respective limitations.
The film's screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky transformed his own original teleplay into a successful major motion picture - and the modest film remains one of the best examples of the cinematization of a television play. (The 48-minute TV comedy-drama was originally presented on NBC-TV's "Philco-Goodyear Playhouse" series on May 24, 1953 as a 60-minute broadcast, with leads Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand, during a period now recognized as the "Golden Age of Television." It received zero nominations during the Emmys that year.) It was the only film based on a TV drama to ever win Best Picture.
As a feature film, it was one of the biggest 'sleepers' in Hollywood history, from the independent production company of Harold Hecht and actor Burt Lancaster (Hecht-Lancaster). A modest, black and white film in an era of wide-screen color epics, its critical acclaim and box-office success were phenomenal - its $340,000 production budget yielded over $5 million in gross proceeds. And it was the second Best Picture Oscar winner to also win the Golden Palm (Palme d'Or) at Cannes - The Lost Weekend (1945) was the first.
Marty was nominated for eight Academy Awards - and was awarded four - Best Picture!, Best Actor (character actor Ernest Borgnine in a role quite different from his menacing, sadistic villains or murderous 'heavies' in From Here to Eternity (1953) and Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)), Best Director (Delbert Mann for his debut film), and Best Screenplay (Paddy Chayefsky). It was also the shortest Best Picture winner at 91 minutes.
Like “On the Waterfront,” this film demonstrates that story, performance, and direction always count. Neither color nor new projection and sound techniques could make “Marty” any better than it is now. Although filmed on a modest budget (reportedly about $300,000), there is no evidence of any stinting in the production values, a factor the industry will note.
Despite the picture’s north Bronx locale and concern with an Italian-American family, the theme is universal and many viewers may experience a degree of identification. It’s a quiet, simple story. While lacking in general excitement, it’s sparked with sufficient comedy.
Basically, it’s the story of a boy and girl, both of whom consider themselves misfits in that they are unable to attract members of the opposite sex. The boy, sensitively played by Ernest Borgnine, is a friendly, mild-mannered guy in his thirties who feels he hasn’t the handsomeness or the necessary savoire faire to impress girls. He is constantly needled by his mother, with whom he lives, and the customers at the butcher store where he works, to get married.
The girl, beautifully played by Betsy Blair, is a plain schoolteacher whom everybody is always trying to fix up with dates. Pair come together at a boy-meets-girl dance where Miss Blair is ditched by her blind date. A blossoming romance brings both out of their shells as each is able to pour out pent-up emotions to the other.
Country Hall of Fame member Tom T. Hall's death at 85 in 2021 was by suicide, officials in his native Williamson County, Tennessee, have confirmed to reporters.
The cause of death was first reported Wednesday by the website "Saving Country Music" which followed up on multiple comments posted on a year-end In Memoriam piece and confirmed the cause of death with Williamson County’s medical examiner. Rolling Stone also confirmed the coroner’s determination of suicide with county officials.
The report obtained by Saving Country Music showed that Hall “had sustained an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, to the head, on the morning of 8/20/2021. A 911 call was placed at 1115 hours on 8/20/201. Williamson County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) and Williamson Medical Emergency Medical Services (WMC EMS) responded to the call. Paramedics confirmed death at approximately 1133 hours, due to obvious injuries.”
Port's Award Winner Tom T. Hall speaks onstage at the 5th Annual ACM Honors at Ryman Auditorium on Sept. 19, 2011, in Nashville, Tenn.Frederick Breedon IV / Getty Images file
Hall’s son, Dean Hall, also a musician, had announced his father’s passing without offering a cause of death. He subsequently deleted his social media accounts, the website reported, and did not respond to requests for comment.
After being one of the biggest country stars of the 1970s, and certainly one of the most revered for his artistry among country cognoscenti to the present day, Hall had long since retired from performing and recording. Performing only sporadically after the mid-1990s, he delivered his last performance in 2011, saying he preferred enjoying life on the farm with his wife, Dixie Hall, and thought newer generations should have their day.
He was elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2019, Hall was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Other honors ranged from becoming a Grand Ole Opry member in 1971 to receiving a tribute from BMI with its Icon award at the org’s annual Nashville awards dinner in 2017.
Hall, nicknamed “The Storyteller” for his unadorned yet incisive lyrics, composed hundreds of songs. As a songwriter, he was known for hits for others, like “Harper Valley P.T.A.,” recorded by Jeannie C. Riley in 1968, as well as his own unusually literary No. 1 country singles of the 1970s like “The Year Clayton Delaney Died” and “(Old Dogs, Children and) Watermelon Wine.” He was also famous for the prosaically titled “I Like Beer,” a top 10 hit in 1975. Among his best known songs were “I Love,” which spent two weeks at the top of the country chart in 1974 and crossed over to the top 40. Among some modern fans, he might be best recognized for the oft-covered “That’s How I Got to Memphis,” which has become an Americana standard.
Patterson Hood of the band Drive-By Truckers called Hall “the greatest storyteller songwriter of all time” upon hearing of his death. “A writer’s writer. There’s at least a dozen categories of song that he wrote arguably the best ever example of.”
Dixie Hall, who achieved her own fame as a songwriter and collaborator, died in 2015. Dean Hall, his son from a previous marriage, is Hall’s only child.
Laura Nyro wrote this song - (a tribute to torch singer Helen Merrill) - in 1966, but, it didn’t do much for her at the time. Three years later, when The Fifth Dimension recorded it, it shot to number 1. The radiant lead vocalist, Marilyn McCoo, sang it to her betrothed, Billy Davis Jr., on the various television variety shows of the day, and audiences lapped it up. Nyro, the oddball composer-prodigy from the Bronx, consistently channeled her soulful declarations to many other artists of the time - (Three Dog Night, Blood Sweat and Tears, Barbara Streisand) before being identified as the singular genius behind the magic.
My high school girlfriend Cindy was a 4’11’’ spitfire with an identical twin. Her dad, Hank, a long-distance truck driver with a provocative (to put it generously) sense of humor, enjoyed teasing us. He called me “Keppy” (the yiddish word for Head, because my hair was thinning). Whenever this song came on the radio, trumpeting the refrain: “Marry Me, Bill!” - and it was ubiquitous - Hank, and Cindy’s two older brothers, would give us shit mercilessly, - and I HATED IT. I hated the song and I hated them for pushing the uncomfortable question on us - because, despite the fact that Cindy hoped for the eventuality of matrimony, I didn’t, and that was painful for her.
Today this song sustains a shining memento for me - a reminder that I have enjoyed the gift of being loved by a soul who refused to give up on me. Fiercely loyal, uncompromising in her passions,- Cindy, my first love.
***"The Cordell Jackson Story" - In Her Own Words And Music
In Honor And In Loving Memory Of Cordell Jackson -
The Queen Of Rock and Roll And The Memphis Guitar
July 15, 1923 – October 14, 2004
1) A Queen's Tale- A CBS News Segment - 1985
2) Cordell Jackson and The A Bones Live- Featuring Miriam Linna and Billy Miller- 1984
3) Rock and Roll Christmas- 1956
4) The Split - 1983
5 ) At Home Again
( In The Memories Of My Mind ) - 1983 *Born 100 years ago, Cordell Jackson was an American guitarist thought to be the first woman to produce, engineer, arrange and promote music on her own rock and roll music label.
Jackson founded the Moon Records label in Memphis in 1956. Unable to break into the Sun label's stable of male artists, Cordell received the advice and assistance of RCA Records' Chet Atkins in forming this new label to release her music. She began releasing and promoting on the label singles she recorded in her home studio, serving as engineer, producer and arranger. The artists recorded included her and a small family of early rock and roll, rockabilly, and country music performers she recruited from several Southern states.
Her Moon Records label was the oldest continuously operating label in Memphis at the time of her death in 2004. Her "50's Rock on the Moon of Memphis", a compilation album of the label's 1950's singles, was released on vinyl in the early 1980's and was later sold on compact disc until her death in 2004.
Cordell Jackson died in Memphis in 2004 aged 81, leaving behind the legacy of a very special Rock and Roll pioneer and human being.
"When I was in prison, I knew what it was like to have freedom taken away,” Merle said. “Freedom is everything. During Vietnam there were all kinds of protests. Here were these [servicemen] going over there and dying for a cause – we don’t even know what it was really all about. And here are these young kids, that were free, bitching about it. There’s something wrong with that and with [disparaging] those poor guys. We were in a wonderful time in America and music was in a wonderful place. America was at its peak and what the hell did these kids have to complain about?
These soldiers were giving up their freedom and lives to make sure others could stay free. I wrote the song to support those soldiers.”Merle Haggard Easily misunderstood, “Okie From Muskogee” was neither redneck nor reactionary, but it did polarise opinion about an artist who, as he argued, “didn’t put the record out to reprimand or anything.
“It’s just a song,” Haggard continued. “I wrote something that I thought said something a lot of people would like to say.” Later, he told Quarter Notes magazine: “‘Okie’ made me appear to be a person who was a lot more narrow-minded, possibly, than I really am.”
Released on September 29, 1969, “Okie From Muskogee” entered Billboard’s country chart on October 11, and by the November 15 listing, it was starting a month at No.1. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it didn’t make a full pop crossover, stalling at No.41. But its impact was so immediate that the band travelled to Muskogee’s Civic Centre to record a live album in that very week of its chart debut. After a set featuring many of Haggard’s best-loved songs to that point, he finished with the song named after the town.
“The main message is about pride,” Haggard said of the track in 2012, speaking to The Music Hall magazine. “My father was an Okie from Muskogee when ‘Okie’ was considered a four-letter word. I think it became an anthem for people who were not being noticed or recognized in any way – the silent majority. It brought them pride. And today the song still speaks to conditions going on in this world.”
THE ROCK AND ROLL SCORECARD:
LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Link-Wray
“Rumble” is the first song to implement the innovative use of power chords with distortion. The unprecedented fuzz guitar tone and undulating tremolo, combined with that controversial title, is the stuff of rock and roll legend. Even though he is the Founding Father of the rock guitar sound, and is among “Rolling Stone” Magazine's List of 100 Most Important Guitarists, Link Wray, as well as his instantly recognizable trailblazing contribution to modern rock and beyond, is not always recognized by name. That doesn't change the fact, though, that both have continued to inspire countless would-be superstars of various musical genres for over 60 years.
Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend, and Jeff Beck, to name a few, have called Link Wray a definitive influence.
Slash said, “'Rumble' was the rawest form of guitar that all of the guys that I listened to played. It's where it all started.”
Enough Said.
1966 was a banner year for The Ford Mustang, Wilson Pickett, and me. I REALLY coveted that car; it was the creme de la creme of style. Sure, I was only 13, and didn’t have my driver’s license, but that car was a teen’s wet dream. I was just starting to be interested in girls, too. Kathy Washkevich lived across the development, and I would sneak out of the house after my parents went to bed and throw pebbles at her second floor window, (which was right above the ledge of the chimney.) She’d crawl out, and ease down on to my shoulders and we’d spend the night in each other’s arms.
My ardor didn’t just begin and end with the females - there was my passion for music, too, and The Wicked Pickett stood front and center on my list of artists that I yearned to emulate. He had that raw, yet smooth growl which emanated from deep in the guts - and, I shredded my vocal chords trying to match it. I was the lead singer of my middle school band, The Full House, and Mustang Sally and Midnight Hour were two of our barn burners. When I would cue the audience of YMCA kids to shout with me: “Ride, Sally, Ride…” the surge of power that I felt was cataclysmic, the aftershocks of which have resonated throughout my life.
Full disclosure: The Young Rascal’s was the first version I heard - Felix Cavaliere was my blue-eyed soul gateway drug - and he reports that they recorded it before Pickett, but Wilson’s is the definitive recording, and it stands, solidly thrilling, to this day.
Even in a city known for its eccentrics, Ernie K-Doe was in another dimension. The New Orleans musician always knew — and said, loudly — that he was special. And for one week in a life of wild ups and downs, he managed to pierce the national consciousness with a chart-topping hit: 1961's "Mother in Law."
The man born Ernest Kador sometimes claimed he wrote "Mother-in-Law" — but he claimed a lot of things. In fact, Allen Toussaint composed and produced the song, and, after a few unsatisfactory takes, literally threw it away. It was rescued from oblivion by one of the backup singers at the session.
"He thought it was just a delightful song, and he took it out of the trash can when I took a short break, and went over to K-Doe and said, 'Look, try this again, man,'" Toussaint says. "K-Doe did just that, and I'm so glad he did."
The song was dismissed as a danceable novelty. But Ben Sandmel, author of the new biography Ernie K-Doe: The R&B Emperor of New Orleans, says it was deeper than that: angry, and smoldering.
"In 1961, to say that your mother-in-law was 'sent from down below' was kind of pushing the standards, I guess, of what was considered to be acceptable," Sandmel says. "In a time of meaningless bubblegum lyrics, this one had an edge to it. And it was real."
It was one of four songs that Toussaint and K-Doe recorded in one three-hour session.
"We certainly had a good time together. I wrote so much for him, and I was highly inspired," Toussaint says. "He was [good at] promoting himself. He would get out there; he wouldn't watch the grass grow."
When Toussaint went into the army, K-Doe continued recording, without much success. The two got back together in the early 1970s, but none of the songs they produced became hits outside of New Orleans. Within their hometown, however, many of their tunes have become standards. Guitarist Ernie Vincent, who has played them in his own band and others, got to know K-Doe in the '70s.
"He was strictly positive about his self-ability," Vincent says. "He always said, 'I'm cocky, but I'm good.' And believe me, he was good."
But he also had some tough times. The British invasion's version of R&B became more popular than homegrown music, and by the mid-'70s, K-Doe had pretty much dropped out. He drank a lot, and many people remember seeing the once-dapper musician living on the streets.
K-Doe made a comeback in the 1980s on the New Orleans station WWOZ. David Freedman is now the station's general manager.
"You never knew what the next thing was going to be out of this guy's mouth. It was like he was in a trance state," Freedman says. "You had to kind of enter into it, and then as you began to enter into that crazy universe, you'd just kind of surrender to it [and] it all made sense."
K-Doe's run on the radio ended in the late '80s, though cassette tapes of his shows continued to be collected and played around the world. In the early 1990s, his life took another turn when an old friend, Antoinette Dorsey Fox, took him in. They got married, and she created a new look for her husband, replete with capes, shiny suits and feathered hats. And she created the Mother-in-Law Lounge, where K-Doe would perform once again.
"I forget how many people it holds, but it used to be wall-to-wall — it was packed," says Eva Perry, who sang backup for K-Doe during that era. "He had people coming from everywhere to hear him, since he was back his second time around."
Ernie K-Doe died in 2001 at the age of 65, but he didn't exactly leave: His wife commissioned a likeness, fashioned from a department-store mannequin, that she installed in the loung
The sweltering summer of 2023 is almost over, and all over the world folks are digging themselves out from under the epic disasters of the past months. Listening to this psych-soul ditty from 1969, one may be momentarily transported back to a cozier time of blotter acid and beach coolers.
The carefree tone of the record, however, belies the fact that at the same time that he was jamming on this anthem, an ever-increasingly paranoid Sly Stone was starting to hole himself up in his mansion with bowls of cocaine and a drum machine - from which he would emerge 2 years later with THERE’S A RIOT GOIN’ ON - transmitting a wholly different vibe. And, also, let’s not forget the murderous Altamont concert of 1969 (documented in the Rolling Stone’s film GIMME SHELTER), along with the concurrent killings carried out by the Manson kids - and you realize that everywhere you looked there were emblems of a time when chaos reigned, symbolizing an era of psychic climate change in America.
Well, nostalgic or not, music has powers to soothe and direct our minds to kinder, gentler regions. It gives us a moment to meditate and reflect - a time out before we have to brave the cacophony once again. Some say “nostalgia” is defined as a sickness - homesickness. We’re urged to be forward looking and adapt to whatever the future holds. But, it’s ok to take a moment to remember and savor the joys of summers past. Just don’t forget to wear your sunblock.
It can be assumed that Hendrix wrote the music for "Angel" as early as 1967, as it first appeared in the form of a demo with the title "Little Wing".
The song became "Angel" not long after this, when the first recording under the name "Sweet Angel" took place just one month later.
The lyrics for "Angel" were written early in 1968, being completed on January 14.
They were somewhat different from those used on the final version, though similar to the "Sweet Angel" recording of 1967. The title written by Hendrix for the lyrics was "My Angel Catherina (Return of Little Wing)", suggesting that the metaphorical female subject of "Little Wing" is the same as that of "Angel".
**The next version of "Angel" was recorded by Hendrix alone, on guitar and vocals, in a hotel room in early February, 1968.
After apparently leaving the song for over two years, Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell and Billy Cox recorded the final version of "Angel" on July 23, 1970.*[* A few days after the session, Hendrix recited the song as a piece of poetry to friend Freddie Mae Gautier during a conversation about his mother Lucille. In an interview for Electric Gypsy*.*Jimi imparted the inspiration behind the song to Mae by detailing a dream he had about Lucille:
"My mother was bein' carried away on this camel. And there was a big caravan, she's sayin', 'Well, I'm gonna see you now,' and she's goin' under these trees, you could see the shade, you know, the leaf patterns across her face when she was goin' under ... She's sayin', 'Well, I won't be seein' you too much anymore, you know. I'll see you.' And then about two years after that she dies, you know. And I said, 'Yeah, but where are you goin'?' and all that, you know. I remember that. I will always remember that. I never did forget ... there are some dreams you never forget."
**Mae described "Angel" as "very deep.
"It was what was in him" she stated.
"Angel" was mixed for Hendrix's First Rays of the New Rising Sun project over August 20 and 21, 1970 which included the overdubbing of a second guitar part. When Hendrix passed away, Mae took it upon herself to read the poem — as well as Hendrix's liner notes to the Buddy Miles Express album Expressway to Your Skull — at the musician's funeral on October 1, 1970.**
SIX MINUTES FROM THE 1976 FILM "NETWORK" STILL RELEVANT TODAY-
James Hohmann
Washington Post
Ned Beatty, who died June 13, 2021 at the age of 83, appeared in more than 160 movies and television shows, mostly in minor but memorable roles — none more enduring than his bravura performance in “Network,” the 1976 film that earned him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor.
Beatty was hired a week before filming, his scene was shot in a day and he appears on screen for just six minutes near the end of a two-hour movie. But his boardroom rant as Arthur Jensen, the chairman of an over-leveraged conglomerate that owns a television network, captured the zeitgeist not only of that time, but of ours as well, laying bare the undercurrents that pit nationalism and populism against globalism and corporatism.
**Beatty as Jensen rages at his network’s anchorman, Howard Beale, for thwarting an acquisition by the Saudis. More than four decades later, it remains one of the greatest and most resonant monologues in the history of American cinema.
“You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, and you will atone,” Jensen roars at Beale, the mentally ill, mad-as-hell TV host played by Peter Finch**. “You get up on your little 21-inch screen and howl about America and democracy. . . . We no longer live in a world of nations and ideologies, Mr. Beale. . . . The world is a business.”
The movie was intended as a cultural critique amid the fallout from Watergate, Vietnam and stagflation**. With its dark satire of TV culture, “Network” is mostly remembered as an indictment of the corrupting temptations of chasing ratings. The film presciently anticipates the rise of reality TV, as well as cable news programming that focuses more on entertaining — and agitating — than informing. Watching it 45 years later, the movie feels like a harbinger of two men who once hosted their own shows — Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump — becoming president.
Beatty’s six-minute turn in “Network” remains his masterpiece, and its message is just as sharp now, if not sharper. “The nations of the world today,” he rails, are IBM, ITT, AT&T, DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide and Exxon. If that corporate roster sounds a bit dated, it is difficult to consider its 21st-century version, studded with social media and Internet giants such as Facebook, Google and Amazon, and conclude that Beatty’s message is any less relevant.**
“The Pompatus of Love,” a nonsense phrase that Steve Miller cribbed from “The Letter,” a doo-wop song by the Medallions from 1958, entered the popular culture lexicon in 1973, when this Apostle of guitar consistency applied it to spread his Joker gospel, and ascended to Rock n Roll Godhead. It’s been used for the title of a movie starring Jon Cryer, and is included in the writings of Dave Barry, Steven King, and Michael Ondaatje - even though its meaning remains obscure.
We all sang along knowingly with: “I’m a Joker, I’m a smoker, I’m a midnight toker…”, and when the leering slide goes “Woop Woo,” we all played air guitar right along. It’s a rudimentary 1-4-5 chord sequence like thousands of other songs, and it’s filled with references from other tunes, such as Ahmet Ertegun’s Lovey Dovey, and Miller’s own Space Cowboy and Gangster of Love, but no matter - The Joker is original gold and unforgettable.
The guy is ornery, and has a right to be. I think Miller, a blues man since his teens, is underrated because of all the pop records he sold. I saw him twice - 50 years apart - and he’s still as rock solid on his axe and voice as he was back then - a master at his craft. And, although he was inducted into the Rock n Roll hall, they only gave him one ticket to attend, and he rightfully blasted the institution to the press. Respect must be paid to The Joker.
AN UNFILTERED GLIMPSE INTO A GENUINE PRODIGY OF MUSICAL ND LYRICAL IMAGINATION.
THIS DEMO CONTAINS PAUSES AS HENDRIX INVENTS THE SONG AS HE PERFORMS AND RECORDS IT ON HIS HOME TEAC REEL TO REEL RECORDER.
- A merman is a male version of a mermaid. In this song, Hendrix sings about how he wants to escape the war-torn world and all the horrible things going on (The Vietnam War for instance) and be reborn as a merman using a machine.
- He decides to leave "the out of style" to their destructive ways and live underwater.
- This song isn't simply anti-war,
- Hendrix shows his disgust with the whole world we have built and how all human progress has been halted by the murderous gravity of war and the politics of America we were, and continue to be, victimized by.
- He decides to evolve and escape from the others.
- FINAL LYRICS-
- "Hurray I awake from yesterday
Alive but the war is here to stay
So my love catherina and me
Decide to take our last walk thru the noise to the sea
Not to die but to be reborn
Away from the lands so battred and torn
Forever forever
Oh say can you see it's really such A mess
Every inch of earth is A fighting nest
Giant pencil and lipstick-Tube shaped things
Continue to rain and cause screamin' pain
And the arctic stains from silver blue to bloody red
As our feet find the sand
And the sea is straight ahad
Straight up ahead
Well it's too bad that our friends can't be with us today
Well it's too bad
The machine that we built
Would never save us that's what they say
That's why they ain't comin' with us today
And they also said it's impossible
For A man to live and breathe undrerwater
Forever was A main complaint
Yeah and they also threw this in my face they said
Anyway you know good and well
It would be beyond the will of god
And the grace of the king
Grace of the king
Yeah
Ooo
So my darling and I make love in the sand
To salute the last moment ever on dry land
Our machine it has done its work played its part well
Without A scratch on our body when we bid it farewell
Starfish and giant foams greet us with A smile
Before our heads go under we take our last look at the killing noise
Of the out of style
The out of style out of style oh yeah
Oooo
So down and down and down and down we go
Hurry my darlin' we mustn't be late
For the show
Neptune champion games to an aqua world is so my dear
Right this way smiles A mermaid
I can hear atlantis full of cheer
Atlantis full of cheer
I can hear atlantis full of cheer
Oh yeah"
"RUNNING FROM A SIMPLE TWIST OF FATE"
If you are unfamiliar with his 63 year body of work then you may find this statement perplexing.
A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without Ernest “ Chubby Checker” Evans is not a legitimate representative of the genuine Rock and Rhythm and Blues culture it claims to embrace. Period.
After "The Twist" became a worldwide phenomenon, solely due to the soulful dynamic Mr. Checker introduced, he attempted to eclipse the image that defined him.
Recordings such as 1982's "Running", the 2008 treasure "Knock Down The Walls" and the 2013 vocal majesty of "Changes" tell a decades long tale of hard, eclectic work exposing a one of a kind vocal style seemingly buried and abandoned by fans of Popular music.
At 81 years of age, this generous artist deserves a standard of recognition reserved for icons.
He's still running, twisting and turning down the backstreets of greatness.
Long Live Chubby Checker.
Squeeze was unlike any other band, though quintessentially English. They appeared in that “Post-Punk” “Power-Pop” era of the early 80s, and definitely shared some sinister lyrical themes with such contrarian contemporaries as Elvis Costello, but their tunes were always delivered in such a quirkily upbeat style that any ill intent was mitigated. Also, the themes were just obscure enough, so that I never was really sure what I was singing along with.
Pulling Mussels is one of those infectious pop enigmas, and, even though I never knew exactly what it was saying, (William Tell? Maid Marian?) its jaunty images of a seaside holiday resort aligned so endearingly with my memories of family outings in Atlantic City, NJ: (Lobster at Hackney’s, taffy, the carnival atmosphere of the boardwalk, the brackish sparkle of the Atlantic Ocean….), that I embraced its charms immediately and wholeheartedly.
I read on the internet that the term “Pulling Mussels” refers to sexual encounters. Another blogging pundit said it’s about masturbation. Perhaps. But to the 10 year old me in the lobster bib, getting ready to crack open a crustacean’s claw, it’s an incantation, conjuring up a world of pre-pubescent wonderment.
What is it about some songs that make them stick in your head like epoxy? This one isn’t even really a song, it’s just a riff (I guess in this it shares that distinction with an earlier SUNNY SONGS episode, Archie Bell’s “Tighten Up”), and, it’s also got that spoken shout out: “Hey Leroy! Your mama… she callin’ you, man!” Then the cackling laughter, and the bursting into a driving, urgent Latin Soul chant “Go to your mama”, (led by a skittering, syncopated cowbell). It’s just infectious wonderfulness, which culminates in Jimmy’s signature sax, bringing us on home as the record fades out.
As kids, we would tease each other with the “Leroy” line, and have a fine time, running across streets and yards, madly dashing after each other: “Hey, Leroy! Your mama… She MAD, man!” 56 years later, while compiling a list of songs that make me feel instantly good, this one came scampering back, unbidden, from deep down the recesses of my befuddled brain to make the roster.
Jimmy Castor started off his career in the doo-wop group, FRANKIE LYMON AND THE TEENAGERS. The difference was that Jimmy was not simply a harmonizer, he was a writer, a self-generating machine of catchy content, so, inevitably, he stepped up to the front of his own outfit, The Jimmy Castor Bunch, and released a raft of memorable material to the world - perhaps most notably “Troglodyte”, a national Funk hit in the 70s, making it to number 6 in the charts. You might remember its chant: “Gotta Get a Woman, Gotta Get a woman…”
I don’t know what it is about this record, but could it be - (and, this might be a stretch) - that there is a little bit of “Leroy” in all of us: we all have mothers, and we all go through that period when were pushing away, but still a bit tied to the apron strings? Well… no need to overthink it. It’s just a riff, after all.
**THE BILLY STEWART DISCOGRAPHY
Singles:**
- Chess 1625: "Billy's Blues" / "Billy's Blues"
- Argo 5256: "Billy's Blues" / "Billy's Blues"
- Okeh 4-7095: "Baby, You're My Only Love" / "Billy's Heartache" (1957 with Bo Diddley, backed by The "Marquees")
- Chess 1820: "Reap What You Sow" / "Fat Boy" (1962) – No. 18 R&B, No. 79 pop
- Chess 1835: "True Fine Lovin'" / "Wedding Bells" (1962)
- Chess 1852: "Scramble" / "Oh My, What Can the Matter Be" (1963)
- Chess 1868: "Strange Feeling" / "Sugar and Spice" (1963) – No. 25 R&B, No. 70 pop
- Chess 1888: "A Fat Boy Can Cry" / "Count Me Out" (1964)
- Chess 1905: "Tell It Like It Is" / "My Sweet Senorita" (1964)
- Chess 1922: "I Do Love You" / "Keep Loving" (1965) – No. 6 R&B, No. 26 pop
- Chess 1932: "Sitting in the Park" / "Once Again" (1965) – No. 4 R&B, No. 24 pop
- Chess 1941: "How Nice It Is" / "No Girl" (1965)
- Chess 1948: "Because I Love You" / "Mountain of Love" (1965)
- Chess 1960: "Love Me" / "Why Am I Lonely" (1966) – No. 38 R&B
- Chess 1966: "Summertime" / "To Love, to Love" (1966) – No. 7 R&B, #10 pop
- Chess 1978: "Secret Love" / "Look Back and Smile" (1967) – No. 11 R&B, No. 29 pop
- Chess 1991: "Every Day I Have the Blues" / "Ol' Man River" (1967) – No. 41 R&B, No. 79 pop
- Chess 2002: "Cross My Heart" / "Why (Do I Love You So)?" (1968) – No. 34 R&B, No. 86 pop / No. 49 R&B
- Chess 2053: "Tell Me the Truth" / "What Have I Done?" (1968) – No. 48 R&B
- Chess 2063: "I'm In Love" / "Crazy 'Bout You, Baby" (1969)
- Chess 2080: "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" / "We'll Always Be Together" (1969)
Albums:
- Chess 1496: I Do Love You (1965) (Billboard No. 97)
- Chess 1499: Unbelievable (1966) (Billboard No. 138)
- Chess 1513: Billy Stewart Teaches Old Standards New Tricks (1967)
- Chess 1540: Cross My Heart (1969)
- Chess 1547: Remembered (1970)
- Sugar Hill/Chess CH-8401: The Greatest Sides (1982)
1988 was an astounding year: Hope was in the air - I was about to get married, Reagan was departing, and a supergroup was coalescing in Malibu. In ’87 Tom Petty had backed up Bob Dylan on tour, Roy Orbison was being celebrated on national TV in “Black and White”; Jeff Lynne had produced George Harrison’s biggest comeback in a decade, and these 5 men decided to hang, jam, and release their good vibes to the world.
The Traveling Wilburys album was a surprise to say the least. Anyone of them could’ve filled a stadium by themselves, but together? How could such a collaboration be real, and where were the egos gonna hide? Jeff Lynne has spent his life making the impossible happen, that’s how. And, the fun these men were having was palpable.
As Mo Ostin remarked, “George’s humility and good nature” suffused the whole enterprise. And, in End of the Line, when they sing “It’s alright… even if the sun don’t shine. It’s alright.. we’re going to the end of the line,” I get chills. 3 out of the 5 are gone now. Indeed, they took it to the end of the line. And, even though times are darker now, and 1988 feels like forever ago, When I hear that soothing message of camaraderie, I feel a lot better about what’s ahead.
There is something so beautifully rendered in this piece of heartbreak I have always identified with.
Written by husband and wife Dave Ellingson and Kim Carnes and released in March 1980, it was the first single from Rogers’ album Gideon**.
It's a tough three plus minutes to travel for some because the poetry informs with an unbearable truth for those paying rapt attention.
When Kim cries "Put Out The Light" and Kenny counters with his plea of"Just Hold On", attaching their dramatic authenticity to the words, I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes.
A profound prayer from two dreamers who could never have imagined the twist of consequence dedication and attachment can bring.
I'm a sucker for songs which dispense a healthy dose of yearning and struggle.
And when two gifted voices collide within a symphonic world of intense devotion real humans share , I'm Gone, Gone, Gone Like A Cool Breeze.
I imagine that's why "He Stopped Loving Her Today" has been named in several surveys as the greatest country song of all time. It was released in April 1980, only a month after "Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer".
That Bobby Braddock / Curly Putman composed opera made 1980 quite A Good Year For The Roses.
"Don’t fall in love with a dreamer
‘Cause he’ll always take you in
Just when you think you’ve really changed him
He’ll leave you again
Don’t fall in love with a dreamer
‘Cause he’ll break you every time
Oh, put out the light, just hold on
Before we say goodbye".
Damn Straight.
-Rich Buckland**
SUNLIGHT by The Youngbloods (RCA, 1969)
I’m a romantic; I admit it. I believe in true love, and the moments of ecstatic togetherness that enable one to transcend all the struggles and grief of life. And, this song reanimates this awakening each time I hear it: by the rolling chords off the nylon string guitar, eliciting the feeling of a fresh breeze of possibility; Jesse Colin Young’s falsetto voice (one of nature’s finest) projecting such hopeful innocence; and, the lyrics, which tenderly describe scenes of eternal bliss.
I loved Jesse and The Youngbloods from the first time I put down the needle on Grizzly Bear (the first cut on the debut album). It was a bonus disc from the Columbia Record Club, and since that moment, the relationship with Jesse, Banana, and the boys, during the RCA years, was a meaningful one for me. After they went to Warners, and subsequently split up, the love affair was over.
But, the remarkable Elephant Mountain, the last collection from RCA, produced by a young Charlie Daniels, delivered this song, along with Darkness, Darkness - in a collage of Sunlight and Shadow. Jesse said that this was the first song he wrote after moving to California, and I understand it. As a New Yorker relocating to the Golden State, I too was struck by the quality of the light which casts a spell that makes one unable to sense the passage of time, and the seasons. Years flew by, the mirror mocks me, but the romantic in me remains ever innocent.
The 60s was a fun and a unique experience. You had to be there to understand. Just talk to any baby boomer who was an adolescent during the 60s and they will tell you how fun and how fortunate they were to grow up in the 1960s. School dances and the dance crazes during that period were something else. I couldn't even begin to write about or even talk about what dances are popular today. I guess I possess a generation gap. I am lost in the 60s and 70s.
The first dance craze I remember was "The Stroll." Of course it came out in the 50s but its popularity was still present in the 60s. You could stroll to almost any slow song. The Diamonds made the song famous in January 1958 and is still played today at many parties and weddings. It was close to being the first line dance. Girls on one side and boys on the other and the line moved up as each couple would meet one at a time in the center at the beginning of the line and stroll to the music down the line between the others and take their place at the end of the line.
The Twist was a rock and roll dance popular in the early 1960s named after the song that originated it, The Twist. It was the first major international rock and roll dance style in which the couples did not have to touch each other while dancing. The dance was first popularized by Chubby Checker in 1960 with a hit cover of the 1959 minor hit "The Twist" written by Hank Ballard. Checker's single became a smash hit, reaching #1 on the US charts. The song set a record, being the only single to reach #1 in two different chart runs (as it reached #1 in 1960, and then resurfaced, reaching #1 again in 1962). This has never happened again in rock history. Faced with explaining to the youthful audience how to do the dance, a member of Checker's entourage came up with the following description:"It's like putting out a cigarette with both feet, and wiping your bottom with a towel, to the beat of the music."
In 1961, at the height of the Twist craze, patrons at New York's hot Peppermint Lounge on West 45th Street were twisting to the music of the house band, a local group from Jersey, Joey Dee and The Starliters. Their house song, "Peppermint Twist (Part 1)," became the number one song in the United States for three weeks in January 1962. We even had a Peppermint Lounge in Circleville, Ohio. Of course it wasn't as famous as the one in New York. The lounge closed after a short period of time.
The Mashed Potato is a dance move which was a popular dance craze of 1962. It was danced to songs such as Dee Dee Sharp's Mashed Potato Time. Also referred to as "mash potato" or "mashed potatoes", the move vaguely resembles that of the twist, by Sharp's fellow Philadelphian, Chubby Checker.
The dance begins by stepping backward with one foot with that heel tilted inward. The foot is positioned slightly behind the other (stationary) foot. With the weight on the ball of the starting foot, the heel is then swiveled outward. The same process is repeated with the other foot: step back and behind with heel inward, pivot heel out, and so on. The pattern is continued for as many repetitions as desired. The step may be incorporated in various dances either as a separate routine or as a styling of standard steps.
James Brown had two Mashed Potato-related chart hits, "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes" (1960; released under a pseudonym and "Mashed Potatoes U.S.A." in 1962. Brown also featured the dance prominently in his live performances during the 50s and 60s. The dance was also referred to in Connie Francis' 1962 hit "V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N" ("...we'll Mashed Potato to a jukebox tune..."), "Do You Love Me" by The Contours, "Harry the Harry Ape" a 1963 Top-20 pop and R&B novelty hit by Ray Stevens, and "Land of 1000 Dances", a song made popular by Wilson Pickett.
The Monster Mash came out around the same time that the song "The mashed potatoes" was popular ... and it was a vari
Ray Benson is a national treasure, whose outfit, Asleep at the Wheel, has been spreading the Texas swing gospel for a long damn time. The album from which this recording derives was my gateway drug into a giddy universe of intoxicating joy. It came out in 1993, and before that time the name of Bob Wills had reverberated around the corridors of my memory, but with this collection of loving renditions of some of his classic hits performed by a line up of Country music’s finest practitioners (Marty Stuart, Vince Gill, Lyle Lovett, George Strait, Garth Brooks, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton…the list goes on, including a surprise appearance by Huey Lewis) the barn had been burned down for good.
I could have chosen any of the cuts, but “Big Ball’s in Cowtown” is my choice because it makes me smile every time I hear it, starting with the title. I’m not a cowboy (not even an Urban one) and I don’t dance, but what the hell. I can picture the whole town gettin’ dressed up, coming down to the dance hall ready to celebrate life to the outer reaches, and I want to be right there with ‘em.
Bob Wills formulated the recipe for a magic potion, mixing country with Jazz, and the world owes him a debt of thanks. Ray Benson has dedicated his life to it, and I’m grateful.
This essay is one in a series celebrating deserving artists or albums not included on NPR Music's list of 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women.
Nancy Sinatra, the force who brought "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" to life, was never meant to sing the song at all. The late Lee Hazlewood, a songwriter and producer for the likes of Duane Eddy, had written the single and intended to sing it himself. But once Sinatra heard it, she immediately had a better idea. "He said, 'It's not really a girl's song. I sing it myself onstage.' I told him that coming from a guy it was harsh and abusive, but was perfect for a little girl to sing," Sinatra told Los Angeles Magazine last year. The song soared to the top of the Billboard pop charts, scored Sinatra two Grammy nominations and has been covered dozens of times by the likes of Loretta Lynn and a baby-faced Nick Cave.
The 1966 hit became an anthem for women who refused to be walked all over, and who threatened to do the very same if crossed. It also proved that Sinatra and Hazlewood collaborations were pure magic, a fact writ large on their first collaborative album, 1968's Nancy & Lee. Composed of covers and Hazlewood-penned tunes, Nancy & Lee is a linchpin of horn-driven, off-kilter, sing-speak '60s pop. While Hazlewood's lysergic jilted cowboy baritone purrs throughout the album, and Billy Strange, of the famed Wrecking Crew, lends a hand arranging and composing the songs here, Sinatra's crystalline pipes, made all the more wonderful because of her expressive singing style, make it glisten.
The way Sinatra so nonchalantly sings "go ahead, see if I care" on the album's Johnny and June Carter Cash cover "Jackson", you can almost see her shrugging. On the twinkling closing track "I've Been Down So Long (It Looks Like Up To Me)," Sinatra admits: "Well I pushed him off the ladder of success," giggling; Hazlewood chimes in and says: "That's true!" (The vinyl version of the album features Sinatra and Hazlewood in a Q&A, in which they're asked: "Does 'Lady Bird' contain political overtones?" The two reply: "The only overtones 'Lady Bird' contains are the high notes Lee misses and Nancy laughs at").
What stuns about Nancy & Lee, though, is how Sinatra and Hazlewood masterfully marry sunshiny orchestral elements with lyrics that dig at something darker about the human condition, ranging from fleeting lovers and feeling so devastatingly lonesome that another romance seems outside the realm of possibility. On the swelling "Sundown, Sundown," Hazelwood growls: "There's no one in this world for me / There's never gonna be." Then Sinatra comes in, sweeping Strange's orchestral arrangements — and listeners — off their feet as she croons: "Sundown / I miss you, sundown / I need you sundown / Come on, come on, come on, come on back to me."
Love is always just out of reach on Nancy & Lee; no one is anyone's baby. It's a sweet, elusive dream thing that lives on only in song. Loving feelings are lost, and in "Summer Wine," characters wake up with their pockets empty, head swelled and with only a fading memory to remind them of the one who got away. The album's core is the
The Agony, Inspiration and Exultation Of Charles Allan Rich -
December 14, 1932 – July 25, 1995.
Never Forget To Remember Such Brilliance.
Enough Said.
Listen In Friends.
When people think of Joe South, they generally think first of Games People Play, one of the most successful protest-related songs of the late 1960s, with its distinctive electric sitar accompaniment, played by the singer and composer himself, and a bitingly prescient lyric directed at pseudo-hippy types who "while away the hours / In their ivory towers / Till they're covered up with flowers / In the back of a black limousine."
South, who has died aged 72 of heart failure, won a Grammy for that million-seller and went on to write many other fine songs, including Walk a Mile in My Shoes, Down in the Boondocks, Hush and (I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden.
A member, like Eddie Hinton, Dan Penn and Troy Seals, of a generation of US southern white boys who grew up listening to rhythm and blues, South was a fine guitarist who became a popular session man, performing on a series of important records, starting with Sheila, a hit in 1962 for Tommy Roe, a fellow native of Atlanta, Georgia. In 1966 he played bass guitar on much of Bob Dylan's album Blonde on Blonde, and the following year he created the shivering, menacing bottom-string guitar licks that opened and underpinned Aretha Franklin's classic Chain of Fools.
It is South's playing that gives a clue to the spontaneity of the Blonde on Blonde sessions, which often lasted late into the night. The musicians were obliged to follow Dylan wherever his songs led, resulting in the occasional mistakes and missed changes – as when South fails to spot Dylan's chord shift in the second verse of Visions of Johanna, taking half a bar to adjust under the line about the nightwatchman clicking his flashlight.
South was born Joseph Souter and was given a guitar by his father at the age of 11. He built a small radio station on which he played his own songs and had modified his name when, still in his teens, he had his first minor hit in 1958 with The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor, co-written with the Big Bopper (JP Richardson) to capitalise on current novelty hits. The following year Gene Vincent recorded two of his songs, I Might Have Known and Gone Gone Gone.
He had made a successful career as a session musician in Muscle Shoals and Nashville when Games People Play brought him to international attention. Its title borrowed from a successful book on transactional analysis by the psychiatrist Eric Berne, the song took an unusual approach to the social tensions of the day, more oblique and unpredictable than other Dylan-influenced protest songs which topped the charts. But when it won a Grammy for best song of 1969, his problems began.
"The Grammy is a little like a crown," he told Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times. "After you win it, you feel like you have to defend it. In a sense, I froze. I found it hard to go back into the recording studio because I was afraid the next song wouldn't be perfect."
None of South's subsequent records made the top 20, but Walk a Mile in My Shoes was recorded by Elvis Presley (and later by Bryan Ferry and Coldcut), Hush took the British progressive rock band Deep Purple into the top 5 in the US and Canada in 1968, and the lilting Rose Garden gave the country singer Lynn Anderson a worldwide hit in 1971. He also produced records by the singer Sandy Posey and the folk-rock duo Friend and Lover.
With the single “I Only Want to Be with You” (1963), Springfield went solo and made her way into the heart of “Swinging London.” Part cartoon, part unresolvable desire, part bruised despair, she peered through heavy mascara and a stack of peroxided hair while singing with breathy sensuality. Bringing a fragile uncertainty to her cover versions of songs by Burt Bacharach and Hal David that had been hits in the United States for Dionne Warwick, Springfield had a string of British hits. The commercial high point of her career, though, was the ballad “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” (1966), which topped the British singles chart and reached number four in the United States.
In the late 1960s Springfield began to take herself seriously as a soul diva. In 1965 she hosted a television special that promoted Motown artists, including the Supremes and Martha and the Vandellas, to British audiences, and she often performed American rhythm-and-blues songs in her own subsequent TV appearances. She signed with Atlantic Records in 1968 and cut her Dusty in Memphis (1969) album in the famed American Sound Studios with producers Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin. The album brought her critical acclaim and an international hit with “Son of a Preacher Man.”
Springfield continued to record into the 1970s, but her career was derailed by poor management and struggles with drugs and alcohol. By the middle of the decade, she was working as a session singer in Los Angeles. Repeated comeback attempts failed until she teamed up with the Pet Shop Boys on the single “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” (1987); after it became a hit, the duo wrote and produced other songs for her that were included on her album Reputation (1990). By the 1990s Springfield had become a camp icon. After she resettled in England, she battled cancer and in 1998 received the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire). She was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.
I guess it’s time to share my John Prine story - my “encounter with greatness.” Stop me if I’m repeating myself. It was 1971, my freshman year at the University of Iowa, in Iowa City, Iowa. A group of us heard that John Prine was going to be playing at Grinnell - a smaller, hipper school, and we decided to make the trek, and sleep over in our sleeping bags.
John was appearing - for free - in the cozy common area. He was sitting on an ottoman, crouched low - and we sat around him on the floor, acolytes to the Buddha. It was very intimate, very informal. His first album had recently been released, and I was already in awe of the master.
After the set, he excused himself and retreated to the restroom, where he was followed and cornered by a couple of my buddies. They told him that their friend wrote songs, and he needed to hear them. He emerged from the toilet, made a beeline for me, and asked me to play a few for him. I so wish they had been worthy of such an honor, but they were childish. True to his character, though, he was nothing but kind and gracious; his advice was to go to Chicago to try my luck as he had done. “However, as you can see, ” he quipped, “I’m playing for free, myself.” One of my fondest memories.
Here is John’s song about a vastly different encounter, which changes the course of the protagonist’s life. Enjoy!
This is the unlikely musical tale of a 1950's Italian kid from New York City not named Dion DiMucci.
We're talking about John Henry Ramistella.
This artist has been inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame but the big door prize still eludes him.
It's possibly the contention that a career delivering mostly vivid, colorful cover versions of brilliant material makes him a melodic figure of less import.
I vigorously disagree.
He was a different kind of pioneer and If anyone belongs in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it's Johnny Rivers.
The omission is glaring.
- Rich Buckland
https://punkgirldiaries.com/mary-weiss-shangri-la/
In 1962, and at the age of 14, Mary her sister Betty, and their High School friends the Ganser twins, Margie and Mary Ann set about forming a vocal group. Naming themselves after a well known local restaurant, The Shangri-Las signed with R&B label Red Bird Records – well sort of….technically as they were all still legally minors, it was actually their parents that signed their record deal. Often lumped in with the whole “girl group” genre, the Shangri-Las still stand apart, the Shangri-Las sang to a different beat.
Growing up in the working class district of Queens NY, the girls were already street savvy, and being so young they were also naturally fluent in the teen vernacular. They became an emblem of a new breed of tough, vulnerable, street wise teenage girls….and maybe boys too.
“Their songs left wounds in their listeners” – Greil Marcus in the NY Times 2007
k. d. Lang was my wife’s lesbian crush. She made the pilgrimage to see her perform live twice in quick succession, during those heady days when the gender-fluid superstar first altered the zeitgeist with her meteoric power. k.d.’s vocal prowess was undeniable, and other-worldly. And, coming from the hinterlands of Canada she seemed to me, in 1989, like an alien from another planet. When I saw that sexy photo spread she did with Cindy Crawford for Vanity Fair, I got the message, the rhetorical question was posed so loudly and clearly: how could anyone resist such universal charisma?
The eponymous Big Boned Gal of this country swing tune is an anthemic standard bearer. She is Rosie the Riveter for a rising tide of all sexually ambiguous creatures, no matter what body they happen to have been born into. “Be proud, darlin’s,” it proclaims. Strut your stuff, and they will all bow before you. Kathryn Dawn Lang OC AOE was always uniquely and proudly herself - unapologetic, with a honey toned, multi-octave instrument, and the soul to persuasively woo everyone across the Kinsey scale.
She says she may be done, now. “The muse is eluding me,” she says. I hope not. She recently appeared at a tribute to another master vocalist, her former duet partner Tony Bennett, who himself stayed his musical course for 8 decades. Maybe Tony’s muse will inspire her to do the same.
"Who Can We Turn To- Tony Bennett's Long Ride Home".
Even though we all knew The Mystery Train had been patiently awaiting the arrival of this great man , the depth of sorrow felt for such a loss combined with the immense gratitude for such a life is not discovered until the moment of truth.
Tony Bennett was the truth, as he was incapable of exuding even a single false note.
Anthony Dominick Benedetto has departed for The Grand Hotel at 96 years of song, art and humanity.
After Sinatra left us, the weight of a lost art form fell upon Tony’s shoulders and he carried it with all of the dignity and love in his soul.
His career took an unexpected upswing in the late Eighties, when his son Danny Bennett took over as his manager.
And then Tony experienced a full blown grunge-era comeback in 1994, when he released an MTV Unplugged special, featuring guest appearances by k.d. Lang and Elvis Costello. Bennett was 68 years old at this point. Bennett’s Unplugged album won Album of the Year at the 1995 Grammys, beating recent works by Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Seal, and the Four Tenors.
In recent years, even when Mr. Bennett could no longer recognize his own existence due to Alzheimer's disease he could still recall where He Left His Heart and continued to perform with the best. It breaks my heart knowing I will never encounter him in the flesh ever again.
My Mom's 90th birthday wish was to see Tony once again.
And on a cool March evening in Florida in 2017 we did just that.
At the end of an hour and fifteen minute set, Tony placed his microphone upon his stool and sang an a cappella rendition of "Fly Me To The Moon" to the 2500 in attendance.
It was our final encounter with the heaven he delivered to Earth.
My Mom June also passed at 96, one year ago yesterday.
Tony Bennett was a part of my family from the moment I had heard
"Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" at the age of 10.
Sleep well Tony.
“Who Can We Turn To Once Now that You've Gone Away?”
We will always cherish you.
There have been a few performers in my life that have hosted a secret clubhouse gathering, which provided me a respite from the grueling business of living - people whose comforting, yet compelling personalities, who, by sharing secrets, made me laugh heartily, or pulled me into a safe harbor of balanced perspective: Late nights under the covers with Jean Shepard, lonely, frustrating mornings of boredom with Howard Stern and his crew; and the first time I heard Elvin Bishop do this monologue.
IN MY OWN DREAM was Paul Butterfield’s follow up album to THE RESURRECTION OF PIGBOY CRABSHAW - where the legendary harpist stepped up to a more orchestrated sound. Previously, Elvin Bishop had been the band’s second guitarist, wingman to the incomparable Mike Bloomfield, who caught most of the starry critical heat after the band’s initial rocket launch.
Here Elvin takes the spotlight and charms with such relaxed, magical monological improv that it catapulted him into a huge solo career and a string of hits in the 70’s that was capped with the number five single FOOLED AROUND AND FELL IN LOVE. The foremost purveyor of southern good time boogie, at 80 years old Elvin continues to dole out big fun and happiness.
In DRUNK AGAIN we are in John’s Tavern with Elvin, who greets everyone jovially, chugs a few Gordon gins, flirts with a sassy bassline, gets tight (“drunk as grandma’s old yeller hog”), and proceeds to blow the roof off the place with his guitar pyrotechnics - a one of a kind performance - breathtaking!
https://www.islingtontribune.co.uk/article/life-and-violent-death-of-a-genius-called-joe
Music producer Joe Meek was never going to die a natural death.
That is the verdict of Clem Cattini, drummer of The Tornados, for whom Meek produced the groundbreaking record Telstar in 1962 – the first British record to top the US singles chart – in his poky studio at 304 Holloway Road.
Fans of Meek, named by weekly music magazine NME as the greatest producer of all time, are celebrating his legacy on the 50th anniversary of his death.
But recognition of his creative genius has been overshadowed by the manner in which he died on February 3, 1967, at the age of 37 – he committed suicide in his studio after shooting his landlady, Violet Shenton, dead.
An inquest jury found Meek deliberately killed Mrs Shelton, who ran a leather shop with her husband downstairs.
But half a century on, those with intimate knowledge of Meek’s life say her death was no more than a terrible accident involving a man driven to despair by financial troubles, fears over blackmailers who threatened to expose his homosexuality, a dispute with the feared Kray twins, and police interest following the gruesome murder of a teenage rent boy.
Meek shook the music world by producing three No 1 hit records from his little studio, where musicians would play in the bathroom, on the staircase and in the living room with Meek twisting, cutting, slowing down, speeding up and subverting the tracks as they played.
Clem, now 79, who worked with Meek at the Holloway Road studio, recalled: “The studio was bizarre. I mean the drums were in the fireplace.
“But it was incredible, the sounds he could get out of that studio, the equipment he used and what he recorded Telstar with. Modern equipment could not get anywhere near it.
“Musically, Joe was a moron, and I don’t mean that in a mean way, but he didn’t have a clue. But in terms of sound production he was incredible, the forerunner of the independent producer. He was just a genius with sound.”
Ooh, Baby, Ooooh wee!
Ooh, baby, oooooh wee!
It’s that Million Dollar Bash.
I hear that chorus and I’m smiling. It’s a celebration, a party. Dylan and the boys are off the hard road, and they’re just having fun in the Big Pink basement with the Revox tape recorder. There has been some interpretative gobble dee gook about it being Dylan’s satirical payback to Andy Warhol and his pretentious Factory parties, with a salvo to Edie Sedgwick - the (“big dumb blonde) -, who dumped him, but really, that feels like a stretch. Those intimations might be there, but when Bob sings:
“Well, I’m hittin’ it too hard, my stones won’t take-
I get up in the morning but it’s too early to wake,
First it’s hello, goodbye, then push and then crash,
But we’re all gonna make it at that mIllion dollar bash!
It feels to me like an expression of sweet release. An appreciation for the moment at hand. And, imagining where the heads of the bar band turned folk-rock players assembled in that bucolic place were at…. -, the men who, for me, comprised the greatest American band in rock history - in the chrysalis from which they were about to emerge to ignite a musical revolution - I can feel the spontaneous energy of joyous creation.
Oooh baby, Oooh weeeee!
Mickey Newbury was born Milton Sims Newbury Jr. in Houston Texas, May 19, 1940 to Maime and Milton Newbury. As a child, he was inseparable from younger brother, Jerry; a friendship that continued throughout his life. In high school, Mickey decided to write songs. As a teenager, he shut himself up in his room, writing poetry and learning to play guitar. He organized a doo-wop group called The Embers.
In 1959, Mickey joined the Air Force and was assigned to England for three years. When he returned to the United States, he pursued his dream of being a songwriter. He lived in a ’54 Pontiac and traveled around Texas, Tennessee, and Louisiana playing gigs and working on shrimp boats. Eventually he found himself in Nashville, and in 1964, signed a publishing contract with Acuff-Rose. He moved to Nashville in 1965 and about this time, his first child Joe was born. Shortly thereafter, Jimmy Elledge was first to cover a Newbury song, Just as Long as that Someone is You.
1966 was the year the music industry noticed Mickey Newbury. Don Gibson had a Top Ten Country hit with Newbury’s Funny Familiar Forgotten Feelings, while Tom Jones scored a world hit with the same song. In 1968, Mickey saw huge success; three number one songs and one number five – across four different charts; Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) on the Pop/Rock chart by the First Edition, SweetMemories on Easy Listening by Andy Williams, Time is a Thief on the R&B chart by Solomon Burke, and Here Comes the Rain Baby on the Country chart by Eddy Arnold. This feat has not been repeated. That year, Mickey’s first album, Harlequin Melodies, was released by RCA.
Mickey met New Christy Minstrel member Susan Pack on a blind date in 1967 and would not see her again until 1969. Soon thereafter, they were married and living on a houseboat on Old Hickory Lake outside of Nashville. Over the next four years, Mickey released three albums that raised the bar on Music Row. Produced at Cinderella Studios outside of Nashville, and utilizing Nashville’s best musicians, Newbury’s trilogy of albums - Looks Like Rain, Frisco Mabel Joy and Heaven Help The Child are often referred to as masterpieces.
Following the birth of their first child, Chris, in 1973, the Newburys moved to Oregon, to Susan’s home town, just down the street from her parents, to raise their family. A daughter, Leah, followed in 1977. In 1980, Mickey was inducted into the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame.
During the 80s, Mickey took a break from the music business to concentrate on his growing family and golf. Stephen joined the family in 1983 and Laura was born in 1986. In the early 90’s, he started writing, recording, and performing again, encouraged by his friends Bob Rosemurgy, Marty Hall, and Owsley Mannier. In 1995, Mickey’s health began to fail, but he continued to produce beautiful music. 1995 to 2002 were some of his most productive years, during which time he almost doubled his catalogue. He also directed his attention to other ventures, beginning work on children’s books based on his story-songs. On September 29, 2002 he succumbed to a long time lung disease and passed away in his sleep at home in Springfield, Oregon.
Mickey Newbury’s songs have been covered by hundreds upon hundreds of artists; over 1,000 covers have been documented. Mickey also recorded 25 albums over 35 years. Though he considered himself a songwriter first and singer second, his own albums are critically acclaimed and highly desired by a very passionate fan base the world over.
Many consider him to be the best of the best. Kris Kristofferson says, “God, I learned more about songwriting from
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/del-shannon-dies-of-a-self-inflicted-gunshot-wound
Born Charles Westover in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1934, the singer-songwriter known as Del Shannon dies by suicide on February 8, 1990. In a period when the American pop charts were dominated by cookie-cutter teen idols and novelty acts, he stood out as an all-too-rare example of an American pop star whose work reflected real originality. His heyday as a chart-friendly star in the United States may have been brief, but on the strength of his biggest hit alone he deserves to be regarded as one of rock and roll’s greatest.
Legend has it that while on stage one night at the Hi-Lo Lounge in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1960, the young and unknown Del Shannon stopped his band mid-song to have his organ player repeat, over and over, an unusual chord sequence he had just ad-libbed: A-minor to G. Charlie went to work the next day in his job as a carpet salesman with those chords stuck in his mind, and by the time he took the stage that night, he’d written a song called “Little Runaway” around them—(A-minor) As I walk along I (G) wonder, what went wrong…”. It would be three more months before Shannon and his band could make it to a New York recording studio to record the song that Shannon now saw as his best, and possibly last, shot at stardom. As he told Billboard magazine years later, “I just said to myself, if this record isn’t a hit, I’m going back into the carpet business.” Del Shannon sold his last carpet a few months later, as “Runaway” roared up the pop charts on its way to #1 in April 1961.
“Hats Off To Larry” and “Keep Searchin’ (We’ll Follow The Sun)” were Shannon’s only other top-10 hits in the United States, but he enjoyed a much bigger career in the UK, where he placed five more songs in the top 10 over the next two years. Like most stars of his generation, Shannon was primarily regarded as an Oldies act through the '70s and '80s, but he was in the midst of a concerted comeback effort in early 1990, with a Jeff Lynne-produced album of original material already completed and rumors swirling of his taking the late Roy Orbison’s place in The Traveling Wilburys.
This only added to the shock experienced by many when Shannon shot himself in his Santa Clarita, California, home on February 8, 1990. Shannon’s widow would later file a high-profile lawsuit against Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of the antidepressant Prozac, which Shannon had begun taking shortly before his suicide. That suit was eventually dropped, but the case brought early attention to the still-unresolved question of the possible connection between suicidal ideation and SSRIs, the class of drugs to which Prozac belongs.
This is a fun one… (but, they’ve all been fun for me). It’s being performed by the immortal Stubby Kaye, or “Unkie” as he’s known around our house because he’s the great uncle of my daughter-in-law. Her brother is the spitting image of the musical comedy great, which demonstrates the endurance of Stubby’s DNA. The other performer on the recording is Mr. Jonny Silver.
This jaunty track, composed by one of Broadway’s brightest bards, Frank Loesser, is served up with gravity-defying lyrics that are sensuously juicy, surprising, and ever-joyfilled: (“Call is hell, call it heaven, it’s a probable 12 to 7, that the guy’s only doin’ it for some doll!”) Of course, the raw material from Damon Runyon ain’t bad, either - a good time was guaranteed to Broadway theatergoers during the season of 1950.
Stubby had a bright, clarion voice - like a cornet - a necessary quality for yesterday’s unamplified thespians wanting to hit the back row - and the man performs lustily with his megaphone of mirth. He was a staple of the Great White Way, and this one of a kind performance was captured on film as well.
Funny story: I auditioned for a dinner theatre production of Guys and Dolls once - I was responding to an open call in Backstage. I didn’t know the title song, but I thought it’d be a fine idea to listen to the recording at the Lincoln Center Library to bone up before attempting it at the appointment. Who was I kidding? These lyrics required a lot more preparation than a couple of silent run-throughs, and when I got in the room and begun: “What’s playin’ at the Roxy…?” My mind went blank, and I just kept repeating that question, like a mantra, as the flop sweat poured over my eyebrows into my mouth. I was out of my league.
This example of a “sunny song” is a little different from the previous ones because what makes me happy when I hear it is not the message itself. Or, rather, the medium is the message. The message is under the surface, or perhaps on the surface, or threaded throughout it. It’s a message about team work - a premier example of interracial / inter-gendered cooperative, coming together to create a mosaic masterwork of such intricacy that you can’t tell with whom it begins or ends.
Jon Hendricks, the master of vocalese, the “James Joyce of Jive”, wrote the lyrics to this1945 Woody Herman instrumental rhumba, and L,H,&R revivify it with breathy delicacy. There is a fractured story about a guy searching Istanbul for a dancing girl, “Bijou” (his jewel) that has captured his imagination. But, it’s really just the repetition of that name, Bijou, bouncing back and forth from voice to voice, that crochets the musical magic into an unforgettable fabric.
I first became aware of Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross, and the vocalese technique, through the unpredictable medium of Joni Mitchell, who covered Annie Ross’s “Twisted” on one of her albums. And that rendition led me to this cut, whose brilliant shards of musical and lyrical data immediately shot into my brain, implanting an ear worm that still brings a smile as it plays in my head 50 years later. And, when I was creating my list of sunny songs, it was right there, just like the memory of a perfect, perfumed summer evening.
https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/the-byrd-who-flew-alone-the-triumphs-and-tragedy-o
Mention Gene Clark as one of your favorite musicians and almost invariably the response will be a raised eyebrow followed by the words “Gene who?” Namechecking alone won’t cut it. Mentioning that he was a founding member of the Byrds might trigger a vague memory, but many still won’t be able to actually place him, or any of his songs. And yet David Crosby’s post-Byrds mega-fame with CSN, and Roger McGuinn’s iconic 12-string Rickenbacker & granny glasses (vis-a-vis Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” in particular) have pretty much guaranteed their admittedly rightful places in our collective cultural memory. Meanwhile, Gene Clark, a uniquely gifted songwriter who played a pivotal role in the rise of folk rock, psychedelia and country rock, but who could never seem to catch a break, has seemingly disappeared into the past.
How did this happen? Well, that’s a long, sad story in itself. For Gene Clark’s small but fiercely loyal cult of fans, carrying his torch through the decades has largely amounted to a silent crusade. But thanks to a long overdue critical reevaluation, reinforcements are on the way. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ 2007 collection Raising Sand won a Grammy for Album of the Year, with two Clark compositions—“Through the Morning, Through the Night” and “Polly,” a devastating, heart-rending pair of songs—anchoring the proceedings. Earlier this year, a tour was launched by an ad hoc group of indie stars from bands Beach House, Grizzly Bear, the Walkmen and Fleet Foxes—plus British folk legend and early Clark advocate Iain Matthews—performing the lost masterpiece No Other in its entirety to sold-out crowds on America’s East Coast.
But the best entry point for new fans to discover a treasure trove of some of the best music nobody’s ever heard is a new documentary, The Byrd Who Flew Alone: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Gene Clark.
Songs are sometimes much more than a mere confection of words and music. Take the enduringly popular Irish ballad “Raglan Road”, whose ingredients are a dark-haired beauty, a lovelorn poet, a sublime ancient melody and one of Ireland’s finest folk singers.
In 1944 Patrick Kavanagh, who was to become one of Ireland’s most popular poets, fell hopelessly in love at the age of 40 with a beautiful medical student named Hilda Moriarty, then only 22. They both had lodgings on Raglan Road, Dublin, and a relatively short relationship ensued that ended because of the age difference and her parents’ disapproval of a middle-aged man who was barely scraping a living from poetry and journalism. Moriarty later married an aspiring politician, Donogh O’Malley, a dashing figure who as education minister in 1966 introduced the crucial reform of free secondary education and rural school buses in the Irish Republic.
Heartbroken at losing her, Kavanagh composed one of the great poems of unrequited love, “On Raglan Road”, which was first published in The Irish Press newspaper in 1946. The opening lines reveal his fear that the affair was doomed from day one: “On Raglan Road on an autumn day I met her first and knew/ That her dark hair would weave a snare that I might one day rue . . . ”
Kavanagh always regarded his poem as a song lyric, however, and matched it to the traditional Irish air “Fáinne Geal an Lae”, which was first published in 1847 and translated into English as “The Dawning of the Day”, a phrase he uses in the poem.
Another 20 years passed before his hope of it becoming a successful song was fulfilled. One night in 1966 Kavanagh buttonholed Luke Kelly, singer with The Dubliners folk group, in the city’s The Bailey bar. Both men were renowned drinkers, and as Kelly supped on Guinness and a shot of whiskey in the smoky bar after a singing session, Kavanagh announced: “I’ve got a song for you! You should sing ‘Raglan Road’.”
Unlike the match with Moriarty, this one was made in heaven. Kelly, a striking figure with a shock of curly red hair and a commanding tenor voice, loved the song and his compelling renditions of it are regarded by many as unsurpassed.
Thanks to his and The Dubliners’performances “Raglan Road” became popular in Ireland, even though the group did not record it until their 1972 live album, Hometown!. Kavanagh, sadly, never saw his song become a hit — he died a year after presenting it to Kelly.
The song gained a second surge of life in 1988, this time bringing international recognition, when Van Morrisonrecorded it with The Chieftains for the album Irish Heartbeat. While The Dubliners’ delivery is stately, with Kelly’s voice dominant over simple banjo, guitar, tin whistle and violin, Morrison’s dramatic arrangement interprets the poem’s emotions with another vocal tour de force.
As The Chieftains’ accompaniment grows to a swirling support with Paddy Moloney’s uilleann pipes to the fore, Morrison’s voice soars, repeats words and even reduces to a whisper for the lines: “On a quiet street where old ghosts meet,/ I see her walking now, Away from me,/ So hurriedly. My reason must allow . . . ”
Since then many folk artists have recorded it, as well as rock stars Sinéad O’Connor, Roger Daltreyand Mark Knopfler, but none quite matches the passionate pomp that Kelly and Morrison bring and which the song demands. The likes of Ed Sheeran, Billy Braggand Billy Joel have also sung it in concert.
And in 2008 Kelly’s rendition was heard again in the film &
The first of the six covers that appear on Please Please Me is a mid-tempo ballad called “Anna (Go to Him),” which was written and first recorded by Arthur Alexander. Chances are that most people who hear the version sung by John Lennon have no idea who Arthur Alexander is—but the Beatles certainly knew, and so did the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan**: Alexander is reportedly the only songwriter whose tunes have appeared on studio albums by those three hallowed acts. Elvis Presley recorded one of his songs as well—albeit one that Alexander co-wrote—and so did Otis Redding and Tina Turner and Jerry Lee Lewis and Percy Sledge.
Don Covay recorded for several labels, including Blaze, Sue, Big Top, Fire, Arnold, Fleetwood, Columbia, Epic and Scepter, releasing 'Popeye Waddle' b/w 'One Little Boy Had Money' in 1962 for Cameo Parkway, which became a hit.Don was, by now, recording solo material, and material under the name of Don Covay and the Goodtimers.He penned the U.S. number 1 single 'Pony Time' for Chubby Checker, wrote a hit song called 'I'm Hanging Up My Heart for You', for the Soul singer Solomon Burke*, and wrote for* Gladys Knight & The Pips****, penning 'Letter Full of Tears', which made the top 20.Don formed partnerships with several associates including Horace Ott and Ronnie Miller.In 1964, when he signed to the Rosemart label.His debut single there with the Goodtimers, 'Mercy Mercy' featured Jimi Hendrix on guitar.The following year, Jimi Hendrix played again on the follow up single 'Take This Hurt Off Me' b/w 'Please Don't Let Me Know'.
Clarence Carter didn’t have it easy while growing up in Alabama; and being Black and blind was an extra burden, but he has overcome many other obstacles in so many ways. “I feel incredibly good about what I’ve been able to accomplish, but it was not easy. Our world presents challenges and barriers to success for people with disabilities, but I always wanted more in life and believe that the ADA helped me get to where I am today.”**
I would like to say that Carter now has three “B’s” behind his name, Black, Blind and Blessed. Carter is known for serious Blues music, which includes a string of R&B hits. The songs “Back Door Santa,” “Slip Away,” “Patches,” “Too Weak to Fight” and the dance hall hit “Strokin” are part of his Blues legacy.
What is a “buttermilk sky?,” I asked myself. It’s such an evocative image, and for years I would simply envision a magnificent sunset of red and gold, suffused through a canopy of fluffy clouds. I googled it, and I was right! Up came rows of beautiful celestial pics, and although those photos are fantastic, the image in my mind’s eye had them all beat - attached as it was to an indefinable, stirring emotion within me, mystical in its effect.
That lyric was summoned from the ether by Jack Brooks, with Hoagy Carmichael writing the music. Hoagy introduced the tune in the film “Canyon Passage” with Dana Andrews, but, its appeal transcended the Cowboy genre. It was so popular that in December of 1946 there were four versions of the song in the top 20, led by Kay Kyser’s band at #1.
You may be aware that Hoagy was also the composer of “Stardust”, considered by most to be the best pop standard of the Great American Songbook ever written. And, he wrote the anthemic “Georgia on my Mind”. Film clips of him reveal one of the most relaxed and natural performers who ever appeared on celluloid - usually seated at a piano. In my Acting class we screened “The Best Years of Our Lives” and Hoagy’s encounter with the amputee Harold Russell, as he gives avuncular advice to the traumatized vet while tinkling the ivories is one of my favorite moments in a classic film stuffed with unforgettable scenes.
I’m not sure, but my sense is that the image of the buttermilk sky reminds us of the evanescence of life, and the sweet sadness of a longed-for love.
Fervent fans of The Doughboys know their whole history, detailed on the Rock N’ Raw DVD – they first got together in ‘64 and played in various permutations through the rest of the 60’s. They gigged incessantly, won a battle-of-the-bands on Zacherle’s Disc-o-Teen TV show, were the house band at the legendary Café Wha? in New York City in the summer of ’68. They opened for every act imaginable including The Beach Boys, and released two 45’s, Rhoda Mendelbaum and Everybody Knows My Name, on Bell Records (which later became Arista Records) before splitting up for what they thought was for good. The band members went their separate and interesting ways – Myke Scavone fronted hard rock ensemble Ram Jam who scored an international hit with Black Betty; Richie Heyman played drums for the likes of Link Wray, Brian Wilson and Jonathan Richman while simultaneously pursuing an acclaimed career as a singer/songwriter (under his full moniker Richard X. Heyman); Mike Caruso landed session work with such notable pop producers as Bo Gentry and Kenny Laguna, and even jammed with Jimi Hendrix!
Mike Caruso
Since the band re-formed in 2000 at a surprise birthday party for drummer Richie Heyman’s birthday, The Doughboys have released six albums (Is It Now?, Act Your Rage, Shakin’ Our Souls, Hot Beat Stew, Front Street Rebels and Running For Covers), numerous singles, and a documentary film with accompanying live disc (Rock N’ Raw). They’ve played up and down the eastern half of the country, often sharing bills with such luminaries as The Pretenders, The Yardbirds, The Electric Prunes, Roberta Flack, Robin Trower and many others. They performed at the historic “Who Shot Rock n’ Roll?” exhibition at the Allentown Museum, at an all-star tribute to George Harrison at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, at the “Long May You Run” benefit at The Hamilton Live in Washington, DC, and have appeared at prestigious venues like B.B. King’s, the Sellersville Theater, the Stone Pony and the Starland Ballroom. Lead singer Myke Scavone is now also a member of The Yardbirds, touring the world as they continue to spread the gospel of the golden era of Rock n’ Roll.
In 2005, Gar Francis (of Stones tribute band Sticky Fingers fame, as well as work with Billy Idol and Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and The Raiders) entered the picture after the untimely passing of founding member and brilliant guitarist Willy Kirchofer. When Gar joined the band, The Doughboys branched out into recording their own original material, and it wasn’t long before they entered the recording studio and laid down tracks for Is It Now?, the first album of their long and storied career.
The Doughboys’ songs have become huge favorites on radio around the world, especially with Little Steven Van Zandt, who named Shakin’ Our Souls his favorite album of 2012, and who has bestowed the much sought after rank of “Coolest Song In The World” on eight of The Doughboys’ songs on his Underground Garage channel on Sirius/XM radio. Additionally, Doughboys music is used extensively in film, television and advertising, including in such TV shows as “The Big Bang Theory”, “Californication,” “Breaking Amish” and “The Good Guys” and in the film “Coming Through The Rye.”
AC-CENT-TCHU-ATE THE POSITIVE
Another problematic remnant of our conflicted cultural history: one of America’s all-time greatest popular lyricists, from Savannah GA, scion of the Confederacy, raised on minstrelsy, who has bequeathed unto us some of the most sublime songs of the 20th century. What do we do with such an ambivalent inheritance?
At least Johnny Mercer credited the inspiration for his message to Father Divine, the charismatic black preacher, after the songsmith heard one of his sermons. And, it’s worth adding that, in 2015, The Library of Congress inducted this song into the National Recording Registry for its cultural significance. I include it here because, as a motto for Sunny Songs, you can’t beat “Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive”.
I’m tryin’ to do that, Johnny. These are words I aspire to live by. Happiness is a choice, I believe. Maybe I can’t do anything about the bad shit that’s happened, but how I roll with it is up to me. So, if you’re feeling put upon, buffeted by the cold winds of fate, my prescription is to listen to the words of Father Divine, by way of Johnny Mercer, one of the most buoyant voices imaginable.
TIGHTEN UP by Archie Bell and the Drells (Atlantic, 1968)
Tighten up isn’t really a song at all (even though it’s listed as #265 on Rolling Stone’s list of the Top 500 Songs of All Time). It’s a riff, a groove, a vibe - and it’s FUCKIN’ AWESOME. It also made it to number one on both the R&B and Pop Charts of 1968. Some people say it was the beginning of funk - maybe so, I don’t know, but, whatever it was, it activated my pleasure center intensely.
When Archie says: “Make it mellow,” time stops, and the band goes into slow motion. It’s my favorite part of the record. But, of course, you can’t have the mellow riff without the contrast of the funky, (like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup) and this is a secret weapon that captures my heart every time.
There is some chanting, but no melody, no tune, just Archie’s spoken word introduction, telling you who the band is and where they hail from: Houston, Texas. Legend has it that after the Kennedy assassination, Archie Bell overheard someone say that “nothing ever good comes from Texas,” and this was his inspiration: to tell everybody that The Drells came from Texas, and “we were good.”
I’ve got to give you that, Archie. Tighten Up preceded the advent of the Walkman, but to this 15 year old — I didn’t need any electronic device to access that riff while I was bopping down the boulevard. It played in my head on a loop, and guided my street shuffle right in tempo.
"Is That All There Is?", a song written by American songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller during the 1960s, became a hit for American singer Peggy Lee and an award winner from her album of the same title in November 1969. The song was originally performed by Georgia Brown in May 1967 for a television special. It was first recorded by disc jockey Dan Daniel in March 1968, but this was an unauthorized recording that, while played on Daniel's own radio show, went unissued at the songwriters' request. The first authorized recording was by Leslie Uggams in August 1968. Then came the hit Peggy Lee version in August 1969, followed by Guy Lombardo in 1969 and Tony Bennett on 22 December 1969.[2]
Peggy Lee's version reached number 11 on the U.S. pop singles chart — becoming her first Top 40 pop hit since "Fever" eleven years earlier—and doing even better on the adult contemporary scene, topping that Billboardchart. It also reached number six in Canada. It won Lee the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and then later was named to the Grammy Hall of Fame.
The orchestral arrangement on the song was composed by Randy Newman, who played the piano in the slower introduction section,[3] and who also conducted the orchestra.[4]
Lyrics
The lyrics of this song are written from the point of view of a person who is disillusioned with events in life that are supposedly unique experiences. The singer tells of witnessing her family's house on fire when she was a little girl, seeing the circus, and falling in love for the first time. After each recital, she expresses her disappointment in the experience. She suggests that we "break out the booze and have a ball—if that's all there is," instead of worrying about life. She explains that she'll never kill herself either because she knows that death will be a disappointment as well. The verses of the song are spoken, rather than sung. Only the refrain of the song is sung.
THE SQUARE OF THE HYPOTENEUSE by Danny Kaye (from the film “Merry Andrew”, 1958)
Danny Kaye resembled my uncle Teddy, dad’s older brother, the middle of three fatherless products of the depression. (My father told me he never tasted ice cream until he was a teenager). Whenever Uncle Teddy came over he gave me gifts or money, and he was always laughing. In fact, that was his response to any rebuke: gales of high-pitched giggles, sent lilting aloft, from his thrown back head. A bachelor until after he retired because he lived with and looked after my grandmother, Anna, who lived well into her nineties, Teddy was an accountant for the City of New York, who, immediately upon retirement, moved to Costa Rica, married a woman 30 years younger, and lived like a king until his death, also in his mid-nineties.
I couldn’t get enough of the ebullient Danny Kaye (nee Kaminski), whose screen presence always delighted me. He seemed like a child himself, and so many of his films play like fairy tales. In the movie Merry Andrew, from which this ditty derives, Danny is an irrepressible teacher in an uptight boarding school, who here is giving a musical math lesson to his pupils. And, it stuck with me. Trigonometry was the only math class I could abide. I think Oliver Sacks, Pete Seeger, or the Muppets could probably tell you why music is such an effective pedagogical tool. Marry an important phrase to a catchy melody and you can create a life-long memory. Danny delivered a bunch of those to my generation.
On June 1st, 2023, we lost the prolific Cynthia Weil who in partnership with husband Barry Mann gave us the most played recording of all time, “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling”.
Cynthia boarded The Mystery Train at 83 years of melody.
If the songs, “I’m Gonna Be Strong”, “ I Don’t Know Much”, “Soul and Inspiration”, “Blame It On The Bossa Nova”, “Kicks”, “ Magic Town”, “On Broadway”, “ Walking In The Rain” or “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place” mean anything to you, then you can grasp her remarkable contributions and this tremendous loss.
Sleep Well Cynthia.
You gave us so much Soul, Heart and Inspiration.
1) Bless You- Tony Orlando
2) Uptown- The Crystals
3) Where Have You Been All My Life- Arthur Alexander
4) Teen Age Has Been- Barry Mann
5) Blame It On The Bossa Nova- Eydie Gorme
6) I'm Gonna Be Strong- Gene Pitney
7) Only In America- Jay and The Americans
8) On Broadway- The Drifters
9) You've Lost That Loving Feeling- The Righteous Brothers
10) Walking In The Rain- The Ronettes
11) Saturday Night At The Movies
12) We Gotta Get Out Of This Place- The Animals
13) Magic Town- The Vogues
14) Soul and Inspiration- The Righteous Brothers
15) KIcks- Paul Revere and The Raiders
16) Love Her- The Walker Brothers
17) You Baby- The Ronettes
18) It's A Happening World - The Tokens
19) See That Girl- The Righteous Brothers
18) Brown Eyed Woman - Bill Medley
19) Hungry- Paul Revere and The Raiders
20) Just A Little Lovin'- Dusty Springfield
21) I Can't Help Believing - Bobby Vee
22) Don't Know Much- Linda Rondstadt and Aaron Neville
23) None Of Us Are Free - RayCharles
24) Rock and Roll Lullabye- BJ Thomas
25) I Really Want To Know You- The Partridge Family
26- Running With The Night- Lionel Richie
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/bob-dylan-favourite-john-prine-song/#
Bob Dylan is one hell of a wordsmith. His ability to capture the mood of the times in just a handful of well-honed phrases once earned him the Nobel Prize for Literature, which he initially turned down only to begrudgingly accept later down the line. One wonders if he rejected the honour out of fellow feeling for the great John Prine, whose body of work contains some of the finest turns-of-phrase in the 20th-century folk canon.
Prine always seemed slightly surprised by his own talent. While working as a mailman in Chicago, he began attending open-mic nights at the Fifth Peg. Although initially reluctant to sing himself, John was forced to take to the stage after one performer threw down the gauntlet. On stage, he was modest almost to a fault, seeming to fade into the background. His songs, on the other hand, stood tall and proud, many of which seemed so different from the usual folk balladry coming off stage that he felt embarrassed singing them: “Some were so different that I hesitated to sing them for anybody because I thought I hadn’t heard anything like this before,” he once recalled. “And I thought, ‘Is it because it’s really good, or is it because it’s so awful?’”
Bob Dylan would have agreed with the former. The pair met for the first time in New York. Prine had just been to watch Kris Kristofferson perform in Greenwich Village and ended up tagging along with the singer-songwriter after the show. After making himself comfortable in Carly Simon’s apartment, Prine heard a knock on the door. It was Dylan, fresh from a long hiatus after his motorcycle crash: “We got introduced and pretty soon the guitars came out,” Prine recalled. “I got to singing one of my songs called ‘Far From Me’. My first album was three weeks away from being released and all of a sudden Bob Dylan starts singing along. I’m sitting there thinking, ‘I know all your songs, but how do you know mine!’”
During a conversation with The Huffington Post many years later, Dylan would label Prine’s lyrics “pure Proustian existentialism,” and “Midwestern mind trips to the nth degree.” But it wasn’t just Prine’s capacity as a writer that impressed Dylan. “And he writes beautiful songs,” he continued, expressing his adoration of songs like ‘Sam Stone’, in which Prine sings about a drug-addled Vietnam veteran who eventually dies of an overdose. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Prine was actually drafted into the US Army during the conflict and was inspired to write the song by his fellow soldiers. It was perhaps real-world experience such as this that lent his lyrics such clarity, lyrics that Dylan found intensely moving.
b. Timotea Aurro (a.k.a. Timi Yuro & Mrs Selnick), 4th August 1940, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
d. 30th March 2004, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.
Timi Yuro moved to Los Angeles as a child (she was given the name Rosemary at birth, by her mother Edith).
In the late 50's she was singing in her mother's Italian restaurant.
Timi worked with Johnnie Ray, Phil Spector and Willie Nelson during her career.
Her debut single, 'Hurt' was released in 1961 and reached number four in the pop charts.
Produced by Clyde Otis, the song was a remake of a Roy Hamilton 1954 R & B hit.
The song was later to re-enter the charts via an excellent version by the Soul Group, The Manhattans.
'l Apologise' and Smile' were released in 1962.
Timi had several minor hits during this time, the biggest of which was 'What's a Matter Baby (Is It Hurting You)'.
The song made number 12 in the U.S., and was covered by the Small Faces a few years later as the B-side of their first single.
She recorded throughout the '60s and '70s.
Timi left the Liberty label in 1964.
She recorded for Playboy, in 1975, and in 1981 a reissued 'Hurt' which was a big hit in the Netherlands.
Timi signed to Polydor and, during the late 80's, she recorded an album of songs by Willie Nelson, but soon afterwards her performing career was curtailed by serious illness.
Timi Yuro passed away on the 30th of March 2004. She was 63.
LET ME OFF UPTOWN by GENE KRUPA WITH ANITA O’DAY AND ROY ELDRIDGE
(OKEH, 1941)
This interpretation of this artifact can be as simple, or as complicated as one cares to make it. You can frame it as an anthem of solidarity, or as just another example of cultural appropriation. I choose the former.
Granted, here you have an all white swing band, led by the theatrically energetic trapster Gene Krupa, featuring the pert suggestiveness of jazz songbird Anita O’Day in her debut at 22 years old - already displaying uncanny timing, and the horn section all genuflecting to the sole black member of the ensemble, the incomparable Roy Eldridge, who effortlessly blows the roof off the joint with his trumpet.
The song celebrates the mythical Shangri-La of Harlem - the place where any aspiring hipster needs to visit to “get groovy”. The rhythm cuts deep, but takes its time to chug and build to an explosive finish by way of Roy’s ascending wails of sound.
But fundamentally, there is a winking humor to this recording (and “Soundie” video, too) that undergirds a message of brotherhood, and the shared reverence for the music. It hints that we have more in common than what divides us, and advises any non-believers to spend some time “uptown”.
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/marsha-hunt-muse-mick-jagger-marc-bolan/
Although both Marc Bolan and Mick Jagger were philanderers in their own respect, there was one person, in particular, that seemed to captivate them: Marsha Hunt. Hunt is a 1960s icon, a model, singer, actress and novelist, and she had relationships with both the singers of the Rolling Stones and T-Rex.
Hunt had been born in Philadelphia and was raised by her mother, her aunt and her grandmother, who she described as “three strong but very different women”. Eventually, Hunt went to the University of California, Berkeley, where she came face to face with the growing counter-culture movement and joined Jerry Rubin in protests against the Vietnam War in 1964.
In 1966, Hunt moved to London and began a career in music, first as a backing singer in Alexis Korner’s trio. She also had a brief relationship with John Mayall and was, in fact, the inspiration for his songs Marsha’s Mood’ and ‘Brown Sugar’. Shortly after, Hunt married a member of the Canterbury Scene band Soft Machine by the name of Mike Ratledge. However, their relationship soon fell apart.
Throughout the next few years, Hunt defined herself as a London artist. Her old wish to return to the United States quickly diminished, and after briefly playing with Reg Dwight (later to be known as Elton John), she achieved notoriety by starring in the musical Hair as the character Dionne. While Hunt only actually had two lines in the show, her beauty captivated audiences, and she was featured on the poster for the London production and later the recorded LP. Hunt was also the first black model to appear on the front cover of Queen magazine, and a nude photograph of her was also used on the cover of British Vogue....
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/mar/26/phil-ochs-the-doomed-folk-singer-who-woke-up-from-the-american-dream#:~:text=He%20died%20by%20suicide.,of%20his%20conviction%20came%20from.
As a kid in the 1950s, Phil Ochs cut class and spent afternoons at the local movie house. The Searchers and Rebel Without a Cause were two of his favourites. Always a dreamer, Ochs fantasised that one day he could be a stoic cowboy like John Wayne, a teenage rebel like James Dean, or a rockabilly sex symbol like Elvis Presley. He took his early love of Hollywood with him to New York, where he became one of the most celebrated folk singers in the world, culminating in an album that has just turned 50: Greatest Hits, titled with a savage, knowing irony.
Ochs came up in the Greenwich Village folk scene, rattling off songs at a pace that caused Bob Dylan – with whom he had a friendly rivalry – to complain “I just can’t keep up with Phil”. But Ochs couldn’t cross over like Dylan did. His sole hit song There But for Fortune, which reached No 50 in the US and the Top 10 in the UK, was performed by Joan Baez.
The peak of his career took a different form. In 1968, aged 27, Ochs agreed to help organise and perform at the Festival of Life demonstration against the Vietnam war in Chicago’s Grant Park, at the Democratic National Convention. During his performance of I Ain’t Marching Anymore, one of his most acerbic and damning anti-war songs, bursts of fire sparkled throughout the crowd as young men from across America took the song’s message to heart and burned their draft cards. It was a defining moment in Ochs’s life and one of his greatest personal achievements. “This is the highlight of my career,” he told journalist Paul Krassner as he walked off stage. He felt like a Hollywood hero...
I WILL BE THERE by VAN MORRISON (Warner Bros., 1972)
Van is a serious man. Frivolity is not his usual mode. His musical lexicon is expansive, but through every variety of expression, be it blues, jazz, country, or even skiffle, there is a bred in the bone seriousness of purpose that tells you that this gentleman means business. He can make me cry, dream, bop, stomp and shout, but rarely laugh. I will smile the smile of the awakened occasionally, upon receiving the good news, but a belly laugh…?
This one, though, makes me giggle every time, as I listen to Van swinging along the dockside, like Louie Jordan, shuffling to board the cruiser that’ll take him on your spontaneous vacation together. He’s bein’ spontaneous, baby! All he needs is his his toothbrush, his razor, his overcoat and underwear - and, he won’t miss this chance for the world.
“I Will Be There” is on the St. Dominic’s Preview album, and come to think of it “Jackie Wilson said: I’m in Heaven When You Smile” on that record is another flaskful of joy juice - two humorous helpings on one platter - what a buffet!
SHE’S A LATIN FROM MANHATTAN by Al Jolson, ( From the film: “Go into Your Dance”, 1935)
This song operates on a couple of levels: there is the theme of authenticity - someone pretending to be something they’re not, and then there is the encoded message of theatrical professionalism - a portrait of a denizen of Broadway, that golden place where exotic dreams become real, a meritocracy wherein an excellent performer can circumvent a dubious background and a lack of privilege.
Hearing this tune as a small child I intuited these fancies, and, like Pinocchio, they lured me into a life of Papier-Mache. But, hey, I’m not quibbling - I made it to The Great White Way - TWICE!
I was always happier pretending to be someone other than myself, and Jolson was the Hebraic pathfinder. The mask of “blackface” allowed Asa Yolson to hitch his Star of David to the soulful vehicle of another victim of oppression, the African-American, and ride it out of the slums, and straight towards the brass ring.
This song communicates joy at every level: Jolie’s buoyant vocal as he uncovers Dolores’s masquerade, the bouncy patter of Al Dubin’s lyric, and Harry Warren’s infectious latin rhythms all aim to elicit a smile as you contemplate that “42 Streeter,” Susie Donahue’s magic trick of erotic transformation.
https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2022/films/personality-crisis-one-night-only/
ON SHOWTIME: MARTIN SCORSESE PRESENTS
PERSONALITY CRISIS: ONE NIGHT ONLY
Continuing his vibrant and invaluable documentaries about iconic American artists and musicians such as George Harrison: Living in the Material World, No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, and the Fran Lebowitz portrait Public Speaking, Martin Scorsese turns his camera on another beloved New York institution: the singular David Johansen. Equally celebrated as the lead singer-songwriter of the androgynous ’70s glam punk groundbreakers The New York Dolls and for his complete reinvention as hepcat lounge lizard Buster Poindexter in the ’80s, the chameleonic Johansen has created an entire genre unto himself, combining swing, blues, and rock for something at once mischievous and deeply personal. In Personality Crisis: One Night Only, Scorsese and co-director David Tedeschi (The 50 Year Argument), with the help of cinematographer Ellen Kuras (American Utopia), luminously capture the entertainer’s January 2020 Cafe Carlyle set, where he performs as Poindexter singing the Johansen songbook, bringing downtown irreverence to this storied uptown joint. Presented alongside new and archival interviews, the concert is marvelously intimate and a testament to both a lost New York and a performer who remains as fresh and exciting as ever. A Showtime release.
I AIN’T GONNA MARRY by Jim Kweskin and the Jug Band with Maria Muldaur
(From GARDEN OF JOY, Reprise 1967)
I’ve always adored Maria Muldaur - we did a podcast on her previously - and, as an adolescent I would study her braided image on the cover of “Garden of Joy” with relish. She is mostly remembered for her radio hit “Midnight at the Oasis”, but her time with JIm Kweskin and the Jug Band was an unrivaled carnival of sexy fun, and “I Ain’t Gonna Marry” is my favorite cut of all. This rendition swings with sass and bravado - Richard Greene plays the fiddle with sly insinuation, and when Fritz Richmond makes that punctuating “fart” sound at the end of the intro and middle section, I can’t help grinning from ear to ear.
The original source of the tune was obscure, and Kweskin was coy about where he found it, but thankfully, due to the far reach of the internet, I discovered that the original was written and recorded by “The Moanin’ Mama” Sara Martin 44 years earlier, in 1923, on the Okeh label, under the title “Blind Man Blues”. With all due respect to Ms. Martin, in my opinion the original doesn’t hold a candle to Maria’s interpretation.
Garden of Joy was a Reprise release, which provided a major platform for this group, who had made its bones on the smaller Vanguard label, and was positioned here to leap into the big time. That was certainly true for Maria, who recorded several albums for them after she went solo. But, here, at the summit of the Jug Band’s power, she drops this major bombshell with unimpeded charismatic power.
CBS Studio Nashville, TN, May 3, 1969
CBS Studio B, NYC May 1, 1970The 1969 material includes: *Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Billy Wotten (guitars) Marshall Grant (bass)
W.S. Holland (drums).
The 1970 sessions include:
George Harrison (guitar)
Charlie Daniels (bass & backing vocals)
Billy Mundi (drums)
Bob Johnson (piano)
Produced by Bob Johnson, this session was conducted three days after the Nashville Skyline LP was recorded in the same studio, with different musicians. Tracks: Nashville, 1969:
Ghost Riders In The Sky
Cupid
All I Have To Do Is Dream
Gates Of Eden
I Threw It All Away
I Don't Believe You
Matchbox (*Carl Perkins)
True Love (Carl Perkins)
Telephone Line
Fishing Blues (frag.) (Henry Thomas***) (1)
Honey Just Allow Me One More Chance
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
New York, 1970:
Song To Woody
Mama You Been On My Mind
Don't Think Twice [inst]
Yesterday (*Lennon/McCartney)
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
Da Doo Run Run (Barry/Spector)
One Too Many Mornings
This one gets a little contentious. Rich, never one to shy away from challenging conventional wisdom, puts up a strict gauntlet for me to defend my love of this admittedly middle-of-the spectrum Dylan classic.
But, I hold my ground valiantly because, since the age of 13, after first hearing this cut off my Columbia record club copy of "Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits", I have pursued my Dylanological inclinations, which continue to this day.
I put this savage tone poem alongside John Lennon's "How do you Sleep?' as a blueprint on how to eviscerate someone in song. Now, of course we know who Lennon addressed, but the question as to who Dylan was lambasting remains open. This is one of the areas Rich and I address.
PICK YOURSELF UP by Mel Torme (DCC Jazz, 1998)
Life is a series of ups and downs - a continuous challenge to renew and reinvent yourself. You can be rolling along, on top of the world, then the next day become lost in a fog of turmoil. I have experienced this several times in my life, most bitterly in recent years. But, I am not alone in this - I believe it is a universally shared phenomenon - and, in this song Mel Torme offers, if not an antidote to disaster, a prescription for practical optimism.
Pick Yourself Up was originally written in 1936, by Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern, to be performed by the inimitable Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the movie Swing Time. In the number Fred, breezily attempting to seduce dance teacher Ginger, begs for her instruction. This charade of awkwardness, of course, quickly develops into the most delicious demonstration of tandem terpsichore ever filmed.
Mel’s equally breezy, live, vocal gymnastics, abetted by wizard bassist Jay Leonhart, transforms the song, imbuing it with a deeper meaning. In their hands it becomes a brisk, bracing splash of cold water in the face, saying “Buck up, Boyo - You’re not defeated! Try, try again!
Jackie "The K" Zeman, ex wife of the late and ultra great New York DJ Murray "The K" Kaufman, AKA "The Fifth Beatle", has boarded The Mystery Train at 70 years of age.
Jackie had been known over the past decades as Bobbi Spencer of "General Hospital" fame where she performed in 800 episodes.
Murray left us in February of 1982.
There's going to be a Dance Party Reunion at a secret rendezvous tonight.
I have no doubt Jackie saved the last dance for him.
Recorded Live At The Brooklyn Fox Theater- 1963
1) So Much In Love- The Tymes
2) Be My Baby- The Ronettes
3) She Cried- Jay and The Americans
4) Town Without Pity- Gene Pitney
5) Shop Around- Smokey Robinson and The Miracles
6) You Can't Sit Down- The Dovells
7) Walk On By- Dionne Warwick
BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN
BY BURL IVES (DECCA, 1956)
I had a record when I was a kid called “Burl Ives Sings For Fun”, and it made such an impression on me that I can still recall all the songs. In fact, twenty years later, I won my first professional, New York acting job by auditioning with one of the tunes from that collection: The Fox….”The fox went out on the prowl one night, begged to the moon to give him light, he had many a mile to go that night, before he reached the town-O….”
Burl’s high tenor stirred something deep within me, and still does - In Big Rock Candy Mountain, when he goes into that slow vocal ascent with the buuuuzzzzzinnnn of the bees, my heart swells. This still happens, despite my ambivalence toward what Burl personally did to save his career during the blacklist of the 1950s.
I discovered that taint while in the Smithsonian doing some research on folk music, and I ran across a Burl Ives Sea Chantey songbook reviewed by Pete Seeger in Sing Out magazine. Pete admitted that he liked the book, and reflected that some might think that strange, given the fact that Burl was “a stool pigeon.” This upset me so much that I ended up writing a play about the betrayal of their relationship during that period. But, if Pete could forgive Burl, as he did 41 years later, when they appeared together at a benefit concert shortly before Burl’s death, so can I.
Big Rock Candy Mountain is one of the songs on that album. Originally written and recorded by Harry McClintock in 1928, Big Rock Candy Mountain is described as an idyllic destination, imagined by an un-housed man, and it evokes a feeling of comfort, warmth, and joy for me. Check it out and see if you don’t feel better, too.
RING A DING DING TIME
COME FLY WITH ME by Frank Sinatra (Capitol, 1958)
This is my 100th episode, and it seems appropriate to end the Captain Billy series here with Frank Sinatra. The practice of going through my 8 track collection and luxuriating in the music of my youth has been a tonic, getting me through a season of grief and isolation. And, now, as I pack up my house of 26 years, parsing through and divesting myself of some weighty possessions, I sense that it may also be time to move on to other occupations.
My partner, Richie B, has always been a devotee of Blue Eyes, - (he’s been lobbying for Frank’s induction into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame for years) - and when I started collecting 8 tracks by amassing large lots of unidentified carts, there were more Sinatra tapes appearing at my door than by any other artist. This album is from the jazzy, Rat-Pack period Frank, my favorite Sinatra era by far. The early, crooning, Bobby-Soxer’s Dreamboat never did it for me. But these piquant Capitol recordings have it all: the swing, the manly heartbreak, and winking sexy fun of America’s all time greatest male interpreter of popular song, during the time that that form dominated American culture.
Arranged by the jaunty Billy May, everything about this “concept” album - (a musical trip around the world) - shows The Chairman of the Board at his ring a ding ding best. Dig those syncopated horn pops and flirty flutes as they insinuate themselves around Frank’s relaxed articulations. Here, Sinatra is perfecting his ability to mine deeper layers of meaning from lyrical phrases by stopping and bending time. It is an art exhibition, by a master of communication, at the pinnacle of his craft.
One more thing - For the past 20 years I have been fortunate to have worked at an Acting school situated directly across the street from the iconic Capitol Records building - the edifice that Frank built, and I have some wonderful memories of teaching in a classroom of windows, with blinds raised, so we could watch that cylindrical building of legend be bathed in a rosy Hollywood sunset. So, I salute you, home of my heroes, the Beatles, and of Richie’s - Frank Sinatra. That’s all, folks.
SUNNY SIDE OF MY STREET
EPISODE 2: THE PINK PANTHER THEME by Henry Mancini (RCA, 1963)
There is something irresistible about the creeping sax signature (swung by Plas Johnson), that gets me every time. Maybe it’s the accompanying cute image of that hapless, animated feline (so reminiscent of Wiley Coyote) curtesy of David DePatie and Fritz Freleng, that seals the delicious deal, but whatever the synaptic connection, this tune sparks pure musical happiness in my cerebral cortex. And, I’m not alone - Henry Mancini’s frothy concoction was a smash single that sold half a million copies, went to the top ten, and won 3 grammies
And, of course, don’t forget that this was the ditty that kicked off the series of films that introduced Peter Seller’s bumbling Inspector Clouseau, an eternal avatar of funny, to the world. If you’re feeling blue, take Norman Cousin’s prescription, and screen those classic comedy films to make yourself feel better. I also learned that this pepto bismol colored cat is associated with Cancer awareness - a very appropriate shade for the elixir of healing. So, go ahead and take a swig!
NO BERLIN
NIGEL LIVED by Murray Head (Columbia 1973)
Concept (with a capital C) album Nigel Lived was released in the same year as Lou Reed’s Berlin, and although neither one was deemed acceptable radio fare, and both are theatrically based, playing on disturbing subject matter, they are light years apart. Berlin has been recognized as a masterpiece, a gut-wrenching portrait of abuse, co-dependence, and addiction, and Nigel Lived….? Well, frankly it’s hard to tell what it’s about. We’ve been told it concerns a starry eyed young musician who comes to the big city, experiences disillusionment, and takes to heroin. However, even after a close listen with the lyrics at my side, (link included below) I had a hard time following the thread.
The original release came with a “found diary” of lyrics, but the lush production by Nick DeCaro is so deeply layered, it’s almost impossible to discern a consistent story line beneath the baroque atmosphere. Often the compelling vocal stylings of Murray Head are mixed too low or at odds with an increasingly chaotic arrangement. This is ambition run riot.
Its existence went unheralded, and Mr. Head, a successful musical stage and film performer (Jesus Christ Superstar; Chess, Sunday Bloody Sunday) never performed the songs in public - until now. Intervention records has recently remastered the Phil Brown engineered recording on 180gram vinyl, and that release was very successful, leading Mr. Head to reconsider reopening the Nigel Lived song cache and sharing it live with the world. As a sympathetic thespian I applaud him. Parts of the opus are delightful listening, and rendered live without the added filigree, this dynamic performer has a shot at making his original concept comprehensible.
https://www.karaoke-lyrics.net/lyrics/head-murray/pacing-on-the-station-88213
A HUNDRED YEARS FROM TODAY BY JACK TEAGARDEN
(BRUNSWICK, 1933)
I first heard the name Jack Teagarden from my junior high school bandmate, Bill Teagarden - (I can’t remember if he told me he WAS or WAS NOT related to the famous trombonist. In any case I don’t think I actually heard the man’s music until later in life when I scored a Time/LIfe 8 track collection of his work, which included this song.
From the moment the sound waves created by Jack’s slurring, insouciant vocal delivery hit my aural receptors I started grinning from ear to ear. The unimpeachable philosophical argument of the lyrics put obviously in service to a seduction has stayed with me since that first listen. The “live for today” - Be Here Now - cosmic sentiment has been articulated many times through many iterations, but never, for me, so persuasively.
Written by Victor Young, Ned Washington, and Joe Young, this standard has been recorded by all the mid-20th century vocal greats (Ethel Waters with Benny Goodman made a hit with it), but give me the trombonist from Texas any day. He was only 28 when he recorded this side, but he sounds like a stewed, ageless sorcerer casting a love spell.
JUST PLAIN BILL?
JUST AS I AM by Bill Withers (Sussex, 1971)
Bill Withers was uncategorizable. Was he a soul artist? A folk musician? A blues singer? He certainly was no pop star. He picked a nylon string guitar, for God’s sakes! But, even so, he was one of the most covered songwriters who ever plied the craft. His appeal was universal. There hasn’t been any aspiring singer, of any genre, who hasn’t tried to put over Lean on Me or Ain’t No Sunshine.
Bill belonged to all of us. Just As I Am was Bill’s debut album, produced by one of the premier soul artists, Booker T Jones, but in it he covers folk avatar Fred Neil’s Everybody’s Talkin’, and Paul McCartney’s Let it Be. Listen to Grandma’s Hands and you can hear the guitar of rock icon Steven Stills. The MG’s Duck Dunn plays some of the bass parts, but so does Chris Etheridge of The Flying Burrito Brothers.
Withers narrates part of his story himself in the cut Do it Good. The son of a miner from Slab Fork, West Virginia, Bill worked as a machinist for Douglas Aircraft, IBM, and Ford - all the while sending out demo tapes until Clarence Avant signed him to Sussex, where he hit it with Ain’t No Sunshine at the age of 32 - way over the hill by pop star standards. He’s pictured on the label holding his lunch pail, dressed in a t shirt and jeans - and when he first hit pay dirt, he refused to quit his job, saying that the music business was “fickle”. Is it ever! The common touch was always part of Bill’s magic. And, of course, an uncanny talent and instinct, not to mention a warm baritone that poured like honey out of America’s car radios.
When he was inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 he was characteristically understated when he said: “I don’t think I’ve done bad for a guy from Slab Fork, West Virginia.” Neither do we.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/lonnie-mack-blues-rock-guitar-great-dead-at-74-178000/
LONNIE MACK, THE blues-rock pioneer who influenced an entire generation of guitarists like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Duane Allman, Eric Clapton and Keith Richards, died Thursday at a medical facility near his home in Smithville, Tennessee. Mack was 74. Alligator Records confirmed the guitar great’s death, adding that Mack had died of natural causes.
In Mack’s bio, he claims he started learning guitar at the age of five and, after dropping out of school in the 7th grade, pursued a professional music career as a young teenager. He played bars around the Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky stateliness before signing with Cincinnati’s Fraternity Records. Mack also served as a session guitarist for artists like James Brown, Hank Ballard and Freddie King.
Mack’s 1963 LP The Wham of That Memphis Man!, recorded for the Cincinnati-based Fraternity Records, boasted Mack’s instrumental rendition of Chuck Berry’s “Memphis,” which became a surprise Billboard Top Five hit. Mack soon became known for his “blue-eyed soul” style of singing and his virtuosic guitar abilities that straddled genres like country, blues and R&B and, as Rolling Stone noted in a 1968 review, “a pioneer in rock guitar soloing.”
The Wham of That Memphis Man!‘s single “Wham!” also found the guitarist making groundbreaking use of a Bigsby tremolo bar that he appended to his trademark Flying V guitar; because of his work on the album, the Bigsby tremolo bar was unofficially dubbed the “Whammy bar” by a generation of guitarists. “Nobody can play with a whammy-bar like Lonnie. He holds it while he plays and the sound sends chills up your spine,” Stevie Ray Vaughan, an acolyte of Mack’s, would later say.
WHAT A CONCEPT!
OGDENS’ NUT GONE FLAKE by Small Faces (1968, Immediate)
You recognize the famous, round, Victorian, snuff tobacco tin cover? It was designed by Nick Twedell and Pete Brown, and announced to Acid heads everywhere that this album was going to be a trip to be reckoned with, and it did not disappoint. Thought by many to be the first Rock n Roll concept record, Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake was the premier British, hot house musical flower from that psychedelic garden, mixing British Music Hall with rocking blues - a recipe that also worked marvelously for Ray Davies and The Kinks. The Artful Dodger-esque ditty Lazy Sunday, brayed by future Humble Pie frontman Steve Marriott, became the big hit, and the album went to #1 in the UK.
Side two is dedicated to a single, 19 minute, fairy tale opus, “Happiness Stan”, narrated by comedian Stanley Unwin in his own nonsense language. It recounts the story of a boy named Stan who goes looking for the other half of the moon when it’s on the wane. He rescues a house fly that grows to enormous size, able to transport Stan to the place where he learns the meaning of life. Fanciful? But, of course, and delivered in an insouciant Cockney manner, abetted by processed vocals, keyboards, and guitars. Captain Billy has already covered The Faces with Rod Stewart, which showcases them as an unparalleled R and B outfit, but this thing was the apex of psychedelic “High” Art” - but, never taking itself too seriously.
Ps: There was some controversy stirred up by genius entrepreneur manager-producer Andrew Loog Oldham, when he published an ad for the record which parodied The Lord’s Prayer - just another aspect of its hallucinogenic conception.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/07/04/the-gospel-according-to-mavis-staples
Mavis Staples has been a gospel singer longer than Elizabeth II has worn the crown. During concerts, sometimes, she might take a seat and rest while someone in her band bangs out a solo for a chorus or two. No one minds. Her stage presence is so unfailingly joyful—her nickname is Bubbles—that you never take your eyes off her. Staples sings from her depths, with low moans and ragged, seductive growls that cut through even the most pious lyric. She is sanctified, not sanctimonious. In her voice, “Help Me Jesus” is as suggestive as “Let’s Do It Again.” When she was a girl, singing with her family ensemble, the Staple Singers, churchgoers across the South Side of Chicago would wonder how a contralto so smoky and profound could issue from somebody so young.
She is eighty-two. While singers a fraction of her age go to great lengths to preserve their voices, drinking magical potions and warming up with the obsessive care of a gymnast, she doesn’t hold back. Time, polyps, and a casual disdain for preservation have conspired to narrow her range and sand down her old shimmer, but she is not about to hum lightly through a rehearsal. A little ginger tea and onward she goes. Singing is what connects her to the world.
Sly, sociable, and funny, Staples reminds you of your mother’s most reliable and cheerful friend, the one who comes around with good gossip and a strawberry pie. Her cheeks are round and smooth; her hair is done in a copper bob; her resting expression is one of delight. “She is a ray of sunshine,” Bonnie Raitt, her frequent touring companion, said. “She’s never cranky. She has an abiding belief in God and His plan and believes the world is moving toward a higher and more loving world.” Staples has spent the past few decades lending her voice to a startling range of collaborators: Prince, Arcade Fire, Nona Hendryx, Ry Cooder, David Byrne. Anyone who has something to say, she’ll help them say it, in an inimitable gospel voice. One collaborator, Jeff Tweedy, of Wilco, said, “All day long, Mavis is having a good time. She’s excited about making music and just being alive. I hope I have that energy when I’m her age, but the truth is I don’t even have it now.”
And yet life has its way of wearing down even the most radiant spirit. For two years, during the worst of the pandemic, Staples stayed home in Chicago—she lives in a modern high-rise overlooking Lake Michigan—and was, like just about everyone else in the music business, unable to perform or record. She watched cable news and saw the ravaging effect that covid-19 was having on folks her age. She didn’t go out, and she let no one in. For company, she’d pick up her phone and check in with “the Twitter people.” The empty days went on and on. “Oh, man, I hated it,” she said. There was only one thing left to do. “I’d start singing around the house. Mostly our old stuff, the songs we started singing when I was a kid: ‘Didn’t It Rain,’ ‘Help Me Jesus.’ ”
The pandemic was the least of it. The passage of time has relentlessly winnowed the comforts of her old life. For decades, she performed in the cocoon of a family that was remarkably warm, loving, and coöperative. Compared with the Jacksons, the Turners, or the Beach Boys, the Staple Singers is a story free of dark drama. But now the other members of Mavis Staples’s family—her father, Roebuck; her mother, Oceola; her brother, Pervis; her sisters, Cleotha, Cynthia, and Yvonne—are gone. “It’s just me now,” she said. ..
NO ONE HIT WONDER
FULFILLINGNESS FIRST FINALE by Stevie Wonder (Tamla, 1974)
Thank the Lord for Stevie Wonder! He’s always been with me, energizing me with ecstatic revelations. His joyful music got me through adolescence and young manhood, providing spiritual sustenance and joy. His massive cultural contribution cannot be done justice in a short essay - only obeisance. And, of course I’m hardly alone in that opinion. In 1975, at the 17th Grammy Awards, he was given his second consecutive Album of the Year prize for this record, which had topped the LP and Tapes charts, as well as the Soul.
Fulfillingness First Finale is the fourth of five recordings regarded as products of his “classic” period, starting with Music of My Mind, and culminating with Songs in the Key of Life. I distinctly remember the first time I heard TMOMM, and the phrase: “my woman wants to be a super-woman, but is that really in her mind?” Perhaps he was paying tribute to the indomitable Syreeta Wright, his life (briefly) and work partner (for 2 decades), whom he married in 1970 at the age of 20, and divorced 18 months later. But this “marriage of true minds” coincided with Stevie’s discovery of the synth - the instrument he turned into a household appliance.
Another thing to celebrate about Stevie and Syreeta is how they fought for and gained autonomy from Motown, the institution that had steered Stevie’s career since childhood, in 1971, with the album Where I’m Coming From. Musical restlessness and social consciousness drove them to tour with the Rolling Stones in ‘72, and embrace wider audiences across the musical spectrum. Listen to “Heaven is 10 Zillion Lightyears Away” with its folk rock chordings, and you feel the confluence of universal soul pouring out to embrace you.
One thing that blew my mind was to learn that, following a near-fatal auto accident which put Stevie into a coma - he created this monumental work. It makes sense that it has been noted to be a more reflective, personal statement. This is what artists do: convert the raw experiences of life into catharsis.
Mr. Bukowski exhaled more conspiratorial humanity within three minutes then most alleged philosophers emanated in a life span.
Charles Bukowski was born in Andernach, Germany, on August 16, 1920, the only child of an American soldier and a German mother. At the age of three, he came with his family to the United States and grew up in Los Angeles. He attended Los Angeles City College from 1939 to 1941, then left school and moved to New York City to become a writer. His lack of publishing success at this time caused him to give up writing in 1946 and spurred a ten-year stint of heavy drinking. After he developed a bleeding ulcer, he decided to take up writing again. He worked a wide range of jobs to support his writing, including dishwasher, truck driver and loader, mail carrier, guard, gas station attendant, stock boy, warehouse worker, shipping clerk, post office clerk, parking lot attendant, Red Cross orderly, and elevator operator. He also worked in a dog biscuit factory, a slaughterhouse, a cake and cookie factory, and he hung posters in New York City subways.
Bukowski published his first story when he was twenty-four and began writing poetry at the age of thirty-five. His writing often featured a depraved metropolitan environment, downtrodden members of American society, direct language, violence, and sexual imagery, and many of his works center around a roughly autobiographical figure named Henry Chinaski. His first book of poetry was published in 1959; he went on to publish more than forty-five books of poetry and prose, including Pulp (Black Sparrow, 1994), Screams from the Balcony: Selected Letters 1960-1970 (1993), and The Last Night of the Earth Poems (1992). He died of leukemia in San Pedro on March 9, 1994.
"There’s no place in this world where I’ll belong when I’m gone And I won’t know the right from the wrong when I’m gone And you won’t find me singin’ on this song when I’m gone So I guess I’ll have to do it while I’m here
And I won’t feel the flowing of the time when I’m gone All the pleasures of love will not be mine when I’m gone My pen won’t pour out a lyric line when I’m gone So I guess I’ll have to do it while I’m here"
Phil Ochs
AUSTIN CONSIGLIERE
OLD NO. 1 by Guy Clark (RCA, 1975)
Guy Clark’s farmhouse was ground zero for a whole generation of America’s finest songwriters. Check out the scene in the “Outlaw Country” doc, Heartworn Highways, with the babyfaced Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell, and Guy harmonizing and trading songs and stories at the kitchen table. This was a summit meeting of Towne Van Zandt’s Gospel spreaders keeping the flame of devotion burning- and Guy, Towne’s best friend, was John the Baptist. Or, watch that David Letterman clip, 24 years later, with Guy, Jerry Jeff Walker, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Nanci Griffith, Steve, and Rodney standing up there like Mount Rushmore, singing “Desperadoes Waiting for a Train”, and you realize that the gospel seeds that had been spread in the 70’s had flowered across the nation.
Well, that signature song appears on this, Guy’s debut album, and it’s like encountering the Dead Sea Scrolls - the original rendition. Add to this the elegiac, definitive version of L.A. Freeway - the song Jerry Jeff made into a folk-rock hit - (with my high school buddy, Jon Simons on harp), and you begin to intuit that you’re listening to history being made - and, oddly, it still sounds brand new.
To quote the liner notes in Apple Music, a Guy Clark song…”isn’t as loose as Walker, or as poetic as Townes Van Zandt, but his songs were the best built.” In 2006, this professional luthier put out the album “Workbench Songs” who’s title characterizes his steady carpenter’s hand. It was nominated for best Contemporary Folk/Americana Grammy. By this time the much covered consigliere of Austin was a universally acknowledged master and national treasure. In 2019 Steve Earle recorded an album of his mentor’s songs and I made the pilgrimage to Amoeba Records to get my copy signed and my picture taken with the man who knew the man who wrote these songs.
CHEERFULLY MORBID
GILBERT O’SULLIVAN HIMSELF by Gilbert O’Sullivan (MAM/London, 1971)
This unique artist scored a monster mega-hit with a song about suicide - “Alone Again (Naturally)” - How many times has that been done? The melody was so darn poppy and melodic that the tragic story outlines were impossible not to sing along with: “In a little while from now, If I'm not feeling any less sour, I promise myself to treat myself and visit a nearby tower,
And climbing to the top will throw myself off, In an effort to make it clear to whoever
wants to know what it's like when you're shattered” Tra-La-La…..
Wow. And, this ditty went to #1 and sold 2 million copies, intimating that the American taste for the morbid runs deeper than our “Never Say Die” attitude may suggest.
Raymond Edward O’Sullivan, who fashioned his “Newsies” look after 1920s film characters, had other hits before and since, but never any with the impact that this odd anomaly created. “Himself” is a strong album, featuring a range of virtuosity in percussive piano style - (self-taught), and original writing chops. He’s been compared to Paul McCartney and Randy Newman, but is definitely his own man. Maybe he’s a hybrid of the two: with the sweet melodic sense of Paul and the biting irony of Randy.
And, at 78 he’s still at it: He retains a loyal fanbase in Japan, and in 2022 he put out a new album entitled “Driven”. Indeed, he must be. And, re-listening to this album 50 years later, his approach seems fresher and less coy that I remembered. He may be due for a late-career resurgence, similar to Yusuf Cat Stevens. I mused over the content of this song a lot at the time, and even though mortality wasn’t on my mind back then, Alone Again’s example of greater, more complex subject matter in songwriting raised my consciousness.
"Palisades Park" (from Wikipedia)
Chuck Barris wrote a song about an amusement park and it was suggested he use the name of an amusement park as the title. One night he was in Manhattan when he looked toward the New Jersey Palisades Cliffs, on which the amusement park sat. That was when inspiration hit and the title was added. Years later the Palisades Amusement Park closed, on September 12, 1971.[2] A tribute to New Jersey's Palisades Amusement Park, it is an up-tempo rock and roll tune led by a distinctive organ part. The track also incorporates amusement park sound effects, including the sounds of screaming riders on the roller coasters, and the quoting of a slower version of "Entrance of the Gladiators", played on an organ imitating a hurdy-gurdy or calliope. In the song, the singer takes a walk after dark and discovers Palisades Park, where he meets and falls in love with a girl. Among the list of rides and attractions listed in the song are: Shoot the Chute, Rocket Ship, Roller Coaster, Loop the Loop, Merry Go Round, Tunnel of Love, and the Ferris Wheel.
Chart performance
Released by Swan Records as a B-side to "June, July and August," "Palisades Park" broke in when a Flint, Michigan radio DJ played it by mistake. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 23–30 June 1962,[3] On the Hot R&B Sides chart, the song went to #15.[4] "Palisades Park" was the biggest hit of Cannon's career.[5]
And, check out Freddy Cannon's webpage:
https://www.freddycannon.com/default.htm
“MY BIGGEST CRUSH”
EPISODE #2 -: BLUE by Joni Mitchell (1971, Reprise)
From the first ringing chords of the dulcimer, and that quavering, pain-wracked voice swooning, “I am on a lonely road, and I am traveling, traveling, traveling…” I was in love – madly, permanently enamored of Joni Mitchell. Everything about her – her unmatchable talent, her neurotic self-dramatizing, her doomed romanticism… turned me on. Not sexually. My love for Joni Mitchell was purely aesthetic, but it was undeniable and achingly real. And it set me on a self-destructive path, hooking up with a succession of difficult, complicated, brilliant women. Women I could never keep, women with whom I could never feel truly at home.
I’m a sucker for talented women. Often though, such talent leaves very little oxygen to share in any room. Eventually I got wise, and after awhile my love life yielded a happier ending. But, oh, the ecstatic misery of doomed romance!
Blue is counted as one of the greatest albums ever made. This is not an obscure choice, but my truth is my truth, and I must pay homage. Listening to songs like River (I wish I had a river I could skate away on…), A Case of You (I could drink a case of you…), California (Will you take me as I am, strung out on another man….?) conjure an emotional tidal surge with no boundaries, and I was pulled in by the heady undertow of yearning.
Biographers will tell you that James Taylor, Graham Nash, and Cary Raditz (Carey, get out your cane…) are the inspirations for these songs, but 50 years on they hardly matter. What counts is that eternal voice, intimately confessing her regrets and desires to you, the listener. And then, it’s just Joni and you, alone together, locked in an artistic embrace.
“BLUE”- JONI MITCHELL – 1971 – Reprise Records 1) All I Want 2) My Old Man 3) Little Green 4) Carey 5) Blue 6) California 7) This Flight Tonight 8) River 9) A Case Of You 10) The Last Time I Saw Richard
Mesmerized, O & E, episode 10
“To Be or Not To Be”
As O approached the portal back to the world of the living, he suddenly sensed that E was not behind him. He turned around — to see her immediately whisked back into the darkness of the Netherworld. At that moment he realized that his faith had been tested, and he had failed the test.
Now inconsolable, O realizes there will be no second chances, and he must face the rest of his life alone.
MARRY ME, LAURA!
GONNA TAKE A MIRACLE by Laura Nyro with Labelle (1971, Columbia)
When I was in high school, dating Cindy, every time The Fifth Dimension’s Wedding Bell Blues came on the radio, with it’s repeating plea - “MARRY ME, BILL!” -her family would tease us mercilessly. I couldn’t escape the power of that record. Later, I realized that that song was created by the ultimate singer-songwriter’s singer-songwriter, Laura Nyro, who’s other familiar hit compositions include Eli’s Coming (3 Dog Night), and And When I Die (Blood, Sweat, and Tears). Laura herself, however, remained a cult attraction.
The benighted Nyro (born Nigro, the child of Russian-Polish parents in the Bronx) died young, like her mother, of ovarian cancer at the age of 49. Prior to the ordeals that characterized her later life, the musical atmosphere of that borough bathed the budding songsmith - (as it did Dion DiMucci) - in deep, resonating waves of doo-wop, soul, R&B, and pop. This album of covers is a trembling masterwork of tribute to those influences, assisted by the one and only Patti Labelle, who had become a sort of caretaker for the fragile Nyro. On the tour that preceded this recording Labelle would cook for her friend.
Laura’s love life was fraught, her careerist stumbles are the stuff of legend: (Best friend David Geffen was heartbroken when she re-signed with Columbia, instead of joining him on his fledgling Asylum label), but her music remained pure, and timeless.
This recording has always been my favorite of mine - a time traveler’s dream, since I first heard it. R&B titans Gamble and Huff oversaw the production from their seat of soul, in Philadelphia - (although, reputedly, Laura was the one fully in charge throughout the proceedings). However it came to be, GONNA TAKE A MIRACLE is a true miracle. Every cut brings tears to my eyes, and delight to my ears.
"He looked cool in the jungle"—Moulty on rock and roll hair
Interviews in the essential Ugly Things magazine rarely disappoint. In the latest issue, writer Greg Prevost and editor and publisher Mike Stax talk with the Barbarians' legendary, hook-handed drummer Victor "Moulty" Moulton (in a conversation edited from two sit-downs spanning twenty years). Apart from some execrable homophobia —Moulton became a born again Christian after his career in rock and roll, and his attitudes about playing with the Barbarians in queer clubs in his hometown of Provincetown are unfortunate—the interview's a terrific glimpse into the Barbarian' rapid ascent and just as rapid commercial decline. It's another UT must-read for anyone interested in mid-1960s rock and roll and the record business.
My favorite line occurs when either Prevost or Stax asks Moulton about his band's notoriously long hair, a collective mane born in the band's small town which contributed to a pretty savage look (and sound) for 1964. Moulton explains:
We didn't have long hair because of music. We were all musicians all the time but we grew our long hair because we saw Tarzan on television. Johnny Weissmuller was our hero; he had long hair and he looked cool in the jungle.
http://www.nosuchthingaswas.com/2016/04/he-looked-cool-in-junglemoulty-on-rock.html
Mesmerized, O & E, episode 7
“The Dream Continues On.”
One night E comes to O in a dream: she tells him to meet her in the woods - he should follow the stream until he comes to a gate, the portal to another world. There will be a 3 headed creature guarding the gate. O will have to convince the sentinel to let him pass, but he is susceptible to the charms of music. She will be waiting on the other side.
MESMERIZED, O & E, Episode 8
“Lay Down”
O follows the instructions that E gave him in his dream. He slips out of the house and pads his way, quietly to the stream. He follows the path along the water, until he arrives at the portal to the Nether-World. And, there, standing on alert at the gate, is the 3-headed Dog-creature, Cerberus, snarling and snapping his jaws. O approaches him gently.
Then, following the lead E gave him, O croons hypnotically, attempting to quiet the beast with a dreamy lullaby.
Mesmerized, Vol 2.
O & E, episode 9
“The Equation”
O has made it past Cerberus, and has entered through the gate of the Netherworld, where he meets E.
E hesitates about returning to the material world, because she has doubts about O’s ability to retain belief in his newly realized faith in the “true” nature of reality. She tests him with a metaphysical question: Can you completely trust in what you cannot prove?
**John Coltrane departed this mortal plane more than fifty years ago; today he remains among us, more alive than ever. His sound continues to grab the ears of an ever-widening circle of fans. His legend is stone solid: planted firmly in our culture as that of any 20th century musical giant. His saxophone sound—brooding, searching, dark—is still one of the most recognizable in modern jazz. His influence stretches over styles and genres, and transcends cultural boundaries. The modern ideal of music serving a deeply spiritual, connective purpose? A defining facet of John Coltrane.
To Coltrane, a musician was a message-giver; making music was an endeavor tied to a larger, greater good. “I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music. To Coltrane, a musician was a message-giver; making music was an endeavor tied to a larger, greater good. “I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music,” Coltrane wrote in 1964 in a letter to his listeners, telling of a prayer to God. In 1966, less than a year before his death, he stated:*“I know that there are bad forces, forces that bring suffering to others and misery to the world. I want to be the opposite force. I want to be the force which is truly for good.”Jazz journalist Nat Hentoff, who interviewed and championed Coltrane, praised him more soberly. “By the time* A Love Supreme hit, Trane struck such a spiritual chord in so many listeners that people started to think of him as being beyond human. I think that’s unfair. He was just a human being like you and me -- but he was willing to practice more, to do all the things that somebody has to do to excel. The real value in what John Coltrane did was that what he accomplished, he did as a human.”**
Mesmerized, with Bill Mesnik
O & E, episode 4
“I Can Breathe”
After a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast, O decides to take a hike around the property. As he meanders through the surrounding woods and fields, he can feel his body start to unwind. He feels at one with his surroundings, and grateful to be alive.
Mesmerized, O & E, episode 5
“Too Late”
O hasn’t been checking his social media. In fact, he put the phone away altogether, and it hadn’t even been charged. It’s been a few weeks, and he’s gotten out of touch completely. One night, he decides to check in. He charges his phone and sees several texts from E, saying that she’s feeling sick and checking herself into the hospital.
O checks his Facebook, and sees a horrifying post from E, sent from Intensive Care, saying “Pray For Me”. .. and, then… nothing.
Mesmerized, O & E, Episode 6
“The New Age”
O is out of his mind with grief. He feels guilty for driving E away, and putting her at risk. He is torturing himself that he deliberately avoided his phone for the last few weeks. He refuses to admit that E is dead.
Leo and Carly have been in touch with E’s family, and they have made all the arrangements. They’ve tried to tend to O, who is becoming irrational. They are basically on 24 hour suicide watch now.
O has convinced himself that there must be a way to communicate with E’s spirit.
WANNA KNOW WHAT IT WAS LIKE BACK IN THE DAY?
LIVE AT LEEDS by The Who (Decca, 1970)
The Who was one of the greatest live bands of all time, bar none, and this document proves it. In 1970 they were at the height of their powers, having just pulled off the coup of creating the first “Rock Opera” Tommy. They followed that miracle up with a massive US tour with the intention of recording the performances in order to put out a killer live album next. However, a burnt out Pete Townshend was reportedly not in the mood to be sorting through all those recordings to choose the best cuts, so he regrettably told the engineer to “burn all the tapes”.
As a compensatory gesture, it was decided to schedule a two night gig in northern England, at The University of Leeds, to record those concerts (without audience noise), and release the results. And, wow. This momentous outing, combining their hit singles, cuts from Tommy, and old rockabilly has been preserved for the ages, a portrait of the original lineup of one of Rock’s most exciting combos at their absolute pinnacle. The original 1970 release distilled the results into 6 supersonic cuts, culminating in a scorching 16 minute collage of “My Generation.” For my generation this record, with its sly facsimile of a stamped bootleg cover, captivated every nerve ending in our bodies.
All during my freshman year at the University of Iowa Pete Townshend’s power chords, leaping off of his SG Gibson, in “Summertime Blues,” reverberated throughout my dorm hallway, day and night. Every fledgeling guitar player, dreaming dreams of Rock n Roll glory, tried to jam on that riff, as we had, 4 years earlier, on the Trogg’s “Wild Thing” or Van Morrison’s “Gloria.”
Although those halcyon springtime days of youth are long past, those power chords still resonate with the same immediacy - forever fresh, forever torrid.
THE STORY OF O AND E
Many writers and film makers have gone back to Virgil's classic for inspiration over the decades: Tennessee Williams with Orpheus Descending (1957); Marcel Camus' timeless film, Black Orpheus (1959) is a Brazilian Carnavale take, Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice is a theatrical staple, and more recently, the Broadway hit, Hadestown.
My offering was composed in the early months of the pandemic, and still retains the urgency of those days.
Here are the first 3 songs/episodes, with my spoken introductions.
EP 1: OBSESSION - sets the neurotic scene.
EP 2: GET OUT! - O fantasizes an escape from the city.
EP 3: CHOP WOOD, CARRY WATER - Ensconced upstate, O takes some bucolic counsel.
for more reading on the original tale...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpheus_and_Eurydice
In Virgil's classic version of the legend, it completes his Georgics, a poem on the subject of agriculture. Here the name of Aristaeus, or Aristaios, the keeper of bees, and the tragic conclusion was first introduced.[2]
Ovid's version of the myth, in his Metamorphoses, was published a few decades later and employs a different poetic emphasis and purpose. It relates that Eurydice's death was not caused by fleeing from Aristaeus, but by dancing with naiads on her wedding day.
Other ancient writers treated Orpheus's visit to the underworld more negatively. According to Phaedrus in Plato's Symposium,[3] the infernal deities only "presented an apparition" of Eurydice to him. Plato's representation of Orpheus is in fact that of a coward; instead of choosing to die in order to be with his love, he mocked the deities in an attempt to visit Hades, to get her back alive. As his love was not "true"—meaning that he was not willing to die for it—he was punished by the deities, first by giving him only the apparition of his former wife in the underworld and then by having him killed by women.[3]
WHY DID BOBBY GENTRY STOP SINGING?
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/oct/17/bobbie-gentry-trailblazing-queen-of-country
The 60s star – who didn’t just write her own songs but had her own TV show, made her own clothes and painted her own album art – could count Elvis and, later, Taylor Swift as fans. So why did she retire from public view in 1981?
The first time I heard Ode to Billie Joe was on a 1967 Radio 1 special. Amid ornate psychedelic pop sounding a little like Strawberry Fields Forever, this tale of suicide, loneliness and familial breakdown was unlike any record I had ever heard. The place names – Tallahatchee, Carroll County, Choctaw Ridge – were cinematic, the singer’s voice was husky, the string arrangement was minimal and eerie. What I heard was thick mud, damp moss, a barely moving river, dead air. The song was an inescapable fug. You couldn’t move. You had to listen...
A recently released eight-disc box set, The Girl from Chickasaw County, covers the bulk of her recording career: seven albums crammed into a brief period of intense fame between 1967 and 1971. Gentry’s stock has risen over the last decade as she been name-checked by country stars such as Nikki Lane and Kacey Musgraves. Taylor Swift has been coy about the subject of her 2012 song The Lucky One, but it is almost certainly Gentry: “They still tell the legend of how you disappeared, how you took the money and your dignity, and got the hell out.” Gentry effectively retired from the studio in 1971, from the stage in 1981 and hasn’t done an interview in 30-odd years. It was an almost impossible disappearing act, the kind many would love to pull off. She seems a very modern figure, a pioneer for women in pop, and her unavailability has only enhanced her mystique.
CAN YOU DIG IT?
SHAFT by Isaac Hayes (Enterprise, 1971)
As a 19 year old, I didn’t realize that history was being made, but when I saw Isaac Hayes on the Oscars, bedecked in chain-mail, at the keyboard, being wheeled onstage in a cloud of dry ice to sing The Theme From Shaft, I knew something was up. The chicka-chicka of the wah-wah guitar riff had already surgically implanted in my head by AM radio, along with Haye’s chilled delivery of “That Shaft is a baaaad Mutha…” Together, these elements excited the entire country in new and electric ways.
Richard Roundtree said years later that he had an instinct that John Shaft would certainly be the best role of his career - (Hayes was considered, but Gordon Parks wisely persuaded The Black Moses to create the indelible ambience instead) - but, he couldn’t have prepared for the seismic impact that this film would deliver. Director Parks wanted to make a “fun” picture with a Black Action Hero, but Shaft transcended all that. All the creatives and many of the crew were also black; it was filmed largely in Harlem, and tapped into the prevailing Black Power aesthetic zeitgeist, and the film changed the “Blaxploitation” genre forever. Before Shaft, MGM had been struggling, but the studio was rescued by the film, which made 13 million from a half a mil budget.
The soundtrack, with it’s laid back, jazz infused arrangements by Johnny Allen, and bolstered by Haye’s compatriots at Stax, The Bar-Kays, went platinum. In 2014 it was entered into The Library of Congress list of essential recordings.
I coveted a black leather coat like the one that Shaft wore - but the closest I could get was a brown bomber jacket. Nobody was as cool as Shaft or Isaac Hayes - nobody could be. “Damn Straight!”
John Henry Ramistella, 80 years young, remains one of the stellar lights in the Rock n Roll firmament, and The Splendid Bohemians feel that his induction into the Hall should be a no-brainer.
From his meteoric rise at The Whiskey A GoGo in the mid-60's, through his catalogue of AM radio anthems, his indelible TV theme, and his poetic championing of the 70's finest songwriters, Johnny Rivers is an institution unto himself.
10-4 GOOD BUDDY
Say what you will about America, you cannot deny that, against all odds, fortunes can be made by good old American entrepreneurial invention. Submitted for your approval: advertising executive Billie Dale Fries, aka CW McCall, and his monster radio hit “Convoy”.
If you were sentient during 1975 there was no escaping the ubiquitous Citizen’s Band modulated, clarion voice of the fictional trucker, CW McCall as he barreled across the highways of America, calling out to his fellow haulers, inspiring them to break through the barricades of the “Smoky Bears”, going 98 mph. It was number one on the Billboard top 100, and number 2 in the UK - proving that everybody in the English speaking world loved CW’s rebel attitude.
It all started when Adman Billie Dale was working on a campaign for the Bozell and Jacobs agency, to sell “Old Home” bread. He invented a series of spots portraying the flirtations between trucker CW and waitress Mavis, whenever the hauler made his bread deliveries to the “Old Home Filler Up an’ Keep on Truckin’ Cafe”. The catchiness of the spots led Billie Dale to the notion that a radio hit trading on the CB craze might connect with folks, and boy howdy, was he ever spot on.
CW McCall (whose initials stood for “Country and Western,” and whose last name came from a copy of McCall’s magazine that was on Billie Dale’s desk) was so popular that more albums and movies followed, and later, flushed with Clios and cash, CB bought a vacation home in Ouray, CO, where he ran for mayor and served for 6 years. Shortly before his death at the age of 93, Billie Dale Fries gave his blessing to the “Freedom Convoy” protesters in Canada to use his anthem in solidarity. “BREAKER BREAKER, RUBBER DUCKIE, LOOKS LIKE WE GOT US A CONVOY!”
We've got a cure for this winter's Seasonal Affective Disorder: the sunny Samba stylings of master Sax-smith Stan Getz along with the sensual murmurings of Astrud Gilberto - in one of the most "audio-erotic" recordings of all time: THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA.
Jobim's masterpiece started the Bossa Nova craze, and became on of the most covered songs in history, and your dogged musicologists, Bill and Rich, will attempt to uncover why.
Fly down to Rio with us as our ears drink in the Brazilian elixir inspired by the 17 year old Carioca Heloisa Eneida Paes Pinto, as she makes her eternal walk to the sea.
ONE IF BY LAND, TWO IF BY SEA
PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS GREATEST HITS by Paul Revere and the Raiders (Columbia, 1967)
This group, this record: they were fundamental elements in the experience of the 13 year old Captain Billy. My band, The Full House, played a smokin’ cover of “Steppin’ Out”; Dick Clark’s WHERE THE ACTION IS tv show was a can’t miss, daily after-middle school check in; I coveted those Vox amps and Mark Lindsay’s ponytail. And, re-listening to this setlist 56 years later verifies that this band kicked hard and tight. Just ask Quentin Tarantino, who included two of the cuts for the soundtrack of ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD.
America’s answer to the British Invasion actually started earlier, in 1958, in Boise Idaho, when keyboardist Paul Revere and sax player Mark Lindsay met and collaborated in the instrumental group The Downbeats. Revere was the organist’s actual name, so the subsequent donning of Revolutionary outfits was a natural, if cringey gimmick. The fact that Mark Lindsay was also one of America’s best rock singers was a secret weapon.
The initial bombshell was dropped in April, 1963, in Portland, Oregon, when the group recorded the seminal rock standard “Louie Louie” in the same year and the same studio as the Kingsmen (the version everybody remembers): The Northwestern Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings, Inc. studio. But, that didn’t matter. Yes, The Kingsmen’s recording was a one hit mega-wonder, but, the Raiders became a national institution with a string of 12 top 30 hits.
The first incarnation of the Raiders dissolved around the same time that this collection came out, but they kept reforming in various line ups until Revere’s death from cancer in 2014. Like their contemporaries, The Monkees, there was a media hyped, manufactured quality (Producer Terry Melcher fattened their sound with the help of The Wrecking Crew), but the Raider’s street cred as musicians was impeccable, and very few could wail like Mark Lindsay.
Margaret Wycherly (1881-1956) was an English stage actress who appeared in one silent film at the age of 38 (The Thirteenth Chair, 1929, dir. Todd Browning). 12 years later she reemerged as Ma York in Sgt. York opposite Gary Cooper, and was nominated for an Oscar.
But in White Heat, as the conniving and murderous Ma Jarrett, mother to psychopathic killer Cody Jarrett, played by James Cagney, she positively electrifies the screen every moment she appears.
The plot hinges on her throughout, and at the end Cody dies calling her name. This performance is for the ages!
WHAT THE F**K WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?
HOW NOW DOW JONES by The Original Cast (RCA, 1967)
This is the second Broadway soundtrack that Captain Billy has covered, the first being Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot, and even though as a small child I had memorized my parent’s Oliver, The Sound of Music, and My Fair Lady albums, after Rock, Folk and Soul music entered my life, I lost interest in the musicals of the Great White Way completely. As I explained in previous episodes, many of the carts in my collection were not chosen by me; they arrived in big lots, and the experience of discovering some of these hidden treasures is akin to sticking one’s hand into a bag of….. (fill in the blank).
Despite its catchy title, this show was totally unknown to me, although it did run for 220 performances. It was produced and directed by Broadway titans David Merrick and George Abbott. It was film scorer Elmer Bernstein’s only Broadway composition; the book was by Max Shulman, of Dobie Gillis fame, and the lyrics were by Carolyn Leigh — a totally respectable crew. The cast included Woody Allen’s avatar, Tony Roberts, and the whiskey throated Brenda Vaccaro in the leads, and there was even a Tony awarded to featured actor Hiram Sherman for his turn as a crusty stock broker. Yet, somehow the collective memory of this musical was lost to the ozone pretty quickly.
Maybe it’s the complicated plot- (It was always part of the charm of these albums to try and imagine the story as I listened) - but here the labyrinthian plot and convoluted conjunction of characters - (tycoons, stock brokers, government officials, suicidal, mismatched lovers, tour guides, and “the voice of Wall Street”) - had my Pandemic-addled brain yearning for a YouTube training video.
There was a hit that emerged from the chaos, “Step to the Rear”, which you might recognize: it was even used in a Lincoln-Mercury campaign, and there is a charming video of Tony Roberts with a stage full of investor ladies from the suburbs marching around the stage to the song.
Give this recording a try, and see if you can figure it all out.
As he walks on, the Man doesn’t feel happy or sad, but balanced. Who he is is still left to be determined, and that is fine with him.
“Monks, these two extremes ought not to be practiced by one who has gone forth from the household life. There is addiction to indulgence of sense-pleasures, which is low, coarse, the way of ordinary people, unworthy, and unprofitable; and there is addiction to self-mortification, which is painful, unworthy, and unprofitable.” — The Buddha
Georgie Fame, born Clive Powell in Leigh, Lancashire, June 1943 is one of British R&B music’s founding fathers. Fame is the only British star to have scored three number one hits with his only Top 10 chart entries – ‘Yeh Yeh’ in 1964, ‘Get Away’ in 1966 and ‘Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde’ in 1967. But it’s more important to acknowledge his cultural influence. Fame popularized and educated in equal measure. The black music he championed with his band The Blue Flames brought new sounds to Swinging London and bossed venues like the Flamingo Club and the Marquee where he turned the English mod movement on to a whole bag of soul and authentic US urban and country sounds and also the ska and early reggae he heard in the Jamaican cafes and clubs in the Ladbroke Grove area of London. Like his great friend and collaborator Van Morrison, Georgie Fame found himself raised on jazz and blues with a penchant for Mose Allison and Willie Mabon and of course Ray Charles, not to overlook a grounding in the sophisticated rock and rollers like Chuck Berry who defied categorization.
With Latin pop also part of his skill set, Fame can turn his hand to just about anything and since his piano and Hammond organ keyboard brilliance – he is also a fine guitarist – is matched to a gorgeously relaxed vocal style he takes audiences on a melodic journey that combines the sweetest nostalgia with the most up to date interpretations of great songs and songbooks. As a sideman, he has recorded with many artists, including Gene Vincent, Prince Buster, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, Joan Armatrading, Andy Fairweather-Low, Bill Wyman and Van Morrison. Ever on the road, Georgie Fame continues to perform his unique blend of jazz/rhythm and blues for live audiences at clubs and music festivals throughout Europe. He is revered in Scandinavia and Germany and even took a local version of the Blue Flames to Australia where he escaped the English winter and built a rapport with fellow players from another hemisphere.
Having taken piano lessons at an early age the man born Clive Powell in the cotton weaving area of Leigh, Lancashire became a professional musician in the 1950s playing at holiday camps before departing to London aged 16 to seek his fortune. He touted his talents up and down the legendary Tin Pan Alley area of Denmark Street just off Soho where he was spotted by impresarios Lionel Bart and Larry Parnes who christened him Georgie Fame – somewhat against his will. Working with touring rock and rollers like Joe Brown, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran young Fame became battle-hardened and was snapped up by Billy Fury in 1961 to lead his backing band The Blue Flames for whom he arranged and sang. The Blue Flames and Fury parted company and so Georgie took over and secured a three-year residency at the Flamingo Club. The debut Rhythm and Blues at the Flamingo came out in 1963 and was engineered by Glyn Johns and produced by Cliff Richard’s console maestro Ian Samwell. After promoting himself via the offshore pirate radio stations Fame struck gold with his version of “Yeh, Yeh”, a tune first recorded by Mongo Santamaria in the Cuban style. The next significant hit, “Get Away”: was another #1 in 1966 with production from Denny Cordell and a Clive Powell writing credit. The perfect sound for the emerging summer of love
A singer-songwriter, cartoonist, screenwriter, award-winning children’s writer, and actor, Shel Silverstein grew up in Chicago. He started out as a cartoonist, publishing work in Playboy and the military publication Stars & Stripes, before turning to children’s books. Silverstein is the author and illustrator of numerous books, including The Giving Tree (1964), Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974), A Light in the Attic (1981), and Falling Up (1996). His books have been commended for their appeal to both adults and children.
Silverstein’s poems are often darkly humorous, irreverent, and populated with invented characters, such as the “Bloath” in Where the Sidewalk Ends, who dwells “[i]n the undergrowth” and “feeds upon poets and tea.” Silverstein’s poems and stories are accompanied by his simple yet energetic pen-and-ink illustrations. The Giving Tree, a fable about a lifelong relationship between a boy and a tree, has become a classic in the canon of children’s literature and has sold over five million copies.
As a songwriter, Silverstein wrote “The Cover of the Rolling Stone,” recorded by Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show; “Unicorn Song,” for the Irish Rovers; “A Boy Named Sue,” for Johnny Cash; and “Queen of the Silver Dollar,” which Emmylou Harris covered on Pieces of the Sky. Silverstein collaborated with playwright David Mamet on the screenplay Things Change (1988), and they and Elaine May staged a series of one-act plays called Oh, Hell (1991).
WHEN GOOD THINGS HAPPEN FOR BAD PEOPLE
METAMORPHOSIS by The Rolling Stones (ABKCO, 1975)
Where to begin? Briefly, Allen Klein (1931-2009), the notorious wheeler-dealer who managed both the Beatles and the Stones, put out this collection in order to grab some shekels during a contentious negotiation with his disaffected cash cows. (Jagger studied at the London School of Economics, so he had gotten wise, but not early enough). Klein’s bagatelle paid handsomely - the album made it to #8 on the US Billboard chart. The Stones got some back royalty payments, but couldn’t break free of Klein’s ironclad contract.
Mr. Klein’s portfolio was extensive, and a mire I don’t want to wade through here. Suffice it to say that this collection of oddities is worth experiencing, especially if you are a die-hard Stones fan. Even the Kafkaesque cover art elicits morbid delight.
Compiled originally by Bill Wyman, the Stone’s bassist, the album is comprised of some demos intended for other artists, and outtakes from the Beggar’s Banquet, Let it Bleed, and Between the Buttons sessions. Versions of the familiar “Out of Time” and “Heart of Stone” are especially fascinating here, embellished with orchestra, choral voices, and pedal steel. Listening to Mick sing Stevie Wonder’s “I Don’t Know Why” made me smile.
Jimmy Page, John Bonham, Nicky Hopkins, and other luminaries are lending their support here, and the musicianship is great throughout. In fact, as the track list progressed, I had the feeling that I was on a safari across a vast Savanna of the Stone’s influences and influence, and entertained the quixotic notion that their trash had become treasure in the hands of a mercenary.
As the man stands in front of his former home, he is confronted with the thought that, perhaps, things are better left as they are.
…The spirit-world around this world of sense
Floats like an atmosphere, and everywhere
Wafts through these earthly mists and vapours dense
A vital breath of more ethereal air.
Our little lives are kept in equipoise
By opposite attractions and desires;
The struggle of the instinct that enjoys,
And the more noble instinct that aspires…
(from Haunted Houses by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
Warren Zevon has been finally been nominated to enter The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.
Zevon is truly the only class of '23 inductee I truly give a damn about with the exception of George Micheal whom I feel is one hell of a great vocalist and Willie Nelson who is.......well, Willie Nelson.
Warren's induction could assist his estate in many ways, including providing the grand finale to getting his deserved bio film made.
Zevon was so much more than some Rock and Roll singer/ songwriter, Werewolf or Excitable Boy.
He was The Hunter S. Thompson of Popular music. Warren was dangerous, aggressive, poetic, eclectic, loving, politically astute, fragile and as brilliant as a huge comet soaring through the night, Accidentally Like A Martyr.
It took way too long to give him his due primarily because Jan Wenner and his corporate Hall are too busy pandering to an expanded base and are leaving a trail of forgotten giants in the mist of the money they require to remain relevant.
Zevons strengths exceed or are on par with most who have contributed to the history of popular music.
His Ride's Here at last.
Next year, I can only hope that with the continued inclusion of vital figures from varied musical art forms, the Hall can understand why Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra and John Coltrane should be considered next.
All music is a Love Supreme. Get it?
The man, having remembered his former life, struggles with his conflicting desires, whether or not to return to it.
“You can't go back home to your family, back home to your childhood, … back home to a young man's dreams of glory and of fame … back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time — back home to the escapes of Time and Memory.”
Thomas Wolfe
The concept to which The Rascals were dedicated was, in Felix Cavaliere's words, "Marvin Gaye's voice, Ray Charles' piano, Jimmy Smith's organ, Phil Spector's production and The Beatles' writing. Put them all together and you've got what I wanted to do." A White Rock band playing Black Soul music was a new idea for Pop in 1965. "The great thing about music in the 1960s was that people were discovering there was no color barrier in the business. We were respected by the Black groups we loved as much as we respected them," noted Cornish. The Rascals' music was dubbed blue-eyed Soul, a term Cavaliere never cared for. "I always hated the label because it created a separation between Black and White music. It was a marketing concept. As soon as you put a drum in music, it's R&B. I wish it wouldn't have been called blue-eyed Soul. My eyes aren't blue."
The band's first release for Atlantic was called "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" which rose to #52 in the U.S. in 1965, but it was their 1966 effort, "Good Lovin'" that made them Rock 'n' Roll stars. The song quickly rose to the number one spot on Billboard's Hot 100 and went Gold. They followed with two more Top 20 hits, "You Better Run" (#20) and "I've Been Lonely Too Long" (#16) later the same year.
The writing was a key component of the band's success, as sixteen of their eighteen chart records were written by Cavaliere alone or in tandem with frequent collaborator Eddie Brigati. As the song writing progressed, social commentary began to show up in the music. The group's growing ambition was reflected in the change from The Young Rascals to simply The Rascals. The word "young" had originally been inserted before the band's name for legal reasons. It seems there was a group named Johnny Pulleo & The Harmonica Rascals who claimed a proprietary interest. "We were embarrassed about that, 'cause we were trying to be a Soul band," said Cornish. "It wasn't The Silver Rascals or The Rockin' Rascals, it was The Young Rascals! And we had to live with it. By the time we got to Groovin', we said, 'Well, enough of this. We are The Rascals.'"
A high point for both Cornish and Cavaliere was 1968's #1 hit "People Got To Be Free". "The message in songs like 'People Got To Be Free' is as important now as it ever was," said Gene. It was written in reaction to the King and Kennedy assassinations that year. In fact, Cavaliere had worked for the RFK campaign. "That the song was #1 in places like Berlin and South Africa meant a lot to me," said Felix. Despite the initial resistance to the political nature of the song, it went on to become The Rascals' biggest-selling record. It was also their last #1 hit. The Rascals followed with "A Ray Of Hope" (#24 in 1968), "Heaven" (#39 in 1969), "See" (#27 in 1969) and "Carry Me Back" (#26 in 1969). Two other 1970 releases, "Hold On" (#81) and "Glory Glory" (#71) failed to crack the Top 40, and a song called "Love Me" was a miserable flop when it peaked at #99 during a one week stay on the Hot 100 in the Summer of 1971. The Jazz-tinged experimentation of later albums like "Peaceful World" and "The Island Of Real" (which Cavaliere once called "The best record I ever made") proved less commercial than the group's earlier Garage Band Soul. Management was less than supportive of the new directions the band was headed in and a switch to the Columbia label in 1971 failed to provide the new life they were looking for. Personal frictions were on the rise too, and eventually Brigati and Cornish quit the band. They were replaced with Buzzy Feiten (from The Paul Butterfield Blues Band) and Ann Sutton, who had sung with various Soul and Jazz groups in Philadelphia. By 1972, The Rascals called it quits.
In 1974, Cavaliere began his solo career with the release of the album "Felix Cavaliere". Eddie Brigati recorded a solo album with his brother David in 1976. Cornish and Danelli started a new band called
SPIRIT ANIMAL
JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL by Neil Diamond (Columbia, 1973)
There were alot of self-help manuals popularized in the 70’s; I remember gifting my mother the book “Your Eronneous Zones” (but that’s another story)…. My acting teacher in college based her syllabus on Eric Berne’s “I’m Ok, You’re Ok”. But one of the biggest New Age parables making the rounds was Ex-Aviator Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the story of an anthropomorphized Christ-like Seagull, who has to fly off from the pack to find his true self.
It was a zeitgeist sensation, and spawned a movie with this soundtrack by the immortal Neil Diamond. Maestro Diamond is currently in the middle of a career renaissance - his biographical musical A BEAUTIFUL NOISE is playing on The Great White Way, and although he struggles with Parkinson’s he continues to work on new music. No one was bigger in the 70s, and although the 1960s Neil Diamond that I loved, the Brill Building song plugger who wrote and recorded Cherry Cherry, You Got to Me, and Solitary Man had seemingly transformed himself into a borscht belt crooner, there was no denying his powers of voice and composition, no matter how cheesy the venue (The Jazz Singer?)
I chuckled ironically when I pulled this tape from the pile, anticipating mounds of Velveeta. But now, listening for the first time, I am moved to tears. (This is probably because all my youthful cynicism has given up the ghost). It’s a beautiful musical meditation produced by Tom Catalano, and arranged by Lee Holdridge, and Neil’s voice soars, aloft on chords of longing.
Indeed, the album out-grossed the movie by 10 million dollars, and garnered the 1974 Grammy for Best Original Score, demonstrating that although the radio-controlled gliders representing the flying birds in the film might have been fake, Neil’s inspiration was not.
On an early morning ramble, the Man is stopped dead in his tracks by an unexpected encounter with a wild denizen of the area.
In Native American culture, the Coyote is seen as an important messenger of personal transformation through self-reflection. ... Coyotes also remind us that anything we do to others will come back to us—good or bad.
HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE
IF I COULD ONLY REMEMBER MY NAME by David Crosby (1971, Atlantic)
The Reaper continues its rampage, cutting swathes across the aging population of musical pioneers. Last week it was Jeff Beck, yesterday David Crosby. In fairness, it was actually amazing that the Croz lived as long as he did. He had diabetes, and In 1994 underwent a liver transplant (paid for by Phil Collins), after suffering for years with Hep C. But despite a notorious reputation for drug abuse that would cripple even a hardened junkie, David kept forging an unfettered path, making enemies with his thoughtless taunts, enduring break ups and reunions, yet still creating some of our greatest music with his frenemies, solo, and for the last mile in collaboration with his long-abandoned and rediscovered son, James Raymond.
David Van Cortland Crosby, the son of Academy Award Winning cinematographer Floyd Crosby, was a California boy who became foundational to the California folk-rock soundtrack of our generation, and despite the fact that near the end of his life he had to stay on the road and sell his catalogue to pay off his mortgage, those songs will reside forever in the Laurel Canyon canon.
Crosby was a notoriously difficult character who burnt nearly every bridge he ever crossed. His bandmate from the Byrds, Jim McGuinn steadfastly refused to work with him again despite David’s constant imprecations to reunite; he boldly dissed and insulted Neil Young’s soul-mate Darryl Hannah after the death of Neil’s first wife Pegi, and somehow alienated his biggest supporter in life, Graham Nash.
But, despite this, musician Melissa Etheridge solicited his sperm to make her babies. Maybe because, trumping all the difficulty, David’s harmonic acumen was unmatched and a divine gift from God. So, there he undeniably stands: a twice inducted Rock n Roll Hall of Famer for founding two of the most important groups in Rock history. And, this etherial, transcendent solo effort, recorded with the aid of Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Graham Nash, along with members of The Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead represents an artist whose questing musical imagination was always and eternally of a deeply spiritual nature.
Humans are so complicated. As Dylan said: “I contain multitudes,” and David Crosby was an exemplar of that.
Mitch Ryder, one of the most distinctive and soulful voices to come out of Detroit’s 1960s rock music scene, will be inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame June 11, at the Music Hall in Detroit.
This year’s crop of inductees also includes Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight & the Pips, the Impressions, Larry Williams, and posthumous inductees James Brown, Isaac Hayes and Mary Wells.
Ryder may have fronted a rock band, but make no mistake, his soul props are solid. As a suburban teenager, he made the trek from Warren to hang out at the Village club just off Woodward, to catch sets by the likes of Nathaniel Mayer. By the time he was 17, Ryder sang (and recorded) with a soul group, the Peps.
Later he fronted his own rock band, Billy Lee and the Rivieras, which was renamed Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. The group had an explosive sound that combined the drive of garage rock with Ryder’s raw, emotional vocals. That sound drove Bob Crewe-produced hits that included “Devil with a Blue Dress,” “Jenny Take A Ride,” “Sock it to Me, Baby” and “Little Latin Lupe Lu.”
Ryder was pleased to hear of his induction alongside some of his soul idols. “I looked at the names of some of those who came before me and it became a celebration of joy for me,” Ryder said in a statement released by his publicist, Cary Baker. “I mean, Aretha Franklin, David Ruffin, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke and so many other voices that brought me great pleasure throughout my life and career. It is still thrilling me, and I’m afraid to wake up from the dream!”
After the Wheels split up, Ryder teamed up with Booker T. and the MGs for the acclaimed album “The Detroit-Memphis Experiment.” Later, he joined back up with Wheels drummer Johnny Badanjek in a group they dubbed Detroit, which was managed by Creem magazine publisher Barry Kramer. Detroit recorded a memorable cover of Lou Reed’s “Rock and Roll,” which many felt surpassed the original. Later, John Mellencamp produced Ryder’s solo album “Never Kick a Sleeping Dog,” which featured his superb rendition of Prince’s “When You Were Mine.”
Ryder is on the short list of artists who have been unjustly overlooked by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but in a sense, the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame is the more fitting place for him.
For his part, Ryder says his induction is “an honor which will stay cherished by me for the rest of my life.”
The 5th annual Black Tie Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Concert will take place at 6 p.m. Sunday June 11 at the Music Hall, 350 Madison, in Detroit. The event will serve as a fundraiser to secure a permanent building for the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame.
F U DEATH
TRUTH by Jeff Beck (Epic, 1968)
Ok, I’m fuckin’ sick of this parade of loss, Death. We just started 2023, and you take Jeff Beck without warning, while on tour with Johnny Depp - (as if he needs any more grief)?! Bacterial Meningitis…? I mean, WTF?!
Of the three guitar gods that descended from Mt. Yardbird - (Clapton, Page, Beck) - for my money, the best that ever bestrode the earth was Jeff Beck. Every lick was original, surprising, mind-blowing. And his growth towards mastery through the decades was breathtaking to hear. I had some trouble with the Jan Hammer jazz fusion stuff, but even those cuts had me on the edge of my seat. He kept expanding and growing his repertoire.
Eventually he hit upon this fluid, lyricism that brings tears to my eyes. Check out his versions of A Day In the Life, and People Get Ready. He arrived at that terra firma where every artist yearns to land: home. He found his truest voice… so relaxed and expressive, and was able to make his instrument sing with an iridescent humanity…. Becoming one with it.
This 4-track (that’s right, kids… predating the 8 track) is his first solo effort. And, what a legendary debut it is! Aided by Jimmy Page, Keith Moon, Ronnie Wood, and Rod Stewart on vocals, every cut (Shapes of Things, Morning Dew, You Shook Me, Beck’s (fucking) BOLERO!!!) Is a game changer. This is one of those recordings by which I created my musical calendar; there was B.Truth, and A.Truth, and nothing was the same for me after experiencing this album. RIP Jeff.
Track listing:
Shapes Of Things |
Let Me Love You |
Morning Dew |
You Shook Me |
Ol' Man River |
Greensleeves |
Rock My Plimsoul |
Beck's Bolero |
Blues De Luxe |
I Ain't Superstitious
ARE THEY FOR REAL?
Look what you get to do if you’re a monstrously famous and beloved comic performer: you get to live out your soul man fantasies, backed by some of the greatest living musicians. You get to sell 3.5 million copies of your vanity-project album, and then, parlay your karaoke delusion into a couple of hit movies.
I saw John Belushi in Lemmings at the Village Gate in 1973, doing his immortal Joe Cocker impression in the Woodstock parody: “Woodshuck - Three days of peace, love, and death”. When he fell on the floor, convulsing and salivating, he captivated my imagination, and I fell in love. When SNL happened two years later, followed by his indelible turn in Animal House, Belushi became a star for the entire world. The Blues Brothers were first incarnated on SNL as a kind of joke, but Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi’s commitment and obvious love of Soul and Blues were undeniable. Musical Director Paul Shaeffer put together the most deluxe ensemble to sell the illusion, and the conceit scored.
The boys couldn’t really sing like their idols, but it was a sleight of hand trick, bolstered by their unbridled zest and style. As I listen to JB’s croaking throughout this recording, I’m reminded of the super nova of his career that shot up and imploded like the Challenger rocket. The hit Blues Brothers movie of 1980, directed by John Landis, got packed with so many musical idols (Ray Charles and Aretha, etc) that the boys musical shortcomings were easily covered up, and their comedic acting skills were always the point anyway.
For me, the most amazing cut on this album is Dan Ackroyd’s “Rubber Biscuit” , in which Elwood babbles like a psychedelic auctioneer with the most articulately rapid-fire mouth movements. That song was released as a single, and made it up to 37 on the Billboard chart.
So, here’s my question: is this music? Is it comedy? Is it both? Is it real or is it Memorex?
The "Soul Diva" Annette Snell died tragically young in a plane crash, and this glorious artifact testifies to her greatness.
The man decides to try his hand at panhandling, which doesn’t go well, except that out of this failure he experiences a self-realization, and an inkling of his identity.
7 Sales Strategy Secrets from an Expert Panhandler (from Google)
- Satisfy a compelling customer need. This is most important--for panhandlers or any business. ...
- Project the right image. ...
- Choose a tax-favored business. ...
- Location, location, location. ...
- Communicate a simple message. ...
- Keep overhead low. ...
- When you find something effective, keep doing it.
ELUSIVE GODDESS
Mary Hopkin possesses one of the most achingly beautiful voices in creation. You wouldn’t be blamed, though, for only remembering her for the Paul McCartney produced debut single, “Those Were the Days” from 1968. That song was ubiquitous and sold a million and a half copies in the US alone. She and the cute Beatle followed it up with “Goodbye”, which also hit big. Then, this, her second album, produced by future husband Tony Visconti, was recorded. After, that… relative silence, until 18 years later with the release of 1989’s “Spirit”. She is quoted as saying that Earth Song Ocean Song was the album that she wanted to make, and so she refrained from scratching the Show Business itch, dedicating herself instead to raising her children. She made some appearances, and even starred in a BBC 1 TV series, but, mostly she took charge of her own choices, as opposed to being formed and manipulated by others.
This is indeed a definitive folk music showcase, lovingly produced by Visconti, with covers by Cat Stevens, Ralph McTell (Streets of London), and string arrangements by the majestic Richard Hewson (of Beatles’ and Nick Drake fame). It is an obscure gem by one of England’s finest folk muses.
Mary Hopkin was victimized by her massive early success. “Those were the Days” was an anomalous monster pop hit for the 18 year old, unrepeatable and out of sync with its own times. Mary’s hope of establishing a respected recording career after that was akin to Henry Winkler’s struggles to escape the popular effect of being The Fonz. He did it eventually, with Bill Hader’s BARRY, but it took over 40 years of trying.
Put the Welsh goddess Mary Hopkin on the roster of the greatest British female folk vocalists like Sandy Denny, Jacqui McShee, Shirley Collins, Anne Briggs, June Tabor, and Maddy Prior. Discover and enjoy.
In honor of the documentary THE VENTURES: STARS ON GUITARS, currently running on Amazon Prime, Bill and Rich are reposting their tribute to the instrumental group that promoted surf music and Mosrite guitars around the world, recorded over 200 albums, and out-sold the Beatles in Japan 2 to 1. (which only goes to show, once again, that your faithful correspondents, The Splendid Bohemians, have their arthritic fingers on the racing pulse of cultural relevance).
This doc is also a moving tribute to maternal love: Don Wilson's mom, Josie, gave the group their name, produced their first single, and made sure their early records got played. Shows you what great things can happen for a fellow when his mom decides to support her son's passion.
“Motherlove” is the uncontested alpha of the North Hollywood encampment; They are an inspirational motivator who sees every person as valuable, and this shared vision helps lift the entire camp.
The Man is immediately smitten by Motherlove’s charisma, and falls under their spell.
The HUD brochure asks: Why do some people choose encampments over the shelter system? One reason: a desire for Autonomy and Privacy.
In contrast, Motherlove leads beneficently, and the residents follow gladly. People can go and come as they please; they are independent. But, they willingly submit for the good of the group because they know whatever benefits the group, profits each individual.
It's a triple play - no, not "Tinkers to Evers to Chance-" but, a spectacular combo nonetheless: Dion (The Wanderer), Jay Black of Jay and the Americans (Cara Mia), and Bobby Rydell (Wild One).
Bill and Rich, The Splendid Bohemians, present these titans to you for three cautionary, yet inspiring examples of late-career, Show Biz road warriors. They may have been bloodied, but they were unbowed, and stood in the ring until the final bell tolled. Dion remains, and is the last man standing, but our Bronx Bomber still shines on brightly like a bluesy diamond.
Hear the whole sordid story of the oddest pairing in Christmas music history! Der Bingle didn't know who The Thin White Duke was, and Bowie was not a fan of Bing's. And, yet here they are...
John Lennon and Yoko Ono gave this gift to the world, and it has become a perennial. Merry Christmas, and God Bless Us, Everyone!
In his dreams the bereft man is visited by the spirit of his departed pet, who’s disappearance was never solved.
From the book of symbols:
Dogs never desert their masters, apt cause for them to be regarded in diverse mythologies and religions as accompanying their masters even unto death and as guides in the afterlife.
In nearly every world mythology, our constant companion the dog has come to be associated with our other constant companion, death…The leash we hold on the dog links us to the energies of life and death. How we manipulate the leash says everything about how we are going to experience the ambivalent nature of the dog’s death realm. The dog is keenly sensitive to its master’s love or abuse.
STREET CRED
When talking about Paul Butterfield there’s a lot to cover, and I can’t do it all justice in this small space. I recommend the documentary HORN FROM THE HEART to get all the nuances in Paul Butterfield’s story. However, listening to this compilation, one can get a nice view of the shapely arc of this band’s journey from young-turk, blues afficionados to Americana pioneers - each step along the way characterized by a stirring evocation of authentic feeling.
It’s hard from this distance to understand how massively important this group was in terms of fusing blues with folk, rock, and jazz, not to mention world music. At the center of it all was the harmonica prodigy, born on the south side of Chicago, trained at the feet of the blues masters, but then adopted by Dylan and the Newport folkies, and instrumental to the explosion that became our modern music of the 60s and 70s.
East-West (1966) still blows my mind. This 13 minute magnum jazz-raga opus, featuring the amazing Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop on guitars with Paul wailing on harp remains stubbornly on my Sunday morning playlist. Joe Boyd and Paul Rothchild at Elektra discovered them and lovingly brought their sound to our turntables, and on this cart from six years later, the highlights from that company’s influence is captured for all time. It was important for Elektra’s transition from folk label to one of the premier purveyors of quality rock; it was important for Dylan’s transition from troubadour to rock god, and it was an important liaison for us white American teenagers appreciation of our blues heritage. You might argue that this was another example of “white savior” appropriation, but The Paul Butterfield Blues Band was an integrated outfit, featuring Howlin’ Wolf’s rhythm section of Sam Lay and Jerome Arnold, and Butterfield, born in Chicago and raised at the master’s feet had all the right moves.
For a deeper dive: https://www.hornfromtheheart.com/
The man trudges on, to where he doesn’t know. He just needs a place to land. The air is hot and choking, his brain is racing. Then, he realizes: it’s Santa Ana season.
“The baby frets. The maid sulks. I rekindle a waning argument with the telephone company, then cut my losses and lie down, given over to whatever is in the air. To live with the Santa Ana is to accept, consciously or unconsciously, a deeply mechanistic view of human behavior. ...[T]he violence and the unpredictability of the Santa Ana affect the entire quality of life in Los Angeles, accentuate its impermanence, its unreliability. The wind shows us how close to the edge we are.”— Joan Didion, Slouching Towards Bethlehem. (1968)
https://futurerocklegends.com/Artist/Frank_Sinatra/
Not in the Rock & Roll Hall of FameEligible since: 1965
First Recording: 1939
Previously Considered? No what's this?
Kennedy Center Honoree: 1983
Inducted into Rock Hall Revisited in 1994 (ranked #13 in the Influences - Pre-Rock Era category) .
R.S. Top 500 Albums (?) | Rank | Version
In the Wee Small Hours | 282 | 2020
In the Wee Small Hours | 101 | 2012
Songs for Swingin' Lovers! | 308 | 2012 ... etc., etc....
In acknowledgement of the unabated parade of beloved ones passing - (the latest being the lovely Christine McVie), and the mind boggling proliferation of American mass shootings, we are reposting these "anti" holiday favs for the more dyspeptic seasonal celebrants among us.
As the man struggles to collect his memories, he finds himself getting lost in the labyrinth of his disordered mind.
Labyrinth (From “The Book of Symbols”):
The essentially dual, paradoxical nature of the labyrinth is both circular and linear, simple and complex, historical and temporal. Contained within a compact space, a long and difficult path constantly doubles back on itself, leading circuitously to a mysterious and invisible center. From within, the view is extremely restricted and confusing, while from above one discovers a supreme artistry and order.
Shit. I’ve burst into tears three times just trying to get through the opening track on this cart, He Stopped Loving Her Today. What is it about good country music that provokes such gut wrenching spasms of lonely grief? And here, the keening majesty of Mr. Jones’ voice proves he was the undisputed master of the emotional body blow.
He Stopped Loving Her Today revived Jone’s career, even though he hated the song initially. He was quoted as saying that his: “…4 decade career had been salvaged by a 3 minute song.” It won him a Grammy and CMA Song of the Year. Producer Billy Sherrill loaded up the album with a raft of songs that reflected George’s reputation for out of control drinking and self destruction, and the recording feels like an intimate tell-all. Sherrill testified that the singer was in such bad shape during the making of the album that he had to record the recitation portion of the hit song 18 months after laying down the first verse. The track became inextricably linked with The Possum, making the top country charts, for the second time, a week after the singer’s death in 2013.
The toxic co-dependency between the singer and his wife Tammy Wynettte is the stuff of legend, and one of the most compelling soap operatic storylines in Country music history. And, it underlines every lyric offered here. The couple divorced in 1976, but kept working together, all the while as the dissipated Jones kept hoping for a reconciliation. (They recorded their single “Two Story House” in the same year as this album). Thankfully, in 1981, George met and married Nancy Sepulvado who provided a stabilizing influence for him. She managed his career and got him sober (mostly), and surviving to the age of 81.
This is a classic recording by one of the all time greats.
De Vorzon founded Valiant Records in 1960.[5] During the 1960s, he signed the Association to Valiant, and produced its first single, a cover of the Bob Dylan tune "One Too Many Mornings."
De Vorzon wrote "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight" for the Cascades, but the group did not record it. In 1963, De Vorzon recorded the song himself, with his group Barry and the Tamerlanes. Also in 1963 he co-wrote the ballad "Shy Girl" which was recorded by the Cascades.
De Vorzon wrote the tune "Girls" for Johnny Burnette. It reached No. 37 in the UK 1961 charts.
He composed the soundtracks to many 1970s and 1980s films, and one of the tunes, "Cotton's Dream" (from Bless the Beasts and Children) was retitled "Nadia's Theme" and re-released by A&M Records for the television soap opera The Young and the Restless. "Nadia's Theme" hit No. 8 on the US Top 40 in 1976 and the album from which it was taken peaked at No. 42 on the Billboard 200; in 1977, it won a Grammy Awardfor Best Instrumental Arrangement. The main title song, "Bless the Beasts and Children," was recorded by the Carpenters and received an Academy Award nomination.
De Vorzon composed the tune "It's Christmas Once Again in Santa Barbara," which was re-recorded with various other city names, such as San Francisco and San Diego. He also wrote the "Theme from S.W.A.T.", and co-wrote the Eagles' hit "In the City" with Joe Walsh. In 1979 he wrote the music for the movie The Warriors.
De Vorzon was one of the developers of the MasterWriter creative software for songwriters and lyricists.[6]
Welcome to Mesmerized with Bill Mesnik.
Presenting "Summer Journey,"a 10 episode story in song.
Setting the scene:
It's a sweltering summer day in Los Angeles, California, and choking fires are raging all over the area. A middle aged man falls in the street from heat exhaustion, and suddenly becomes amnesiac - He is without ID, and cannot remember his name or where he lives.
Throughout the ensuing episodes he will become homeless and endeavor to find his way back to himself.
The first episode is entitled "Impact" and this is where we come upon him.
From Purple Hearts to Flying Crosses, veterans can hold any number of decorations, but few can boast the title of Oscar winner.
For his role as double amputee Homer Parrish in 1946's The Best Years of Our Lives, actual veteran Harold Russell earned unique distinction as the first non-professional actor to win an Oscar and the only one in history to win two Oscars for the same role (Supporting Actor and a Special Oscar for "bringing aid and comfort to disabled veterans through the medium of motion pictures").
Russell wasn't a star or even an aspiring actor when cast as Homer Parrish. After signing up to serve in the army, Russell was stationed at Camp Mackall in North Carolina where he trained army paratroopers. There, while demonstrating to his trainees, a defective fuse on a stick of TNT caused an explosion and Russell lost both of his hands. Russell opted for practical hooks — as seen in the film — over prosthetics because of their functionality (prosthetics have significantly improved since the 1940s).
Following his accident, Russell was recruited to appear in the day-in-the-life short Diary of a Sergeant. "It was basically to show the day in the life of a disabled veteran and to inspire other veterans that you can still live a normal, fruitful, happy life," says Jill Blake, writer and cohost of film podcast Criterion Now. Russell had no dialogue in the short, but instead went about his day underscored by voiceover narration.
But his performance got him noticed by government higher-ups, who recruited him to do appearances for the eighth war loan drive, a war bond campaign. At events around the country, they would screen Diary of a Sergeant and Russell would come out to speak about his own experiences.
At one of these events, The Best Years of Our Lives director William Wyler was in attendance — and he was struck by inspiration. The character that would become Homer Parrish was originally written to be suffering from a traumatic brain injury, but Wyler decided casting Russell and making the character a double amputee would serve the story better.
The 1946 film remains a paragon of depicting the challenges that soldiers face readjusting to life back home, in part because Russell's life was incorporated into Homer's story. "What makes this film unique is a person with a disability is playing a person with a disability," adds Blake. "The spirit of the film and that authenticity in Russell's performance is timeless."
Part of that authenticity was inspired by Russell's appearances in the bond drives. Looking to connect with people, he would find ways to break the ice and get people to focus on him as a person rather than his disability. These tactics included extended his hook to shake someone's hand, encouraging them to set aside any discomfort. Additionally, he'd light cigarettes with a match until it burned out, noting that he couldn't burn his fingers anymore. And he'd often joke that one thing he couldn't do was pick up the check. All these moments found their way into the Years script.
"He went through so much in his recovery," notes Blake. "But he chose to be optimistic and use it to his benefit and the benefit of the people around him. And I think that's what really drew Wyler to him."
*Several years ago, I wrote a time-travel film treatment called “Song Trippers” about a quartet of lonely, damaged people who found solace through music. Each lost soul connects to a song that transports them back in time to the place in their youth when they were the happiest. Of course, we all know that music has magic power. There are songs that can trip my memory far from the here and now to earlier states of joyful wonderment, and sadness, too, if that’s what’s called for. It’s strong medicine.
For each episode in this series, I’ll take an 8 Track down from the shelf and share it with you, along with some special memories, bonded by that spiritual epoxy that has forged the framework of my life’s scaffold. - Captain Billy
"*A FANCY COVER BAND"
PROCOL’S NINTH by Procol Harum (Chrysalis, 1975)
Gary Brooker passed on recently, and the outpouring of grief for this titan was enormous. It had been a long time since Procol Harum’s Whiter Shade of Pale dominated the airwaves, but the baroque timelessness of that tune has stayed in our consciousness throughout the decades, and the chesty rumblings of it’s golden throated frontman definitely had staying power. Moreover, the Reid and Brooker songbook boasts an epic collection of enigmatic narratives that invite repeated listenings. They were a unique outfit with a singular sound and style.
I suppose the reason this album suffers by critical comparison to some of the others - is that it plays it safe. Produced by Lieber and Stoller with the goal of producing a hit (which it did with Pandora’s box - the group’s last top 20), it is a spare set: clean, tight, poppy, and mixed well, albeit a little cramped sounding. But, why the flaccid covers? L&S had them record their own I Keep Forgetting, (to which the band reportedly objected) and, God help me), …. a sluggish, tired sounding rendition of Eight Days a Week.
There are some decent originals: The Unquiet Zone, and the Final Thrust come to mine, yet it’s interesting to note that two of the Brooker/Reid compositions on the record - Without a Doubt and Typewriter Torment - seem to be about writer’s block, which makes perfect sense: the team was clearly writing about what they were experiencing. To be fair though, the album isn't as bad as had been described, even it the band sounds hand-cuffed, and the production is clean to the point of sterility. Despite this, Procol Harum is still Procol Harum, and that’s ok by me.**1 | | Pandora's Box | 3:37
2 | | Fool's Gold | 4:00
3 | | Taking The Time | 3:39
4 | | The Unquiet Zone | 3:40
5 | | The Final Thrust | 4:37
6 | | I Keep Forgetting/ 3:28
7 | | Without A Doubt | 4:31
8 | | The Piper's Tune | 4:28
9 | | Typewriter Torment | 4:29
10 | | Eight Days / 3:00
Both Rich and I are in the process of moving; Rich from his Florida manse to the green hills of North Carolina, and I…. to who knows where, or when? But it’ll be soon. I have lived in my house for 24 years, and the amount of accumulation is mind boggling, and paralyzing. Since the death of my wife, Chemayne, two years ago, I’ve been unable to face the tremendous lift it’s going to take to purge a lifetime of stuff. But, it must be done, and I’m gritting my teeth. And, Rich, following the death of his mom, June, is smack dab in the middle of his own major life shift, which is exacting a toll on his spine and spirit.
As is my usual response to the challenges of living, such reflections often result in the writing of a song - in this case, an ode of sympathetic solidarity, which I offer it in tribute to my friend.
In October, 1966, the singer Nico began a residency at a bar in the East Village. She wore a white pantsuit and wielded a tambourine; her drawn vowels hung in the smoky air. She was still playing occasional shows with the Velvet Underground, whose first album would be released the following year. But, to Nico’s dismay, the band’s leader, Lou Reed, refused to play guitar at her solo shows, and barred the rest of the group from joining her. Onstage, she was forced to sing to a prerecorded backing from a small cassette player. “The tears would roll down her face because she just couldn’t remember how the buttons worked,” Andy Warhol, who managed the Velvets, recalled. Humiliation was a theme: four months later, at a club called the Dom, Warhol tried to make her perform inside a Plexiglas box.
Nico was used to being treated as a physical spectacle. At the Dom, Leonard Cohen was a regular guest, and he began writing songs in hopes of seducing her. Her improbable bone structure, and her role in “La Dolce Vita,” intrigued prominent rock managers like Albert Grossman, who worked with Bob Dylan. But her songs were less appealing, and the Dom’s clientele often laughed through her set. She was eventually accompanied on guitar by Tim Buckley, and then by Jackson Browne, who had just arrived in New York. Browne became enamored with Nico, and before they fell out—she accused him of harassing her with obscene phone calls—he gave her two songs: “The Fairest of the Seasons” and “These Days,” both of which appeared on her 1967 début, “Chelsea Girl.”
Few songs so beautifully misrepresent a singer as “These Days.” The clarity of Browne’s fingerpicked guitar lines, and the delicacy of Nico’s languor, is rendered just alien enough by her vocals, a more tuneful version of the stentorian drawl she used with the Velvets. “Please don’t confront me with my failures / I had not forgotten them,” she sings. Since its inclusion in Wes Anderson’s 2001 film “The Royal Tenenbaums,” where it accompanies a kohl-eyed Gwyneth Paltrow, “These Days” has become Nico’s best-known song, a hymn of stifled glamour. It reinforces her popular image, which has been confected from late-sixties publicity stills, bits of blank-stare footage from Warhol films, and photographs of her with Reed and John Cale, the Velvets’ Welsh savant. She migrates in the mind between fashion and folk, downtown bohème and Fellini-sponsored stardom. And always, in case you don’t know, there is the spectre of her heroin addiction, the protracted ruin of her personal life. -
The New Yorker
"Two Trains Running" - From The Blues Project Album "Projections"
STEVE KATZ: It was Danny's tribute to Muddy Waters. Danny lived for Muddy Waters, which is sort of understandable given how wonderful, how monumental Muddy and some of his songs were. And that was one of his most monumental songs.
AL KOOPER: We started playing it and as we became a better band it became a better arrangement. And there were amazing things in it. It was a really great arrangement. It's nothing like the Muddy Waters version.
DANNY KALB: It's one of the great things done by any blues band there is, white or black. And we're going through it and it's powerful, it's like a rock opera but short. And it's Muddy Waters. But it's also us. And it's also showing that America was going down the road through music and a lot of other things of integration. The music was making people take a second look at the hatred.
AL KOOPER: What's really funny is on the version that's on the album, Danny's string went out of tune and as part of the arrangement he tuned it back up. It was fabulous, we didn't have to stop. Normally you would stop. But he made it part of the arrangement. That was a great moment.
DANNY KALB: We were up there in the studio and there's magic in the air. We were right before the end and I hit one bad note, but I quickly made the bad note into a good note in a quarter of a second. And the thing comes together and ends right and we've got a masterpiece.
STEVE KATZ: There was no creativity on the engineers. They were busy setting up for Eric Burdon. They probably were bringing in microphones while we were doing our take.
DANNY KALB: I'd been playing it for a long time. I was a folk guitarist and a blues guitarist. I studied with the great Dave Van Ronk, he was my teacher. Dave was one of the greatest. A great blues singer, a great teacher and a great soul. He died a few years ago. He changed my life, he changed [Bob] Dylan's life. We always gave tribute to our mentors. When we played on the same bill as Muddy Waters, who was our hero, a top man, we did "Two Trains Running." After the show, his band was packing up, the show was over and I was packing up and I saw Muddy leaving the Café au Go Go and I had to find out, in my deepest part, what he thought of our version of this tune that started out in the South many years ago, before he recorded it with any electric band. And these strange white people were doing this song. What was that about? So right before Muddy opened the door to go, I went up to Muddy Waters and I said to him, "Mr. Waters -- well, what did you think?" And I knew at that point that he knew what I was asking him. And he said to me, "You really got to me." If I had died then, it would have been enough.
FROM OUR 2020 "DIG THIS" ARCHIVES TO WISH GARNET MIMMS A HAPPY 89th BIRTHDAY!
Best known for his original rendition of "Cry Baby," later a major item in Janis Joplin's repertoire, Garnet Mimms' pleading, gospel-derived intensity made him one of the earliest true soul singers. His legacy remains criminally underappreciated.
Garnett Mimms was born in Ashland, West Virginia.He was brought up in Philadelphia, and began singing in church as a child.As a teenager, he was a former member of the Philadelphia-based gospel groups, the Evening Stars, the Harmonizing Four and the Norfolk Four.The latter he recorded his first record for in 1953.Garnett served several years in the military, and upon his release, he returned to Philadelphia in 1958 and formed a doo wop quintet called the Gainors.The line-up included Sam Bell, Willie Combo, John Jefferson and Howard Tate.The Gainors recorded singles for several labels over the following three years, including 'Red Top' (later picked up by the Cameo label), Mercury (from 1959-1960), and Tally Ho (in 1961).The group subsequently evolved into Garnet Mimms And The Enchanters, where the singer and Sam Bell were joined by Charles Boyer and Zola Pearnell.They met songwriter / producer Bert Berns, who signed them to United Artists, in 1963, and Bert teamed them up with another songwriter / producer, Jerry Ragovoy.Jerry's work helped create some of R & B's finest moments.The song 'Cry Baby' was an immediate U.S. hit, while 'Baby Don't You Weep' and 'For Your Precious Love' consolidated their arrival.The group split in 1964, when Garnett embarked on a solo career.Although the Enchanters found a new vocalist and continued to record, they were overshadowed by their former leader.Garnett' subsequent releases, 'Look Away', 'It Was Easier To Hurt Her' and 'I'll Take Good Care Of You' (the latter Garnett's last Top 40 hit in 1966), were well received, highlighting the singer's church roots against Ragovoy's musical backdrop.Such excellent records were not always well received, and in 1967, Garnett was sidelined to United Artists' subsidiary Veep.'My Baby' and 'Roll With The Punches' followed, but the singer's precarious artistic standing was confirmed when the latter was only released in Britain.Ragovoy then took Garnett to Verve Records (where he was also producing Howard Tate), but the four singles that appeared, although good, did not do as well as expected.It was not until 1977 that the singer returned to the chart.Credited to Garnet Mimms And The Truckin' Company, 'What It Is' was a minor R & B hit and even reached the UK chart at number 44.The track was produced by Randy Muller of Brass Construction fame.Garnett Mimms is now a born-again Christian and has not recorded for many years.
***Several years ago, I wrote a time-travel film treatment called “Song Trippers” about a quartet of lonely, damaged people who found solace through music. Each lost soul connects to a song that transports them back in time to the place in their youth when they were the happiest. Of course, we all know that music has magic power. There are songs that can trip my memory far from the here and now to earlier states of joyful wonderment, and sadness, too, if that’s what’s called for. It’s strong medicine.
For each episode in this series, I’ll take an 8 Track down from the shelf and share it with you, along with some special memories, bonded by that spiritual epoxy that has forged the framework of my life’s scaffold. -***
Bill "Captain Billy" Mesnik
**FROM THE DIG THIS ARCHIVES- THE VERY FIRST EPISODE OF CAPTAIN BILLY'S MAGIC 8 BALL! -AFTER THE GOLD RUSH, by Neil Young, (Reprise, 1970)
This allusive, abstract ballad, inspired by a screenplay by fellow Topanga resident, Dean Stockwell, was lambasted by critics, and loved by the record buying public, making the album of the same name Neil’s second biggest seller. Few people care to parse out the thorny meaning of the lyrics, which take us from a knight’s festival, to a squalid junkie’s basement, to an alien spaceship coming to herald a new world.
Maybe it was all the acid I was consuming, but the thing made perfect sense to me – I simply flowed with the imagery, and bathed in the keening vocalism of the protagonist, an acquired taste to be sure. I also fucking loved that flugelhorn!
If you’re a fan you might prefer Heart of Gold, Cinnamon Girl, Old Man, The Needle and the Damage Done, or many of his other myriad time trips. All good, all good. All I know is that I love Neil dearly, and I’m glad he’s been with us all this time. Through it all, he has remained Neil. He has always demonstrated a stubborn independence, and made his own way against a sea of antagonistic forces and voices, corporate and artistic – a level of integrity which I so admire, and, from which I often fall so short.
For years, Tell Me Why, and Only Love Can Break Your Heart were on my set list. One reviewer covering my act wrote that when I sang high I was an ersatz Neil Young, and when I sang low I was a bargain basement Cat Stevens. Of course I did; I was finding my voice, asshole!**
JOY GENERATORS
I first heard The Mills Brothers on a compilation disc in the 70’s with their rendition of F.D.R. Jones (a song with a complicated history). But, what struck me right off the bat was the fanfare of mouth trumpets, the infectious swinging groove, the unadulterated joy that gushed forth, and the perfectly in synch sibling harmony.
This was one of the most enduring acts in American History: 54 years, 2000 recordings selling 50 million copies; the first African-American group to have their own radio show and a #1 on the Billboard Chart: Paper Doll, which is, of course, included on this collection. The cart is manufactured by GRT, a division of Paramount, but The Mills Brothers recorded multiple versions of their hits, so most likely these more mellow and mature evocations are third or fourth generation renderings, packaged for a nostalgic 8 track community.
I had no clue the extent to which the “fart sound” that I learned to make by humming through my lips could be employed to such symphonic magnificence. The music these gentlemen created without instruments was mind blowing, and they employed their signature ensemble of ersatz trumpet, trombone, and tuba generously throughout their careers. Listen, and be swept into the joyous vortex.
Spanning from early jazz, through Doo-Wop, and vocal Rock n Roll, The Mills Brothers embodied the entire spectrum of 20th century American popular music. Such titles as Lazy River, Glow Worm, Basin Street Blues are timeless, and when you hear them, you hear the past, present, and the future blend together as smoothly as their unparalleled genetic synchronization. They were the children of a barber who helmed his own actual barbershop quartet, so these gentlemen were born to harmonize, which they did better than anyone.
Song titles:
Paper Doll, Nevertheless, Till Then, Cielito Lindo, Basin Street Blues, Rockin’ Chair, You Always Hurt the One You Love, Across the Alley from the Alamo, I’ll Be Around, Lazy River, Glow Worm, Be My Life’s Companion.
"**In 1960s New York City lived a blind, often homeless man with a long, flowing beard, who dressed as a Viking and stood sentinel at the corner of West 54th Street and Sixth Avenue in midtown Manhattan. He sold his poetry and performed on custom-built percussion. His recordings are considered legendary pieces of original sound emanating from a unique artist who continues to be misunderstood and under appreciated."
"Nico was used to being treated as a physical spectacle. At the Dom, Leonard Cohen was a regular guest, and he began writing songs in hopes of seducing her. Her improbable bone structure, and her role in “La Dolce Vita,” intrigued prominent rock managers like Albert Grossman, who worked with Bob Dylan. But her songs were less appealing, and the Dom’s clientele often laughed through her set. She was eventually accompanied on guitar by Tim Buckley, and then by Jackson Browne, who had just arrived in New York. Browne became enamored with Nico, and before they fell out—she accused him of harassing her with obscene phone calls—he gave her two songs: “The Fairest of the Seasons” and “These Days,” both of which appeared on her 1967 début, “Chelsea Girl.”-**
"**In 1960s New York City lived a blind, often homeless man with a long, flowing beard, who dressed as a Viking and stood sentinel at the corner of West 54th Street and Sixth Avenue in midtown Manhattan. He sold his poetry and performed on custom-built percussion. His recordings are considered legendary pieces of original sound emanating from a unique artist who continues to be misunderstood and under appreciated."
"Nico was used to being treated as a physical spectacle. At the Dom, Leonard Cohen was a regular guest, and he began writing songs in hopes of seducing her. Her improbable bone structure, and her role in “La Dolce Vita,” intrigued prominent rock managers like Albert Grossman, who worked with Bob Dylan. But her songs were less appealing, and the Dom’s clientele often laughed through her set. She was eventually accompanied on guitar by Tim Buckley, and then by Jackson Browne, who had just arrived in New York. Browne became enamored with Nico, and before they fell out—she accused him of harassing her with obscene phone calls—he gave her two songs: “The Fairest of the Seasons” and “These Days,” both of which appeared on her 1967 début, “Chelsea Girl.”-**
**"PRIDE OF PLACE"
QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE by Quicksilver Messenger Service (1968, Capitol)
Just like an inveterate fisherman, there are tales of conquest that every collector will regale you with. Here’s one of mine: Buried inside a snow blanketed storage locker in the Pacific Northwest I discovered a treasure trove of some long dormant, left for dead 8 track cartridges. I was paying a Christmas visit to my Father in Law, Murray — a survivalist, ex-biker Hippie living in the North woods, who resides in a converted trailer, complete with pot belly stove. Knowing he used to enjoy the medium, I casually inquired if he had any old carts that he could sacrifice, and he replied with equal casualness, that yes, he thought there were some stored in one of the sheds placed around the property. There was about 6 inches of freshly fallen snow covering it, but we unlocked it, and sure enough there were a few boxes containing some frozen tapes. There were several goodies, but this Quicksilver Messenger Service cart caught my eye. It had lain dormant and unloved for about 40 years, and when I got it home - Hosanna - it played like new!
This is the first Capitol release by one of the quintessential San Fran Jam bands - a sterling psychedelic outfit, founded by John Cippolina, David Freiberg, and Dino Valenti (who is not on the record because he was in jail for marijuana possession, although one of his tunes, Dino’s Song is represented).
They melded a jazz/pop sensibility with a freewheeling (but scrupulously rehearsed) spirit of psychedelic experimentation characterized by interesting chord and tempo changes, viola, and spiky raga guitar filigree - this was a tight band that created an illusion of looseness.
I recorded and posted my own version of the album’s opener, Hamilton Camp’s Pride of Man in tribute, because I was so moved by QMS’s rendition.**
Lee Moses was a huge talent and if he’d had the big hit album he richly deserved, Time And Place would’ve been it. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist, Moses cut his teeth in the clubs of Atlanta, the ‘Motown of the South’, where he frequently performed alongside his contemporary Gladys Knight (who reportedly wanted him for the Pips, but couldn’t pin him down).
It was, however, in New York in the ‘60s that Moses made his greatest bid to find the solo fame he desired. Moses began working there as a session player, even playing frequently with a pre-fame Jimi Hendrix, but his close relationship with producer and Atlanta native Johnny Brantley eventually saw him getting his own break via a series of 45s in 1967 – most notably with covers of Joe Simon’s “My Adorable One”, The Four Tops’ “Reach Out, I’ll Be There” and The Beatles’ “Day Tripper”.
It was 1971 before Moses’ dream of being at stage front was realized, when he released his Brantley-produced LP Time And Place for Maple Records. Recorded with a band including members of The Ohio Players and Moses’ own backing group The Deciples, it was, nonetheless, Moses himself whose star quality shone through, via his scratchy guitar riffs, his throat-ripping vocals and the stirring mood that permeates the LP’s heady mix of funk, soul and R&B.
If you’d been hanging out in Los Angeles any time in the summer of 1966, there would have been a high chance of stumbling across Arthur Lee. He might have been wearing just one shoe, or swimming trunks; he’d almost certainly be peering over a pair of psychedelic sunglasses. But then Lee could do what the hell he wanted. Barely 21 years old, he was the undisputed King Of The Sunset Strip: the most arrogant, brown-eyed, handsome man in Hollyweird. Lee and his band, Love, were helping usher in a whole new era of Californian music.
Sure, there were more commercially successful bands: The Byrds already had a run of hit singles and a European tour under their buckskin jackets by early ’66, and Brian Wilson was taking the Beach Boys to new creative heights even as his psyche crumbled under the weight of it all. But neither had such a charismatic, striking frontman as Lee. A singer and multi-instrumentalist, he was a lightning rod for the denizens of the burgeoning West Coast underground. “He cut an imposing figure,” says Jimmy Greenspoon, a future member of Love’s LA contemporaries Three Dog Night. “He had a mesmerising presence, a Pied Piper who would lead Love’s audience to a different form of consciousness.”
Love were the unsung heroes of the musical Big Bang that took place in 1966, although they have long been overshadowed by bands such as the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and especially one-time acolytes The Doors. If Love are remembered today, it’s for their third album, 1967’s Forever Changes, a masterpiece of baroque psychedelia. But a year before that, they blew a hurricane through Los Angeles. And Arthur Lee was at the eye of the storm.
"**THE WORST OF ALL TIME?"
LORD SUTCH AND HEAVY FRIENDS by Lord Sutch (Cotillion, 1970)
Disclaimer: this is an unusual move for Captain Billy, who ordinarily posts carts by artists whose music he’s passionate about. However, one compelling aspect of collecting 8 tracks is the “grab bag” effect. Oftentimes, you’ll purchase a group-lot of cartridges and you won’t know what you have until you sort through them. Many times among the treasures are freak anomalies which hold a powerful attraction. This is that kind of item, and the story behind it is particularly interesting, so I decided to share it.
Besides, I now proudly own three titles which hold the distinction of “The Worst Record Every Made” according to published sources: “Having Fun with Elvis on Stage,” “Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music,” and this one, which took the top spot of putrescence in a 1998 BBC poll.
“Screaming” Lord Sutch, (1940-1999) was a character, to say the least. He held the record for contesting the most parliamentary elections, 39, since 1963. (After 1983 for the Official Monster Raving Loony Party). Also in ’63 he started his own Pirate Radio station “Radio Sutch”, whose short tenure ended after his manager, Reginald Calvert, was shot dead in a financial dispute. Lord Sutch (he wasn’t really a Lord) was a known manic depressive who hanged himself in his late mother’s house in 1999, and then was buried beside her.
This recording may be of interest to completists because features Jimmy Page, John Bonham, Jeff Beck, Nicky Hopkins, and Noel Redding so, any devotees of Led Zeppelin, The Yardbirds, and Jimi Hendrix might be very interested to have it. Recorded in London and Hollywood, it was disowned by the so called “Heavy Friends”. Page declared: “it was a bit of a send up - the whole joke reversed itself and became ugly.”
And, thus the flamboyant Englishman who, inspired by Screaming Jay Hawkins, would make his concert entrances from inside a coffin, and who had a minor hit in 1963, entitled “Jack the Ripper”, ended his strange recording career with this spectacular dud.**
“JERRY LEE and THE SUN SOUND”
The Sun Sound began when Sam Phillips launched his record company in February of 1952. He named it Sun Records as a sign of his perpetual optimism: a new day and a new beginning. Sam rented a small space at 706 Union Avenue for his own all-purpose studio. The label was launched amid a growing number of independent labels. In a short while Sun gained the reputation throughout Memphis as a label that treated local artists with respect and honesty. Sam provided a non-critical, spontaneous environment that invited creativity and vision.
As a businessman, Phillips was patient and willing to listen to almost anyone who came in off the street to record. Memphis was a happy home to a diverse musical scene: gospel, blues, hillbilly, country, boogie, and western swing. Taking advantage of this range of talent, there were no style limitations at the label. In one form or another Sun recorded them all.
Then in 1954 Sam found Elvis Presley, an artist who could perform with the excitement, unpredictability and energy of a blues artist but could reach across regional, musical and racial barriers.
He helped form the beginnings of the Sun Sound by infusing Country music with R&B. Elvis’s bright star attracted even more ground-breaking talent to the Sun galaxy. Listed among his contemporaries and music mates were Johnny Cash, the inimitable Jerry Lee Lewis, and the “Rockin’ Guitar Man”, Carl Perkins. These four soon became known as the Million Dollar Quartet. Right behind them came Roy Orbison, Charlie Rich, Bill Justis, Harold Jenkins (a.k.a. Conway Twitty) and other equally memorable musical talents. All eventually sold on Pop, R&B and Country charts and grew to international fame.
Rockabilly became the major evolution in the Sun Sound. Lyrically it was bold; musically it was sparse; but it moved. In the 1950’s Country music rarely used drums that were so vital to jazz, blues, and jump bands. In fact, drums were prohibited on stage at the Grand Ole Opry. However, Rockabilly drums played an essential role in driving teens across the nation to become enamored with the Rockabilly movement and the revolutionary Sun Sound. Once again, Sun was able to break new ground recording music of unparalleled diversity in an incubator of creativity.
Inherent in the music of Sun is a vibrancy that survives to this day. Sincere, passionate music. Music that has stood the test of time. It is music that has reached across race, age and gender boundaries. It reflects the diversity and vision of the talent that recorded on the Sun label, and indeed, American popular culture itself.
Before the emergence of the house and rave music scenes in the late 80's, there was Northern Soul. This phenomenon happened in the north of England where several clubs emerged where DJs played obscure American soul records. It may not sound like much now but I am guessing it meant a lot back in the mid 70's, particularly when you take into account the state of music in Britain at the time. Watch re-runs of Top of the Pops if you need proof that popular music in the UK was pretty dire on the whole at the time. These northern soul clubs offered up something energetic and joyous. From the perspective of today when everybody can get access to any music at the click of a button, it's amazing to think that some of the songs back in the day only existed on one solitary record owned by one DJ; so if you wanted to hear it, you had to go to see his set. The competition between DJs became intense but sadly such a retro scene was always going to have a finite existence because eventually there were no more obscure soul records left to find. Its details like these that I find most interesting.
Despite all the trouble that dogged the label, there’s a reason ESP-Disk’ recordings still hold listeners spellbound 50 years later. It’s as simple as the motto that was on the back of every album: “the artists alone decide.” While that may seem to be a recipe for chaos, it often worked with Stollman’s shoestring operation, usually with just the one studio engineer, Richard Alderson, who got off one of the book’s better lines: “Sun Ra is Duke Ellington on acid”.
ESP-Disk’, a record label started in New York in 1963 by Bernard Stollman, unleashed a sonic blast of free-form rock ‘n’ roll, free jazz, ur-freak-folk, poetry, and experimental music until the end of the decade, a blast that would leave a mark on the next two generations. ESP introduced the world to, among others, The Fugs, Pearls Before Swine, the Velvet Underground, and the Holy Modal Rounders, and widened the audience for Albert Ayler, Sun Ra and Pharaoh Sanders. In 2012, Jason Weiss published Always In Trouble, an oral history of the label, which has been resurrected and is again releasing its back catalog and exciting new music.
THE "ONE HIT WONDER" IS A PART OF OUR MUSICAL VOCABULARY.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE "ONE ALBUM WONDER"?
HERE WE EXAMINE FOUR SUCH TREASURES.
"WAVING LIKE NEW"
LOOK SHARP! by Joe Jackson (A&M, 1979)
In the late 70’s the Punk movement had begun to dissipate, and the emerging Angry Young musicians were engaging more style and sly humor. Similar to his contemporaries Elvis Costello and Graham Parker - both of whom I adored - Joe married inchoate rage with intelligence and taste, and his early albums were irresistible. Look Sharp!, his debut, heralded the arrival of a major new talent, and the iconic cover photo featuring his pointy white shoes turned toward a gleaming shaft of light said it all. As the website Allmusic has stated, this was “the sound of a young man searching for substance in a superficial world,” and he fucking rocked it.
By 1982, he had expanded his repertoire to include jazz on the album Night and Day - and with a flaneur’s easy elan he topped the charts handily. Stepping Out from that album became a fixture on 90s radio. Jackson’s expanding “manifest destiny” continued into the realm of the classical music in Symphony #1, for which he won the Grammy for best pop instrumental.
The genre that encompassed the many pop oriented styles that emerged after punk rock, often characterized by a humorous approach, was dubbed “New Wave”. (XTC, Devo, and Squeeze, three other quirky favorites, emerged during that time as well). Joe was immersed in Reggae during this period, and that style permeates this recording throughout (check out Fools in Love and Sunday Papers), along with Rockabilly, Soul, and Funk. But, for Joe, that wave of newness was just the beginning in a questing career path that he is still forging to this day.
- | "One More Time" | 3:15
- | "Sunday Papers" | 4:22
- | "Is She Really Going Out with Him?" | 3:33
- | "Happy Loving Couples" | 3:08
- | "Throw It Away" | 2:49
- | "Baby Stick Around" | 2:36
- | "Look Sharp!" | 3:23
- | "Fools in Love" | 4:23
- | "(Do the) Instant Mash" | 3:12
- | "Pretty Girls" | 2:55
- | "Got the Time"
1) I Can’t Keep From Crying Sometimes- Al Kooper 2) It Wouldn’t Happen With Me – Johnny Rivers 3) Come See About Me- Mitch Ryder 4) You Don’t Know- Eliie Greenwich 5) Bring It With You When You Come- Siegel / Schwall Band 6) Goodnight Baby- The Butterflies 7) One Last Dance For The Melody – Johnny Rivers 8) Taking All I Can Get – Mitch Ryder 9) Mean Old Southern- Blues Project 10) Racing In The Street- (Unreleased 1978 Alternate Version )- Bruce Springsteen 11) Baby I Love You- The Ramones 12) Late John Garfield Blues- Live- John Prine 13) Sylvia’s Mother- Dr. Hook and His Medicine Show 14) Shaking With Linda – Mitch Ryder 15) I Have A Boyfriend- The Chiffons 16) Rosalie’s Good Eats Cafe 16) Jesus Is A Soul Man- Johnny Rivers 17) Out In The Streets- The Shangri-las 18) Bossa Nova Baby- Elvis 19) What A Guy- The Raindrops 20) Two Trains Running – Blues Project With Danny Kalb Vocal and legendary Guitar Performance 21) I Get The Blues When It Rains – Jerry Lee Lewis 22) I’ll Never Learn- The Shangri-las 23) The End Is Not In Sight – The Late, Great Russell Smith of The Amazing Rhythm Aces 24) Please Let Me Go Round Again- John Prine and Swamp Dogg
**WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?
"CHAMELEON" by Maynard Ferguson (Columbia, 1974)
I admit that I’m woefully unequipped to discuss Big Band music, or any Jazz for that matter, in great detail. Although, throughout my life I’ve developed a passion for the odd jazz master here and there, and as a matter of personal pride I’ve always strived to be conversant in the subject, at the very least. However, the trumpeter Maynard Ferguson was a blank slate for me. So, when combing through my 8 tracks and I stumbled upon this cart, I decided to give it a spin.
This record depicts big band music at that cusp of time when it was struggling for relevance. Doc Severinson, Johnny Carson’s band leader, (another trumpet player), played what seemed comically bloated and old fashioned - my parent’s music. Maynard Ferguson was Doc’s contemporary who played with him in Charlie Barnet’s band in the late 40’s, and he carried the big band flag all the way to his death in 2006 at the age of 78.
When he made Chameleon in ’74 he was 46 - still vital and searching for a key to the mystic highway. The covers of Paul McCartney’s Jet, the titular funk track by Herbie Hancock, and the sprawling Livin’ for the City by Stevie Wonder all testify to this cool Quebecois’s questing versatility. And it’s good stuff - lustily orchestrated and delivered. As his obit in the Washington Post described Mr. Ferguson’s high register wailing: he was: “…. A gladiator, a combat soldier, a prize fighter, a circus strongman…”
Now here’s where the story gets weird and interesting for me: In 1963, Maynard brought his family to live with Timothy Leary and Ram Dass at their compound in Hitchcock Estates and lived there for three years, recording and taking psychedelics. Then, he went to India and taught Krishnamurti at the Rishi Valley School. And, he always attributed his ability to hit and sustain those high notes from his Yogic breath control. This turned my perception of this artist’s output on its head. Live and learn.
Side One:
1. | "*Chameleon" | Paul Jackson,* Harvey Mason*,* Bennie Maupin*,* Herbie Hancock | 4:35
2. | "Gospel John" | Jeffrey Steinberg | 6:02
3. | "*The Way We Were" | Marvin Hamlisch,* Alan Bergman*,* Marilyn Bergman | 3:25
4. | "*Jet" | Paul McCartney | 3:55*
Side Two:
1. | "La Fiesta" | Chick Corea | 8:04
2. | "I Can't Get Started" (vocals by Maynard Ferguson) | Ira Gershwin, Vernon Duke | 3:42
3. | "Livin' for the City" | Stevie Wonder | 4:55
4. | "Superbone Meets the Bad Man"
"GERMINATING IN THE SOIL"
THE WEB OF SOUND by The Seeds (GNP Crescendo, 1966)
1966 was probably the high water mark year for Garage Rock: There was Gloria by Shadows of Knight; Psychotic Reaction by Count V; Talk Talk by the Music Machine; We Ain’t Got Nothin’ Yet by The Blues Magoos, and the Eldorado of the genre: 96 Tears by ? And the Mysterians - just imagine all that Fuzz -Farfisa ripeness! Even yours truly at age 13 had his band The Full House covering all those tunes at the Princeton Hospital Fete that summer.
But the undisputed King of Garage Rock was Sky Saxon of The Seeds (one of the house bands at Bido Lito’s in Hollywood - also home of Love), and this recording The Web of Sound has all the elements of what one critic called “snotty aggression with some heavier psychedelic flourishes” that made garage rock the indelible statement that it was.
The 14 minute “Up in her Room” , with its penetrating bottleneck guitar work by Cooker, has been compared to The Velvet Underground’s “Sister Ray”, and the influence of The Seeds, like their east coast counterparts, the Velvets, was enormous. Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper and many other credit Sky and his band to be their inspirations.
Sky, born Richard Elven Marsh to a Mormon family in 1937, had traveled a long distance spiritually when he joined the Yahowha vegetarian cult following Father Yod, taking the additional name of “Sunlight.” Enroute, he masterminded some of the most infectiously growling proto- punk ever, and on this set he leads us through its many mansions with slimy yet sinuous renditions of Tripmaker, Farmer John, and Rolling Machine.
Interesting note: this cartridge is not an 8, but a 4 track - the format that preceded the 8. The carts have no pinch roller, and the tape is engaged by a lever on the player. Ancient technology for the most primitive of wonderments.
Side One:
1. | "Mr. Farmer" | Sky Saxon | 2:52
2. | "Pictures and Designs" | Daryl Hooper, Saxon | 2:44
3. | "Tripmaker" | Hooper, Marcus Tybalt | 2:48
4. | "I Tell Myself" | Tybalt | 2:31
5. | "A Faded Picture" | Hooper, Saxon | 5:20
6. | "Rollin' Machine" | Saxon, Tybalt | 2:32
Side Two:1. | "Just Let Go" | Hooper, Jan Savage, Saxon | 4:21
2. | "Up in Her Room" | Saxon | 14:45
"SEX AS SPIRIT"
LET’S GET IT ON by Marvin Gaye (Tamla, 1973)
In the 1950’s, Americans with seduction on their minds put Jackie Gleason’s records on the hi-fi; in the 70’s it had to be the late, great Marvin Gaye. Speaking from personal experience, making love to Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get it On was a free passage to a timeless paradise of spiritual transcendence. The luscious, multi-layered, funky, slow jams of sensual worship cradled us lovers in the arms of blissful oneness.
Clearly, I wasn’t alone in that opinion. Let’s Get it On, inspired by his second wife, Janis Hunter, was Marvin’s most successful album, making it to #2 on the Billboard chart. In terms of an artist achieving his full power, this concept album surpassed the iconic What’s Going On in its popularity, signaling the amazing growth of one of this nation’s premier singer-songwriters. Tragically, Marvin’s life was cut short, at age 44, by bullets fired from a gun he bought for his own father 11 years later, putting a button on a disastrous familial cycle that started with horrific childhood abuse.
Unfortunately, the circumstances of his death might cloud his enormous artistic achievements somewhat, but considering that Marvin’s creativity was driven by a lifelong desire to overcome this early trauma, it’s even more admirable that it yielded such great art for all of us to cherish. Quoting David Ritz: Marvin’s work reveals a “struggle to wed body and soul, in his exploration of sexual passion, he expresses the most human of hungers, the hunger for God.”
I got the message, Marvin.
"ERIC'S MONTEREY BURDEN":https://bestclassicbands.com/eric-burdon-animals-monterey-6-5-17/
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" -BRIAN ENO FEATURING THE ALBUM "BEFORE AND AFTER SCIENCE" IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH THE CAPTAIN'S NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 68 - THE CAPTAIN EXPLORES HIS COVE OF 8 TRACKS TREASURES.
"THE MANY LOVES OF FRANK FAYLEN":https://www.republicworld.com/entertainment-news/hollywood-news/the-many-loves-of-dobie-gillis-cast-list-of-actors-and-their-characters-in-this-1959-sitcom.html
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" -TONY JOE WHITE FEATURING THE ALBUM "TONY JOE WHITE" IN HIGH DEF WITH THE CAPTAIN'S NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 67 - THE CAPTAIN EXPLORES HIS COVE OF 8 TRACKS TREASURES FOR INSIGHT AND DELIGHT
"THE MONEY FOR NOTHING VIDEO AND THE CGI REVOLUTION":https://garage.vice.com/en_us/article/9kpmzp/dire-straits-money-for-nothing-video
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" -"NO STRANGER TO PARADISE" FEATURING THE ALBUM "QUIET VILLAGE" BY THE MARTIN DENNY IN HIGH DEF WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 68
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" -"IN THE MOOD" FEATURING THE ALBUM "TO OUR CHILDREN'S, CHILDREN'S CHILDREN" BY THE MOODY BLUES IN HIGH DEF WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 67 - THE CAPTAIN EXPLORES HIS COVE OF 8 TRACKS TREASURES FOR INSIGHT AND DELIGHT
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" -"TIMES HAVE CHANGED" FEATURING THE ALBUM "BIG BAMBOO" BY THE CHEECH AND CHONG IN HIGH DEF WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 66
"PUT ON A STACK OF 45's"- EDEN AHBEZ - "NATURE BOY" - CHAPTER NINETY FOUR - Dig This With The Splendid Bohemians - Featuring Bill Mesnik and Rich Buckland
"THE MYSTERIOUS LIFE AND WORK OF EDEN AHBEZ":https://pleasekillme.com/nature-boy-eden-ahbez/
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" -"BUBBLEGUM SOUL" FEATURING THE ALBUM "THE ARCHIES GREATEST HITS" BY THE ARCHIES IN HIGH DEF WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY - EPISODE # 65
"The 15 Greatest Philip Seymour Hoffman Movies Ranked":https://www.slashfilm.com/757709/the-top-greatest-philip-seymour-hoffman-movies-ranked/?utm_campaign=clip://www.slashfilm.com/757709/the-top-greatest-philip-seymour-hoffman-movies-ranked/
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" -"RHETORICAL QUESTION" FEATURING THE ALBUM "SWISS MOVEMENT" BY LES McCANN AND EDDIE HARRIS IN HIGH DEF WITH NARRATIVE - BY CAPTAIN BILLY - EPISODE # 64 THE CAPTAIN EXPLORES HIS COVE OF 8 TRACK DELIGHTS!
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - "THE ZELIG OF ROCK AND ROLL" - "AL'S BIG DEAL" FEATURING THE ALBUM "AL'S BIG DEAL" WITH AL KOOPER IN HIGH DEF WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 63 -THE CAPTAIN EXPLORES HIS COVE OF 8 TRACKS!
"PUT ON A STACK OF 45's"- ANNETTE SNELL - "FOOTPRINTS ON MY MIND" - CHAPTER NINETY THREE - Dig This With The Splendid Bohemians - Featuring Bill Mesnik and Rich Buckland -
"Dashed Dreams: The Tragedy Of Annette Snell And Flight 242"://www.wabe.org/dashed
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - "ONE BRIEF SHINING MOMENT" - CAMELOT- ORIGINAL BROADWAY SOUNDTRACK" FEATURING THE ALBUM "CAMELOT" WITH RICHARD BURTON IN HIGH DEF WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 62.
NOW APPEARING ON CAPTAIN BILLY'S MAGIC 8 BALL- "CARLIN’S KIDS" OCCUPATION: FOOLE by George Carlin (Little David, 1973)
"PUT ON A STACK OF 45's"- MICHAEL PENN- "NO MYTH" - CHAPTER NINETY TWO - Dig This With The Splendid Bohemians - Featuring Bill Mesnik and Rich Buckland
"THE PENN REVIVAL":https://americansongwriter.com/a-revival-michael-penn-album-interview/
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" -MANCE LIPSCOMB - "THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY" FEATURING THE ALBUM "TROUBLE IN MIND" BY MANCE LIPSCOMB IN HIGH DEF WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY - EPISODE # 60
"AND THE SPLENDID BOHO GOES TO..." - JOE MANTELL and FRANK SUTTON FOR "MARTY" (1955) - EPISODE SEVEN-
"MARTY EXPANDED":https://variety.com/1955/film/reviews/marty-3-1200417955/
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" SPECIAL EDITION- THE STANDELLS! "LOVERS, MUGGERS AND THIEVES" FEATURING THE ALBUM "DIRTY WATER" BY THE STANDELLS IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 59
"PUT ON A STACK OF 45's"- SKEETER DAVIS- "THE END OF THE WORLD" - CHAPTER NINETY ONE - Dig This With The Splendid Bohemians - Featuring Bill Mesnik and Rich Buckland
"THE GREATNESS OF SKEETER DAVIS":https://www.wideopencountry.com/skeeter-davis/
Detroit gave us the rowdiest blue-eyed soul band of the '60s, and this CD packs in 20 of their best including every hit! Includes Jenny Take a Ride!; Devil with a Blue Dress On & Good Golly Miss Molly; Sock It to Me-Baby!; Little Latin Lupe Lu and more.
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - ALEX NORTH -"DOOMED FROM THE START"" FEATURING THE ALBUM "THE SOUNDTRACK FROM "THE MISFITS"" BY ALEX NORTH IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 58 - 8 TRACK TREASURES!
"PUT ON A STACK OF 45's"- FREDDY "BOOM BOOM" CANNON - "PALISADES PARK" - CHAPTER NINETY - Featuring Bill Mesnik and Rich Buckland
" THE HISTORY OF BOOM BOOM":https://www.history-of-rock.com/freddy_cannon.htm
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD - "BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO" FEATURING THE ALBUM "AGAIN" BY BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 57
BILL MESNIK- "PRAY, PRAY FOR ARTHUR MORGAN" - A SPECIAL DIG THIS FEATURE-
This was my first video game experience, and, by all accounts, I started at the top.
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - EDWIN STARR- "FULL TILT" FEATURING THE ALBUM "WAR AND PEACE" BY EDWIN STARR IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 56 - THE CAPTAIN EXPLORES HIS DEN OF 8 TRACKS FOR YOUR DELIGHT!!
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - ETTA JAMES - "THE REAL DEAL" FEATURING THE ALBUM "DEEP IN THE NIGHT" IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 55 - THE CAPTAIN EXPLORES HIS COVE OF 8 TRACKS TREASURES !
"DOLL SELF DESTRUCTION":https://www.loudersound.com/features/new-york-dolls-appetites-for-self-destruction
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - EMERSON, LAKE and PALMER - "SUPER, OR STUPOR?"" FEATURING THE ALBUM "EMERSON, LAKE and PALMER" BY EMERSON LAKE and PALMER IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 54
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - GRATEFUL DEAD - "GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN" FEATURING THE ALBUM "LIVE / DEAD" BY THE GRATEFUL DEAD IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 53 - THE CAPTAIN SHARES HIS 8 TRACK INSIGHT.
"PUT ON A STACK OF 45's"- THE TURTLES - "OUTSIDE CHANCE" - CHAPTER EIGHTY SEVEN - Dig This With The Splendid Bohemians Bill Mesnik and Rich Buckland -The Boys Devote Each Episode To A Famed 45 RPM And Shine A Light Upon It's Import.
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - J.J. CALE- "A LIGHT TOUCH" FEATURING THE ALBUM "TROUBADOUR" BY J.J. CALE IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 52 - THE CAPTAIN EXPLORES HIS COVE OF 8 TRACK TREASURES JUST FOR YOU!!
"PUT ON A STACK OF 45's"- JO-EL SONNIER - "TEAR STAINED LETTER" - CHAPTER EIGHTY SIX - Dig This With The Splendid Bohemians- "A LIVING LEGEND":http://jo-elsonnier.com/
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - PINK FLOYD- "PUT ON YOUR HEADPHONES" FEATURING THE ALBUM "DARK SIDE OFTHE MOON" BY PINK FLOYD IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 51
"TEN THINGS YOU DID NOT KNOW ABOUT DARK SIDE OF THE MOON":https://www.rolling
"AND THE SPLENDID BOHO GOES TO..." - JOHN CARRADINE FOR "THE GRAPES OF WRATH" (1940) - EPISODE SIX- A SERIES WHERE WE AWARD A NOTED CHARACTER ACTOR WHOSE CONTRIBUTION TO A FILM ENHANCED IT'S GREATNESS! "THE JOHN CARRADINE DATABASE":https://www.themoviedb.
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - STEALERS WHEEL- "LONGING FOR THE BEATLES" FEATURING THE ALBUM "STEALERS WHEEL" IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 50 - THE CAPTAIN EXPLORES HIS COVE OF 8 TRACKS!
"PAUL SIMON REVEALS HIS THOUGHTS REGARDING RENE AND GEORGETTE MAGRITTE":https://www.paulsimon.com/news/paul-simon-on-rene-and-georgette-magritte-with-their-dog-after-the-war/
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - "AJA" - STEELY DAN- FEATURING THE ALBUM "AJA" BY STEELY DAN IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 49 - THE CAPTAIN EXPLORES HIS COVE OF 8 TRACK TREASURES JUST FOR YOU!!
"THE PASSING OF PERVIS STAPLES":https://www.npr.org/2021/05/13/996553392/pervis-staples-founding-member-of-the-staple-singers-dies-at-age-85
"I WAKE UP SCREAMING":https://www.classicfilmnoir.com/2019/10/i-wake-up-screaming-1941.html
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - "LUST FOR LIFE" - IGGY POP- FEATURING THE ALBUM "LUST FOR LIFE" BY IGGY POP IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 48 - THE CAPTAIN EXPLORES HIS COVE OF 8 TRACK TREASURES!
Procol Harum - Live: In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra - Recorded at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada On November 18, 1971
"THE TALE OF THE TAPE":https://www.procolharum.com/phalbum6.htm
In the 1960s and early 1970s, Keith Reid was considered by some to be Procol Harum’s sixth member. Though he played no instrument nor did he ever perform with the band, he wrote most if not all lyrics and Gary Brooker all the music. What an amazing pair:
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - DONOVAN - FEATURING THE ALBUM "DONOVAN'S GREATEST HITS" IN HIGH DEF WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 47 - THE CAPTAIN EXPLORES HIS COVE OF 8 TRACK'S WITH THE DELIGHT OF INSIGHT JUST FOR YOU!!
"THE POT BUST THAT ENDED THE SPOONFUL":https://pleasekillme.com/lovin-spoonful-steve-boone-interview/
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - " POWERFULLY POPPED " - BADFINGER- FEATURING THE ALBUM "STRAIGHT UP" BY BADFINGER IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 46 - THE CAPTAIN EXPLORES HIS COVE OF 8 TRACKS!
"PUT ON A STACK OF 45's"- BOB LIND- "CHERYLS GOING HOME" - CHAPTER EIGHTY- With The Splendid Bohemians - Featuring Bill Mesnik and Rich Buckland - "SOMETHING WORSE THAN LONLINESS":http://boblind.com/
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - " THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT " - FEATURING THE ALBUM "WE SOLD OUR SOUL FOR ROCK AND ROLL" BY BLACK SABBATH IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 46 -
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - " AVE MARIA " -MARIA MULDAUR- FEATURING THE ALBUM "MARIA MULDAUR" IN HIGH DEF WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 45 - THE CAPTAIN EXPLORES HIS COVE OF 8 TRACK TREASURES JUST FOR YOU!!
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - " MY POLITICAL EDUCATION" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "O LUCKY MAN" By ALAN PRICE IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 44 - THE CAPTAIN DELIGHTS WITH INSIGHTS OF HIS 8 TRACK TREASURES!
"BOWIE CHANGES TRIBUTE GOES AWRY":https://www.insidehook.com/daily_brief/music/celebrity-tribute-david-bowie-changes-bad-reception
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - "FROM BAUHAUS TO MY HOUSE" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "AUTOBAHN" By KRAFTWERK IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE - -EPISODE # 43- THE CAPTAIN MINES HIS COVE OF 8 TRACK TREASURES!
"PUT ON A STACK OF 45's"- THE AMAZING RHYTHM ACES - "CAN I SEE YOU DANCE" - CHAPTER SEVENTY SIX- With The Splendid Bohemians Bill Mesnik and Rich Buckland - The Boys Devote Each Episode To A Famed 45 RPM "Single" Release "THE DEATH OF RUSSELL SMITH":ht
Ronnie Spector- The Triumph of Veronica Yvette Bennett Spector - A One Hour Celebration Of The Music Of Ronnie Spector, The Ronettes And A Career Indelibly Etched In The Heart Of Rock and Our Souls - August 10, 1943- January 12, 2022 - Baby, We Love You!
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - " A GREAT ACTOR SINGING" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "A TRAMP SHINING" By RICHARD HARRIS IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE- EPISODE # 42- THE CAPTAIN MINES HIS COVE OF 8 TRACK TREASURES!
"PUT ON A STACK OF 45's"- - DORIS TROY - "JUST ONE LOOK" - CHAPTER SEVENTY FIVE- The Splendid Bohemians Devote Each Episode To A Famed 45 RPM "Single" Release And Shine A Spotlight Upon It's Eternal Greatness-
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - " HAPPINESS IS" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "GET HAPPY " By ELVIS COSTELLO IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE - EPISODE # 41 -THE CAPTAIN MINES HIS COVE OF 8 TRACK TREASURES!
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - " THE WIZARD REFLECTS" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "FAITHFUL" By TODD RUNDGREN IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE - -EPISODE # 40 - THE CAPTAIN MINES HIS COVE OF 8 TRACK TREASURES!
FORGETFULNESS", "FAIRYTALE", "IT’S A CHOICE TO BE HAPPY", "BILLY B BADD", "LET GO", "BRING ON THE NIGHT " These six songs derive from between 6 and 10 years back.
"THE TALE OF HAPPY CHRISTMAS (THE WAR IS OVER)":https://www.harlemworldmagazine.com/happy-xmas-war-is-over-by-john-yoko-and-the-harlem-community-choir-1971/
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - " WE' VE LIVED BEFORE" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "LIEGE AND LIEF " By FAIRPORT CONVENTION IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY- EPISODE # 39- THE CAPTAIN MINES HIS COVE OF 8 TRACKS.
"JOHNNY'S BATTLE WITH PARKINSONS DISEASE":https://people.com/country/johnny-lee-parkinsons-disease-battle-everythings-gonna-be-alright-album-release/
Many people feel alienated during the holiday season, and what with the mental health crisis we have in this country, coupled with the ever expanding epidemic of gun violence, I created this song as an exploration of a tortured mind seeking relief.
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - " TOO MUCH IS NOT ENOUGH" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "ODESSA" By THE BEE GEES IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE - -EPISODE # 38- THE CAPTAIN MINES HIS COVE OF 8 TRACK TREASURES!
"MIKE FINALLY UNDERSTOOD":https://variety.com/2021/music/news/michael-nesmith-last-days-monkees-manager-final-tour-1235131225/
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - "BALD FIRE" - EPISODE 37 - FEATURING THE ALBUM "TUMBLEWEED CONNECTION- THE DELUXE EDITION" By ELTON JOHN IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY
"MUSIC MACHINE INTERVIEW WITH SEAN BONNIWELL":https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2011/07/sean-bonniwell-interview-html.html
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - " AN UNFORGETTABLE PERFORMANCE" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "A WINK IS AS GOOD AS A NOD TO A BLIND HORSE" By THE FACES IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE- EPISODE # 36- THE CAPTAIN UNEARTHS AN 8 TRACK TREASURE!
"BEHIND THE SONG":https://americansongwriter.com/behind-the-song-send-in-the-clowns-with-judy-collins/
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - EPISODE # 35 - " THE GREAT AWAKENING"" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "THE BYRDS GREATEST HITS" By THE BYRDS IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE INSIGHTS BY THE CAPTAIN HIMSELF!
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" -EPISODE # 34 - "SEX ON A SUMMERS DAY" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "MELLO 'DAY" By ANITA O'DAY IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE -THE CAPTAIN DELIVERS A GEM FROM HIS 8 TRACK ARCHIVE
"THE ARTISTIC INTEGRITY OF RICK NELSON":https://jeremylr.medium.com/saluting-the-artistic-integrity-of-rick-nelson-30-years-after-his-shocking-death-ed5a28ca679e
"FLASHES OF KINDNESS":://www.rogerebert.com/features/flashes-of-kindness-ideological-ambivalence-in-the-the-last-detail-and-last-flag-flying
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - - EPISODE # 33 - "PERFECTION, CURDLED" - FEATURING THE ALBUM " FOREVER CHANGES" By LOVE IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY.
"PITTSBURGH MUSIC HISTORY- JIMMY BEAUMONT AND THE SKYLINERS":https://sites.google.com/site/pittsburghmusichistory/pittsburgh-music-story/doo-wop/the-skyliners
"CAPTAIN BILLY'S MAGIC 8 BALL" EPISODE 32 "WHEN WE WERE YOUNG" FEATURING THE ALBUM "FREEDOM SUITE" BY THE RASCALS IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE- THE CAPTAIN REVEALS ANOTHER GEM FROM HIS 8 TRACK TREASURES!
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - EPISODE # 31 - " THE BLUES, REIMAGINED" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "BLUES FROM LAUREL CANYON" (Decca, 1968) By JOHN MAYALL WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY.
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" -EPISODE # 30 - " TALENTED AND TORTURED" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "MOTEL SHOT" By DELANEY AND BONNIE IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY
"DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE LONNIE MACK OBITUARY":https://downbeat.com/news/detail/blues-guitarist-lonnie-mack-dies-at-74
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - EPISODE # 29 - "BEAUTY AND THE BEAST" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "NILSSON SINGS NEWMAN" By HARRY NILSSON IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY.
"GOD, GUNS AND THE BAND THAT COULD HAVE BEEN":https://www.loudersound.com/features/god-guns-and-the-band-that-couldve-been-the-peculiar-story-of-pacific-gas-and-electric
"Dig This With The Splendid Bohemians" -"PUT ON A STACK OF 45's"- CHAPTER SIXTY TWO - JERRY LEE LEWIS - "WOULD YOU TAKE ANOTHER CHANCE ON ME"
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - EPISODE # 28- " VOODOO GOES MAINSTREAM" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "IN THE RIGHT PLACE" By DR. JOHN IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY. -GEMS FROM HIS 8 TRACK TREASURE CHEST
"AND THE SPLENDID BOHO GOES TO..."- EPISODE THREE - NED BEATTY FOR "NETWORK" (1976) - WE PRESENT A NEW SERIES WHERE WE AWARD A NOTED CHARACTER ACTOR WHOSE CONTRIBUTION TO A FILM ENHANCED IT'S GREATNESS.
"THE CASINOS- WAY BACK ATTACK":https://www.waybackattack.com/casinos.html
"JOHN CACKETT ON JOHN D. LOUDERMILK":https://www.alancackett.com/john-d-loudermilk-obituary
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" EPISODE # 27 - " BETTER THAN JANIS" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "LIVING WITH THE ANIMALS" By MOTHER EARTH WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY
"SHOCKING OMISSIONS- NANCY AND LEE":https://www.npr.org/2017/08/11/542413100/shocking-omission-nancy-sinatra-and-lee-hazlewood-s-charismatic-nancy-lee
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - EPISODE # 26 - "KEEPING IT SIMPLE" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "NOW APPEARING" By JIMMY REED IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY
"Watching the film recently on Turner Classic Movies, I was moved by seeing my old friend Harold Russell come back to life again on screen. His role as Homer Parrish, is one of the most distinctive in the history of Hollywood".- Mark Montgomery
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - EPISODE # 25 - "AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "THERE GOES RHYMIN' SIMON" By PAUL SIMON IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY
"REINTRODUCING LEE MOSES":https://main.oxfordamerican.org/item/949-reintroducing-lee-moses
THE BAYSIDE BOYS- THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY REUNION- RECORDED LIVE ON JULY 11TH, 2021, PAWLEYS ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA FEATURING JON "DOC" SIMONS, SAM MENDALES, BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" -EPISODE # 24 - "HARMONIC CONVERGENCE" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "CALIFORNIA DREAMING" By WES MONTGOMERY IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY
"KINGS OF THE ROCK INSTRUMENTAL":https://www.liveabout.com/profile-the-ventures-2521953
"Apart from his long stint as the drummer of one of the most successful and certainly the longest running rock and roll band in the world, it's not a secret Watts's true love has always been jazz and that he has always had a deep appreciation for it.".
I’m appalled by the preponderance of monumental humans who have recently fallen through the cosmic crevasse, starting with the death of my life partner, Chemayne Halverson (1/6/1967-12/23/2020) two days before last Christmas.- Bill Mesnik
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - EPISODE # 23 - " TOO INTENSE FOR PRIME TIME" - FEATURING THE ALBUM " FAREWELL ALDEBARAN" By JERRY YESTER and JUDY HENSKE IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY!
"LATIN FUNK- THE RAY BARETTO NPR PAGE":https://www.npr.org/artists/15180302/ray-barretto
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - EPISODE # 22 - " EAST MEETS WEST" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "WONDERWALL MUSIC" By GEORGE HARRISON WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY
"NANCI GRIFFITH- ANOTHER VACANCY ON THE BOULEVARD OF HEAVENLY DREAMS”- Folk and Country Angel Nanci Griffith boarded The Mystery Train on August 13 at the age of 68 . Her profound gift cannot be defined with any typical ease.
Nanci Griffith - July 6, 1953 – August 13, 2021- "Other Voices, Other Rooms"- Featuring John Prine, Emmylou Harris, Guy Clark, Iris Dement, Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie, Carolyn Hester and Others- 1993
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - EPISODE # 22 - "SETTING THE STANDARDS" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "STARDUST" By WILLIE NELSON IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY.
"FRANKIE FORD'S FAREWELL":https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6714520/frankie-ford-obituary
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" EPISODE # 21 - " GOD SAVE ROCK N ROLL!" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS" By THE SEX PISTOLS IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE By CAPTAIN BILLY.
"BILLY GIBBONS- LIFE AFTER DUSTY":https://variety.com/2021/music/news/billy-gibbons-interview-zz-top-dusty-hill-died-carrying-on-1235031028/
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" -EPISODE # 20 - "COOL BY ASSOCIATION" FEATURING THE ALBUM "SUPERFLY" BY CURTIS MAYFIELD IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY
"DECEMBER BOY: ON ALEX CHILTON":https://www.theringer.com/music/2019/2/11/18219958/alex-chilton-big-star-box-tops-the-letter-career-legacy
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - "HERE’S TO THE ALSO-RANS" - EPISODE #19: RIVER by Terry Reid (Atlantic, 1973) FEATURING THE ALBUM "RIVER" By TERRY REID IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY
"TIMI YURO LAS VEGAS OBITUARY":https://lasvegassun.com/news/2004/apr/06/singer-yuro-loses-long-battle-with-throat-cancer-a/
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" -- EPISODE # 18 - "IS GOD PAYING ATTENTION"" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "AQUALUNG" By JETHRO TULL IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY.
"THE MONKEES BID FAREWELL":https://ultimateclassicrock.com/micky-dolenz-monkees-farewell/
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" EPISODE # 17 - "THE HEALING POWER OF FUNK" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "FRESH" By SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY.
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" -EPISODE # 16 - "WHAT WAS DELIVERED?" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "THE BASEMENT TAPES" By BOB DYLAN &THE BAND IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY
“When she came to Muscle Shoals to record, she arrived in a Learjet, which Harrah had bought for her, and had a five-carat diamond ring on her finger that just about covered her hand,” said Rick Hall, the author of the book “The Man From Muscle Shoals.
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" -EPISODE # 15 - "HEAVEN ON EARTH"- FEATURING THE ALBUM "HIS HAND IN MINE" By ELVIS PRESLEY (RCA, 1960) IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY!
"Jersey Boy Bob Crewe: From Gay Punchline to Respected Artist":://variety.com/2021/music/artists/jersey-boy-bob-crewe-1234947515/
"MITCH":https://theseconddisc.com/2020/02/20/shake-a-tail-feather-rpm-collects-complete-mitch-ryder-and-the-detroit-
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - EPISODE # 14 - "HE'S ALWAYS BEEN THERE"" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "MORE TONY'S GREATEST HITS" By TONY BENNETT IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY
"LLOYD PRICE- NPR":https://www.npr.org/2021/05/09/995230916/lloyd-price-singer-and-early-rock-influence-dies-at-88
In Memory of One Of The Finest Folk/ Blues Singers, Songwriters and Storytellers of My Time, Patrick Sky - October 2, 1940 – May 26, 2021 Thank you for that evening at Carnegie Hall in '66. You will always be a blessing.
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - EPISODE # 12 - "MY GUILTY PLEASURE" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "ELEPHANT MOUNTAIN" By THE YOUNGBLOODS IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN BILLY
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - -A CONVERSATION WITH MY FATHER -
EPISODE #12 TEA FOR THE TILLERMAN by Cat Stevens (A&M, 1970)
"RUNNING FOR COVERS":https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmusic/article/NJs-Garage-Rock-Icons-The-Doughboys-Releasing-RUNNING-FOR-COVERS-Album-20190620
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - A New Series Created By William Mesnik, The Mind Behind “Mesmerized”- EPISODE # 10 - "VAN THE MAN" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "SAINT DOMINICS PREVIEW" By VAN MORRISON IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE.
1) Wild World 2) Oh Very Young 3 Sitting 4) Where Do The Children Play 5) Lady D'Arbanville 6 ) Another Saturday Night 7) Heard Headed Woman 8 ) Peace Train 9) Father and Son 10) King Of Trees 11) A Bad Penny 12) Bitterblue
"THE OFFICIAL CAT SITE":https:
"Dig This With The Splendid Bohemians" - Featuring Bill Mesnik and Rich Buckland - NEW SERIES! "PUT ON A STACK OF 45's"- CHAPTER FORTY TWO - GARNET MIMMS - "CRY BABY" -
"SOULWALKING WITH GARNET MIMMS":http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Garnet%20Mimms.html
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - A New Series Created By William Mesnik, The Mind Behind “Mesmerized”- EPISODE # 9 - "QUESTIONING MY SEXUALITY" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS" By David Bowie
Prince, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood and Dhani Harrison - “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” - Producer Joel Gallen's Remarkable 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Re- Edit Exploring The Unimaginable Prince Guitar Solo.
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - A New Series Created By William Mesnik, The Mind Behind “Mesmerized”- EPISODE # 8 - "LITTLE STEVIE GROWS UP"- FEATURING THE ALBUM "JOHN BARLEYCORN MUST DIE" By TRAFFIC (UA 1970) IN HIGH DEFINITION WITH NARRATIVE.
"ERNIE IN THE COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME":https://countrymusichalloffame.org/artist/tennessee-ernie-ford/
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - A New Series Created By William Mesnik, The Mind Behind “Mesmerized”- EPISODE # 7 - "MY WEDDING SONG" - FEATURING THE ALBUM "LEON RUSSELL" By LEON RUSSELL IN HIGH DEF.
"KIM RECALLS DREAMING":https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/kenny-rogers-kim-carnes-duet-dont-fall-in-love-with-a-dreamer-69305/
"CAPTAIN BILLY’S MAGIC 8 BALL" - A New Series Created By William Mesnik, The Mind Behind “Mesmerized”- EPISODE #6: LOU'S VINDICATION - FEATURING THE ALBUM BERLIN BY LOU REED IN HIGH DEFINITION - RCA, 1973