Want to feel insignificant?

Then check out what someone on Mars would see if they looked up at the night sky looking for earth.

Good thing there's no life on Mars isn't it Mr. Bowie?

)

An Antechamber of Paradise

Something to ponder

The most interesting thing to me ... was the anecdote related by [Simon] Leys ... about sitting in an Australian café minding his own business while a radio is blaring musical and spoken pap in the background. By chance, the program switched to a Mozart clarinet quartet, for a moment turning the café "into an antechamber of Paradise." People fell silent, there were looks of bafflement, and then, "the the huge relief of all," one customer "stood up, walked straight to the radio," turned the knob to another station, and "restored at once the more congenial noises, which everyone again could comfortably ignore."

Leys describes this event as kind of an epiphany. He is sure that philistinism does not result from the lack of knowledge. The customer who could not abide hearing Mozart's music recognized its beauty. Indeed, he did precisely what he did for that reason. The desire to destroy beauty, according to Leys, applies not just to aesthetics but as much, if not more, to ethics: "The need to bring down to our level, to deface, to deride and debunk any splendor that is towering above us, is probably the saddest urge of human nature."

Ian Buruma, "The Man Who Got It Right." The New York Review of Books, 8/15/2013


Not sure if this is THE quartet mentioned, but it is A Mozart quartet. 

Old Soul with New Wrinkles

Since my last post about the genius that is James Booker, apparently the world has stood up and taken notice.  Although he's never gone out of style for those who love the old New Orleans professors and the musical swamp that is NOLA, there's been somewhat of a revival in interest in the man whom Dr. John has called, "the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced” and there is a documentary made about Booker called "Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker"







If you get the opportunity, do yourself a favor and check it out, and while you're at it, I also recommend the live album, "Resurrection of the Bayou Maharajah."  Play this clip loud, it'll knock your socks off and then go out and buy the album.

Where's Rudolph? Where's Blitzen Baby?

Over the weekend I was listening to my digital music playing machine on random shuffle and this GEM of a Christmas song came on.  I listened to it probably 20 times in the course of the weekend.  The last track on  1989's "Brain Drain," which was considered a lack luster album for The Ramones (It did have Pet Sematary on it which was a great theme song for the movie of the same name -Ed.), Merry Christmas (I don't wanna fight tonight) is definitely worthy of a spot in the Christmas Song Pantheon and as of this weekend has earned its spot in my own personal Top 50 Songs of All Time.  If you're at all familiar with the Ramones you already know that 50's and 60's rock and pop was a major driver for the "Joey Ramone" sound and you can hear legendary producer (and more recently murderer - Ed.) Phil Spector's influence all over this one (Sorry Best Coast, the Ramones were there long before you were - Ed.) and if it were Darlene Love or Ronnie and the Ronettes singing this song it probably wouldn't sound out of place on Spector's iconic Christmas album.

It's The Ramones; you know what to do.  So without any further ado...all the way from 1989; The Ramones and Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight).

 

And because you're going to want to hear it over and over again, here's the bonus video.

 Io Saturnalia! and Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!

Professor Longhair Redux (or I think that Elwood Blues is reading my posts)

So...I was driving home tonight and I caught the local installment of the Blues Break (see post from a few weeks ago - Mgt) and tonight Elwood was celebrating the birthday of one of my favorite teachers; Professor Longhair (see post from even longer ago - Mgt).  Born in 1918, he would have been 94 today.  They called him Dr. Professor Longhair, but the girls called him the little old lover man... 

Anyway.  Here's some more of the 'Fess, doing what he did. 

Regular rock and roll rules apply.  Make sure the volume dial is in good working order.

Oh...and for those keeping score at home.  This is totally how I pictured Mr. Nancy in American Gods





Rum and Coke



(They Call Me) Dr. Professor Longhair

I Used To Search All Night For You Darling, But My Search Would Always End In Vain

If you ever want to get me fired up, ask me about the state of rock radio stations.  They pretty much all suck these days compared to when I was cutting my teeth.  I can remember when the local stations had DJs who were knowledgeable about the subject and would open sonic doors to new music.  That said, my local radio station around here, 107.1 The Peak, is a pretty decent one.  Its got DJs who actually care about the music they play and the play lists don't seem as programed as some of the more corporate stations.  I think the fact that it lies about as far right on the dial as a station can go might have something to do with it, but they're pretty active in the local music scene and play good music pretty much all the time and will even spin some pretty deep cuts.

Now, every night at around 8 pm they've got a syndicated show called the "Blues Break" or something like thats hosted by Dan Aykroyd as Ray Stantz, Louis Winthorpe III, Elwood Blues (Dan...if you happen to read this and are looking to hire someone to help with the blues mobile, hit me up)

Anyway...the point of my story, if there even is one, is that yesterday he spun one of my favorite tunes of all time, we're talking top 50 material (stay tuned for Goofus Thomas's top 50 songs of all time - Mgt.); "The Things That I Used To Do" by Eddie "Guitar Slim" Jones.  Born on December 10, 1926, which I guess is why Elwood was spinning him on Monday.  Eddie was known for his wild onstage antics.  He would hook his guitar up to his amps with a 350 foot cord and he would walk out into the audience, out the front door and into the street, without missing a lick.  He would wear brightly colored suits and dye his hair to match.  His influence on Rock and Roll is huge; Buddy Guy, after seeing Guitar Slim play said that he wanted to play like B.B. King and act like Guitar Slim.  When I saw Buddy Guy play in 1999, he walked out into the audience with a long guitar cord and played solos among the crowd at the Ira Allen Chapel at UVM.  Buddy Guy begat Eric Clapton and so on and so forth.

In 1953, Guitar Slim recorded, "The Things That I Used To Do" for Specialty Records.  It was produced by a young, and I would assume at that point, relatively unknown, Ray Charles, who also played piano on the track (watch him shake a tail feather above and hear him say "Yeahhh" at the end of the recording below when they finally nailed the recording - Mgt.).  Slim supposedly said that the song came to him in a dream where the devil and an angel fought each other with competing lyrics.  The devil won, which might shine a light onto the lyrics (it might not though -Mgt.).

 

So...without further ado..."The Things That I Used To Do"



In 1964 James Brown recorded a version...



And in 1984, 31 years after (hard to believe that 1984 was only 31 years after 1953 - Mgt.) it was originally recorded, Stevie Ray Vaughn SLAYS it, at Carnegie Hall...



It's not hard to see why the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed this as one of the top 500 (?! - Mgt.) songs that shaped rock and roll.

As always.  PLAY 'EM LOUD! It's rock and roll after all.

Hey Hey Woody Guthrie

Woody Guthrie's influence on Bob Dylan really cannot be understated.  This is a pretty good example of Dylan paying a tribute to someone who was clearly one of his heros.

This first song is a ballad written by Woody about the Italian Hall Massacre.  On Christmas Eve 1913 in the Calumet, Michigan Italian Hall, more than 500 striking miners and their families had gathered to celebrate the holiday on the second floor, at some point in the party someone yelled "Fire" causing a stampede to the only narrow stairway that led outside.  Death and destruction ensued.  Of the 73 people who died, 59 were children and most galling of all; there was no fire.  It is believed that the person who yelled fire was an ally of mine management who's intent was to disrupt the party.  Woody Tells it better than I can.



And the tribute to Woody, and one of my favorite Dylan songs.

On This Date

1936 - lysergic acid diethylamide 25 was synthesized by chemist Albert Hoffman at the Sandoz laboratories in Switzerland.  This is just a SMALL sample of what life after acid looks and sounds like...

 

Died on This Date

Party people all around the TOWN!

Died On This Date

John Milton - 

 


“So shall the world go on,
To good malignant, to bad men benign,
Under her own weight groaning.”  Paradise Lost


Norman Rockwell - 

During World War I, he tried to enlist into the U.S. Navy but was refused entry because, at 6 feet (1.83 m) tall and 140 pounds (64 kg), he was eight pounds underweight. To compensate, he spent one night gorging himself on bananas, liquids and doughnuts, and weighed enough to enlist the next day. However, he was given the role of a military artist and did not see any action during his tour of duty.







James Booker -

Booker was the son and grandson of Baptist ministers, both of whom played the piano. He spent most of his childhood on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where his father pastored a church. Booker received a saxophone as a gift from his mother, but he demonstrated a stronger interest in the keyboard. He first played organ in his father's churches.
After returning to New Orleans in his early adolescence, Booker attended the Xavier Academy Preparatory School. He learned some elements of his keyboard style from Tuts Washington and Edward Frank.^[1] Booker was highly skilled in classical music and played Bach and Chopin, among other composers. He also mastered and memorized solos by Erroll Garner, and Liberace. His thorough background in piano literature may have enabled his original and virtuosic interpretations of jazz and other popular music. These performances combined elements of stride, blues, gospel and Latin piano styles...he enrolled as an undergraduate in Southern University's music department. In 1960, Booker's "Gonzo" reached number 43 on the U.S. Billboard chart, and number 3 on the R&B chart. This was followed by some moderately successful singles. In the 1960s, he turned to drugs, and in 1970 served a brief sentence in Angola Prison for possession.

On This Date

1519 - Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes entered the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan.

1923 - 600 SA surrounded the beer hall and a machine gun was set up in the auditorium. Hitler and his associates walked through a beer hall in Munich. He fired a shot into the ceiling and shouted,"The national revolution has broken out! The hall is filled with six hundred men. Nobody is allowed to leave." He then said the Bavarian government was deposed and declared the formation of a new government
 
1936 - Now, instead of conquering foreign indigenous peoples, the Spanish were fighting among themselves.  20,000 Francoist soldiers attempted to take Madrid, but were rebuffed.  Although not able to get into the city itself, they were able to lay siege on Madrid for three years, beginning on November 8th.

  

1971 - Led Zeppelin releases "Led Zeppelin IV"

Mathilda, I Cried And Cried For You

Cookie and the Cupcakes may just be the greatest name for a band ever.  This song pretty much slays it too.  Only hit #47 on the Billboard charts in 1959 though.

Died On This Date

Buddy Bolden -

was an African-American cornetist and is regarded by contemporaries as a key figure in the development of a  style of ragtime music, which later came to be known as jazz. 
He was known as King Bolden, and his band was a top draw in New Orleans from about 1900 until 1907, when he was incapacitated by schizophrenia. He left no known surviving recordings, but he was known for his very loud sound and constant improvisation. (wikipedia)

The great Jelly Roll Morton playing "Buddy Bolden's Blues" aka "Funky Butt"


Denton True "Cy" Young -

On September 23, 1993, a statue dedicated to him was unveiled by Northeastern University on the site of the Red Sox's original stadium, the Huntington Avenue Grounds. It was there that Young had pitched the first game of the 1903 World Series, as well as the first perfect game in the modern era of baseball. A home plate-shaped plaque next to the statue reads:

 "On October 1, 1903 the first modern World Series between the American League champion Boston Pilgrims (later known as the Red Sox) and the National League champion Pittsburgh Pirates was played on this site. General admission tickets were fifty cents. The Pilgrims, led by twenty-eight game winner Cy Young, trailed the series three games to one but then swept four consecutive victories to win the championship five games to three."

Variations on a Theme: Enter Patty Valentine from the upper hall

Y'all come on in now! Come right on down front!

I got something I wanna show ya. The "Prince Of Dance" is coming at you with this GEM.  He got 'em moving for SURE!

...And I'm live.