Friday, November 12, 2010

Color... In Two Parts

Two views of what passes for Fall color in this part o' the world:




This phenomenon is pretty unusual for The High Plains of New Mexico.  Most years I've awakened around this time o' year, looked out my window and see that ALL the leaves fell overnight with absolutely NO change in color.  I mean the ground is literally carpeted with green leaves, a classic case of "here today, gone tomorrow."  But not this year... the leaves are a beautiful golden yellow and this brings back memories of Former Happy Days when we lived up in the deciduous north.  I miss that... until I remember what always followed: tons of fucking snow.

―:☺:―

So.  We continue to read "Life" and we continue to encounter some real gems, just as I thought knew we would.  Here are a couple o' such...
The most bizarre part of the whole story is that having done what we intended to do in our narrow, purist teenage brains at the time, which was to turn people on to the blues, what actually happened was we turned American people back on to their own music. And that’s probably our greatest contribution to music. We turned white America’s brain and ears around. And I wouldn’t say we were the only ones—without the Beatles probably nobody would have broken the door down. And they certainly weren’t bluesmen.

American black music was going along like an express train. But white cats, after Buddy Holly died and Eddie Cochran died, and Elvis was in the army gone wonky, white American music when I arrived was the Beach Boys and Bobby Vee. They were still stuck in the past. The past was six months ago; it wasn’t a long time. But shit changed. The Beatles were the milestone. And then they got stuck inside their own cage. “The Fab Four.” Hence, eventually, you got the Monkees, all this ersatz shit. But I think there was a vacuum somewhere in white American music at the time.

[...]

Jim Dickinson, the southern boy who played piano on “Wild Horses,” was exposed to black music through the powerful and only black radio station, WDIA, when he was growing up in Memphis, so when he went to college in Texas he had a musical education that exceeded that of anybody he met there. But he never saw any black musicians, even though he lived in Memphis, except once he saw the Memphis Jug Band with Will Shade and Good Kid on the washboard, when they were playing in the street when he was nine. But the racial barriers were so severe that those kinds of players were inaccessible to him. Then Furry Lewis —at whose funeral he played—and Bukka White and others were being brought out to play via the folk revival.

I do think maybe the Stones had a lot to do with making people twiddle their knobs a little more. When we put out “Little Red Rooster,” a raw Willie Dixon blues with slide guitar and all, it was a daring move at the time, November 1964. We were getting no-no’s from the record company, management, everyone else. But we felt we were on the crest of a wave and we could push it. It was almost in defiance of pop. In our arrogance at the time, we wanted to make a statement. “I am the little red rooster / Too lazy to crow for day.” See if you can get that to the top of the charts, motherfucker. Song about a chicken. Mick and I stood up and said, come on, let’s push it. This is what we’re fucking about. And the floodgates burst after that, suddenly Muddy and Howlin’ Wolf and Buddy Guy are getting gigs and working. It was a breakthrough. And the record got to number one. And I’m absolutely sure what we were doing made Berry Gordy at Motown capable of pushing his stuff elsewhere, and it certainly rejuvenated Chicago blues as well.
I'm absolutely certain about the Stones expanding America's musical tastes, as well.  I've written about this before (well, sorta) and at the risk of being somewhat self-serving, let me quote: 
Fast forward to 1960. I was now 15 and living in Washington, D.C. I'll choose the James Brown single on the left as an example of the revelation that came upon me beginning sometime around 1959 and culminated in 1960. That revelation was Black Radio and the R&B music featured there… which was unlike anything I had ever heard before (sorta: see Fats Domino, above). I'd go into my room at night and listen to my crackly, staticky AM radio, marveling at the music I heard… music that was Unobtanium in my white-bread, lily-white suburban world. Once again, consider the times… you simply did NOT find James Brown, Lloyd Price, or Ray Charles in the "hits" bin at Woolworths back in the day… that day being 1958 - 1960… at least not in suburbia. I would have had to journey into Southeast Washington to get that music in my hands back then and since I was only 15 and without a driver's license, that was out of the question. My parents simply wouldn't go there… literally… but the music was on the radio, the radio was in my room, and it was ON every single night. It was an education like no other.
I need to expand on the above.  My father retired from the Air Force in 1960 and moved the fam'bly out to California.  White-bread, suburban California, specifically the San Jose suburbs.  My access to black radio was gone with the wind after that move and it didn't return until sometime in the 1965 - 1966 timeframe when FM radio exploded and Da Blooz became fashionable for middle class white folks. 

But it was the Stones that were largely responsible for that renaissance of American roots music and the foundation for countless numbers of American rock'n'roll bands who followed in the Stones' footsteps.  I can't say I was in the vanguard of Stones fandom; no, I got to the party sometime around 1965 or perhaps early in 1966.   I'm thinking it was right around the time "Aftermath" was released, but memory is a fragile thing and it could have been earlier... much earlier.  The important thing is the fact I got there, innit?  And the more important thing is those old black guys who played Da Blooz suddenly began to appear everywhere... in record bins and on stage, all across America. 

I know I have a few Gentle Readers who have no memory of 1964 - 1966, some because they simply didn't exist at that point in time and others who were far too young to remember that time in any detail, if they remember it at all.  But it was heady indeed for those of us to whom music really matters.  I mean really, rilly matters. 

We, as Americans, owe the Stones a lot.  You can say "thank you" now.  It's not too late.

14 comments:

  1. I guess it's a generational thing. I've never been able to actually understand the popularity of The Stones. That being said, tens of millions of people can't be wrong.

    Oh wait...the Presidential election of 2008 kinda' blows that theory out of the water.

    Regardless, for some reason I've not been able to make myself enjoy their music. But, many millions don't appreciate Merle, or Willie, or Roy Clark, neither...or Faron Young, or Pure Prairie League, or yada yada yada...

    To each they own.

    I'm glad you got a bit of color out there, man. I've never been able to figure out whether a dryer, or wetter summer makes the difference in Autumn foliage. But, in my experience in the Southeast we get much prettier leaf-turnin' in wet years (which we haven't had in a while).

    Then I've heard that at higher altitudes wet years screw up the show. Dunno...

    All I know is that when I lived North of you at 6500 ft. there was no such thing as a disappointing Autumn. When the oak brush, and aspens turned, I often wished that I could just die right then, so as not to have any "real life" destroy the glory of the moment.

    And from what I'm told it's always glorious when the hardwoods turn in New England, and and the environs of Rachacha (sp)...I've seen a decent picture or two of it on this very blog.

    So, I'll say "thank you." Thank you NFL, that The Stones will not be the halftime entertainment at The Super Bowl. Again.

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  2. You sure are keepin' strange hours of late, Mr. Andy. Is it the new job?

    Yeah, the Stones prolly are a generational thing. But as you noted, that can't be true. Witness my 13 year old grandson, who adores Keef. I'm thinkin' it's more of an intelligence thing. (He ducks, he runs)

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  3. 1964 - 66 I was starting Kindergarden, and mostly concerned with learning to read my Little Golden Books.

    But I do remember the music that came from the car radio, and from the BIG RCA console Hi-Fi Stereo. (You could see the tubes glowing at night on the back side!)

    That beast had an "automatic" turntable that glided out of the front, and BOTH AM & FM. I remember the little light bulb that was over the turntable, and how the controls all were lit from within by a warm, gold-colored light. It was the fanciest stereo anyone had in our neighborhood. My Mom won it in a contest, and I vividly remember the day it was delivered!

    My Dad bought a reel-to-reel tape player to hook up to it. He spent many happy hours creating what are commonly called "mix tapes" today; his musical selections powered many, many parties late into the night back then.

    My older cousins and their friends would bring over their albums after school and on the weekends, and so my Rock n' Roll education began early.

    Not "just" Jagger & Richards, but The Beatles, Elvis, Janis, more. I remember stacks o' wax, and my Daddy showing me how to VERY CAREFULLY handle the albums... My favorite thing was putting the little yellow jobby into the middle of the 45's, and then dancing with the grown-ups until I fell asleep on the couch.

    On Sundays we listened to a local FM station that played Jazz and Blues and occasionally folk music. My Mom loved classical music and opera, and when Daddy was at work the house would be filled with her personal favorite composers.

    That old console is long gone, but I still have my albums and 45's. And all of those memories of growing up in a house always filled with music.

    You are right - we do owe The Stones a lot - like any kind of pioneer, they did all of the heavy lifting for those who came after them.

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  4. Ah, Thimbelle! Your childhood was much like mine and differs only in the fact you came along later. My Mom was my biggest musical influence as well; she taught me all about Rogers & Hammerstein, all the Big Band stuff, classical, and such. My father was into jazz and HATED rock'n'roll... we were forbidden to play it in his presence. And we had one of those big-ass consoles, too. As a matter of fact **I** had one of those big-ass consoles as a young guy, a walnut beauty made by GE. As I said: much the same.

    I KNEW there was a reason I liked ya! ;-)

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  5. Heh! Maybe it's hereditary. I actually do appreciate Richards. But as a group...well, they just didn't float my boat. But then again, I rarely duck.

    As to the odd blog hours. Yep! It do be the job. Tuesday through Friday, 1400 to 2230 hrs, and Sunday 0600 to 1430. Taking some getting used to, but the internal tick-tick is adjusting. Slowly.

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  6. Buck, nice color out there in the wild west. I'm with Andy on the "wet" factor for Fall color. Our leaves in TN were not too pretty this year, despite the spring flood, the dry months of July, August, and September left the tree leaves mostly brown.

    As for the Stones, you're probably right. I never got into them myself but remember hearing college students in the 60's talk about them. They were a powerful group.

    My own music education (if you can call it that) started in about 1953 when I was 13. For the next 2-3 years I listened to my radio at night a couple of hours before sleep. I frequently tuned in to 50,000 watt WLAC and DJ Hoss Allen's gospel+R&B show, featuring black artists like Jimmy Reed, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker, Little Richard, etc. Allen was a tall white guy partially raised by a black woman who actually sounded black. I thought he was black for years. If you get a chance, read this to learn about him
    (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%22Hoss%22_Allen)
    The 50's and 60's success of black gospel and R&B on radio is another reason why Nashful is called Music City. There's always been more here than Country.

    I wasn't alone in listening to Hoss and his partner DJ's on WLAC. All my friends really listened to this stuff. Looking back, I can see it was pre Rock and Roll, Rock and Roll. One mail order record company that sponsored Allen's show was Randy's record shop in Gallatin, TN (the town where Allen was born and where I later worked for many years). It was owned by Randy Wood who later founded Dot Records and gave Pat Boone a shot at stardom. Some of Boone's hits were "whitened" versions of the old R&B stuff Wood sold by mail in his shop. I never bought any records by mail, we didn't own a turntable. All I had was my old wooden cabinet Zenith, but it was just fine.
    Sorry to ramble on so...

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  7. I'm with Andy (as you know) - never did understand the fascination people had with The Stones. My first real boyfriend was a fanatic for them; my not liking them was a sore point for him and is likely what killed the relationship.

    That said I do find myself toe-tapping to some of their songs: Paint it Black, Satisfaction, Honky Tonk Woman, and a few others. Who knows Buck, maybe you'll change my mind with all this Keef overload.

    Andy - the colors of autumn in New England really are beyond spectacular. And the weather of the preceding spring really doesn't matter; sometimes a wetter spring will bring redder colors. But it's always spectacular.

    Go here for some classic New England autumn pics.

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  8. I love trees. They feel very protective. beautiful colours

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  9. At least we know how to get Dan jump-started. Nyuk!

    Start talkin' music, and he comes back to life.

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  10. Dan: You were pretty danged fortunate to grow up when and where you did, not the least of that was having WLAC. I can't recall their call letters but there were similar stations in Atlanta, where I summered at my grandmother's home in '58 and '59. My summer friends didn't share my love for R&B -- they thought I was weird. But that was OK; their loss, not mine. Thanks for the link to Allen's web page; that was a most interesting read.

    Lastly... I didn't have much use for Pat Boone. My grandmother included an album of his in that seminal 1957 Christmas shipment, which also included a Fats Domino album. Interesting point: "Ain't That a Shame" was on both albums -- Fats' original and Boone's cover. I couldn't listen to Boone at ALL after comparing them.

    Who knows Buck, maybe you'll change my mind with all this Keef overload.

    The thought HAD occurred to me. That said, I don't own EVERY Stones album; their latest stuff doesn't do that much for me. But I'm pretty sure I have everything from "Tattoo You" ('81) on back. And a couple of newer ones, too.

    Never forget: an open mind is a wonderful thing. ;-)

    Alison: I wish I was docked in the space next door. My tree provides wonderful shade for my neighbor in the afternoon. Very protective, indeed.

    Andy: re: Dan. Heh.

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  11. We HAVE had alot of color this year! And it looks and smells wonderful! We took the 4wheelers out to The Grove last weekend (a spot about 10 miles or so SW of your place that's just a ton of trees. Used to be a big party spot for teens and college hicks). It was fun just driving thru it and letting the leaves fall around us. I don't remember a more colorful fall here, it must be because of having such a wet year.

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  12. I don't remember as much color, either, Jenny. But you've been here a lot longer than me! That said... I'm enjoying the hell out of it!

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  13. Hey Buck;
    Did you know about the KSAN/KSOL that was playing R&B since at least '58? I was born in '61, but I remember KSOL in 1970 as being the top Soul AM station.

    Forgot how to link; http://www.bayarearadio.org/audio/ksol/ksol-1450_july-12-1966.shtml

    I enjoy your music memories!

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  14. Darryl: I MIGHT have known about those stations back in the day but memory fails me now. Thanks for the link!

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