Old Days

Yup... and the bureaucrats OWN the serfs these days, too.  Who don't seem to mind all that much.

Speaking of Old Days... there was this in my latest love note from Amazon:

Not the price differential between the different media; today you pay a significant premium for vinyl.  That brings on a "who'd a thunk it" response from YrHmblScrb, while making me wonder how much the 8-track version would cost.  (Not really.)  I've been known to wax nostalgic about my vinyl and the fact I don't have possession of it any longer.  My vinyl got a LOT of airplay while I still had it, at least as much if not more than my CDs.  Part of that is the fact some of my music is ONLY available on my LPs, what with a lot o' stuff goin' out of print years ago, and part of it is my BEST vinyl (i.e., the half-speed mastered and Euro-pressings) sounds better to my ear than CDs.

I'm gonna get my vinyl back.  Some day.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack

The BEST album side ever committed to vinyl, period:



This particular take omits "Her Majesty" and more's the pity.  But there's an app for that...



I heard this on RP... in its entirety, including the lengthy pause before "Her Majesty" kicks in... just a few minutes ago.  Apropos o' not much... I own four copies of "Abbey Road," the original vinyl I bought in the way-back, a half-speed mastered vinyl version, a CD version, and the kinda-sorta recently released digitally remastered version.  "Abbey Road" would be right up there if I had to name the best rock 'n' roll album of all time, exceeded only by "Exile On Main Street."  You should really read that "Abbey Road" link, btw.  Just sayin'.

My, but aren't we nostalgic of late?

Today's Soundtrack

I was over at Blog-Bud Kris' place earlier today to listen to her Saturday Selections.  Her mood is weather-driven, what with New England experiencing a cold and rainy sort of day, and her selections reflected that same mood... which is to say quiet and reflective.  I dropped a comment saying we were on opposite ends of both the weather and music spectrum and I would probably choose something big and bouncy for today's Happy Hour.

Well... check that.  Here's what we began with:

That's Jefferson Airplane, as you can plainly see from the title.  Acoustic JA.  Which, to my way of thinking, was their best stuff.  I was quite taken with the young Grace Slick and her band, like most guys in my generation.  The bloom came off the rose rather quickly for me, considering I thought their very early work was their best work.  My love affair with JA ended with the release of "Volunteers," and their reincarnation as Jefferson Starship was nothing but a laughing matter.  Pathetic.  Still and even... I bought "Bark," from whence the above tune comes.  It was arguably the best cut on the album and was penned by Jorma Kaukonen, which leads us to where we're really going... today's soundtrack.

We're listening to a couple of albums by Hot Tuna, an offshoot of the Airplane  formed by Mr. Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady.  Hot Tuna did both electric and acoustic work, and fine work it was (is!).  All my Airplane stuff is on vinyl, as is most of my Hot Tuna.  But I took the trouble to replace my vinyl Hot Tuna with CDs, and they still get a lot of airplay.  Here's one such tune we're listening to this afternoon:



That would be Water Song, which is pretty reminiscent of "Third Week," innit?  But... for me, personally... one of the best reasons Hot Tuna had it all over the Airplane was their dedication to roots music, which is to say... blues.   And here's one of their best:



So.  We have the first album and "Burgers" queued up in the CD player this afternoon.  The weather is warm, the beer cool, and life is GOOD, Gentle Reader.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack: Papa John

No, not that Papa John... THIS Papa John:



There's that.  But how'd we get there?  Well, there we were... out on the verandah, soaking up some brilliant sun, finishing up a cigar while halfway into our second beer, and listenin' to a little Hot Tuna when we heard a fiddle break by the inimitable Papa John Creach.  

And that would be this:



That's great good stuff... finest kind.  We first heard Papa John on several Jefferson Airplane tracks in the way-back (read as: Former Happy Days) but really didn't know... or care... about his fiddle playin'.  It was only after we bought our first two or three Hot Tuna albums that we came to appreciate the man and the remarkable things he could do with that fiddle o' his.  Papa John prolly isn't on anyone's list of Top Ten fiddle players in American music but he most certainly is on mine.  YMMV, Gentle Reader, and I suspect it does.

This is yet another case o' me missin' my vinyl, mainly coz all o' our Papa John albums are on vinyl; there are none in my CD collection.  I suppose I should fix that but ya know how that goes: so much music, so little money.

Just Because...

So there we were... sitting, reading, casually listening to Pandora... when Boz Scaggs' incredibly bluesy "Loan Me a Dime" slides out of my Very Expensive Radio like the whiskey-fueled cri d' coeur it most certainly is.  It's the song's subject matter (and its delivery)... Mr. Scaggs wants the loan of a dime to call his old-time-use-ta-be... that can prompt one of those ill-advised three a.m. phone calls to your "old time use-ta-be."  Assuming you've had your share of strong drink, of course.  Don't ask how I know, Gentle Reader, but it's prolly not what you think.  We shall NOT digress further,  it being sufficient to say that happened well over 30 years ago in a place far, far away.

Back to the music.  Hearing the tune sent me to the Tube o' You, of course.  I'd hoped to find the original 1969 version of the tune (which was the one I heard on my VER, God Bless Pandora).  Alas.  While there appears to be one such... flawed as it is... AND it has that cursed "embedding disabled by request" bullshit.  That version of the tune is here (a live cut done in '69; it features Duane Allman who played on the studio version) if'n you're inclined to go listen to one of the BEST blues tunes ever recorded, bar none.  Mr. Scaggs is in fine voice there, the audio quality is excellent, and Mr. Allman's guitar work is simply... well, it's Duane Allman.  No comparisons, adjectives, or superlatives really work.  Note that the frickin' tune ends abruptly at the 9:55 minute mark, and that's a terrible thing... especially since it omits the guitar interplay between Scaggs and Allman.  A rather poor mix of what's omitted in the first link is here.  I say "poor mix" because the essential horn riffs are much more prominent in the original album mix.  Ah, well.  Everyone's a critic, right?

I DO go on.  In the mean time there's this reasonable facsimile:

All credit to Mr. Scaggs and his excellent guitar work above.  There's just one thing lacking in this version though, and it's something one will never find outside of the cut on the original studio album... the as-noted-above MARVELOUS slide work done by D. Allman on this and many other tunes.  I have the 1969 album in the vinyl archives and this is yet another reason why I miss my vinyl so.  (sigh)

Can ya loan me a dime?

Today's Playlist

We're still goin' through the back pages o' the music collection and here's what we're on about today:

The Police's greatest hits; a nice compendium.  Which is to say this CD has the essentials and it serves to take up The Police slack, since most of my Police albums are on vinyl and in the custody of SN2.  For safekeeping, doncha know.

Joe Cocker's "Sheffield Steel" album... more about which you'll find below.  I think Cocker is one of the most underrated singers to come out of the '60s and '70s... YMMV, Gentle Reader.

Jerry Garcia's eponymous "Garcia."  I simply LOVE this album... lots.  It's one of the very few albums I immediately replaced with the CD version when I shipped off my vinyl to SN2 for safekeeping.

Van Morrison's "It's Too Late to Stop Now," a two-disc live set recorded in Los Angeles and London in 1973, when The Man was arguably at the very height of his powers.  Arguably.  One thing ya can't argue about: the version of "Listen to the Lion" on this album is the best evar.  We're almost 40 years removed from the time I first heard this tune and I STILL get goosebumps when I hear it.  Powerful.

We said there'd be more from/about Joe Cocker... and there is.  Here's my favorite cut from "Sheffield Steel," done live.  Just brilliant.

Maybe someday I really will forget

And start to live again; a life without regret

Funny isn't it? But the man ain't laughin' yet

Does love really last forever?

Does the ocean miss the sunset every time?

Poignant, eh?

Bitch, Piss & Moan: Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack

In which we bemoan... yet again... our vinyl gone missing.  We had this wild-assed ideer today about creating an "OLD Fleetwood Mac" station on Pandora but our suspicions were immediately confirmed, in that there is no such thing.  No... this is what we got:

Which is to say variations on the Lindsey Buckingham/Stevie Nicks era, when what the sergeant REALLY meant was things like this:

and this...

Old, if not older, Fleetwood Mac.  Back in the days when they were a British take on Da Blooze and extending into their mid-period, which is to say the days of "Bare Trees," "Future Games,"and "Mystery to Me."  Alas, that was not to be.  It's rare that I'll complain about Pandora, but this is one of those times.  I've been a fan of the Mac for a long, long time... extending back to 1968 or so.  And I will admit I bought the 1975 self-titled album and excitedly embraced it, like millions of others.  I had different reasons than most, though, in that I thought that album would herald a renaissance of one of my favorite bands and they... the core, the life-blood, in the form of Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, and Christine McVie... would get back to their roots and create more music I could relate to and enjoy.  Once again: alas.  Frickin' Stevie Nicks and to a lesser extent, Lindsey Buckingham, destroyed the band with soap opera antics.  They got REAL old, real fast and so did the music.  But "Rhiannon" was cool when it was new.  Today?  Not so much.  It's one of those tunes I've heard waaay too damned many times.  It's the same way... for me... with most every tune from that Mac era.

So, it's with regret that we find ourselves surfin' The Tube of You during this Happy Hour, lookin' for onesies and twosies, as opposed to having a Pandora station/channel where we could listen to Old Mac goodness, uninterrupted.  Life would be MUCH different if we still had our vinyl.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack

Fleetwood Mac...

You are here and warm,
But I could look away and you'd be gone.
'Cause we live in a time,
When meaning falls in splinters from our minds.
And that's why I've travelled far,
'Cause I come so together where you are.

And all of the things that I said that I wanted
Come rushing by in my head when I'm with you
Fourteen joys and a will to be married
All of the things that you say are very...

Sentimental gentle wind, blowin' through my life again,
Sentimental lady, gentle one.

Ah, Former Happy Days... in more than one than one respect.  This tune is from the Mac's second incarnation, which is my favorite version of the band.  The Mac went through more personnel changes than most other bands but stayed relevant... successful, even... than bands facing the same trials and tribulations.  This is yet another opportunity for me to bemoan my lost vinyl, given all of my Mac albums were on vinyl (and I have them ALL).  It would cost me a small fortune to replace these albums on CD, if that could even be done.  I strongly suspect a lot of these albums are out of print.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack

Dire Straits... with a song that has its own (and rather extensive) Wikipedia entry:

The lyrics ain't profound but they sure are clever, especially when taken in the context of the times.  My favorite bits:

Doctor Parkinson declared 'I'm not surprised to see you here
you've got smokers cough from smoking, brewer's droop from drinking beer
I don't know how you came to get the Betty Davis knees
but worst of all young man you've got Industrial Disease'
...

Ha!  Splendid!

Indeed, and I sorely miss this song and the album it was on.  "Love Over Gold" was/is pretty danged good, but not good enough for me to go out and replace my vinyl copy... which, as long-time readers know is in safe keeping with SN2, along with the rest of my vinyl.  The only Dire Straits album I replaced with a CD copy was the first one and that was because of intense sentimental value as well as being the best album Knopfler EVER made.  Period.  That said, it's good to be drinkin' beer and dredging up memories on a winter's day.  Splendid!

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack: A Guilty Pleasure

That would be Hall and Oates...

You must be thinkin' something
But you ain't sayin' nothing
You remember me?
I used to be your boyfriend

There ain't no point in reason
It only gets defensive
Why should we ruin the purity of the moment?

It's a laugh, what a laugh
It's so stupid I gotta laugh
And the funny thing is everyone thought
We were forever

[...]

She cried when he left her
Her eyes went black with the blue
The infrequent letters
The sooner the better
The cold distant phone calls
Will have to do

Ah... let's not go THERE, but substitute "he" for "she" (and vice-versa) and you got it (aside: "her eyes went black with the blue" is as masterful a turn of a phrase as I've ever heard in pop music).   But we digress.  I heard an H&O tune on Pandora's Al Green station today... not these two, but another tune that brought this Philly-soul duo to mind.  I own almost all of Hall and Oates' albums but it's hard to think about 'em... and impossible to listen to 'em... since all of their albums I own are on vinyl*, save for their "Greatest Hits" offering, which I have on CD.  Hall and Oates are pretty special to me, seein' as how they were a big part of our soundtrack when The Second Mrs. Pennington and I were in our courtship phase.  I'd post "She's Gone" as an adjunct to this post but that song STILL elicits painful... oh-so-very painful... memories.  Best to leave well enough alone.

* Long-time readers know my vinyl is in SN2's custody.

Another One of Those Memes...

Barb over at Bitchin' and Stuff tagged me with this...

1. Black and White or Color; how do you prefer your movies?

I’m not a movie guy, so I have no opinion on this one. Just to be contrarian, I’ll say B&W.

2. What is the one single subject that bores you to near-death?

“Lemmee tell you about my operation.” Oh, please, no, don’t.

3. MP3s, CDs, Tapes or Records: what is your favorite medium for prerecorded music?

CDs in the present, vinyl in the past. Vinyl nearly always sounds good. I also have a collection of 100+ reel-to-reel tapes, most of which are poorly recorded due to my being uh…under the influence of various and sundry substances.

4. You are handed one first class trip plane ticket to anywhere in the world and ten million dollars cash. All of this is yours provided that you leave and not tell anyone where you are going: Ever. This includes family, friends, everyone. Would you take the money and ticket and run?

No.

5. Seriously, what do you consider the world's most pressing issue now?

A nuclear Iran.

6. How would you rectify the world's most pressing issue?

I’d re-target about three Minutemen sitting in those North Dakota silos, give Ahmedjani a call, and say “Catch!” Seriously, though, this is a tough one. I’m not sure there is a solution that doesn’t involve a lot of stuff getting broke and a lot of people getting dead.

7. You are given the chance to go back and change one thing in your life; what would that be?

I’d have never lit that first cigarette.

8. You are given the chance to go back and change one event in world history, what would that be?

I have no friggin’ clue.

9. A night at the opera, or a night at the Grand Ole Opry. Which do you choose?

Grand Ole Opry.

10. What is the one great unsolved crime of all time you'd like to solve?

Once again, I have no friggin’ clue.

11. One famous author can come to dinner with you. Who would that be, and what would you serve for the meal?

Winston Churchill; dinner at Claridges; we’d eat well, get famously drunk and I could die happy. If we’re limiting the choice to living authors, it would be Tom Robbins.

12. You discover that John Lennon was right, that there is no hell below us, and above us there is only sky. What's the first immoral thing you might do to celebrate this fact?

Depends on Alexandra Steele’s availability and willingness to participate.

Pretty boring, eh? I'm supposed to tag two people. All y'all can self-select. Play 'em if ya got 'em!

Song of the Day

Yes, already.

Song: Within You, Without You

Artist: George Harrison, Beatles

Album: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Year: 1967

Source: Radio Paradise. Check out their playlist. And the comments to this song.

Makes Me Think of: Lompoc, California, and the First Mrs. Pennington, mostly. But, like all Beatles albums, this one evokes so many memories it’s hard to single one out. I bought “Sgt. Pepper” when it was brand-new, stood in line to buy it. Sorta like a new Harry Potter book, today. "Sgt. Pepper" was a staple down through the years and it still is; I remember one of my friends digging it out of the vinyl collection and playing it New Years Eve of 1999. I had two copies of the album, one regular and one “half-speed mastered.” Ya gotta be a vinyl freak to understand those terms, I guess.

Lyrics:

We were talking - about the space between us all
And the people - who hide themselves behind a
wall of illusion
Never glimpse the truth - then it's far too late -
when they pass away.

We were talking - about the love we all could
share - when we find it
To try our best to hold it there - with our love
With our love - we could save the world - if
they only knew.

Try to realise it's all within yourself no-one else
can make you change
And to see you're really only very small,
and life flows on within you and without you.

We were talking - about the love that's gone so
cold and the people,
Who gain the world and lose their soul -
they don't know - they can't see - are you one
of them?

When you've seen beyond yourself - then you
may find, peace of mind is waiting there -
And the time will come when you see
we're all one, and life flows on within you and
without you.

“Within You, Without You” is oh-so-sixties. You’ve got the peace-love-dope themes (OK, you have to reach for the druggie bits, but it ain’t hard. Trust me.), the sitar, the references to Eastern religions, the whole '60s thing rolled into one song. I probably can’t count the number of “deep” conversations initiated by this song in the way-back. More than a few!

I never was a big Harrison fan after The Beatles broke up. I bought two of his solo albums, “All Things Must Pass” and “Dark Horse.” Neither got much play. It was refreshing to hear this cut from Sgt. Pepper, however, because it’s so rarely played. When the album first came out I was mesmerized by this song, because like most Americans, I was totally unfamiliar with the sitar. A sitar sounds strangely other-worldly to the uninitiated. Lots of people in my generation became Indian music fans because of this song, I’m sure.

But back to Harrison and The Beatles. George wrote some great songs with the Beatles. In no particular order, my favorites are:

Here Comes The Sun
I Need You
I Want To Tell You
If I Needed Someone
Something

Especially “Something.” Oh, yes. Something.

RIP, George.

Late Night EIP

A lot of new music has made its way into El Casa Móvil De Pennington in the past month or so. Most of it isn’t necessarily new but rather falls into the category of “new to me” and/or CDs to replace an album in my long-lost (not really lost; just in storage) and greatly lamented vinyl collection. The one exception is Carlos Santana’s "All That I Am," which is a misnomer if I’ve ever seen one. I’m a BIG fan of Carlos; both "Supernatural" and "Shaman" seem to reside permanently in the car Green Hornet…and that is a high compliment, indeed. “All That I Am” is destined to go up on the shelf and rarely, if ever, come down. There’s just one track that I’d call “catchy” ("My Man"), and that’s due more to Mary J. Blige than Carlos. A major disappointment, this. "All That I Am" isn’t, in a word.

But…it gets better. “A Twist of Motown” is a bunch of…you guessed it…Motown covers by Big Name soft-jazz artists like Lee Ritenour, Dave Grusin, and Bob James, just to name three. Deliciously smooth and wonderfully arranged jazz takes on Motown standards such as “Never Can Say Goodbye,” “The Tracks of My Tears,” and “Just My Imagination.” Which is not to say these arrangements would ever, could ever, supersede the originals. Nope, far from it. It’s just a very pleasing album. In the “for what it’s worth” department… there are only four customer reviews on Amazon, but every single one is a five out of five. Amazing, that. On the other hand, I’m half-way expecting to hear one of these tunes as background music for “Your Local on the Eights” any day now.

Two other recent acquisitions include “Martin Scorsese presents The Best of the Blues” and “The Rolling Stones Project,” another collection of jazz covers, all Stones this time. The former is quite good (I’ve rarely, if ever, met a blues album I didn’t like), the latter a (minor) disappointment. One saving grace on “The Rolling Stones Project” is Norah Jones’ breathtaking reading of “Wild Horses.” Nothing… repeat, nothing… will ever eclipse the Stones’ version of “Wild Horses,” but Jones comes as close as one could ever get. As I said, breathtaking. I’ve loaded this CD into the player and put “Wild Horses” on repeat and listened to it six times in a row. It’s that good. “Waiting For A Friend” also deserves favorable mention, as well.

But…I saved the best for last. The new addition getting the most airplay is “Echoes,” a two-disc, 26-song best-of collection of Pink Floyd. While the collection is heavy on cuts from “Dark Side of the Moon” and “The Wall,” there’s enough variety from the other albums to make this collection more than worthwhile. What’s MOST impressive, though, are the seamless segues between cuts from disparate albums. As an example, the last four cuts on disc one are arranged into one flowing piece reminiscent of Abbey Road’s second side (An obvious vinyl LP reference. If you only own the CD you won’t “get it.”). The segue goes like this:

“Money” (from Dark Side – 1973)
“Keep Talking” (from Division Bell – 1994)
“Sheep’ (from Animals – 1977)
“Sorrow” (from Momentary Lapse of Reason – 1987)

That’s a time span of 21 freakin’ years…and the songs all fit together like one piece. Of course, that could be taken as a left-handed compliment…i.e., “I like PF, but the songs all sound the same”… but it’s certainly NOT intended as such. And the songs do NOT sound the same. As if I had to say that… The customer reviews at Amazon are worth a read, if you have a mind to go there.

There’s one drawback to listening to a lot of Pink Floyd, much like listening to a lot of Led Zep: it makes me one want to do drugs. And lots of ‘em. (Insert smiley-face here)

Anyway. Radio Paradise has taken a back seat in my listening habits of late. For good reason. (Note: you can click each album cover for the larger version)

A Harley I could see myself on…favorably reviewed. Unless your name is Buck, Sam, or (perhaps) Dan, you don’t…can’t… understand the magnitude of the statement I just made. Buells are an exception. Those bikes are better described as “powered by Harley-Davidson.” Along with “lust object.”

Ah, Spring! And an Ol’ Geezer’s thoughts turn to…motorcycles!

Not Everything Deserves a Title...

Now THIS is really cool: Sunrise Earth. A new layer on Google Earth, and here are the instructions on how to use the feature from within Google Earth. I’ve only watched the sunrise over Stonehenge, but that’s just because my network connection is so danged slow. Broadband. Someday. So I’m told.

Via Lex…some great plane pr0n from the Nellis AFB air show. Absolutely stunning high-res photography; so good, in fact, that I now have new wallpaper. The guy that took these photos is a pro!

Ahhhh! RP is just SO good this morning… Here’s a set that was particularly pleasing (the times are PST):

9:43 am - Pink Floyd - Money
9:40 am - Warren Zevon - Lawyers, Guns And Money
9:34 am - Ry Cooder - The Very Thing That Makes You Rich

Been peeking at my vinyl again, eh, Bill? {sigh} I wish I could take a peek, too…

A week ago today I posted a link to a longish but very thoughtful piece on the British Left by Nick Cohen. Well, The Guardian (UK) got a huge response, and I quote:

Last week, we printed an extract from Nick Cohen's provocative new book, What's Left?, a searing account of how the British liberal-left has lost its way and, in the process, turned a blind eye to Islamic fascism. Cohen's piece sparked a huge response both online and in print.

And they proceed to publish some of that response plus comment in other venues, such as this:

Christopher Hitchens
The Sunday Times

'An exemplary piece of political satire, in which the generally amusing and ironic tone should not lull you into ignoring the deadly seriousness of the argument. It is not necessary to have a personal stake in a discussion like this, but it does help. Cohen started out trying to defend the honour of the left and attempting to appeal to its better traditions. He swiftly found that this made him the target of the most hysterical slander, from people whose hatred of liberal democracy has a long and sordid ancestry. He then lowered his head, clenched his teeth, steered into the storm and embarked on the toughest struggle an old leftist can ever undertake: a confrontation with former comrades who suspect him of "selling out"... Cohen's is an admirable example of self-criticism and self-examination, using intellectual honesty as a means of illuminating a much wider canvas.

Hitch knows all about “confrontation with former comrades who suspect him of "selling out".” His whole life has been like that for the past six years or so. I’m somewhat familiar with this phenomenon, as well, but on a much reduced scale, of course. Changing your political stripes can be both painful and exhilarating. I suspect Mr. Cohen is finding that out, too.

After you read the reactions of Cohen’s critics in The Guardian, you might want to go over and read what Norm Geras has to say on the subject. Excerpt:

A final point. One confirmation of the fact that Nick Cohen's target is a real one wider than the SWP, is the intense hostility there has been, way beyond that organization, towards the pro-war left. Dip into any relevant comments thread on the Guardian's Comment is Free for a dose of such poison; note that there is a mini-industry in the blogosphere obsessed (some of its denizens to the point of appearing half-crazed) with those they contemptuously call 'the decents'; give some time, if you can bear it, to re-reading through the comment and opinion pages of the liberal press for the last four years. That you were of the left and supported regime change in Iraq has just been unthinkable, unassimilable, for many - hence the hostility and the anathemas. It could not be that there was a difficult issue and a difficult choice, with weighty reasons on both sides. If, on the other hand, you consider what volume of critical animus and commentary has been directed from the same quarters at the rank apologists in the anti-war movement, you'll find that it pales by comparison.

What he said.

Today’s Pic: Apropos of something… I noticed this small detail in the picture to the right while browsing my photo directories for today’s suitable upload. That song played on RP at 0934 hrs (PST), “The Very Thing…?” Well it just might have been playing when this pic was snapped. That’s the cover of “Bop ‘Til You Drop” propped up on the top shelf of the stereo cabinet. I’m really missing the vinyl today. Really.

Photo: January, 1999. Webster, NY.

Tonight's ADWH Soundtrack

The Cars...

she tricks me into thinkin'
I can't believe my eyes
I wait for her forever
but she never does arrive
it's all mixed up
it's all mixed up
it's all mixed up

That first Cars album was absolutely brilliant and is yet another album I own on both vinyl and CD.  So it goes without sayin' (although I WILL) that this selection was more from the CD collection, which has been playin' virtually non-stop all day today.  And speaking of today... it was absolutely brilliant: we prolly got up to about 75 degrees (only!); so we threw all the windows open, turned off the AC, and turned up the stereo.  There's a lot to be said for taking Happy Hour and After Dinner Whiskey Hour on the verandah while enjoying full-fidelity from your sound system, as opposed to Pandora on the tinny but adequate Evo (cell phone).  I loves me some Fall weather.

The Wonderfulness o' Bein' Normal

I'm having an on-going experience with this New Life that feels almost child-like, but not quite.  I use the term in that way very young children seem to approach everything they encounter that's new... which is to say with a sense of wonderment and unbridled joy.  Therein lies the difference, of course, because none of this is new to me and every bit of it is trivial and mundane.  It's just life as we used to know it but it IS different.  Some observations:

Sleeping in a bed is good.  I worried about that, mainly because I only slept in my last spiffy bedroom when I had company over; the rest of the time I was on the couch.  Not this time; the fact the current bed is more comfortable than the futon pictured at right MIGHT have sumthin' to do with that.  While we're on the subject: my jury's out on the cost/benefit aspect of the Tempurpedic mattress.  I have no complaints but I ain't ready to record a gushing testimonial, either.  That's a lot o' money to spend on ambivalence.

Black furniture and dark counter tops require one helluva lot more housecleaning than I like, or am used to.  It's the DUST, Gentle Reader.  Ditto with walking around on tiled floors in my bare feet: I feel EVERY gotdamned mote o' dust.  My new Swiffer mop/dustmop is getting a lot o' use.

I still marvel at (a) the frost-free appearance of my freezer and (b) the (relatively) cavernous space therein... every single time I open it.  And never running out o' ice.  Same thing with the fridge: I no longer buy 12-packs of Dr. Pepper... it's two-liter bottles now.

While we're in the kitchen:  I have cabinet space I'll prolly never use.

More kitchen:  I feel guilty running the dishwasher after I exhaust my supply of beer glasses and coffee cups.  The entire top rack is full, the bottom rack less so.  But I do it anyway.

I no longer fear laundry.  Hell, I'm doing it every week... sometimes more... just for the novelty that's in it.  The downside?  I find myself wearing my favorite tee shirts over and over again.  That will wear 'em out right quick.

Muscle memory has finally died.  I raised my foot to flush the toilet for the first two weeks I was here.  And felt stoopid every single time.

I might have spent too much money on my office.  I find myself using the laptop either at the kitchen counter  in the morning (close to the coffee pot) or on the couch later in the day.  The desktop?  Hardly used at all... but that may be premature since I only set it up yesterday.  But I did have a temporary desk made out of boxes and such.

Accessible music.  We've been goin' on about this for at least a week now, but what was once old is all new again.  I recorded a lot o' my vinyl on cassette (like 30 90-minute cassettes, two albums per) before I shipped it off to SN2 these ten or so years ago and I've been playin' that stuff for the past three days.  Wonderful!

The verandah at El Casa Inmóvil de Pennington gets a LOT more use than the verandah at ECMdP, mainly coz it's more verandah-like than a slab o' concrete.  Speaking of ECMdP... it's wonderful to not be so in touch with the weather, like wind-speed.  No more worries about awnings flying away to Texas and it's always shady on the verandah now.

I prolly have more thoughts like these, but this is all that comes to mind right now.  I really should write this shit down, yanno? 

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack

The day's errands are done, the larder is stocked (as is the fridge), and Happy Hour is upon us.  And it's yet another indoor Happy Hour, but that's OK as Good Times are comin'... the forecast is for 63 degrees this Friday.  

We're listening to the digitally re-mastered "Exile On Main Street," (my fourth copy of "Exile," two on vinyl, two on CD) which has made its way from the car into El Casa Móvil De Pennington.  Truly GREAT albums... and "Exile" is one such... tend to LIVE in The Green Hornet.  But we brought the disk into the house today for Happy Hour.  Mostly for this tune:

Who's that woman on your arm, all dressed up to do you harm
And I'm hip to what she'll do, give her just about a month or two.
Bit off more than I can chew and I knew what it was leading to,
Some things, well, I can't refuse,
One of them, one of them's the bedroom blues.
She delivered right on time, I can't resist a corny line,
But take the shine right off you shoes,
Carryin', carryin' the bedroom blues.
Oo... 

There are lyrics, Gentle Reader, and then there are LYRICS.  I don't believe I've ever heard a better song about love gone missing than this one.  And then there's that plaintive horn section in the middle of the tune that evokes heartache like no other horn chart I've EVAH heard.  

YMMV, of course.  But "Let It Loose" has done it for me, for years and years and years.  Even in Former Happy Days. 

Tonight's ADWH Soundtrack

Divin' deep into the archives for some serious drinkin' music...



This wasn't the tune I was lookin' for*, but it'll do.  I remain impressed with the Tube O' You, given that the Siegal-Schwall Band wasn't exactly mainstream... outside o' Chicago.  I don't remember how I came upon them, but I know it had to be courtesy o' one o' my buds back in those lost days o' the '70s.  Be that as it may, I bought every one o' their albums I could get my hands on back in the day and committed several of those albums to tape before I shipped the vinyl off to SN2 during the Great Divorce Debacle o' 1999.  It was one o' those cassettes we dragged out for tonight's soundtrack, and we're REALLY glad we did.

*Well, DAMN!  Here it is!



Oh, HELL Yes!  It's a real pity that none of Siegal-Schwall's lyrics are available on the 'net... coz the lyrics are just amazin'.

Live!

I bought some new music last week... Peter Green's "Blues Don't Change" and the Tedeschi-Trucks Band's "Everybody's Talkin'."  I batted .500 in the effort, much to my dismay.  Mr. Green didn't disappoint (as usual) because his latest is a cover of old blues tunes and there ain't a clinker in the bunch.  Susan Tedeschi's latest outing is one I'll prolly give away, assuming my blues-aficionado grandson Sean will take it.  The issue?  This two-disc set is a LIVE album and I violated... or forgot... my dictum about NEVER buying live albums before I hear 'em.  Most of the cuts on "Everybody's Talkin'" are way too long, descending into the depths of 70s rock band extended jams excess.  And I mean EXCESS, as in Allman Bros "At Fillmore East" Mountain Jam excess (that track was one whole side of a two-disc vinyl LP, back in the day).  I find most live albums fall into the "excess" category so I tend to avoid them... except when I forget.  Like last week.

Don't get me wrong: I love Ms. Tedeschi and I'd go see her in a heartbeat.  Bein' at a concert for those long jams is entirely different than bein' in yer living room or even in yer car.  Ambiance, bay-bee, ambiance.  Drugs might have sumthin' to do with that, too.  Or did.  Mebbe.

While we're on about live albums... there are two exceptions to the rule.  The first is the aforementioned "At Fillmore East" which has some incendiary guitar work by legendary Brother Duane, the other is the Stones' "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out," which gets my vote for the best live album of all time.  That CD lives in my car, which is where ALL the great music I own ends up.  There ain't a bad track on that album and the performances are picture-perfect, both in duration and expertise.  All live albums should be so good.

Oh.  Don't get me started on the Grateful Dead.  Yes, I own a boatload of the bootleg series (Dick's Picks).  Yes, their signature style is the interminable riff-jam.  Yeah, I like it.  Remember what Emerson said: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack

Steely Dan...

Perfect for a not-so-closeted Buddhist.  To wit:

Bodhisattva
Would you take me by the hand
Bodhisattva
Would you take me by the hand
Can you show me
The shine of your japan
The sparkle of your china
Can you show me
Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva
I'm gonna sell my house in town
Bodhisattva
I'm gonna sell my house in town
And I'll be there
To shine in your japan
To sparkle in your china
Yes I'll be there
Bodhisattva

Ah, yes... the "shine of your Japan."  We are more than familiar with that.

Steely Dan and I go back quite a ways, back to the days when "production" had entirely different meanings to different bands.  Steely Dan's production values were preeminent in their day... sparkling cymbals, perfectly recorded guitar runs, crisp percussion, absolute vocal clarity, the whole nine yards... an unusual thing in the days of mass produced, throw away vinyl.  And they could turn a phrase like few bands before or since, not to mention their sheer musicality.  The Dan is just perfect for an otherwise down day here on The High Plains of New Mexico. 

Show me the shine in your Japan.  Please.