Apropos of Mr. Mod’s recent declaration, let’s have a relevant Last Man Standing. Here are some rules:
And I’ll start things off with the Beatles:
Savoy Truffle
I spent the last 10 days of April in Louisiana: 5 days in New Orleans, 3 days in Cajun country, and 2 more in NoLa.
Thirty years ago, I learned about Festival Tours International, a small operation that does music-based tours. And 29 years ago I convinced my fiancée that a 23-day music tour of England and Scotland was perfect for a honeymoon. And it was!
Festival Tours is run by Nancy Covey. She has lots of connections in the music world, especially from having booked the music at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Los Angeles during the 1970s and early 1980s. Her tours are very un-tour like—not rigid, skipping lots of the touristy spots, and heavy on local experiences only possible because of Nancy’s research and connections.
This England & Scotland tour used to be an annual event, tied to Fairport Convention’s annual musical festival in Cropredy. I’m not sure how often Nancy does that tour now but I know it’s no longer annual. One is planned for 2017 to tie in with Fairport’s 50th anniversary.
Many of her tours are one-offs; she’s done one to Russia, one to Sardinia, one to Zimbabwe that I can recall offhand. We’ve been interested in all of them but kids and work and life have always gotten in the way.
RTHers with better memories than I have might recall that my wife and I went to Cuba in February 2014, on Nancy’s initial tour of that island; she has since done two others there. This was before the recent thawing and the trip was spectacular. Cuba is filled with music; it is literally everywhere you turn in Cuba (and I am using the word “literally” in the true sense of the word, not the way it is often used nowadays). With Nancy, it was special. For example, we got to visit the studio where the Buena Vista Social Club album was recorded and to speak with two of the players from those sessions (not the big names—I believe they have all passed away—but with studio musicians). This was made possible because Nancy knows Jackson Browne from back in the day and he was able to facilitate this.
Well, another tour that Nancy does every year is to New Orleans, coinciding with the Jazz & Heritage Festival. It’s something we’ve wanted to do since that England tour in 1987, and finally, with an empty nest here at home, we’ve checked that off the bucket list.
Another post from the crotchety old man.
I know I’m out of touch with current slang and modern jargon. I know what OMG and LOL mean, but there are too many Internet terms I need to look up. Same for rap/hip-hop slang. I’m glad there’s such a thing as the Urban Dictionary. This all makes listening to current songs problematic.
Then, I heard this song recently:
Yes, South Philly’s, Upper Darby’s, and Villanova’s very one Jim Croce! (And how about those Wildcats last night?!?!)
Listening to it, I realized there are references that might baffle kids these days (or, to quote another Philly legend, Jerry Blavat, the Geator with the Heater, “the yon’ teens in the Delaware Valley”).
A few months back we tried to determine—once and for all—what the best rock & roll Christmas song is. Maybe next year…
Now, it’s a new season, a new holiday but…are there any rock & roll Easter songs??? I can’t really think of any. Yes, there are songs from Jesus Christ Superstar. I guess they qualify. And Dylan went Gospel and was Saved (“by the blood of the lamb”), that’s somewhat Easterish, as are many gospel songs.
But where is, say, the “Jingle Bell Rock” of Easter? Or even the “Sock It To Me Santa” of Lent? The “Dreidl Dreidl Dreidl” of Passover? I can’t think of them; can you?
And if not, let’s be creative. Can we call this an Easter song?
(And, if nothing else, this lip-sync’ed video presents the most sedate rock & roll audience ever; they are much more suited to a crucifixion.)
Your turn, be creative, what can we pretend is a rock & roll Easter song?
Wasn’t rock & roll much better off when Marc Bolan went from fey elfin pseudo-Tolkien:
to boys&girls&love&sex rock & roller:
Doesn’t care anymore
Elvis is the King of Rock & Roll. Michael Jackson is the King of Pop. Bruce is The Boss. James Brown is the Godfather of Soul. And somebody or other is the Godfather of Punk.
But I am the Curmudgeon of Rock & Roll! I am the Go-Play-On-Your-Own-Property Of Pop!
I suppose it started when I signed on to Team No Good Music Since 1982, back in the days of RTH v.1. And it’s only become worse. Here’s the latest evidence.
I’d like to welcome Townsman Mark to the Hall. Or maybe I’m welcoming him under some other name as I’m not sure how he registered; I’ll let him introduce himself if he’d like.
Mark is an old acquaintance. We’ve had little contact since I met him around 30 yeas ago and not a lot even then. But…there’s been quite a lot of contact in the last week and Mark has posed some thoughts/issues that seem cut from the RTH mold. And he’s posed them in the insightful/witty/sarcastic manner that is a hallmark of the Hall. I asked his permission to steal one for the Hall and suggested he check us out. He’s joined and now I’m opening this thread but it’s really Mark’s in conception and in words.
Al: “Take over Mark.”
So, on to musical schizophrenic killers we love…
I’ll start with Jim Gordon (drums) – disciple of Hal Blaine & Wrecking Crew; toured with Everly Brothers, Derek & The Dominos, Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs & Englishman, Delanie & Bonnie, Traffic, Souther-Furay-HIllman; played on Beach Boys‘ Pet Sounds, Dave Mason’s Alone Together, Steely Dan’s Pretzel Logic, Traffic’s Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys, Emitt Rhodes’ The American Dream…
In 1983, he attacked his 72-year-old mother, Osa Marie Gordon, with a hammer before fatally stabbing her with a butcher knife, after claiming the voice told him to kill her.
