On tonight’s episode of Saturday Night Shut-In Mr. Moderator restores The Velvet Underground’s “Rock ‘n Roll” to its original studio majesty. Studio magic! The hell with how Lou Reed thinks he intended the song to sound. You snooze, you lose, Lou.
Later in the show your host sends warm wishes to some fellow Townspeople and makes a case for a trio of blues legends committing an actual crime.
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/RTH-Saturday-Night-Shut-In-83.mp3|titles=RTH Saturday Night Shut-In, episode 83]
I’m finally getting around to watching this George Harrison documentary, having completed the first half on Independence Day. So far it’s great! I’m honestly shocked.
First of all it provides the one thing any Beatles-related documentary or book needs to provide: fresh images of my rock ‘n roll gods. I am pretty easy to please when it comes to Beatles things if I get to see new still photographs and film clips. It’s probably like the thrill some religious people get when they see a new stained-glass window depicting Jesus on the cross or whatever.
Second, the story starts by framing George square in his career with The Beatles—and it’s not from the Woe Is George perspective I was expecting. George is one of the boys, slowly developing his own perspective on the world through the band’s unique experiences. I put off watching this thing for the last year fearing that it would be produced from the perspective of the Mother’s Basement crowd, you know, those thumb-suckers who take the position that George was “screwed” all those years and that his true genius and equal standing among John and Paul finally came to the fore with the release of All Things Must Pass, including side 6’s underrated “Apple Jam.” Hey man, it’s cool that George is a hero to the quieter ones among us, but let’s be real when it comes to the balance of talent and drive within The Beatles. In part 1 of this documentary, George actually comes off better for his efforts, achievements, and examples of quiet leadership without Scorsese feeling the need to make him a victim.
A bonus delight, as far as I’m concerned, Paul McCartney has not yet come off as the glib, self-serving ass I’ve grown accustomed to seeing in these retrospectives.
I look forward to watching part 2. What did you think about this doc?
Even if you’ve never performed music before an audience, you’ve probably done something along those lines—a school play, a presentation in the classroom or in work—and know what it’s like to have thoughts run through your head while you’re “in the moment.” Maybe you give yourself a mental high five while you hit your mark. Maybe you suppress a Jeez! when you flub a line. Maybe you’re feeling so good on stage that you have a flash of feeling like you know what it meant to appear in front of a rapt audience at some legendary venue.
As you watch this video of The Jefferson Airplane performing “Mexico (Go Ride the Music),” pick a moment and see if you can’t write a “thought bubble” representing what could possibly be going through the mind of any band member in the midst of performing this song.
The new Chuck E. Cheese that launches this week will be voiced by Jaret Reddick, the lead singer for the pop-punk band Bowling for Soup. The Chuck E. Cheese Facebook page now shows a silhouette of a cartoon mouse playing a guitar.
A rat mascot for a kids’ food joint. A spokesman who’s sung a jokey love song to his “bitch.” Dirtbag Nation, if you ever doubted that Chuck E. Cheese was the place to hold your kid’s next birthday party rest assured: your trash is welcome. But don’t let that perv Pee-wee and his act anywhere near the children!
Has there ever been a more musical television law enforcement agent than Sheriff Andy Taylor, the character Andy Griffith, who died today at 86, played on the television series that bore his own name? This may not be the best Griffith performance on the show (there are many to be found), but in honor of his death I thought I should feature him singing lead.
Sheriff Taylor might have helped the cast of Cop Rock.
