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Our artists today represent a very specific category within the folk music genre, which lately has come to be known as “Freak Folk”: one is a contemporary singer-songwriter, and the other is an “ancestral” group (when you consider they derived from the early 1970s, before there was even a category for it); one hails from the U.K., the other from California. However, both The Incredible String Band and Joanna Newsom share an “off the grid” sense of musicality and exist in a space well beyond any pop music fashion - past, or present.JOANNA NEWSOMWho doesn't like harp music? It's the preferred instrument of the angels, after all, and Joanna Newsom is indeed one of those. Whimsical, profound, incandescent - all these adjectives apply to this nerdy goddess, who, I was delighted to learn, is also the life partner of the silly comedian, Andy Samberg (and, cousin to the Governor of California). These personal stats ground her in a concrete reality that detracts a bit from her mystery, but, at the same time enhances her approachability. Listening to The Sprout and the Bean is like being gifted a pass to the 100 acre wood to visit Pooh, or transported to an elven glade where everything - (animals, plants, earth, and water) is imbued with magic - where the pantheism between man and nature serenely collapses all sense of temporality…. Whoa…getting a bit woo woo here. Never mind all that. Just enjoy her otherworldly conjurings!THE INCREDIBLE STRING BANDThe Scottish duo of Robin Williamson and Mike Heron formed the nucleus of one of the strangest musical acts of the last century. It takes a moment to get past what initially seems like off-key meanderings to appreciate that there is a deep level of sophistication and prescience here, in terms of world music, that still sounds fresh and modern - over 50 years later.Props to Joe Boyd, the genius UK producer at Elektra records at the time, for discovering, recording, and introducing this band of medievally dressed musical magicians to the world. And, they would have made an even bigger splash (no pun intended), if the inclement weather at Woodstock hadn't delayed their scheduled performing slot - (Melanie grabbed it) - which forced them to crowbar their gossamer stylings within the hardest of hard rock line ups the next day. As a result, their ethereal charms went unappreciated. Our featured cut, Waltz of the New Moon displays their unique vision and vocal technique perfectly.

THE KEROUAC PROJECT: https://www.kerouacproject.org/JACK KEROUAC SCHOOL OF DISEMBODIED POETICS: https://www.naropa.edu/academics/schools-centers/jack-kerouac-school-of-disembodied-poetics/The thread of Jack Kerouac's literary and personal life in the American imagination might be unwound succinctly in the following terms: ambitious and fun-loving young man leaves behind his small-town upbringing to chase heroes and dreams in the American West, finding along the way new paths to enlightenment while blazing a trail for generations of seekers to follow.It is a theme familiar to most of us, because more than a few of our favorite novels embrace it. It is also, in the case of Kerouac, almost entirely a fiction. The man most associated with the peripatetic Beat Generation spent more than half his life in his hometown of Lowell, Mass., living with his mother. This master of the postwar American idiom grew up speaking the French dialect of his Canadian immigrant parents and actually attempted an early draft of On The Road (the book was eventually published in 1957) in the dialect of his Franco-American community. Despite the image of a modern spiritual seeker who eventually found a home in Buddhism, Kerouac was born and died a self-identified Catholic; and despite his iconic status as a chronicler of the road, the most prominent theme in Kerouac's novels is a mysticism of place.Kerouac's mystical visions had another specific theme—the crucifixion. In Maggie Cassidy, Christ speaks to him from a crucifix after confession:“My child, you find yourself in the world of mystery and pain not understandable—I know, angel—it is for your good, we shall save you, because we find your soul as important as the soul of the others in the world—but you must suffer for that, in effect my child, you must die, you must die in pain, with cries, frights, despairs—the ambiguities! the terrors!”The Autobiographical Novels of Jack KerouacVisions of Gerard (written 1956, published 1963)About Kerouac's saintly older brother, who died as a child.Doctor Sax (written 1952, published 1959)Maggie Cassidy (written 1953, published 1959)Youthful porchlight romancing in Lowell.The Town and the City (written 1946-49, published 1950)Vanity of Duluoz (written and published 1968)Kerouac's last published novel, a memoir of early days.On The Road (written 1948-56, published 1957)Visions of Cody (written 1951-52, published 1972)More about Neal Cassady.The Subterraneans (written 1953, published 1958)Kerouac's pathetic love story about a black girl who dumps him for Gregory Corso.Tristessa (written 1955-56, published 1960)Junkie prostitute girlfriend in Mexico.The Dharma Bums (written 1957, published 1958)Big Sur (written 1961, published 1962)Desolation Angels (written 1956-61, published 1965)Satori in Paris (written 1965, published 1966)

To spur my songwriting juices, I got this deck of "Oblique Strategies" cards, created by Brian Eno, designed to prompt creativity. Here are a few examples. INSIDE / OUTSIDE (Oblique Strategy: “THINK - Inside the work, outside the work”)Inside - outside: it's hard to reconcileInside is terrified, though outside may beguileIf I stay inside I just might hide from tribulations and the trialOf outside's obligations to display the latest style.Inside is a cozy place, my home made out of bricksOutside is an endless space, with hucksters full of tricksWho wait around each corner to deliver blows and kicksOr, subtler art to break your heart no medicine can fixINSIDE - IT'S WARMOUTSIDE MAY DO ME HARMOUTSIDE - IT'S COLDINSIDE I'M GROWING OLD.It might agoraphobia, this reluctance that I feelOr, maybe something nobler, some grace for me to healIt might be something sinister, a cage of the mind too realBut, whatever the urge I need to emerge a person who can feel.Inside - outside: sings out of harmonyA discordant strain of grief and painAn obvious forgeryTurn on the light, step into the nightAnd accept what's meant to beWherever you go, at least you'll knowWhat it feels like to be free.REVERSE (O.S.: Reverse)I'm stuck in reverse, and way round the bacKThe brakes are all worn and the axle is cracked,The steering is worthless, it's totally whackedI'm headed for trouble and everything's black (and everything's black)I'm up to my elbow in sulfurous muckAnd as far as all I know I'm dead out of luckBut, if it's not too late I'll sell you my truckLet fate steer the crate, and earn Satan a buckReverse ain't the worst           If you face it with graceIt's like running in placeOr, a pie in the face         Reverse is just relative                 A black hole in spaceIt ain't something you need to erase.      Perhaps I've been looking at my problem all wrongMaybe Reverse is the point of my songIt could be “ass backwards” will make me last longAnd, what doesn't kill me might build me up strong.FOOL'S GOLD(O.S.: what are you really thinking about just now? Incorporate.)HAVE A DESIRE TO CREATE, BUT NOT A SINGLE IDEAWOULDN'T IT BE REALLY GREAT TO PULL AN “AVE MARIA”?I'LL PRAY TO THE GOD OF ART TO ASSIST ME AND OPEN MY HEARTOR AT LEAST TO MAKE A STARTTOWARDS SOMETHING TRUTHFUL, SOMETHING BOLD, SOMETHING HONESTTHAT'S NOT FOOL'S GOLD.IT'S NOT MY FINEST HOURBUT I WON'T LET MYSELF BE SOURI STILL HAVE HOPE FOR SUCCESSAND THOUGH I SPEAK TO AUDIENCE OF ONEWE'RE STILL HAVING FUNSO FORWARD! AND DAMN ALL THE REST!I SHOULDN'T COMPLAIN IF THERE'S NOTHING TO GAINBY YEARS OF WASTED TOILTHE UNIVERSE HAS MADE IT PLAINWHY BURN REGRETFUL OIL?I'LL PRAY TO THE GOD OF ART TO ASSIST ME AND OPEN MY HEARTOR AT LEAST TO MAKE A STARTTOWARDS SOMETHING TRUTHFUL, SOMETHING BOLD, SOMETHING HONESTTHAT'S NOT FOOL'S GOLD.

There is something that happens when two particular voices blend together that transcends all understanding or logic. And, when those voices share the same DNA, the magnetic pull is such that they become one voice. We've heard that family blend many times: The Everlys, The Wilsons, The Gibbs, The Andrew Sisters, etc. The list goes on.One of the most uncanny examples of this phenomenon belongs to Charlie and Ira Louvin, those titans of Country and Gospel music. When they sing with religious devotion, such as they do here in The River of Jordan - you can hear God and his miracles working in every keening, harmonic fifth. The other song presented today features Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, - a pair of folks about as far from siblings as you can get, but whose vocal cords also combine miraculously.THE LOUVINSThe first time I heard of Ira and Charlie Louvin was through Emmylou Harris's 1975 version of If I Could Only Win Your Love, and I had to know from whence this other-worldly sound originated. Like a hound on the scent, I tracked down several recordings from the brothers, and sat open mouthed as song after song cut through me. The Louvins, whose birth name was Loudermilk (cousins to the noted songwriter), had a contentious relationship, owing to Ira's drunken temperament and womanizing. Charlie contemplated going solo, but Ira's early demise, at 41, in a drunken car crash, made the decision permanent. Ira usually takes the high harmony, but they had the ability to switch mid way through a song so that it was often hard to tell who was covering which part.  Truly one of the all time great sibling singing duos. ALISON KRAUSS AND ROBERT PLANTA musical marriage made in heaven that no fiction writer could have invented, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss came together in one of the most celestial combos ever. The Led Zeppelin frontman, renowned for his soaring falsetto, melds with the rawboned steadiness of bluegrass's sweetheart in an eclectic stew of influences that somehow create a single entity. Today's featured song, Please Read the Letter, nestled among cuts by the Everlys, Gene Clark, Mel Tillis, and Townes Van Zandt was written by Plant and his Zeppelin brother, Jimmie Page, and is added seamlessly to the mix.The resulting album, Raising Sand, produced by the curatorial genius T-Bone Burnett, was released in 2007, and swept the Grammies and Americana Music Awards, taking its place in the pantheon of beautiful enigmas.  

2021 was a hell of a year: My wife, Chemayne, passes in December of 2020, during the height of the pandemic; The following year is spent stumbling in a maze of confusion - (to be honest, the smoke is just starting to clear); Some solace is found online with a slavic angel of mercy;Chemayne's cat, Boo, and I (the remaining survivors) learn to tolerate, and even find comfort, in each other; Work, and music continue;Red Dead Redemption 2 becomes an obsession;and, of course.... there are lots of vivid dreams. 

    THE QUEER AWAKENINGS OF A WILD BOY PURSUING THE NOVA EXPRESSOn September 6, 1951, William Burroughs killed his wife, Beat legend Joan Vollmer. At a friend's apartment, she balanced a glass on her head, at Burroughs's behest. He had contracted a lifelong mania for guns from duck-hunting excursions with his father, and was never unarmed if he could help it. He fired a pistol from about nine feet away. The bullet struck Vollmer in the forehead, at the hairline. She was twenty-eight. He was devastated, but readily parroted a story supplied by his lawyer, a flamboyant character named Bernabé Jurado: the gun went off accidentally. Released on bail, Burroughs might have faced trial had not Jurado, in a fit of road rage, shot a socially prominent young man and, when his victim died of septicemia, fled the country. Burroughs did the same, and a Mexican court convicted him in absentia of manslaughter, sentencing him to two years. In the introduction to “Queer,” Burroughs disparages his earlier work and adds, “I am forced to the appalling conclusion that I would never have become a writer but for Joan's death,” because it initiated a spiritual “lifelong struggle, in which I have had no choice except to write my way out.”“There is no intensity of love or feeling that does not involve the risk of crippling hurt. It is a duty to take this risk, to love and feel without defense or reserve.”― William S. Burroughs“Silence is only frightening to people who are compulsively verbalizing.”― William S. Burroughs, The Job: Interviews with William S. Burroughs“Nobody owns life, but anyone who can pick up a frying pan owns death.”― William S. Burroughs“Hustlers of the world, there is one mark you cannot beat: the mark inside.”― William S. Burroughs“Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape. ”― William S. Burroughs“I don't care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it.”― William S. Burroughs“A paranoid is someone who knows a little of what's going on. A psychotic is a guy who's just found out what's going on.”― William S. Burroughs“Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.”― William S. Burroughs“Whether you sniff it smoke it eat it or shove it up your ass the result is the same: addiction.”― william s. burroughs“You were not there for the beginning. You will not be there for the end. Your knowledge of what is going on can only be superficial and relative”― William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch: The Restored Text“The first and most important thing an individual can do is to become an individual again, decontrol himself, train himself as to what is going on and win back as much independent ground for himself as possible”― William S. Burroughs“If I had my way we'd sleep every night all wrapped around each other like hibernating rattlesnakes.”― William S. Burroughs“I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don't care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it. My affections, being concentrated over a few people, are not spread all over Hell in a vile attempt to placate sulky, worthless shits.”― William S. Burroughs“When you stop growing you start dying.”― William S. Burroughs, Junky

Dead or alive? Today, we feature one of each: two exquisite female singer-songwriters from the 70's - one a heroin casualty, and the other a remarkable example of patience rewarded. Judee Sill could have been a Laurel Canyon diva on the order of a Joni Mitchell, but, an unquenchable, self-destructive thirst put a stop to her success; and, Linda Perhacs, a name lost in the archives of time, until a fluke, third-generational cult of folky weirdness reopened her long dormant chrysalis of talent. JUDEE SILLThere is a recent documentary, LOST ANGEL, that covers the tragic spiral and conflicted soul of the artist Judee Sill: reform school alum, heroin addict, prostitute, prisoner… followed by the release of two widely admired albums, then, tragically, her untimely demise at 35 from an O.D. But, it's her music that matters and endures: startlingly original, quirky, deeply felt folk rock, tinged with ironic humor and pain, in a mix that elicits complex emotions. As Jesus loved the sinners and rejects of this mottled world, Judee, fearing that she would be lost, longed for the salvation that the Savior would bring. And, in the persona of the  “Phantom Cowboy”  (also the title of a 1935 Western movie), Judee evokes that ever elusive “Action” hero that will come, rescue her, and carry her safely to heaven.LINDA PERHACSIn this, our internet age, it's been posited that everyone has the potential to be a star - but in 1970 there was a different algorithm working, and for a dental hygienist with musical talent… what were the odds?Linda Perhacs's brilliance had a shot at being acknowledged when the dental hygienist gave her demo to a patient, the noted film composer Leonard Rosenman. He got the message, and produced her first record, Parallelograms. It was released and sank, and Linda resumed her quiet life. Cut to 2014 - 44 years later, and Linda's record is rediscovered, thanks to “The New Weird America” folk music movement. It was repackaged and released on CD, and what a blessing to hear that ethereal, crystalline voice reanimated.  And, at 81, with a couple more albums out, Linda is a dental hygienist no longer. She's an inspiration to aspirants everywhere. 

What a year 2014 was! That's what motivated me to start this diary, which is now going on year 10. It was such a hairy time, in fact, that as a way to process it all,  I hit upon the idea of creating a musical diary, using the I Ching - (something I'd been obsessing about) - as my guiding structure. My sister-in-law, Lea died suddenly, but before that Chemayne and I were mandated custody, by Court Order, of our nephew, Gunner. Oh, yes... and, then, out of nowhere, I contracted Bell's Palsy, which paralyzed half of my face. It's in the rear view mirror now, but, geez... that was trippy. 

What we're offering today is something completely different: two outlier artists (although one is a French icon) who created off-kilter, out of the box, almost unintelligible nuggets of artistic brilliance. These cuts are linked, not only by the fact that they both feature sinuous bass lines and orchestral flourishes, but that they are produced by artists whose stances were  uncompromising, prickly, unknowable - and, touched with stardust. SCOTT WALKERScott Walker, whose rich, deep baritone was first introduced to the world in the early 1960s, with the internationally famous group, The Walker Brothers (they weren't) - and their hit single “The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore.” When he went solo he faced an uphill battle, trying to gain public acceptance for his dark, and tangled personal visions. I became enamored of his work when I heard his musical evocation of Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal. By 1970, his solo career went silent. Probably, as a financial imperative, he rejoined The Walker Bros, for some moderately successful MOR cover filled albums. But, in 1984 Scott's mojo returned, triumphantly, with the album “Climate of the Hunter” from which this cut, Rawhide, derives. (Don't worry about trying to figure out the lyrics - just let it wash over you). Against all odds, the “30th Century Man's”  time had come, and there was a whole new generation of acolytes, eager to drink the magic potions Scott was uncorking. SERGE GAINSBOURG Serge Gainsbourg's unique 1971 concept album, Histoire de Melody Nelson, is a suite of songs telling the story of a doomed, illicit romance between a middle aged man and a 14 year old girl named Melody, portrayed by his muse, the dreamy actress and model, Jane Birkin, who also graces the cover.Produced far before the “Me Too” era, this provocative and subversive pop-music drama was not offensive to the French; on the contrary, it cemented the French chameleon's iconic status, and the celebrity couple became the subject of much tabloid journalism. His stylish, outlaw decadence generated a fascination that continues to this day. Gainsbourg, born Lucian Ginsburg, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, was a manufactured creation. He took his nom de musique as a tribute to the English painter Thomas Gainsborough. And, after surviving the German occupation of France during WW2- (he recalled having to wear the Yellow Star, which identified him as a Jew) - he went on to carve out an indelible new identity of swagger, writing and producing over 500 pop hits spanning several genres. He was one of a kind.

Welcome to our new series, “The Beat Goes On,” where we will celebrate the work and enduring influence of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, and the other writers whom we identify as “The Beats.” - that crop of artists who worked to expand our consciousness, exploring the hidden possibilities of post WW2 America in the 1950s - Other significant names to be explored: Diane Di Prima, Tuli Kupferberg, Ed Sanders, Delmore Schwarz, Anne Waldman, Carolyn Cassidy, and many others.We will also include jazz musicians like Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie, whose sinuous Bebop lines influenced the expansive prose of Kerouac and poetry of Ginsberg, and comedians like Lenny Bruce, Lord Buckley, Brother Theodore and Dick Gregory with their scathing critique and unmasking of our nation's hypocrisy beneath the self-deceptive rhetoric of American exceptionalism.  And, then there are their artistic children like Hunter S. Thompson, Charles Bukowski, Tom Waits and Lou Reed…. The list goes on.First off: we need to define that confusing term “beat”… Once the satirists were able to pin them down, the Beats and their devotees were labelled “Beatniks” (a cold war epithet) and put into a farcical box. This is where I, as a child, first became aware of them through the character of Maynard G. Krebs on the Dobie Gillis show. The child-like, pre-hippie with the dirty sweatshirt and goatee, indelibly played by Bob Denver, later of Gilligan fame. He was a gentle figure of fun, not to be taken seriously. But, the truth goes so much deeper. Kerouac defined Beat as short for “beatitude” - a state of grace, a codex for the maturing “peace and love” Baby Boom generation coming up - those in search of existence's deeper meaning beyond the consumerist and war-like American culture being offered as our only option.Well, boy, do we need them now! HENRY MILLER INTERVIEWOur inaugural offering is a 1964 interview with the writer Henry Miller, of TROPIC OF CANCER, TROPIC OF CAPRICORN, and THE ROSY CRUCIFIXION TRILOGY fame, among many others. This is an insightful, in depth look at a artist of gargantuan influence. Miller was interviewed by Audrey June Wood  in Minneapolis during a speaking tour; he considered this interview to be one of his best. Miller discourses on some of his favorite books and authors and the struggle of writing well. It was released on Smithsonian/ Folkways Records.Strictly speaking, Miller was not a Beat - he preceded them, and out lived many of them, making it to 88 in 1980, but he was their spiritual and artistic pathfinder.Living hand to mouth, on the edge, abroad in Paris, writing free form in a raw, explicit, semi-autobiographical manner, telling the truth about sex, love, art, and struggle - he set the artistic compass for the Beats - as Dostoevsky and Walt Whitman had done before him. They are all part of a chain - a chain of searchers, and we are fortunate to have these lights to guide us on our own personal journeys to self realization. Please enjoy…THE BEAT GOES ON. 

Today we live in a cynical world. It's pervasive, this debilitating disbelief in our institutions, our once assured tenets of groundedness. Now we doubt, not only what we see, but what we hear, and even our own thoughts. Are they indeed our own? Or, have they been shaped by the unrelenting marketers and influencers? Back in the 80's - even earlier back in the 60's the attitudes of boredom and mistrust seemed exclusively the province of old school Europe, in particular the French, who invented the perfect word for it: Ennui. The great bon vivant, George Sanders, in his suicide note explained that he was leaving his life because he was bored. In the following offerings we celebrate a time when cynics could be appreciated as unique and exotic. CYNICAL GIRL by Marshall Crenshaw proclaims the lure of nihilism in a poppy, irresistible interpretation. And, THEM TERRIBLE BOOTS by the Orlons makes fun of a wannabe fashionista at the crossroads of burgeoning Mod style. MARSHALL CRENSHAWIn Marshall Crenshaw's 1982 eponymous debut album, CYNICAL GIRL chimed out so brightly it was a paused that refreshed. The singer wants a cynical girl who has no use for the real world, and this notion, wrapped in candy colored chords, invited us to embrace the “Debbie Downers” in our lives, and to realize there's something comforting in the dark side. Maybe we could save each other. Crenshaw, the latter-day, second coming of Buddy Holly even portrayed the Proto-Rock God in “La Bamba” and charmed the world with his unapologetic cheeriness. But the euphoria couldn't last. His debut outing achieved his highest chart position, but it was a bracing example of positivity while it lasted. THE ORLONSThis quartet of street-wise, Philly teens made the trsition from middlin' Doo-Wop practitioners to dance craze mega stars with their triple crown of chart toppers: Wah Watusi, Don't Hang Up, and South Street, evolving into one of Cameo-Parkway's hottest acts. THEM TERRIBLE BOOTS from 1962 was the B-side to South Street, and rode that comet's tail into recording history. It's an evocative glimpse into that time when the cultural landscape was in transition from the staid 50s to the super-charged 60s. The aforementioned cynicism is reflected in the mockery to which the dude who is wearing the mod clothes is subjected.  But, he was just probably a bit ahead of his time. When the only male member, (and survivor) of the group, Stephen Caldwell, repeats the title phrase in his basso profundo, the whole salty world view clicks into place. 

BUKOWSKI SPEAKS!!!!!Cause and Effect -For Kurt Cobain"the best often die by their own handjust to get away,and those left behindcan never quite understandwhy anybodywould ever want toget awayfromthem"Bukowski writes with no apologies from the frayed edge of society.“Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.”“For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can't readily accept the God formula, the big answers don't remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command nor faith a dictum. I am my own god. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.”Bukowski's response to: “Do you hate people?”“I don't hate them...I just feel better when they're not around.”“Find what you love and let it kill you.”“If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery--isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And, you'll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is.”“We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing.”Bluebird“Bluebird” is one of Bukowski's best-known poems and came late in his life during a time of great reflection. It deals with one of deepest-rooted human emotions: vulnerability.Bukowski typically dealt with “hyper-masculine” subject matter, but this poem suggests that, like most men, Bukowski also struggled to live up to traditional notions of masculinity.there's a bluebird in my heart thatwants to get outbut I'm too tough for him,I say, stay in there, I'm not goingto let anybody seeyou.there's a bluebird in my heart thatwants to get outbut I pour whiskey on him and inhalecigarette smokeand the whores and the bartendersand the grocery clerksnever know thathe'sin there.there's a bluebird in my heart thatwants to get outbut I'm too tough for him,I say,stay down, do you want to messme up?you want to screw up theworks?you want to blow my book sales inEurope?there's a bluebird in my heart thatwants to get outbut I'm too clever, I only let him outat night sometimeswhen everybody's asleep.I say, I know that you're there,so don't besad.then I put him back,but he's singing a littlein there, I haven't quite let himdieand we sleep together likethatwith oursecret pactand it's nice enough tomake a manweep, but I don'tweep, doyou?This was published in Bukowski's book "The Last Night of the Earth Poems" circa 1992

THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESSIt was the summer of 2019. I experienced an earthquake, a car accident, and the difficult birth of an original theater piece, which came to be known as "Toxic Shocks". The project was suggested in order to address some issues surrounding student's concerns, which will be enumerated within.This necessitated a new approach to theatrical devisement (is that a word?) --, and I embraced the challenge wholeheartedly. Despite my being all in, things got a bit rocky.The passages from the diary describe the difficult birthing process, and the effect on my dream life. 

It seems as though the 12 bar blues structure is an immovable object, an obelisk of sacred, ritualistic, totemic authority. But the form contains multitudes of variety. Here are two examples of the plasticity of that container, which holds the magic blues elixir and can pour it smoothly, or have it gush out, uncontrollably, like a tidal wave. So, be careful when you put your lips to the chalice … the edges can be sharp, and the liquid it delivers may be too intoxicating! Up first, we have Harvey Mandel, the “Snake”- a guitar wizard, brandishing and slashing his ax-cutlass like a pirate, as he boards equilibrium's frigate docked inside your ear canal, with his own composition, 4pm; then, JB Hutto and the Hawks stagger through “Too Much Alcohol” like drunkards in search of another, much needed pint of medicine - with his razor sharp slide work JB illustrates those sensations perfectly, with an insistent, whimpering pulse.HARVEY MANDELIn 1967, Samuel Charters, for Vanguard records, in an early effort to reveal and showcase the second generation of Chicago's blues scene,  produced harmonica master, Charley Musselwhite's first album STAND BACK! HERE COMES CHARLEY MUSSELWHITE'S SOUTHSIDE BAND, and caused a literal big bang in the hearts and minds of American youth. This was Harvey Mandel's first recording, and launched the notable guitar slinger for hire's 60 year career, going on to join Canned Heat, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, recording many solo efforts, and landing one step away from becoming a Rolling Stone.   Known as “the King of Sustain,” our track, 4pm, showcases the longest sustained electric guitar note at age 21, a feat copied by Jimi Hendrix two years later. Harvey's inventive style is trademarked, and you can hear those clarion notes ringing out like a buzz saw, transitioning from one amazing improvisation to the next. JB HUTTO AND THE HAWKSThe next cut, TOO MUCH ALCOHOL, also on the Vanguard label - featured on 1966's Chicago / Blues / Today! Sounds almost like it could have been recorded in the previous century, when, fresh off the farm, players were captured in their first big city outings on lo-fi recordings - it's that raw and spiky. And, yet, both Mandel and Hutto were breathing the same mid-60s Chicago air. JB's slide style was influenced by Elmore James, of DUST MY BROOM acclaim, and he carried that torch forward. The son of a preacher from South Carolina, Hutto made his way to Chicago after his father's death in the early 50s, but ended up working as a janitor for 11 years, until, in the mid 60s, he was discovered and unleashed on the world by Vanguard. 

In 2005, while visiting the gift shop at the downtown Los Angeles MOCA museum, I came upon a blank journal with a cover fashioned from a salvaged vinyl album by The Allman Brothers. It had the pink Capricorn label. As a lover of vinyl I grabbed it, and decided to begin a journal. It's been ten years, and I've been keeping this diary and transcribing my dreams  ever since. Dreams, ideas for songs, and a chronicle of my family and interior life.  I always intended to go back and see if there was some sense of something to be made out of it, and this is the first attempt at that.I hope you find it interesting. Bill Mesnik, 2025“The Interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind. “ (Sigmund Freud)“In contrast to the subjectivism of the conscious mind the unconscious is objective, manifesting itself mainly in the form of contrary feelings, fantasies, emotions, impulses and dreams, none of which one makes oneself but which come upon one objectively.” (Carl Jung)"Myths are public dreams; dreams are private myths. By finding your own dream and following it through, it will lead you to the myth-world in which you live. But just as in dream, the subject and object, though they seem to be separate, are really the same." (Joseph Campbell)“One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.” (Salvador Dali)

DANNY KAYE: THE BENEFITS OF VERSATILITYDavid Daniel Kaminsky (1911-1987), known to the world as Danny Kaye, was an entertainer that could do it all. He was as adept at pathos as he was at antic comedy, and he captivated audiences throughout the 1950s with his magic.  His signature patter songs, represented by our first number: Anatole of Paris, were crafted for him by his business partner and wife, Sylvia Fine, and together they made film and Broadway history. This is a fascinating connection that deserves a deeper dive.Danny resembled my adored uncle Teddy, and I always associated them in my mind. They had similar profiles and hair styles, and I was delighted to discover that his people and mine emigrated from the same town in Ukraine. Throughout my early years Danny Kaye's warmth and silliness provided a safe harbor against the anxieties of childhood. He was my ideal tutor in the film Merry Andrew, introducing the Pythagorean theory in song.Early on in his career, in 1934, Danny toured Asia - and it was there that he discovered and developed his skill at entertaining audiences who didn't speak English, a key to his popularity with kids of all ages. ANATOLE OF PARISThis number comes from the 1947  film, THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY, adapted form James Thurber's novel about the day dreams of a hen pecked magazine editor. Sylvia Fine worked up this ditty where Danny fantasizes that he is a French milliner who bedecks ladies in ridiculous hats - because, as we find out in the punch line -  he hates women.  You can imagine the impish glint in Danny's eye as he extrapolates on the outrages that he'll commit to these chapeaux, and that's one of the secrets of Danny Kaye's success: the absolute delight he takes in wowing us with his lighter than air articulations. I WONDER WHO'S KISSING HER NOWAnd, here comes the other side of this complex coin - the opening up and sharing of his soulful humanity. This recording, also from 1947, has Danny - ever so tenderly - crooning over a lost love. The song, composed in 1909 by Harold Orlob, for the Broadway play, THE PRINCE OF TO-NIGHT, became a standard. In the hands of the master, this rumination is akin to listening in on the singer's private thoughts, as opposed to a performance. As we said in the intro, this artist could do it all, and here is but a sampling of his versatility.

The “Novelty” song has deep roots in popular culture. Masters of the form, like Weird Al Yankovic, Warren Zevon, Tom Lehrer, Spike Jones, and Allen Sherman have illuminated our consciousness and tickled our sense of the absurd. How much WAS that doggie in the window?…., WTF is Marzy dotes and dozy dotes about?…,  They're coming to take me away, Haha…(that one actually scared me). Probably each of us can recall from childhood some goofy ditty that either made you feel smarter, or got stuck inside your head like RFK's brain worm. Let's give thanks to Doctor Demento for archiving and disseminating many of these gems for future generations, and my introduction to Larry Groce's Junk Food Junkie came from one of his collections. Jerry Blavat's One More Time, Back to School may not demonstrate the same amount of cleverness, but its delivered lustily by one of the premier DJs of his time. LARRY GROCEJunk Food Junkie comes from 1975, and is perfectly in key with today's anti-woke sentiments. But, Mr. Groce delivers his mockery with such gentleness and good humor that it creates a universal warmth devoid of malice. Yes, he intimates, you can try to be upright and health conscientious, but the reptilian brain in all of us needs to be satisfied - even if it has to happen under cover of darkness.  Hypocrisy is the target here, and Mr. Groce, cast as the titular shlemiel, puts himself first in line for ridicule. JERRY BLAVATJerry Blavat's “Horatio Alger” story reads like a Martin Scorsese screenplay. His colorful bio, recounting his journey from son of a Philly bookmaker, valet to Don Rickles, mob-connected DJ and club owner, to broadcasting Hall of Fame icon, could be the stuff of a Netflix series. Known as “the Big Boss with the Hot Sauce,” and “the Geater with the Heater,” Jerry swaggered through his bigger than life life like a toreador. But, lest we forget - it was always his love of those Philadelphian musical goodies - that made him a beloved home town super hero. 1965's One More Time Back to School, on the Cameo Parkway label, is an fascinating glimpse into his inexhaustible energy. It's delightfully sadistic as the singer declares the end of vacation time fun. Not only that, there is something in the edgy cacophony of its production, with the clanging cowbells, that evokes that end of summer feeling. 

What is it about a swing rhythm that sets hearts a flutter? It's a universal truth. It may have started as an African secret formula, but it was co-opted and catapulted into white western culture by some hip caucasian standard bearers.Here we'll examine the psycho-physical connection through two seemingly unrelated musical delicacies: one by the undisputed titan of respectable jazz, and the other by a racially mixed group of Philadelphia teens who barely made it out before the doo-wop death spiral. Bongo Stomp, from 1962, by Little Joey and the Flips, doesn't even feature real bongos (the drummer Jeff Leonard is simulating the jungle signature on his toms). But, it definitely swings. The other showcases legendary stickman, Gene Krupa, who showed the world his undeniable big swinging dick energy. BENNY GOODMAN1938 was ground zero, the big bang, the crossroads of Jazz and its soon to be birthed step-child, Rock n Roll. Benny Goodman and his band played Carnegie Hall and made history. First as a cultural event, and later, when the live recording was released in 1950 as a double album which sold over a million copies. Bei Mir Bist Du Schöen is a defiantly wonderful conglomeration of Yiddish lyrics delivered by Martha Tilton- (remember, simultaneously, Hitler was ramping up his power in Europe) - and, an irresistible swing rhythm smoothly rendered - which breaks into a kind of super charged klezmer section. It must have been startling in 1938, and it hasn't lost its power to captivate almost 100 years later. LITTLE JOEY AND THE FLIPSBy 1962, Doo-Wop was about to be consigned to the dust bin of History, along with the crooners that had dominated the previous decade. The British Invasion was about to begin, which would turn the record business on its head. But, just prior to that cataclysm, Joseph Hall and his 4 Pendleton wearing compadres arrive, dip dip dipping their striped hearts out, and they release this anomaly on Joy Records, which makes it to 33 on the charts. This was followed by only a couple more tries… then, oblivion. Maybe it was that swinging “bongo” break that lifted the Frankie Lymon-esque knock-off to its catchy heights? 

THE REVEREND OF KARMIC YOUTH-1The Interpreter2Starry Eyes3For You4Bloody Hammer5The Wind And More6Night Of The Vampire7You're Gonna Miss Me8I Walked With A Zombie9Stand For The Fire Demon10 When You Get Delighted11 To Think12 Warning13 True Love Cast Out All Evil14 Loving Isn't A Part Time Thing15 The Looking Glass SongAs lead singer of Texas' infamous 13th Floor Elevators — one of rock's earliest, strangest and greatest psychedelic bands — Roky Erickson explored the far reaches of musical and personal extremes. The Elevators' first two albums (Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators and Easter Everywhere, released, respectively, in 1966 and '67) are essential classics whose far-reaching influence transcends genre boundaries. Following a nightmarish '70s mental-hospital stint that reportedly had a devastating long-term effect on his mental health, Erickson's subsequent work revealed a singularly brilliant songwriter and performer whose talent was no less impressive for the fact that he was singing about zombies, vampires and aliens. Indeed, the demons that abound in Roky's songs are all-too-real reflections of his own troubled psyche, and the combination of the artist's oddly poetic lyrical constructions and his bracing banshee wail makes it clear, as it wasn't always, that he's not kidding.The Elevators fell apart in the late '60s, when Erickson began a three-year stretch in a state mental institution to avoid criminal prosecution on a drug charge. He didn't return to recording until the second half of the '70s, with a string of one-off singles and the four-song Sponge-label EP (reissued in 1988 as Two Headed Dog). Three of the EP's numbers were re-recorded for the 1980 CBS UK LP (the title of which is actually five unpronounceable ideograms). Roky Erickson and the Aliens is an excellent manifestation of his post-Elevators persona, expressing dark dilemmas through creepy horror-movie imagery. Roky sings such offbeat gems as “I Walked with a Zombie” and “Creature With the Atom Brain” in a tremulous voice that insists he's telling the truth — or at least believes he is. Former Creedence Clearwater bassist Stu Cook turned in an excellent production job, bringing the hard electric guitars (and Bill Miller's electric autoharp) into a sharp focus that underscores Roky's excitable state. Erickson and band seem less unstable than the drug-crazed Elevators (best remembered for “You're Gonna Miss Me”), but just barely.

'69 AND THE CRIME ETCHED IN TIME -"When I Was 17, It was not a very good year"Rich BucklandWell. Here is something I've yet to get over in all the years since I first read the grisly details of Sharon Tate's murder in the Sunday newspaper's Parade magazine when I was just a wacky hippie teen and beach Boys fanatic.Cult-leader and killer Charles Manson and Beach Boy drummer and surfer Dennis Wilson were friends. For a while, at least. Good enough friends that Manson and his “family” of young women lived with Wilson for several months. Good enough friends that Wilson convinced the Beach Boys to include a song written by Manson, who had musical ambitions, on their album 20/20.Which brings me back to the main bad guy, Charles Manson. I knew as early as the Parade magazine article that Manson and his “family” had gone to Sharon Tate's house looking for Terry Melcher, who did not live there. And I knew that Manson's actual target was this Terry Melcher, who I also knew was Doris Day's son. As it turns out, he was an important producer in the music industry.Yes indeed gand. The 60's was not all Peace, Love and Understanding. In 1988, Melcher earned a Golden Globe nomination for co-writing the song "Kokomo" with John Phillips, Scott McKenzie and Mike Love. Recorded by the Beach Boys, the song was featured in the 1988 Tom Cruise film Cocktail and hit No. 1 (the band's career fourth overall) on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was certified gold with U.S. sales of more than one million copies.[18] Melcher later co-wrote and produced the band's 1992 studio album Summer in Paradise, which was the first record produced digitally on Pro Tools.Charles Manson- The White AlbumOne of the two great influences on the thinking of Charles Manson, along with the Book of Revelation, was the musical group the Beatles. According to Family members, Manson would most often quote "the Beatles and the Bible." The two influences were linked, in that Manson saw the four Beatles members as being the "four angels" referred to in Revelation 9. Revelation 9 also tells of "locusts"--the Beatles, of course--coming out upon the earth. It describes prophets as having "faces as the faces of men" but with "the hair of women"--an assumed reference too the long hair of the all-male English group. In Revelation 9, the four angels with "breastplates of fire"--electric guitars--"issued fire and brimstone"--song lyrics.Manson believed that the Beatles spoke to him through their lyrics, especially those included in the White Album, released in December 1968. Several songs from the White Album crystalized Manson's thinking about a coming revolt by blacks against the white Establishment. He interpreted many of the songs idiosyncratically, believing, for example, that "Rocky Raccoon" meant black people and "Happiness is a Warm Gun" was a song about getting firearms to carry on the&

SPLENDOR OF BOHEMIA PRESENTS- "IN THE BEGINNING"- RICH BUCKLAND'S 2009 TEST EPISODE FOR WHAT WOULD LATER BECOME THE PODCAST SERIES THE WORLD COULD EASILY LIVE WITHOUT- OR CAN IT? WITH WILLY DEVILLE, LENNY BRUCE AND OUR SPECIAL GUEST CHARLES MANSON-DIG THIS!

Ok, folks, we've got an unlikely pairing of unrequited torch anthems with an almost 40 year time span between them, featuring points of view which diverge 180 degrees. The first, from Cock Robin, showcases synthesized sounds which seem like they were caught in amber in 1985, and the second, an astounding display of songwriting and vocal pyrotechnics from prodigy of the moment, Olivia Rodrigo. COCK ROBIN / WHEN YOUR HEART IS WEAKThe Europeans understand love…it's Amore in Italy, L'amour to the French, In German it's Die Liebe, and it's Liefde to the Dutch. Perhaps this is why Europe is where Cock Robin's music made its biggest impact. This song, “When Your Heart Is Weak” which only made it to #35 in the US, was a top 20 hit across the European continent. Singer-songwriter Peter Kingsbury croons insinuatingly that he'll patiently wait for his love object's moment of weakness so he can pick the lock to her heart, and he clearly means business. (With an obsessiveness that borders on harassment, the song insists that her conquest is inevitable). As the synths swell in an oceanic tidal wave, the lover, who's been waiting in the shallows for his moment, will swim over to his drowning muse, life preserver in his teeth, and rescue the maiden in distress - and she, eternally grateful, will be his forever.OLIVIA RODRIGO / VAMPIREIn the next scenario things have gone horribly wrong. Whatever strategy the “Vampire” of the title used to seduce this seething innocent, he left her wanting to eviscerate him publicly - which she has done in spades. This world wide chart topper, which started life as a plaintive piano ballad, was expanded, under Dan Nigro's production, to become an operatic, pop rock anthem. Even the use of the epithet “fame fucker” did not deter the public's monumental thirst to hear this song over and over again on repeat. (Although there is a clean version with the substituted “Dream Crusher” - which doesn't quite compare, does it?)Olivia is 22, model gorgeous, and has amassed an army of pre-teen followers (Ala Taylor Swift). Her outspoken opinions and free use of sexual language have alarmed some parents, but, Ms. Rodrigo is a nice, well brought up lady who only wants to be a good role model, and gifted with a prodigious talent that promises to carry her the distance, expect more musical revelations in the years to come.

Here is a “Sunny Song”, wherein the fleeting sunlight is a dappled reminder of the evanescence of existence. They're all gone now: Bill Evans (piano), Tony Bennett (vocals), Henry Mancini (Composer), and Johnny Mercer (Lyricist), but their beautiful creation lives on to remind us to gather our rosebuds while we may.Sadness, and gratitude run in equal measure throughout all of the song's manifestations. The title itself derives from an 1896 poem by Ernest Dowson, taken from the Roman poet, Horace, whose latin translates as:“The brief sum of life forbids us the hope of enduring long;” The film for which Mancini and Mercer furnished this deathless song, was so tragic in its portrayal of addiction, that, even as a 10 year old, I mourned for the hopelessness of Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick's doomed romance that should have produced nothing but happiness, but brought only sorrow. In the magician's hands of Bill Evans, the chordal melody seems to waft in the breeze, and Tony Bennett's voice, never more supple, interprets the wistfulness of unfulfilled longing with a seasoned perfection. The results: a collaborative triumph. Tony was quoted as saying that their recordings were “the most prestigious thing I ever did”. Quite a statement from the acknowledged master. 

When it comes to infidelity: can we have our cake and eat it too? In the following two songs, written by the incomparable Don Covay, this theme is explored. The two men narrating these tales of inconstancy are in turmoil - one cheater feels guilty, while the other betrayer is suffering from hurt pride - because his woman is playing the same game. The soulful bard who created these parables of marital strife covers the gamut here: in the first you'll hear the voice of the creator himself, Mr. Covay, on a special alternate track of “I Was Checking Out While She Was Checking in”; the second song, “I Stole Some Love” features one of his best interpreters, Peter Wolf, of the J. Geils Band.Donald James Randolph, aka Don Covay aka “Superdude” left us in 2015 with a legacy of pungent excavations of the human psyche, often delivered with toe tapping, humorous perfection. Although he was a charismatic performer in his own right, he was known predominantly as a songwriter with an unerring instinct for hits. Starting out in the fifties as a chauffeur and opening act for Little Richard, Covay went on to pen a raft of chart toppers such as Mercy Mercy (recorded by the Stones), See Saw, and Chain of Fools, for which Aretha Franklin won a Grammy. But it was in '72, doubling as an A&R man for Mercury Records, that Don hit performing pay dirt with “Superdude,” which contained the following song-monologue, which we are honored to present here with this alternate take, where the singer ruminates on the irony of his unique situation.In '92, Don suffered a stroke, and Ronnie Wood of the Faces and the Stones, produced a tribute album entitled “Back to the Streets” which contained the Covay classic “I Stole Some Love,” delivered here with characteristic swagger by the one and only Peter Wolf - former front man for the J. Geils Band. 79 years old and still going strong, the ex late night DJ “Woofa Goofa”, turned undeniable Rock Star and raconteur, has recently delivered an engrossing memoir “Waiting on the Man: Artists, Poets, Drifters, Grifters, and Goddesses” about his life's journey, and the iconic artists he's encountered along the way- starting with his stint studying art at Tufts University, and rooming with David Lynch. (He was also married to Faye Dunaway for five years)…, so he knows a lot about a lot of stuff, including failed romance. And, on this cut, his tortured vocal attests to the emotional vise he's caught in.

Right here, squaring off, from opposite sides of the Atlantic, we present: Dueling tag-teams of zaniness — wearing fanciful disguises, winking at traditional forms, and tweeting in a birdlike falsetto… Good stuff!BEDAZZLEDThe Faustian satire Bedazzled, created by genius comedian Peter Cook (who plays the Devil trying to bargain for souls), makes good use of the talents of his Chaplin-esque comedy partner, Dudley Moore (who you might remember from the hit films Ten and Arthur), who plays the shlumpy Wimpy Burger cook, Stanley, willing to bargain away his mortal soul for love. The team first worked together in the early 60s smash stage revue BEYOND THE FRINGE, then coalesced on the BBC as Pete and Dud, (and, later, even more darlingly in the scatalogical bootleg recordings of Derek and Clive). In 1966, with Bedazzled they were on the rise commercially, and Moore, an Oxford trained classical and jazz pianist, wrote all the music for the film.  In this cut, entitled Leaping Nuns chorus, the sisters of the Order of Saint Beryl (including Stanley in full habit) show their devotion to the Saint by jumping on trampolines. JAN AND DEAN MEET BATMANAlso in ‘66, laboring secretly on a similar track, energized by the same Goon Show type inspiration, Jan Berry and Dean Torrance were working to expand, (but not abandon) their surf sound by adding a storyline and special effects, and creating some nutty theater of the mind. Who knows where this might have led, if Jan's tragic car collision a few week's after the record's release, (resulting in his massive head injuries), hadn't sidelined the team's ambitions? Perhaps a blockbuster TV series…?There was always a comic element to the Jan and Dean performance style. (Check out the classic Rock concert film Tami Show, which they hosted). They may have looked like copper toned surf hunks, but maybe there was some Abbott and Costello lurking beneath the Golden Boy surface. 

From the first moment I heard this ditty, it became my theme song. I learned to play it - (in a far cruder fashion than Ry, of course) and worked it into my set list. Just like the character Bill in the narrative, - (my name, btw) - my reprobate ways had also been domesticated by love. And, another harmonic convergence: I had even spent a year in Louisville, Kentucky. Jack Yellen, the Jewish-Polish immigrant who wrote these Jazz-age lyrics, also penned Happy Days are Here Again, and Ain't She Sweet. If he had only created these three songs, his oeuvre would have been impressive. His art was another example, like that of Irving Berlin and the Gershwins, of the affinity young Jewish musicians expressed for black culture.  And, like the Semitic moguls of old Hollywood - they became reflectors of America's aspirational self-image.Ry Cooder's Jazz album was not exactly an anomaly - he has always been a musical archeologist, but on this collection he strove for unparalleled authenticity. Check out his jaw dropping rendition of Bix Beiderbecke's In A Mist. Sublime. He's a national treasure, and if the jaunty swing-time on this number doesn't get your feet tapping - check your pulse - you might be dead.

"GRIEVING IN THE DOLLS HOUSE"David Johansen passed away peacefully at home on February 28, holding the hands of his wife Mara Hennessey and daughter Leah, in the sunlight surrounded by music and flowers. After a decade of profoundly compromised health he died at the age of 75. David and his family were deeply moved by the outpouring of love and support they've experienced recently as the result of having gone public with their challenges.  He was thankful that he had a chance to be in touch with so many friends and family before he passed. He knew he was ecstatically loved."My mother and I would like to thank everyone for the fathomless love and support you've all shown us since we went public with David's diagnosis.We were able to make the last few weeks of David's life with us as serene and anxiety free as possible. As well as alleviating some of our more pressing material concerns, this campaign did make David feel profoundly connected. He really did feel the love from everyone.For the time being we will leave the fund open to contributions, to continue to pay off the debts accrued during David's long illness.We will share details about memorials and tributes soon. There will be several events celebrating David's life and artistry, details to follow.Thank you so much for the …LUVLove,Leah and Mara"THE GTO'S -"PERMANENT DAMAGE"- THEIR LONE VINYL FOOTPRINT"HARDLY A CHEAP TRICK"These seven young women left a permanent mark upon my perceptions of the feminine equation and artistic desires during what was known as the 60's Summer of Love. So much to ponder about these girls who just wanted to have fun.They left a legacy which when viewed through the lens of  artistic achievement, made them the first female Punk Rockettes.When the testimony is placed under the microscope of human triumph, destiny betrayed them. They were the creation of a time (The 1960's) and a place (Laurel Canyon) where  history tells us that the possibilities of inclusion could make a groupie as appreciated as Joni Mitchell.Frank Zappa knew better.Frank understood the nature of Permanent Damage. The most famous and successful of the GTOs is Miss Pamela, currently Pamela Des Barres, author of the groupie-memoir I'm With The Band. Des Barres's new book, Let's Spend the Night Together, a collection of interviews with fellow rock groupies, was released on July 1, 2007. Miss Mercy's 'biography' was expanded at length within the chapter entitled, "Miss Mercy's Blues". Also within the book, Des Barres notes that Miss Cynderella died in 2007 under mysterious circumstances. Miss Christine died on November 5th, 1972, of an overdose in a hotel room, after spending close to a year in a full body cast to correct her crooked spine. Miss Lucy died of an AIDS-related disease in the early 1990s. During her time as a GTO, Sandra became pregnant by Zappa's resident artist, Calvin Schenkel, and had a daughter named Raven. Miss Sandra later moved back to San Pedro and eventually Italy with her new husband and three children. She died of cancer on April 23, 1991. Miss Sparky is still alive, but not much has been divulged of her post-GTO's endeavours.In Circular Circulation, They Circle Continuously.- Rich Buckland

DOUBLE TROUBLE: CINDY LAUPER AND MILEY CYRUSTwo towering, Olympian female voices, from different generations, aligning here to honestly testify about their love damaged hearts. They describe world's of hurt, confusion, and finally, triumph in the face of loss. Miley Cyrus “Heart of Glass”I love Miley Cyrus - not only because she carries the flag of peace, love, and musical tradition with her Happy Hippie Foundation, and, at the same time, continues to reinvent herself and confound expectations, but because she's one of the most captivating singers America has ever produced. Here she isn't channelling Debbie Harry's Blondie anthem, so much as honoring the past, and goosing the disco chestnut with rock n roll hydrogen. Displaying the vocal power of a roaring jet plane, Miley conveys a super sonic vibration alongside the mournful cry of an injured wolf. Before I ever saw her, I auditioned for her Disney show, Hannah Montana. I'm glad I didn't get that job, because the Miley that I was finally introduced to was not a preternaturally talented moppet, but it was The Wrecking Ball, the Can't Stop Won't Stop girl - the irresistible force for all that's forward looking in this society, and at the same time Dolly Parton's God daughter. What a combo!Cyndi Lauper “I'm Gonna Be Strong”When Cyndi Lauper emerged from the depths of Queens (my home ground), wearing orange hair and thrift store swag, singing about how Girls just wanna have fun, and mugging on MTV besides Captain Lou Albano, the wrestler, I loved her kookiness, but I was sure that she was not gonna be around that long. Boy, was I wrong. She demonstrated her amazing writing and vocal chops in all genres, spoke her mind faithfully about human rights, and in short order became a feminist icon. She has even scored big as a Broadway composer with the sensational Kinky Boots.For over 40 years she has dominated our national consciousness, and this year, as she makes what she claims is her farewell tour, she continues to represent unwavering notions of integrity, self-respect, and professionalism with undeniable power.Here she is reviving the 1964,  Gene Pitney hit composed by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, with a gut wrenching, operatic dynamism that leaves me speechless. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome back for more DOUBLE TROUBLELet's talk about dreams….Dreams can be intoxicatingly erotic; they can be filled with loss and longing; you might be falling, trapped in an confusing maze, or carried across bodies of water in a leaky boat.  I often have the actor's nightmare - where I'm about to go onstage, but I don't know my lines and I don't even know which play it is. These are dreams from which I wake up in a cold sweat.SUMMER WINE by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood (Reprise, 1966)A Succubus is defined as a female demon or supernatural entity that appears in dreams to seduce men. This is probably what singer-songwriter-producer Lee Hazelwood had in mind when he paired up with the husky voiced Nancy Sinatra to tell the story of a cowboy who swaggers into town, and meets an alluring siren, who then invites him to spend the night partaking of her special home-made brew. He drinks too much of the elixir and wakes up the next morning alone, hungover, and without his silver spurs. This might have been a cautionary tale, but the smitten cowboy is left craving more of the same.Understandable. Nancy had seduced us all with These Boots Are Made For Walkin' and Sugar Town, and was at the peak of her magnetic powers. Teaming up with Lee was a smart move, too, because this Svengali was an American original; an independently minded auteur, with an irresistible basso, who, with his muse, went on to create many evocative and enduring tracks before going their separate ways. The structure of the song is simple: Nancy sings only the recurring chorus describing her recipe: “Strawberries, Cherries, and an Angel's kiss in spring…” This plays like an ear worm, stuck in the cowboy's head as he relates his mysterious tale of submission.HOW CAN WE HANG ON TO A DREAM by Mimi Farina (Philo, 1985)Mimi Farina became a widow at age 21. The younger sister of Joan Baez, who was one half of an anointed, royal duo of folk music, was left bereft when Richard Farina, her husband and partner, rode his motorcycle into oblivion. After casting about for years, trying to find her civic, and artistic footing (forming the charitable performing organization, Bread and Roses - and, even trying improv comedy) - she finally emerged in 1985, stronger and more confident at the age of 40, with a beautiful solo effort. Here she interprets the Tim Hardin composition HOW CAN WE HANG ON TO A DREAM? - which delicately puts all her trials into perspective.Mimi died of cancer in 2001, leaving behind a legacy of fragile, dream-like beauty and wonder. It seems that some people are too good for this world. I'm reminded of Richard and Mimi's anthemic PACK UP YOUR SORROWS…”If somehow you could pack up your sorrows, and give them all to me….you would lose them, I know how to use them, give them all to me.”Mimi did just that for us. 

Today's Affirmation:"She Let's Me Watch Her Mom and Pop Fight"Writers: N. Blagman*, S. BobrickAlthough she isn't much to look at,And she isn't very bright.I love her, I love her,Oh boy how I love her'Cuz she let's me watch her mom and pop fight.To see a lamp go through the windowAnd watch them kick and scratch and bite.I love her, I love her,Oh boy how I love her'Cuz she lets me watch her mom and pop fight.And Friday night,It's something wonderful to seeWhen her pop comes home withOnly half his check.We split a candy barAnd watch World War III,It's got necking beat to heck!I'm gonna make that gal my steadyBecause they're at it every night.I love her, I love her,Oh boy how I love her'Cuz she let's me watch her mom and pop fight.

Lennon and McCartney eloquently recited an affirmation stating that In My Life I Loved Them All.The affection for certain artists and the melodic poetry they injected into our souls has remained in our wiring through the good, the bad and the uncertain times of our lives.One beloved gentleman we cherish was known as Arthur Alexander. Known as June to his closest companions, he was a one of a kind country-soul songwriter and singer. It can easily be said that he invented the genre.The fifth American studio album by  the Rolling Stones, released in December 1965, contained the Alexander classic "You Better Move On". From that moment on I was hooked on his intimate honesty and at times, the violent dillemas created within the stories he told.From "Anna" to "Rainbow Road" he took us into a world of hurt, light and truth."Anna" was first made familiar to us all through the Beatles cover version of this classic.On June 17, 1963, they performed the tune for the BBC radio show Pop Go the Beatles and was included on their Vee Jay LP Introducing The Beatles.In 1994, "Adios Amigo: A Tribute to Arthur Alexander" was released with industry legends engaging their versions of some of his classics.Roger McQuinn, the man whose voice elevated the Byrds to historic heights recorded "Anna" for the occasion.His reading of this tear stained composition is dealt a tender touch and inspires the notion that when the very best translate the very best, we are often rewarded beyond emotion.On that same tribute recording, another  unexpected performance is revealed.Robert Plant, known for his howling , screeching and a jet plane vocal roar illustrated in the metal blues ventures of Led Zeppelin offered up a remarkable surprise. Plant's ability to take Arthur's haunting chant' "If It Really Has To Be This Way" down a road of interrpretation few of us knew he could travel,  is a revelation which should inspire every singer to better worlds.Once again, proof of emotive genius is discovered when a vocalist of Plant's caliber is sworn to the oath of conveying the inner depth of the heart as written by a master of song craft.And so we enter this new realm of Double Trouble with the talent and awe of three pioneers of popular music.We double down on the voices of Robert and Roger as the giant shadow of Arthur Alexanderconducts a human orchestra of words, urges and the need to confess that which few are capable of expressing with such passionate poise.Robert remains with us at 82 and Roger at 76.Arthur Alexander boarded The Mystery Train on June 9, 1993 at 54.Ladies and gentleman. Welcome To Double Trouble.Rich Buckland

Hello Young Lovers!Welcome to a special Saint Valentine's Day TWOFER from The Splendid Bohemians:Today we're featuring two enchanting, encyclopedic British song stylists: Anne Briggs and Elvis Costello. First up: the majestic Ms. Briggs.SHE MOVED THROUGH THE FAIR by Anne Briggs (Topic, 1963)Barefoot and bedraggled, Anne Briggs became the muse of the British Traditional Folk Boom in the early nineteen sixties. Her short performance career of mystical magic was retired at age 27, leaving behind a limited, but monumental discography. I first heard She Moved Through the Fair on Irish Heartbeat, made by Van Morrison and the Chieftains, and it's ethereal message left me paralyzed with romantic longing. But, that was just the prelude to my discovery of the plangent tones from this Goddess of acapella Celtic song. OPPORTUNITY by Elvis Costello and the Attractions (Columbia, 1980)This cut from my favorite Elvis Costello album, GET HAPPY!!! Is R&B funky with a Stax inspired beat and tasty organ punctuations by Steve Nieve. The music is absolutely giddy, and although the acrid lyrics - (so typical of the former Declan Patrick MacManus during this early period) - may be pessimistic and sneering, the overall effect is energizing. In fact, the recurring refrain: “this is your big opportunity….”, with the caveat: “don't turn around” indicates the intense, forward-looking dedication with which this artistic social climber fueled his rocket-like ascent to the firmament of the musical masters. Although Elvis succeeded handily, his early anti-authoritarian stance reminds me of so many other also-rans that, in preparation for their inevitable fall to irrelevance and obscurity, padded the ground below with a protective “fuck you” attitude. But, you knew all along that underneath the bravado that they really craved the gatekeepers recognition. The jaunty music belies the message of the sour lyrics, implying an alternate, more inspiring interpretation: Be alert! Recognize your opportunities and grab them while you can.

“Rock 'n roll is really swing with a modern name,” Freed once said. “It began on the levees and plantations, took in folk songs, and features blues and rhythm. It's the rhythm that gets to the kids – they're starved of music they can dance to, after all those years of crooners.”HISTORICAL ALAN FREED MOMENTS:Freed moved to WINS in New York in 1954 where his late night radio show became known as Alan Freed's Rock 'n' Roll Party. His popularity was immediate and so was the criticism.In July 1957, Freed was given his own nationally televisedrock 'n roll dance show billed as “The Big Beat" on ABC-TV. The show featured a mix of pop and R&B acts. Early reviews for the national show were good, but it was cancelled abruptly after Frankie Lymon, one of the show's black performers, was shown on air dancing with a white girl.The biracial dance scene enraged ABC's Southern affiliates and the network cancelled the show despite its growing popularity.Freed was featured in five of the earliest rock 'n' roll movies – Rock Around the Clock and Rock, Rock, Rock in 1956; Mister Rock And Roll and Don't Knock the Rock in 1957 and Go Johnny Go in 1958.Freed was initially interred in New York, the city where he died at 43 in 1965. His family moved his remains to Cleveland years later and then to the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Museum 12 years ago, his son Lance Freed said.“I thought this was the last move, but then I got this call to move him,” Freed said. “He said, ‘You've got to come pick him up.' ““The museum world is moving away from exhibiting remains” since ashes don't help tell a story, he was told.Bullshit. The Hall's Board simply felt human remains did not belong where they could depress those paying for admission.Alan Freed Urned His Right To Remain In The Home That  Utilized His Rock and Roll Signature As It's Way Of Earning Millions Upon Millions Of Dollars.PLEASE VISIT THE ALAN FREED ARCHIVES AT:https://www.alanfreed.com/wp/archives/

Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull has boarded The Mystery Train at 78.In the 70's she was anorexic, homeless and addicted to heroin.At the time of her passing she had acquired the status of legend.Marianne was a genuine, brilliant artist in a sea of impostors.Sleep Well in that ocean you struggled so hard to master regardless of the merciless tears that passed by.-Rich Buckland

Henry St. Claire Fredericks, Jr., aka Taj Mahal is 82 years of age, and like that monument in Agra, he stands as an ageless edifice of blues - rock grace. On his latest recording he croons in that familiar rasp: “I'm too young to be this old,” and there's no denying the truth of that declaration. As the years have passed, it's gratifying to contemplate that, 60 years ago, Taj and Ry Cooder combined forces in the seminal, interracial rock group The Rising Sons, then went their separate ways to establish themselves as the foremost living treasures of Americana and world music.  I would venture to say that, similarly to the white British rockers who influenced a generation when they recycled the blues back to America, Taj and Ry did the same thing, on their home soil, with more humility..I have a distinct memory of being ensconced during an arduous Iowa winter, laboring to get this song down for my set at the student union: one man, one guitar,- trying to catch the funky groove of the thing. The syncopation between Al Kooper's piano, Jesse Ed Davis's guitar and Gary Gilmore's bass, propels this cut forward, moving it along a track of joy - even as the singer is bemoaning his lost love. That's the thing about Taj: his ever-present, infectious humor is fundamental to his magical appeal. And, the fact that he took his name in tribute to Gandhi, a man of peace, speaks mightily to his personal mission to make us all happy.

PLEASE JOIN US AT DIG THIS!!!!! https://www.facebook.com/digthiswiththesplendidbohos/A MESSAGE FROM STAX RECORDS PRODUCER, SONGWRITER AND VOCALIST DAVID PORTER:To say I am saddened about the loss of Sam Moore would be an understatement. You see, it was the finality of the last living connection I had to God's gift to all of our careers.The experiences we had with each other changed each of our lives in amazing ways. Sam will always be remembered because of what he gave out of his heart and spirit, along with Dave Prater, in the combination of Isaac Hayes and David Porter, some amazing gifts to the world.I believe his memory will be a blessing forever to the world. And now I am the last of that combination, so I must express what I know was in the origin of the spirit for each of us during the course of recording those records. They were always filled with passion, purity, individuality and believability grounded in soul. The combination made each of our lives major. I express my condolences to Sam's family. May his memory be a blessing. -PBS Concert Special Celebrating Bruce Springsteen's ‘Nebraska' Features Eric Church, Emmylou Harris & MoreRecorded in his New Jersey bedroom, Bruce Springsteen's 1982 album Nebraska has proved to be one of his most enduring works, a raw, haunted acoustic record populated by lost souls searching not for salvation but simply a reason to believe. On September 19, 2023, at Analog at the Hutton Hotel in Nashville, famed music biographer Warren Zanes — author of Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska — hosted an in-depth exploration of the album and the musician's process.Springsteen's songs were performed by multiple legends in their own right, with Zanes's spoken word storytelling in between.“I wrote a book about Nebraska because the recording stayed with me over decades,” said Zanes. “Every time there was trouble in my life I reached for Nebraska. When I started doing events around the book's publication, I quickly realized the best of them had music. When I went to Nashville, I had a remarkable cast of musicians to help me tell this story."Musical performances from Nebraska include Emmylou Harris (“The Price You Pay,” “Nebraska”), Noah Kahan (“Atlantic City”), Lyle Lovett (“Used Cars,” “My Father's House”) and The Lumineers (“Mansion on the Hill,” “State Trooper”). Two additional songs from Born in the U.S.A. are performed by Eric Church (“Dancing in the Dark”) and Lucinda Williams (“Born in the U.S.A.”). Between songs, Zanes offers insights from his book, about which The Boston Globe wrote: “Anyone interested in how music gets made — both the inspiration and the process — will be fascinated by Deliver Me From Nowhere, an amazing chronicle of one of the most unlikely albums ever recorded. And for students of Springsteen, it's an absolute must.”

This recording, composed and performed by the criminally underestimated Rick Nelson and his right-hand man James Burton, is a tone poem of psychedelic disorientation. It lopes along, taking its sweet time, floating in mid-air, then seeps out through the singer's enthralled brain in a sensual vortex. It reminds me of my virgin night of acid enlightenment, when I crawled across my cousin's floor, following the swirling carpet patterns, whispering: “Oh, Wow,” over and over again.The tune features the sitar, a trope of the time, sensitively voiced by a musician mysteriously listed as “unknown,” and they stand out as the unsung hero of the whole enterprise. Appearing as it did in 1967, Marshmallow Skies signifies that time in Rick's career between his teen idol period and when he emerged, fully realized, as a progenitor of country rock. He's in experimental mode here, searching for a new direction. And, with characteristic aplomb, he makes his case convincingly. An interesting side note: “Marshmallow Sky” is also a flavor of Ben and Jerry's ice cream - and, a sweet smelling iris which resembles floating clouds. Appropriate, I think.

Lucasfilm has about a dozen Star Wars movies in various stages of development. One of them is a prequel from James Mangold that will tell the origins of the Force, the mysterious energy field created by life that binds the Star Wars galaxy together.In a recent interview with MovieWeb, Mangold opened up about what convinced him to make a Star Wars movie for Lucasfilm, sharing that "the really important aspects [were] the freedom to make something new." Mangold, who is co-writing the screenplay with Beau Willimon, explained that they wanted to find "a way on the page to say something original." With his movie set to take place 25,000 years before any other Star Wars project, Mangold will seemingly be freed from decades of lore. "I'm not that interested in being handcuffed by so much lore at this point that it's almost immovable, and you can't please anybody," the director added, suggesting that his Star Wars movie may drastically shake up the fandom's current understanding of the force.Announced in April 2023 at Star Wars Celebration Europe IV, Mangold's Star Wars movie will be part of an era dubbed "Dawn of the Jedi" by Lucasfilm. "The Force has become a kind of religious legend that spans through all these movies. But where did it come from? How is it found? Who found it? Who was the first Jedi? And that's what I'm writing right now," teased Mangold at the time of its announcement. Mangold has since cited Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 silent religious epic The Ten Commandments as a major inspiration for the movie.However, it is unclear when exactly the "Dawn of the Jedi" movie will go into production, as there is a chance Mangold's next movie will instead be his DC Universe feature, Swamp Thing. The filmmaker became attached to Swamp Thing in February 2023 and has been juggling the screenplays for both movies ever since. DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has repeatedly stated that no DC movie will get greenlit until there is a finished screenplay that is worth turning into a movie, so there's a good chance that Swamp Thing may also be a ways off.The next Star Wars movie to hit theaters will be The Mandalorian & Grogu in May 2026. When the movie is finally released, it will have been almost seven years since the last Star Wars movie, 2019's The Rise of Skywalker. The Mandalorian & Grogu is a feature-length continuation of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian. While plot details remain under wraps, Pedro Pascal's Din Djarin and the lovable alien Grogu will be joined on their first big-screen adventure by Star Wars Rebels character Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios, Sigourney Weaver (in a mystery role), and Jeremy Allen White, who will voice a grown-up Rotta the Hutt. Jon Favreau — who created The Mandalorian — co-wrote and directed The Mandalorian & Grogu, which was shot entirely in California between August and December 2024 and is currently in post-production&

AT THE HOTEL BOHEMIA WE BELIEVE YOU CAN'T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING UNLESS YOU KNOW WHERE YOU HAVE  BEEN.2025 COMIN' ROUND THE MOUNTAIN.CAN YOU DIG IT? Drummer Buddy Rich died after surgery in 1987. As he was being prepped for surgery, a nurse asked him, “Is there anything you can't take?” Rich replied, “Yeah, country music.”Lucky Luciano was a mob leader who helped the U.S. work with the Sicilian Mafia during World War II in exchange for a reduced prison sentence. His last words were, “Tell Georgie I want to get in the movies one way or another.”Donald O'Connor was a singer, dancer, and actor known for his role in Singin' in the Rain. He also hosted the Academy Awards in 1954. O'Connor died at age 78 with his family gathered around him. He joked, “I'd like to thank the Academy for my lifetime achievement award that I will eventually get.” He still hasn't gotten one.Groucho's brother Leonard, who was better known as Chico Marx, gave instructions to his wife as his last words: “Remember, Honey, don't forget what I told you. Put in my coffin a deck of cards, a mashie niblick, and a pretty blonde.” A “mashie niblick” is a type of golf club.As he was dying, Alfred Hitchcock said, “One never knows the ending. One has to die to know exactly what happens after death, although Catholics have their hopes.”Blues guitarist Huddie William Ledbetter, a.k.a. Lead Belly, said, “Doctor, if I put this here guitar down now, I ain't never gonna wake up.” And he was right.Bo Diddley died giving a thumbs-up as he listened to the song “Walk Around Heaven.” His last word was “Wow.”"It was Christmas Eve babeIn the drunk tankAn old man said to me, won't see another oneAnd then he sang a songThe Rare Old Mountain DewI turned my face awayAnd dreamed about you"-Shane McGowenA VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU AND YOURS FROM YOUR SPLENDID BOHEMIANS!

This cut, from Julie London's album of the same name, became a camp classic. It's undeniably bawdy, with the torch songstress purring like a mod Mae West, with tongue solidly in cheek. The original, generated by neutered, pre-fab bobble heads, The Ohio Express, is a prepubescent rocker, lacking any lubriciousness whatsoever, but, emanating from Julie's throat it's an open invitation to bed, or a post-coital pillow declaration.Julie is Her Name, her first album, was released in 1955, and YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY was her last, arriving in 1969, when she was 43 years old. Being an aging sex star is hard, but doing it in the 1960s during the youth movement must have been agonizing. Following this, she retired from recording altogether to concentrate on her acting career, which served her well. In '72, her ex-husband, Jack Webb, cast her in the tv show Emergency! alongside her current spouse Bobby Troup,- (the composer of Route 66) - and that show lasted 6 years.In 2000, throat cancer claimed the life of the sultry voiced siren, after a lifetime of dedicated smoking. She was 74, leaving behind a discography full of yearning and heartache. I discovered her decades after her Hey Day, on a collection of Lounge numbers, and was smitten.  

1) EVIL WEINER- ALL AROUND THE WORLD 2) AIMEE MANN AND MICHAEL PENN- CHRISTMASTIME 3) CHRISTY MOORE- FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK4) FRANK SINATRA- CHRISTMAS SEALS PUBLIC SERVICE SPOT & I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS5) GEORGE JONES- LONELY CHRISTMAS CALL6) MELVIS - I WANT TO GET LAID ON CHRISTMAS DAY -  (1958)7) MABEL SCOTT- BOOGIE WOOGIE SANTA  ( 1955)8) PORKY PIG- BLUE CHRISTMAS 9)THE RAMONES-  I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT TONIGHT- 10) STAN FREBERG- I'M GETTING NUTTIN' FOR CHRISTMAS (1955)11) STEVE MARTIN AND PAUL SIMON- SILVER BELLS- - (SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE REHEARSAL- 1976)

Dedicated to Chemayne Halverson (1/6/1967-12/23/2020)This is a haunting song by Rodgers and Hammerstein, which expresses the indefinable mysteries of romantic love. An interesting word I learned which describes this feeling is “limerence,” which the Oxford dictionary defines as “the state of being infatuated or obsessed with another person, typically experienced involuntarily…” This revelatory gnosis occurred  to me quite early, when I played the character of Emile de Becque, the aging plantation owner, in the Camp Sno Hill production of South Pacific, at the age of eleven or twelve. It goes without saying I was no Ezio Pinza, but I brought the heatSignor Pinza (1892-1957) was an Italian opera singer who made the unlikely late-life transition into musical comedy matinee idol status after retiring, when he delivered this unforgettable ode to romance. Many have had, as I have, this experience of love at first sight. It happened to me when I ran up a theater aisle, threw open the door to the hall, and ran directly into the woman who later became my wife. I still remember her soft warm breath, begging pardon in a Southern inflected voice. Perhaps the romantic fantasies that have been pedaled to us in countless songs, movies, plays, films, and books have created unrealistic expectations. But, I still believe in that life actualizing dream, and Ezio Pinza is one of the reasons why. 

 A BEATSVILLE CHRISTMAS- PART ONE1) Christmas In Jail-  The Youngsters- 19562) Yulesville-  Edd "Kookie" Burns -      19593) Pancho Claus-  Jose Gonzales-Gonzales- 19644) Surfing Santa-  The Ramblers-  1964

Maybe late-night TV shouldn't be called “late-night TV” anymore, with so many viewers consuming it in clips the morning after, on their phones. Yet the genre's hallmarks — the avuncular host, the sidekick, the band, the monologue, the desk, the guests — linger. Most were stamped on America's consciousness by Johnny Carson.A new biography about an old reliable, Bill Zehme's “Carson the Magnificent” harks back to an era when doom and scroll were biblical nouns and Carson's “Tonight Show” was a clear punctuation mark to every 24-hour chunk of the workweek — less an exclamation point, maybe, than a drawn-out ellipsis. “They want to lie back and be amused and laugh and have a nice, pleasant and slightly … I hate the word risqué … let's say adult end to the day,” is how a producer in 1971 described the millions tuning in from home, to Esquire.Carson went off the air in 1992, after three decades on “Tonight,” and left this Earth in 2005. Zehme, a journalist known for his chummy celebrity profiles, struck a book deal almost immediately but struggled to get purchase on his subject— “the ultimate Interior Man,” he despaired to a source, “large and lively only when on camera” — and then was diagnosed with late-stage cancer. He died himself last year at 64, and a former “legman” and friend, Mike Thomas, has finished the project, giving it a doubly valedictory feel.There were plenty of earlier books to consult, like “King of the Night,” by Laurence Leamer (who wrote about Joanne Carson in “Capote's Women”), “And Now … Here's Johnny,” by a young Nora Ephron, and the memoirs of Carson's eternal second banana, Ed McMahon. His lawyer's tell-all, published in 2013, is tellingly unmentioned. Zehme and Thomas have taken, if not the high road, the yellow brick one, with Carson's Midwestern background left in dusty black and white while the nitty-gritty of show business is buffed to a high Emerald City sheen.Give the authors points for changing up the standard chronological format. We don't get to Carson's birth date of Oct. 23, 1925, in Corning, Iowa, until the 107th page; his rebirth on Oct. 1, 1962, in NBC's Studio 6B, midwifed by Groucho Marx, being the main event.On air, Carson would take on various goofy guises, including the turbaned Carnac the Magnificent. The book's title, and its light glide over his womanizing and sometimes violent alcoholism, suggest that in real life, too, he was a master of disguise and escape. After an unpleasant first date with Jody, he gives her a cactus in a bedpan with a note reading: “Sit on this. It will remind you.” After they married, she would sometimes wake with bruises. “Did he hurt you, Mom?” Joanna's son asks after blowups. Zehme attributes such behavior to a booze-poisoned “doppelgänger”; he credits Carson with destigmatizing divorce without considering how swiftly, today, his whole operation would be canceled.Visiting a proto-couples counselor, Carson “would taste shrinkage for the first time,” but he was far more comfortable overseeing Carson's Couch. He might have been his own best analyst. “My job is to give them that feeling,” he told the “Tonight Show” regular Tony Randall of his drowsing masses, “that there will be a tomorrow.” How very yesterday.

You remember that anachronistic Sea Chanty internet meme a couple of years ago? All over the world people were recording themselves singing “The Wellerman”, proving the endurance of the Anglo folk tradition. You can thank Bert Lloyd (1908-1982) in the UK, for being the folklorist and song collector who documented and compiled many of these ancient songs, and for keeping the folk flame alive in the age of modern recording. He started collecting songs when he worked as a sheep herder in Australia, and his index expanded while working on whaling ships. In 1938 the BBC hired him to do a radio documentary about sea life, and thus began his career as a journalist, creating the singular vocation of “professional folklorist”.  Sovay (or, Sophie), the much covered tale about a lady highwayman who tests the fidelity of her lover, appears on Bert's Topic Records collection “First Person: some of his favorite folk songs”, and that's where I discovered it.  I have an affinity for this niche of song collecting, developed years ago, while researching the archive of Sing Out magazine in the Smithsonian library. It's been a gift that keeps on giving. 

Okay. No one wants to spoil the party.But according to the American Psychological Association, 89% of US adults reported feeling stressed during the 2023 holiday season. It's a good news, bad news situation much like this podcast which is truly a conflicted search for the highway to heaven, if such a utopia indeed exists.At least we make an effort to engage about the comforted and the awkward which is more than I can say for many who only pretend to do so.The holiday season can cause stress for many reasons, including:Being exposed to constant, over exposed or insipid Christmas songs everywhere from your radio to  each elevator and mall assault across the USA. The Phil Spector Christmas Album is all I require. And I must admit that I have enormous affection for "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"-Family gatherings leading to the desire to drink like Ray Milland in Lost Weekend-Lack of time-The demands of hosting gatherings-The pressures of gift-giving-Navigating complex family dynamics- But here's the good news:“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.”—John F. Kennedy“Friendship… is not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.”- Muhammad AliAnd more ultimate wisdom arrives in the truths of what I consider the greatest gratitude song ever written, THE REBEL JESUS as composed by Jackson Browne"But pardon me if I have seemedTo take the tone of judgementFor I've no wish to come betweenThis day and your enjoymentIn a life of hardship and of earthly toilThere's a need for anything that frees usSo I bid you pleasure and I bid you cheerFrom a heathen and a paganOn the side of the rebel Jesus"-In closing I leave you with the following:"I haven't been saved but it could happen yet."-Robert Earl KeenAmen Brothers and Sisters.And The Beat Goes On-Thank You Listening Gang.-Rich Buckland

This is a difficult artistic puzzle to sort out: a) Why is this, Doris Day's signature song, the only cover that Sly ever recorded?; and, b), Is its delivery of “cheerful fatalism” a positive or a negative? The motto, cribbed by song writers Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for the Hitchcock film THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, from another film THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA, has a rich history of memento mori application going back centuries, and yet, here it appears in a fresh, compelling funk version for the modern era. It's a brain teaser.For me it's all positive, albeit bittersweet. The young woman, voiced by Sly's sister Rose, asks her mother and lover to allay her apprehensions about the future, and Sly, taking the lead on the response, bursts into an ecstatic response: “Whatever will be, will be…” which turns the angsty inquiry on its head. BE HERE NOW, is the imperative. The future will take care of itself. 

I miss Amoeba Records in Hollywood. When I was working a few blocks north of there, I'd visit a few times a week during my lunch break. They had a warehouse full of oddities of all mediums and genres, books, films and memorabilia. It was on one of these mid day excursions that I came across an album entitled: “The Rough Guide to Psychedelic Africa”. This was earmarked and marketed for people just like me. The music contained therein varied quite a bit from my idea of psych, but I love discovering new stuff so I couldn't pass it by.“Guitar Boy” was one of the tracks on this collection, by Nigerian national hero - the musician, writer, sculptor, and musical instrument inventor Sir Victor Uwaifo (1941-2021), who achieved the very first gold record there with “Jeromi” in 1965. The genre is called High Life, developed in Ghana, a former British Colony on the west coast of Africa. It's style is immediately recognizable as Afro-Cuban, with it's fusion of Afro beats with western melodies played by guitars plucked in staccato arpeggios. Guitar Boy was banned for awhile because of it's connection to a failed coup in April '67, which was led by a Lt. Samuel Arthur (later executed), who marched prematurely into Broadcasting House Accra, announced the coup, and ordered the record to be played. Wow! You can't make this shit up.

From Bill:Reflecting upon the recent death of Alice Brock, the lady who lived in the bell tower of the abandoned church in Stockbridge, MA, along with her husband, Ray, (and Vacha, the dog) -, and who hosted the now legendary Thanksgiving feast attended by young Arlo Guthrie, that time when he got arrested trying to do his hosts a solid by dumping their excessive garbage - which subsequently soiled his record, making him ineligible for the draft. Well, reflecting upon this landmark recording made me realize how much Arlo and his song had been fundamental to my life-long, anti-authoritarian world view. And how, years later, when the war had escalated, and my turn came up for the draft, even though I escaped with a high lottery number, I was already weighing my options. I was only 14 when the song was released, but it hipped me to the absurdity of the war in Viet Nam, the legal system, and petty bureaucrats in general. Arlo accomplished this “us against them” subversion with genial irony, which he delivered with an easy charm - not to mention an impressive Travis picking style.  It didn't hurt that he had the name recognition as the scion of the OG of poetical protest singers, Woody Guthrie, whose song “This Land is Your Land,” almost became our national anthem, and was the adopted relative of “uncle” Pete Seeger, whose signature sing-along method of inspiring social change Arlo employs so effectively here.  It was a cultural bombshell, and a first in many ways: At 18 minutes, FM radio usually played it in three separate parts making each rotation an event. It was the longest song to ever gain radio play when spun in its entirety. However, here at the Hotel Bohemia, time has no meaning, so it can be played all the way through on a continuous loop.  Alice will be hosting her first post-mortal Turkey Day, so let's spin it again in her honor. BEST WISHES FROM BILL AND RICH, THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS! 

The story of a boy, a bottle and the redemption Country Music can deliver.

It's jangly and jarring, but irresistibly hypnotic.  Mark E Smith chants this incantation as if he is literally crawling out of his skin. The performance is teeth grinding punk rock in its distilled essence. a portrait of a poet in service to anarchy. And, funny. Deeply biting and ironical, this was DJ champion, John Peel's favorite group. The lyrics here seem improvised, but he's a gonzo beat poet extraordinaire - he's written it all down, and delivers it with his signature repetition in a discordant bray.  “You don't have to be weird to be wiredYou don't have to be an American to be strangeYou don't have to be strange to be strangeYou don't have to be weird to be weird”After seeing the Sex Pistols in '76 Mr Smith had a vision that carried him for 42 years through a ridiculous number of personnel changes. It doesn't matter who is playing as long as Mark is at the mic. He said once, “if it's me and your granny, it's The Fall”.Mark was a difficult, complex man who died in 2018 at the age of 60, leaving behind 32 studio albums and countless live versions. One could pick out practically any Fall tune, and experience that singular voice - “attitude personified,” one journalist dubbed it. I chose this cut because it makes me smile every time I hear it. I hate being in that condition myself, but it's fun to vicariously share Mark's flirtation with psychosis.