Jazz Fest Day Two

Day Two: Walter "Wolfman" Washington, Kayla Woodson, Rockin' Charles, Eddie Bo all put on great shows. Dr. John isn't pictured, because by the time I saw him it was raining so hard I couldn't take a picture. I ended up leaving before Billy Joel, who I really wanted to see, but the weather beat me. I was soaked. Still a good day.

Brief Jazz Fest Day One Update

The first day of Jazz Fest is over and it was a great day, lots of great music. The day started off with Susan Cowsill opening. Her shows are always good, but this one was better because she had a lot of new music to debut this time. But the show to beat was Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. I have to admit up front that I've never been a big Led Zepplin fan. I like them and appreciate their music and realize their importance, but I've never been one of those fans that just go crazy over them. Still I have to admit that Robert Plant has a presence that you can almost feel. They put on an amazing show, with help from T Bone Burnett and Buddy Miller. They took a few Led Zepplin songs and made them into country blues. It was simply an amazing show. Alison Krauss, besides singing like an angel, has to be one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen.

The LIttle Things

It's the little things. Time will go by and I won't think too much of him and than some little thing will make me think of him. Tonight after I was getting out of the shower I pushed the button for the cleaner that hangs on the shower, it's one of those things that hangs a bottle of some type of cleaning fluid upside down over the shower. When you finish your shower you push the button and it shoots the fluid out, helping to keep the shower clean. As I pushed the button I thought about telling my Dad about buying this thing. He'd get a kick out of it. That's one of the hard things, just calling to tell him the little things, the things that don't mean much, but in the telling mean so much.

E Streeter Danny Federici Dies

Danny Federici, keyboard player and an interegal member of the E Stree Band died yesterday at the age of 58 of melanoma. To most casual fans it's Bruce up there on stage and they probably couldn't name any of the musicians that Springsteen surrounds himself with. For a lot of musicians every tour is a new group of musicians to back them on stage. For Springsteen it is the same guys he started playing with before he was a Star.

Yes, there was a break there, where Springsteen performed with other musicians and the E Street Band each went their own seperate ways, but the Boss called them all back together. Very few "real" groups survive in the music business with the same members, for a person that is basically is solo like Bruce it's very rare to be playing with the same guys for this long. Tom Petty and his Heartbreakers are one of the few other bands in the same situation that has stayed together are one of the only other acts I can think of.

Back years ago I remember impressing some friends when they were looking at pictures from someone's tour, it might have been Stevie Nicks, and her backing band was made up of members of Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen's bands and I named them all. They were astounded that someone would know the names of what they considered faceless musicians, people there to just help shine the light on the main attraction.

But to many of us people like Danny were far from faceless and they contributed more than just holding a spotlight on the main act. They were part of a band that helped to shape and make the music that so many of us love and listen to.

Rest in peace, Danny.

Kayla Woodson Singing Black Velvet

Earlier I mentioned seeing Kayla Woodson at French Quarter Fest and being blown away by her voice. Here's a video of her doing "Black Velvet" from a year ago.

Theresa Anderson

Rockin' Charles

Little Freddie King

Check out his shoes:

Rockin' Charles Getting A New Guitar

Kayla Woodson

French Quarter Fest

The day is over and I can honestly say it was a very good day. The weather started out looking overcast and chilly. The clouds stayed overhead for most of the morning, but by noon the sun was inching its way from behind them. As the day progressed it got warmer also. The first half of the day was pretty chilly for a day in April, by the end it was more in line for this time of the year.

Before we headed over to watch the live acts we ventured to the Louisiana Music Factory, one of the best local music stores around. While there I purcahsed a copy of "The Cosimo Matassi Story." Cosimo was a record producer from the early fifties and sixties in New Orleans, who produced such giants as Fats Domino, Little Richard, Smiley Lewis, Bobby Charles and many more. This four cd-set deserves its own post later, so I won't talk anymore about it.

The first act we saw was the Theolnius Monk Insitute of Jazz Ensemble. I'm not a big jazz fan, mainly because I really don't know much about Jazz. From what I heard of this group they were good, even if they didn't really move me.

After that we decided to head over to the US Mint and pick up our Brass Passes for Jazz Fest. Oh, I forgot, the we is me and my friend Larry. Our tastes in music are very similar and for the past few years we have went to Jazz Fest together and hit some of the other fests like the French Quarter.

On the way towards the Mint we were literally stopped in our tracks by a voice. It was coming from a 13 year old girl. My first impressions were of hearing a young LeAnn Rhimes. Her name is Kayla Woodson and we were both very impressed by this young lady. I can see very big things for her in the future. We stayed and listened to her set and even ended up buying her cd.

The Brass Passes for Jazz Fest are tickets that the local radio station WWOZ sells. The money goes to help a great radio station and it gives you a few extra perks for Jazz Fest. A win/win situation all around.

Going back to the Abita Stage we listened to a little of Gail Holiday, another talented singer. At the Abita Stage we heard Bob French and the original Tuxedo Jazz Band. Contrary to their name they played blues and pop material and were also good. Bob French has been around forever.

Next up was Little Freddie King, a blues singer. Freddie is from the Ninth Ward in New Orleans and has been singing the blues for decades. Before Little Freddie went on Offbeat Magazine and Gibson Guitar gave a guitar to Rockin' Charles, another New Orleans' native talent. Charles waited to the side of the stage for Freddie to take a break and than he came on stage to play his new guitar for the first time. The first song on his new guitar was Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode."

After this Theresa Anderson came on. I've talked about how much I like Theresa before and she did nothing to change my opinion of her. Her show was an excellent concert, even though they had some trouble at the beginning getting set up on time. She showcased mostly new tunes for her upcoming album. She had an ep of new songs on sale at the show, with each album art completely original and hand made by Theresa.

After Theresa we caught the end of Freddy Omar, a Latin band. Even though I couldn't understand a word he was singing, the music was infectous and moved.

And that was the end of the first day.

Interviews and more Interviews

Over at VOICES TO HEAR I have a feature called Simply Six. Pretty much it's a short interview I came up with to email various singers and songwriters. And like the name implies it consists of six questions. The questions are as follows:

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer. For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later. Is there such a defining moment for you?
2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to? Who are some of your favorites?
3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?
4. Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to? How much can music influence current events?
5. How has technology affected the music industry? How has technology affected your career as a musician?
6. Now for my Barbara Walters question: If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

I've sent these questions out to a bunch of artists over the last week. I've started getting back answers. My first interview that I posted was with one of my favorite performers, Shannon McNally. The next one I posted was with another local artist Maggie Brown.

I've got more in the can waiting, from Toby Lightman to promises of ones from Susan Cowsill and Lily Holbrook and more. I'll be posting them every week and hopefully continue to get more as I run through the ones I have.

Go check the answers out, I think the questions are pretty cool and the answers are even better.

French Quarter Fest This Weekend

A whole weekend of music, food and sunshine. What could be better? Two weeks before Jazz Fest is the French Quarter Fest. What is the French Quarter Fest? From their page:

The award-winning French Quarter Festival is Louisiana's largest free music
event, a three-day local music showcase scattered throughout the French Quarter
in New Orleans, Louisiana. There are music performances on 15 stages. The
community festival also features the "World's Largest Jazz Brunch," which are
the festival food booths operated by nearly 60 local chefs and restaurants
throughout the festival weekend.

You won't see any Billy Joels or Jimmy Buffets at the French Quarter Fest. But you will see some great musicians. Theresa Anderson will be there. Amanda Shaw will be there. Trombone Shorty will be there. I could go on and on, there will be a lot of great musicians. And unlike the Jazz Fest, all the music if free.

There will also be a lot of food. Now the food, unfortuanately is not free. Two things New Orleans is known for, music and food. Both will be at the French Quarter Fest.

Hopefully after the weekned is over I'll have some great pictures to post and some great memories to write about. I can't wait, this is going to be a good weekend.

I Pod Questions

Ok, I saw this over at Trav's site awhile back and have been meaning to do it, but lately just haven't had time to do much blogging at all. So I'm making some time now.

The rules:
1. Put your music player on Shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER WHAT. (This is in capital letters, so it is very serious.)

1. IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?

Hush by Maggie Brown.
Me being contrary I guess.

2. WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?

I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down by Elvis Costello
Kind of ironic since I don't drink at all and this makes me sound kinda...drunk maybe. Or maybe it's just means I'm not the most graceful person in the world.

3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

War by Bruce Springsteen
Maybe this explains why I'm still single.

4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

Brother (On the Line) by Dave Alvin
A story about racial relations. I was talking to my brother (real one) earlier tonight about the presidental election, which is bringing racial issues to the front more than normal.

5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?

Still Pretending by Tift Merritt
Wow, this one really does hit close to home. I've always thought I've been pretending to be an adult.

6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?

Sandwiches For The Road by the Drive by Truckers
What could be more important?

7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

Little Wild One (No. 5) by Marshall Crenshaw
Hmmmm, maybe.

8. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?

Tomorrow's Gonna Be A Better Day by the Continental Drifters
Very true, especially for my Mother after everything that's happened in the last year.

9. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

Dream Lover by Ricky Nelson
I won't say anything else.

10. WHAT IS 2+2?

Push It by Garbage
No matter what the song that came up with that question it wasn't going to make sense, unless Bob Seger's 2+2 had come up, which would have been really weird.

11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?

Motivation by Sheryl Crow
One of my best friends could use a little motivation for sure.

12. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

The Outsider by Rodney Crowell
Why settle for someone ordinary?

13. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

True Love Way by Kings of Leon
It would be nice.

14. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

When You're Young In The City by Patti Scialfa
I guess maybe I'm starting to feel old.

15. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE

Still Wonder by Johnny Lang
Nice.

16. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

Just Enough To Keep Me Hanging On by Linda Thompson

17. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?

Come Home To Me by Steve Earle


18. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

Brothers Under the Bridge by Bruce Springsteen

19. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

1974 by Ryan Adams
If it means history than it could be right, not completely but I love to read about history.

20. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

He Thinks He'll Keep Her by Mary Chapin Carpenter

21. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

Monkey's Paw by House of Freaks

22. WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?

Something I Can Feel by LeAnn Rimes

More West Wing

I'm into the second season of West Wing. Here's another wonderful clip, that highlights some of what I love best about this show. And the President brings up a good point, when did it become bad to be smart? Why shouldn't we want our President to be smarter than we are? I would love to have a President that knew as much as President Bartlett.

Walk The Line

Some singers become bigger than themselves. They mean more than just the songs they sing. In today's media saturated world the word Icon is used for entertainers a lot. Just because you only use one name for yourself, that doesn't make you an Icon. By all definitions of the word, Johnny Cash is an Icon. Johnny Cash represented more than the songs he sang, he represented a world view to many people.

When the movie WALK THE LINE first came out I made a point of seeing it in the theaters. It was one of my favorite movies of the year. Now I'm usually not a fan of musical bios where the actor sings instead of using the real music of the musician. There's a reason people are going to see the movie of the singer and it's because the people going to see it are fans of his singing, not the actors. But sometimes it works. THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY worked. And in WALK THE LINE it worked. Joaquin Phoenix isn't Johnny Cash (but than who is) but he pulls it off. And it made sense in the movie, with the songs being built around certain scenes it would have been hard to just splice in a song off an album.

WALK THE LINE was smart that it didn't try to showcase Johnny Cash's entire life. It focused on his relationship with the love of his life, June Carter. Ms. Carter is played quite well by Reese Witherspoon, well enough that she won an Oscar for her role.

When the movie came out on DVD I was first in line to purchase it. I wanted to own this movie so I could watch it again and again. Now the studio is releasing it again, as a two disc extended edition.

The first disc features an extended version of the movie with commentary with the Director and co-writer of the movie, James Marigold.

The second disc has mulitple features that add to the pleasure of watching this movie. My favorite are the historical featurettes such as "Sun Records and the Johnny Cash Sound" and "Folsom: Cash and the Comeback."

I'm not a big fan of movies (or cds) that come out after the first version with new extended features that try to get you to re-purchase what you've already bought once. And I have to be upfront here and admit that I didn't buy this disc, it was sent to me to review. But saying all this I have to say this is a great movie and I enjoyed the extras. Would I have bought it? I'm not sure, I would have liked to own the extras so it's very possible. If you're a big fan of the Man In Black it's worth buying this movie. And if you don't already own the movie, than by all means purcahse this version.

Sam Cooke and Peter Guralnick

I've readed Peter Guralnick's two volume biography of Elvis Presely and was very impressed and have been meaing to pick up his work on the life and times of Sam Cooke for some time. I've had the book in my hand at different times while at the bookstore, but never ended up walking out with it. Well the other day the hardback was on the mark down table and it was too good a deal to pass up.

I got home with it and thought I'd read the first chapter while I had lunch. Three hours later I found myself still immershed in the book. I couldn't put it down. I really knew nothing of Sam Cooke's life beyond his singing, so pretty much all of it was new to me. Guralnick does an amazing job of bringing Sam Cooke to life. He doesn't white wash Sam's life, he presents his life as it was. I would rate this as one of the best music biographies I have ever read.

The video clip is the first part of a BBC show on his life and features some interviews as well as some of his singing.

Speaking of the Beatles....

Since we were talking of the Beatles, here's one of their earliest hits.

For Beatles Fans: Neil Aspinal Dies

One of the few people that could be considered the "Fifth Beatle" Neil Aspinal died today of lung cancer in New York City. He was 66. Neil met Paul when they were both 12. Later he became road manager for the early Beatles. That's his van in the picture with the Beatles above.

Neil has stayed with the Beatles until the end. He briefly served as manager after Brian Epstien died and before Allen Klien entered the picture. He served as one of the top people in Apple, the company the Beatles founded. Up until his death he was still associated with the Beatles, working with the surviving members.

Al Copeland Dies

Al Copeland, the founder of Popeyes chicken died today in Germany where he had traveled for treatment for cancer. Copelands no longer owned Popeyes, having lost it in bankruptcy shortly after he had purchased Churchs chicken. He still owned the rights for the Popeyes seasoning which kept him a wealthy man.

I've actually had a few almost encounters with the man. When I worked for Service Merchandise his wife would shop at the Metairie store. I remember they were getting ready to open a new restaruant (I can't remember the name, but I think it was one that didn't make it long) and she was in the store looking for patio furniture that they could use. She brought some of her employees with her and I just remember her as being very take charge, waving them to do this and do that. (I'm also not sure what number wife this was.)

Later he was at the same location buying an engagement ring for whichever new wife was coming up. I remember the conversation being he wanted one for a $100,000 but we didn't have the stone big enough at the store level, we'd have to send out for it, and he decided he didn't want to wait, so he went elsewhere.

Popeyes was not named for the comic strip character, but after the character from the movie "The French Connection." The first chicken store he opened was called Chicken on the Go before he renamed it Popeyes.

Copeland was a strong presence in New Orleans. His Christmas lights were visited by thousands every year. People either loved him or hated him, but one thing is for certain, he will be missed.

West Wing Revisited

I wasn't feeling too well today so I stayed home from work and after having nothing to do all day decided to start watching West Wing again. I love this show. To me it's one of the best shows every put on television. And what's more it makes me proud to be an American. This shows how politics should work, the hope that there are people that truly believe in what this country stands for still working in the White House.

This clip is from the first show and is the first appearance of the President of the United States.

New R.E.M.

April 1st the first R.E.M. album in five years comes out. The above is the first single from the album and sounds really good. This is a band that I think has always did it their way and not worried about the current trends. Their last two albums were more mellow, but this one sounds like it is going to be a lot louder and edgier.

Voice to Hear

It's been awhile since I mentioned one of my other blogs, VOICES TO HEAR. I haven't been keeping it as current as I'd like, but lately I've gotten better. The tagline for this blog is "The Best Music You've Never Heard." I like to spotlight an artist that isn't that well known and try to bring a little more attention to said artist. This past week I talked about the folk/rock group from Australia the Waifs.

If you interested in some good music and maybe discovering some great new talent give the blog a try. I think you'll like it.

Remembering Arthur C. Clarke

As a child I was not that much of a sport's player. I was the kid that got stuck out in right field where everyone hoped no one would hit the ball. Myself included, because I knew if the ball was hit to me I was more than likely to miss it and be responsible for at least a run if not more. I dreaded gym class.

I was the little skinny kid with glasses and too shy to talk a lot. As a young child I suffered speech problems, which even today sometimes has me fumbling the pronunciation of a word that I hear in my mind correctly but somehow comes out of my mouth sounding wrong.

I was the kid bullies loved.



Reading was my source of happiness and safety. I can't say when I first started reading, I've been readying all my life. My Mom and Dad enrolled me in a book club for kids when I was small. One of the first books I remember reading was Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel. My favorite Doctor was Seuss. In sixth grade they gave the class a reading comprehension test and I was reading college level. It's like anything else, you do it over and over you get good at it. And I read everything I could get my hands on. I would read the tv guide, the back of a cereal box, anything and everthing.

Somewhere along the way I picked up a science fiction book. I have no idea what the first story or book in the genre I read was. All I know is that I was hooked. Here were books where the heroes were spacemen, where aliens existed, where someone with intelligence was not the target of bullies but the hero the world needed.



I read any and all science fiction stories I could. I was transported to alien worlds, future times...I could leave my world where I felt like I didn't fit in and be somewhere where I did. Along the way I found a trinty of writers that could do no wrong as far as I was concerned. Isaac Asmiov, Harlan Ellison and Arthur C. Clarke. These three were the holy grail as far as I was concerned. I hunted for work from them and read everything I could get my hands on.

Arthur C. Clarke wrote stories that showed man's potential for greatness, for their next step of evolution. He helped infuse a love for the future in me, that there was a future worth living for. In Clarke's world religion was the bad, humanity was the good.



I still can remember picking up Rendevous with Rama and the excitement of reading it, turning each page and being fascinated with the world that Mr. Clarke had created. It's a feeling that is hard to replicate, even still loving the written word as I do today, it's hard to capture that thrill of every new word bringing me to a world I had never visited before.

And for that and so much more Arthur C. Clarke will hold a special place in my heart and mind.

American Idol: Blackbird

Carly Smithson is becoming my favorite. I liked this song, but I don't think it was her best performance, but I was still surprised it landed her in the bottom three. I fear Kristy Lee Cook is just treading water until she is voted off.

Arthur C. Clarke Dies

Famed science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke died today at the age of 91. This video is from his last birthday with his reflections on his life. I'll have more to post on Mr. Clarke as he was a very important writer to me as I was growing up.

Barack Obama in Philadelphia

Say It Ain't So

I've just started to get back my magazine subscriptions. After Katrina I let most of them laspe and just picked up the new issues on the newstands. For months after Katrina mail was so sporadic that you might get the May issue of a magazine is July. I've just got in the habit of picking up whatever issue of whichever magazine I want at the newstands. But it gets to be expensive, subscriptions are a lot cheaper, so I've started back. I'm a magazine junkie, reading anywhere from five or six different magazines on up.

I just received my first issue of No Depression in the mail today. No Depression is not a medical journal, despite the name. It's a magazine about music, mainly what would be labeled Americana, but it's a label that the magazine itself would struggle with, basically saying it was a magazine that covered American music.

For my money this is the best music magazine out there today. Magazines today tend to feature short articles for people that have the attention span of a fly. No Depression would feature long articles about fascinating people involved in the creation of some wonderful music. It highlighted forgotten creators as well as today's innovators. It was never a magazine that featured who was hot at the moment. Covers featured such musicans as the Shins, Lucinda Williams, Liz Wright, Potter Wagoner, Josh Ritter and now and than a more familar name like John Fogerty or Johnny Cash. It was a magazine that took me awhile to read. I would read an article and put it to the side and pick it up a few days later and read another article. It's one of the few magazines that I save.

In today's issue they announced that the next issue will be their last issue. After 75 issues they are closing up shop. In a market with a rapidly shrinking advertising market they just can't compete. I haven't been able to read the issue yet, I was so upset that I put it to the side. This is literally my favorite magazine and now it will be gone.

And magazines like People and Us continue strongly....

Prositute Turned Singer

I guess it's true what they say about any publicity being good publicity. The young woman who was the call girl in the trouble the now ex-governor of New York City is a "singer" and is hoping to use the media coverage from the past few days to secure a recording contract. Her MySpace page has registered something like a million hits since her name was released to the press. One top recording executive said she was terrible, another was quoted as saying that he was interested in listening to her since this has gotten her name out there in front of the public and that was a good thing.

Is there ever a time when some publicity can just be wrong? I guess it doesn't matter what you're famous for, as long as you're famous.

Amercian Idol: Eigh Days A Week

Ok, my favorite Kristy Lee Cook didn't do too well this week. "Eight Days A Week" is one of my favorite Beatles' song. It was the first piece of music I ever owned, a 45 for those of you who remember those things. But she butchers this song I hate to say. I think she's trying too hard to follow whatever Simon says, she needs to take chances but follow what she thinks is best for her. She was voted in the bottom three this week.

American Idol: Come Together

I love just listening to Carly talk, her accent is amazing. This is one of the best if not the best from this past week. She has a very strong voice.

Uncle Tupelo

I've been downloading all my Uncle Tupelo to my Ipod today and figured I'd share a little about them on here.

Uncle Tupelo was a group that not a lot of people have heard of, but had a lasting effect on music. They combined the energy and noise of punk music with the lyrics of country music. They are credited with helping to create what is called alternative country today. Both main members of the band deny their influence and claim that there were others doing the same that they were.

The group consisted of Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy and Mike Heidorn. Farrar and Tweedy shared lead singing duties and both wrote their share of the songs the group did. Heidron was the drummer.

The group lasted for less than a decade. After the collsapse of the group Farrar went on to form Son Volt and Tweedy Wilco.

This video is supposed to be their first tv appearance. It looks like one of those local tv shows so it's very likely it is. They are doing "Graveyard Shift" here.

Uncle Tupelo's Last Song Performed

This is from the final show of Uncle Tupelo's career. After this song the group would perform together no more, with each going their own way.

Something Fun

After reporting three deaths in a row I need to post something fun. How about the trailer for the new Indiaina Jones movie coming out May 22? I can't wait for this movie. As much as I'm looking forward to Iron Man this is going to be THE movie event of the summer.

Another Death to Report: Mike Smith

His name probably doesn't ring any bells but on Feb 28 Mike Smith died from complications from a previous fall. He was 65 years old. He was the vocalist for the British invasion band from the sixties the Dave Clark Five.

Dave Clark was the de facto leader of the group, but he played drums and did not sing. Mike Smith was the keyboardist and lead singer of the group. They were one of groups that followed the Beatles from England and became famous in the United States.

The Dave Clark Five performed till the seventies. Smith continued to work in music producing and writing for others, as well as working on commericals.

He died 11 days before the Dave Clark Five was to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Jeff Healey Dies March 2

Jeff Healey the blues guitarist that was blind died on March 2 from cancer. This clip is from his biggest hit "Angel Eyes." He has a new rock album coming out soon called Mess of Blues.

Dave Stevens Dies

Dave Stevens, the Creator of the Rocketeer comic book characters died today of leukemia. Dave is best remembered as the artist of the comic book that later became a Disney movie. Dave help rejuvenate the interested in 50s pinup model Bettie Page. Dave was a very talented artist that found he spent too much time worrying over every panel to be able to make a living in the industry.

Pistol Pete

Travis McGee

I've mentioned recently that I've been on something of a John D. MacDonald binge as far as reading goes. Every five years or so I end up re-reading his Travis McGee series, one of the best mystery series ever as far as I'm concerned. Well I've decided it was time to go back and visit good old Travis. When I read them I like to start at the first one written and read them in order. The early books were written so it was easy to pick any up without having to worry about the previous one. The later ones you could still pick up without having read any of the earlier ones, but there was more continuity and events that were referenced to earlier books. If you've never read a Travis McGee book I give it my highest recommendations.

I'm going to make a little post as I finish each book and we'll see if I make it through all 21 books. I'm sure I'll read a few things inbetween some of the books, I'm one of those people that can never be reading one book at a time, I always have three or four sitting around that I'm reading. In face I've already finished a few of the McGee novels, which I'll list shortly.

It's Raining

We're in for some pretty ugly weather. At the moment we're under a tornado watch. The line of storms is moving through New Orleans across the lake towards me. Outside it's that type of weather where it's quiet at the moment but it just feels like something is about to happen. I have a feeling we're in for some rain tonight.

Hey I Can Put Stuff on the Ipod That Everyone Knows

Sometimes it seems I pick the most obscure group or singer to talk about. Well I do like mainstream artists too. Some of the albums I've downloaded from vinyl have been my Beatles' albums. I've never really bought cds of the Beatles stuff. I have their stuff on vinyl and just have never gotten around to buying it on cd. I have a few things on cd from them, mainly the greatest hits "1" that came out a few years ago.



For my money there is none better than the Fab Four. I've been a fan since I was a kid. The first single I ever bought was the Beatles "Eight Days A Week." The first album I bought was Beatles '65. By the time I started buying music the Beatles were splitting up so there was never a chance to see them live.



I've downloaded about six of my Beatles' albums so far and plan to finish with them all. It's been a lot of fun sitting here listening to all the Beatles' music.

The Producers or the Producers?

Instead of sleeping I'm converting more vinyl to digital. The newest album to get the treatment is The Producers debut album. For those who don't remember this maybe two hit wonder the group came out in the early 80s. Their first album was issued in 1981. They had two hit singles off the album "What's He Got?" and "What She Does to Me" plus some play on the single "I Love Lucy." They were one of those pop groups that come and go with a few good songs.

I actually saw this group in concert years ago, probably not long after the release of their first album. I saw them on the riverboat when it was still docked in New Orleans and they would have concerts on it. They put on a really good show, with a lot of energy and fun.

As the songs transfer from the album to I Tunes it pulls up the covers to the albums if the album is in I Tunes database. (For example the Beatles have not released any of their music to any online service yet, and it does not pull up any artwork for their album covers.) The Producers album cover is this:

What it pulled up was this cover:

Happy Birthday to My Brother

Today is my brother's birthday and I just wanted to take a moment to wish him a very happy one. I just got off the phone talking with him a little while ago. My brother is one of the most honest, straightforward persons I know. He's taken what could have been a very bad situation and made it into something good. I couldn't be prouder of being his brother.

Dreaming

I have a tendency to not remember my dreams. I'm not going to say I don't dream. It's been pretty well established that everyone dreams to one extent or another. But in the morning when I wake up I'll catch a fleeting glimpse of my dreamscape and than it drifts away into the mist of nothinginess.

This morning I woke up remembering a dream and even now still remember parts of it. It was one of those weird dreams where there was a lot of people from work and we where in a house in the middle of nowhere and talking about going to the University of Montana. I walked outside and was alone in fields with rolling hills and I heard my Dad speak to me. I woke up as I was calling out to him "Dad?"

That's all I remember. It's the first time that I can remember dreaming about my Dad since he died this last summer.

David Archuleta

In My Absence

I know I haven't been very good with keeping up with posting on here lately. The last month at work has had me traveling out of town every at least a few times each week and when I'm in town things have been very busy. But it all ended this week, so hopefully things will get back to normal. I have some ideas for some long, thoughtful posts coming up...so until than I thought I'd just post this commercial that tickles me every time I see it.

More MacDonald

What with all the traveling and work lately I haven't had much time for anything, but of course whenever I go anywhere I bring a book with me. I just finished Slam the Big Door by John D. MacDonald before and grabbed another MacDonald from my stack. (The stack is a about two dozen MacDonald paperbacks from the 50s and 60s I purchased as a lot from Ebay awhile back.) This one was Where is Janice Gantry?

Like any MacDonald book this was a great read. A few interesting points about it. The book opens in Horseshoe Bay, the same setting from the book I just read by MacDonald. I put it down to the writer just wanting to use the same locale. About halfway through the book he mentions a car crash that happened in the previous book. Neither book relayed on anything from either book but MacDonald let the reader know the books were taking place in the same world.

This book, the main character is a prototype for his more popular series character Travis McGee. Besides McGee he has a sidekick character for the main character Sam Brice that I see as insipartion for Meyer, his sidekick for McGee. Brice is far from McGee's tarnished knight but in him you can see the inklings of the character that would become McGee.

At less than two hundred pages this was a quick read and very enjoyable. This was written in the early sixties when MacDonald was cranking out his paperback thrillers, but even with the quanity he was producing he was writing quality books.

Recipe For Me

I got this from Trav.

The Recipe For John

3 parts Inspiration 2 parts Aspiration 1 part Charm Splash of Brilliance Shake vigorously

What's the Recipe for Your Personality?

A Question to Everyone Reading

If anyone has noticed this year I have not posted any of my daily regulars: Rock n Roll History, Book Fun or Word A Day. I planned to, I have the material ready to do so, but I thought I'd put the question out there to everyone. Did anyone read those daily posts? Does anyone want to read them again?

I liked doing them for nothing else that they made me blog daily and a lot of the time if I was going to do those posts I ended up doing others.

Ok, fill my box up with those answers now while I'll be out of town for the next few days.

More Vinyl to Ipod

It's been busy around here lately, with me not being home long enough to do much of anything, but today I spent a little free time converting some more vinyl to the Ipod. I have a 4 hour drive tomorrow, so I need some tunes on the Ipod. (Actually according to Itunes if I started now it would take me almost twenty days to listen to all the songs I already have on my Ipod.)

First up was the first album by the Rainmakers. This is a mostly unknown band from the 80s. They were one of my favorite groups when they first came out. Their music was full of passion and really rocked. They put out a few albums and than kind of drifted apart to come back together once or twice, but never really did much else. The lead singer and writer of the group Bob Walkenhorst has put out a solo album that I don't have. In researching more on this group I've discovered I'm missing a few albums that they put out later that I need to get, including a live one.

I realized that I don't have any Who in my Ipod. Now at one point in my life I wouldn't make it through a day without listening to some Who. While I'm not quite as fanatical about the group now I still like them a lot. So I had to figure out which album to download. I wanted to put their classic Who's Next but for the life of me couldn't find it. (As I'm typing this I just realized where it is. I have about a dozen albums in frames hanging on the wall. And this is one of those albums. Duh!)

Finally I managed to download Bob Marley's Legend album too. In fact that's the album I'm listening to now as it copies to the computer. Not a lot of albums this time, but it takes time and that's something I've been in short supply of lately. Another two weeks of this and hopefully things will be back to normal.

Slam The Big Door

I just finished re-reading John D. MacDonald's book Slam The Big Door. MacDonald is better known for creating the character of Travis McGee, one of the best mystery series ever written. But his other novels are just as good. MacDonald toiled in the paperback field, back when such an undertaking ususally meant that the writer wasn't good enough to produce hardback books. That was definintely not the case with MacDonald (and a host of others too). His books could stand up the best of the more "literary" hardbacks. But his novels were mainly mysteries or potboilers, stories that weren't taken seriously. Yet in his novels you could learn more about the human condition than in many more important works. In most of his novels there was always a moral pointman, a man that knew what was right and what was wrong. In some of his earlier novels you can see the blueprint for Travis McGee being written. Every few years I go back and re-read the entire Travis McGee series, starting from the first and ending with the last one written. In interviews MacDonald used to say that he had written a "final" McGee novel, but we've never seen it so I guess he didn't. Which while it would be interesting to see how he would have ended the McGee series probably is for the best, we can imagine the beach bum knight still out there, helping out those that need help and sitting on his boat "The Busted Flush" and watching the new crop of beach bunnies invading his turf. Which is as it should be.

Press Conference for End of Writers Strike

Shelby Lynne: Anyone Who Had A Heart