Two masters

Sinatra-Jobim.  Self-explanatory.

All hail the electric violin

"When I Was Young" by Eric Burdon and the Animals remains one of the most disturbing songs in rock 'n' roll history, with its thundering fuzz intro and the wailing electric violin of John Weider. It demands to be played loudly. Mr. Burdon's transformation from blues shouter to psychedelic shaman was shocking even at the time, but the New Animals he had put together for the trip were a stunning musical outfit.

While they produced at least three major hits with "San Franciscan Nights," "Monterey" and "Sky Pilot" and three highly eclectic albums, nothing Mr. Burdon and the New Animals recorded matched the power of the band's debut single. From the moment I heard "When I Was Young" on AM radio, I was forever a fan of the electric violin.

Mr. Weider, of course, went on to the legendary English band Family, taking the place of bassist/violinist Ric Grech who had joined Blind Faith.

Next on the scene was perhaps the most famous rock violin song of all, "White Bird" by San Francisco late bloomers It's A Beautiful Day. Violinist David LaFlamme built his entire career on that one song, which is all most people have ever heard of his band. Unlike the sonic blast of the Animals' song, "White Bird" took the listener aloft, hypnotically swooping and soaring for several minutes. The song from the moment of its release has been a '60s standard.

Unfortunately for the members of It's A Beautiful Day, the unforgettable character of their first song also eclipsed several other strong entries in their catalog, including the rocket-ride instrumental "Don and Dewey" that opened their second album.

The English version of It's A Beautiful Day, if you will, was the remarkable folk-rock unit Curved Air which debuted in 1970. This time the electric violin was in the capable hands of Darryl Way, and his tour de force was entitled "Vivaldi" after the master violinist of nearly three centuries earlier.

Like Mr. LaFlamme's work with It's A Beautiful Day, Mr. Way's contribution to Curved Air was omnipresent and equally hypnotic, especially with lead singer Sonja Kristina's gypsy-like vocals (no parallel to Stevie Nicks intended). The band's first three albums are indispensible for any fan of the era's music.

Of course, there are countless other examples from the period, especially when one factors in the rise of country rock. Even blues perennial John Mayall drew on the talents of the fantastic Sugarcane Harris to put a little electric violin in his sound, and it was around that time that Jimmy Page started drawing a bow across his electric guitar for extraordinary results.

Now if you'll excuse me, it's time to cue up "When I Was Young" one more time. A little more volume, please.

 

 

A party that stands for nothing

Official Republican shock at the loss this week of one of the party's safest House seats is amusing at best. Are these political professionals so removed from reality that they don't realize the Republican imprimatur is the kiss of death across the country? Maybe they need to talk to a few more people beyond the Beltway that aren't on their payrolls.

This was in Mississippi, too, which actually has one of the most effective Republican leaders around in Gov. Haley Barbour. His handling of the aftermath of Katrina versus that of officialdom in Louisiana is a lesson in good governance.

We're not even talking about the desert that George W. Bush has made of the conservative movement. It's painful to watch so-called conservative leaders clinging to the last vestiges of the Bush presidency and perhaps even more so witnessing their growing allegiance to John McCain's candidacy. When that nomination is settled in Minneapolis-St. Paul this summer, it will effectively mark the end of the Reagan Revolution once and for all.

Mr. McCain is now courting liberals and independents with a distinctly soft-left message, so his nomination also will further blur the distinctions between Republicans and Democrats. With the two parties then virtually identical in their positions, except perhaps for the GOP's continued endorsement of the Iraq war, the contest will boil down to which one has the most attractive candidate, and that's Barack Obama hands-down.

Peggy Noonan puts it beautifully in today's Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Bush has squandered the hard-built paternity of 40 years. But so has the party, and so have its leaders. If they had pushed away for serious reasons, they could have separated the party's fortunes from the president's. This would have left a painfully broken party, but they wouldn't be left with a ruined "brand," as they all say, speaking the language of marketing. And they speak that language because they are marketers, not thinkers. Not serious about policy. Not serious about ideas. And not serious about leadership, only followership.

Sad but true.

Cut out the middleman

The modern American political "debate" is a predictable affair. Telegraphed questions, pre-planned answers, practiced one-liners and occasionally a glimpse of something that matters. These days the quick answer is to blame the moderator(s). Remember the Des Moines Register editor who never asked the Republican contenders about illegal immigration just days before the Iowa caucuses, even though polls showed it consistently as one of the most important issues to voters.

But it isn't just the moderators: They're bit players really.  It's the process of politics as practiced today -- scripted most of the way. 

No Lincoln-Douglas debates; no Clay, Calhoun and Webster bashing out the slavery issue in real time on the floor of the Senate.

Something historic may be at hand, with the report that Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain are considering  "holding joint forums or unmoderated debates across the country in front of voters through the summer." You mean, one-on-one -- talking about what they think is important rather than just responding? The ability to challenge or at least politely question each other?

Call me naive, but this idea offers real possibilities. Now let's see if the candidates (and, more importantly, their handlers) follow through on it. May the best man win.

 

The movie you haven't seen yet

Reading through the lists of new films coming for the summer season in The New York Times and elsewhere, it's the usual fare of gross-out comedies, cheesy remakes, widescreen comic book recreations and sordid downer flicks. U.S. "war crimes" get prominent billing in "Battle for Haditha" and "Standard Operating Procedure."

Kevin Costner is coming with the politically timely "Swing Vote," about an apathetic loser who finds himself the lone voter who will decide whether the Republican or Democratic presidential candidate wins the election. Expect a twist ending since failure to throw it to the Democrat (even as played by Dennis Hopper -- can't clean that boy up) is sure to be a killer with the critics. 

One can't help but wonder how a widescreen film about battle action in Iraq with clean-cut American men and women beating back the bad guys -- and no politics on display -- would fare. Big screen thrills, sincere emotions, GIs playing with happy local kids, good guys winning although they lose a few comrades along the way, even an Al Qaeda operative or two as the real heavies. Imagine a film that makes you proud to be an American and proud of what this country stands for.

My guess is it would be a box office bonanza if made by some talented action director like Ridley Scott ("Black Hawk Down" is a good prototype) or the director of the last James Bond film, "Casino Royale."

Of course, no self-respecting Hollywood director who wants to keep his career is going to touch that film -- without at least a hint of Bush-bashing and a heavy dose of moral ambivalence -- and you know the critics will hate it.

But can you imagine the impact a blockbuster movie like that might have on the American psyche, giving us all a sense of the tough job our fine military is doing, slowly, steadily winning a war that many said was unwinnable? You know what I'm talking about, the kind of movie Hollywood made during World War II.