Fran Coombs

Battle of the bands

2011-11-04T19:36:00.009-04:00

The '60s reunion shootout of all time -- The (Young) Rascals vs. Buffalo Springfield.

42 Years Ago Today

2011-10-24T18:34:00.006-04:00

Last year, actually. On October 23, 2010, the three front men of Buffalo Springfield - Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and Neil Young - reunited for the first time since 1968. I can think of few 1960s reunions more historic unless John and Paul could magically walk on stage one more time.

OK, we're talking three men in their late 60s singing songs loaded with harmonies. But how sweet it is. Go listen for yourself. It'll take a few years off your soul.

Wanted: New Drummer for the Beatles

2011-10-19T10:23:00.019-04:00

It's not often these days that a new piece of Beatles history emerges. But according to a BBC news report, an August 12, 1960 letter handwritten by Paul McCartney offering an audition to an unknown drummer has now turned up. The letter was "discovered inside a book by an anonymous collector at a car boot sale in Bootle, Liverpool."

Pete Best was the band's drummer at the time, and he wasn't officially sacked and replaced by Ringo Starr until two years later. History records that Best was fired at the demand of George Martin, the Parlophone producer who proved to be the Beatles' entry into the

bigtime. This is the first indication that the band was looking to replace Best much earlier. The drummer in question has not been identified. The letter has been authenticated, and Christie's expects it to sell for as much as $14,000 in an auction next month.

The Kinks' Missing Chapter

2011-10-14T17:41:00.053-04:00

Most Kinks fans consider the period from "Face to Face" through "Something Else," "The Village Green Preservation Society" and "Arthur, or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire" (1966-'69) as the band's peak creative moment. Yet, coincidentally, because of a spat with the American Federation of Musicians, the Kinks were effectively banned from playing live in the United States during that same period. So unlike the Beatles - and XTC further down the road - who pulled themselves off the road at their creative peak, the Kinks were forced off the road by a union dispute in the United States.

In October/November 1969, they returned to these shores with a vengeance, playing a four-city tour of the Fillmore East in New York City, the Kinetic Playground in Chicago, the Whiskey-a-Go-Go in LA and the Fillmore West in San Francisco. Thanks to the first-rate music blogsite BB Chronicles, I was recently able to

download a recording of the Kinks' November 27, 1969 performance at the Fillmore West. What a revelation.

These guys were ready to challenge the Rolling Stones and the Who on their own turf. I have never heard Dave Davies play such incendiary guitar. "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains" and "Love Me Till The Sun Shines" are guitar tours-de-force. How about quick dirty versions of "Mr. Churchill Says" and "Big Sky"? Or the medleys - "Milk Cow Blues/See My Friends/Tired of Waiting for You/Brainwashed" and "A Well-Respected Man/Death of a Clown/Dandy"? The hits, too, of course. But "Louie, Louie"?

Ray is totally in control and sounds so young. Most importantly, this recording illustrates that the Kinks in 1969 really weren't just Ray's band; they were the Davies brothers' band.

The group that was toning it down and turning up the IQ level in the studio was still a down-and-dirty Muswell Hill pub band at heart. Hearing this performance brought me a lot closer to the point where "You Really Got Me" became "Sunny Afternoon." God save the Kinks.

The Party of No

2011-07-28T18:43:00.006-04:00

Remember, in the last Congress, when Republicans were demonized by the White House, congressional Democrats and friendly media as the Party of No for rejecting the stimulus, the bailouts and nationalized health care. Now, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama warn that the House Republicans' debt ceiling plan - heavy on spending cuts and driven by the dreaded Tea Party - is dead on arrival. Who's saying "no" now?

When Are the Beach Boys Not the Beach Boys?

2011-06-01T18:52:00.031-04:00

I've started reading Domenic Priore's book, "Smile, The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece," and have already come across two surprising (to me) claims that really downplay the contributions of the other guys in the band.

First, Priore, a recognized authority on the group, notes that the

"Surfer Girl" album was the first one where Brian resorted to the services of studio musicians, but then he adds this gem: "One of the hidden tricks of this hit-laden disc is the presence of The Survivors on many of the vocal parts that would have been sung by the Beach Boys, had they not been on the road." That was news to me: The Beach Boys didn't actually sing "many of the vocal parts" on the "Surfer Girl" album? They were sung instead by the Survivors, a Brian side group that included himself, his buddy Bob Norberg and two other guys named Rich Arlarian and Dave Nowlen.

Second, and more compelling, was his explanation of why "Pet Sounds" really is a Brian Wilson solo album. Other than the group performance on "Sloop John B," which was actually recorded during the "Summer Days (and Summer Nights)" sessions and is viewed by many as the odd song out on "Pet Sounds," Priore says only eight individual vocal parts by Carl, Mike, Al and Bruce appear on the Beach Boys' most famous release. Dennis, he adds, "is inaudible, if there at all."

Those individual contributions? "Carl sings lead on "God Only Knows" while Bruce sings a backing part; Al and Mike each take a line on "I Know There's An Answer," and although Brian lays down the strong guide vocal that carries each tune, he overdubbed a lead part by Mike over his own voice on both "Here Today" and "That's Not Me." ... Love also contributes the middle-eight bars of "Wouldn't It Be Nice," with Carl a backing voice, and that adds up to eight vocal bits that weren't sung by Brian."

Admittedly, that's three lead vocals not done by Brian, but still one has to wonder: When is a Beach Boys album not really a Beach Boys album? When it's "Pet Sounds" apparently.

In Praise of an Older Technology

2011-05-18T10:31:00.018-04:00

Shaving Patsy Cline's 45 single "Cry" down to a thread to put on a spool. A turntable activated to start as you approach it with a full-sized bird putting its beak down to play the spinning vinyl. A series of album covers done over a 25-year period by an African-American amateur artist who never recorded a second of actual music.

If any or all of this sounds totally off-the-wall - and bizarrely intriguing, welcome to a new exhibit called "The Record - Contemporary Art and Vinyl" at Boston's wat erside I n stitute of Contemporary Arts. A dazzling exhibit and a beautiful exhibit space, don't miss either of them.

As a sideshow, the museum had five turntables set up, with headphones. Next to each was a collection of 20 or so albums chosen by the artists on display in the exhibit. A very nice mix of sounds. I listened to the first couple songs on the Beach Boys' original mono Little Deuce Couple album, looking out on a gray sea. When I asked the young museum guide in the room if the turntables were playable, he said, "Absolutely. We have them here because a lot of the young people who come here have never seen an actual record, much less played one."

This exhibit is traveling nationally, so catch it if you can.

The Name's Barry ... John Barry

2011-02-09T17:56:00.050-05:00

They're laying a giant to rest. British composer John Barry died on January 30. He was 77. Known primarily for creating the James Bond musical sound ("Goldfinger," anyone?), he went on to write the steamy soundtrack for "Body Heat" and beautiful, elegiac (and Oscar-winning) scores for "Out of Africa" and "Dances With Wolves." Along the way, he wrote three musicals, including one with the immortal Alan Jay Lerner based on Nabokov's "Lolita."

A U.K. contemporary of Burt Bacharach's, Barry exploited the possibilties of the studio from the day he walked in one. The trumpet-playing leader of his own jazz-pop-rock combo The John Barry Seven from 1957 on, he was writing and recording regularly, and the cinematic bent of his work was evident early on. His 1961 LP, "Stringbeat," is highly recommended. Barry also teamed up with teen idol Adam Faith and others like him for a series of British Top 40 hits in the years just before the Beatles changed the landscape. Barry's trademark sound was pizzicato strings (that's what they sound like) and the twangy guitar of Vic Flick, Britain's answer to Duane Eddy. It was Flick who drove Barry's arrangement of the James Bond Theme into music history.

Barry had suffered health problems in recent years and hadn't written a film score since "Enigma" in 2001. He worked sporadically on a musical version of Grah a m Greene's "Brighton Rock." There's no doubt that his work evolved from the electic fare of the '60s - the Bond films, "The Knack," "The Ipcress File" and "The Wrong Box" - to majestic and much simpler scores from the '80s on. But then this is the man who won Oscars in a three-year period for scores as different as "Born Free" and "The Lion in Winter." And then did "Midnight Cowboy" next.

If you're interested, dip into this list: "Beat Girl" (1959), "From Russia With Love" (1963), "The Knack" (1965), "The Wrong Box" (1966), "You Only Live Twice" (1967), "Robin and Marian" (1976), "Body Heat" (1981), "Hammett" (1982), "Out of Africa" (1985) and "Playing by Heart" (1998).

Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

2010-12-27T19:01:00.025-05:00

One of the great musical fantasies is to wonder what kind of music Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis would have produced if those legendary sessions had ever come to pass. But for many Davis fans (and probably a lot of Hendrix fans) those sessions did happen - when Pete Cosey played lead guitar with Miles.

Their greatest triumph, of course, is the released-only-in-Japan live set, "Agharta ," in 1975. Miles is at his Bitches Brew-best, and Cosey is incendiary. The opening track, "Prelude," has the most out of control guitar solo I have ever heard in my life, and I mean that in the most positive way. It's the kind of playing that immortalizes you forever. Like Page's break on "Stairway to Heaven" or Hendrix on Side Three of "Electric Ladyland."

Then, for sheer elegance, check Cosey on "He Loved Him Madly," Miles' 30-minute-plus tribute to Duke Ellington from 1974. A real electric Satin Doll. Insistent, gorgeous, Cosey's got it under control - but just barely.

Some surely think that Miles' greatest electric work was with John McLaughlin, but for my money Pete Cosey is the man. He's one of the great unsung heroes of rock 'n' roll. Like one of those guys who really did it, but other guys got credit for it.

Celebrating Tin Pan Alley

2010-11-06T12:50:00.014-04:00

With Brian Wilson prompting a Gershwin renaissance in my listening habits of late, I reread Wilfred Sheed's delightful book, "The House That George Built: With a Little Help from Irving, Cole and a Crew of About Fifty." Just like the first time, I found the introduction tedious and overwrought and (again) felt like putting the book down. Thank goodness I didn't, for the riches beyond are immeasurable.

Once the reader adjusts to Sheed's breezy, smart-alecky style, the book is chock-full of insights about Gershwin, Porter, Berlin, Kern, Rodgers and the other great pre-rock American songwriters of the last century. Especially delightful to this reader is the chapter on James Van Heusen, as critical an element as arranger Nelson Riddle to Frank Sinatra's '50s masterworks, and how the microphone and radio influenced their sound.

Sheed's done a lot of thinking while he's been listening over the years, and it shows. Also, as Keith Richards notes in his newly released autobiography, "Good records just get better with age."

Mike Love, Part 2

2010-10-22T18:30:00.006-04:00

Lest you need more convincing, Mike Love was at Rishikesh with the Beatles, Donovan and Mia Farrow. Brian wasn't.

And how many other musicians of the time had the Beatles write and perform a song about them? "Happy Birthday, Michael Love."

All you need is Love, indeed. J'ai guru dev.

It's All Right, Jack

2010-10-06T16:06:00.021-04:00

I've never considered myself a Jack Kerouac fan. I've read "On The Road" and "The Dharma Bums" (the latter while hitchhiking through Mexico, of course), but that's almost required reading for anyone who claims to be an American. A recent trip to Kerouac's hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts (and his final resting place) gave me a little greater appreciation of the man, however.

Kudos first of all to Lowell, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the National Park Service for preserving Kerouac's legacy and providing a helpful map of historic points connected with his life.

Despite the unusually hot weather, it was a fascinating experience chasing Jack's ghost around town in the shadows of the enormous mills that were Lowell's lifeblood for a hundred years. Of course, this was the time in Kerouac's life when he was the local high school hero who scored the winning touchdown on Thanksgiving Day against a local rival. He returned to Lowell in his later years when he was drinking his life away and was buried here after he died in Florida. In between, he ran with Ginsberg, Burroughs and company and wrote himself into history.

But Kerouac's first major book, "The Town and the City," published in 1950, was largely autobiographical and is generally derided by critics as not up to the standards of his later, better-known works. Caught up as I was in all things Lowell, I searched it out. What a tremendous read. The story of the Martin (AKA Kerouac) family from the mid-1930s to just after World War II, it's beautifully written and an absolutely haunting study of one family struggling, often unsuccessfully, to survive the pressures of the modern world. Sure, it's overwritten at times, but it's also wonderfully unselfconscious in the way only a first-time writer can be. He wasn't writing for the ages - yet. This is a powerful, heartfelt narrative, not stream-of-consciousness rambling up from the bottom of a bottle. The book's closing pages, with the family gathered for a funeral, is powerful stuff indeed.

Give it a read. You won't regret it, even if "On The Road" isn't your cup of tea. "The Town and the City" - by an author still known then as John Kerouac - is a literary classic from a time when America was still capable of producing one.

The Word Is Love

2010-07-10T11:52:00.024-04:00

Let me rise to the defense of Mike Love. Poor Mike was and is a huge part of the Beach Boys' history, and yet he's routinely been treated like dirt for years by fans and critics. Not fair.

Sure, the guy's notoriously hard-nosed and pushy. But he also wrote the lyrics for some of the band's greatest songs, which, by the way, are some of the best songs America produced in the second half of the 20th Century. Any guy who wrote the words to "The Warmth of the Sun" deserves a little respect, don't you think?

Let's not forget his lead vocals on "Surfin' USA," "I Get Around," California Girls" and, most notably, "Fun, Fun, Fun," either. Just for starters. Face it, Mike was a key player in the vocals department.

Brian Wilson was the genius of the Beach Boys, but it's ponderable how far the band would have gone professionally without Mike's drive and ego. He was definitely the number two figure in the group, and when Brian bailed on live performances, it was Mike who kept them going in concert. He's still keeping them going, in fact. Plus all great bands need creative tension: Lennon vs. McCartney, Jagger vs. Richards, McGuinn vs. Crosby, the list goes on and on. Brian was consistently better when he had to fight back against Mike - and against his Dad - than he has been since everyone started kissing his feet.

Okay, Mike had reservations about some of "Pet Sounds" and all of "Smile," but so did lots of folks at the time. Yeah, he didn't want Brian to derail the gravy train with Van Dyke Parks' weirdness, but very few people like to kill a good thing. Brian also wasn't exactly the most stable, reassuring person to build your future around at that time either. Ask Marilyn. It's awfully safe years after the fact for critics to look down their noses at Mike, but if critics had one-tenth of his talent, they'd have their own bands and not be critics.

In short, Mike Love has become a convenient punching bag, much the way Paul McCartney has had to fight the critics' love affair with John Lennon for years when any objective reading of the Beatles' history is clear that the Cute One was the brains behind the operation.

Mike wasn't the McCartney of the Beach Boys, but he was a lot more than a go-fer for the great Brian Wilson. Come on, people, give the man his due.

Alexander The Great

2010-03-11T17:39:00.029-05:00

Put Skippy Spence in the All-Wacked-Out Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where he joins Brian Wilson, Peter Green, Syd Barrett, Sly Stone, Rocky Erickson and others, who discovered that indeed too much LSD can be too much of a good thing.

After a brief, curious stint as the first drummer for the Jefferson Airplane, Spence became the lightning rod of the late, lamented Moby Grape, arguably the greatest American rock 'n' roll band of the '60s that never made it. [I'd vote the Pretty Things that honor on the other side of the Pond.] A more powerful version of the Buffalo Springfield, the Grape combined great singing, great writing and great playing (especially with three lead guitars) into one s--t-hot cauldron of San Francisco R 'n' R. Their dedicated legion of fans (can you tell I'm one?) grab up every little morsel they can find.

On the sessions for their second album, which had been moved to New York to get them away from the drugs and babes in California, the Grape proceeded to record a series of legendary tracks while Spence began his long descent into drug-induced psychosis. This slow ride was highlighted by his attempt to end an argument with another band member by hacking through a door with a fire axe (here's Johnny?).

After being committed to Bellevue Hospital for six months, Spence jumped on a motorcycle in the dead of winter and went to Nashville where he spent a day recording his one and only solo album, Oar, second to none in spaciness and odd beauty. It sold a handful of copies at the time (1969) but has since taken up permanent residency on the Top 20 lists of most major rock critics. It's not for the easily entertained, but it's a gem.

From there, Spence drifted into homelessness and was even interviewed in a park in San Jose, I believe, where he was living in a cardboard box. He only very tangentially had anything to do with the band's reunion efforts but did record a song, Land of the Sun, for The X-Files movie, which typically was so weird they didn't use it in the film. He died of lung cancer about 10 years ago.

Sundazed Music recently released a Spence demo of "Just Like Gene Autry: A Foxtrot," which Moby Grape thoughtfully recorded at 78 rpm for the "Wow" album, making it a bit more difficult to play in a world when most turntables no longer play at that speed. Play that cut, and listen to that manic laughter. You'll understand why this guy was perfect for the '60s but doomed in terms of the real world.

God bless Alexander "Skip" Spence. He left a lot of joy in his troubled wake.

Putting an end to Camelot

2010-01-25T07:11:00.005-05:00

Did Scott Brown’s election to Teddy Kennedy’s Senate seat finally break the spell?

A Night to Remember

2009-12-06T07:42:00.033-05:00

Jimmy Webb has written some of the most memorable songs of my generation, including "Up, Up and Away," "By The Time I Get to Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman," "Galveston," "MacArthur Park," "Didn't We," "All I Know," "Crying In My Sleep," "The Highwayman" and many, many others. He's written, arranged and produced heart-wrenchingly gorgeous albums like Richard Harris' "A Tramp Shining," the Fifth Dimension's "The Magic Garden," "Reunion" with Glen Campbell in 1974 and Art Garfunkel's "Watermark," along with less-memorable records by Cher, the Supremes minus Diana Ross and others.

But Webb's also chafed for years at not being able to stand alone as a performer, an interpreter of his own songs. Despite the release of solo albums sporadically since 1970 and live shows every now and then, his gangly, aw-shucks persona has never translated successfully into widespread commercial acceptance.

Webb has continued to write very beautiful material over the years - songs like "Adios," done memorably by Linda Ronstadt with vocal backings by Brian Wilson, "Lightning in a Bottle," a little-known release by Campbell in 1988, and "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress," covered by Joe Cocker, Michael Feinstein and others. Like many who came of age in the mid- to late 1960s, however, he is forever branded by his earliest material. Undoubtedly, his bank account is quite satisfying, but his artistic side has gone begging.

Which brings us to last night and a small theater out in the middle of nowhere in southern New Jersey where Webb and a beat-up old grand piano captivated a couple hundred people for nearly two hours. Sitting in rows of equally old, beat-up church pews, no less. At 25 bucks a ticket. Now Jimmy Webb is 63-years old, wearing a nicely tailored double-breasted suit with an eye-catching Art Deco tie. Tall and slightly pudgy, like many of us, he's clearly comfortable in his skin, determined to show himself as the keeper of the flame of the Great American Songbook. No band, no back-up singers, just the boy from Oklahoma, the son of a Baptist minister, who is following in the footsteps of Berlin, Porter, Gershwin, Rodgers, Arlen and Kern. And you know, he's got something there.

Webb's voice, at times over the years a strangled, off-key vehicle at best, has weathered nicely, and the man has lived quite a life. He spun delightful tales of his collaborators like Waylon Jennings, Frank Sinatra, Ronstadt, Harris, Campbell and others, along with a devastating putdown of what the Grammys have become (he's won, so he's entitled). Each story elicted a laugh before he began performing the song most closely identified with that artist. The exception was Ronstadt, whom he explained he had recently recorded a duet of "All I Know" with, noting that she had just announced her retirement for unexplained medical reasons. An obviously very-moved Webb said, "I'll try to get through this," and then sang and played it beautifully. The song will be on an album coming out soon, he said.

It was the kind of intimate evening that fans live for. Telling us that against his better judgment he'd let his doctor talk him into getting a flu shot, Webb complained that now he was sick for the first time in a couple years and begged forgivness for his vocal limitations. But he seemed in fine form all evening, and the upshot is we all had to kick in to hit the vocal highs of the chorus of "Up, Up and Away." It wasn't a hard sell: We all bellowed along enthusiastically. Webb stuck to the classics for most of the show, but kicking off with a story about how he and drummer Russ Kunkel basically grossed out the prissy, proper Ronstadt, he did a wonderfully funny obscurity from his enormous catalog entitled, "What Does A Woman See In A Man." Indeed.

In recent years, Webb has been honing his live act in England where he has an enthusiastic following. (Why do the British always have more sophisticated musical tastes than we do?) To get a flavor of the show we saw, I highly recommend "Live and At Large," a CD of Webb performing in the UK. He has a deep catalog of stories as well since only one on the CD was repeated at Saturday night's show. "Ten Easy Pieces" is the CD for those who want to hear Webb sing and play his classics in a studio setting.

Someone who's written what Webb's written isn't doing gigs for money. He even mentioned at one point that he had driven to the show through the snowstorm just like we did and didn't seem to have any handlers with him. Although clearly tired from his performance, he was very generous with his time afterwards, staying around to sign things and just talk with the fans. A class act all the way. Although last night's show is only one of three he has scheduled so far this year, I suspect this may be a warm-up for a larger tour in conjunction with "Just Across The River," the new album that will include the Ronstadt duet.

For those who treasure watching the creative spark right from the source, go see Jimmy Webb if he comes to town. The stories are great, the singer reaches down deep, and the songs are timeless. Oh, and did I mention? He's a helluva piano player.

Don't make me laugh

2009-10-22T15:57:00.007-04:00

The Politico piece today about the GOP and conservatives is laughable. Good for Mike Pence for standing up and saying so.

The whole premise of the piece is that national Republican leaders are embarrassed by Beck, Limbaugh and the Tea Partyers. Quoting, of course, David Brooks, Bob Michel, people like that. As if the national GOP was leading anybody anywhere. Funny how the folks in Washington always think they're calling the shots for the rest of us.

As a new Rasmussen poll shows today (73% of GOP voters say their reps in Congress don't represent the base), it's the grass-roots that are driving the train now. They're as sick of the Republicans as they are of the Democrats. If the Republicans want to get elected, they need to get on board. Not vice versa.

Happiness Did Not Write The White Album

2009-10-13T08:04:00.009-04:00

Some thoughts on the Beatles after listening to the mono box all the way through. Pardon me if I state the obvious, but just let me spit it out.

There are really two Beatles: John's Beatles, up through and including Revolver (although Rubber Soul and Revolver are really transitional albums as John gets more and more out of it on drugs), and Paul's Beatles from Sgt. Pepper's to The End (literally).

Paul and, to only a slightly lesser extent, George Martin were always the motor of the Beatles. But John, even as he slipped into a heroin daze during the White Album, was still capable of moments of genius. It's essential to note, however, that it was Paul who, more often than not, elevated John's simple (but brilliant, don't misunderstand me) songwriting with his arrangements and instrumental prowess. It's also important to note that Paul got better and better at his craft over the course of the Beatles; John didn't.

If you don't believe me, look at their solo careers. John's solo material is always very straight-forward guitar-based stuff, very similar arrangements throughout, and, to be honest, pretty bland as he moved through the '70s. While I like his contributions to the Double Fantasy record, I don't think anyone would say that it was particularly challenging. The critical establishment would have beaten McCartney to death if he had come out with "Beautiful Boy." In short, there was no Paul around to say, Hey, let me throw on this guitar solo or let's do the drums this way or how about running some backwards tape loops through the mix.

Not that Paul's solo material was blemish-free. No one is going to put "Morse Moose and the Grey Goose" on their Top 10 list (no one who's not institutionalized, that is), and we all can cite others. But then as the French essayist Henry de Montherlant famously said, "Happiness writes white." (In the interest of full disclosure, I knew the quote but had to Google the source of it.) Other than Linda, though, he always played with top musicians and had something interesting to say arrangement-wise. He didn't force his wife to center-stage either. (Bet no one rushed out to pick up Yoko's new CD.) We Macca fans also know that his lyrics are much better than the music press used to give him credit for.

But lest this come off as my usual slavish pro-McCartney harangue, let me ask you this: Can you imagine how powerful the Beatles would have been if John had been as with it and as competitive with Paul in 1968 and '69 as he was in, say, 1964? Maybe it's pointless to try to improve on the original. Still one can't help but wonder. ...

Was Bush right about Iraq?

2009-10-01T09:04:00.007-04:00

Interesting front-page story in The New York Times today about how Iraqis are reaching across religious lines for the first time to promote secular political parties in the upcoming elections.

So let me see if I have this straight: Saddam Hussein is gone, the biggest irritant in the Middle East, and six years later, we have free democratic elections involving secular parties in the heart of the world's most troubled region. Most of that trouble is due to factions of Islam that we have been told forever could never be reconciled. If those elections are successful, which seems highly likely, reform-minded Iranians are sure to take note and be even further emboldened, as will be reformers in other countries in the region.

Several thousand Americans died in the process, which is certainly heartbreaking for the families involved, but that's a calculated risk when you sign up for the military. Particularly in the wake of 9/11. The total number of casualties, meanwhile, is lower than virtually any other military action in U.S. history, and the payoff is that the Middle East has been forced into the 21st Century.

I won't hold my breath waiting for the flood of articles reassessing Bush's decision to invade Iraq.

Mono Masters from the '60s

2009-08-23T16:59:00.016-04:00

On 9/9/09, Apple is releasing the mono masters of the Beatles studio albums. A good friend asked me why I intended to buy them instead of the stereo remasters which most people will want. Mono vs. stereo, why indeed?

Most popular albums through roughly the end of 1967, especially in the U.K., were mono mixes. The stereo mixes were an afterthought because stereo systems were still a luxury and not commonplace in most homes. And, of course, there was the AM radio factor. Many UK stereo mixes of that era were horrible things with voices on one side and instruments on the other, very disconcerting to say the least.

U.S. stereo mixes were generally better even when they took a mono mix and tarted it up. The early Beatles albums in the U.S. come most notably to mind. However, beware of any record that says it is "electronically reprocessed for stereo."

So for every Beatles record up through and including Pepper and other classics like the first Buffalo Springfield album, the mono mix is the one the band was associated with and signed off on. The stereo version was thrown together in an afternoon. Check Mark Lewisohn's "The Beatles Recording Sessions," and you'll see that was the case. I also highly recommend Geoff Emerick's book, "Here, There and Everywhere," to get the chief recording engineer's perspective on the Beatles' sessions: It's the first new Beatles book in years that is worth reading - from the only person other than the lads themselves and George Martin who was actually in the room. Not counting Neil and Mal, of course, who weren't part of the recording process.

Those mono mixes are much richer and feature much more sophisticated instrument placement than many people realize. That said, there were some excellent stereo recordings coming out in the period, especially from the majors like Columbia and RCA. The Byrds and Airplane LPs sound great in stereo to this listener. But the first Spencer Davis album sounds much better in mono. Same goes for the early Animals and Hollies records. The Beach Boys albums through the end of the '60s should only be listened to in mono, although they've done good work on them in recent years. Even a record like the Buckinghams' first for Columbia with Don't You Care and Mercy Mercy Mercy is a joyful surprise in mono.

Anyway, yes, there are some major differences between the Beatles stereo and mono mixes. Ringo doesn't bark, "I got blisters on my fingers" on the mono mix, for example. The mono Pepper sounds noticeably different on several songs in terms of background vocals, extended laughter on Within You Without You, extra drum pattern in the Reprise, stuff a Beatles nut would notice because he/she knows the songs so well. But, that said, the stereo mixes IN THE U.S. were quite well done and are the ones most of us have known for 40 or more years.

So are the mono mixes worth buying? I have most of the early Beatles albums in mono already because I just had a cheap little non-stereo player at that early age, but, of course, I've picked up the stereo versions since then, both US and UK. But for me the mono mixes represent the records that the Beatles worked on themselves for release: That's the way they heard them in final fashion when they walked out of the studio. They're the first editions, if you will, as released to the British public. So I want them for that reason, if no other. I'm sure the forthcoming stereo remasters a la the Love CD will be spectacular, and I'm sure I'll ultimately buy them. But for now, closet Luddite that I am, I want to hear the Beatles in glorious EMI / Abbey Road mono.

Paul Plays D.C.

2009-08-05T18:18:00.031-04:00

Set list - Saturday, August 1, 2009

1. Drive My Car

2. Jet

3. Only Mama Knows

4. Flaming Pie

5. Got To Get You Into My Life

6. Let Me Roll It / Foxy Lady

7. Highway (from Electric Arguments)

8. The Long And Winding Road

9. My Love

10. Blackbird

11. Here Today

12. Dance Tonight

13. Calico Skies

14. Michelle - dedicated to the First Lady

15. Mrs. Vanderbilt

16. Eleanor Rigby

17. Sing The Changes (from Electric Arguments)

18. Band On The Run

19. Back in the USSR

20. I'm Down

21. Something

22. I've Got A Feeling

23. Paperback Writer

24. A Day in the Life / Give Peace A Chance

25. Let It Be

26. Live and Let Die

27. Hey Jude

1st encore

28. Day Tripper

29. Lady Madonna

30. I Saw Her Standing There

2nd encore

31. Yesterday

32. Helter Skelter

33. Get Back

34. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise) / The End

Beautiful evening, packed house, our 20-year-old daughter Molly was there, too. She went with a friend who got $50 nosebleed seats and said afterwards it was "the most fantastic show I've ever seen." Her friend agreed; they were as much or more enthusiastic as Marian and me.

20 to 30 minutes of a Macca mix from Twin Freaks and more before the show, driving techno sound with vocal lines surging out of the mix from Temporary Secretary, Silly Love Songs, Live and Let Die and Say Say Say (with the late King of Pop). The stage was framed by two long thin video screens - tall and narrow. When the mix kicked on, a film of Beatles/Wings/Macca memorabilia began running on the screen, moving from bottom to top - some live video - but mostly stuff like old scenic postcards from Liverpool, famous photos, Beatles buttons.

The show was relentless from the start, began a little after nine and lasted until midnight. He started off wearing a gray uniform Nehru jacket but stripped it off three or four songs in, saying, "OK, that's the wardrobe change." Rest of the show he had on a white shirt and dark pants, with thin red suspenders. We were cool, but the stage was obviously hot. His shirt was pretty soaked after only a few songs.

The playlist speaks for itself. Some very nice additions - Day Tripper was stunning, Mrs. Vanderbilt with its "ho-hey-ho" chorus had the stadium rocking, Sing The Changes is really exhilirating - and propulsive - in a way that doesn't come across on The Fireman album. And to hear Paul McCartney LIVE singing, "Woke up, gotta out of bed, dragged a comb across my head" was worth the price of admission alone. Then we all got to sing Give Peace A Chance. Good acoustics, clean sound, but I definitely had "cotton" in my ears when we left.

The band seemed a lot "rockier" to me than in the past. Marian commented on the same thing. There was a harder edge to a lot of the songs (e.g, the Foxy Lady coda and a similar sped-up extension to I've Got A Feeling). Paul didn't seem to play piano as much as in the previous two shows we've seen, although he certianly did a number of piano songs. That may be my imagination, but it just seemed the band was more guitar-driven. Abe Laboriel, Jr., the drummer, is phenomenal, a real powerhouse in the traditional straight-ahead boom-boom sense.

Paul's voice was unbelievable. It could be that the abbreviated concert schedule with longer time off in between is intended to help his voice. Anyway, it seemed even better to me than in 2002. I was looking for the band to help him more with the vocals a la the Wondermints with Brian Wilson since I had suspected that The Fireman LP was a way to surround his weakening voice with a busier mix. But I was wrong: His voice was strong. Marian said he was showing it off, in fact. He was hitting high notes and woo-oos all evening. And for most of the numbers he was out front singing lead full bore with the band just singing counter lines and adding a little emphasis on the choruses. "Long and Winding Road" was a little deeper than we remember it, but the rest of them were almost miraculous. I'm Down AND Helter Skelter: The boy doesn't make it easy for himself.

He kept up good chatter with the audience and reminded us that the Beatles played their first concert in America here in Washington 45 YEARS AGO. After doing Here Today with its remember-John intro, he said, "And now to lift the mood from the nearly suicidal ..." and launched into Dance Tonight, playing mandolin, of course. He started Something on ukulele, but then when Rusty went into the guitar break, it became a big electric number. In 2002, it was a solo number, all on ukulele.

All in all, a peak night for Macca from this fan's perspective.

You can see photos and other perspectives here - http://www.macca-central.com/macca-news/morenews.php?id=3075

Goodbye, Old Friend

2009-07-06T20:35:00.006-04:00

I received the news today, oh boy. The transmission is shot on my 2001 Mercury Cougar. Damn, I love that car. But at 142,000 miles, it has given up the ghost. God bless you, little brother, you've served me well. Not the least of which was the seven-hour return trip from the wilds of western New York this past weekend, even as the transmission was failing. We made it home but just barely.

Unfortunately, I'm told I don't qualify for the latest congressional boondoggle known as the "Cash for Clunkers" program. I was hoping to get some of my hard-earned tax money back as a down payment, but my trade-in has too many miles on it. No bailout for this taxpayer.

It's funny how we come to love inanimate objects like a car. Many people give them pet names (that's one I don't indulge in), and most of us feel genuine emotion at the time of parting. Except, perhaps, if you're stepping up to the luxury car of your dreams.

Anyway, it looks like I'll never be sailing along again in high-speed splendor, moon roof open, CD player wailing, in that cherry red baby of mine. Now the Cougar joins the long list of cars that have come before it, and it's between the Lord and Ford what I'll drive next.

Something Better Beginning

2009-06-17T19:26:00.015-04:00

I'm looking forward with great anticipation to Ray Davies' new album, "The Kinks Choral Collection." Yes, the '60s most uniquely English artist is entering Benjamin Britten territory.

Is this Paul McCartney writing new classical works or Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull or Gary Brooker of Procol Harum wrapping an orchestra around the band's greatest hits? I'm banking on something more. After all, Ray Davies is not like everybody else.

Davies' fans were ecstatic in 2006 when he emerged with his first real solo album, "Other People's Lives." The accompanying tour was a thing of joy. But Davies for several years has had a fixation on getting to the soul of America, as he has done so masterfully with Great Britain. The problem is that Ray's a limey, and only Americans really understand America. Just as only Englishmen understand England. It's like expecting Dickens to write the ultimate American novel and Hemingway to reciprocate with the classic work of English fiction. Ain't gonna happen.

Now Davies is back home, working with the Crouch End Festival Chorus. Somehow I don't think it's just a dodge to capitalize on some old hits. We'll see. Is this the start of another heartbreaker or. ...?

No comparison

2009-05-20T07:24:00.004-04:00

So let me see if I have this straight: Congress in its infinite wisdom now says someone under 21 needs permission from a parent to get a credit card, but parental consent is not necessary if someone under 21 wants to get an abortion.

How We Listen

2009-04-16T17:25:00.011-04:00

This article comes highly recommended. Not because it's about the Grateful Dead (a band I respect, although I'm far from a Dead Head.) But don't let the subject scare you off either.

This is a fascinating look by Ben Ratliff at the layers of listening to any longtime band or artist. Or perhaps I should say the layers of how each of us listens to those artists.

Just buy the paper!

2009-04-01T08:48:00.004-04:00

Come on, people, does the government have to do everything for you? Now 37% of Americans say they support the government putting taxpayer money into failing newspapers to keep them going.

If that 37% would just buy a daily subscription to their local paper, the newspaper crisis would be over.

Begging for dollars

2009-03-30T13:54:00.010-04:00

God knows I love newspapers. Printed-on-paper newspapers. Dead-tree media, whatever you want to call them. But my former colleague Ken McIntyre is absolutely right about Senator Ben Cardin's newspaper bailout bill. It's amazing what things those folks in Washington can think up to spend other people's money on. I wonder if Cardin, not a poor man himself, is heavily investing in newspaper stocks to help the beleaguered industry right itself in the time-honored free market fashion. Bets, anyone?

I'm reminded of the quotation attributed to Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.” Whether the Great Lady said it or not, it's an apt sentiment.

As a Marylander though, I suppose I should be grateful for the sighting of Cardin. In the tradition of ex-Senator Paul Sarbanes, he's largely disappeared from view since the state Democratic machine awarded him a seat in the Senate (elections are merely a formality in our one-party state). Let me make it quite clear, however, that rumors of a milk carton with Cardin's picture on it are categorically not true. You can be sure he'll resurface anyway around election time for his rubber-stamped second term in the Senate.

Physician, heal thyself

2009-02-10T13:34:00.004-05:00

So Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Nutopia, wants to create a Truth Commission to investigate the Bush Administration.

How about a Truth Commission to investigate the multiple leaks Leahy made to The Washington Post and others as the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee during the Reagan years? This guy never met a secret he didn't want to betray in the name of political expediency and may well have cost the life of at least one covert agent because of his sneaky political ways. But you can be sure "Leahy the Leaker" has some self-righteous explanation for his behavior.

Ah, how quickly we forget, which is exactly what Leahy and his kind count on.

Defusing the Rahm Bomb

2009-01-29T07:32:00.004-05:00

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=30439

So thoughtful

2009-01-06T07:27:00.012-05:00

What a relief to hear that the incoming Obama Administration and its confederates in the Democratic-controlled Congress have decided to throw some tax cuts into the massive economic "recovery" plan that's headed our way. With everyone and his brother seeking a bailout now (gee, we didn't see that coming -- free money, anyone?), it's nice that a few crumbs are included for the people who are paying for all these handouts. Remember, too, that a tax "cut" is merely the government letting you keep more of your own money.

And what's the price tag for the federal government's plan to "rescue" us? I love this sentence from the New York Times today -- "(Senate Majority Leader Harry) Reid was talking about a bill of $800 billion to $1.2 trillion, while Mr. Obama's advisers estimated legislation at no more than $775 billion." Sounds like we'll need Senator Franken in there to break the tie.

Don't worry, though, it's not like the federal government is going to run out of money because the Fed chairman has promised us he'll print all we need.

So let me see if I have this straight: The government creates the problem (choose the culprit depending on your political persuasion - lack of regulation of fat cat contributors or loans for would-be voters who couldn't possibly repay them), and now that same government is going to bail us out. Only in brain-dead America.

Hold This Thought

2008-12-31T18:36:00.006-05:00

The 40-minute LP is the limit of man's attention span.

Make sure you listen to (in no particular order):

-- Brian Wilson, "That Lucky Old Sun"

-- Felix Cavaliere and Steve Cropper, "Nudge It Up A Notch"

-- Oasis, "Dig Out Your Soul"

-- Rodney Crowell, "Sex and Gasoline".

If you get a chance, read Robert Stone's wonderful appreciation of Dr. Albert Hofmann. This man inspired a lot of great music. God bless him.

A prophecy come to pass?

2008-10-28T11:52:00.024-04:00

Allen Drury was a reporter in the New York Times' Washington bureau who won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1960 for "Advise and Consent," still the greatest novel about the doings and undoings in Powertown USA. He was a passionate anti-Communist and highly critical of liberal group think long before Ronald Reagan made his presence known here. That in itself is a commentary on how far the New York Times has fallen over the years, although Drury left The Times after the success of "Advise and Consent."

In the last few days, I've been reading one of Drury's subsequent novels, "Anna Hastings," the story of the rise to power of a Washington newspaperwoman. Like its famous predecessor, the book is rich with the kind of detail about Washington that still rings true more than 30 years after he wrote it. Warning to Senator Obama: The more things change, the more they stay the same.

But given the increasing evidence of how the major media has largely sold its historic birthright to ensure Obama's election, it was startling to read this passage from Drury circa 1977:

"It is a different language: words do not mean the same. Partisanship, vindictiveness, personal antipathies, deliberate slanting, deliberate suppression of opposing viewpoints - censorship, in fact, though the word is vastly abhorred by those who practice it - all these now masquerade with a bland self-righteousness as honesty, lack of bias, fairness, compassion and objectivity.

"When challenged hard enough, those who argue this will eventually admit that perhaps these terms no longer apply; but, then they ask, why should they? What is the advantage of really being honest, unbiased, fair, compassionate and objective? Are not the times so evil that we of the media must be partisan, vindictive, personal, deliberately biased, deliberately censorious and suppressive of the other fellow's point of view? How else are we to defeat the monsters of our age?

"It is an argument ... that forms a perfect circle - a circle that is rolling the media inevitably toward destruction of the First Amendment and with it all those who so loudly claim its easy protections as they busily violate its honorable intentions. We think a monstrous reaction could come, from a people made so cynical and so hopeless by the media that not even the media itself will be able to withstand the withering wind, consuming all institutions of stability great or small, good or bad, that its members have unleashed."

A bit apocalyptic perhaps, but Drury was like that in his later works. Then I click on Drudge and see the latest plummeting newspaper circulation figures and read about the latest layoffs in the newspaper industry. Newspaper readers, it seems, have no loyalty anymore. The traditional TV network news programs are losing viewers too, as Americans opt for their favorite cable news networks and divide into warring camps. It seems we don't even share a love of country anymore and certainly not a common language. How far we've fallen since my father's generation.

Of course, the bias and cynicism of the news media aren't all to blame, but they deserve much of the "credit." What is truth, after all, if even news reporters don't report what they really see. Now, as Drury warned three decades ago, the bill's come due. Some say we have more media than ever, but I see chaos.

It's a bird, it's a plane ...

2008-10-22T12:34:00.009-04:00

It's SuperObama. Is there nothing this man can't do? Now actor Daniel Craig, out promoting the new James Bond movie, says Obama would make a better 007 than John McCain “because—if he’s true to his word—he’d be willing to quite literally look the enemy in the eye and go toe-to-toe with them."

So much for Joe Biden's worries that America's enemies will test Obama in his first six months in the White House. We've got 008 in Washington (Get it? Like Election Year 2008). John McCain, says Craig, "would probably be a better M [because there's] a kind of Judi Dench quality to McCain.”

From reading and watching much of the media, you wonder why we're even going through the formality of an election since everyone in America is going to vote for Obama. Why not just declare him president by popular acclamation?

After Election Day, those claiming to have voted for Obama will be as common as Baby Boomers who say they went to Woodstock. The first-ever mega-festival drew a huge crowd, but if every Boomer who has since claimed to have been there had actually gone, the entire Eastern Seaboard would have been a muddy, messy campground.

Unless, of course, Obama doesn't live up to his advance notices, which admittedly would be tough for anyone. Then look for a flood of "Don't blame me, I voted for McCain" bumperstickers and Oliver Stone's plans for a gutsy new movie, "O."

Welcome to the gulag

2008-10-17T07:49:00.010-04:00

A voter asks Barack Obama a question on a rope line and tells the candidate he doesn't like the answer he's hearing. John McCain picks up on his answer, and the voter -- now known universally as Joe the Plumber -- gets his 15 minutes of fame.

But wait. Now the vicious left with Obama's allies in the media are in overdrive to destroy the guy. Publishing his home address on the internet, poring over his business records, doing everything in their power to ruin him, his business and his life. Just because he asked a question of a political candidate. The KGB would be proud.

A businessman in a Washington, D.C. suburb dares to display his support for the McCain-Palin ticket and is instantly accused of disrespecting African-Americans because he is opposing Obama. He takes the sign down. Opposition will not be tolerated in the new America.

These are scary times, my friends. As usual, the voices of tolerance are the most intolerant, and they're emboldened because they know they're coming into power. These are the people who have imposed politically correct speech codes on campuses nationwide and periodically make a pass at restricting our constitutionally-guaranteed right of free speech, usually in the guise of hate crime laws. But they don't hesitate to viciously go after anyone they disagree with, posting anything online they can think of (just ask the Palin family) and circulating it as widely as they can. Then their friends in the used-to-be-respectable media pick it up as if it were gospel.

The internet gives distance and anonymity to many of these cowardly character assassins. In South Korea, these kind of postings have become such a problem that a number of recent high-profile suicides are attributed to it. Be prepared. Many of these people will stop at nothing to silence those who disagree with them.

Fear works

2008-10-13T06:52:00.005-04:00

Here are my current thoughts on the "financial meltdown."

Where's FDR?

2008-09-27T10:55:00.025-04:00

Where's Reagan when you need him, talking about that bright shining city on a hill?

Where's FDR, telling the American people they have nothing to fear but fear itself?

Where's JFK, asking us what we can do for our own country?

Where's Teddy Roosevelt, commanding the nation and the world at his bully pulpit?

Instead, as we face what we're being told is perhaps the worst financial crisis in U.S. history, we have a parade of gloomy Gusses, from President Bush through John McCain to the various front men (and women) in the U.S. Congress. Not even Barack Obama has risen to rhetorical heights of any kind.

Come on, people, you are our leaders -- or want to be. So lead. Inspire us, motivate us, make us feel good again about being Americans. Instead of tagging on at the end of your remarks, as Bush did the other night, that we're great, we're Americans, blah, blah, blah, come out swinging. Bush didn't even end his address with "God bless America."

The 24/7 media fans the flames to higher and higher intensity, throwing around words like "crisis" and "Great Depression" like so many leaves in the wind. Just as every whispering breeze is now another Hurricane Katrina, now every bounced check is a "financial meltdown." We are certainly faced with a very serious economic situation right now, but I, for one, would like to see a little more reasoned discussion and a little less rush to daylight.

Where is America's leader at this time of crisis? Stand up, Mr. President (or Mr. Wanna-Be President), and tell it to us straight: "Look, ladies and gentlemen, we're in a helluva financial mess, and now we have to clean it up. There'll be plenty of time later to point the finger, but let's get going. Americans have met plenty of challenges like this head-on, and we've always won. We'll win again. You can count on it -- because we're Americans. That's why people flock to this country from all over the world 'cause in America you're the master of your own fate. So now we need to work out a plan that we can all live with -- not too much government, but more than some of you will like. But a lot less than many of you want, too. Keep your faith in your bank, and pay your bills. We WILL prevail. God bless you and your families, and remain confident that God will continue to bless the United States of America."

I'm not sure if any of our major candidates could deliver that speech with a straight face. Too bad. I wonder what President Palin would say.

So this is what I'm listening to

2008-09-18T19:05:00.010-04:00

Lindsey Buckingham's Gift of Screws is a must listen in the days ahead, but I need to wade through some of my new vinyl and CDs first. I just ordered some movie soundtracks including the 3-CD re-recording of Miklos Rozsa's El Cid score.

Saw Paul Weller last Saturday night, Rodney Crowell next month with a small acoustic group, J.D. Souther the day before the election.

Weller was Winwood with guitars up front instead of keyboard. But he played keys, too. Wild. He came back for three encores. The last time to send us home, he sat down with his lead guitarist, they were both on acoustics, and the bass player came out and played cello. And they did was a four-minute acoustic version of All You Need Is Love, which we all sang lustily there -- and out into the night.

New vinyl -- Steve Miller's Journey to Eden, Antonio Carlos Jobim's Stoneflower, first Illinois Speed Press album, The Ship (folk record produced by Gary Usher), Odetta sings Dylan (first album of Dylan covers), Full Circle (the second and final album made by the remaining Doors after Morrison's death), the Alan Bown (1969 - a psychedelic melodic British horn band I like), the usual old stuff.

Best new CD - Sex and Gasoline, by the afore-mentioned Mr. Crowell. Tied for first: Brian Wilson's That Lucky Old Sun (first BW album with consistently adult lyrics since Pet Sounds).

Other new CDs that I am heavily into -- Felix Cavaliere and Steve Cropper (this one is red hot), Elvis' Fun in Acapulco, Dino Valente's solo album, Dick Farney (the Brazilian Sinatra), the usual old stuff.

Pride of Georgia

2008-08-13T15:39:00.016-04:00

No, we're not talking Ty Cobb here.

Thanks to longtime Washington writer Cynthia Grenier for pointing out that Gori, Georgia, under bombardment this week by the Russian military, is the birthplace of Joseph Stalin. For those who don't remember Papa Joe, he was the brutal Communist dictator of the Soviet Union from approximately 1924 until his mysterious death in 1953. Sad to say, he was much beloved by many "fellow travelers" in the United States and other Western nations, many of whom were unrepentant in their support of him until their own deaths.

The New York Times even won a Pulitzer Prize in 1932 for coverage out of Moscow sugarcoating Stalin's excesses, although both the Pulitzer people and the newspaper have finally distanced themselves from that one in the last five years. Never too late, I say.

Stalin was responsible for the deaths of anywhere between 10 million and 30 million of his own people, depending on which historian you choose to believe. I prefer to go with

20 million which is the number Robert Conquest, to my mind the most distinguished Stalin biographer, has arrived at.

It's clear that in the post-Communist Putin era Stalin's illustrious place in history has been forgotten. How quickly they forget.

Good lovin'

2008-08-11T19:29:00.014-04:00

Here's one out of the blue: Felix Cavaliere, the voice and genius behind The (Young) Rascals, is back at age 65. He has a new album out with Steve Cropper, the 66-year-old Memphis guitarist who co-wrote "In The Midnight Hour" and other gems -- and, perhaps more importantly, played sweet guitar on all of them, too. "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" anyone?

The CD is called "Nudge It Up A Notch," and if you're a person who still plays a vinyl record every now and then, the cover alone is worth the price. But this is killer stuff -- and it revives the long-defunct Stax label. Like "Lonely Too Long" and "People Just Got To Be Free"? Cue up "If It Wasn't for Loving You" or "Impossible," and you're time-traveling back to AM radio circa 1966-67.

In honor of the late great Isaac Hayes, grab Felix's and Steve's new CD -- and a copy of "Hot Buttered Soul" if they have one.

The Front Page

2008-08-03T12:41:00.024-04:00

Whenever I get a little sour on the newspaper industry, I watch one of my favorite films, "His Girl Friday," directed by Howard Hawks and starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Not only is it the greatest newspaper movie ever made, it is absolutely one of the funniest films period, thanks to the screenplay by Charles Lederer which leans heavily on the original play, "The Front Page" by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. For anyone who has worked in a newsroom, a really competitive newsroom, it's a dream come true.

Which, in fact, is what I have been doing for more than three decades now. Working in a competitive newsroom. Both as a reporter and an editor, I've done my best to feed that competition, too. For many of those years, I've gotten up virtually every morning and looked at "my" front page to compare it with my competitor's. Early in my career the bad guy was the Northern Virginia Daily in Strasburg, Virginia; until a few months ago it was The Washington Post. How did "we" do versus "them"?

Every morning when I was a news editor at The Washington Times I looked at my paper and logged on the Internet to look at the front-page images of The Post and the New York Times just to see what each of us thought the most important stories of the day were and how much weight we gave them. Our best days were the ones when we didn't have any page one stories in common with our competitors.

Primarily the competition was over breaking news stories, but having a news feature or analysis topic first on page one was nearly as satisfying. For the number two paper in town it was also good business strategy.

These days, though, I find myself looking at -- and comparing -- websites. How does any website I'm associated with stack up against its competitors? And the competition isn't just newspapers anymore. How much weight does the Drudge Report give a story versus how The Huffington Post plays it, as opposed to the New York Times and Human Events? Now newspapers, aware they're no longer the only "news" source in town, are scrambling to keep as big a piece of that market as they can.

For me the habit of a lifetime has changed as well. I'm not sure the change has sunk in quite yet, especially since a daily print newspaper is still part of my reading diet. But these days the competitive side of me checks the Internet first.

Hope for newspapers at last

2008-07-04T12:52:00.035-04:00

What better day than July 4 to celebrate the rich history of America's newspapers -- and the bright promise of the future. Say what? That's right: Let's talk about the exciting, positive days to come for U.S. newspapers.

While everywhere you turn it's doom and gloom in the nation's newsrooms, Peter Vandevanter and his colleagues at MediaNews Group in Denver are pursuing a fascinating possibility -- the so-called individuated newspaper, that is, a paper that is personalized to each and every user. From the Good Morning, Fran (or whatever your name is) on the front page to the story selection -- and the ads -- throughout. And it's a paper delivered to your doorstep or your computer or your printer or your cellphone or your Blackberry or whatever each morning -- and, at least as far as electronic delivery is concerned, updated throughout the day.

Sound impossible? Don't tell that to the attendees at the recent Second Annual Global Conference on the Individuated Newspaper. Vandevanter, who has long championed the idea, was the force behind the gathering, but cutting-edge attendees like Eduardo Hauser of DailyMe.com, Dan Pacheco of PrintCasting.com, Jeff Kline of Accrisoft, Gregor Dorsch and Michael Stangl of German software innovators Syntops, Richard Miller of NewspaperDirect and media consultant Bill Ostendorf will tell you that the future is now.

Other supporters include academic revolutionaries like Vin Crosbie of Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications and Randy Covington, director of Newsplex, a global newsroom of the future, and a journalism professor at the University of South Carolina.

The only real question in an industry hemorrhaging money is who will have the courage to do it first.

Dean Singleton, the CEO of MediaNews Group, sounded mighty interested. In his opening remarks to the conference, Singleton admitted that no one knows if the individuated newspaper is the absolute new model for newspapers, but he sure wasn't ruling it out. Just think, he said, "The publication will give readers exactly what they want combined with advertising about things they are interested in." Not bad, eh?

Okay, media types, let's get going. The future looks good, but we can't wait forever.

See the video.

It's all about me

2008-06-08T12:27:00.022-04:00

Other than perhaps the day in 1963 when he famously declared himself a jelly doughnut ("Ich bin ein Berliner"), President John F. Kennedy's most remembered quotation came in his inaugural address of Jan. 20, 1961, when he urged his fellow Americans: "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."

It was the kind of uplifting challenge that symbolized the opening of the anything-is-possible 1960s and rightfully has been in the history books and on the lips of many Americans ever since. Baby Boomers even like to believe we've practiced what he preached.

Now a new Camelot is at hand. Comparisons between JFK and Democratic presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama have been rife for months. Expect them to increase. Just today a photo caption in the New York Times describes Mrs. Obama's dress as having "a Camelot reference."

Mr. Obama's charisma and his sunny prescription of hope in a fairly dismal time are viewed through the lens of the aging Left and their don't-know-any-better younger allies as a reincarnation of the youthful Kennedy bringing an end to the dark ages of the Eisenhower presidency. Students of history realize, of course, that it was the triumph of style over substance, but that's another story.

What a difference 47 years make though. Now Mr. Obama and his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, will spend the next five months turning Mr. Kennedy's deathless quotation upside down, offering every kind of government prescription possible and then some. In the age of no-responsibility, the new mantra is, "Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what your country can do for you."

Doesn't ring quite as true, does it? Oh well, don't worry: No one's going to drop that line in a campaign speech this summer or fall.

Two masters

2008-05-24T19:38:00.003-04:00

Sinatra-Jobim. Self-explanatory.

All hail the electric violin

2008-05-19T12:07:00.021-04:00

"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

2008-05-16T08:23:00.017-04:00

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

2008-05-12T12:53:00.018-04:00

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

2008-05-04T09:19:00.012-04:00

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.

Why, tell me why?

2008-04-30T08:37:00.006-04:00

Back and forth, back and forth. Rev. Jeremiah Wright says; Sen. Barack Obama responds. Blah, blah, blah. If you're a political junkie, you've seen, heard and read it all by now.

I just have one question: What is Mr. Wright up to?

As columnist Bob Herbert put it very succinctly in The New York Times, "The question that cries out for an answer from Mr. Wright is why -- if he is so passionately committed to liberating and empowering blacks -- does he seem so insistent on wrecking the campaign of the only African-American ever to have had a legitimate shot at the presidency."

Clearly, this isn't helpful to Mr. Obama in the upcoming North Carolina primary -- unless you think that state's Republican Party is running a campaign highlighting the Wright-Obama connection for nothing.

But we haven't heard the end of Mr. Wright who clearly is relishing his moment in the national spotlight for which Republicans, in this screwiest of political years, should give great thanks.

Enough Katrina already

2008-04-25T17:04:00.007-04:00

Is it me, or do other people agree that we have done enough to help New Orleans recover from Hurricane Katrina? This is one natural disaster that just won't go away. How many more unaccounted billions of taxpayer dollars need to flow into the city before it's enough? The answer is as elusive as a cure for AIDS.

Now Republican presidential hopeful John McCain, in his continuing pander tour to traditional Democratic constituencies, is getting in the act. According to the senator from Arizona, the Bush administration blew it, and he'll make sure it never happens again. Talk about piling on. Is Katrina the political gift that keeps on giving, or what?

I still want an explanation for all those school buses sitting in water instead of transporting people to safety.

Conservatives aren't likely to jump the reservation over Mr. McCain's comments. But how about some people from New Orleans standing up to tell us about all the exciting things THEY are doing rather than more talk about more government? Enough is enough.

On the turntable this week

2008-04-22T13:17:00.017-04:00

The Dave Clark Five -- Finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month, the Fab Five gave the Beatles quite a run for their money in 1964 and '65. These guys were a lot more than "Glad All Over." Personal favorite: the "Having A Wild Weekend" soundtrack from the DC5's only film which marked John Boorman's debut as a director. It's a noirish classic of sorts, look it up, AKA "Catch Us If You Can." And don't miss Tom Hanks' induction speech for the band: He really captures what it was like to be a kid in the '60s.

Early Belle and Sebastian -- Scotland's greatest band?

Eve of Destruction by Barry McGuire and Let's Live for Today by the Grassroots -- Two great albums that share the same producer/songwriter in P.F. Sloan, and as result many of the same songs. But what a difference a few voices make.

Jackie Gleason presents Music, Martinis and Memories -- Hey, it's always Happy Hour some place in the world, isn't it?

Thanks to Steve and Andrea for the Grand Funk T-shirt. That's one band I don't play too often, but out of sight, out of mind.

Remember when it was all about Bush

2008-04-21T12:05:00.006-04:00

Say what you will about the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, at least the candidates are focused on each other and their differences. Not too long ago the hallmark of Democratic Party politics was who could spew the most vitriol about President Bush.

Arguably that worked in the 2006 elections, but it proved to be a classic be-careful-what-you-wish-for victory. Democrats now in control of Congress have done virtually nothing to curb Mr. Bush's efforts in Iraq and elsewhere. In fact, according to the latest Rasmussen poll, the president's approval rating is up, although a deeper reading of the numbers should dispel any Republican hopefulness.

Sens. Clinton and Obama have gotten the message, though. Gone are Cindy Sheehan and the MoveOn.org crowd. The two Democratic contenders are running against each other instead of Mr. Bush, and voters are the beneficiaries. As muddled and mixed-up as things are these days, it's important to know what a candidate stands for rather than just hearing a chorus of "no's" about the other party's guy.

In a visit to eastern Pennsylvania this weekend, I heard no talk of the current administration with Tuesday's primary bearing down. Instead, the mostly Obama crowd I was with was talking about their candidate's positive message and what a healthy change they felt that would be for the country. We'll see.

Of course, Sen. John McCain, the likely Republican presidential candidate, will be joined at the hip to Mr. Bush by Democratic operatives come the fall. But in the meantime, it's nice to be debating the issues and looking to the future instead of picking through the entrails of the past eight years.

The Mugabe two-step

2008-04-18T10:55:00.005-04:00

Kudos to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for criticizing the inaction of African leaders in the face of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's ongoing theft of elections in his benighted country. His fellow kleptocrats on the continent have been reluctant to criticize Mr. Mugabe because of his historical status as the "freedom fighter" who liberated his country from colonial rule. The truth is many of them share his dictatorial tendencies and don't want a world spotlight drawing attention to what they've been up to.

Mr. Mugabe has systematically taken his country, once one of the most prosperous in Africa, down to the level of Haiti, and much of the world has looked the other way. Now he's stealing another election.

Following Ms. Rice's strong comments yesterday, so-called mediator Thabo Mbeki, the president of South Africa, stepped down after doing virtually nothing. It will be interesting to see if any other African leader is willing to increase pressure on Mr. Mugabe to release election results that are sure to spell the end of his reign.

As Ms. Rice put it bluntly, "Where is the concern from the African Union and from Zimbabwe's neighbors about what is going on in Zimbabwe?" Indeed.

Pope Benedict XVI in remarks at the United Nations today called for more first-world aid to Africa, echoing similar comments by President Bush on his recent trip there. But unless African leaders show that they are interested in bettering the lot of their own people and not just their own bank accounts, it's ridiculous for taxpayers to throw more good money after bad.

Stones clean it up - but never stop

2008-04-15T06:45:00.004-04:00

Martin Scorsese's "Shine A Light" is unquestionably one of the most visually satisfying concert films ever. The camera hangs lovingly on every power chord from Keith Richards' guitar, and Mick Jagger's Energizer bunny-like performance leaves the viewer exhausted by show's end.

But the first few minutes of the film showing the Stones meeting with former President and Mrs. Clinton and their extended family (the concert was a fundraiser for the Clinton Foundation) will have most rock fans reaching for their barf bags. Yeah, I know the '60s were a long time ago, but no Stones fan wants to see the band behave like just another group of political suck-ups.

And what happened to those salty lyrics, guaranteed to offend women and all racial and ethnic groups? Gone were the offensive lines in "Brown Sugar" and "Some Girls" and the Kennedy verse in "Sympathy for the Devil." Have the bad boys gone good? Oh, Keith, say it isn't so?

Of course, Mick does drop the f-bomb and some other choice profanity -- even though the audience knows the ex-president's 12-year-old nephew and other youngsters are on hand for the show. Cursing apparently is still protected speech for the politically correct. Just watch those dicey social observations, boy.

Oh well, guess these days there's no place for a street-fighting man.

Obama gets the big picture

2008-04-14T10:25:00.007-04:00

While his political opponents quibble over his language, Barack Obama is absolutely right about one thing: Americans are in a bad mood these days. We're in a war that, no matter which side you're on, seems never-ending. The economy is the worst it's been in years with no end to bad news in sight.

Baby Boomers, worried about their impending retirement years with their faltering pensions at risk, now face seemingly uncontrollable health care costs which in many cases are putting their very jobs at risk. Fewer and fewer companies, with the other economic strains at work, are enamored with the thought of paying the health bills of an aging work force -- and its family members.

Young voters are just coming into that world, and job and economic security must seem like oxymorons to them.

Accordingly, in this election cycle, Mickey Mouse-gotcha politics isn't sticking like it has in recent years. Mr. Obama misspeaks. His minister is a racist. His wife says something many people don't like. So what? In years past, things like that could derail a candidacy. Not this time. This election cycle, despite far more media coverage than ever, when every throat-clearing is turned into a potential gaffe, it appears that American voters are not going to be distracted. They want a change. Call it hope, call it what you will, but don't call it business-as usual.

Mr. Obama is charismatic and well-spoken. He offers an intangible feeling that better days are ahead. His message, trite as it may seem to some, is resonating across traditional party, class and racial lines. Is he too naive? Too inexperienced?

Hillary Clinton and John McCain personify business-as-usual. They've both been in Washington for years now and done little, if anything, to alleviate -- or prevent, for that matter -- the problems we now face. So much for experience, one might reasonably conclude.

Much can and will happen in the months until Election Day, but as Ms. Clinton has already discovered to her dismay, there's something happening here that traditional political strategy can't cope with. Call it the times we live in. Short of a stunning upturn in the American psyche, Mr. Obama will ride that wave into the White House. And no amount of gotcha is likely to change that.