Shafted

I've never played in the high school band or orchestra but both Rachel and Emily have and while attending their wonderful concerts I've often though that, you know, classical music is fine but if I were a band director I'd throw in some more crowd pleasing numbers. Not that these concerts need lively-ing up but I'm sure that just the right music would bring a smile to a lot of faces.

Like themes from movies. Music that sounds like classical music but bonds the audience with a common experience. The Theme from Star Wars. Jaws. The Magnificent Seven.

Or The Theme From Shaft.

This thought struck me the other night while I was driving Emily and Emily's buddy home. the Theme From Shaft came on the radio and you can be sure I cranked it up, much to Emily's embarrassment. Something there is about the funk that Emily didn't like. That or my sing-talking along with Isaac Hayes as he tells us how bad Shaft is. (You know, the only person that understands him is his woman? True!)

Oh, The high school band could be do it! Okay, maybe the whacka-chacka part might be difficult but Wikipedia tells me that's just a guitar with a wah-wah pedal. You know there's a high school kid practicing that sound right now in his bedroom. The rest of it sounds pretty straightforward to me. Emily could play the flute part!

Yes, a high school band could play the Theme From Shaft. Heck, a ukulele orchestra could play the theme:



Anyway, that's my idea. If I were a high school band director life would be funky indeed.

Wanda Jackson Teams With Jack White

I've posted before about Wanda Jackson, a member of our stodgy Baptist church, and her working with the yowling Jack White. Here's the latest:

What happens when Oklahoma's “Queen of Rockabilly” meets Detroit's dean of daring guitar dynamos?

Why, a party, of course.

That's what Wanda Jackson's been all about since she hit the Top 40 with “Let's Have a Party” in the late '50s. Back then it was boyfriend/mentor Elvis Presley who taught this country girl from Maud how to rock 'n' roll.

Now she's learning some 21st century tricks from one of alternative music's most successful eccentrics — Jack White.

Sounds interesting.

'Times They are A-Changin' Lyrics for Sale

You can own a part off American music
history:

Bob Dylan's original handwritten lyrics for "The Times They are A-Changin'" are heading for the auction block in New York City. They could sell for an estimated $200,000 to $300,000.

Written in pencil on a sheet of unruled, three-hole notebook paper, the classic 1960s folk protest song was the title track on Dylan's third album. The paper is creased with some small tears and signed "by Bob Dylan."

Sotheby's will offer it for sale on Dec. 10.

Here's what you'd be buying:



No word about who the current owner is but I presume it isn't Dylan. Then again, why not? The item's his to do with as he wants and you can't begrudge him the opportunity to make a buck or two on his own memorabilia. I think it's a great chance to own a part of history, though it's a bit pricey for my taste. Still, Dylanophile or not, it's fascinating to catch a glimpse of the humble beginnings of such a great song.

Hey Ya, Peanuts Style

While waiting for MC Hammer to perform last week at the State Fair, Rachel and I got into a disagreement about one of the songs that was playing on the loudspeakers. She thought it was a Black Eyed Peas song; I thought it was Hey Ya, by Outkast.

I, of course, was right.

But it got me to remembering this video that had made the Internet rounds some time ago and so I found it and now I've posted it for your enjoyment:



It made me smile. I'm sure it did you, too.

Half Acre

Hem's Half Acre came up on my iPhone's iPod the other day. You know the song as the background music to one of those Liberty Mutual commercials but it's quite a moving song on it's own.

The song's lyrics, about the power of the memory of home to anchor us through the worst storms:

I am holding half an acre
Torn from the map of Michigan
And folded in this scrap of paper
Is the land I grew in

Think of every town you've lived in
Every room you lay your head
And what is it that you remember

Do you carry every sadness with you
Every hour your heart was broken
Every night the fear and darkness
Lay down with you

A man is walking on the highway
A woman stares out at the sea
And light is only now just breaking

So we carry every sadness with us
Every hour our hearts were broken
Every night the fear and darkness
Lay down with us

But I am holding half an acre
Torn from the map of Michigan
I am carrying this scrap of paper

That can crack the darkest sky wide open
Every burden taken from me
Every night my heart unfolding

Sting Stung

Musician Sting may have stepped in the middle of big ol' steaming pile of something:

O Sting, where is thy sting?

It is not where his principles lie, according to human rights activists who are demanding that the superstar stinger donate to charity the more than $2 million dollars “in blood money” he received for playing a secret concert for the daughter of one the world’s most brutal dictators, Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan.

Sting's response:

"I have come to believe that cultural boycotts are not only pointless gestures, they are counter-productive, where proscribed states are further robbed of the open commerce of ideas and art and as a result become even more closed, paranoid and insular."

You know, he's kind of got a point here. Name one boycott that's brought a dictator to his knees. Go ahead. I'll wait.

Yeah.

Boycott's don't work. Dictators only understand brute force and while I'm not saying Uzbekistan should be miltarily invaded, we can accomplish quite a bit with a cultural invasion. Let the people get a taste of freedom and they'll take it from there.

White Stripes: Air Forces Reserve Ad Stole Song

I couldn't get to the ad to listen to the song myself but I'll take The White Stripes' word for it:

The White Stripes say the Air Force Reserve used one of their songs without permission in a Super Bowl ad, and that they are insulted their song was used to encourage recruitment during a war they don't support.

The two-member band, which is originally from Detroit, said the ad made unauthorized use of their song "Fell in Love With a Girl."

"The White Stripes support this nation's military. ... We simply don't want to be a cog in the wheel of the current conflict," the band said in a statement posted to its Web site.

"The White Stripes take strong insult and objection to the Air Force Reserve presenting this advertisement with the implication that we licensed one of our songs to encourage recruitment during a war that we do not support." They did not specify which war.

(Emphasis mine.)

So it looks like Obama's lost The White Stripes' support. His war effort is doomed.

Look, I like The White Stripes raucous stripped down sound and if The Air Force truly did steal their song - the Air Force says they contracted an ad agency for the spot and had nothing to do with the music - then the group should be duly compensated. But, heck, if the group really supports the troops, why not donate the song? You don't have to support the war effort to support an institution that provides for the security of the country - and your right to create raucous, stripped down rock - as well as a pretty good career choice for thousands of people. You can still take your anti-war stance and keep your bona fides among your fellow hip rockers.

(If The White Stripes' truly support the troops, I've found no evidence on the web other than their own self-serving statement. Maybe the group has gone overseas to entertain the troops and its escaped the web's notice. But I suspect, like with most people who say they oppose war but support the troops, it's a lot easier to say you do than actually do it. Yeah, I know, no surprise.)

Hotel Fire

I thought I had my the iPod on my iPhone set on shuffle but the string of songs with titles beginning with the letter "H" tells me it somehow slipped out of that mode. Ominous. (Also, my iPhone seems to continually be checking for e-mails; either something's wrong or it's taking after the habits of its owner.)

But that's okay, I'm just letting it ride and listening to whatever comes up, except for when something comes up I don't want to listen to. I'll skip over until I find something because, well, I'm in charge, man. You can be sure, though, that when anything by Hem pops up in the window, I'll stop and play it on through. Every track of theirs is just absolutely lovely and it's a bright, restful spot in an otherwise hectic time of year for a CPA.

All of this is to say I came across their Hotel Fire and I was terribly moved. I don't know how to embed the track in a blog post so, like I've done before, I'll just have to be happy with publishing the lyrics for you:

Hotel Fire

Ten dollars for the room
Torn blankets smell like old perfume
Then love checks in, trips a wire,
Skips the bill, sets a fire
And leaves the wreck that's left behind
With one desire, one desire

Don't worry 'bout the key
Lock's busted, and the chain is free
Light comes up, the sun goes down
A rented room, a borrowed town
That burns the memories to the ground
With one more round, one more round
One more round

Ten miles 'til the dawn
A sign lights up and it pulls you on
So strip the bed, slash the tire
A broken home, a hotel fire
You ask yourself again, am I
Your one desire, one desire

Irving Berlin's White Christmas

Tired of hearing Christmas music already? Not me. Though, like most music, much of it isn't any good, is it? But White Christmas never seems to get old for me. Here's more about the song:

It was a peaceful song that became a wartime classic. Its unorthodox, melancholy melody—and mere 54 words, expressing the simple yearning for a return to happier times—sounded instantly familiar when sung by America's favorite crooner. But 67 years after its introduction, some still are surprised to learn that Bing Crosby's recording of the Irving Berlin ballad "White Christmas" became not only the runaway smash-hit for the World War II holidays, but the best-selling record of all time.

Such unrivaled success reflects everything from record-industry trends to the sweep of global history. But it all begins with the songwriting genius of a Russian immigrant, born Israel Baline, who had just turned 54 when Decca recorded the track on May 29, 1942, and already had to his credit hundreds of hits like "Alexander's Ragtime Band," "Blue Skies," "How Deep Is the Ocean?" and "God Bless America." (Berlin, 101 when he died in 1989, would have many more across a seven-decade career.)

Bob Dylan's Christmas Album Isn't as Bad as You Think

A not entirely negative negative review of Bob Dylan's Christmas album:

My reaction upon hearing the record lurch to life with “Here Comes Santa Claus ” in my ear buds was first to laugh; whether a joke or not, this (stuff) is funny. Mostly because Dylan sounds so uncharacteristically jovial and (yes, I’ll say it) jolly, even. My second reaction was relief – it’s nice to hear that from Dylan for a change.

Faint praise, indeed. Still, the reviewer doesn't like everything:

But that’s not the worst moment on Christmas in the Heart. That dubious distinction goes to “Must Be Santa,” a hideous polka-shaped monster that terrorizes the eardrums with psychotic glee. I shiver at the memory.

Hey, it's not that bad. Here's a video of the song. You be the judge:



Kinda fun in weird way. Okay, really weird.

Wanda Jackson to Perform at Oklahoma City's 66 Bowl Celebration

I'm late to post this but Wanda Jackson performed last Saturday at 66 Bowl Celebration, a bowling alley:

The "Sweet Lady With the Nasty Voice” and her husband/manager celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary Oct. 7. On Saturday, 66 Bowl marks its 50th year as a landmark on the Mother Road.

Like one of Wanda’s hit songs says, "Let’s Have a Party.”

The Queen of Rockabilly returns to the scene of her romantic beginnings for a special show at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Who's Wanda Jackson? A down-on-her-luck faded rock'n'roll star from the dim past? Hardly. Here's her Wikipedia entry. Irrelevant to day? Ha!

Another cause for celebration is Wanda’s current collaboration with Jack White. She told me the front man of the White Stripes and the Raconteurs is producing her next album. At the time of our conversation, she was on her way to Nashville, Tenn., where she would record half a dozen preliminary tracks, with White at the studio console.

"One of the biggest stars on the planet I guess right now,” she said of White.

She said it would be premature to reveal titles of the songs she’s covering because the selections might change, but she did allow that White had been consulting with his friend Bob Dylan.

"Jack e-mailed (Wendell) and said he happened to be talking to Bob Dylan the other day, and Dylan is a big fan of mine,” Wanda said. "So, he asked him if he could think of a song that he thought would be good for me to record. So, I might be doing one of Bob Dylan’s songs.”

Just another milestone in a career that’s been full of them. The Maud native, 72, was a young country and gospel artist who began singing rockabilly in the 1950s on the advice of her mentor and then-boyfriend, Elvis Presley.

Take that, you dang whippersnapper.

Oh, and one more thing about Ms. Jackson: she's a member of our church.

Not bad for a bunch of stodgy Baptists.

Money Can't Buy Me Beatles

Are (Is?) The Beatles internet fuddy-duddies or just copyright savvy? The latter, it seems:

But the real question is why, so many years into the era of digital music, the Beatles still don't allow digital downloads of their songs. Many bands now view the sales and illegal downloads of their songs as loss leaders for their live performances, but the last Beatles concert was in 1966. Rights holders such as John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, are well known for trying to protect exactly how Beatles songs are presented, limiting distribution.

The explanation is that the owners of the Beatles understand that the brand is so valuable that they can maintain scarcity even in a world of file sharing and mass downloading. The late George Harrison's son, Dhani, has said "we disagree" with the standard Apple price of 99 cents a song. At a time when the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry estimates that 95% of downloads of digital music are illegal, there is less money to be made selling songs through any medium, whether the Web or CDs.

Instead, the Beatles are focused on more innovative and high-priced digital products. One is "The Beatles: Rock Band," a videogame released in September whose theme is the history of the band. The music has to be played through the game console and can't be downloaded or shared. The success of the game accounted for much of the revenue growth of Viacom in its most recent quarter.

I've got all of The Beatles on CD that's available - or, more accurately, that's worth having - and I've transferred them to my iTunes so having them digitally available elsewhere isn't a problem for me. But I think it's a mistake to purposely keep their music away from newer listeners. Sure, it's a fine line between art and commerce but how rich can you be? (Okay, as an unapologetic capitalist, I say as rich as you can get but still.)

No, I think the better business model is to get your music - your art - out there to as many consumers as possible. That's what you got in this business for in the first place, isn't it?

Hark! the Heralded Dylan Sings

Andrew Ferguson takes down Bob Dylan a notch or two. Okay, a lot of notches:

If you needed more evidence, the release this month of Bob Dylan's Christmas album, Christmas in the Heart, should close the case. Dylan fans are like Baby Huey dolls, those inflatable figures with the big red nose and the rounded bottom, weighted so that when you punch them--punch hard, punch with all your might--they bounce right back, grinning the same frozen, unchangeable grin.

We can only make a guess how Bob Dylan truly feels about his fans. But it can be a good, strong guess. He's been punching those Baby Hueys for a long time, hard.

It's not too unusual for a performer to lack respect for his most worshipful admirers; he hears himself as they do not, knowing how far short of his hopes his performance invariably falls, despite their wild applause. Sometimes an artist will even hold his audience in contempt, though he's careful, for business reasons, to keep the contempt at least thinly concealed; Abstract Expressionist painters come to mind. But not since Don Rickles at the height of his powers--the second greatest artist of the past 50 years, some believe--has a performer taken delight in actively abusing the people who pay money to enjoy his act. And when Rickles did it, the people were supposed to laugh, and did. When Dylan does it, the fans pull their chins and think hard. Then they pop right back, Baby Huey-like, and start explaining.

Ferguson is only getting warmed up so read the whole thing.

This kind of things is hard for a fan like me to take but, well, the truth hurts, doesn't it? Dylan's best work is far behind him and when something contemporary of his comes up on the shuffle play mode of my iPod, I find myself gritting my teeth to get through it. He's become a chore to listen to and no artist should get to that point.

No, I won't be buying his Christmas album. Sure, I think the man's an American original and much of what he does amuses me but I have no explanation for this. Sorry, Bob.

KISS drummer Criss: Men Get Breast Cancer Too

This is for brotha John, who may remember he used to be a Kiss fan as a teen:

Founding KISS member Peter Criss knows that many of his male, rock music fans are macho, so he is making the rounds to tell them that rocker guys like him can suffer from the disease, too.

Criss, who was the New York rock band's drummer on and off from its founding in 1972 until 2004 and the voice on some of their most beloved classics, including the 1976 Top Ten hit "Beth" and "Hard Luck Woman", said too many men don't seek treatment and think breast discomfort will go away on its own.

Ouch. Quite a cautionary tale.

Lucy of Beatles’ ‘Lucy in the Sky ...’ Fame dies

Lucy finally, and sadly, succumbs:

Lucy Vodden, who provided the inspiration for the Beatles' classic song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," has died after a long battle with lupus. She was 46.

Her death was announced Monday by St. Thomas’ Hospital in London, where she had been treated for the chronic disease for more than five years, and by her husband, Ross Vodden. Britain’s Press Association said she died last Tuesday. Hospital officials said they could not confirm the day of her death.

Vodden's connection to the Beatles dates back to her early days, when she made friends with schoolmate Julian Lennon, John Lennon's son.

Here's my earlier post about the touching reunion between Vodden and Julian Lennon. I'm glad they were able to reconnect after all that time.

David Byrne’s Perfect City

Not only do I like it when nutjob rock-n-roll types talk business, I like it when they turn out to be normal people. Okay, maybe David Byrne isn't a nutjob rock-n-roller but you may still be surprised to find his essay in the Wall Street Journal about what would be his perfect city:

There’s an old joke that you know you're in heaven if the cooks are Italian and the engineering is German. If it's the other way around you're in hell. In an attempt to conjure up a perfect city, I imagine a place that is a mash-up of the best qualities of a host of cities. The permutations are endless. Maybe I'd take the nightlife of New York in a setting like Sydney's with bars like those in Barcelona and cuisine from Singapore served in outdoor restaurants like those in Mexico City. Or I could layer the sense of humor in Spain over the civic accommodation and elegance of Kyoto. Of course, it's not really possible to cherry pick like this—mainly because a city's qualities cannot thrive out of context. A place's cuisine and architecture and language are all somehow interwoven. But one can dream.

Epcot's a perfect city for me but that shows you how out of touch I am. The one time I've been to New York tells me that might make a good second choice, if I could afford to live there. Ditto for Washington D.C. But maybe I should just be happy where I am. OKC has a lot going for it.

Byrne is also an avid bicycler and has a book coming out about that. You may also like his online journal. I first came across, and was utterly charmed by, it about two years ago when he was writing about the most normal of occasions for a father: taking his daughter on a cross-country driving trip to college. One of his stops was Dollywood and he wrote extensively, and honestly, about Dolly Parton's influence on pop music. Really. Of course, he takes the usual lefty jabs on occasion but, well, what are you gonna do? Skip over that stuff if it bothers you; you'll find something else you'll like, I'm sure.

Anyway. Rock-n-rollers acting like normal folk. I can dig it.

The Beatles (Re) Issues

This one of those good news/bad news things:

Get ready to meet the Beatles again.

. . . Apple Corps. and EMI will jointly roll out the long-awaited remastered editions of the Beatles studio albums on CD with Digipak sleeves as well as two box sets of the albums, one in stereo and one in mono. The same date will see Harmonix’s release of the “Beatles: Rock Band” game. What’s missing is the availability of the Beatles recordings for digital downloading. A statement from Apple said discussions about this “are continuing,” but rumors are flying that the other Apple may have something in the works, since it announced its annual iPod meeting will also happen Wednesday.

For a band that broke up almost 40 years ago, the Beatles sure have a lot happening.

Good news for Beatles fans like me because there can't be enough Beatles stuff out there. Bad news for Beatles fan like me because there's too much Beatles stuff out there. How can we keep up?

Really, though, it's about time. Though I'm no audiophile, on my iPod, I can tell the difference between the re-mastered CDs from the 80s that I've loaded and the latest Beatles CD, 1, and The Yellow Submarine re-master from not that long ago. There's quite a bit of difference.

Will I update my collection? I'm not sure. I'm quite happy with what I've got though I'd hate to miss out on such an historical occasion. And based on their track record, it's not likely they'll re-issue these things again anytime soon. Might be a good idea to grab 'em while I can.

Good morning, Oliver!

Vicki's been good enough to start her last few mornings on Facebook with a song about the day. This morning's was Oliver's Starshine and I haven't been able to get it out of my head all day. I posted a link over there to the Rhapsody copy of the song and found this clip. Enjoy! Then just try to get pry the song out of your head when you're through. Impossible.

82 good morning starshine (Oliver)

[via FoxyTunes / Oliver]

New Woody Guthrie Boxed Set to be Released

You don't have to be a fan of folk music to find this interesting:

"Those are the leftovers of my husband's business," Irene Harris ­explained to her neighbor Luria Sutera in 1999, describing the heavy cardboard storage barrels, cordoned off by wood and wire, stacked in her Brooklyn tenement storage space. "He was in the record business. When I die, I am going to leave you my collection of records in the basement, and there is some Woody Guthrie down there that no one has ever heard."

Guthrie, a towering singer and activist whose "Dustbowl Ballads" and ubiquitous "This Land Is Your Land" form the bedrock of modern American songwriting, would have turned 97 this summer. Huntington's disease all but silenced him in the late 1950s, eventually claiming his life in 1967, at age 55.

The barrels, holding some 2,000 nickel-plated copper discs, had stood unperturbed for decades, abandoned by ­Herbert Harris, owner of the long-defunct Stinson Record Co. In 1944 Harris, with partner Moe Asch, bankrolled the holy grail of American folk ­music—a series of Woody Guthrie sessions resulting in hundreds of recorded masters, a cultural watershed that ­reverberates to this day.

It's rare you get a chance to hear musical history preserved.

So, why all the fuss over Guthrie? Besides his being from Oklahoma? Well:

Still, Guthrie was never one to back away from a withering indictment of society's injustices: A compassionate moralism runs through every note he played. "There's a musical legacy that—simply stated—you can write what's on your mind," Ms. Guthrie observes. "Not too many people did that before Woody. So that has branched out, and that's a whole story and a legacy in and of itself. It's a really, really big tree," she says, citing acolytes like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Bono and a cast of thousands.

"Now I'm getting email from students in Iran," continues Ms. Guthrie, "saying 'Woody's been a great influence to us, and we're gonna write our own songs, and stand up for what we believe in.' It seeps through, and it takes on new faces and new names and new languages, and just keeps transforming. So in that sense, like [singer/songwriter] Billy Bragg once said, 'Woody's not a link in the chain. Woody's the stake in the ground.'"

Paul McCartney in Tulsa

How did Paul McCartney come to Oklahoma and me not know about it?

Paul McCartney does not sell out stadiums simply because he's Paul McCartney. Sure, he could roll out a little over an hour's worth of effort and generations of fans would be perfectly happy hearing a handful of Beatles classics and standout solo hits from his 45-year career, then go home and tell their friends and family that they had a nice, pleasant time with a legend. Instead, McCartney put his seemingly endless reservoir of energy to work ensuring that no one will forget the three hours they spent with him Monday night at Tulsa's BOK Center, a concert that celebrated the venue's first anniversary.

Gah! Like this'll ever happen again.