These are all clues. To wake up to the news of another yellow bird sighting knocked me for a loop. As I had dedicated my column to a loved one lost — kind of like Casey Kasem used to do. Asking her if she found her yellow bird.
FILE photo. Yellow birds symbolize your one true love.
On Saturday I pulled the best lines that I could find in a reasonable amount of time and compiled them in a post on AL.com.
I broke them up into 10 categories of 5 song lyrics with the artist and name of the song on each one.
People weighed in via comments or emails some of their favorites. All good and fun. But no one to my knowledge has gotten it yet — it, being a larger message, a not-so-hidden message.
It’s as if one needs an Oracle to find the message.
Sorry, I couldn’t help that. Mitchell was one of the more literate pop stars in the 1970s and 80s. And the confidence in her word selection and playfulness in her jazzy delivery makes me think: She knows she is good.
She also is considered a top guitar player, usually playing on her acoustic.
“Free Man in Paris,’ and ” Help Me” were all over the radio in the mid-1970’s. Up until then she was known for ‘Big Yellow Taxi.” (They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.) It was a minor hit in the U.S. in 1970. (Counting Crows covered it not too many years ago.)
I was 14 or so and was discovering Queen, Aerosmith, Cream and Jimi Hendrix. Actually Elton John was a favorite as well. But to be honest the beauty of Court and Spark failed to hook me at that age. They were pleasant jazz/pop songs with intelligent lyrics. I must have absorbed it in the car. many years later before I found this album — her best I’m told — for about $4.
I’m not fond of the cover though. Mine is Tang-colored with art that is too small and too faded. Looks like a tattoo on a recipient with mottled yellow orange skin. Maybe QT accident.
Here’s part of a post by Vintage Guitar magazine senior writer about a classic 7-string guitar and an Alabama man who owned one. In fact the Alabama man was integral in having it created.
Certain locations in the middle portion of Alabama are often cited as part of “Hank Williams Territory,” and for good reason—two thirds of a century after the country music icon’s passing, legends still abound regarding memorable Williams performances, as well as people and locations that inspired his songwriting.
However, one hasn’t heard too much about famous jazz musicians that hail from the same region, although Nat King Cole was born in Montgomery, and trumpeter Andres Ford, who was also from the Capitol City, gigged with Duke Ellington.
While musical genres such as country and western, rhythm and blues, rock and pop are usually saturated with (primarily-electric) guitars, notable jazz guitarists—Wes Montgomery being an obvious and handy example—have always had to compete with pianists, saxophone players, and other talented musicians plying their trade on their own respective instruments.
Jazz guitarist Relfe Parker Jr. (1918-2002) wasn’t famous, but he stuck to his guns regarding the music he loved to play. Moreover, he was the first guitarist to order and play a seven-string guitar handcrafted by a famous guitar builder (such artisans are known as a “luthiers”).
A resident of Wetumpka, Parker aspired to play jazz music for most of his life, even though he was compelled to perform other styles of music at times.Again you can click here for full story.
Also online at AL.com right now is a revisit to a song that one scientific study is the best they had found for lowering anxiety. Listen to the extended version (30 minutes) of the song and see if you can stay awake. There is a 24-hour version which I’ll try to find and post here. That means you could have reduced anxiety — by 65 percent these scientists say — all day long. (They should put it in dentists and doctors’ offices or wherever there is a stressful environment.
Here’s link. Remember don’t operate heavy machinery after listening to this: ‘Weightlessness.’
I saw this movie many years ago. Good date movie. Not so great a soundtrack, though, unless the idea of live songs by studio musicians trying to sound like the boozy Janis Joplin and her various boozy bands appeals to you.
The soundtrack is noisy. Sure if they are ‘loosely’ basing this on Joplin, you expect some blues based rock and roll and there is — but it is as if the musicians and director were trying too hard to channel Joplin and her mythology. So we got noisy rock live in concert. Stuff Like “Whose side are you on” and ‘Love Me with a Feeling.’
Don’t get me wrong Midler has a strong powerful voice. But Janis was a force of nature, hard to emulate and that’s why they say it was only loosely based on Janis. So here we get snippets of the Rose, played by Midler, of drunken, drugged- out ramblings between songs and then .. then… there’s the title track. She snaps out of unconciousness somehow and delivers a beautiful poignant ballad that gave goose bumps to the movie audience.
The last song on the album, the name of the movie, the name of the character. It’s the best thing about it all.
The slow building ballad played too much on the radio in 1978, but that doesn’t take away its power. The song was my future wife’s favorite song when we decided we liked each other. We were seniors in high school, and like I said: Good date movie.
My recommendation is get the movie, not the soundtrack.
Willie G. Moseley, senior writer at Vintage Guitar Magazine, contacted me to weigh in on the ‘Best Guitarist’ debate that I instigated last week with posts on this blog and AL.com
The debate was great. Many put forth that it isn’t a contest and that it is a matter of personal taste.
But we got names, lots of names. From Hendrix to Robert Johnson. From Clapton to Steve Howe. Ana Popovic to Jeff Beck.
Wait a minute, did we forget Beck? I’ll have to go check because before I got into the Yardbirds I loved to listen to ‘Blow by Blow,’ a jazz rock guitar album of the highest order. Steve Howe’s comes closes.
But Moseley came at me with a name I never considered.
Mike Oldfield of Tubular Bells fame. Yep, that Tubular Bells which accompanied the movie where the devil possessed a little girl. So I checked it out on YouTube a live Tubular Bells concert and, yes, indeed; it didn’t make me vomit and it nearly had my head spin around.
Mr. Oldfield puts forth some scintillating guitar runs, some supersonic laser beam tones. And Moseley said that album is his least favorite of about five Oldfield albums.
“I think any discussion of this subject should also address how much innovation a “nominated” guitarist exhibited/exhibits, Moseley wrote in an email, “be it style and/or tone and/or composition skills…as well as other possible factors.”
He continued: “With that in mind, I’d probably champion Mike Oldfield of Tubular Bells fame. Not only did he have a unique and lightning fast style, his album was, IMO, the first New Age album; i.e., it was so fascinating and hypnotic you couldn’t boogie to it; you were compelled to sit still and listen.
“In some of my lectures, I cite the original Tubular Bells as a “bookend” on the most productive half-dozen years in popular music history.
In the video above, the guitar is unleashed about the 5:20 mark.
“That said, the original is among my least favorite Oldfield albums. … There’s an orchestral-sounding passage on the sophomore album, Hergest Ridge, that reportedly has 72 guitars.
“Unfortunately, in more recent times Oldfield seemed to be mired in a “techno” mode for his newer albums. I used to call that sound “disco.””
Mosley also said he would place Randy California of Spirit not far behind Oldfield.
And so there you have it:
Oldfield officially becomes the most intriguing nomination for this honor of best guitarist of all time, a title which will likely never be bestowed.
A commenter mentioned Ana Popovich. And given that I have been for some time making a list of top guitarists who happen to be women, I looked her up on YouTube. And, indeed, she proceeded to make my face melt.
NOTE: I spelled Moseley’s last name wrong after I had spelled it right. Now it is correct: Moseley.
The young man who was struck by lightning and died just short of the finish line of a 50K trail race in Kansas rekindles a longstanding debate I have had with myself.
How do I want to go out? Instantly doing something I love, like playing basketball — the way Pete Maravich went out; The way this 33-year-old Kansas runner, Thomas Stanley went out.
I have Lewy body dementia and my lifespan — based on averages — is 4 to 8 years after diagnosis or symptoms begin. I’m in my third year. So unless I get hit by a bus or struck by lightning, I have received plenty of advance warning about what will happen to me as these excess proteins continue to clog up and kill brain cells. Slowly, it seems, and that’s a good thing. I think.
I’ve written about lightning a lot. As I’ve explained here before. As you can see I’m almost metaphysical in my feelings surrounding lightning. What random bad luck messed up universe would strike down a person. Very rarely, the average is 27 a year and there have only been 19 this year.
Part of my interest in lightning was living in central Florida, lightning capital of the U.S., where there are daily thunder-boomers, as my kids used to call them.
Stanley was 33 years old and from Andover, Kansas. He was the Director of Business Initiatives at the Kansas Leadership Center where he has worked since 2008, according to the center’s website.
He was the third person this year who has been killed by lightning while running.
I am 59 years-old and have lived a lot more life than Stanley. I wonder if I would have taken Stanley’s place if I had been offered.
I think I might have. It would be slam dunk ‘yes’ if it was a friend or relative. But I’m not sure, (uh oh, here I go debating my brain again.) I know this disease will take hold but I am also working on living every moment. I do enjoy life.
Stanley probably didn’t know what hit him. I know what is hitting me. I think I’ll stick around — and hit back.
Oh, and though Stanley didn’t make the finish line, the race officials gave him a finish because he had run the distance.
ALBUMS: That’s the Way of the World, Earth Wind and Fire (1975); Ain’t No Doubt About it: Graham Central Station (1975). Light of the World, Kool and the Gang (1974); Born to Get Down (1976), Muscle Shoals Horns.
I started out to just do one review here on the Muscle Shoals Horns, an album I’ve had a long time and I was in the “M’s’ of my alphabetical countdown.
From Left: Graham Central Station; Earth Wind and Fire: Kool and the Gang; Muscle Shoals Horns.
Then I started finding albums I had forgotten even though some were recently purchased. Funk is a dance band music, often with horns and heavy bottom, drums and bass. When it works, it puts you up on the dance floor.
I’m going to give you a short assessment as I rank this small batch put together from my collection. I do have more. The Average White Band–which I have already done way back when I was in the ‘A’s’. I’m in the ‘M’s now. One notable funky music artist coming up is Sly and the Family Stone which I will hold on until I get to the S’s.
OK this is going to be thumbnail observations in alphabetical order and then I’ll declare a favorite:
Earth WInd and FIre: This album was a huge hit. Shining Star was a 1970’s staple. as was the title song ‘That’s the Way of the World.’ Definitely the most commercial/radio friendly of the group.
Graham Central Station: Certainly the hardest rocking of the group. You can hear the influence of his former band mate Sly Stone in creating a freewheeling musical extravaganza with distortion-enhanced electric guitars.
Kool and the Gang: Probably the old school funkiest, if that makes sense. They had ace musicians who snapped to sudden stops and turned to funk it up in another direction.
Muscle Shoals Horns: I came in without any expectations. Depending on your tastes this album may be the best of the group. They got my attention and not just because they are local here to the state of Alabama. But they can play. And the sound of the vinyl on my stereo system was the best of the others. As with all these groups, the musicianship was top-notch. I will definitely be keeping this one out in case I need more emergency dance music.
Commenters had a field day on an article I wrote for ALcom. Most of it was fine, rhetorical debate and discourse. Some of it was uncivil discourse, but I can take it . I’m a big boy.
And Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old environmental activist sure seems like she can handle it as well. And she probably didn’t need me rushing in to defend her. But I couldn’t help myself. Here’s an excerpt and link.
Now as the ‘host’ of my own website focused on music and raising awareness for the fatal brain disease I have, Lewy body dementia, I don’t usually jump into the treacherous waters of politics.
But, as a journalist with 30 years experience covering health care, politics, crime and mental health, I feel compelled to say something. Especially using my status as a dementia patient, on behalf of those with mental illnesses or disorders or diseases, for that matter.
To be clear I wasn’t motivated to write this because of the topic, climate change. I’m no expert on that topic. Although I tend to believe the much larger consensus of scientists who say there is human-caused climate effect, and it’s an issue we should deal with.
But I do know this — and it’s where I would usually start as a reporter : Follow the money.
I mean follow the money on both sides because there are millions and billions of dollars being spent to shape messages, create reports to support whichever side you want. I’m talking about oil companies, car companies, utilities, environmental groups. Look at who and how much is being spent to influence Congress — one study put the figure spent on climate change connected lobbying at $2 billion from 2000 to 2016.
And it is lopsided.
According to a study led by Robert J. Brulle of Drexel University, the sector that spent the most on climate change lobbying was the electrical utilities sector, at $554 million. The fossil fuel sector spent $370 million and the transportation sector spent $252 million during this time.
Environmental group made up about 3 percent and the renewable energy sector made up about 3 percent.
It reminds me of the health care debate where there is a lot of money spent targeting you, me, the whole country. As journalists we are supposed to get to the truth.
In countless cases journalists have shined the light in the dark corners to expose corruption. But in many instances we have failed, there are outlandish schemes to siphon taxpayer money going on as we speak. It’s not a Republican thing or a Demcrat thing. I’ve come to believe — and trying to not to get too cynical here –it’s a human thing. A greed thing. But I shudder to think about what would happen without a free and unencumbered press.
OK off the soap box.
Now it’s time to get funky. Perhaps appropriately. I’m going to try to review four funk/soul albums I have. I actually have more, but I’m not going to round up all of the funk here. Some of it — one I can remember off the top of my head — is the Average White Band, which I have already reviewed long ago in the ‘A’s.’
That was two years aog and I’m trying now to finish the ‘M’s. And who knew so many artists last name or band names start with ‘M.’ And I had Muscle Shores Horns all queued up and ready to listen to and write when i realized I had several funk albums that I had found and bought bargain bin stuff after their letters had passed. So I will review them together under the “M’ for Muscle Shoals Horns, umbrella. I have Earth Wind and Fire, Kool and the Gang and Graham Central Station. (My Sly and Family Stone I’m keeping for the ‘S’s.)
Saturday, as we continue to zoom past the 2-year-mark of this blog I am going to check back in with the most popular posts on my site. Probably I’ll do two list with the Top 12 music posts, the top 12 non-musical posts, which would include everything from/Lewy body dementia/ health, basketball and ponderings on the meaning of life.
So I’m signing off for now, to ponder. And listen to ‘That’s the Way of the World’ by EWF..
We love lists in the media business. Readers sometimes complain about list stories but then read them voraciously.
But if you came for a list story here, you aren’t going to get one. This is more a Behind-the-List Story story.
They are very subjective, you know. Lists, rankings. Take best guitarists.
Is Eric Clapton really better than Carlos Santana? Was Jimi Hendrix really better than Stevie Ray Vaughn?
How about Nick Drake and Leo Kottke with their innovative acoustic folk, blues, rock? Is Pete Townshend on rhythm better than Keith Richards or their teacher, Chuck Berry?
I’d be hard pressed to find a better rock guitarist than Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin but there’s some old(er)-timers our there that say Alvin Lee of 10 Years After was the man. Listen to this live version of Woodchopper’s Ball.
Slow down, I’m getting to the point here. These lists usually encapsulate three things going on:
(1) Popularity of the artist and his or her songs, Clapton and Page are famous for working with some of the biggest selling bands of all time. Are they truly better guitarists than Steve Morse. Who? Steve Morse who played with the Dixie Dregs and is now with Deep Purple. He can play. Glenn Phillips, of the Atlanta area, is pretty much the best guitarist you’ve never heard of. In the same neighborhood, his student Bob Elsey of the Swimming Pool Q’s plays tasty licks without walking over anyone. How many of these guitarists can play Nancy Wilson’s intro to ‘Crazy on You.? Probably most of those in this company, with time and study, but I would venture to say Nancy’s would be the best version..
(2) Speed and long solo skills A lot of guitarists get noticed because they can shred. That is, hit X number of notes in x number of seconds, usually going up and down scales. That’s a useful skill set especially in metal, hard rock, punk and even guitar-based jazz. But it’s one tool. The best shredder may be mediocre playing folk blues, for example.
(3) Flamboyant style. Jimi Hendrix was truly innovative but it wasn’t all flamboyance in the cause of the music, it was aimed at the ‘show.’ I’m pretty sure Hendrix can play better with his fingers than his tongue. But tonguing a guitar solo will leave people with their jaws hanging.
These three factors I’m saying play a role in these ranking and probably should. But before you start talking about who is better, Eddie Van Halen or Yngwie Malmsteen, Prince or Queen’s Brian May, the Schenker brothers of Scorpions and UFO fame, let me proffer that perhaps the best guitar players are those that do what’s best for the song. Delivering a fine song with a guitar solo that lasted 5-minutes too long is not necessarily being a great guitarist.
So it comes to this: Duane Allman.
I’m not saying he’s the top guitarist of all time or anything. But he had an unusual grasp of what sound to put forth while playing a song. How loud. How soft. When to fill and when to cut loose. The story goes that Duane was doing some session work at like age 22 or so, at Muscle Shoals studios, backing the great Wilson Pickett on a cover of the Beatles’ ‘Hey Jude.’
Listen for the guitar in this as it starts. You have to concentrate because it’s in the background.
But it’s perfect, the fills. And as Pickett winds up, Allman with electric guitar is right there supporting the singer, whip snapping Pickett into his famous ‘yow’ screams.
“He stood right in front of me, as though he was playing every note I was singing,” Pickett said months later. “And he was watching me as I sang, and as I screamed, he was screaming with his guitar.”
Duane’s legend was picking up steam.
[If you secretly do like list stories and want to take a peek at the most underrated artists, albums and songs in my collection. CLICK
