From Left David Oliver, Mike Oliver, Susan Schneider Williams and Catherine Oliver.
Been a wild week, much of it spent in Las Vegas. More on that in this column at AL.com: Susan Schneider Williams.
Just got through playing one of my favorite albums of the past year or so: The Brummies’ “Eternal Reach.” You know why I am listening to it? Because I saw one of the best concerts I’ve seen in recent memory last night. The Brummies at the Saturn. Even ate one of those gigantic hamburgers from the man outside. The Brummies deny classification except I guess I’d put them under Beatlesqe. I’ve said it here before, they are a band to watch (and listen to). Dang that was tight last night.
So two days earlier I was at the Lewy body dementia international conference in Las Vegas (see Susan Williams story above).. After one long day, they had a pool party and they had listed (Live Music) in the schedule. We had no idea the live music was going to be REO Speedwagon as represented by lead singer and songwriter Kevin Cronin. Now this midwestern band had a huge career in the 70s, 80s and 90s. They were from Illinois but they were huge in my 1970 Junior High School named Klondike in West Lafayette, Ind. We took a picture and as we parted ways,he told me to ‘Roll with the Changes,’ and I told him to ‘Keep on Pushing.’ Seriously that’s true. So cool.
They became this big Top-40 band with the release of High Infidelity but they had been cranking out hard rock singles since 1972, Kevin came to the event because his mother had Lewy body dementia. His voice after 40 years of rock n roll singing, is not as strong but he entertained with another REO member dipping into the group’s deep bag of hits.
Kevin Cronin, lead singer of REO Speedwagon with Mike Oliver of myvinylcountdown.com
The Marvelettes were the first all female group at Motown to obtain a No. 1 record.
‘You gotta waitaminute waytaminute Wait Mr. Postmasman.”
They were pioneering but now seemingly lost in history.
I am going to do something, however small, to correct that. First off publishing this blog post.
And in this blog I’m going to name the names of the Marvelettes. Least I can do for such an amazing talent.
Here they are from: Wikipedia: They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson (now Schaffner), Georgeanna Tillman (later Gordon), Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who was replaced by Wanda Young (now Rogers) prior to the group signing their first deal. They were the first major successful act of Motown Records after the Miracles and its first significantly successful girl group after the release of the 1961 number-one single, “Please Mr. Postman“, one of the first number-one singles recorded by an all-female vocal group and the first by a Motown recording act .
These early ‘girl-group’ and boy groups were super smooth at Motown.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada – It could have been out of a movie: Susan Schneider Williams passionately addressing a crowd of more than 300 people — many with Lewy body dementia in a large conference room on the bottom floor of the iconic Caesar’s Palace.
I know I’m safe with that one.
I believe, a record was set.
The name of the deadly brain disease ‘Lewy body dementia’ was uttered more in an 8-hour conference than it has ever been uttered. At least, I’m pretty sure. Maybe it’s the ‘most times Lewy body dementia was uttered in a casino’ record.
It’s working out OK by the way: dozens and dozens of people with dementia walking around a maze of a building. Some on medicines whose side effects include loss of impulse control in areas regarding sex, gambling and shopping.
(Talk about a demographic, the Caesar’s event planner was probably thinking when booking the Lewy body group..)
Of the 300 or more attendees at the International Lewy Body Dementia Conference there seemed to be equal parts academics and those living with Lewy body and their caregivers.
You see, Lewy body, the second most prevalent form of degenerative dementia after Alzheimer’s has an identity problem. Few know what it is.
So saying the word is important in a world of acronyms representing diseases. In fact the Lewy Body Dementia Association is working on reassessing the verbiage. A task force is focused on ‘Nomenclature’ is in the works. Names are important because if no one names it, no one funds it – except through the trickle-down theory.
Susan Williams talked about how she met Robin in an Apple Store, he was wearing Camo. “He loved Camo,”she said.
Like when the National Institutes of Health last year released its announcement about 10’s of millions in funding for “Alzheimer’s and other dementias”
Williams, the daughter of a pathologist,said her husband had a bad case of Lewy body and he thought he was losing his mind. He had never felt anxiety like he felt, she said.
” Robin was an extreme case of LBD with deep concentration of Lewy bodies in his amygdala had very high cortisol,”she said. His depression made LBD diagnosis harder.
Williams described it as ‘Whack A Mole’ — you knock down one symptom and another pops up.
In 2013, they spent 10 months chasing symptoms before his death Nov. 3.
For this McCartney review I am going to rank the records I own (4) and comment on them. First off, John Lennon’s work after the Beatles was socially conscious, powerful and heartbreaking, critics said. While mostly true, it set up a false dichotomy with McCartney losing in the side-by-side comparison.
Paul’s stuff was good, excellent and silly silly. But his records contain enough good songs out there to show that he’s better than most on the radio — or at least then during the 70s.
With no further ado, the rankings in ascending order.
4. Red Rose Speedway (1973) — This has the best cover and goodies of the four McCartney albums.. A multi page booklet connected to gatefold. But album has much fewer great moments. I do like ‘When the Night.’ ‘My Love’ is big hit here, yawn. MVC Rating: 3.5/$$$
3. Venus and Mars (1975) …are more than all right tonight. Almost edged out Ram. MVC Rating: 4.0/$$
2. Ram – (1971) and overly criticized as Beatle break-up anger is still in the air. Critics chose Lennon as the genius at the expense of clear headed reviews of McCartney’s music. Paul’s stuff was easier to make fun of. Silly Songs, et.al. On this record Uncle Albert seemed like more silly fluff but I really grew to love that Abbey Road kind of song switch-up (kinda like Queen in Bohemian Rhapsody.) ‘Too Many People’ is a fan favorite. Me being the fan. MVC Rating: 4/0/$$$
1. Band on the Run: (1973) This is best. Best writing. Best song for song. Best thinly disguised metaphor for a put upon Paul. Just what do you do when laden with mountains of expectations. RUN!
Even a characteristically silly song, such as Mrs. Vanderbilt, is good. MVC Rating: 4.5/$$$
I was invited to speak this morning at an Alzheimer’s lecture series in Birmingham sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. It went well.
I was pleased to be invited but I didn’t want to ‘lecture’ in the negative meaning of that word. I told my story of diagnosis. I talked about my decision to ‘come out’ in my early stages and told them I believe I can be an advocate as a writer describing what I am going through for as long as my illness allows me .
I also touched on the lack of awareness people have on the subject of Lewy body dementia.
Well, I believe I heard them say that they would help promote MikeMadness. That’s a great start. We may be different diseases but we are all one brain. (Um I think I should work on that phrase a little.)
Still room for more teams in the hoops tournament for Lewy bod dementia awareness and research. See www.mikemadness.org
ME: (To man on the street. Waiting for the light to change.) You know I’ve never done this before.
MAN: Done what? (Looks me up and down with a mixture of confusion and hostility).
ME: Oh, I can’t tell you yet, I’m not sure if I’ve been authorized. But, (I lean a little closer) it involves dunking.
MAN: Oh hoops. You gonna try to dunk (slight smile on face as he sizes me up again. Yes this is a balding 59-year-old white man, he confirms). You? Dunk? No way. (Man was laughing now).
ME: Yes way. OK, I can tell you it will happen after the MikeMadness Basketball Tournament. You heard of that?
MAN: Well now that you mention it, I saw a poster about that. Gonna be at UAB?
ME: Yes, UAB Recreation Center, July 20, 8 a.m. You should get three buddies and sign up. It costs $150 a team and it’s for a good cause, to raise money for Lewy body dementia. It’s a fatal brain disease and I have it. I’m Mike of MikeMadness.
ME: (Laughing) No no, it’s not contagious. I’ve had it for three years and I’m still working, playing basketball and now this dunking. Oops don’t repeat that.
MAN: You telling me you are going to be dunking?
ME: Well, it involves me and it involves dunking. That’s all I can say now. Except it also involves some celebrity types like a certain Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist will be going for a dunk.
MAN: Where is this going to be?
ME: The after party and dunking will be after the tournament, starting at 1 p.m., at TrimTab brewery. It’s at 2721 5th Ave South in Birmingham.
MAN: And that Pulitzer Prize guy, you aren’t talking about John Archibald are you?
ME: Yes but don’t tell anybody, I’m not authorized yet. There’ll probably be other celebrities like disc jockeys and athletes. Last year Trent Richardson and Buck Johnson showed up.
MAN: You mean Archibald is gonna dunk? (Now laughing harder).
ME: Let’s just say, me and John will be called the ‘Splash Brothers.”
MAN: Well, let’s go then!
ME: Heck yeah, let’s go. (I reach out for a fist bump).
MAN: No, I mean the light has changed, time to cross.
THE FINE PRINT:Sign up now on the link above or go to mikemadness.org The tournament is free to watch July 20 from 8 am to about noon. Teams consist of three or four (if you want a substitute, most do) and team entry fee is $150. Sure to be collectible T-shirts, for $15 each, and are purple this year in honor of Prince who was, we hear, a great basketball player in his day. New this year will will be a 3-point contest. Entry fee is $20. I’m looking forward to seeing who will come in second place. The after party at TrimTab is at 1 p.m. and it’s free. The brewery will donate 10 percent of its proceeds during this time. Remember this is all about raising money for Lewy body dementia a killer brain disease which I have. Last two years we raised $25,000 combined. I’m looking to match that two-year-total this year with $25,000 bringing the total to $50K in three years. Ambitious yes? But important. Money raised will be going to Lewy body research at UAB and the Lewy Body Dementia Association. For more on my living with the disease plus music, check out www.myvinylcountdown.com
The five key shapers of my love of music are all men. I say that only because I just noticed it as I began writing this. The father of three daughters I don’t feel sexist in this regard, but maybe I am.
My five key shapers are The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Wilson Picket/Otis Redding, Prince and Bob Marley.
Hank Williams Sr. barely missed the cut.
I cheated I know with Redding Pickett, but they were big soul belters that startled this skinny kid in Georgia when I first heard them and fell in love with their songs. (Don’t Let the Green Grass Fool You by Pickett hooked me from the radio.)
Prince was my James Brown, Little Richard altogether as those guys were before my time. And Prince channeled these guys (Sly Stone and MJ as well) into some of the most dynamic music of the 80s and 90s.)
British invaders, The Rolling Stones, some might say is too much like the Beatles but that’s not true. They are very different. At first it was the Beatles creating everything a rock band would be, good vocals, good songwriting, good musicians, genius production and engineering. The Stones came along and deconstructed all of that. Raw, simpler, looser. Black music for white kids who wanted the guitars turned up on blues-based rock. A lot of my friends were one or another: Beatles or Stones.
Then came Marley. Jammin’ with an aromatic cloud overhead. I didn’t expect to like him, but grew to love his music which could be rebellious, politically aware and sweet and kind.
Songs like ‘No Woman No Cry’ and ‘Redemption Song’ and ‘Is This Love’ and ‘Stir It Up.’ If you haven’t tried Marley start with this one, a compilation of ‘hits’ called ‘Legend.’ Another favorite I used to have on vinyl but is MIA was ‘Natty Dread.’
‘Babylon by Bus’ is a good two-record live album.
From Natty Dread’s No Woman no Cry
No, woman no cry No, woman no cry No, woman no cry Said, said, said I remember when we used to sit In the government yard in Trenchtown Ob-observing the hypocrites As they would mingle with the good people we meet (meet) Good friends we have, oh, good friends we’ve lost Along the way (way) In this great future, you can’t forget your past So dry your tears, I say
And no, woman, no cry.
Speaking of women. I swear I have lots of women, on record that is. My beloved Catherine introduced to me to Carole King and Carly Simon.
I have Heart, Janis Joplin, the Bangles, Diana Ross, the Marvelettes, Emmylou Harris, Joni Mitchell, Madonna, Stevie Nicks, an all-female hard rock group called Fanny, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynettte, Aretha Franklin, Bonnie Raitt, Nancy Griffith, Indigo Girls, the Shirelles, Melanie, Joan Baez, and many other ‘mixed’ groups like B-52’s, the Crams, Mamas and Papas, Sly and Family Stone, the Staple Singers, a Group called Smith, Eurythmics and so on.
While I enjoy much of those none were pivotal to me in transforming or greatly expanding my musical tastes. Janis and Aretha were close. But by then I was softened up to listen to them. Mavis Staples of the Staple Singers BTW has one of my favorite soulful voices.
NOTE: After I published this I realized I did not mention Dolly Parton. I watched her show with Porter Wagoner on black and white TV, probably in the late 1960s, early 70s. Sunday mornings. Been a fan ever since.
My hands are in the hunt and peck mode now. Time to stop, shake them out and look for that ‘November Rain,’ I mean June Rain, out the window.
But first ..
A FUN SNAKE FACT: I read a story today about snakes, saying they aren’t aggressive and don’t attack, usually. It said when a snake bites a human, alcohol was involved 40 percent* of the time.
I say if nearly half our snakes are drunk, we better be even more careful.
* (update 40 percent, not 70 and that’s referencing humans not the snakes.)
Perfect harmonies. Big bold singing voices. Mama Cass. California Dreamin.’
These are the things I think of when I think of this singing group.
And during their prime, they really were larger than life.
California Dreamin’ is such a perfect ‘state’ song. It made me wonder what the best song about a state is? That one has to be near the top.
Well there’s ‘Georgia on My Mind’ as sung by the great Ray Charles. Of course ‘Sweet Home Alabama. Sweet Virginia by the Stones. Yellow Rose of Texas a traditional folk song but Hoyt Axton is known for his version. Private Idaho by my hometown band B-52s . This could go on forever but don’t forget this one: “The Moon is Bigger in Alabama.”
This greatest hits album also has Creeque Alley, kinda of a here’s-how-we- got-here song that has the memorable line: And the only one getting fat is Mama Cass.
Their song ‘Monday Monday’ could also start a list-sickle song like the state songs. ‘Manic Monday’ by the Bangles via Prince; Tuesday’s Gone by Skynyrd; Friday on my Mind by the Easybeats; I Dont like Mondays by the Boomtown Rats.
There’s more. Hit the comments if you want to add more. Because there are many, but I’ve got to go, trying to make that Midnight Train to Georgia.
