trout fishing in heckscher park

This past Wednesday was another free concert -- this time Trout Fishing in America at Heckscher Park in Huntington. It was part of the 48th Annual Huntington Arts Festival. Every year Huntington puts on a series of free concerts in the park. I've seen TFiA there a couple times before. Others I've seen there include Carlene Carter (country music royalty), and Mallory Lewis (daughter of Shari Lewis).

One thing I noticed was that it was an unusually short set. I don't know if that was because of the heat, or their exhaustion (they had driven down during the day from Mohonk Mountain House). Yet they hung around afterwards to sign autographs and take pictures. They were playing with some of the kids in attendance. Ezra marvelled at the bullfrog that my daughter (or was it the younger of my sons?) had caught in the pond. In a way I'm glad he was off doing something else when the kids came back fifteen minutes later with the duck they had caught.

Most of the set consisted of the songs one might expect from TFiA. "My Hair Had a Party Last Night," "18 Wheels on a Big Rig," "Pico De Gallo." It was great when they played "Simon Says," since we were at the show with a HelpXer named Simon. I was surprised that they didn't play "100 Little Ducks." Keith seems to really hate that song -- I honestly don't know if that's real or an affectation for the act. I do have two comments (one positive and one negative) about the set list.

The negative: They played "Don't Touch My Stuff." This is a recent song that Keith and Ezra wrote in response to their van being broken into (and many of their musical instruments being stolen). It's an angry song -- and I certainly understand that -- and it just doesn't fit properly in their show. Their songs are happy and playful. Or wistful. But not angry. That angry chorus and that loud driving bass line sound jarring in one of their concerts. I realize that it's cathartic, but I'll be happy when they retire it from their regular set list. That said, I would like to hear a studio version of the song. Just not on one of their albums, where it will sound similarly out of place. Maybe they can release it as a non-album single?

The positive: "Lullaby" was the penultimate song. That is one of those Trout songs that I love. When I hear it I just close my eyes and think "This is my favorite song of theirs." Of course, there are quite a few songs that I react that way to -- "King of My Mountain" and "No Matter What Goes Right" come to mind -- so the word favorite kind of loses its meaning. But still. That's just one of those perfect songs that I wish I'd written.

Following are live videos of "Don't Touch My Stuff" and "Lullaby." Neither is from the show we were at, but enjoy them anyway.

Three more notes regarding Trout:
Fred Bogert doesn't tour with Trout anymore, which is a shame. I still like the music, but they had more freedom with a third person on stage. On the piano, Fred made "We weary Deer" something special. Of course, they don't do that song anymore, so I guess that's not an issue. I also really appreciated Fred. After one of their shows (more than five years ago) I spoke to Fred about music, songwriting and making demos. He was wonderfully gracious, and even gave me his email address. After a few emails he recommended a studio in Nashville that he said could produce good demos. County Q Studios produced my demo of "Jackpot," and that is by far the best-quality demo I have. But I believe Fred stopped touring in order to devote more time to his wife. I could be wrong about that, but I have a vague recollection of Keith or Ezra telling me that. At any rate, I wish him well, even if I miss seeing him perform with the others.

They are now working on their next album, Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers, which is slated for release later this year. It can be preordered from their website, www.troutmusic.com

Keith and Ezra definitely seem to recognize my family at their New York area shows. I'm not narcissistic enough to think they know our names or anything, but still... Actually, I have mixed feelings about their apparent recognition. As a fan, I am gratified by a connection that I feel as if I have with the musician. On the other hand, I wish they would get more of the recognition they deserve. It would be great if so many New Yorkers would realize how great these musicians are that they would never recognize us within the huge crowds that are swarming to see them.

on the difficulty of writing parodies

In a recent post I presented the lyrics (as best as I remember them, anyway) of the one parody song I ever wrote.

I was talking about parodies with a co-worker (whom I will call Aryeh because I feel like it) who thinks writing a song parody is easier than writing an original song. I disagree. Aryeh says that writing a parody provides structure. I think it's more accurate to say that it imposes structure.

A good parody is more than just a song written to the tune of another song. For a parody to be any good, there have to be other elements elements that evoke the original, be they parallel structures or words that sound similar to words in the original -- particularly in the title. Part of what makes Allan Sherman's "Harvey and Sheila," "Won't You Come Home, Disraeli" and "My Zelda" work is that the titles sound similar to "Hava Nagila," "Won't You Come Home, Bill Bailey" and "Matilda." And I think the parts that work best in my "Game of Pac Man" parody are the ones that clearly remind the listener of the original song. For example, "And the sign said the score that is highest is written on the Pac Man screen" which is similar to "And the sign said the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls."

But while a good parody should be similar to and evocative of the original, it can't be too similar. If a parody has too few words changed, then there's not enough payoff. I remember once hearing some performer in a comedy club doing what she introduced as a parody of Cyndi Lauper's ""Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." But it just consisted of replacing the word "fun" everytime that title line appeared. The first time it was "Girls just want to have sex." Then "Girls just want to have cock." Then...well, you get the idea. There just asn't enough to make it funny. I suppose if she had ended it with "Girls just want to have a chance to be taken seriously and paid the same as a man would be paid for doing the same job in the same circumstances and with the same experience," then it may have been funny in a kind of anti-funny way.

So it's a tight rope to walk. And it's never been my thing. I much prefer the freedom of writing something original. I can vary the melody as needed, or put in just the right number of verses. And if one verse is shorter, then I have the freedom to be clever with it and just make that part of the song.

But my hat is off to Allan Sherman and Weird Al Yankovic who could write damn good parodies.

I sign off with one video of each.

in the church of bobtown

Another Bobtown concert, though this one was on the east end of Long Island -- about 85 miles away in Southold.

It was supposed to be one of those free outdoor concerts -- part of the town's summer series of shows, so it seemed like good venue for the whole family. The kids could wabnder around and alleviate their boredom in a way that wouldn't be possible at a conventional indoor venue. And I was looking forward to enjoying the music with my wife. After the last show, when I eagerly played the Bobtown CDs I had just purchased, she was impressed by the quality and originality of the music.

But we got a late start -- the HelpXer staying with us wanted to come, but we had to meet him at the subway. His train was delayed, so he didn't get in the car until almost 6:00. So we set off, hoping to get to a concert set to start at 7:00 while the GPS estimated a trip of over an hour and a half, and we knew we'd run into heavy rush hour traffic.

So we're driving there, and I'm going nutsoid with frustration -- after I missed their last performance in the area (due to my own brainfart), I was annoyed at the prospect of missing this. Especially knowing that it would be months before my next chance to see them. Ihen we're getting closer. It looks like we'll get there at around 7:30. So I'm thinking maybe if they started late I'll get to see the end of the show. And damn. The road is closed. Detour. Fuck! This is going to add another ten minutes to the trip.

We get to the park, and it's deserted. Empty. But there's a small sign. Due to the potential for rain, they've moved the concert to the First Presbyterian Church of Southold (a few blocks away), and it's at 7:30. Whew! The long drive has not been in vain. We get to the church, and decide that the kids at this venue would likely be disastrous. So I go in alone. My wife and kids (and the HelpXer) go the beach. The show's already underway, but it doesn't look like it's winding down. Maybe I missed a few songs, but there's still more show to see.

First (or is it too late for "first"  given that this is like the sixth paragraph?) a word about the venue and the audience. Bobtown were clearly not doing a hometown show. I wasn't the only one there familiar with them, but it appeared that most of the people hadn't heard of them. As I was going into the church, a family walking up asked if this was where the concert was. I said "I hope so. It's Bobtown, right?" They seemed puzzled, and said that it's Southold, and that they didn't know where Bobtown is. I shrugged and went in.

Between songs I heard lots of comments along the lines of "how interesting" and "they have such great harmonies." It was an older crowd, and I gathered that it was mostly locals who worked the weekly concert series into their schedule, without knowing who was performing.But they went over very well. People were into it -- including the old guy in the row behind me who was keeping the beat on the back of my seat. Not that I'm complaining about that -- I had too good a time for something small like that to bother me.

The venue, an old church (it was established in like 1640), actually seemed somewhat appropriate for the band (notwithstanding the few songs that have a sacrilegious tone). Gospel is a strong influence on the Bobtown sound, so the music didn't seem out of place. And the stagey area (I don't know what you call it) served to frame them very nicely.

Of course, the music was very similar to what I saw the first time I saw them play (back in April), but this time I had heard the songs before, so I could follow along (even if I couldn't sing along). There were too many highlights to list them all, but a few follow:

Mama's Got the Backbeat: Jen McDearman has an incredible set of pipes. This is one song I didn't really like when I first heard it -- after learning that Alan Lee Backer was in this band, I found them on the web to give a listen and this was the first song I tried out. It has grown on me since then, though I will say it's better in concert than on CD.

Magilla Lee: This is my favorite from their two albums. It's just such a catchy melody. For some reason I think of Carlene Carter when I hear it. Not sure why.

Jesus Walking on the Water: This is a fun little number that sounds like something Mojo Nixon would have recorded. After running through this, they offered a free CD to whoever could identify the band that did that originally. Without thinking I called out "The Violent Femmes" in what was sort of a cross between puzzlement and triumph. It seemed like they kind of heard me say something, but didn't know what I said. I then realized that the reason I knew it was a Violent Femmes song was that they did the same thing back in April. Since it doesn't seem cricket to get a free album that way (using the knowledge of the answer that I gained by hearing the same question last time), I clammed up. They announced that it was the Violent Femmes and moved on. I'll note that the Violent Femmes will get one extra sale on Amazon because I heard Bobtown's version of their song.

Rattle Them Bones: Or some similar title. This is sort of a playful variant of Jim Carroll's "People Who Died." Fred Stesney's Fred Schneider-like vocals are perfect for this. It's too fast for me to pick up on all the lyrics. I was happy to hear that this is likely to be on their next album.

And that is one difference between this show and the one back in April. They specifically talked about working on songs for the next album. I asked Katherine Etzel afterwards if they are looking for material. Sadly, they're not. I understand even if I'm disappointed. It wasn't really professional of me to ask her that, but, well, nothing ventured nothing gained. I did suggest that "Poor Ellen Smith" would be a good song for them to cover. But looking on Youtube, I can't find any renditions as good as the Milner Brothers' on their album Haven't Lost a Thing (which, coincidentally, has my composition, "Music No One Else Can Hear." And now we have come full circle. Katherine confirmed that they'll be back on Kickstarter, so I'll be able to pledge and get them to record one of my songs. Presumably I can then use that recording as a demo to shop the song around.

The band was selling CDs, but they decided to let the customers pay what they felt was appropriate. I already have copies of both discs, but I did buy another copy of each, which I plan to give to my friend, Tall Judy. She plays in a contra-dance band, and I think she'll like these albums.

a band name i'd like to see

Cold-Blooded Animals with Limbic Brains

That was a phrase my daughter uttered when she was asking me about biology.

and speaking of tommy james...

What, exactly, is a shondell?

the one parody i wrote

Listening to Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sounds of Silence," I had a vague memory from 30-plus years ago. I was in high school, writing songs. That was my most prolific period as a songwriter, if you don't consider quality. Translated: I wrote crappy songs, but I wrote a lot of them. Anyway, I recall one of the songs I wrote was titled "The Game of Pac Man." It was a parody of "The Sounds of Silence." As best as I recall, it was the only full song parody I ever wrote. Oh, I wrote isolated lines or phrases of parody here or there. And I have written a few verses of parody here and there. Not that I committed them to paper. But I wrote them in my head. An example is John Hiatt's "She Don't Love Nobody." It was, however, obscene, so I'll not recount the lyrics here and now.

I wish I could recall the exact lyrics to "The Game of Pac Man." Following is the best I can recall:

Hello Pac Man my, old friend.
I've come to play with you again
Because a gremlin slowly creeping
Ate me up while I was sleeping.
And the gremlin that is driving me insane
Still remain
Within the game of Pac Man.

In the arcade I walked alone.
In the aisles I still roam
Beneath the bright glow of a Pac Man screen
I turn around and let out a scream.
When my eyes were stabbed by the pills of enourmous size
That energize
Within the game of Pac Man.

And in the naked light I saw
10,000 Pac Men, maybe more
Pac Men chasing without catching
Pac Men eating without retching
Pac Men eating dots that gremlins never shared
No one dared
Disturb the game of Pac Man

"Fools" said I, "you do not know
Obsessions like a cancer grow.
Give me the stick I beseach you.
Watch my play that I might I teach you."
But my words, like silent Pac Man fell
And echoed in the well of Pac Man.

And the people stayed and played.
And the little pills they ate.
And the screen flashed out its warning
'Cause many points they were scoring
And the sign said the score that is highest
Is written on the Pac Man screen
And that would mean
You've beaten the game of Pac Man.
Whether it was a good parody or not is up for debate. Certainly there were good elements.

But I'm not really into writing song parodies. More about that in a nother post if I ever get around to it.

no justice in the world

Today I learned that, while Tommy James' "I Think We're Alone Now" peaked at #4 on the charts, the cover version by Tiffany went all the way to number 1. There is no justice in the world.

latest order from amazon

Today saw the arrival of a couple of albums that I ordered on Amazon. I hjaven't been able to listen to either one yet, so I can't comment on the music.

The Album After the Last One by the Toy Dolls is (to my knowledge) the band's most recent release. The one before it was called Our Last Album. Looks like their sense of humor is holding up. The song titles are classic Toy Dolls: "Credit Crunch Christmas," "Dirty Doreen" and "Don't Drive Yer Car Up Draycott Avenue." None of them matches my favorites, but they're pretty good. Also, the booklet insert includes lyrics and some great crisp clear concert photos.

Life on the Line by Eddie and the Hot Rods is a CD-reissue of the second-generation pub rock band. It has most of what is the band's strongest material -- "Quit This Town," "Telephone Girl" and their best-known track, "Do Anything You Wanna Do." As with other reissues on the Captain Oi! label, there are plenty of bonus tracks. A couple of them are listed as being "with Robin Tyner," so I'll have to look up who Robin Tyner is. Also typical of Captain Oi! rereleases, this has liner notes that are at once interesting and annoying. I'm surprised that I hadn't bought this reissue before now -- especially since I have a couple of compilations on CD that are really just inferior to this album. FWIW, their first album Teenage Depression, was also a great disc.

Here's a video from the Toy Dolls album:

And one from Eddie:

And, for the record, my favorite song titles from The Toy Dolls are "The Ashbrooke Launderette (You'll Stink, Yer Clothes'll Shrink, Yer Whites'll Be as Black as Ink)" "If You're in a Pop Group You'll End Up Paying a Fortune Practicing at Peter Practice's Practice Place" and "Queen Alexandra Road is Where She Said She'd Be, But Was She There to Meet Me…No Chance"

music for the chief actuary

My employer recently hired a new Chief Actuary. For the purposes of this post I will refer to her by the initials IL because that's the abbreviation for Illinois, which is one of my fifty most favorite states.

Anyway, IL has been having a series of one-on-one meetings with the actuaries. During her meeting with me, I mentioned that I write songs as a hobby. It came up because we were discussing some of the regularly scheduled actuarial-wide meetings, and I mentioned that I spoke at the last one. My topic was a song that an employee wrote (and recorded on a 78-rpm record) some 65 years ago. My presentation was the light portion of the afternoon's program. Anyway, I explained to IL that it was natural for me to present that topic since I write songs. That led to some obvious questions. "Anything published?" I was able to proudly note that I wrote a song that was recorded on a dozen-selling CD. "What style?" I explained that I generally write country music of one sort or another.

And that's true. I don't try to write C&W. But somehow everything I write sounds country. "Jackpot"? That's modern Nashville. "Five Missing One"? That's old style Western. The idea I have been toying with now (without going into detail, it's a novelty song)? Sounds like something ray Stevens would have penned.

As luck would have it, IL is a country music fan. So we talked a bt about music. She also likes Bruce Springsteen -- which I was able to relate to Dave Edmunds via "From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)," a song that Bruce wrote for Dave.

By the end of the meeting I had promised to make her a CD of some of my demos. She said she'd bring it into her car and give a listen. I casually suggested three as the number of tracks to put on the disc, making it sound like I was being considerate in not wanting to overwhelm her with dozens of demos. In reality, I only have three demos worthy of getting spread around. Gee, I hope that if she reads this blog she doesn't figure out it's me.

I also hope that, if she likes my songs, she has connections in the country music world.

some videos from wilko's career

The last thing I posted was my goodbye to Wilko Johnson. As a followup, I figure I should link to some videos of him. Here goes:

Wilko as part of Dr. Feelgood (he was the guitarist)

Doing "Cairo Blues," after he left the Feelgoods

Wilko explains his guitar technique, and performs "Goin' Back Home"

Wilko on British television, discussing his diagnosis

goodbye, wilko

I learned from a colleague at work that Wilko Johnson is ill. He has cancer and is not expected to live for very long.

For the uninitiated, Wilko Johnson was a singer, guitarist and sogwriter. He is probably best known as one of the founding members of Dr. Feelgood, though he was also part Ian Dury's backup group, The Blockheads, he was leader of the Solid Senders, and a solo artist. He had a peculiar style of guitar playing that enabled him to sound like two guitarists at once -- playing both rhythm and lead. If memory serves (and I am too lazy right now to check), he nicked that from Mick Green.

I have, in this blog, written about Wilko, so I'll not go into great detail here -- which is not to say that I am swearing off writing longer posts about him.

I'd be overstating things if I were to say that I will mourn Wilko's death. I am a fan of his, but I am not his friend or relative, and I will leave the mouring to those who knew him and will have a real loss in their life. That said, I will feel sad at his passing, and I will think of the hours of pleasure his musicianship has given me. There are the songs he wrote -- "Roxette," "She Does It Right," "You Shouldn't Call The Doctor (If You Can't Afford the Bills)." And there were others, but I'll stop at three. I remember when I first heard his solo album, Ice on the Motorway.

Thank you, Wilko.

brainfarted out of seeing bobtown

Well, I'm bummed. After seeing Bobtown perform (a couple months back), I was looking forward to seeing them in June at the Beczak (I may be misspelling it) Center in Yonkers. I was really looking forward to it, but somehow it slipped my mind, and I didn't go.Now I'll have to wait until July 10 to see them in Southold.
Damn brainfarts.

a freecycle load of nothing

Remember how, early in 2012, I got a couple of freecycle batches off CDs in short succession? Those were really successful. Even though they included stuff that I was not interested in and had to pass along, they also had lots of stuff that I was happy to get --especially for free. In fact, truth be told I still haven't finished going through them.

Anyway, I got another batch of CDs. The freecycle entry indicated that many were without the cases. That's OK -- I have extra cases. And in any case, I can buy some. Or take them off the CDs that I'm not interested in from the last batch. This listing also indicated that I'd have to takle everything. That's also no problem. I don't mind going through stuff and picking out what I like.

But this batch was utter garbage. It was mostly homemade CD-Rs without any indication of what was on them. And they were all badly scratched.

You win some, you lose some.

a great album and my mixed feelings

The other night I went out to meet a friend who's moving away. The venue was a small bar/rerstaurant in Sea Cliff. They had a band -- the Rusty String Band -- playing bluegrass. The band was good enough that I was up for buying some recotrded music. Without going into great detail, I ended up buying a solo CD by the fiddler, Russ Seeger.

What's interesting about this is that it's not a bluegrass album. Live in Peace is a strong blues-flavored album.The songs are generally strong -- although -- interestingly, there are a few places where I, thinking as a songwriter was conscious of how my decisions would have been different. Not necessarilly better. Just different. Seeger sings with an invigorating attention-grabbing snarl. The production is crisp, and the arrangements are generally spot on. My favorites are "California Blues"and the country-flavored "Towne Called Mercy." I hadn't heard about Seeger before Friday's show, but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the disc. Following is a video of the title track:

This was not my favorite track on the album, but I didn't see any videos for my favorites. So this is what I'm posting.

Now, all that said, my enthusiasm is somewhat diminished by something else I found while I was looking for videos to accompany this post. A video for another song by Seeger that expresses an acidic fantasy of the deaths of Bush administration players and others who supported the war in Iraq. This is accompanied by various images, most notable being one of President Bush as a vampire biting the neck of the statue of liberty. Musically, the track is great. But the imagery is over the top, and the message is one I cannot support. There wasn't anything remotely close to this on the album I bought. Or if there was, then it was during a part of the album that played when I wasn't paying close attention (or it was subtle enough that I missed it). But I'm human and my feelings for the music will be tainted by my associating it with "Heroes." I'll let you judge for yourself:

wreckless eric collection complete

My Wreckless Eric collection is complete. More or less. I got a used copy of A Roomful of Monkeys, the album he did ion 1985 with The Captains of Industry. I'd been looking for it for a while, and couldn't find it. But there it was on Amazon. Of course, this copy is on vinyl, so I'll have to copy it to CD through my computer. That'll be tricky. I have a USB turntable, but I got it several years ago. Our new computer has the 64-bit version of Windows 7, and I don't know if the software that came with the turntable is compatible. Of course, I don't even know if I still have the disc that came with the turntable. Maybe I'll just download Audacity. That should work.

By way of background, after Wreckless Eric left Stiff records, he became -- how to be diplomatic? -- less prominent. For a good stretch of time, I really wasn't into keeping up with his album releases. Remember, this was before the intertubes really took off. It wasn't quite as easy then to keep up with whether an artist is still recording, or find copies of albums. As that changed, I became better and better able to keep up with news. At some point I learned that Eric had albums that I hadn't known about -- Karaoke, which he realeased under his real name (Eric Goulden), and a few albums that he recorded as a member of bands -- two albums with the Len Bright Combo, one by the Hitsville House band and one with The Captains of Industry.

It was reasonably easy to get the LBC and HHB albums on CD. But the CoI album has eluded me. At one concert, Eric explained to me that there are some legal questions standing in the way of the album being reissued. Something about no one knowing for sure who owns the recordings. But now, after repeated searching (OK -- occaisonal searching) on Amazon, I found a copy. I don't honestly know if the album ever made it to CD. But this copy will. Of course, I haven't even had a chance to listen to it yet.

the animals -- we gotta get out of this place

In response to a comment on the previous post, I present a video of The Anuimals doing "We Gotta Get Out of This Place"

on mistaking covers for the originals

After the Bobtown show last Friday night, I was chatting briefly with one of the singers (I think it was Jen McDearman) about their cover version of the Blue Oyster Cult song, "Don't Fear the Reaper."  I noted that, while I had heard of the song, I wasn't really familiar with what it sounded like.

Actually, I'm kind of puzzled here. I had this whole memory of Blue Oyster Cult having gotten heavy criticism because some teenager commited suicide and it was somehow blamed on the song. I was sure I could get some details by looking up the song on Wikipedia. But there's no mention of any real controversy. The closest I can find is a quote from Buck Dharma:

I felt that I had just achieved some kind of resonance with the psychology of people when I came up with that, I was actually kind of appalled when I first realized that some people were seeing it as an advertisement for suicide or something that was not my intention at all. It is, like, not to be afraid of it (as opposed to actively bring it about). It's basically a love song where the love transcends the actual physical existence of the partners.

Maybe they were criticized for supposedly encouraging suicide, but weren't blamed for any specific suicide?

Anyway, Jen commented that it was a good thing -- I will always know that song for their version and not for BOC's. And that reminded me of growing up. There were several sopngs that I knew better via their cover versions than by the better known hit versions.

Prominent example? "We Gotta Get Out of This Place." I knew it as a Partridge Family song because it was on their Notebook album, which my sister had. It was only years later, when I saw an ad in a catalogue for an Animals compilation, did I learn of the better-known rendition. While I love the Animals's hit, I also have a soft-spot for the Partridge Family's version. You can listen to it here:

Another example was "Me And You and a Dog Named Boo," which I knew by the Brady Bunch version -- my sister had their album, Meet the Brady Bunch. I only learned of my folly when I was at a friend's house.Her older sister had a friend over, and they were listening to the radio. On comes Lobo's hit version. I said something like "That's a Brady Bunch song!" What a look I got. Unlike the Partride Family cover I mentioned above, this was a horrendous cover. Judge for yourself:

The Brady bunch cover of "American Pie" (yes, it was years before I learned that it was not their song originally) was even worse:

Of course, I remember at summer camp explaining to someone that "Daydream Believer" wasn't originally an Anne Murray song. So at least then I got to feel superior

great misheard lyrics

I've heard lots of variations of the misheard lyric meme.

"There's a bathroom on the right"? Heard it.
"Let's pee in the corner"? Heard it.
"The dude I'm in"? Heard it.

But there is one that I heard recently that I hadn't heard before. Instead of "Smoke on the Water," someone quoted a lyric as "Slow Uncle Walter."

I like that.

a (probably) overlong story of how i came to hear of bobtown

"Alan Lee Backer is playing on Long island Friday night." I was trying to prepare a presentation for work. My wife was checking into activities for the kids, when the email came in on her computer. And that comment was what led to my seeing Bobtown yesterday (see yesterday's post). For I am an Alan Lee Backer fan.

Some (OK, a ton of) background: in college -- actually, I don't remember if it was college or the years shortly thereafter -- I saw the Beat Farmers play at the Lonestar Roadhouse. The Lonestar was a C&W bar /restaurant / venue on 57th Street in Manhattan. It's no longer around. Anyway, I was one of the few people who came around early enough to catch the opening act -- a local country-flavored band called Five Chinese Brothers. They gave me a copy of their single, "Baltimore," which was out on Diesel Only Records. Diesel Only specialized in New York country-flavored singles. Often it was truck driving music. They also provided me some of my earliest experiences with alt-rock. Influenced by the Five Chinese Brothers's single, I eventually bought a copy of each of the brand's singles that were still available. Actually I bought two copies of each -- my Christmas present tro Desmond that year was one copy. One of my favorites was "Two Hearts (Tender Lovin' and True)" by the Twanglers. I wish I could find a Youtube video of it, but I can't. FWIW, here's a video of the Twanglers live doing "My Babe:"

I loved "Two Hearts," but that single (and the song's appearance on Diesel Only's compilation, Rig Rock Jukebox, was all I had of the Twanglers. I bought the three Five Chinese Brother albums as they came out. Those were the days when I still bought a lot of albums. I had a job and no kids. Money flowed freer then. From the liner notes I could see the names of the brothers. One of them had even played in a band with a guy I was freinds with in college. Small world. Anyway, the Twanglers never did an album. So I loved the track, but never knew names or anything. One of the names that I didn't know was Alan Backer.

Nearly twenty years later, I was with the family at the Long Island Children's Museum. We were there for a performance by Ken Waldman, Alaska's fiddlin' poet. I should write a post about him. No promises. Anyway, he recites his freeform poetry while playing the fiddle. On this occasion, he had a drummer backing him up. I recognized the drummer. I was sure opf it. But I couldn't quite tell from where. At the end of the show, Ken thanked him by name. It was Charlie Shaw. I knew that name. From somewhere. But I couldn't place it. So I approached him and asked if he had been in any New York area bands that I might have seen him in. Among the many names he reeld off was Five Chinese Brothers. I responded by reciting lyrics from "Baltimore." So we talked music for a while. I mentioned other bands that I liked from Diesel Only. Including the Twanglers. He mentioned that he's in a new band called The Wicked Messengers with a couple of the guys from The Twanglers. Really? So I got the information.

Some time later I went to see them play at Hill Country, a Texas-style barbecue restaurant in Manhattan. I surprised Alan Backer before the show by asking him to autograph my copy of the Twanglers' single. I mentioned that it was one of my favorite songs. I later learned that he wrote it, so I must have sounded like I was just buttering him up, but I was being honest. It was great show. I saw the Messengers play a couple of other times -- they do a great show. But between work and family commitments, I don't get out to see them as much as I'd like. They do a karaoke show at Hill Country on Tuesdays, and I hear that's a great show. It's sort of like karaoke, except instead of having pre-recorded music, you have a live band behind you. Here's a video of someone doing Billy Joel's "You May Be Right:"

It's difficult for me to work that in. I should make a point of picking a Tuesday and going. Come hell or high water.

Anyway, As I posted yesterday, I almost didbn't make it to see Bobtown. But I'm glad I did. And Alan even gave me a copy of the Wicked Messengers' second album, Livin' Fast

Anyway, I leave you with Bobtown doing "Hell and Gone." I admit that I can't tell if this is the version from before Alan became a member.

a night in bobtown

Thank God for parkour. Earlier this week I heard of a concert that was really tempting. I wanted to go.

But it wasn't going to happen. I've been a workaholic recently -- one of the reasons I've been blogging so sparsely. I have a lot to get done for work, and this week has been particularly tough for me. Tuesday I had to make a presentation at work. I may blog about it since it was about music, but I may not since it was about music about the company and I'll have to remove so much that any interesting aspects will be lost. Anyway, I lost a full day of my "real" work to that. And a half day on Wednesday taking my youngest to the dentist. So despite wanting to go see this show, I probably would have missed it.

But I lucked out and was saved from myself. The kids wanted to go to a Friday parkour class. It just so happens that the class was near the venue (a library in Long Beach) and it staretd at the same time. So we all went out. My wife driopped me off at the library and went off to parkour with the kids.

I can't stress enough how glad I am that this worked out. The band was a five-piece called "Bobtown." According to the introduction, Bobtown was originally an acapella group that Katherine Etzel put together as a vehicle for her field hollers. She learned that artform working on farms in Iowa. The band is different now -- for starters, it's not acapella. But there is a heavy emphasis on vocal styling  - they feature some of the most haunting vocal harmonies I can recall hearing. The style can best be described as eclectic. There are songs that sound like gospel with an appalachian flavor. At one point they sounded like Motown with banjoes. And there was one song, "Resurrection Mary," that sounded like an Andrews Sisters number. Oh, and I loved their cover of Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper." For another cover (though not one they performed at this particular show), follow the following link (which, for some reason, I can'tr seem to embed in this post):

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di7zx9rHMBw

One thing that I found interesting was the visual aspect of the band. Ther's no big drum kit. There was plenty of percussion -- spoons, a triangle. And Etzel herself was playing a small drum, and had a small suitcase rigged up for use as a kick drum. Interesting.

My big regret? They were on Kickstarter about a year ago. See their plea video:

I wish I'd known. For a $500 pledge, they would record a cover version of a song of your choosing. Did the pledger have the option of choosing a song he or she wrote? That's an option I would have loved to go with -- similar to my donation to Wreckless Eric's and Amy Rigby's Kickstarter campaign. Or for $501, the pledger gets the cover version and an appearance in one of their videos. Too late. Maybe there'll be another campaign for their next album?

five missing one -- well, the lyrics anyway

I finally got around to registering the copyright on "Five Missing One," the song I wrote last year. I recorded a demo with HP Mendoza when my family visited him in december. I blogged about it back then. The process of registering the copyright online is remarkably easy, once one gets over one's natural tendency to procrastinate over any task that's not entirely familiar.

So now, with copyright registered, I present the lyrics:

Five Missing One

 Guiding horses with able hands
Through valleys and tablelands.
Another night by the fire
With the freedom we desire.

We're five but we're missing one.
Ride together under moon and sun.
We had a friend who wouldn't run.
We're five but we're missing one.

He thought it was all for fun.
And in a moment gone.
A day I won't forget.
But a life I can't regret.

We're five but we're missing one.
Ride together under moon and sun.
We had a friend who wouldn't run.
We're five but we're missing one.

He kne the risk. He took the chance.
And gave us his last dance.

So we drink to the family we found
And to the one who's not around.
And we ride on.

We're five but we're missing one.
Ride together 'til the ridin's done.
We had a friend who wouldn't run.
We're five but we're missing one.

I'm kind of proud of it, since I succeeded in a few specific goals. I wanted something that was evocative of the old western songs. Almost a Louis L'Amour novel in musical form. It didn't quite get to LL novel stature, but I managed to get a little bit of s atory in there. I also succeeded in leaving a certain mystery in the story. It's clear that someone died, but I don't say how. That's a biggie. At some point over the last couple of years I had the realization that one of my problems as a songwriter is this urge to fill in every gap. That can make things too cumbersome. If I tried to tell the whole story of how the missing one died, I'd have to add a couple more verses. (at least). And that's not really the point of the song anyway. It would be, I guess, if I had written more verses to completely flesh out the story. But I like this better. And I like the point of the song better this way. I have to remember this going forward. There's one song in particular that I've been toying with for years. If I consciously leave details out, that might help me make progress.

Also, I think I succeeded melodically. If I ever figure out how to add widgets to this blog I can attach my demos so you can listen. Anyway, I got away from the same chord progressions that I tend to fall back on. CDG GDC GDGC. Transpose as you like, but you get the idea. Here the verses are based on going from D to D-suspended then back to D. Then transitioning to A7 via an A7-suspended. Of course, to play it again, I have to reconstruct the exact chord progression. I have an early version on my computer. But I made changes in San Francisco and hand-wrote them. But I lost the copy that I wrote them on. I think I'll manage, because those suspended chords were the only things that were in any way exotic.

There are a couple of people I have to email mp3s to. Maybe I'll get around to it sometime in the 23rd century.

he was trying to eat my guitar

Not long ago my kids went on a tour of a chocolate factory. As a souveneir they brought me a chocolate guitar. I thanked them and set it aside. I knew that if I opened it, I would eat the wghole thing in very short order. Just a bite. Just another bite. Just a little bit more. And before you know it, it's gone. A couple days later, I still hadn't opened it. I came home to the news (courtesy of my daughter) that her younger brother was trying to eat my guitar. I ran upstairs, with visions of him prying my guitar case open -- wondering why he would want to eat a musical instrument. But all was well. He was trying to eat the chocolate guitar.

amy and eric -- the actual concert

I wrote about the social scene at Eric and Amy's concert. And about planning to talk with them about recording. But I didn't actually say a word about the music itself.

To a large extent it was the same stuff I've seen them play a couple of times in recent months -- at a club in Manhattan, and at their house after Hurricane Sandy. But they did throw in a twist. They noted that this concert would emphasize Eric's album, The Donovan of Trash, and her album, Diary of a Mod Housewife. They didn't play the whole albums. But they did play selections from them.

Being a bigger fan of Eric's than of Amy's, I'll talk about the stuff from DoT. Hearing a live version of "Joe Meek," and one of "Birthday Blues" were highlights. I can't help sounding lioke a little fanboy because -- well, I am. That's part of why I, a year plus ago -- explicitly gave up on the idea of doing "reviews" in the traditional sense.

One thing I can do without, though, is their penchant for getting into noise. They do this kind of wall of feedback that I just can't get into. I love seeing them in concert, and that's a price I pay for a show that I generally love. But when Eric starts fiddling with the knobs and they build this, this noise... Welll, at those times I wish i had earplugs.

I was surprised by their choice of closing song -- "Leaving on a Jet Plane." Where the heck did that come from?

the social scene at eric and amy's

The social scene at Eric's and Amy's house on Saturday (for their house concert) was interesting.

I'm not quite sure of the economics for Eric and Amy. Twenty dollars a ticket. There were probably about 40 seats. But I think most of the people there are friends and music industry contacts who don't have to buy a ticket. Certainly many of them are. Talking to people, it almost seems as if what they do is plan a pot-luck dinner party (did I mention, everyone brings some food or drink to share) for their frineds, add a conecrt to the evening's plans and then sell tickets. Maybe not. Maybe it's just what it appears -- a concert to which friends are comped. I'm not complaining either way. Whatever the case is, I'm paying to see a concert, and getting more than my money's worth. As I've said in other posts, the ability to chat with them before and after the show is great.

Anyway, I spent some time talking to a friend of theirs. Norma Coates is a musicologuist who studies music in society. The main questions she looks into have to do with gender roles in rock music. Why is rock music so dominated by men? My wife's answer, by the way, is "follow the money." If I get a chance, I'll do some searching for Professor Coates' research, and maybe talk about it. I've learned from past posts not to say that I will post about this or that. Too many times I have said that I would and haven't. A couple of times Norma mentioned that she bets that by going to a Wreckless Eric/Amy Rigby concert I am doing something hipper this weekend than anyone else I know. Now, I agree with her. But, of course, others who are not into either Eric or Amy may not view itthe same way. I see it as seeing a legend of the new wave/punk era (whom I happen to think makes great music). Others, of a different perspective, may see it as going to see a washed-up has-been reliving his glory days. Either way. I go because I expect that I'll have a good time. Eric and Amy have yet to dissapoint me.

I also spoke to Clay Harper, who is a friend of Eric's. He started a conversation with me by asking what's my favorite Wreckless Eric album. I though a second, and decided on Le Beat Group Electrique, which Eric did in the early '90s. That album sticks in my mind for two songs: "Sarah" and "It's a Sick Sick Sick Sick Sick Sick Sick Sick World." Surprisingly, Clay said that's also his favorite (while expressing surprise that I had named it). Turns out Clay was the special musical guest for the night. Introducing him, Eric explained that after LBGE came out, Clay loved its o much that he flew to France to meet Eric. Of course, he failed to forewarn Eric, who was out of town when Clay arrived. So Clay went home and then wrote to Eric asking what it would take to get him to come to Atlanta to produce an album.

The evening';s full circle moment was when it was mentioned that Clay had been in the Coolies, an alt rock band from Atlanta in the 1980s. I was never very into them, and know little about them. But I have an album of theirs, called Take That, You Bastards. What's noteworthy about the album is that it has a bunch of covers of Simon & Garfunkel songs. I always find it interesting when I learn of a connection between two musical realms that I didn't know were connected.

planning with eric and amy

I went upstate yesterday to attend another Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby house concert (i.e., concert at their house) yesterday.

Before going upstate I emailed them. I still have to record with them, pursuant to their Kickstarter campaign. It's been months, and I've put off contacting them about it. So I typed an email.

I felt I had to explain where I was coming from, since they had expressed surprise when I explained that I'm not a performer. I didn't realize when I learned of the campaign that the chance to record with them was aimed at performers who want recordings of themselves performing. As a longtime fan of Eric's and a songwriter, my thought was "Wow! I can have a recording of Wreckless Eric singing one of my songs. Ultimately I realized that it would be better to have them do a demo of a new song. I pushed hard to finish writing "Five Missing One," and made a rough demo of that with HP when we were on vacation. But meanwhile, on vacation I started writing another song,which I would rather not name yet. Let's just call it WASAM. I think WASAM is better suited to Eric's and Amy's style, since I hear it as a  Nashville type song. Also, it's a positive topic, which my wife prefers. Finally, of course, I have a decent rough demo of "Five Missing One' so I'm better off recording something else wuith them One irony is that the new song is something I hear being sung in a female voice, so it'll probably be Amy's lead vocal. The real catch, though, is that I don't have the dang song completely written. Since I'm doing this to sell my sogwriting, I need to have a complete song. Not that I would mind sharing a copyright with them, but I don't think that's what they're into.

Anyway, the email explained most of that. I showed it to my wife to make sure there was nothing that could offend. She read it, then said to talk to them instead of sending the email. So I wrote a new email in which I asked if I could chat with them after the show. So after the show I talked to Amy and explained pretty much exactly what was in that email. She said they woul;dn't mind working with me to tocuh up a song that's mostly complete. And sharing a copyright, if warranted, is OK.

So what I have to do is make a really rough demo. I have a portable recorder that I bought just for this purpose. I'll email that to them with a lyric sheet.

never give the microphone to a fan

well, that was stupid of me

I was at a function and ran into someone I hadn't seen in about a year. He plays trombone. But for some reason I had it in my head that he plays the saxophone.

To make smalltalk I asked "How's the sax coming along?"

"Trombone," he said. "I play trombone."

Without thinking, I asked "Are you sure?"

the melting pot in action

It epitomizes New York as a melting pot. A New York subway busker. He's black, he performs in a tux, playing Jewish music on saxophone and clarinet. Often, runs around in circles while playing, in a manner that reminds me of Chassiddishe men dancing.

What's the story behind it? Maybe he just likes Jewish music. Maybe he works nights playing at Jewish weddings and Bar Mitzvahs. Maybe he's Jewish.

If I ever have the chance to see him -- he plays in the Times Square subway station -- I'll try to find out.

ouch =/= help

I was once talking to a friend about the Rutles. I avered that "Ouch!" was my favorite song of theirs. He said he didn't like it because it was exactly the same song as "Help!", the Beatles song that it was parodying. I argued that it was a close parody but it's not the same song. The melody, I pointed out, is different. No dice. He insisted that it's the same song and since he's a musician (he'd been in, like, you kow, actual bands) he knows better.

Well, I don't care how many bands he's in. It's a different song. You can judge:

gimmicks

What won't they think of next? A Swedish band, the Shout Out Louds, have released their new single, "Blue Ice" in a new format: a playable record made out of ice.

I'd love to follow up by saying it's available in the refirgerated section of your local record store, but you'd see through that particular joke. First of all, most record stores don't have a refrigerated section. Second, the ice version of the single is an extremely limited edition. Only ten were made. And technically, when you get it (assuming you are one of the chosen few), what you get is a mold, a bottle of water and instructions. You pour the water in the mold, freeze it, remove the record from the mold and then play it. Cool! For more details, here's the article I saw.

Yeah, it's obviously a gimmick. Keeping the record as part of your collection is not an easy thing to do. I would assume it's not great for your record player, and I doubt the ice would survive many playings. Heck, even the first play seems to be pretty porr quality. But it is a clever idea and good for some attention.

In a similar vein, I recall reading about a record that came with a cardboard turntable that -- if memory serves -- had to be folded together. And I also recall reading about a digital record that has some kind of software built in to change it in small random ways so that it never sounds the same twice. Don't ask me for details. I don't recall.

A bunch of questions come to mind: Do you have to use the water provided in the bottle, or does plain old tap work? Will the music sound bubblietr if you use seltzer? Can the mold be used more than once? I would hope so. I'd hate to think that you can use it once and that's it. But I could see the possibility that the plastic mold is damaged beyond reuse when the frozen disk is removed.

What I will admit is that it shows how far gimmick releases have come. I remember some gimmick releases from my youth, but they were all simpler. There were some singles that came in odd shapes. I particularly remember a specially released single by the turtles that was shaped like a turtle. Split Enz' first album came with some kind of laser etching so that if you held the record at the right angle you could see the album's logo on it. I also had a 5-inch single (Jona Lewie's "I'll Get By in Pittsburgh") and a 6-inch single (Squeeze' "Another Nail in My Heart").  And, of course, there were picture discs, and albums released on clear or colored vinyl.

My favorite gimmick, though, was a flexi-disk produced by Mad Magazine. It was for a song called "It's a Super Spectacular Day." The gimmick was that it had eight different endings, and you didn't know which one would play any given time you listened to it.

could wilko be the next fester?

Can anyone watch this and tell me that Wilko Johnson wouldn't make a great Uncle Fester?

gene roddenberry: piece of work

"Work" isn't the noun I wanted to end the title of this post with. But discretion is the better part of valor

One of the stories out of Hollywood, and I'm assuming it's true, centers on Gene Roddenberry and how he managed to snag (unethically, in my opinion, 50% of the royalties for the theme from Star Trek.

I assume you know the theme. ethereal music with a wordless female vocal. To my ears, it sounds like a theremin.  It's aired without lyrics, but there were lyrics to it:

Beyond the rim of the star light
My love is wand'ring in star flight.
I know he'll find in star-clustered reaches
Love, strange love a star-woman teaches.
I know his journey ends never.
His star trek will go on forever.
But tell him as he wanders his starry sea
Remember, remember me.

The things about it is that Alexander Courage wrote the music for the theme. Afterwards, gene Roddenberry added his lyrics. Roddenberry never expected to air the lyrics. But by writing lyrics he could claim credit as co-author and get half the royalties for the song. Courage (rihtfully) considered this unethical, but Roddenberry defended it by saying "Hey, I have to get some money somewhere. I'm sure not gonna get it out of the profits of Star Trek."

I still like Star Trek, but this bothers me.

tfia at licm

Today the family went to see Trout Fishing in America (TFiA) at the Long Island Children's Museum (LICM). Before talking about the concert, I'd like to go off on a couple of tangents and talk about the band and the venue.

Band first. Trout Fishing in America (Ezra Idlet and Keith Grimwood) are far and away the best children's band out there. Their songs are catchy and entertaining, and accessible for children. But the songs are structuired like regular songs. What I mean by that is that they have all the musical complexity of pop songs aimed at an adult audience, so they don't bore ears trhat have spent decades listening to music. Another thing that I like can best be described in terms of what it's not. A lot of other performers of children's music are very self-conscious about being educational. And they make the music educational at the expense of the music itself. TFIA don't do that. The music is the music. And it's damn good. In one song they're counting the wheels on a truck, and the kids are enjoying it. But it's so catchy that adults are going with it too. Another song is about a space alien that made it's way into the singer's nose. The kids are amused (OK -- some are grossed out), but the song sounds like something from the early new wave (circa 1980), and adults are loving it. I'll note that TFIA is not strictly a children's band. They do "serious" "adult" music as well, and their CDs are generally split into the adult and children's categories. I tend to like their kids music much more. But that's just me.

Now for the venue. The theatre at LICM, in Garden City, New York, is one of those underappereciated and underattended gems. They have some great shows there (not all music, mind you) by great performers. Off the top of my head, I can remember shows by Chinese Theatre Works, Ken Waldman, Nappy's Puppets, and Chip Bryant. There have been others. These are high quality shows by great performers in an intimate environment. There's not a bad seat in the house. Today was the first time that TFIA played there. Theatre manager Jim Packard told my wife that getting TFIA to the theatre was on his bucketr list. Another thing that I appreciate about the theatre at LICM is the price point. The show was $3 per ticket. Admittedly, that was the member price. I think the nonmember price was $4. Having a family of 5, I really appreciate that. There's lots of activities where the price seems reasonable until you multiply by 5. We' have seen TFIA in other venues where the cost for the whole family runs in the $100 neighborhood. Jim, if you're reading this please don't take it as encouragement to raise the prices.

As for the show, It was a good assortment of their favorites. There was "18 Wheels on a Big Rig" (see video below, which was not from today's show, but pretty well captures the spirit of what we saw), "100 Little Ducks" and "My Hair Had a Party Last Night" and others. They played these with the usual good humor that I've come to know. At one point, Keith talked about how they recognize some people who have been to their shows before, and I would swear that Ezra was looking straight at my wife. We were, by the way, in the front row. OK, we (along with the other family we went went) were the front row.

The only thing that seemed out of place was one of the new songs, "Don't Touch My Stuff," a musical reaction to theft last year of their van with all their musical intruments in it. TFIA is, if nothing else, a playful band. And even in their few angry songs ("Mine!" is the only one that comes to mind) the anger is offset by playfullness. But "Stuff," from the starting thundering bass riff, is angry. And it didn't sound right at a TFIA concert. I understand the motivation, but still...

There were a couple of other new songs. "Creepy Dead Bug" is one I look forward to hearing on an upcoming album. And " You've Got a Funny Name" from theuir latest album, Chicken Joe Forgets Something Important. The album is a CD with a book around it -- they call it a book with a CD, but I prefer my description.

One thing that's difficult when I talk about TFIA is that I have to avoid talking about a favorite song or even a short list of favorites. I may come up with a list of three songs that come to the top of my head. Maybe "We Weary Deer," "Alien in My Nose" and "Chicken Joe." But then you ask me about "No Matter What Goes Right," and I think Yeah! That's one of my favorites too!. But what about "King of My "Mountain"? Yeah, that too! And it keeps going.

At any rate, following are some videos:

"18 Wheels on a Big Rig." This was not from today's performance, but it is of recent vintage, and captures a lot of the same feel. I note two things about the song: 1) At the end, when Ezra recites digits of pi, he does it wrong. I once mentioned that to him after a show. He said he knows. I don't know why they still do it that way. 2) I would love for them to add a bit where one of them notes that most wheels are round. But some of the wheels are perfect squares, and now we're gonna count the perfectly square wheels. They would then sing "Oh, there's 1, 4, 9, 16 wheels on a big rig." I suppose that would go over too many heads.

"Alien in My Nose," which they did not perform at today's show. It sounds like it should have been a new wave / powerpop song thirty-five years ago. I remember the first time I heard it. It blew me away.

"16 or 17 Hours of Sleep." This is a new song I hadn't heard before today. It's from the new album, whcih comes with a book wrapped around it.

listen long and prosper

Do you remember the background music when Captain Kirk first faces the Gorn? Or when he and Spock go at it with Lurpas? How about when he almost found himself in a fast draw with Morgan Earp? If you're a Star Trek fan -- or even if you're not -- you're probably familiar with the music. You may not know exactly which piece plays when, but it probably brings the show to mind.

Now, you can listen to these -- and other Star Trekian musical gems to your heart's content. The Wall Street Journal reports that La-La Land Recotrds has just released a fifteen-volume set of CDs featuring all the music from the original series. The WSJ reported described it better than I could (I wish I could write like this):

Even non-Trekkies will likely recognize some of the more memorable passages—like the tyrannical horn motif of the treacherous Romulans in the episode "Balance of Terror." Or the screaming trumpet threat of the mindless, planet-destroying berserker in "The Doomsday Machine."

Now, not all Star Trek music was brass-heavy and foreboding like the pieces cited above. There were the playful bits, like when Kirk and Spock are caught stealing clothes back in the 1930's, or when Scotty drinks an alien (from the Andromeda galaxy) under the table. Whatever good and bad there was in that show, the soundtrack music was arguably the best in television.

The downside to this is that the CD set is priced at $225, which places it out of the realm of impulse purchases. I suspect that the good folks at La-La Land are simply taking advantage of Trekkies. Not that there's anything wrong with that -- I believe in the free market, and recognize that we don't have any kind of fundamental right to cheap Star Trek music. But I won't be buying this collection unless the price comes down a lot. No matter how much they begs.

Ahhh ahhh ahhh. Bitter dregs.

trombone silliness

I find this kind of amusing to watch. A camera mounted on the hornd of the trombone, aimed at the face of the person playing it.

I will admit that it gets me a tad seasick.

the strangely cd

So I've had a chance to listen to and digest the Strangely CD, Hot Air Boat Lune.

I like it, though it's not what I expected. Of course, I'm not sure what I expected. Strangely is an iconoclast, and his music, based on what I can find on Youtube, doesn't fit the conventional molds. In fact, it's probably more accurate to call him a performance artist than a musician, though music is part of said performance. For examples, here are some videos:

There's a bit of old-timey spirit and some hillbilly influence. My favorite track on the album (sadly, not depicted above) is "Hey Lady," a kind of louldly touching tribute to a woman in New York.

The only musical issue I have with the CD is that there's a certain intensity on it that I haven't seen in his earlier music. Some of tracks sound very angry as a result. It's almost as if Strangely felt he had to come through big time and was just trying too hard.

The packaging is, of course, a real DIY job. The disk is a Verbatim CD-R designed to resemble a record (you know, those big black vinyl thingies they used to make). No one bothered even to write the name of the album, or artist or anything on it. The CD case is brown cardboard with minimal black ink. The song titles are on a paper insert.

Strangely did write (on the inside of the case), "To Marc, My only fan in (Jamaica) New York..." and he signed it. He also inserted a paper with a handwritten note expressing his hope that we got through superstorm Sandy OK. I don't have the heart to tell him that my wife is also a fan of his, and she's in Jamaica, New York. I suspect that his Kickstarter money was almost exclusively from his Bellingham fan base, and there were very few contributors from elsewhere. So he was tickled to see a New York address.

got strangely

A while ago I blogged about Strangely and his Kickstarter campaign.

I finally got the album in the mail. It came some time in December while I was away on vacation. I haven't really had a chance to listen to it yet, but I'm looking forward to it...

pretentious

Someone (with whom I agree) noted that "The only thing more pretentious than "They Might Be Giants" is "They Might Be Giants" for children.

more on musicifying with hp

As a followup on my recording with HP...

I learned a few things from the experience. HP pointed out that the bridge of a song doesn't need a melody that resolves itself. It can be good if the bridge ends with some tension leading into the verse that follows. And I did change my melody for the bridge in order to achieve that effect.

I've also been thinking about the lyrics in choruses. I tend to think of choruses as static -- each verse has different lyrics, but the choruses are all the same. That's the way I think of it, anyway, even though I know it's not always the case. There are songs where the choruses all differ in a line or two. But what I did with "Five Missing One" is keep all the choruses the same, except for the last one, which has one different line. I like the way it kind of creates an expectation that the choruses will be the same and then throws a curveball at the end. Of course, I'm throwing another curve at it. That one line that changes? I decided on a different different line for the final chorus. Problem is HP and I already recorded it the way I had it. So when I register the copyright I'll just have the lyric sheet reflect the new line. That should cover me.

After I register the copyright I'll write a post in which I reveal the lyrics, and I'll address that final change. Of course, if I can figure out how to embed a ReverbNation widget in this blog, I can make my demos available to anyone who reads this.

papa was a...

Know what I'd love to see?

I'd love to see Mick Jagger's and Keith Richards' children form a band and do a version of "Papa Was a Rolling Stone."

musicifying with hp

I am still planning to record a track with wreckless eric and amy rigby. That will probably happen some time next month. At least now I have the song to record.

I had three songs that were complete. But I also already have servicable demos of each of them. So rerecording with Amy and Eric would, in a sense be a lost opportunity. Sure, I'd have a recording of Wreckless Eric doing one of my songs. But it wouldn't increase the number of sonmgs I could put on a demo disc to send to producers, etc.

So my plan was to write a new song. Which I did. The song, "Five Missing One," is meant to be an old-time western-style song. I've been kind of sitting on the idea for a while, letting it gestate. I asked my friend, HP (whom I'm visiting and about whose music I have blogged before), if he would be interested in collaborating on it when I was visiting him on vacation. I ended up writing pretty much the whole song in the week or two before vacation, and tonight sat down with HP to finish it up and record a rough demo. In the event, it didn't need much more songwriting. There were a couple places that I had alternate lyrics that I was choosing between, and HP helped me decide. There were places where I wasn't sure that I had the right chord, and HP helped me with that as well. There were a few places where he helped me improve the melody. But HP said he doesn't think he contributed enough to justify sharing the songwriting credit. So, even though I offered to register the copyright in both of our names, he said to do it in just my name.

And we recorded a rough demo. It's three tracks -- me on guitar, HP on lead vocals, and HP doing harmony. It'd not a perfect demo. There's some distortion on the guitar track, and it's definitely too fast. But I think it's good enough to take to Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby.

validation

It's interesting how I get a thrill when a song I love comes on the radio. Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind" or Dave Edmunds' "I Hear You Knockin'" are two good examples. It doesn't matter that I have the song in my CD collection and I can pretty much listen to it whenever I want. Somehow it's a special thrill and I have to hear it all the way through. I think it's somehow about my taste being validated.

hey you

Nighttime. We're driving through the Nevada desert. The kids are drowsy and starting to fall asleep. I'm flipping through radio stations to stay awake. Pink Floyd's "Hey You" comes on, and I stop flipping. Then Sharon, my middle child asks me to change stations. "This song is creepy," she informs me.

concert at eric and amy's place

This past Saturday night I went upstate to Catskill, NY. Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby were giving a house concert to raise money for victims of hurricane Sandy. Or was it superstorm Sandy? Anyway, it was the best concert I ever went to. No. Not the "best" concert, whatever that means. But of all the concerts I have ever been to, it was the one I enjoyed the most.

Details to follow. For now, here's a link to Eric's blog, where he wrote about it. http://thedysfunctionalworldof.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-hurricane-house-concert.html