the winter of our discontent

this originally appeared on 10/1/08 under the title, ‘the summer of our discontent’.  it has been re-worked a bit and there is still plenty of discontent to go around.  i may even toss in the original just because i can.

yes, i’m still using the steinbeck title.  this time even more blatantly so.  it’s an out right steal.  be that as it may.

christmas eve morning and the senate tools in DC have passed the health care fiasco.  it might help some folks but for the most part the rest of us are screwed.  penalties.  higher health premiums.  more taxes.  yeah, i know.  we are promised it will reduce the deficit.  just how i haven’t a clue other than your tax bill is going to look donald trump’s bank statement.  i don’t see it any other way.

we were also once promised medicare would never cost as much as it has.  now the ass holes want to cut it in some sort of new deal ponzi scheme in order to pay for it.  god, the mind reels at their madness.  utter chaotic gobbly goop that we the people are supposed to suck up like it’s manna from heaven.  the gall of those fools.

the disdain for what we the people want is nothing more than a slap in the face.  when the majority of the people in this country wanted nothing to do with the current 1,000 page plus secret filled and pork laden health bill it didn’t matter to the anointed elite.  they can’t feel our pain anymore.  not that it ever really mattered to them in the first place. 

our pain has nothing to do with them.  they play by their own set of rules.  their own health care system in place and it will remain in place.  god forbid they have to scramble or stand or sit and wait for care.  no, they are special. 

we’ve come a long way from, we the people and a government by and for the people.  those sentiments are long gone.  meaningless phrases the elite say didn’t mean that in the first place.  they KNOW.  they KNOW everything.  they know jack shit is what it amounts to.  and we get to eat shit.

i’m probably on a few lists already.  especially after my last email the other day to one of my senators.  the funny thing is she sent me an email and i answered it.  sucker punched i’m sure.  at any rate, i may as well solidify my standing on those lists. 

we have been led down the primrose path by the tools in DC.  from the very top to the bottom.  they buy select caches of votes and you get enough of those caches you are guaranteed a lifetime of thumbing your nose at the great unwashed.  us.  they suck up to the money for nothing and your chicks for free folks like they are the only people out here.  deal here.  pander there.

the anointed elite’s current take on a government by and for the people is nothing more than the choice between slavery and freedom.  simple as that.  they chip away every day at freedom and have been at it for years.  enslaving us in their convoluted mish mash of politically correct communist swill gobbly goop.  and we are here to help you lies because you are to stupid to help yourselves.

yeah, this is a rant and i should in theory feel better after said rant.  i don’t.  i feel even worse.  and afraid for this once great nation, amerika.  those of us old enough to remember a time in school when typing was taught on the old manual typewriters, there was a phrase we were all taught and used to sorta hone our skills. 

Now is the time for every good boy to come to the aid of your country.  no truer words were ever typed.  slavery or freedom.  it’s our choice.

jmh

the summer of our discontent (from the vault) 
 
yes, once again i steal one or sorta steal one from steinbeck.  what can i say?  other than it fits here and there in the so calif summer that just refuses to die.  as to whether or not this blog makes any sense remains to be seen.  

seems like every year this time i’ve just about had it with summer and the fucking triple digit temps lolly gagging around and over so calif or the mojave desert or sonora desert of the southwest.  sure, it’s more or less normal for this time of year but the older i get the more i wish it would just get the hell out of the way of more tepid temps and tons of cold rainfall for my native state.  the last is always a hope of mine for this time of year, as well.  remember, i grew up here when agriculture was still the cash cow in socal.

drought remains king here in the land of california.  if things don’t change and change soon the state motto should be changed from: eureka!; to: you don’t miss your water till the well runs dry.  yeah, it’s a line from an old blues song.  my favorite version is an old one by taj mahal.  i’m sure you can find a version of the tune on youtube if you are so inclined.

summertime and discontent.  discontent with summer and the stuff happening this summer.  a double sorta whammy.  first off we have tweeledee and tweedledum running for office.  the tweedle is interchangeable in either case.  to paraphrase my canadian friend john’s latest blog, canada and the us of a are about to elect idiots to the highest office of each land.  a sad state of affairs if there ever was one.

to make matters worse we are in the middle of the banker, politician created financial mess.  greed heads abound.  greed is bi-partisan.  when the whip comes down you won’t see any of them in the soup line with you.  oh, they may show up to ladle you your bowl of gruel to show you that they feel your pain and really really do give a fuck about you.  deal is they rolled up in a hummer or a town car with a driver/bodyguard.  you on the other hand, will have rolled up some newspaper and stuck it in your shoe so you could walk a few miles to the nearest soup line.

they will go home after the ladling to some compound surrounded by a nice wall with broken glass and razor wire cemented into its top.  plus a platoon of mercs to insure no riff raff gets within shooting range.  yeah, the ones that want to ban guns will be using them on anyone who gets with in range of one.  count on it.  yes, i’m a pessimist.  big deal.  your point? 

i suppose my biggest fear in this continuing summer of my discontent would be something like what really did happen in one of my long ago lifetimes.

i was in south vietnam during that fracas.  we, in the military, were paid in mpc or military payment currency or some sorta gobbly goop.  i forget exactly but that’s not the point.  at some point or another the politicians decided that the current mpc being used was getting into too many of the locals hands.  i suppose even charlie got his mitts on some as well.  though i doubt you could buy many arms with the stuff in poland.  greenbacks on the other hand were another story or blog.  and i’m drifting like a banshee here but i may reel it in.  maybe. 

so.  we were told that the deal was gonna go down on a certain day or maybe not.  like i said it was a lifetime ago.  at any rate, we sorta knew it was gonna happen. 

the day the deal went down our small macv compound was locked down.  as was every other military camp in south vietnam.  we all lined up and handed over our old mpc and were in turn given new mpc.  the old stuff was then totally fucking useless. 

we had some local vietnamese as workers on the compound.  they, of course, stood outside the wire watched and waited with sad looks on their faces.  a few tears as well.  they had just become penny less or much much poorer.  sure they still had a job but nothing in the bank, as it were.

perhaps some of you see where this is going.  point is, we at some point are gonna be those hapless vietnamese if the greed heads and politicians don’t stop being self serving greedy ass holes.  count on it.

today’s pessimism was brought to you by dow chemical co and their subsidiaries the makers of agent orange. 

jmh

a ‘country music’ christmas

for whatever reason, the brown eyed girl gave me an early christmas present this year.  even though she doesn’t share my love for country, make that old and real country music, i do on occasion catch her tapping a foot or two in the car when i have some hank sr or III or spade or bob or gram blasting on the car stereo.  and she does do stuff like buying me country cd’s she knows i’ll enjoy or like…

the gift in question, the book, ‘country music–the people, places, and moments that shaped the country sound’, by richard carlin, with photography by raeanne rubenstein, 2006.  the book is a nice history of country music.  any country fan would be or should be proud to own the book.  though it doesn’t delve into the minutia of the genre but it does hits most of the high notes with a nice page or two with lots of photos i haven’t seen before.

a hefty tome on nice glossy paper and the perfect book for that coffee table or tv tray.  easy reading and well worth the price.  originally $35.  but you can find it on amazon from $8.99 to $14.  a steal of a deal and i would recommend hitting them up before they are all gone.  the brown eyed girl found mine in a discount store here in so calif for $9.99.

‘country music’ covers just about everybody from the beginnings to plastic fantastically now-a-days lame nashville.  though the nashville of today stuff is minimal and is at the end of the 330 page book.  for my money, any book that devotes a page or so with photos of spade cooley and a two page spread on gram parsons and the byrds is alright by me.  if you enjoy history and country music all rolled up into one sweet package then you really ought to find this book and put it in your book self or give it to someone who will give it a good home.  this is a good book that deserves better than discount store book selves and amazon clearance sales.  though you sure can’t beat the current prices.

since i’m already here.  VHI, not generally one of my favorite tv channels, has been running the 2 hour (with commercials) 1982 concert movie of the rolling stones, ‘let’s spend the night together’.  it’s worth a look and a tivo.  though the first half has sound problems, the second half sorta sorts that out and kicks things up a notch or two.  not country music?  ‘never under estimate the influence of country music on rock ‘n’ roll.’– keith richards.  nuff said.

jmh

our lady of mount carmel church, rancho cucamonga, ca w/photos

the old catholic church still stands where it has for as long as i can remember and was there even before i was born.  one of the oldest catholic churches in the area.  the church sits just steps away from the old padre winery.  while i was visiting padre winery the other day i stopped by the church as well.  the church was my grandparents back in the day.  they could walk there very easily and did several times a week.

our lady hasn’t held up as well as padre winery.  plenty of parishioners but not the well to do types of other parishes in cucamonga.  just your average work a day joes go to this church these days.  the salt of the earth types.  not unlike in the old days.  the old days, when the street that fronts it was smaller.  the intersection was also the home to some old stately eucalyptus trees.  long gone due to street widening projects and the addition of curb and gutters.

since the church stands so close to padre winery i’ve been by it many many times over the years.  though i hadn’t been inside of the church since june of 1968 or 1969.  the day of my grandfather’s funeral.  you would think i could remember the exact date but i was in a wisdom tooth extraction haze and all i really remember about the day was the huge cloud of incense drifting about my grandfather’s coffin.

i made it back inside the church the other day.  it was an odd experience at best.  there have been some changes and the floor is now carpeted.  i guess carpet is easier to maintain than the old hardwood floors.  the simple beauty of a very very old and small catholic church that served old italians and mexicans remains.

i miss, nona and nono, italian for grandmother and grandfather.  the little house they used to live is gone.  but the little church they worshiped in still stands.  stands like a memory of a long ago past.

our lady of mount carmel catholic church.

 

jmh

 

padre winery, rancho cucamonga, ca w/photos

the other day i finally got around to making a trip back to my childhood.  specifically, i had been wanting to take some photos of the old padre winery just down the road in rancho cucamonga, ca.  i’ve mentioned the winery in a few blogs and a fiction piece here but there were no photos in any of them.  so, what i thought i’d do was take some photos and stick them up here then sorta run the deal down one more time.

padre winery has been around since the late 1800’s.  and it was the first winery in california bonded by the feds allowing them to sell wine and brandy.  the original building is still standing.  amazingly enough even after all the semi sorta large earthquakes that have rumbled through the area.  i guess it gives testament to some thing or another.  over the years the winery has been owned and operated by a few different folks.  it has had a few other names as well.  but to us long time cucmongaites it was and always shall be, padre winery.  sadly, it no longer produces wine.  those days are long gone.

my mother’s parents lived in a house a few hundred yards west of the winery.  that old wonderful house with the root cellar, in which my grandfather made wine and vinegar, no longer stands.  my grandfather worked at padre winery up until the time he retired.  he’d been there for many years.  i spent a lot of time with my grandparents when i was a kid.  soaking up old world italy and wineries.  that is up until the time my folks thought i was old enough to manage on my own during the summer.  though soaking up stuff never ended.   

when my grandfather worked at padre it was owned by the vai brothers.  i loved walking over to the winery and wandering around looking at stuff.  perhaps more importantly smelling the wonderful smells that can only come from a winery.

these days the winery is owned by a local family that has long roots in the area.  wine roots.  they gave it a go trying to make it a producing winery over the years but money being what it is things never panned out.  padre winery is for sale.  there are a few businesses where the old redwood wine vats used to be and it’s kind of sad.  especially to me.  i worked at padre winery myself for a year or so back in the early to mid 70’s.  i’ve recounted that tale as here as well. 

i’d been by the winery a number of times over the years.  once even stopping with the brown eyed girl so she could see the place.  old padre winery.  at any rate, i was alone the other day as i wandered about taking these photos.  alone with my thoughts and my youth. 

as you will see there is still a beauty to the winery.  an elegance and charm not seen these days in much of any kind of architecture.  there was something else as well as i walked around.  something mystical and wonderful.  or maybe it was just the fact that padre winery has been around for years and years and saw a huge amount of wine in various stages pass through the grounds.  it was a smell.  the smell.  that wine smell.  a sour tart vinegary musty smell now.  but still a wine smell.  the old girl still has it.  a complete package other than the fact the wine itself is long gone.  the elegance and the smell have stuck to her and she wears them well.

i hope the old lady remains standing.  standing as a monument to old california and old cucamonga.  not swept into some re-development black hole and razed.  re-development.  the good old boy deal where the pols and hucksters make money hand over fist and we the people lose our history and magic that comes with the old things.  old wonderful places like padre winery.

padre winery and the old tasting room.

 

the old cellars.

the still where the lees and muck were processed into 180 proof alcohol.

the old girl still looking good.

jmh

in search of the miraculous

that’s the title of an old book that was a semi sort of hippy required reading deal back in the late 60’s and early 70’s.  i had a copy of the book for many years.  the book in question first appeared in 1947 and was written by p. d. ouspensky.  lots of interesting stuff in it but that book isn’t why i’m here.  i’m just borrowing the title for a bit because i’m searching for a miracle or the miraculous myself. 

long time readers know i bought a trailer here in the brittney spears memorial trailer parkin the early summer last year.  well, it’s not really that bad.  the trailer or the park.  at any rate, i’m trying to sell the place.  i wouldn’t be selling it if i hadn’t met and married the brown eyed girl, who with her arthritis problems, can’t manage the stairs here very easily.  trying to sell the place in this economy hasn’t been easy either.  some lookie loos who expect you to give stuff away.  no chance and no thanks.  and no offers.  it’s become obvious that it’s time to go in search of the miraculous.

it’s not that either of us don’t like this place.  we do.  as a matter of fact, it’s a very nice place and we do some of our entertaining here in the mobile home.  there’s easier parking than our other place and a much more spacious kitchen for us to whip stuff up and move about.  plus, it’s a good 500 square feet bigger than our other place and much newer.  but that’s just realtor mumbo jumbo and i’m drifting.

many years ago in santa fe, new mexico, the nuns of the lorreto chapel had a dilemma.  they needed a staircase in order for them to get up into the choir loft of the church.  when the church was built a staircase wasn’t included for some reason or another up into the loft.  one of those early builder oversight thingys i suppose.  ah, what can we say, mother superior, other than…oops.

the nuns had no other recourse than to pray a lot and hope for somebody or another and perhaps a miracle to come along and get the staircase built.  well, after many prayers, one afternoon this guy showed up and said he would build them their staircase.  very cool.  the nuns were very happy.  they went to bed that night with dreams of a staircase dancing in their heads.

depending upon who you are reading, when the nuns got up in the morning they had their staircase and the man was gone.  plus, the gentleman who had built the staircase hadn’t used any nails.  nary a one.  some stories recount that it took several days to build the stairs.  however, they all claim that the builder was, st joseph, and there were no nails used in it’s construction.

yeah, the dude in question was none other than the father of jesus and apparently a pretty good carpenter to boot.  ok, so not THE father but well, you know what i mean.  the nun’s prayers had been answered.  a miracle had been performed.  the staircase had been built. 

the church still stands today as well as the staircase.  the original staircase didn’t have a handrail or newel posts.  they were added later and no nails were used in their making as well.  just wood dowels.

some of you have seen these photos before but they are worth repeating here.  the lorreto chapel and the staircase. 

ok, so just what does all this mean?  in regards to my search for the miraculous?  i suppose, ever since st joseph built that staircase for the nuns he acquired the reputation for getting stuff done, building or house wise.  or maybe it came about sometime even earlier in his saintdom.  i really don’t know.  but it’s not something others and myself haven’t overlooked down through the years.  um, say what?

it seems that st joseph comes in very handy when you are trying to sell a piece of property or your house.  all that needs to be done is to bury a statue of him in the front yard and viola he works his miracle and the place sells.  something i’m indeed going to try.  and hopefully i get a minor miracle of sorts and the mobile home sells.

of course, i figure it would probably border on the sacrilegious if i were to bury the statue.  so with that in mind, the brown eyed girl’s older sister has come into play.  she’s a very religious catholic lady.  a fine thing indeed.  i gave her some money and she found us a very nice pewter statue of st joseph holding the baby jesus.  she’s coming here on monday and the three of us are going to plant the statue in the front yard under the for sale sign.

years ago one of my aunts went on a pilgrimage to lourdes, france.  as a gift, she bought me a small bottle of lourdes holy water.  the statue of st joseph will be anointed with some of that holy water before it’s buried.  a few prayers will be offered up as well. 

it’s too bad my sister-in-law can’t make it here on sunday, as it’s all saints day.  logistically for her it isn’t possible.  she’s busy with church stuff all day plus she lives way over on the west side of l.a.  all that being said, perhaps it won’t matter when the deal goes down on monday.

if st joseph comes through my sister-in-law’s church will get a very nice donation for their poor box.  as will a local catholic church’s feeding the hungry program.  at any rate, both places have already been given something this pre-thanksgiving season.  i’m by no means trying to blackmail st joseph in any way shape of form.  but, well, things are things and stuff as well.  we hope.  we pray.  we give. 

i hope my search for the miraculous comes to fruition.  hopefully, wonders will never cease.

thank you, st joseph.

jmh

the saga of denny paine, the short version

it’s been a few years but i used to work with an ex hollywood stuntman. actually, i was his boss for a time.  and for our purposes here he will be known as, denny paine.  denny paine was the name a certain government alphabet group wanted to give him way back when.  he declined their offer.  at any rate, denny is a southern california native.  though these days he’s living in arizona.  over the years i’d lost track of him. 

a few weeks ago, jwfh, and myself along with someone else were chatting away a hot afternoon in the claremont village.  the lone ranger came up in the conversation of old tv/movie cowboy stuff.  i thought of denny paine, and told the guys he was clayton moore’s double in the color movie, ‘the lone ranger’, circa 1956.  clayton’s real name was, jack.  denny paine told me that.  denny paine told me lots of stuff.

denny paine had quite a career in the movies.  he doubled for buster crabbe and lash larue, among others.  have you ever seen the movie, ‘vanishing point’?  well, he did all the stunt driving for barry newman in that great oldie.  remember the beginning of the old tv show, ‘then came bronson’?  that was him on the motorcycle.  how about, ‘chips’?  yeah, he did all the riding for larry wilcox, or john.  that is when the bike wasn’t hooked up to a trailer for close-ups.  he also did location searches for the studios when he wasn’t doing stunt work.  denny found the old virginia dare winery around these parts that was used for an old ‘combat’ tv episode.  a place i’ve written about in the past.

during korea, denny, was in the army and a member of the 25th or 26th regimental combat team, a fore runner to the green berets.  he was out front gathering intel.  while doing so he received a purple heart and bronze star.  president harry truman pinned the purple heart on him while he was in a hospital bed in tokyo.

after korea he went back to work in the hollywood industry.  i met him years after those days.  he was retired from two jobs plus the movies and was working on his third retirement check.  yeah, god bless him, he’s one of those triple dippers.  we always had a good time working together.  he was always full of great stories.  a time or two he even let me wear the buckskin jacket, guy madison or wild bill hickok of tv fame, wore in the rose parade one year.  or maybe fool around with a gold plated 100th anniversary winchester 30-30 he owned.  ah, sweet.  

i lost track of denny.  probably because he was a crazy old coot.  for example, we played a lot of golf together in those days and he ALWAYS cared a loaded pistol in his golf bag.  or on his person.  ‘you never know when you’ll need it, hombre.’  is what he used to tell me.  that in itself wasn’t so bad.  trouble was he was liable to whip it out and fire off a few rounds anytime anywhere just for the fuck of it.  yeah, denny paine. 

that hot afternoon conversation of a few weeks ago got me thinking about him.  once again.  with the help of the brown eyed girl and the internet we found him or more to the point his long time companion, miss penny.  since then i’ve spoken to him on the phone a few times.  he even sent me a photo of himself taken in 2006 in knabe, utah.  the photo was taken to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the long ago lone ranger movie shot there in 1956. 

that’s denny paine in the picture.  i’ve missed you, hombre.  i hope you still have the buckskin jacket and the 30-30.  see you soon.

jmh

surf city, usa or point break(?)

it’s the last official weekend of summer.  years ago my last official weekend of summer usually ended sometime in october when the water at the beach began to get a little to cold for comfort.  and the sun’s rays a bit to weak for tanning.  ah, a lifetime ago in the sun.  i have skin carbuncles as a mute testimony of those long ago days.
  

the beach of choice was usually huntington.  surf city, usa.  though many others were tossed into the mix of a lifetime of beach going.  orange county beaches were always the favorite.
 

these photos have appeared here in my blog before.  not this blog but my other blog that i deleted the last time i deleted my other place.  confusing but it really doesn’t matter.

a few years ago my friend, dfr, sent me a bunch of old huntington beach photos.  old photos of olden days and king oil.  oil wells to rival texas or one of those far middle east places.  oil wells thick as fleas on a mongrel dog.  yeah, so calif was once a kick ass oil producing hot bed.

huntington beach in particular.  oil so abundant it oozed up under the water coating your feet with a thick tar when you went swimming, body surfing or surfing.  of course that was long ago.  the price of land all over so calif making the oil wells and smaller cricket pumpers just wisps of imagination.  but rest assured they were here and alive.  a few of the cricket pumpers still live in a few places.  sad lonely reminders of long ago.

back when i was a kid the wells were still around but not alive to the extend of what you see in the photos.  they were just mere ghosts of the past.  but still around.  by the early 60’s oil gave way to a housing boom that still, to this day plods sadly on.

the brown eyed girl and i watched, ‘point break’, the other night.  it was her first time.  i’ve seen it any number of times.  it’s one of my all time faves.  after that last viewing i’m ready to move it into my top ten.  the brown eyed girl wasn’t or isn’t that impressed by the movie.  it really doesn’t matter that much.  the beach scenes of huntington in the movie and my wandering through some of the old photos of the old days made it necessary for me to write this and share s few of the photos with you because…
 

it’s the last days of summer here in locust land.  dreams still die hard.  the old visions want to hang on.  hang on for what may or may not be eternity. 

huntington beach, circa 1964.  

huntington beach, circa 1954.  my friend dfr and fellow summer campers.

the old days looking south at pacific coast highway.

when oil was king.

the huntington beach plunge.  an indoor swimming pool with salt and fresh water pools.  they were still around in the 50’s.  i loved them as a kid when the rip tides and undertow’s were howling they were a refuge. 

the beach from the pier.

fade to color.

jmh

a brief history of music

my friend, jwfh, sent me this in an email a week or so ago.  it is pretty much self explanitory.  at any rate, he started his fall jazz history class last night.  i hope it went well.  i’m sure he’ll venture more into this during the semester and year.  thanks, doc.

jmh

KING OF ROCK, KING OF POP, GODFATHER OF SOUL MIGHTY, MIGHTY MEN (a re-posting of a friend’s blog)

my old friend, doctor john harrelson, has written a couple of nice things about the history of pop music.  i’m re-posting them here to get the word out a bit more.  history comes in many colors.  musical history as well.  for many of us musical history, is just as important as the more regular stuff.  i hope you enjoy john’s blogs.

jmh

KING OF ROCK, KING OF POP, GODFATHER OF SOUL
MIGHTY, MIGHTY MEN
Part One—Dedicated to Drew and to Jason

Was Elvis the King of Rock? Was Michael Jackson the King of Pop? Can you even doubt that James Brown was the Godfather of Soul?

First, Pop[ular] music. Before 1930, Popular Music was very much associated with regional taste/culture and narrow exposure. The first guy to appreciate the possibilities of capturing a national audience was Bing Crosby. Incorporating Jazz phrasing learned from Louis Armstrong and Jack Teagarden and a great sense of song choice, Crosby was the first commercial entertainer to use his recordings as a substitute for his live performance. He figured the exponential impact correctly and was a successful entertainer into the 60s and lingered on into the late 70s [See his duet with David Bowie in a Christmas special doing “Little Drummer Boy.”]

Frank Sinatra is the next memorable icon, though hardly the only singer of the late-30s and 40s to be a PopStar. Many Big Bands featured romantic, handsome and/or talented vocalists who were a major feature. Trumpeter Harry James, drummer Gene Krupa, and clarinetist Artie Shaw were musicians who courted movie stars, engaged in mis-behaviour, and were very much like Mick Jagger, Glen Campbell, or Chris Robinson.

Frankie Laine, Snooky Lanson, even Tennessee Ernie Ford were singer/stars of the 50s that were on the radio, television and selling great quantities of recordings. Then came Elvis Presley.

In 1954 and 1955 Elvis started a revolution—though he did not invent it. Singers who based their entertainment approach on Louis Jordan’s Tympani Five, Bullmoose Jackson, Roy Milton, Louie Jordan, Bill Haley, were causing a ruckus, filling the gap left by the sudden decline of the Swing Era bands. Nat ‘King’ Cole, Charles Brown, and some crooner types brought fantastic textures to the market place. Elvis, though, got young people excited.

Many young folks were drawn to the visceral realm of Roy Brown, Wynonie Harris, and the new DooWop genre. The realm of the Crows, the Robins and two hundred more was exciting, new, and not like any of the music before 1945. Elvis drew from these sources and his own White cultural music, Hard Rock Gunther, Bill Monroe, and Bob Wills. [Check his first version of “Milk Cow Blues” a tune that dates back to Kokomo Arnold, where Wills probably learned it.]. Elvis, with his band, brought together a vast number of disparate elements that became Rock-a-billy and, less than four hundred days later, “Rock and Roll.”

Once the label was firm, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Gene Vincent, Little Richard, and Carl Perkins were under the same ‘new’ umbrella. But, as businessmen will do, the real deal was quickly sharing the genre with Georgia Gibbs and Pat Boone. By 1958 the “Bobbies” fucked everything up. Some were talented (Bobby Darin), some were vapid (Bobby Vee, Bobby Vinton). Some were not Bobbies at all (Bobby Paul Anka and Bobby Tommy Sands) and some were too late (Johnny Burnette and Jimmy Clanton). Ricky Nelson took a while to get over his own celebrity, but he did contribute some great songs. The Everly Brothers took the simple device of singing in thirds and performed some fantastic songs.

Link Wray did the magnificent “Rumble.” Johnny & the Hurricanes did the cheerful but useless “Rocking Red River Valley.” Elvis got out of the army and did two killer tunes; “Marie is the name of his Latest Flame” and “Little Sister.” Then he folded into a shameful pile of has-been. Periodically he would offer an amusement (“Viva Las Vegas”) or a piece of crap (“Girls, Girls, Girls”). He got pseudo-operatic with “You Gave Me a Mountain” (and “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me”). He got maudlin (“In the Ghetto”). He tried to be hip (“U.S.Male”). He tried to be cultivated (“My Way”). But, in reality, his creative days were over in 1958, and his genuine power was gone after 1961.

But he was the figure who got young folks excited. That is why Elvis is considered the King of Rock’n’roll. –JWfH

THE KING OF ROCK, THE KING OF POP AND
THE GODFATHER OF SOUL
PART TWO—Dedicated to Justin and to Dahvia

So it is apparent that Elvis has virtually no power after 1961. Girl groups, the Shirelles, the Chantals, the Ronettes, the Chiffons, and more to come, are a dominant segment in the market-place. Duane Eddy made the guitar a more prominent voice, leading to Dick Dale, the Chantays, and a tide of instrumental Surf bands. The Beach Boys opened the door for the Surfaris, Jan & Dean, and the other side of the Surf genre, that of the vocal groups. This offered the opportunity for the Ronnie & the Daytonas (from Memphis), the Cobras (studio band?), and the Pyramids (with a Black guitarist!) to enter the genre. The last gasp of Surf music was “New York’s a Lonely Town” by the Tradewinds in 1965.

The Folk Music Scare was in full effect. From 1958’s Kingston Trio hit “Tom Dooley” [nee “Duhla”] through Peter, Paul, and Mary, Folk music was a commercial arena. The Back Porch Singers, Pete Seeger, and the essential Bob Dylan, were to provide the foundation for the 1965 rise of a new sub-genre—Folk-Rock. Barry McGuire, the Mamas and the Papas, the Lovin’ Spoonful, and, importantly the Byrds and the Buffalo Springfield inhabited a realm that was only American. (Except of course, those pesky Brits were as good at this as they were at copping our Blues and other styles and genres. Check Chad & Jeremy, Peter & Gordon, and the Beatles.)

1960 to ’64 is a rich and overlooked era in Rock/Pop/R&B. Obscure events and records (Reparta & the Delrons, the Cookies, three-and-four track tape machines, Fender amplifiers improved, cheaper, efficient microphones, Sam Cooke leaving the Gospel genre, et al.) The Four Seasons managed to update the DooWop style as far as it could be taken. MoTown went from Smokey Robinson, the Marvelettes, Little Stevie Wonder to a huge stable of hit-makers that were always present in the charts (‘64-’74). Stax Records developed from “Green Onions” and “Last Night” to a significant contributor to American culture.

When the Beatles emerged, young people once more became excited. And with that excitement came rapid change and creativity. A Buddy Holly clone became the leader of the Bobby Fuller Four. The Warlocks, a Memphis Jug Band imitation, became the Grateful Dead. King Curtis opened a Hollywood Bowl concert. A pair of albino brothers left Texas and found their way to acclaim. A mild sub-wunderkind from the late 50s became Sir Douglas.

The Rolling Stones, John Mayall, and Paul Butterfield stimulated a curiosity in young Americans about their own inheritance. Thus B.B.King, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Jimmy Reed and a clutch of Chicago-based Blues musicians gained notoriety and increased their influence. The Folk folks had reintroduced Mississippi John Hurt, Sonny & Brownie, Jesse “Lonecat” Fuller and ten more, so the Blues scene flourished.

Between ’65 and ’72 the acceleration of ideas was nearly unbelievable. The Moody Blues went from a sophisticated R&B ensemble to an incredibly sophisticated orchestral presentation. Eric Clapton developed from a convincing heir to Blues authenticity to an intense Jazz-inspired [but not informed] improvisational-ist. The Yardbirds, a very experimental-minded Blues band, spawned the foundations for Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Jeff Beck’s Group, and eventually Led Zepplin. Miles Davis created “Bitch’s Brew,” as much a landmark of change as any such ‘event’ in American music history.

The Beatles traveled from a fantastic Rock band to a bunch of Rock’n’roll musicians who made it a habit to trample on boundaries. The first 60 songs fall away from memory when “Rubber Soul” appeared. That work was pushed aside for the impact of “Revolver,” which was faded by “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” The final LPs by the group stand as holy grail items.

As the Beatles became the four individuals, an expectation developed that a “New Elvis/Beatles” phenomena would develop. The two leading qualified candidates were Stevie Wonder and Elton John. Of course, Stevie Wonder had been famous since 1963, he was blind, and, he was Black. While the atmosphere for Black artists had changed since Count Basie’s 1935 reference to racism, Nat ‘King’ Cole had died before benefiting from changes, and Ray Charles had gone forward to new boundaries, America would not realign its’ habits or tastes for Wonder. Elton John received support from some quarters simply because there was a vacuum of power.

At this point [1974] Michael Jackson was a novelty, associated with the Jackson Five. The Jackson Five had not matched MoTown’s best acts—the Temptations, Smokey Robinson, and the stellar Supremes. Since Wonder had taken Berry Gordy to task, wanting new terms with his recording contract. Marvin Gaye soon wanted the same. The Jackson’s tried for similar renegotiations but separated from MoTown and benefited from this decision. Gordy kept legal ownership of the Jackson Five name and could not really exploit the family’s earlier efforts. Further, Gordy was unconnected to Michael’s rising fame.

If you want to really understand Michael Jackson’s place in the greater scheme of Rock/Pop history realize that he had twenty-seven super hit songs. Nine of those were with his brothers involvement. Only three of his ‘long playing’ discs had deep impact. Twenty-three of his solo singles failed to attract any attention.  Contrast this with the Beatles having 21 Number One singles and one Number Two (in six years). Then, as individuals they had many hits (“Imagine,” “Jet,” “My Sweet Lord”).

Year Title Highest Chart Slot
1969 “I Want You Back” 1
1969: “Who’s Lovin’ You”(b-side of “I Want You Back”) 1 [False statistic]
1970: “ABC” 1
1970: “The Love You Save” 1
1970: “I’ll Be There” 1
1970: “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
1970: “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”
1971: “Mama’s Pearl” 2
1971: “Never Can Say Goodbye” 2 [Cover of a previous hit]
1971: “Maybe Tomorrow” 20
1971: “Sugar Daddy” 10
1972: “Little Bitty Pretty One” 13 [Cover of a previous hit]
1972: “Lookin’ Through the Windows” 16
1972: “Doctor My Eyes” [Cover of a recent hit]
1972: “Corner of the Sky” 18
1973: “Hallelujah Day” 28
1973: “Skywriter” – 25
1973: “Get It Together” 28
1974: “The Boogie Man”
1974: “Dancing Machine” 2
1974: “Whatever You Got I Want” 38
1974: “Life Of The Party”
1974: “I Am Love (Part 1)” 15
1975: “Forever Came Today” 60
1975: “All I Do Is Think of You” (B-side of “Forever Came Today”) [False statistic]

CBS releases (The Jacksons)
Year Song title US chart
1976: “Enjoy Yourself” 6
1977: “Show You the Way to Go” 28
1977: “Dreamer” – 22
1977: “Goin’ Places” 52
1977: “Even Though You’re Gone
1978: “Different Kind Of Lady”
1978: “Music’s Taking Over”
1978: “Find Me a Girl”
1978: “Blame It on the Boogie” 54
1979: “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)” 7
1979: “Destiny” – 39
1980 “Lovely One” 12 29
1980: “This Place Hotel” 22
1981: “Can You Feel It” 77
1981: “Walk Right Now” 73
1981: “Time Waits For No One”
1981: “Things I Do For You”
1984: “State of Shock”(with Mick Jagger) 3
1984: “Torture” 17
1984: “Body” 47
1984: “Wait”
1987: “Time Out for The Burglar”
1988: “2300 Jackson Street”
1989: “Nothing (That Compares 2 You)” 77
1989: “Art Of Madness”

Long Player releases
1972 Got to Be There * Released: January 24, 1972
1972 Ben * Released: August 4, 1972
1973 Music & Me * Released: April 13, 1973
1975 Forever, Michael * Released: January 16, 1975
1979 Off the Wall * Released: August 10, 1979 * Label: Epic (EK #35745)
01 – Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough
04 – Get On The Floor.
05 – Off The Wall
1982 Thriller * Released: November 30, 1982 * Label: Epic (EK #38112)
03 – The Girl Is Mine
04 – Thriller
05 – Beat It
06 – Billie Jean
07 – Human Nature
08 – P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
1987 Bad * Released: August 31, 1987 * Label: Epic (EK #40600)
01 – Bad
02 – The Way You Make Me Feel
07 – Man In The Mirror
08 – I Just Can’t Stop Loving You
09 – Dirty Diana
10 – Smooth Criminal
11 – Leave Me Alone
1991 Dangerous * Released: November 13, 1991 * Label: Epic (EK #45400)
08 – Black Or White
2001 Invincible * Released: October 30, 2001 * Label: Epic (EK #69400)

“—” denotes albums that weren’t released or were released but did not chart.

______________+++++++++++_____________+++++++++++++____________

Now you can compare these facts with Rod Stewart’s career, Pink Floyd, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Neil Diamond, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Elvis, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles. Figure out that Peter Frampton means nothing. That means van Halen, AC/DC, Nirvana are not imperatives. The Who accomplished something, but Boston and Aerosmith are only significant, not essential.

To many participants in Pop Music, Van Morrison, RadioHead, Tupac Shakur, and your favorite act mean nothing. If Michael Jackson is the King of Pop, Madonna is the Queen Mother, Britney Spears is a Princess, and the royal blood-line is dependent on the genetic information provided by the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. –JWfH

a government by and for the people(?)

one would think, things ought to be getting better as one gets older, but generally speaking, that’s far from the case.  the government we’ve come to know and for sure not love, just plods on like some sort of a brain dead basket case.  a government hanging on because no one bothered to fill out the, ‘do not resuscitate’, paperwork.  government by flat line.  yeah, sad but true.

the local yokels, i actually grew up with, are running shit around these parts now and they step into a pile of stinky dogie poop daily.  seems like they ought to know better.  also seems like they haven’t a clue someone is actually watching.  how odd is that?  more like stupid.  sad.  so sad.

they step on a nice steaming turd and think nothing of it until that said turd hits the damn fan.  hits the fan because someone is actually looking at what you lame ass numb-nutted humps are doing. 

you can’t get into stuff like, tony soprano, doing whatever the hell works, graft wise, and not think anyone isn’t watching or paying attention.  who’s dumber?  you?  or us?

names?  if you live here you know them.  they’re in the local fish wrap on a several times a week basis.  no point sticking them up here.  no, not yet. 

things will probably only be going from bad to worse now that arnold’s scams didn’t pass a few weeks ago.  the idiots here and up in the state capital are scrambling to find ways to figure shit out.  i doubt they will. 

i’ve said this before and, george will, god bless him, said it last week as well.  this sad stupid game is coming to your state sooner or later.  count on it.

so respectable.  get out of my life.  don’t take my wife.  no no no.

light a candle for america.

so, all that being said, and in the spirit of a government by and for the people, cheorkee parks, and myself, with a bit of inspiration from, dfr, have come up with a nice patriotic tee-shirt just in time for the coming july 4th holiday.

go to this link.  check it out.  then buy, buy, buy amarican!!!  please.

 http://www.cherokeeparks.net/tee_shirt.htm

 

 

 

copyright 2009  cowboyzone enterprises

 

 

jmh