The White Album - The Fabs in Autumn…(II)

(Part I Here) It takes a while to drive up to a decent trout stream from where I live. About the time the first side of the cassette ended (sides one and two of The White Album) I stopped at a country store for a diet green tea and a protein snack bar [...]

The White Album -The Fabs in autumn… (I)

Autumn fills me with yearning. Maybe it’s those first twinges of approaching winter - a warm evening begets a frosty morning - that come unexpectedly, as crises or messages from long feared lost loved ones do, when one isn’t expecting them, bringing fear or joy so suddenly that one isn’t able to anticipate [...]

Elvis is king…of his destiny, anyway…and that’s worth a lot….

I saw Elvis Costello two nights ago at (interestingly enough) the Booth Amphitheater in Cary, NC (a suburb of Raleigh). It was an excellent show, and if he’d had a better audience, it would have been a great one.
The amphitheater only holds about 2000, so it was a fairly intimate setting for [...]

Being There…or we knew the bride when she used to marry rockers….

When Tom Snyder asked John Lennon in the famous Tomorrow Show interview why he became a musician and formed a band, Lennon replied slyly, “For the birds, Tom. That’s why every guy does it. To get girls….”
Pattie Boyd was one of the most famous of “the birds….”
Now Boyd has published her [...]

When giants walked the earth…the end of “the age of rock stars…” a personal view…

I think maybe this starts at a Who concert in 1976:
I went to the concert with two musician friends of mine and some women who, for reasons obvious to me at least, shall remain nameless. Toots and the Maytals, one of the great reggae bands, opened the show. In retrospect, they played a nice [...]

Woodstock nation: all that mud made…swine…?

Today is the 38th anniversary of the ending of The Woodstock Music and Art Fair at Bethel, NY.
For all us Boomers who became what Hunter called “The Generation of Swine” and who’ve elected the likes of Thrill Bill and The Decider as OUR POTUSes, time for a little assessment and reflection on what Woodstock [...]

Looking for trouble with Elvis…

Elvis is dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that.
There is no doubt that Elvis is dead these thirty years this very day. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.
All that follows may or may not have happened. I’m [...]

Wanna get back to the garden…? Max Yasgur’s farm for sale….

Woodstock is for sale.
Sort of.
Max Yasgur’s farm, made famous by the Joni Mitchell song (which most folks know in the CSNY version) is on the market. Its current owner is tired of fighting the local “powers that be” over use of the property for anniversary concerts.
The figure who’s lost in all this is NY dairy [...]

Ingmar Bergman and the cinema of self-evaluation…

Ingmar Bergman, a giant of 20th century cinema, died yesterday. He was 89.
That’s the news. But that’s not what we should be talking about today as we enter the “re-evaluation” phase of the Swedish film maker’s distinguished career. I think we must ask a difficult question about Bergman’s films:
In a world that allows [...]

Happy Birthday, Hunter…

[UPDATE] Hunter’s widow, Anita, has a nice post on Hunter’s birthday at Owl Farm Blog.
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You may have noticed that Hunter Thompson is back on the masthead. Today would have been The Doctor’s 70th birthday (July 18, 1937 - February 20, 2005), and we thought it appropriate to honor the memory of a journalist who was [...]

“On The Road” at fifty…goring a Boomer sacred cow….

Old Man: “What are you rebelling against?”
Johnny Stabler (Marlon Brando): “What you got?” -The Wild One (1954)

2007 is a year filled with Boomer anniversaries - the 40th anniversary of Monterrey Pop, the 40th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
And there’s an ongoing anniversary celebration this year for a book [...]

2nd most overrated rock star still dead…should we care why…?

People fear death even more than pain. It’s strange that they fear death. Life hurts a lot more than death. At the point of death, the pain is over. Yeah, I guess it is a friend. - Jim Morrison
A new interview with Sam Bernett, close friend of Jim Morrison, in that bastion of serious [...]

The Forgotten Beatle

Dick Cavett: Who’s the greatest drummer in rock?
Ringo: Me.
Dick Cavett: Why’s that, Ringo?
Ringo: Because I’m in the greatest band.
Today, 7/07/07, is special for something much more important than that Live Earth music industry circle jerk (any “rock concert” including the Pussycat Dolls is immediately authenticity bankrupt) posing as a pro-environment direct action. Meanwhile, Sir Paul [...]

Martin Luther King, Jr. - our newest Scholar Rogue

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Our newest scholar/rogue is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Most Americans, no matter what they think of him, know King’s story well. The son of a Baptist minister, King attended [...]

Daddy don’t go…the sad sagas of Sean and Julian Lennon

The Associated Press reports today that Sean and Julian Lennon, half-brothers and sons of Beatle John Lennon, have reconciled after an 8 year estrangement.
Like you care. But maybe you should.
The Lennon boys’ problems mirror those of a significant part of our society. They’re both boys who grew up without a dad….