Bro and Stogie Jam Out to "Black Magic Woman" (Video)

Over the weekend I visited my older brother (Bro) in Fallon, Nevada. We jammed for two days straight! In a jam, you play many songs that you may not have played before. Bro and I haven't played music together for three and a half years, but had a great time and were pleased with the results. Because it's a jam, the renditions will not be as polished like they would be if previously rehearsed. That adds a bit of fun to the efforts, because improvization is required. In the vid below, Bro is playing a black Fender Stratocaster guitar, but you can't see it behind his keyboard. Too bad, it's a beautiful guitar -- but you can certainly hear it well. I am in the fedora playing my new Fender Jazz Bass. Bro does the singing.  (I am not coordinated enough to play bass and sing at the same time.) Have a listen.

 

Here's the guitar Bro is playing:

Black Fender Stratocaster

Andrew Breitbart and Davy Jones Die

Andrew Breitbart

What a sucky day.  Andrew Breitbart died today at age 43 - a young, energetic, charismatic warrior for conservatism, liberty and economic prosperity.  The news says he died of natural causes, probably a bad heart.  Breitbart's death is a profound loss for the conservative cause.  Why him, why now?

Davy Jones

Strange, David Thomas, also known as Davy Jones, died the day before.  Thomas was the lead singer of the Monkees, a contrived "rock band" that was formed out of cute boys in the 1960's to pretend they were Beatle look-alike musicians on a television show aimed at pubescent girls who needed fantasy boyfriends.  The television shows were terrible, with the "Monkees" doing things like riding bikes and chasing each other around and behaving like the children they were trying to entertain.  Then of course, they would give a band performance and sing some mostly vapid songs.  Of course, they weren't playing the instruments, but they did do the singing, so we'll have to give them that.

I will say this though:  the Monkees recorded a couple of songs that I really liked, and still do:  "Last Train to Clarksville" and "I'm a Believer."

"Davy Jones" was 66 years old, but I will always remember him as the young guy above.

"Stray Cat Strut" With String Bass! (Stogie Band)

I really like the music of the British American rock group "Stray Cats."  They tried to capture the spirit of 1950's rock and roll and did a great job of it.  Their band used an upright string bass, like the great old rock groups of old, and the string bass has acoustic qualities that the electric bass has never been able to equal.  Here's my group where I try out my string bass on "Stray Cat Strut."  We were pleased with the result.

The video was captured using a Canon hand held camcorder, so the acoustics are not perfect by any means.  Our keyboard player Kenny sings and does a surprisingly good job, I think.  Are we feminists or not?  Our lead guitar player is a woman, Lorraine, and she is "better than sex" on guitar.  Great riffs!

In Honor of the Beatles in "Help!"

As Smitty has pointed out, today is the anniversary of the 1965 release of the Beatles' second film, "Help!"

It's hard to believe that 45 years have passed.

The Beatles were, IMHO, simply the best rock group to ever set foot on a stage.  Of course, they were more than rock and roll; a lot of their songs (like this one) were unusual and beautiful, touching the heart like no other popular music could. They were truly original and unique.

Here is a video segment from "Help!" with John Lennon singing "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away."

Embedding has been disabled so I have posted the direct link (above).

Moon Dance

Today I decided to figure out how to make YouTube videos.  It ain't so hard.  Here's one of my band playing for a Palo Alto street party on June 10, 2010.  If you listen with earphones or through quality speakers you can hear the bass, but it won't come through on small computer speakers.  The bass has a very low frequency and needs big speakers or earphones to be heard.

Our band did well at this party. Not bad for playing on the street with no acoustics.

Kenny really rocks on the flute in this song.  Our singer Deena is quite soulful and good in this song.  I'm the glum looking character on your left playing a red bass.  I had bursitis that day and didn't feel very cheerful.

Is the Sun Finally Breaking Through the Clouds?

This morning I was feeling pretty down.  However, I was contacted by a financial consulting firm who says they can put me right to work, and I am meeting with the CEO tomorrow to discuss projects.  I feel optimistic after a long phone chat with her.  She's swamped, and I am idle, so maybe we can help each other out.

On Wednesday evening I practiced with a gigging classic rock/blues band in Gilroy.  They play every weekend and get paid for it, and that's what I am looking for.  The band I am playing with now is mostly hobbyists who aren't looking to gig (music term for "playing for a paying audience") on a regular basis.

My age is always a concern.  I show up at a band practice with three guys who are all young enough to be my sons, and we hit it off right away.  The male singer (and band leader) is good; the guitar player competent and the drummer very competent (he has a degree in jazz from San Jose State).  We ran through eleven of their set list songs that I had practiced in advance, on my own.  It seemed like a really good fit, we played quite well together and they were complimentary of my playing skill.  The band leader said I did great and it is obvious that I love the bass.  Yep, it's the only instrument I have ever wanted to play.

However, I don't have the job yet, though they told me I am on their "preferred list."  They are still auditioning bass players.  I told them, "if you can find a better bass player, hire him!"  However, I am still in the running, and that's good.

The drummer was playing on a mismatched set of drums:  all of them red with one yellow snare, and his cymbals and high hat had holes in them -- it looked like a rat had chewed on them, but rats don't chew on brass.  He said he had found the cymbals discarded under a stairwell and appropriated them.  It doesn't matter, he sounded great.

So is the sun about to break through the cloudy skies of my life?  Maybe.

Janis Joplin: Long Ago and Far Away

My band practices in the music room of our guitar player's house in San Jose.  Bill, the guitar player, has a lot of music memorabilia hanging on the walls.  Last night I saw a framed photo of Janis Joplin, sitting on the hood of a psychedelic 1965 Porsche, parked right in front of the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.  That's the photo on the right.

The photograph was taken in 1968 but the Palace of Fine Arts, built in 1915 for the Panama-Pacific Exposition, looks exactly the same today.  (It is located at 3301 Lyon Street, SF 94123).  In the early 70's I sometimes wandered the grounds and structures at night with my pal, Gary Potts, fellow accountant, after getting blasted at Henry Africa's.  I remember looking up at the high ceiling of the dome from inside and feeling frightened by the height.

Later, I took my girlfriend there during the day for a romantic walk, and we later married (and still are married).

In any case, a lot of memories came to life in viewing this old photo of Janis Joplin.  During the days of  1966 - 1968, my father owned a music store in San Jose and sold guitars, amplifiers and speaker columns to members of famous bands.   Janis Joplin's band, Big Brother and the Holding Company, rented some speaker columns from us.  I saw Janis Joplin perform, up close and personal, at the Loser's South nightclub in San Jose, where she wandered through the customers' tables, stopping and singing in the midst of us.  I thought she screamed her songs too much and found her appearance rather dowdy.  Janis was never one for sartorial splendor I guess.  She could, however, be pretty and sexy when she wanted to.

The Jefferson Airplane was there that night, too, and at break I was sitting a few feet away from Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, who compared musician union membership cards with two very-long-haired members of Big Brother.  The Big Brother guys informed Kaukonen that they had joined the Seattle union instead of the San Francisco union, as they got a better deal on dues.  Funny, it was just a mundane conversation but I still remember the gist of it forty years later.

Those days of '66 - 68 -- yes, there were a lot of bell bottom pants, loud shirts, long hair and clouds of swirling pot smoke.  So much of it came to life last night at practice, all from looking at a photo of a young singer now almost forty years dead.  Where did those years go?

Update:  Though I didn't like her at the time, I have since come to admire Janis Joplin and to appreciate her talent.  When my own band learned "Me and Bobby McGee." I listened to Janis's recording of it and enjoyed it very much.  The sadness and sentimentality of that song, for a dead loved one, is touching.

I have often wondered at Janis's recklessness in injecting heroin, which caused her death (and that of many other famous musicians).  Why did she take such an overdose?  Did she want to kill herself?

The answer is no.  I learned from a film about Hollywood that Janis had purchased, unknowingly, a sample of very pure heroin.  She took it at full strength, not knowing its purity, and it killed her.  The same batch of heroin was sold around Los Angeles and several other deaths occurred on the same night as that of Janis.

I would never touch that shit, or cocaine either.  It's like playing Russian Roulette.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

There's nothing but bad news to report these days. To hell with that, I'm going to enjoy life anyway.

Here's a recording of one of my favorite Christmas songs, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" by Brenda Lee. The song was recorded in 1958, fully fifty years ago. I swear, the best music is all behind us now. The song was rereleased in 1959 but did not catch on until 1960 when Brenda Lee was finally becoming known and popular.

I love the Fender Stratocaster in this song, with the treble turned up and the guitar player grooving away. The song reminds me of America circa 1960, which is when I think I first noticed this song. There were red and green and blue lights on our real Christmas tree which filled the house with the scent of pine; it was a time when the rock was hot and the girls were pretty and feminine. That year my dad bought Bro a Fender Jazzmaster guitar and bought me a Fender Jazz Bass, which was a prototype since they weren't officially released until 1962 (my dad was a Fender dealer in those days).

Brenda Lee is still performing today. You can check her schedule at her website here.

Okay enough Stogie philosophy, listen to the song. Take notes, there will be a quiz.

A photo of Brenda Lee as she looks today is at the right. You're still hot, Brenda.