Alexander

Florence Henderson is well-known for her filthy sense of humor. Apparently, she made a lot of off-color remarks around the kids while the Brady Bunch was on the air. I remember hearing one story where the kids were posing with giant all-day suckers. One of the young actors (possibly the guy who played Greg) commented that all day was a long time to suck on anything, to which Florence replied, "Not for me it isn't."

The lesson here is that if you are going to have psychological issues in the United States, you'd better be middle class. If you have money, your problems will be indulged until they have reached the point of a full-blown meltdown. If you're poor, you will simply be ignored.

I'm one of those old-timers (just turned 37) who likes to keep up wth what the "kids" are listening to. There is a great deal of excellent music being made today in any number of genres. We ignore it at our peril.

I'm not sure what you mean when you ask what jazz was "like" during this period. Like any other period in jazz history, there was a tremendous amount of diversity. Vol. 1 was recorded in 1953, vol. 2 featured sessions recorded in 54 and 55, so there's a gap of - at most - two years. Bop was about ten years old by this point. Cool jazz was just finding its feet. The big bands were dying off. Sinatra was just getting started at Capitol. Probably the most important changes during this period were technological. The LP and the 45 had already been introduced by this time, and many record companies were changing formats. I want to say that it was during the early fifties that Blue Note started releasing 10" LPs. It seems to me that the session on the first volume of the Johnson album was probably released on 78 first, and then on LP shortly thereafter. The second session was probably released on LP only (if anyone has any information to back this up or refute it, please contribute). Also, the first session was clearly not recorded on magnetic tape. The second session sounds to me like it was recorded on magnetic tape.

Some of these women look like they need to take a break from the game and EAT! One or two look dangerously thin. Don't get me wrong. I'm a chess nerd and I married a chess nerd. Women who play chess are hot. Women who play go are hotter!

Happy Birthday, King! Anyone see "Walk Hard," btw? Jack White does a wonderful Elvis!

I'm sure sorry to hear about your friend's problems. My maternal grandfather died of ALS when I was about six years old. It's a particularly nasty and undignified way to die.

My LPs and CDs are retentively filed alphabetically by artist last name or by group name. They are then organized by earliest recording date (if known) or by release date (this means that a few titles get shuffled around when I get additional info). Titles by two artists are filed under the first artist's last name ("John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman" is filed under Coltrane, "Duke Ellington and John Coltrane" is filed under Ellington). I used to separate by genre, but I don't anymore (except, for some reason, for classical and holiday. Those I do file separately. They're even kept in a completely separate location from the rest of my collection. I'm not sure why).

I just wanted to let you know, Allen, that I did receive my sets. Thanks!

Personally speaking, I don't believe in "guilty pleasures." You like what you like. To call something you like a "guilty pleasure" implies that you care what other people think about your musical tastes. I'll listen to anything that sounds good to me. I don't know what that makes me, other than happy.

I have both of their albums on vinyl. Good stuff!

I LOVE Elvis too! Release your inner King!

I LOVE "Thriller"! It's a perfect pop album! There's something there for everybody!

Further proving that no matter where you go, there you are!

I wouldn't be! '80-'81 was a great period for live Dead! Brent hadn't started singing at that point, I recall...

Well, my wife and I have seen James Taylor at Tanglewood a couple of times, but I wouldn't say that I'm "ashamed" of the fact. It certainly wasn't my idea and Taylor isn't represented in my personal collection, but I certainly have nothing against the guy. He's a wonderful showman who understands his audience and gives them exactly what they want. Both shows have been very pleasant. The worst concert I've been to was the Barenaked Ladies. I loved "Gordon," their first album, and a few of their singles thereafter. My wife and I went to see them after their most recent album was released and they played NOTHING but the new material. Since we hadn't heard the album, we didn't know any of it and it didn't hold up on its own merits. We were both bored to tears. Again, I'm not "ashamed" that I went. I just wish they had had the good sense to include some of the material from the first few albums to appease the old fans.

Thanks for the b-day greetings, everyone! I did have a great birthday. We went out for a wonderful dinner (mmmmm...raw clams and oysters!) and I got the Miles "On The Corner" box from my wife. My daughter made me picture frame (sewn out of ribbons. It's so cute!) and my mom gave me the complete Monty Python on DVD. Sweet! After my show (we had a performance last night), I went out with a couple of friends and did two things I've never done before: 1) Karaoke (fun, but I think it would have been even MORE fun if it had been in a Japanese place) 2) Dancing with 22 year old bar skanks. Twas a hoot (my wife thinks the whole story is hysterical, btw. You really have to imagine me...nebbishy old me...dancing with young hotties)! So yeah, it was a GREAT birthday! I'd like to turn 37 all over again!

Evidently, I'm one of the Magnificent Seven as well. I wonder who the other five are?

$3740 Why, I'm practically WORTHLESS!!!

From the wife: "How Low Can You Go: Anthology of the String Bass" From my mom: "People Take Warning: Disaster Songs and Murder Ballads" From my friend, Henry: "How The West Was Won: Zeppelin Live" and "Moonshine" by Dave Douglas Haven't gotten it yet, but for my birthday (on the 28th) I'll be getting the Miles "On The Corner" box. Music related book (from the wife): "The House That Train Built: The Story of Impulse Records" by Ashley Kahn. Sweet!

I wonder if Hitler and Stalin danced. Or if Hitler ever danced with Stalin...

See, what's funny is that you really don't know anything about me or what I know. I've got more than 3000 CDs in my basement. I've got HUNDREDS of LPs. Some of these things are pop ephemera (I happen to LOVE pop ephemera), and some are exactly the same things that clem and MG listen to. You must have missed the thread where clem challenged me to identify an obscure musician (relatively obscure, anyway) only to find that I not only knew who she was, but owned several of her albums. Once again, I'll listen to ANYTHING that sounds good and I'm always on the prowl for the next thing. Sometimes it's someone really famous and popular (Elvis, the Beatles, Sinatra) and sometimes it's someone who's totally obscure (Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxson, Dock Boggs, Rabbit Brown). My collection runs the gamut from hip hop to jug bands. I love it all. Everybody has a hobby horse. Mine happens to be pop music. I see pop music everywhere: in jazz, blues, country, bluegrass, hip hop, funk, punk, ska, reggae, rock steady...you name it, I have it and I listen to it. If I hear something I don't like, I don't turn it off. I listen to it over and over until I FIND something to appreciate in it. Some people would say that life's too short to make yourself find something worthwhile in music that doesn't immediately appeal to you. I say that there's too much out there to limit yourself. As to your comment about whether it's "offensive" that musicians like the Dap Kings can recreate a sound that artists in the past worked so hard to create...actually, I don't think it is. At all. I see what the Dap Kings do as an expression of their love and deep appreciation for this music. How else could they learn to play it so well?

You seem to be arguing in favor of "authenticity." These guys play like 60s and 70s soul musicians, but they're really early 21st century kids! They're poseurs! Only "real" soul music is of value. The fact that they play their asses is of little value. In fact, it only makes it worse, since they might actually fool some poor sap into believing that this really *is* classic soul music. And how dare they! See, your argument only holds water if you actually give a shit about "authenticity." I don't. Ask clem. I'll listen to ANYTHING so long as it sounds good to me. Anything at all. I actually OWN a Christina Aguilera album! The shame!

Yes. I've always been greatly in favour of music developed from the bottom up, by the audience. Anything else smacks to me of someone in authority - be it a genius like Coltrane or Parker, or an insufficiently anonymous A&R man like Mitch Miller or Norrie Paramor - telling me what I should be listening to; and I resent that. And that's what this stuff is, too. MG How do you figure that? Who is this "authority"? Daptone is an independent lable! Who is stuffing Sharon Jones down our throats? Who? Is this because the Dap Kings have become a cause-celebre thanks to Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse? I don't know who Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson are, except that I've read a little bit about them in the thread. I made no mention of anyone stuffing anything down my throat. Or yours. What I'm talking about is the creation of what's deemed, by someone who has access in the way that most members of the audience haven't, to be quality. It's all very well saying, "good is good" but, if one isn't particularly interested in "good", it don't cut no ice. I'm not interested in what's good, though it's useful to know about, so much as what comes up from the audience - and that's what excites me. A lot of it isn't good. And a lot of it is. But I don't prefer either to the other. Quality is irrelevant (except when I feel like it ) MG You're not interested in "good." So...what? You're after terrible? Pretty good? What? What does "come up from the audience" mean, anyway? People don't usually go to a show to hear what "comes up from the audience" but to hear what's going *down* on stage. If you mean that you're interested in "folk" music (as in music that comes from "the people"), I would argue that you're describing pretty much all of American popular music ("popular" in the sense of "from the people" rather than "well liked") including the drek that gets played on "top 40" radio.

Remember, Motown is "hackass" because they sold a lot of records and are beloved by all. Nothing that gains wide acceptance can possibly be good, because (as we all know so well) people are stupid and have terrible taste. Only rare individuals - such as clem - have the ability to separate the wheat from the chaff. The rest of us, alas, are far too stupid. We (chuckle) actually believe that we LIKE things. We think that because things *sound* good to us, that we actually enjoy them. Foolish, foolish us! So remember, kids...daddy edc knows best!