duaneiac

Disc 3 of 4.

New copies of The King R & B Box Set can be found on Amazon for $11.93 + shipping

I'm not sure the strings will be to your liking, but this is certainly a slow ballad version:

On a West Coast Jazz online group I belong to Steve Voce has posted that trumpeter and author John Chilton passed away this morning. I see that Mr. Chilton's Wikipedia entry now confirms this. I have his Who's Who of Jazz as well as his biographies of Coleman Hawkins and Louis Jordan, although I have yet to read the latter. May he Rest In Peace.

Heck, I'd be happy if they just completed the Complete Verve Singles collection of Ella Fitzgerald. They issued a 2 CD Volume 1 set back in 2003 and then never followed up on it.

I just recently bought this for a decent price from a dealer on Amazon. Listening to Disc 2 right now. I gotta say, after acquiring a few of the Motown Complete Singles collections, this Verve set is a bit disappointing. Singles have two sides, so in my view, both sides of a disc should be included in a collection such as this even if the B-side is less than stellar. The liner notes seem rather perfunctory; I guess they spent more time & effort on the book that was issued concurrently with this set. Each disc is housed in a cardboard gatefold sleeve, but the inside of each is merely blank -- they could have at least added a few photos of various musicians there. Still, there are many enjoyable tracks to be found here. This set is worth getting at the right price.

The Hollywood Reporter piece you linked to describes this film as "a mix of factual and fictional events". That could be said of every Hollywood biopic about a jazz musician ever made. I just feel I know enough about the life of Chet Baker as it is. I read James Gavin's biography of him, and while some may have their quarrels with that book, it provided a lot of information about his life. I don't feel this film will add anything to that and I suspect it will really wallow in the drug addiction aspect of his life. His life certainly had its share of drama and that's good for Hollywood, but while I really enjoy much of his music, I'd have to admit he doesn't seem like a very interesting or sympathetic personality. Chet Baker was blessed with such natural musical talent and movie star good looks. He should have been a towering figure in jazz and pop culture during his lifetime. Instead, his addiction caused him to squander so much of his natural talent. While I can appreciate what he did accomplish musically, I feel, with the talent he had, he could have done so much more. I should naturally be part of the target audience for this film, but I'm just not excited about it.

I think this is the first I've even heard of this film. I'm a Chet Baker fan and I confess I have next to no interest in seeing this film. The trailer looks okay and it looks like it might be a not godawful film, but I just don't need to see it. I know the basic details of Chet Baker's biography and I don't think this film will illuminate that story any further. I like Chet Baker's music, but I really don't need to watch while he gets his teeth knocked out. I wish I could have seen him perform in concert, but I would not have wanted to spend even 5 minutes with him off-stage because his life was such a chaotic mess.

Congrats indeed, Lon! Best wishes to you both! Long may you make beautiful music together!

"If you ever wish for things that are only in the past Just remember that the wrong things aren't supposed to last. Baby it's over and done, The rest is gonna come when you let it . . ."

I've also always liked this song. It was a mild hit for Johnny Cash in the late 1970's and then he spent pretty much all of the 1980's off of country radio stations (at least here in the US) as they made room for newer performers and old guys like him, Merle Haggard, Porter Waggoner, Buck Owens, Ray Price, etc. were overlooked for awhile. Glen Campbell also had a weekly TV series back in the late 1960's & early 70's. He seemed like a nice guy, a very good musician and singer, but he also seemed to be an "image" to me, whereas Johnny Cash seemed authentic. To my mind at least, the Johnny Cash I saw on TV was probably not that different from the Johnny Cash that existed in the real world, while the TV Glen Campbell seemed to be an act that may or may not have reflected the real nature of Glen Campbell. Certainly Mr. Campbell's clean-cut image took a hit during his wild Tanya Tucker years (an era not mentioned at all in the I'll Be Me documentary film). I do regret that I never got to see either of them perform in person.

I suppose it would depend upon how one personally defines what is a "good song". I like Elvis a lot but, IMO, many of his hits were good/great records made out of mediocre songs -- "Blue Suede Shoes", "Teddy Bear", "Stuck On You", "Return To Sender", etc. Granted, it is no small feat to make a hit record from mediocre source material; everything depends upon the performance, arrangement and production to push the material over the top into classic status. So I am not trying to diminish the status of these songs done by Elvis. I like the songs I mentioned even though I can recognize that they are not gems of the art of songwriting, but boy were they made into good, catchy records by Elvis & Co.

"Of his generation" I would say first and foremost was Ray Charles, who had a slew of hit records from good songs. Both men were Southerners, both were born into and grew up in economically deprived circumstances during the Great Depression and both became iconic figures in American music.

Wow! Thanks, for bringing this to my attention, Bill. I never knew nor dreamed that such a program existed.

I became a Johnny Cash fan back when I was a kid. "A Boy Named Sue" was a big hit on the radio and he had his weekly TV show around that time. There was a genuineness about him and his music that really appealed to me then and still does. I guess it's because there was a certain integrity and honesty about his music. If he sang/recorded a song, it was because he believed in it and wanted to do it, not because it was well received by some focus group or because some record execs told him he should do it. There are so many great songs he recorded. One of my favorites was "I Still Miss Someone". One of the most moving songs is his version of "Danny Boy" on his last CD. Granted, it's a sad song to begin with, but it's rare that one hears the lines "But if you come and all the flowers are dying / And I am dead, as dead I well may be" sung by some one who actually knew he was dying at the time. It's incredibly moving and I can never listen to it without shedding a tear or two.

Yesterday a local store battled the Super Bowl with a special 25% off all used items for their email list customers. So I picked up (I had not even heard about his passing yet when I bought this one.)

This is starting out as a bad year. I have long loved Dan Hicks' music. I knew he had been fighting cancer, but I actually thought he was doing okay recently. I only saw him perform once when he did his "Holidaze In Hicksville" Christmas show at Yoshi's a few years ago with special guest Bob Dorough. I saw he was doing the holiday show down in Santa Cruz this last December. I suppose that must have been one of his last performances. I should have gone, but you know how life gets in the way sometimes. So long Mr. Hicks and thank you for hours of musical pleasure.

Yet another ham-handed "comedy" from Blake Edwards. I do remember seeing this on TV as a kid and "Push the button , Max" bacame a catchphrase with me and my brother. But there are few genuine laughs to be found in this beautifully filmed 160 minute movie.

One of my favorite Bob & Ray moments came from their old "Matinee With Bob & Ray" show on WHDH in Boston. They were interviewing some touring band leader -- I forget who exactly, but it was not a top name, but maybe a second tier name like Russ Morgan or somebody -- and he was on their show to promote his gig in town at that time. What they did to him, and this was back in the late 1940's already, was a kind of "Komodo Dragon expert" interview, where they would ask him questions about which he had already supplied the answers in his previous statements. Since he was an out-of-towner and probably not familiar with these guys or their program, its not clear at first if he was getting the joke. He seemed a bit perplexed but polite because he didn't want to be rude to his hosts, but after awhile it sounded like he realized they were pulling his leg. The "Matinee With Bob & Ray" shows are really fun because it was just them riffing and having a half-hour of airtime to fill everyday. With no scripts and no rehearsal, they would just launch into a sketch when the inspiration struck them and end it when they got tired of it. And Bob Elliott did a great Arthur Godfrey impersonation. Lots of great Bob & Ray can be heard here: https://archive.org/search.php?query=bob %26 ray

" . . . recorded an as yet unreleased album with jazz pianist Marian McPartland. " It will be interesting to see if that ever sees the light of day. The powers that be at Concord Records these days don't seem all that interested in straight ahead jazz and they don't seem particularly interested in furthering the legacy of Marian McPartland. I wonder if they hold the rights to this material and if Mr. King's estate would be able to purchase same. I recall when he was a guest on her Piano Jazz show that they both seemed to have a good time, but I don't recall any special musical chemistry between them. I have his CD, The Gypsy, but it has been years since I listened to it. He did seem adept and comfortable in both the jazz and country music worlds. May he Rest In Peace.

My favorite Bob & Ray sketch, "The Komodo Dragon Expert": https://youtu.be/gZEyvwhjcFk?t=31s

--ly Ballou has signed off. While not unexpected, this is very sad to hear. I adore the comedy of Bob & Ray and have recordings from all stages of their career. It's a kind of gentle & intelligent comedy which could never take hold today. He was also the father of Chris Elliott and co-starred with him in the TV series Get A Life. Thank you Mr. Elliott for a ton of laughs. In lieu of RIP, it may be more fitting to say, "Hang by your thumbs and write if you get work".

I guess I bought into the "idea" the first time I heard her on the radio long ago. I t was probably one of her "hits" like "I Love You Porgy" or "Little Girl Blue", but whatever it was, it captured my attention. I can't say there are any musicians whose recordings I like 100%, but if one likes the majority of a musician's recording, one can be called a fan. In that case, I'm a fan of Nina Simone. Since she covered so much musical territory -- from old folk tunes to blues to jazz standards to showtunes to rock hits of the day, etc. -- not everything works, but most of it does for me and a lot of it is fascinating and quite moving.

People & Love is available on this two-fer CD

So what exactly is the "idea" of Nina Simone and how is it separate from the artistry which was her music? I thought the film was pretty good, managing to explore different aspects of what must have been a complex person who had interesting public and private lives. It may not be the definitive documentary about her, but it is certainly a good one.