JSngry

Jim, may I take you up on your promise before BFT6 hits us in the face? Ok, here goes... First of all, "Days Of Wine And Four Roses" was written by Lyles as a tribute to Charles Brown, with whom he gigged locally in NYC for a while in the early-mid 80s, before Charles' "rediscovery". The title is how CB always introduced "The Days Of Wine And Roses". It's a beautiful tune, with changes that move logically, yet in a totally non-cliched manner, and a melody that displays a melancholy lyricism that's neither trite nor precious. The sustained notes in the melody and the second part require full attention to the subleties of phrasing and dynamics to make everything sing the way it needs to. It's an "easy" song to hear, but not so easy to play correctly. About the session - we left Dallas at about 11 AM, expecting to make San Marcos about 4-5 PM. About 30 minutes after we left, heading south, it began to snow. By the time we hit Waco, about 90 miles away, we were in the throes of a full fledged snow and ice storm. We briefy debated turning back and rescheduling, but full of a sense of mission, we quickly decided to go on ahead, that they'd have to kill us to keep us from making this album. The further south we went, the worse the weather got, and before too long, we were travelling about 25 mph tops, when we moved at all. We got to Austin about 6 PM, stopped at a Whole Foods Market to stock up on premium beers, and finally pulled into San Marcos about 9 PM (San Marcos is in the "Hill Country" of Texas, and by then, driving had become rather, uh, "adventurous", to say the least. We had rented a cabin in the woods, and getting there from San Marcos proper SHOULD have taken 20 minutes or so, but it took another hour and a half. After checking in, we called the studio and the engineer. Guess what? The studio equipment had somehow frozen due to the negligence of the maintenance staff, and the engineer, who lived o top of a hill, was unable to leave home. But he placed some calls, and a plan was put into place to have the studio ready the next afternoon. When we arrived at the studio the next afternoon (another crawl of a drive), we found out that the engineer was still unable to get out of his house, but he had called two of his top students to come in and get things rolling. These kids were good, and we had a productive afternoon and early evening, getting acclimated to the studio, getting everything positioned right, etc., and then recording a bit. After that, we spent some time getting some samples ready for insertion into the mix. We ended up using two tracks from that first day's work, although I'm sorry to say that I can't remember which ones off the top of my head. The next day, the roads had been cleared, the regular engineer was in place, and we spent an entire day and part of the evening recording the rest of the album. Mixing took place the following day, an all-day affair which left all of us totally drained but happy (eventually...). Now, about me and this solo - we had been rehearsing 2-3 times a week for a month or so to get everything good and tight, to eliminate all the kinks in the heads and the formats, and just to simulate, as much as possible, a regulary working band so the record would have that "seasoned" feel to it. I was drinking tons of coffee and ingesting some pretty heavy quantities of ephedra and "miscellaneous" to maintain energy for a true round-the-clock schedule at home and while playing gigs and rehearsals. A few days before we left, I thought I was having a stoke - I got real light-headed, my left arm went numby/tingly, and my heart was beating WAY faster than it should have been. I called LTB to come and get me. She took me to the doctor, and he checked me out thoroughly. All was well, just heart palpitations brought on by all the stimulants, and an anxiety attack brought on by the palpitations. Cut out the coffee, ephedra, and etc, and you'll be fine was the doctor's assessment. So I did, which was difficult to do on the trip down, given the "party" that the other two non-driving members of the group were having all the way. But I was good. We cut "Days..." early on the second day, and before we tackled it, I decided to have one small cup of coffee to counteract the beer I had been drinking pretty much non-stop since we stopped in Austin. Big mistake - I immediately began to feel light-headed, I turned pale, and my heart started racing. Lyles, knowing what had went down a few days earlier, asked me if I was ok, and I said, "Sure. Let's go" even though I wasn't sure exactly what would happen. I knew enough not to get anxious though, so the aniexty attacks never came. But the other symptoms lingered on as we began to get a take. I had begun to really "get inside" this tune in the last few weeks of rehearsals, and I wasn't about to step down now - we had all been through so much hell just getting this far, and everybody was pumped, sensing that "triumph" was within reach. But my head was feeling REALLY funny as I began to play, although by now it was coming and going in 3-5 second intervals. I think you can hear a combination of confidence and carefullness in my solo - there's times when you can hear me feeling really loose and comfortable, and other times when you can hear that I've got both feet planted firmly on the ground to guard against falling down, both figuratively and literally. After the take, we listened to the playback, and I asked for another go-round, as the symptons had begun to subside. We tried a few, but none had the "suspended" yet "rolling" quality of this one. Lyles and Dennis are some of the LISTENINGEST M.F.s I've EVER known, and they were with me all the way on that first full take (we had a false start or two before getting a full one). But I was too wrapped up in asserting/proving myself (and TO myself) in a "healthy" manner to just relax and play, and they were with me on THAT, too, damn them. So we went with the first take, finding it to have just the right quality to compliment the overall vibe of the tune. There's two fingering glitches along the way in my solo, one brought on by the "condition" of the moment, and the other by the idea reaching my fingers a split-second too late. I'll not tell you where they are, or which is which, 'cause it's none of your damn business! One thing you don't hear on the cut as presented by John is the non-musical intro, the "Whilst travelling through this unfriendly world" thing. When we made the album, we had been hearing rumors that Charles Brown had either died or was just about to. I came across this phrase on a compliation called GOD'S MIGHTY HAND - GOSPEL EVANGELISTS (Gospel Heritage HT CD 09, and a total mindphukk of a CD, btw). The track in question was cut in 1948, and features a brief singing segment followed by a preaching one. Sister Winn has a very "primative" style in both segments, and the recording quality is somewhat shrill and tinny, reflecting the condiitons under which it was both recorded and pressed, I'm sure. But that phrase stuck in my head and the band's (especially after the trip down...), so it was decided that we HAD to use it for the intro to this song. We had gotten the sample isolated and captured the night before, and presented it to the engineer during the mixing. I worked with him to get the speed slowed down, but with Sister Winn's pitch kept intact (the miracles of digital!). When we got that far, I asked him if he coud put some effects on it to make it sound like "a big but disembodied voice coming from the clouds", and if he could get the tempo of the spoken words in sync w/the tempo of the song, so a rhythm would be established by the words that would not be broken when the music began. "Sure, give me about an hour" was his response. So we all went off to a neighboring bar for beer, food, beer, some TV, beer, a few cigarettes, and beer. When we came back, the guy had it done. Not bad for a guy whose main gig, besides teaching his craft at the college in San Marcos (the college also owns the studio, which is a converted fire station) is being Willie Nelson's engineer. His name is Bobby Arnold, and he went from being downright perplexed at our music to being furious that we expected him to be able to figure ANYTHING out playing like we did, to digging it, to actually getting enthusiastic about the mix and post-production effects (a band that's 3/4 comprised of SERIOUS Beatle-heads HAS to play the "studio as an instrument" game at least a few times their first time out, even if we're otherwise all-accoustic) we insisted on doing. I'm not real crazy about the overall sound of the CD, my own sound in particular (I think LIVE AT THE MEATHOUSE captures all of our sounds more accurately), but I gotta hand it to the guy - after he got over the initial shock, he got on the team all the way. Well, that's it. Hope that's some decent enough commentary. Thanks again to everybody who dug the piece.

No comments on the whole Fibonacci sequence thing? Sounds interesting if true, but you know how some things take on a life of their own not based in reality.

People tend to be who they really are, intentionally or not, so some music is political & some ain't. But since people tend to be who they really are, intentionally or not, some listeners are political & some ain't. The combinations are nearly endless!

THIS ONE, if you're into it. Doesn't have the instrumental albums or THE GENIUS OF... album, but it's got all the R&B sides, which were hugely influential on both Art Blakey & Horace Silver. A lot more "jazzier" than any other such music of its era, and marvellously packaged and documented.

Recently rescued from rarity by Hyena, readily available at a good price on-(and most likely off-)line, challenging enough in spots to be of at least some interest to those with more "outre" tastes, familiar enough to appeal to those with more "conservative" tastes, cause for a JACK WILSON ALERT, a great cross-section of all the things EH was into, all of it live, all of it entertaining (in the best possible sense), some of it outright funnier than hell, and all of it as good as it gets from this guy. A great introduction to a player some of you might know only by reputation, if at all, and an essential item for those already into him. My "first call" EH disc, actually, all things considered. Closest thing to "controversial" might be the first cut, which might come off as "draggy" to some ears (I'd agree, but find other, more redeeming qualities that overcome that). Other than that, should be fun for everybody. And it's only one disc! Enjoy folks, this is good stuff. (and thanks to EKE for the nod!)

Lombardi practiced and preached the macho (as it pertained to sports) ethic in a very visible manner when that ethic was at its apex (not for nuthin' was he a hero of Nixon, not that that has any relevance here). That, his record (how many championships in the '60s?), and the love-him-in-spite-of-it-all attitude of his former players are the recipie for a legend, I'd think.

Your jeans are never tighter than when you first put them on. They'll often come to fit better, but never tighter. Customer assistance on aisle 6!

That's one Texan telling a tall tale on another one. Rather's a Texan before he's anyting else, trust me.

Is there money to be made from this, or are these folks just incredibly altruistic?

A lot of the indecision I hear in those early Trane sides seems to me to be a matter of the proverbial reach exceeding the grasp. I think he had the things needed to play a "safe" solo under his fingers, but that's not what he wanted - he was hearing something else, and the conflict between what he wanted to play and what he knew he could play resulted in that little bit of hesitancy some of us sense. Although, consummate professional that he was, knowing that the tape was rolling and that he had a job to do, he didn't let it get to him to the point of outright folding. If he did, the tapes don't survive, not that I'm aware of. Chalk it up to, in my opinion, the haze of the junk combined with the natural response to still-abstract musical ideas by somebody who couldn't fully get a handle on them. Both would obviously be resolved soon enough.

Nothing like cracking the shrinkwrap on a new CD or LP. Whoops, wrong thread. Sorry!

But how does it work? Do they keep all the URLs you enter on a server? Isn't that kind of, I don't know... creepy? Maybe not. I guess everything's someplace.

http://tinyurl.com/

Stupid, yes, but a reasonably priced, saucy little stupidity with an innocently impudent bouquet redolent of yesterday's tomorrow, and a finish that begs to be lovingly punished wiht liquid leather in the winter, powdered glass in the summer. Perfect for those after-dinner chuckles or pre-coital jitters. And, best of all, NOT AVAILABLE IN STORES!

http://www.36crazyfists.com/forum/topic.as...Random+Bullshit I mean, does all this really work?

No, you didn't. Somebody 'splain this to me, please.

If this was real, wouldn't it be covered by prostitution laws?

Soooo...if this Organisimo "get together" materialises, smokers will not be welcome? Not that I could have made it anyway, I can't, but I was at least WANTING to...

Don't feel bad, Dan, I gave Dusty Groove (the bastards!) 20 bucks for Yusef's THE GOLDEN FLUTE Lp las month, and now, look out momma, here comes baby. C'est la freakin' vie, wie? OTOH, look at it like this - the longer you have something before it gets reissued, the longer you have to enjoy it before everybody else gets it. Elitism at its finest!

No Hooker collection is complete, though, w/o "I'm Bad Like Jesse James", recorded @ Cafe Au GoGo. Ain't nothin' like it.

Thanks, but no thanks. If I do it on purpose, then it becomes "professional", and a "professional writer" is something I have neither the talent for or the aspiration towards becoming. Get it here, while it happens. That's as real as I can keep it. OTOH, I read where liner notes are going for $350 on up, so hey, no sense being a purist about it, eh?

Truthfully, Patricia, I'm one to usually keep my more rancid stories to myself. "On line" friendships, no matter how real, are still devoid of the truly personal connection I need to let the dirt out of the cat's bag, the cat out of the dirtbag, or whatever gets you through the night, so to speak. As a rule. I only let a few examples out to illustrate why some might find such a forum entertaining and/or therapeutic (never underestimate the therapeutic angle...). Although I do have stories to tell, on-line is not the place I would feel comfortabale telling a lot of them, regardless of who/what the company was. My input in this matter has been (mostly) theoretical. I like the board as it is, actually. If a "men's club" forum opens up, cool. But if not, that's cool, too. It's all good. It seems to be a software/programming issue more than anything else, frankly.

A Cadence interview a few years back with, I think, Odean Pope (or some other Philly stalwart, the identity of the individual fails me now) made reference to Hassaan being a rather high-strung individual in terms of temperment, and allusions were also made to substance use (which is not to be confused w/abuse, btw). So the guy doesn't sound like they type to come into the NYC scene from the outside, set up shop, and go about thriving, if you know what I mean. But Pope (or whoever) kind of gave the impression that there are private tapes of local sessions in Philly still exisiting. So... I'd love to have been able to have heard this album in its time (released March, 1965). To today's ears, it might sound a little "no big dealish", but in 1965, I'd think the impact might have been more "in your face-ish". No matter - I myself hear a crackle, an immediacy of energy and purpose here that is about as vivid as I could imagaine, and that, more than any "stylistic" considerations is what continues to draw me to this album.

Patricia, please. My sincere admiration of your verbal and intellectual skills is a matter of record. I would exclude you from nothing, except perhaps tales of anonymous blow jobs and other similar tales of brainless male lustfulness in full throtle, not because you couldn't or wouldn't handle it, but because most guys have sides to them that they'd rather not share with people for whom they have a lot of respect, especially women-type peoples for reasons that once-upon-a-time needed no explanation. But in these days and nights of people wanting the milk but moaning and groaning when the cow shits in the pasture.... Yes, there are certain women that we would prefer not be privvy to our most phallocentric tendencies, out of respect and, yes, admiration. The exception is if we marry or otherwise become seriously involved with them. In which case, they'll find out soon enough... Besides, some stories, like The Tale Of The Menthol Moon, involving a 35 hour road trip (including an 8 hours of 3-way negotiations involving a Kansas jail & a Texaco station), two exhibitionist musicians, a pack of Carlton 120s , and the open highways of the heartlands of Nebraska, appeal to a VERY specialized audience. Kind of like certain Bird bootlegs. What you must realize is that boys will be boys. The best of us will be men when the time comes (and sometimes do it even when the time doesn't come, just becasue it's right), but we are much more likely to do so without any compunction whatsoever if we can retain our boyhood intact and without any guilt other than that which is self-imposed (which occurs far more often than we let on, btw). Those men who insist on remaining boys under any and all circumstances are the ones that smart women sniff out anyway, and the smartest women avoid them altogether. Take that as you see fit... Personally, I don't care one way or the other how this "clubhouse" affair resolves itself. But if you are attributing the desire for such a forum solely to misogynistic and/or misanthropic tendencies, I am saying that you are perhaps missing all the nuances involved. Even an exhibitionist needs privacy once in a while. Yours truly, Dudley Dooright

If we went to the secret forum, I could tell the story of how, back in 1981, I got an anoymous blow job through a barely open hotel door in Baton Rouge, La. while I was standing out in the hall. The state legislature was in session, so nobody thought anything of it as they passed by. They all thought I was a politician, I guess. As things are now, I can't tell that story. That, I think, is DEEP's point. Some things you just don't want everybody to know.