Teasing the Korean

Yes, Beverly. My Dad and Gordon were very good friends. My Dad was his vocal contractor for sessions. I could tell you a lot of funny stories, and I may tell some here at some point.

Please note I never said Wee Small Hours was his "best." I said "singular." That record captured Frank at a particular moment that blended youth and experience. I agree. And whenever anyone puts down Gordon Jenkins, I direct them immediately to Where Are Your and No One Cares.

I had to run a quick errand this morning and passed by the library box. I pulled over, and Ralph Ellison book was no longer there. So I guess she did take it after all.

I did not know that! Love You is easily in my Beach Boys top five LPs, and it was their last great album.

No, who? It looked like an issue of Dynamite, which was popular among kids my age at the time.

I read it in my mid-20s, around the same time as reading Native Son and Black Boy by Richard Wright, and three are kind of blurred together in my mind. I remember really liking all three.

I prefer Sinatra at Reprise, especially Ring a Ding with Johnny Mandel, and Swingin' Brass with Neal Hefti. This does not change the fact that Wee Small Hours captures Frank at the perfect point between youth and experience.

Because it will take forever, at this rate, or because of rights issues?

Agreed, but it is still a singular album because of the youth/experience factor.

Instruments: Wrecking Crew. Beach Boys cred? Check. Vocals: Brian sings on the Jan and Dean record. Beach Boys cred? Check. Lead vocal: AI - artificial intelligence, not Al Jardine - Mike Love, replacing Jan. So this is basically the Jan and Dean record, with AI Mike instead of Jan. Which means it's basically a Beach Boys record anyway. So I will happily take this over the original any day. YMMV. All I can say is that I'm pleased as punch that this is available, and I will happily dump "South Bay Surfer" or "Boogie Woodie" and add this instead.

At this rate, how long until we get to Afro Eurasion Eclipse?

When singers are young, they may have youthful, pleasing, pliable voices, but they don't always effectively communicate experience. When singers can communicate experience, they are often older, and don't always have the most pleasing voices. Sinatra's In the Wee Small Hours album captures Frank at a perfect point: He was still relatively young - 39, if my math is correct - but he had some experience under his belt, e.g., losing his Columbia contract and getting dumped by Ava. Frank made many, many great albums. But he never made an album like this one, before or after. It is a singular album in his discography.

She hadn't picked up the book at that point. When I said "The Invisible Man," she may have thought it was horror/sci-fi. I had to explain that it was an autobiographical novel about the African American experience in the early/mid 20th century. Please don't tell any of this to Ron Desantis. 😹

Haha! The other interesting exchange was this: I am in very good Brian voice lately, and while I was walking, I was singing "The Warmth of the Sun." A couple of older women were walking toward me, but I didn't care, I just kept singing. One of the women said, "You sound great!"

I always wished that this had been recorded for the Surfer Girl album. Well, 60 years later, here it is!

She may have thought it was the H. G. Wells.

I went for my usual evening walk around the neighborhood, and stopped at the free library box where two roads intersect. Among the children's books and Danielle Steel novels was Ralph Ellison's The Invisible Man. Just after I arrived, a car pulled over and a young woman, late teens or early 20s, got out to look at the books. I said to her, "Ralph Ellison, The Invisible Man." "What genre is it?" she asked. I told her. I walked away. A few minutes later, her car went by. She slowed down, smiled, and waved at me. My interpretation of that gesture was that she had taken the book. Molding young minds.

No, Allen shouldn't give Christgau the satisfaction!

Prokofiev - Scythian Suite

I bet the guys who opened it 127 years ago looked exactly like the guys who run craft breweries today.

Being able to preview albums before you buy them, recommendations of friends who share similar tastes, online reviews, discussions at places like this. And please note that I said "most" critics. No disrespect intended to @Larry Kart @Christiern, et. al.

They need to generate clicks and add sales. How they get there is irrelevant.

One of many reasons I never had any use for most critics. And in the digital era, they are less relevant than ever. ' The job of the critic is to reinforce what the reader believes about him/herself, and in the process, sell ad space.

Well, I'm glad Christgau got something right. I generally think he is an ass who reviews music only from a sociological perspective and not a musical one. But I'm glad you got a positive review!