October 14, 2021

Going to the new James Bond movie

in a couple of hours. A 2:00pm matinee, so shouldn't be crowded and I figure reasonably safe.
I haven't missed a first run Bond movie in many decades. Daniel Craig surprised me by bringing a whole new dimension to the character. He's been fab!
I'm looking forward to it.

October 14, 2021

Alex Murdaugh taken into custody!

Headline on CNN.. Apparently for stealing the settlement money from the housekeeper's death. That's all I know.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/14/us/alex-murdaugh-arrested-florida/index.html

He's being held in Orlando where he was in rehab. Probably no bail bond until he is extradited to SC, which could take weeks.

October 14, 2021

Lawyer says Murdaugh is Person of Interest in his family's slaying

A lawyer for Alex Murdaugh has admitted that Murdaugh has been a 'person of interest' to South Carolina authorities all along, since the murders of his wife and son in July:


https://www.thedailybeast.com/alex-murdaughs-lawyer-finally-admits-hes-a-person-of-interest-in-maggie-and-pauls-murder

October 13, 2021

Mad About The Boy - Carmen McRae

Supposedly Noel Coward wrote this about Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., who wrote a great autobiography: My Salad Days.
Nice job by the overlooked Carmen McRae.

October 12, 2021

Homeward Bound - Simon and Garfunkel

October 12, 2021

Yanks - starring Richard Gere (1979)

John Schlesinger's masterpiece about the American army that invaded England beginning in 1942. Criminally overlooked at the box office. Available for purchase on a wide variety of streaming platforms.

October 12, 2021

Elenore - The Turtles

October 11, 2021

The Rolling Stones, from a way back when perspective.

You know I lived through the era of British Invasion Rock and Roll. Back then they were one of a number of popular bands. The Beatles, in the early days, you could recognize had their roots in very traditional dance beats. The Rolling Stones loved the American Blues sound. They both worshipped Elvis.
There were some other traditions going on. Dylan came out of folk music and then added a lot. The same with Simon and Garfunkel. The intricate four part harmonies of the Beach Boys owed a lot to the Four Freshman. There were two folk rock duos: Chad and Jeremy and Peter and Gordon. But I enjoyed them all.
I do confess the popularity of the Rolling Stones puzzles me a bit. They are the only rock band from the 60s that can still fill stadiums. I guess it's a tribute to their endurance. In the 70s they were very popular but no more so than several other rock groups. By the 80s tours they had taken on legendary status. They to my mind were entertaining, but no more than several of the British Invasion and American rock groups that I loved.
I looked up the price of tickets for their tour. 100 bucks for nose bleed seats and over 6000 for on the floor seats at the stadium in Detroit. OMG, been there, done that. The playlist was from long ago.
I'll just continue to see occasionally the music that I love, when the old great bands show up. Rarer and rarer now: "They have not tasted the true sweetness of life, those who did not live through 60s rock and roll."
I think the Duc de Talleyrand said that, sort of.

October 11, 2021

It was weird and creepy reading about the Beach Boys.

After enjoying the Brian Wilson concert Friday I did a little background reading..I knew some of this but not a lot of it.
One day in 1968 Dennis Wilson picked up two female hitchhikers. He invited them back to his home, had sex with them and said they could stay with him. Both woman belonged to the Manson family. A little while later Dennis returned home and found that many members of the family, including Charles Manson, had moved in. They stayed a month and trashed the house. Dennis Wilson did drugs and had sex with the family. He finally left his own house and.let his manager evict the Mansons.
Dennis was impressed with Manson's talent as a musician. He learned to play the guitar while in prison. He was taught to play by Alvin Karpis, the former Public Enemy Number One and member of the Ma Barker bank robbery gang. Dennis Wilson paid for a studio recording session for Manson where Manson threatened a studio employee with a knife. Dennis Wilson bought a song from Manson, changed the title the arrangement and some of the lyrics. The Beach Boys recorded the song on an album. When Manson found out his lyrics had been changed he threatened Wilson.
Wilson arranged for Manson to record at his brother Brian's in home studio. Brian Wilson was unimpressed by Manson's talent. His wife thought the women who accompanied Manson had extremely poor hygiene. Presumably the tapes of Manson's recording session exist but have never been released. Manson was not signed by the Beach Boys management company.
Wilson introduced Manson to many other musicians including Frank Zappa, Mama Cass Elliot and Neil Young. Young in particular thought Manson was extremely talented.
Wilson also introduced Manson to Terry Melcher, a famous record producer who was the son of Doris Day. Melcher visited Manson twice at the ranch where the Manson family was living but ultimately declined to sign Manson to a contract.
Melcher decided to leave his rented house where he lived with his girlfriend and moved to a beach front house owned by his mother. The next tenants in Melcher's former home were Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate. One day Manson came looking for Melcher at his old place and was thrown off the property by the owner. After the murders of Tate and her friends but before Manson's arrest, Melcher and his girlfriend returned to their new home and found a threatening note that had been left by Manson.
Melcher's girlfriend was the actress Candice Bergen. A few years before this Bergen had been a student at the University of Pennsylvania. One day out of the blue Bergen got a call from a complete stranger asking her out on a date. She agreed to go. The man arrived for the date in a stretch maroon limousine and wore a maroon three piece suit. The man was Donald Trump. The date did not go well. Candice Bergen was home by 9:00PM.
There is more but it's all pretty creepy and strange.

October 9, 2021

The Real Beach Boys Concert

So I went to my concert with Brian Wilson and Al Jardine last night. The attendees were mostly my age (60s) or above. The venue is a large one, maybe 4000 people. It wasn't sold out, but a decent turnout for people my age in a still Covid era: maybe 2/3 full. We had good seats in the 12th row.
The good news is that I had a great time! The music featured their hits from the 60s with a few excursions into some of the later stuff. Sarah and I got a bit hoarse singing along to all of the songs we know so well.
A word about Brian. He's in his late 70s now. He sat at the piano, which he didn't play much, for the entire show. His affect is pretty flat. He would introduce many of the songs and sing a bit in some. When he sang his voice was quite good I thought.A few of the songs he sang more of. Al Jardine was more active, playing guitar and acting some of the time as MC. There were about a dozen great musicians, among them Al's son Matt Jardine who did the vocal parts of Carl Wilson and the famous guitarist Blondie Chaplin who has over the years played with the Rolling Stones and The Band among many others. All the musicians did a great job.
For me the real thrill was just being in the same room with Brian Wilson as his music was being played. Brian is a genius of a composer who wrote much of the soundtrack of my youth. No one has ever better written the music of summer!
I think the people in the crowd felt much the same way. You could really feel the warmth of emotion that flowed through the room. I wasn't the only one who shouted out "We love you!" after a song.
The show lasted 90 minutes with no intermission. But I felt like I got my money's worth. For the last half dozen songs people were standing, dancing in place, and a bunch rushed to the front of the auditorium to show their appreciation.
Al and Brian and the band are only touring this month in the northeast and a couple of venues in the midwest. They have plans to tour europe in the spring. They don't need the money. As they said a couple of times, they are really happy to be performing live again after a couple of years. They are doing it for the love of the music.
I'm so happy I went! It is so good to hear live music again.