Hugh Laurie - Stephen Fry. It's A Soaraway Life.

"We're Number One in New York City,

Missy's a member of the GOP, the dudes never get married, and Audra's still pure.

Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Cincinnati, Jackson Mississippi, etc, ... " ... The "lovers" next door are about to foreclose.  They left the Legal Notice on their door far too long.  Renee & I both got a look.  The 28th is when the process starts, tomorrow ... Yaphet Kotto was in a good Big Valley I saw the other day.  1967.  He played a prisoner, who the Barkleys "hired" to pick peaches from their orchard.  (Major thing Renee & I have learned about the Barkleys and their Party-Sized Valley:  It is better to ask what the Barkleys do not do, than to ask what they do do.)  The Barkleys are ranchers, run a vineyard, make wine, grow stone fruits, grow frickin' rice (?!), of course Jared is one of the top lawyers in California and has an office in Stockton, and they do a little sheep raising as well.  Plus, the Barkleys are big-time, late 19th century Liberals. (?!) They are not against the death penalty but they do believe in prison rehabilitation and were the first people in California to get legislation rolling on parole.  (I wonder what the GOP Barbara Stanwyck thought about that.  But then, as we learn every fucking day, that was a v different GOP back then.  Ugh.)  Anyhoo, Kotto was a buffalo soldier and nearly saves Audra's colt.  Well, actually, he does save the colt but then the colt gets caught in the crossfire when another prisoner tries to rape Audra (The Big Valley, mid-60s mind you, had no compunction about showing rape scenes.  The guilty are always punished, natch, and usually die within a few minutes of the rape, itself.)  ... Another thing I have learned watching The Big Valley:  Just because someone has a life-size Buddha statue in their front parlor does not mean that that person is a force for good.  I learned that during the most psychedelic (1967) Big Valley I have seen yet, which involves Chinese gangs and the Barkleys all trying to corner or prevent someone else from cornering the (apparently massive Stockton/Big Family-Sized Valley/Sacto-Northern Cal [h/t Pavement]) rice market.  This is one of the worst Big Valleys I have ever seen, btw (even if it does include Missy Stanwyck going mad through some weird-ass hypnotism/gaslight The Pink Floyd-like light show.) ... Tabloid was splendid.  And you believe Ms McKinney right up until she has been home for a while after the whole sensational kidnapping furore has blown o'er.  And the Interrortron, invented by the filmmaker, Errol Morris, truly has changed documentaries forever.  It is especially funny to see past subjects of his, so furious, and threatening (or actually) suing.  The Interrotron seems to capture folks at their most vulnerable and honest.  (There was one "spy/intelligence" guy in Standard Operating Procedure who was not fooled.  He was obv "properly brainwashed" [h/t Swimming to Cambodia]).  That must be why they sue.  They are seduced and then betrayed.  Brilliant. ... Just like late last year I am fed up with politics again.  Boehner's got the votes, he does not have the votes.  Sensible friends of mine are willing to not raise the debt ceiling, something mother-fricking Hamilton stressed was of utmost importance to the health of our nation.  These friends are aligning themselves w/ idiotic, ludicrous Teabaggers.  (Tho, it was mildly satisfying to see "Ayn" Rand Paul and Jim DeMint lead a Default Teabagger Rally today.  There were aboot fifty folks there, at the most.)  Obama had already capitulated to an early GOP plan (that was fucking awful) & the GOP walked off in a huff, constantly talking aboot how mean Obama was.  Your GOP.  Your Teabagging Reps you elected in 2010 would rather see the global economy wrecked than deal with the black dude in office.  Fucking sad.  See why I am watching so much Big Valley? ... And back to The Big Truly Indescribably Monstrous-Sized Valley for a sec.  What happened to Stockton? Obv, according to this very lifelike, historically-accurate teevee program from the 60s, Stockton was the big playa in the 1880-90s, not San Francisco.  So, what went wrong? Did the Barkleys (who never seem to marry- well Jared did the other day but she was killed before the fucking reception, they eloped in Denver, you see) not reproduce, and shrivel away, letting the City boys muscle in on their Empire? I wonder what the Bay area would be like with Stockton (where The Sure Thing was shot, starring local Walnut Creek actress, Daphne Zuniga) as the The City.  I don't know.  Might not be my thing.  ... "Drinking Douro/Say goodnight/To the last pyschedelic band/From Sacto-Northern Cal." ...

PS:  I saw this Pavement tour.  One of the greatest shows ever.  Mark & I arrive in Prague by Trabant and I see flyposters for Pavement/Stereolab at the Jean-Paul Belmondo Theater that night.  We get tickets (the tickets were huge heavy cardboard affairs, v cool) and go.  The theater/"club" only served Pilsner-Urquell in 8 oz plastic cups so you had to wait in line forever, holding your two empty cups.  Above the long bar was one photograph:  Kafka, natch.  The Mighty 'Lab blew oot one channel of the PA w/ their encore of We're Not Adult Orientated (but it did not seem to bother the ultra lowfi Pavement much.)  When Pavement hit the boards, a drunk, loose twenty-five year-old Michael Spitler yelled out to SM, "Whoo! Stockton, Yeah!" Malkmus found me in the crowd and gave me the dirtiest look evah.  I was the Ugly American FratBoie in Prague, according to him, I imagine.  That was mid-March 1994.

PPS:  Before we left Wurzburg, Deutschland (home of Dirk Nowitzki) we heard on Armed Services Radio that Kurt Cobain had nearly died from an overdose of Champagne and painkillers in Italy.  When I arrived back in Berkeley on April 6 (a day before my birthday) my Mother asked if I had heard the news.  Cobain (at twenty-seven, i.e. see Jimbo, Joplin, Hendrix, Pete May, Brian Jones, Amy Winehouse, et al, ... ) was dead.  He got home just before I did.

Of course,

"Why did you not make the bed?"

Grace Kelly was one of the finest creatures to ever walk this globe, and a v decent actress, too.  But it is plain to see that Ingrid Bergman was Hitch's v favorite blonde.  Although all votes will be counted for Eva Marie Saint and Madeleine Carroll, as well.

The proof for my thesis is Rear Window, a film Grace Kelly starred in.  The film is based upon the life stories of photographer, Robert Capa, and the actress/"model" he had an affair with, Ms Bergman.  Hitch could not use Ms Bergman at the time, as she was currently "blacklisted", due to her affair and subsequent marriage to Roberto Rossellini.

(Plus, who knows if Ingrid would have done the film anyway, due to the extreme closeness of the subject matter.  She was prob v comfortable, letting another actress play the role since she was not a jealous soul.)

XTC Liner Notes for Andrew G

Hullo, Andrew.

This is Michael David Spitler.  Listen, Captain, I am making some cds for you.  Since you love The Police so much, I thought you might like another contemporary group, XTC, that actually toured with The Police.  Folks that saw those shows often remark that those shows were amongst their all-time favorites.  I was not old enough to ever see XTC.  By the time I got "in to" XTC in 1983 (and it was Edie Brickell who got me in to them, loaning me their third lp, Drums and Wires, with her drawings all over the lyric sheet) they had already quit touring.  The main guy in XTC, Andy Partridge, kind of had a nervous breakdown in the early 80s and from then on XTC were strictly a studio band.

For the most part these cds run in chronological order.  But I have tweaked things here and there to make for a more dramatic or pleasurable listening experience.  (Plus, I have not included any tracks from their last two cds when Dave Gregory had left and the "band", as it were, was down to two guys.)

So, here we go!

XTC cd One (Early)

Wake Up (A-side also on The Big Express, 10/1984)  This track is from The Big Express, pretty much regarded by all devotees as their worst record.  By this point XTC had sacked their drummer and Andy Partridge had fallen in love with the Linn drum machine.  This track, by the other songwriter in the group, bassist Colin Moulding, an amazing player who often times plays a fretless bass (like yor boie, Sting!), is perfect for starting off this box set despite it being from the group's middle period.
Spinning Top (a live recording, I'd guess circa 1978)  It was sad that XTC stopped touring, just about everybody that actually saw them swears they were truly wired and amazing to watch.  S'funny, after the group started doing radio sets across the US in the late 80s, early 90s, promoting Oranges and Lemons, there were rumors flying everywhere that Andy was finally ready to tour again.  I was sitting with my friend Stephanie and members of the Athens, GA band, Pylon, after one of their shows in Austin and their drummer, I think, mentioned to me he liked XTC, too, and that he had talked to some big-time record executives who claimed that XTC were going to tour again and that they were going to play stadiums.  Nothing came of it, of course.  XTC have never played real live shows after 1982.
This Is Pop (A-side single remix, different from the album track, White Music, 1/1978)  A fun, hysterical track that I used to turn up way too loud and dance to whene'er my parents were away.
Science Friction (A-side also on White Music, 1/1978)  One of XTC's first ever songs.
Are You Receiving Me? (A-side also on Go 2, 10/1978) At this point XTC's lineup consisted of a guitarist, bassist, drummer, and keyboard player.  Andy Partridge (guitarist), Colin Moulding (bassist), and Barry Andrews (keyboards) wrote all the songs.  Andy Partridge who can be a right cunt a lot of the time (like yor boie, Sting!) got fed up with Andrews and kicked him out of the band. Andrews started his own group, Shriekback, and XTC actually considered enlisting Thomas Dolby (She Blinded Me with Science) to join the group.  Andy thought better of it and by 1979 XTC got Dave Gregory to join.  Gregory was from the same town as the rest of the members, Swindon, England, and was (is) a phenomenal guitar player.  Go 2, with one of the coolest album covers of all-time, was Andrews' last with the group.  Once Gregory joined, that is when XTC really began to take off.
Don't Lose Your Temper (b-side of Generals and Majors, 8/1980)  Despite being slightly out of chronological order I believe this song is more in spirit with XTC's earliest recordings and I have placed it here.
Life Begins at The Hop (Colin Moulding home demo circa 1979)  Both Moulding and Partridge built home studios in Swindon and made meticulous, ornate demos that sometimes sounded better than the studio versions.  That is the case here.  BTW, you hear the studio version of this song at work, often.
Making Plans for Nigel (A-side also on Drums and Wires, 8/1979)  This is where XTC finally took off.  Nigel was their first very modest hit in the US, it featured their new, massive, much copied drum sound, and Gregory had joined the band with his golden guitar licks instead of Andrews' "Bat Man" style keyboards.  Fantastic song by Colin Moulding.
Day In Day Out (album track, Drums and Wires, 8/1979)  Not the greatest song but my friend Josh in Austin, who used to work at a stereo store at that time, said this was the best song to play to get people to buy speakers and stereos.  Great bass and drums.
When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty (album track, Drums and Wires, 8/1979)
Ten Feet Tall (album track, Drums and Wires, 8/1979)
Respectable Street (A-side also on Black Sea, 3/1980)  A monster of a track that had questionable lyrics, making the group re-record a more sanitized version for radio, which, natch, the group hated doing.  Black Sea is arguably XTC's finest record, though all votes will be counted for Skylarking, as well.  This is a loud, smart, local politics minded masterpiece, one of Partridge's finest moments.
Generals and Majors (A-side also on Black Sea, 3/1980)  A very witty anti-war song by Colin Moulding with some great guitar work by Gregory.  This is played at work all the time, too.
Paper and Iron (Notes and Coins) (album track, Black Sea, 3/1980)
Towers of London (album track, Black Sea, 3/1980)
No Thugs in Our House (A-side also on English Settlement, 2/1982)  Another Partridge local politics materpiece, an indictment of English suburban culture.  English Settlement was released nearly two years after Black Sea and after Partridge's nervous breakdown and announcement that XTC would never play live again.  They were strictly a studio band from this point on.
Senses Working Overtime (A-side also on English Settlement, 2/1982)  XTC's biggest hit to date, enjoying heavy rotation on MTV at the time.  Great song, featuring some flawless fretless from Mr Moulding.
Leisure (album track, English Settlement, 2/1982)  A hilarious song about the dole in England.  One of my personal faves.
Melt the Guns (album track, English Settlement, 2/1982) Another big fave of mine, as well, this is Partridge's anti-gun sentiment put to music.

Well, those are the liner notes for the first cd.  You will get two more cds and two more editions of notes, too.

Good night, Captain!

PS:  Here is a little XTC live treat for you.


Michael D Spitler

Liner Notes for Beatles cds I made for Nick C

Yes, the Beatles DID ROK! & here is proof.  Suk it, Crosetti.

I Saw Her Standing There
Greil Marcus, one of the greatest rok critics ever (& a huge Stones fan) still maintains Paul's countoff is 1-2-3-Fuck! He writes for ArtForum, who am I to doubt him?
There's A Place
You can smell the tobacco in the air.  A young man's gritty, grimey, No. England timeless masterpiece.  (Yor Stones boies were posh, went to London Unis.)
Money
The Beatles simply obliterate Motown.  It is not even close.
Some Other Guy
This is live, an olde Skiffle/nascent UK rok classic.  Shame the Beatles ne'er did it in the studio.
Soldier Of Love
They're covering one of the all-time R&B greats, Arthur Alexander.  Alexander wrote it, years ahead of its' time.  (The Stones covered Alexander, also, not nearly as well.)
You Can't Do That
This was the b-side to Can't Buy Me Love.  Lennon was pissed he didn't have the a-side for the first time.  Classic.
I'll Get You
I love this.  It's a live track in the UK that shows what Beatlemania was like back then.  An amazing historical document, you can hear McCartney & Lennon's audible grins, amazed at what has happened.
Long Tall Sally
ONE TAKE! The only outfit that has successfully covered Little Richard is the Fab Four.
I Feel Fine/She's A Woman
Where do I start? The greatest single of all time? (Both tracks made up a single in '64) The first use of feedback on a record, I Feel Fine? Paul's amazing pot-influenced, three minute busting, one chord juggernaut (Renee's all-time fave Beatles track)? Nineteen- fucking-sixty-four.
Rock And Roll Music/Kansas City
The Beatles once again prove that NOBODY can touch their mastery at covering rock and roll classics.
Ticket To Ride
Metal 20 years ahead of its' time.
I'm Down
& then there's I'm Down.  Basically the Beatles goofing off, spoofing US rock at the time, & simultaneously creating an all-time Rock Standard.  Just ask Greil Marcus, he lives in Berkeley.
If You've Got Trouble
HILARIOUS! Even Ringo could tell he was getting short-shrift from Lennon/McCartney on this one.  "Rock on, ANYBODY!" is a big joke here at our house.
Drive My Car
During their mid-period the Beatles did some great "joke songs" , Michelle, Girl, Norwegian Wood, I'm Down, etc, ... Drive My Car is the most rocking, a brutally difficult, Stax-worthy Soul number.  Drive My Car even has a punch line,
The Word
A killer.  An absolute classic.  Listen to that bass line.
I'm Looking Through You
An earlier version that the group should have stuck to IMHO.
12 Bar Original
The Beatles trying to be Booker T. & the MGs.  They failed, miserably, but it is of good historical notice.
Day Tripper
FUK YOU, Crosetti! I'll always believe that Day Tripper is a better SONG than Satisfaction.  Otis Redding covered both.

Yeh, you loser, here's some more of the greatest rock band of all-time.  Suk on't!

I'm Only Sleeping (Rehearsal)

This is great, the group noodling around on the vibraphone for one of their all-time classics.  It wasn't used & I'm Only Sleeping isn't incl here b/c it doesn't rock hard enough for Nik Crosetti.  (You're really missing out, I'm not kidding.)

Paperback Writer

I din't really like this track until I heard the mono version.  Masterpiece.

Taxman

Even tho George wrote it, this is a McCartney tour-de-force.  McCartney plays the slippery rocking bass-line, & the scorching raga guitar solo (that sounds like it's backwards but is not.)

Tomorrow Never Knows

In mono just sounds fucking frightening now.

You Know My Name

Python before Python.  No wonder George footed the bill for Life of Brian.  & yeh, that's Brian Jones of the STONES on saxophone.  (jeez, ... )

Lady Madonna

One of my fave parts of the video anthology series is when Paul talks aboot meeting Fats Domino, Fats had a big diamond ring, the shape of a big star.  The Beatles respected their forebears.

Hey Jude

Yeh, it don't RAWK like Free Bird but it is one of the greatest songs of all-time, & the greatest expression ever of post-pubescent male sexual sensitivity ever.  & the mono version kiks the stereo version's ass.

I'm So Tired

Here Lennon shows he's the greatest rock singer of all-time.

Birthday

The Beatles songs, as much as you'd like them to disappear, never will, Nik.  Ha-ha! From the cradle to the grave there will always be Beatle moments & Beatle fans.  Birthday is case in point, a toss-off fun song the group recorded to heal wounds within the group that has become as ingrained in western culture as "The Birthday Song".  Suk on that, Crosetti.

Yer Blues

Once again, like I'm Down, the Beatles created an all-time rock classic out of spoofing the UK music at the time.  (See the Bonzos' Can Blue Men Play the Whites.) (Or any fucking Clapton/Page record then.)

Helter Skelter

Like Paperback Writer, I never thought much of this song until I heard it in mono.

Julia

You can hear the love between Paul & John on this track.

Step Inside Love/Los Paranoias

This is the "demo" version of the Cilla Black song I gave you.

Get Back

Even you, Nik, can't say this song doesn't rock.

Don't Let Me Down

A flat-out classic.

Come Together

Yeh, that's Lennon singing, "Shoot me" in 1969.

You Never Give Me Your Money

This is maybe the most under-rated, amazing, all-time classic Beatles track ever.  "Step on the gas/& wipe that tear away"

I Want You

Lennon nicked elements from Mel Torme's "Coming Home Baby".  Blows that song to pieces.

The End

The guitar solo at the end is a McCartney/Harrison/Lennon competiton/trade-off.  McCartney & his band are tearing up arenas & coliseums right now, ending with this song.

THE BEATLES FUKING ROKED, YOU BUTTHED, NIK!

Some of the next few posts are Liner Notes

That I did for cds that I made for my friends, and I will keep adding them to the blog, as they happen.  Enjoy.

Otis Redding cd for Nick C

Here you go, Nik.  Try a little tenderness, bruvver.

Now, if you watched the video you prob noticed that The Big O! was backed by Booker T & the MGs and the Mar-keys (the Mar-keys in this instance were also known as The Memphis Horns.)  The good news is:  That's who backed him on all the records on these discs.  Just before he died Otis started using the Bar-Kays as his backing band.  & when that plane went down in Wisconsin in 1968 (what is it about Wisconsin? It has claimed Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, Richie Valens, Otis, & Stevie Ray Vaughn.  If you are a rock star NEVER fly in Wisconsin airspace ever.) everyone died except for one Bar-Kay, yet they formed a new Bar-Kays around him that had a very long & successful career.

So here you go:  The greatest rock singer of all-time with the greatest rock drummer of all-time (Al Jackson, Jr) & the greatest rock guitarist of all-time (Steve Cropper).  Enjoy.

Respect
Yeh, Aretha stole it, & turned it into a feminist anthem but it is Otis' version that I'll always prefer.  Greil Marcus (there's that asshole again) has a great essay about this song & the nature of the dialogue between african-american women & men in these times in his liner notes for the v good Stax comp, The Stax Story.
Ole Man Trouble
This is a song I wanted the Suicide Doors (my band w/ the McClungs) to cover & if I ever get in another band we will cover it.  Otis' off-mic work here is tasteful & special.
These Arms of Mine
Well, here we go.  This is where it all started & the story is so delicious & true that it demands many re-tellings.  Otis was a singer & roadie for one of the hottest groups in the South at the time, Johnny Jenkins & the Pinetoppers.  Naturally, Johnny Jenkins was the star of the group.  He was an amazing guitar player who could do anything he wanted to w/ the instrument & was arguably the biggest influence on Jimi Hendrix, who had seen him on the Southern Chitlin circuit when they were both trying to make a name for themselves in rock 'n roll.  Jenkins, as talented as he was, though, had some problems.  He refused to fly in airplanes (maybe Otis shoulda picked that phobia up), suffered from depression & occasional stage-fright.  The band rolled in to Memphis for an audition, Otis drove the van & moved all the equipment.  The audition did not go well.  Stax were not impressed.  But Al Jackson Jr told Jim Stewart (the ST of STAX [his sister, last name Axton, was the AX]) that the roadie/driver guy would not leave until he got a crack at the mic.  The roadie laid out roughly the pattern & feel of the song he wanted to sing, Otis called it "church chords" & Otis & Booker T & the MGs performed These Arms of Mine, JUST AS YOU HEAR ON THIS RECORD! Amazing. I'm sorry, but that's the greatest debut in Rock history.  As for Johnny Jenkins, Stax offered him a contract basically as a favor to Otis.  He released one or two singles w/ the label & promptly vanished.
She Put the Hurt on Me
Here's Otis in rave-up mode w/ some great Booker T organ.
Lovey Dovey
What's amazing aboot the Otis/Carla Thomas sessions is that they never sang together.  They recorded at separate times.  You never get that feeling listening to these tracks.
Day Tripper
Of course Otis had hit w/ Satisfaction, & Booker T loved the Beatles.  It was prob Booker T who suggested he do Day Tripper.  I like how Otis just delivers whatever lyrics he likes.  The big rumor at that time was that the Beatles might record a record at Stax.  That would've been the greatest record in history.
I'm Depending On You
I'm A Changed Man
Obv a demo from late in his career, w/ a real jazz feel, & fleshed out & realized woulda been a "new" direction for the Big O!
Johhny's Heartbreak
(Is this an apology to Johnny Jenkins?) Another late demo.
A Little Time
It's amazing to hear these demos for his "last" record.  It is plainly obv Otis was going for a new modified Soul that woulda broke huge in the charts.
Pounds and Hundreds
Great lyrical conceit.
Gone Again
Here's a trad Otis song w/ a deeper, more clever lyrical idea.
Hard to Handle
I get the feeling this was a warm-up for the group & never really seriously considered for release.
Announcement
Look At That Girl
Women back-up singers?!
Direct Me
Some great playing by Cropper and Donald "Duck" Dunn, bass.
Gettin' Hip
This is a "moonlighting" song Otis did when he was still w/ Johhny Jenkins & the Pinetoppers.  This & a couple of others complicated his contract w/ Stax.
A Hard Day's Night
Love the off-mic count-in talk.  Al Jackson Jr really shines.  The 'take it down' part is good, too.
Slippin' and Slidin'
Not even two minutes but a great statement on race relations in Memphis at the time.
Things Go Better w/ Coke
At least a black man was getting endorsements in the 60s
Love Have Mercy
Love Man
Cropper & Otis really shine here.  The 'middle eight'/break is years ahead of its time, too.
She's All Right
More moonlighting from back in the pre-Stax days.  If Otis wanted to do this kind of east coast r&b he would've excelled, as well.
Shout Bamalama
Johnny Jenkins & the Pinetoppers.  It is obv why they tore up the Chitlin circuit.  This is the modern day band, Detroit Cobras, show-closer.
Security
5 star track just for the sound from Al Jackson Jr's drums.
Merry Christmas, Baby
We're hearing it everyday just now.  I don't mind, it is tasteful & elegant & lovely.
Pain in My Heart
An absolute monster of a track, Cropper slices thru your heart & you don't even know it cause Booker T is playing like you're at church.
That's How Strong My Love Is
Donald "Duck" Dunn shines here.  This is the bass the Beatles & Stones were green over w/ their super-conservative producers.
Shake (Live)
At Monterey in 1967 there was discussion about who would close the first night.  The Who & Otis decided to flip a coin.  Otis won the coin toss & there were those of and outside his party that were concerned that a black Soul artist could follow The Who. Otis said, "I've been closing for Sam & Dave for years now.  I can close for anybody." & he gave one of the greatest performances in Rock history, winning over a crowd of all-white California hippies to make him one of the biggest stars on the planet.

That's disc one.  More soon.

Not too long ago

"Screw you, Mick, I'm turning the tambourine up!"

I was listening to the excellent original Traffic version of Feelin' Alright and I was struck by the sublime yet powerful, pure, organic early build up of that song.  It reminded me of the majestic build up to the Stones' classic, Gimme Shelter.  And then I remembered both tracks were produced by Jimmy Miller.  Of course.

Flame away if you feel the need, but Jimmy Miller (and, sadly, Brian Jones' death) were the best things to ever happen to the Rolling Stones' career.  Miller produced a run of Stones albums that may never be touched again in Rock.  And only the Beatles produced a similar type of run.

(And do not come darkening my doorway with a bunch of poop about how great the Stones early records were.  The Stones were strictly a Singles Group until Jimmy Miller arrived.  And yeah, I think Aftermath is crap.  And I am right, too.  Just because you write a misogynistic, mean song and call it, say, Stupid Girl does not, in and of itself, make that song good.)

If Jimmy Miller had not arrived, I would not be surprised if the Stones had disbanded or splintered in to a bunch of little crappy nostalgia bands.  (Except for Charlie, he would have led a large jazz combo, most likely.)

Miller's secrets were adding percussion instruments, an uncanny talent with Rock Dynamics, and a flair for the dramatic.  One of the best producers ever.

(An excellent example of Miller's talent can be seen with The Spencer Davis Group's hit Gimme Some Lovin'.  There is a version available before Miller got his mitts on it.  Right away, with just some percussion instruments, handclaps, party noises, what have you, Miller turned the already good track in to a monster Rock Classic.)

There is one big problem

With Robert Hamer's, It Always Rains On Sunday.  Well, it is only a big problem to most folks, I imagine.  To me, it is no big deal, at all.  I am not going to reveal the issue, I will let folks find it themselves.  If you can find the film.  It is not available on dvd Stateside, and TCM hardly ever shows it, if they ever have, period.  I bought it on Amazon and can watch it (as part of my Digital Collection) on any decent computer.  I also own another Ealing film this way, Went the Day Well?

Morrissey mourns the passing of Googie Withers.

(Quick sidebar, and open note to Criterion:  Please, please, please make BluRay versions of It Always Rains On Sunday, Dead of Night, The Blue Lamp, Hue and Cry, Pink String and Sealing Wax, Whiskey Galore, Went the Day Well?, The Man in the White Suit, Passport to Pimlico, etc, ... )

Ealing Studios made a lot of very bad films, quite a few good ones, a few very good films, and one definite masterpiece:  Kind Hearts and Coronets, also dir by Robert Hamer.

Hamer was the alcoholic bad boy at the puritan Ealing.  Michael Balcon, who ran the studio, was not fond of Hamer or his work, especially the amount of sex Hamer liked to inject in to his pictures. Kind Hearts has a fair amount of sexiness, centered around the lispy, lovely Joan Greenwood.  But Kind Hearts also had Alec Guiness, playing eight different roles, and a great deal of literary comedy in it, too.  This was not a concession to Balcon, at all.  The script and film are perfect in every way, absolutely true to its' purpose.  It was not an act of subversion, either.  Still, despite it being one of Ealing's biggest international hits, Balcon hated it.

I believe Balcon had already written Hamer off a few years before Kind Hearts, due to Hamer's Googie Withers films.   Hamer made two features with Ms Withers, and a shorter film, as part of an omnibus horror film, Dead of Night.  (Hamer's section in Dead of Night is miles better than any other section of that very good film.) The two full-length films he made with Ms Withers were Pink String and Sealing Wax, which I have not seen, and am desperate to watch, in which Withers plays a Victorian-era poisoner (Balcon must have hated that, for sure); and It Always Rains On Sunday.

You just have to believe that It Always Rains On Sunday has got to be one of Morrissey's favourite films of all-time.  Even the title of the film sounds like a Smiths song.  Though set in London, and not The North, the subject matter and plot are right up Morrisey's alley, as well.   Googie Withers' Rose is not a happy housewife.  She resents her husband, loathes the stepchildren, and hates her shabby London, East End hovel.  She wishes she had married Tommy, the East End bad boy, instead. But he is in prison now for a bit of Smash and Grab.  When Tommy escapes from prison, though, and hides out in Rose's bomb shelter, Rose somehow manages to keep the entire family shuttling in and out of the house, and away from the upstairs bedroom, where she has Tommy hid.  This juggling act is v difficult, indeed, and Rose is an absolute monster to the entire family all the while, incl one scene where she shreds the "hot, loose" stepdaughter's  favorite frock right in front of the closed bedroom door.  When the entire family is finally dispatched for the evening, Hubby has been convinced to play in the the local pub Darts Tourney, Rose spends a last few hours with Tommy upstairs, doing you know what.  By the way, Tommy is played by John McCallum, who Ms Withers married soon after.  They eventually moved to Australia and were married until their deaths.  McCallum died in 2010.

I am not going to spoil it any further, but you can imagine how the extremely puritan, Carry On, stiff upper lip, pro-England Balcon felt about It Always Rains On Sunday. It is a wonder that two years later Hamer would be able to make Kind Hearts at Ealing, period.

After, Kind Hearts, Hamer's career went swiftly down hill.  A closeted gay, Hamer eventually lost his battle with the bottle and died far too young for someone of such immense talent.  A real loss.

It Always Rains On Sundays ... Googie Withers ... UK Theatrical Trailer

No wonder

She liked the name her Nanny gave her.  She was christened Georgette Lizette Withers.  Ugh.  So Googie would do just great.

Googie wonders if a turtleneck is really necessary.

Googie Withers has been one of my favorite movie stars for a long time now.  She passed away yesterday at ninety-four in Australia, a year after her second husband and co-star in the magnificent, Hamer directed, It Always Rains On Sunday, passed.

Googie was so beautiful, tall and slender as a lily, with high cheekbones and a full, ripe mouth that was even more sexy when it said something snide or sarcastic.  She had two of her directors fall in love with her, incl one who was quite gay, thank you v much, Robert Hamer; and when Googie was done with being a movie star, she and her husband moved to Australia.  She did a lot of theatre down under, and the occasional movie or teevee appearance, incl the movie, Shine.  Unfortunately, one of my fave performances of hers is still not available stateside on dvd.  That would be Dead of Night, an Ealing omnibus horror flick, that is absolutely smashing.  A real popcorn munching film entertainment that is essential viewing.  So, it'll be It Always Rains On Sunday here at the house today.

Goodbye, Ms Withers.

"You and your darts, ... "

Texas Instruments - "Don't Give Your Life"

The Texas Instruments - One From the Other

Freddie King

I suppose Derek Holland

Got sick and tired of hearing about Tommy Hunter, Scott Feldman (more on "Scooter" in a minute), and then whoever else the Rangers were talking about acquiring in a trade right now.

Holland has thrown two straight CG shutouts against (albeit) the A's and Mariners.

Note to Rangers' brass:  Keep CJ Wilson and do not trade Holland.  I know Holland is still up and down but he's only twenty-four and it is so hard for the Rangers to acquire free-agent starters that they should hang on to every good starter that they build.

Scooter, meanwhile, makes 9 mil per year.  He's been rehabilitating all season long, so far.  He's ready now but the Rangers wanted him to get some more time in AAA before being called up.  They released him, knowing no one would pick him up with that salary.  He cleared waivers and the Rangers sent him to AAA.  But he has got enough time served that he can refuse an assignment to the Minors.  The ball club did not expect him to do that.  He did.  So, now he is with the ball club and we had to send O'Day to AAA, Round Rock (Austim, TX).

Scooter is perfectly within his rights to do what he did, and it is not a terrible thing, per se.  But it is a little disappointing.  He had better pitch well up here.

************

Manacling Mormons

In other news, Tabloid opens today in selected cities.  I just read in the NYT that the "star" of the documentary, Joyce McKinney, has been sneaking in to cinemas and heckling the film.  Brilliant. McKinney is mos def one of my new fave all-time people.

Here are a handful of the most recent

Great tie, Chuck.

Guest Stars in some of the The Big Valley's I have seen lately:  Russell Johnson (the Professor from Gilligan's Island), Milton Berle (in an episode heavy on Old Testament moralizing, really annoying), Charles Grodin (who is in the Russell Johnson episode, plays his bank-robbing buddy and brother, though they, the "Dunigan Bros" are more like Pablo Escobar.  They steal from the "big cities", like Stockton and San Francisco, spend a modest amount of their money on whores and whiskey, and spend the bulk of it on building schools and churches and helping folks in their small town of Sunflower), and Dennis Hopper.  He was pretty damn good looking in the mid-sixties. 

PS:  Grodin's "western accent" is an absolute joke, hilarious. 

On May 11, 2011,

Rest in peace, brother.

The A's battled the Rangers in Arlington, Texas, on a "get-away" day.  It was A's All-Star, Gio Gonzalez, facing off against the Rangers' lefty, Matt Harrison.  Harrison had been battered by the A's up in Oakland about a week and a half earlier, a game which I attended.  We sat right behind the Rangers' dugout and when Harrison trudged back to the dugout after one and two-thirds innings, someone whose features and build are eerily similar to mine yelled at Harrison, "Hey, Harry! Thanks for showing up today!" Right before Harrison ducked in to the dugout he looked up to find the heckler but looked in the wrong direction.

So, Harry was looking for redemption, or revenge, of a sort.  (Or more likely, was a professional and just wanted to help the ball club win.)  Meanwhile, Gonzalez has been having a real break-out year for the Athletics and has been tough to hit all season long.  Gonzalez' biggest enemy throughout his young career has been himself, and his control.  But this season Gonzalez has not been walking batters and sports a sub-three ERA.

This was the rubber match of a three game series and skies were clear to start the game but there were very ominous warnings coming from the meteorologists re thunderstorms, hail, tornados, etc, ...

Harry was v sharp on May 11, shutting the A's down on a few hits, maybe a walk or two, and held them scoreless through four innings.  The Rangers, meanwhile, scored early on Gonzalez, and then busted through big-time in the bottom of the fourth, just as the massive storm was about to hit the ballpark.  Mitch Moreland hit his first career Grand Slam and then the Rangers added a couple of more runs, to boot, to make it seven-zip, Rangers.

I was at work.  I worked my normal seven am shift that day.  I sat down for my break and followed the action on the computer upstairs.  I had joined right after Moreland's slam.  My buddy, and DTS guy from work, a massive A's fan, who has a ginormous  Rickey Henderson, Man of Steal pennant hanging above his computer in his office, muttered to me as he went past, "I hate Mitch Moreland."  I decided to join the BBTiA game chat and was shocked to read comments from Ranger fans that the team should stop trying to score in the fourth, hurry up and get the inning over with, so it can be considered an official game, meaning that if the Rangers get three outs in the top of the fifth (and preserve their lead, natch) and the game gets called due to rain, the Rangers would win the ball game.  The team trailing has to have at least fifteen outs, five innings, for a game to be "official."

Sure enough, after my break, I went up to my buddy's office to get some shelf tags and asked him whether they called the game.  They did.  All the stats, the Grand Slam, the seven earned runs added to Gio's v pretty ERA, Harry's shut out through four was all wiped out, as if none of it had ever happened.  The storm was brutal, no doubt, but the kids at BBTiA (albeit v biased for the Rangers) all maintained that the worst did not hit until well after what could have been a v quick inning for Harry in the top of the fifth.  Of course, the A's would have stalled, taken tons of pitches, choked up, and try to foul every pitch off, but the general consensus was they coulda got that inning in.

************

Last year, right around July 4th, I wrote a post about Renee and I's fabulous July 4th meal and about wine, my life in general, films prob, and the Texas Rangers.  Here is that post.  A firefighter tried to retrieve a ball at a Ranger game and fell from the upper deck on to fans below him.  He was hurt, a fractured skull, but survived, and got to meet Nolan Ryan later.

************

May 11th's wash out had to be replayed, from the beginning, zero to zero, in Arlington on July 7th, 2011.  Both the Rangers and A's were off that day and the A's were in town to play the Rangers that weekend, right before the All-Star break.  The pitching match-up was different.  Derek Holland squared off against Rich Harden of the A's.  In the top of the second, Josh Hamilton threw a foul ball that could not be corralled by the fans down the left field line in to the left field bleachers, at a Dad, who had asked Hamilton to remember him if a ball came his way. The Dad caught the ball, lost his balance, slipped, fell over the railing and landed head first on concrete about twenty feet down.  The Dad's name is Shannon Stone.  He, too, was a firefighter.  He was with his six year old son.  It was the Son's first baseball game.  The Son was wearing a Josh Hamilton jersey.  Hamilton saw the fall, the crowd gasped, much like they did the previous year, Ranger catcher Mike Napoli, motioned towards the bleachers, Holland, looked out there for a second, then returned to business.  No one knew how serious it was till much later.  In fact, the A's teevee announcers joked about the fall on air, Fosse, saying something like, "All that for a baseball."  (I have no beef with the A's commentators.  They had no idea how bad it was for Mr Stone.)

It was bad.  The Son, naturally, saw the whole thing happen and as Stone fell near the A's bullpen, the A's pitchers saw Stone being put on a stretcher and heard Stone say, "Find my son.  Find my son.  He is all alone up there."  They loaded Stone in to an ambulance, with his Son in the front seat, and Shannon Stone died before they reached the hospital.

This post is not a lecture about increased safety at the ballpark.  Fans are going to do the craziest things to try and retrieve balls, no matter what you do.  I hope the Rangers do make sure that Stone's son and wife do not ever have to want for anything again in their lives, though.  It is a terrible tragedy.

The Rangers and A's finished the weekend under a cloud.  There was a moment of silence the next day, both clubs wore black ribbons on their jerseys, and flags were flown at half-mast.  Hamilton was told that he could have the weekend off but he played anyway, hitting a majestic two-run, upper deck, walk-off blast off A's closer, Andrew Bailey, two days later.

Hamilton seems to be handling things well, so far.  But, you do worry.  Does he wonder, "If I had just thrown that ball a little further, a little harder,"? And what will race through his mind next time he has an opportunity to throw a ball in to the crowd again?

It is still too early to see what type of impact this incident will have on the Rangers or Hamilton. The Rangers swept the A's over the weekend (and Gio Gonzalez gave up another Grand Slam, one that counted this time.)

We will see as the weeks roll on through the Summer.

xxxooo

Love you all, ...

The "lovers" next door

Are slamming doors, screaming, yelling, making their voices heard.  They are a solid unit, pressing towards an ultimate happiness.  They are a Unit, desperate to be heard.  They are a slamming doors example of Marital Bliss.

They are the type of Marital Bliss I want no part of.  They are the embarrassing example of Reality Show Hubris.  They are the twisted, sick version of the normal American Dream.  They are the version of love and respect that I would shudder at.

They are there.  Right next door.  Screaming and yelling, as I might have wont done just the other, ...

They are, ... It is quiet now.

I am home and safe.  And it is quiet now.  I love my wife.  I love you all.



mds

Big Dipper - She's Fetching (1987)

Big Dipper / Ron Klaus Wrecked His House

Wow!

I was not kidding about Ms Necib's attention.  The video of her posted on this blog has been viewed over 80/90 times today, meaning that that video is now threatening the Peter Sellers post to become fauxluxe's number one . 

Quick-hitters for today.

Louisa Necib

France beat England on PKs today.  Ms Necib had a splendid game, and is starting to attract a certain amount of attention.  France will face the Brazil/USA winner next week.  I am confident that regardless of the result of France's semifinal match, Ms Necib will be named to the World Cup Tournament All-Star team. 

************

After the terrible tragedy a couple of days ago in Arlington; a Dad fell to his death, right in front of his six year-old son, trying to catch a ball that All-Star outfielder, Josh Hamilton, had thrown to him; yesterday, a foul ball off of Josh Hamilton's bat hit a fan in the head.  He got some stitches and he's okay, but I like what Hamilton said after the game, That people at the ballgame need to stop looking at their phones and watch the game.  I think that is excellent advice, not just for the ballpark, but for life, in general. 

************

Could we get rid of earned runs, altogether? It is completely subjective and each park has a different scorer, to boot.  Plus, you have to play out how the inning would have unfolded to figure out how many runs are earned or not.  It is a silly distinction and when I score games I count all runs as "earned."  If you have a bad defense then that will reflect on your staff's Run Average, and you can still keep track of all the errors. 

************

Oakland A's All-Star, Gio Gonzalez, sure loves giving up Grand Slams in Arlington.  Too bad only one of them has counted.  More on that tomorrow. 



Two big posts I am working on re The Wedding and ballpark incident a couple of days ago.

Love you all, kisses.

I like Emma Stone

As much as the next person, I suppose.  (Ms Stone is Graydon Carter's Vanity Fair's most recent Cover Star.)  Ms Stone is certainly attractive on the cover, if not necessarily a true depiction of her "normal" appearance.  She is blonde on the cover and they downplay her Peppermint Patty freckles.

She is about to be in three movies simultaneously, thus the Cover Shoot. 

As a redhead, I think Ms Stone has the wary smile, mischevious eyes, and body type to be like an old WWII American pin up movie star.

Perhaps, she will get her chance to be in a comedic masterpiece similar to His Girl Friday, or The Philadelphia Story.  And I would love that.

Freckles are great.

But right now I see her more as an Eve Arden-type (and there is nothing wrong with that, Ms Arden was great) than a big-time comedic giant of the screen. 

Fivetwentytwothousandeleven

So, after a few cynical, not so pretty posts, here you are:  A boodle full of wedding pictures, hoo-rah!

Our Secret Service Agent makes sure it is safe to get in the car.

Proud parents with the license.

"Thanks for coming to the Fundraiser, let me assure you that Medicare and Social Security are off the table."

Renee loves this photo.

Sweetie and Meghan order cocktails

A stunner.  One for the ages.  Like the Cheshire Cat's grin from the tree vanishing before Alice's eyes.  I'm going to publish this photo everywhere.

Sweetie

There was a lot of laughter, a lot of throw back laughs, too.  Nick, the Super Witness.

Me

Chicks, man.

Mum and Da

Mum, stealing a glance at Mean Mr mustard photo, I suspect.

More near throw back laughs.

Leaving City Hall

Walking off in to the Sunset.  

Renee and I love urban blight.

What would Aileen Wuornos think of this verdict?

Smiles and tears in the Sunshine State

I guess it helps to be a straight, reasonably good looking woman in Florida.

Because you know the state of Florida would have executed the plug-ugly, lesbian Ms Wuornos a half a dozen times if they could have. 

Gotta love Florida.  Always entertaining.