renaissance man
I just replaced our loo seat. The old faux-mahogany one was never good. It looked cheap and nasty. And eventually it fell apart. I’ve no idea how long this one will last. But it’s better made, was easier to install, looks much nicer, and wasn’t too expensive. So I’m crap-happy!
Oh no! I just posted about cataloguing my CD collection on FB. I thought I’d illustrate that post with an image by Gene Deitch, whose character The Cat was an avid record collecting jazz buff.
In finding an apt image, I discovered that Gene passed, aged 95, in 2020. I have a nice book, Cat On A Hot Thin Groove, about his illustrations for Record Changer magazine.
He also created characters like Nudnik, as well as animating such famous cartoons as Tom and Jerry and Popeye, and doing all sorts of other artistic/illustrative work. I’ve peppered this post with a few images by him I either love for their visual artistry, or their comic wit, or, frequently, both.
I got the image at the top of this post from an excellent obit’ from the NY Times, which you can read in full here.
I’ve not watched Munro (1960) – see below – yet, but as soon as time allows, I’ll be doing so (tomorrow, perhaps?*) * aka later today!
I find Deitch’s art, by which I’m mainly referring to his Record Changer and jazz related cartoons, design and illustration work, really inspiring. His mainstream animation stuff I’m much less familiar with or aware of.
But, rather madly, I’ve discovered that Deitch was also involved with one of the earliest screen adaptations of Tolkien’s writings. I love Tolkien, and I was really quite surprised to find yet another point of connection here with Gene Deitch!
As with Munro, I’ve yet to watch this Hobbit based animation. I glanced at a minute or so of it, whilst drafting this post. It seems quite a loose adaptation! But I look forward to watching it in full.
I love this album!
It’s on my Xmas/birthday wish list (here, if anyone’s interested*). I think I discovered it during a brief stint when, in my mid to late teens, I worked briefly at the Cambridge Central Library, in what was then (pre Grand Arcade) Lion Yard
Around that time I was using the library’s music collection – CDs were starting to replace vinyl (I even had a back room job at the library, helping facilitate this change-over) – to edumacate myself further, particularly re jazz.
Thanks to their esoteric selection I discovered this and numerous other great recordings, such as as Alice and John Coltrane’s Infinity.
The only reason this is four and a half and not five stars is the poor audio quality. I’m amazed that all this time later, nobody’s done a decent remaster. This is top drawer music, totally meriting a good sympathetic sonic clean-up!
* Password protected, to keep it private! I can email the password to anyone wanting to see it…
I do love Zappa: iconoclast, relentless hard worker, experimenter, ribald irreverent wit, obsessive archivalist. I also love the breadth and depth, dependent upon that last facet of his work, of his recorded legacy.
But sometimes, and this might be a case in point, what’s happening with his bequest to history starts to seem like nothing so much as barrel scraping for financial gain.
Let’s take the video above, which gives a taster of this recent multi-disc set, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Waka/Wazoo mini electric big band era/experiment.
It basically sounds like the rhythm section backing track, sans horns, or big band brass overdubs. I actually really like hearing the music like this. But at the same time, if lots of the tracks here are simply rhythm section run throughs or alt takes, without the ‘topping’, it’s hardly a celebration of the big band idea!
I’ve read quite a few reviews of this set that express dissatisfaction or disappointment due to the original album tracks – which most buying this set (me included, should I buy it) will already own – only being on the fifth disc, which is Blu-Ray. Many, once again myself included, won’t have a Blu-Ray player, potentially making this crucial portion of the set redundant.
Here’s a complete rundown of the contents of the discs:
CD1 - Paramount Studios Recording Session Alternates and Outtakes
1. Your Mouth (Take 1)
2. Big Swifty (Alternate Take)
3. Minimal Art (Eat That Question – Version 1, Take 2)
4. Blessed Relief (Outtake Version)
5. Think It Over (The Grand Wazoo) (Outtake Version)
6. For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch-Hikers) (Outtake Version)
7. Waka/Jawaka (Outtake Version)
CD2 - Paramount Studios Recording Session Alternates and Outtakes, continued
1. Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus (Alternate Take)
2. Eat That Question (Version 2, Alternate Take)
3. Big Swifty (Alternate Mix)
4. For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch-Hikers) (Alternate Mix)
5. It Just Might Be A One-Shot Deal (Alternate Mix)
6. Waka/Jawaka (Alternate Mix)
7. Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus (Alternate Mix)
8. Eat That Question (Alternate Mix)
CD3 - George Duke Demos – The Master Versions
1. For Love (I Come Your Friend)
2. Psychosomatic Dung
3. Uncle Remus (Instrumental)
4. Love
George Duke Session Outtakes
5. For Love (I Come Your Friend) (Basic Track, Take 1)
6. Psychosomatic Dung (Basic Track, Take 2)
7. Love (Basic Track, Take 1)
The Grand Wazoo – Live
8. Approximate (Live – FZ Record Plant Mix)
10-Piece/Petite Wazoo – Live / Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA
9. Winterland ’72 Opening And Band Introductions
10. Little Dots
CD4 - 10-Piece/Petite Wazoo – Live, continued (Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco)
1. America Drinks
2. Montana
3. Farther O’Blivion
4. Cosmik Debris
5. Chunga’s Revenge
Disc5
Waka/Jawaka Blue-ray Audio
1. Big Swifty
2. Your Mouth
3. It Just Might Be A One-Shot Deal
4. Waka / Jawaka
The Grand Wazoo
1. The Grand Wazoo
2. For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch-Hikers)
3. Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus
4. Eat That Question
5. Blessed Relief
Some cheerful thoughts for New Year’s Eve… On waking today I don’t feel – and I never ever do – any great desire to leap into action. I’ve always been someone who wanted to stay in the warm cocoon of sleep.
Over the years I’ve sometimes thought about why this might be, but oft-times I’ve just left it at that; the bald but somewhat uncomfortable fact that, for me, being asleep is often preferable to being awake.
One of the reasons that I might feel this struck me today, as I returned to the cosiness of our bed after a morning ablute; my dream life might well be – or at least feel – more interesting than my real life.
Over the years I’ve struggled with depression, which seems to afflict much of our family. And I suspect I’m dangerously close to a bout at present. Some of it has to do with unrealised ambitions. And in that respect dream life might sometimes be more ‘satisfying’ than real life?
Although that said, I’ve frequently had what might be termed ‘performance anxiety’ dreams, which seem very much related to real life. These, by the way, are very non-Freudian; musical not sexual. My musical dream life is quite like my real life! But my sexual dream life? Well, I’ll leave a veil over that for now.
Anyway, this is all a bit gloomy, I must confess. And I’m not all that comfortable writing it, and potentially sharing it online. And sadly so too is the second part of this post.
Having turned 50 I find my eyesight has seriously deteriorated. Where once I only needed one pair of glasses, I now clearly need two. But I still only have the one! This situation is causing me a lot of annoyance and inconvenience.
From trying to work on the computer, to hobbies such as reading or figure painting, and even stuff like driving, a lot of everyday stuff that was easy is now a right arse-ache.
I’m not going to dwell on it here and now. But failing vision also feels like a metaphor for this stage of my life. Surrounded by the clutter of numerous unfulfilled ambitions, vision failing, it all seems part of a single larger malaise!
Anyway, there it is. I have confessed and, I hope, unburdened myself a little. Is that any good? Any real use? I have no idea, and, frankly, doubt it. But it feels both necessary and inevitable. So there it is.
One final thought… will these circumstances lead to any change in my lifestyle? Should I ditch some of the hobbies that are now so much harder, like model making or figure painting? And what about music? Is it time to abandon unfulfilled dreams? Scary thoughts. But unavoidable, I fear.
The truth is, or so I currently conceive, that I’ll probably just continue, as I always have, to roll onwards, a tumbleweed soul, self-soothing with mild pleasures. And unwilling or unable to go that necessary extra mile, in pursuit of possibly illusory dreams/ambitions.
That’s life, eh? Or rather, my life. Ho hum…
Later the same day…
And I feel much better. Could this simply be due to co-codamol? Or did laying that psychic coil, that spiritually black stool, have a purging effect?
My mood change might well be ascribed to bipolar manic depressive tendencies. I.e. part of the problem, albeit the more pleasant part. But I’m just grateful that I no longer feel so Eeyore-ish!
And gratitude – being grateful for what I have, rather than lamenting what I lack – is, I think, a key piece in the happier personality puzzle.
Jonny Otis, with Shuggie and Delmar ‘Mighty Mouth’, are helping, belting’ out thoze blooze!
Teresa, having dined royally, so to speak, on Versailles, is now watching Marie Antoinette. As she does so it strikes me that in the last few decades we’ve seen not just a rising tide, but a veritable tsunami of royalist propaganda.
These two shows are about past French Royalty, admittedly. But the almost universal chorus of abjectly sycophantic bootlicking around the recent passing of Liz II really shocked and upset me. This toadying, far more than the passing of one elderly and obscenely overprivileged woman, is what I find deeply saddening.
We had a brief period, post WWII, in which, for a while, there was a semblance of some move towards real progressive and enlightened change in the UK. The creation of the NHS, a growth in the ambitions of the BBC. But all these things seems now to be under the very real threat of Tory vandalism and dissolution.
And the orgy of misty-eyed revisionist veneration for royalty that we’re living through now is a stark reminder of the degree to which we are now an increasingly enslaved and backward looking nation.
I wondered if anyone in the UK shared my feelings, and googled the theme using numerous selections of search terms. And what I found most of was the very same obsequious royalist garbage that so disturbs me. It took quite some digging to begin to uncover what one might call such things as republican or anti-royalist stuff.
Here is one of the few things I found. And it’s very good. I think I might try and use this and future similar posts to try and gather together such thoughts/links, etc.
Interesting to note that I can not, so far, find the names of either the ‘not my king’ lady, nor the ‘f*ck imperialism’ protestor. The former was allowed to continue her protest, whilst the latter was removed and charged with a ‘breach of peace‘.
In a previous post that touches on this theme I was able to find the identity of another protestor. That individual was Paul Powlesland, above, a barrister who said around the time:
‘One of the many things that makes me proud to be British is our freedom of speech. It’s one of our most precious and sacred rights and it’s far more precious to me than the royal family is.’
Amen to that! But is the idea of free speech in the UK now no more than an illusion? It’s starting to look that way.
* The most recent Jubilee was, for the most part, a horrifying display of forelock tugging idiocy. I didn’t encounter any anti-Royal views in the media at the time. Even allusions to other viewpoints were rare. And, of course, the vast propaganda machine supporting royalty steamrolled over any neutered opposition. So Liz wasn’t the last of her ilk. Alas…
It’s a bit weird, for me to admit this. But I guess I’ve become a sneaker fancier!? It was never a conscious thing. And I think, oddly enough, that drumming plays a part.
Whenever I consider buying a new pair of shoes these days, it’s invariably trainers Some nice antique brogues appeal, but are usually way too expensive (and I quite fancy some two-tone loafers!).
Here they are in situ:
Facebook also plays a part. And there’s a bit of a rub there, as I’m vehemently anti most advertising. But I have to concede that FB ads for trainers have ultimately seduced me into spending money on funky footwear.
The drumming connection has to do with a long-running but as yet unrealised desire to start making and posting drumming videos on YouTube. One of the stumbling blocks there is my antiquated iMac and defunct DAW scenario (i.e. Logic not working on my Apple computer!).
If money were no object I’d love a pair of the converse khaki shoes pictured below. But I already have two pairs of Converse. So I can’t really justify buying more.
Damn you, Converse, for making such alluring footwear! These off-white ‘plimsoles’ have really caught my eye. And, since posting this, my mum and her husband, Malcolm, have bought me these for my upcoming birthday. Thanks!
And a bit further back I bought a pair of flip-flops…
This last lot seem rather out of place right now, in the depths of winter. But it’s nice to think of spring and summer to come.
It’s Xmas Day, or as I prefer to say, Yule (f*ck Jesus!). As normal, some of what I got, gifts wise was, naturally and inevitably, music. At left is Tom Waits’ Bad As Me (in a deluxe book format edition!), whilst at right is a three albums on two discs compilation of early albums by The Sons Of Champlin.
Waits wise, I’m more a fan of his ‘first era’, from his demos and debut, Closing Time, through to Swordfishtrombones and (?). I do like the post Kathleen Brennan stuff (by which I mean after he met/married her). Just not as much.
The Sons are another and somewhat odder case, for me. I mostly like the whole idea of them, more than I often actually like listening to them! But I intend to explore them more, and this early-years stuff is a good place. Some of their later ‘70s stuff – I have a collection covering that period already – is great, in a funky jazz fusion way.
I also have a load of music coming to me on my next birthday. Inc. several Stooges albums, two by Iggy Pop, and a few other oddments. Can’t wait!
Thanks to the Pharelly Bros’ movie Me, Myself & Irene I discovered Orpheus. What a fantastic group!
The above video is the whole of their 1968 debut album. And the video directly below is Can’t Find The Time Tell You, the song that started me on an Orpheus jag! But this is the Orpheus original, and not the (very good, and very ‘smooth’) Hootie & The Blowfish cover, as used in the Farelly Bros’ movie, Me, Myself & Irene.
Despite the very recent passing of head honcho, Bruce Arnold, they have had (and may still?) a second life, as Orpheus Reborn. I also discovered this website, where there are tons of archival Orpheus recordings. Fab!
These cats are really something special! As I listen to each of their albums, I come to appreciate that they had a rich treasury of great tunes. And if proof – beyond the obvious charms of the music itself – were needed, in the latter part of their early history they had the great Bernard ‘Pretty’ Purdie on drums!*
Here’s Orpheus’ discography:
Orpheus (1968)
Ascending (1968)
Joyful (1969)
Orpheus (1971)
The video below doesn’t really do justice to the track. But it’s nice to see the group, even if they’re clearly miming! This is the non-Purdie lineup, with Harry Sandler on drums.
* Purdie is the drummer on both their debut and – according to Orpheus’ own website – their final album, both of which are self titled. So, that’s the the 1978 record, Orpheus, and the 1971 disc, also Orpheus! And more recently he rejoined the group for some reunion concerts.