Pow! . . .

 . . . Wow!!!. . .

 

(with all respect to my native American friends)

Watching 'friends' bicker about guns on my facebook page. (Kinda funny really.) Hopefully they'll never be personally close enough to each other for any actual shooting to occur.

The new MySpace is very weird.  I can't figure it out . . . I'll give it a few more tries.

Getting psyched for Oho's appearance at Schlongtasm 30.  (No, it's not a pornographic thing.)  It's Dan (The Schlong) Long's (of Airaid Records)30th birthday celebration at Joe Squared Pizza on Friday, January 25th.  More on that later.  Brushing up on our tunes.

Couldn't have been gloomier weather here in the 'Big Banana' (as my friend Frank used to call it).

Trying to cope maturely with my SAD.  It's cold, mostly gray and not very motivating this time of year.  But I try to remain GLAD in spite of it.

No better way to stay gainfully occupied that with . . . MUSIC!!!. . . .

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Blood . . .

. . . Brother. . . again

I'll be your Blood Brother
By your side through thick and thin
I'll be your Blood Brother
Just as long as I don't have to bloody
My hands hands

Bar rooms sure have a funny way
Of bringing loyalty out in a man
Buy a drink and tell a joke
And buddy you've got you a friend
But keep a good eye upon that friend
Because he really doesn't give two hoots
And don't say anything about his Mom
His  girlfriend or his army boots

I'll be your Blood Brother
By your side through thick and thin
I'll be your Blood Brother
Just as long as I don't have to bloody
My hands hands

Walked into an auto-mo-showroom
I need some wheels but got no money to spend
When a guy with an ugly tie
Walks out and acts like he's my long-lost friend
I said hey Buddy I've a purpose here
And if you please I will accomplish my goal
So don't you slap me on the back again
Cause if you do I might just lose my control

I'll be your Blood Brother
By your side through thick and thin
I'll be your Blood Brother
Just as long as I don't have to bloody
My hands hands

So please be careful when you meet someone
Who'll make a promise at the drop of a hat
And don't provide them with encouragement
You will regret the day you offered him that
Cause everybody needs some empathy
But just how willing
And how far will they go
To really help you when the chips are down
Can they be trusted half as far as you throw them

I'll be your Blood Brother
By your side through thick and thin
I'll be your Blood Brother
Just as long as I don't have to bloody
My hands hands


BLOOD BROTHER(partial song: from Oho rehearsal)
©1997 Raymond M. Jozwiak




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Brewer's. . .

(

  (from Rod Deacey, Frederick (MD)-area musician, songwriter, performer, impressario)     
 ". . . At Brewer’s Alley Songwriters’ Showcase this Monday, Jan 14, we are delighted to welcome back JASON MYLES GOSS, who I first met when he played for me at the late, lamented WestSide café. Since those days, Jason has been busy touring around the U.S. and recording. He moved from Massachusetts to Brooklyn, NY, about six years ago and his latest CD, his fourth, called Radio Dial, has met with critical acclaim across the country…He’s really good – come and check him out!

         “This one-man-show reminded everyone packed into the small venue what live acoustic performances are all about and why the up-and-coming deserve to be heard.”
– Dissolver Magazine

          We are happy that COLETTE ROHAN has changed her working hours, so she is able to come and play some piano preludes for us this year! She starts this week – come out and hear her play!  As per normal, come early to find good seats for the evening and to catch the entire prelude. You can come upstairs at 7:15 pm (maybe 5 minutes or so earlier than that if we’re ready; performers can come up when they arrive).

          For three-song cameo performers this Monday, we are happy to see the return of RICARDO – THE DIVINING SAGE, plus BASSWOOD, and advertising his Feb 18 feature spot, BRETT BARRY! Brett is also helping me tweak the sound this week, so if you see him lurking behind the soundboard – that’s why! We will be also hearing from the regular crew; poet JOHN HOLLY, reciting his poems between other performers, and TODD C. WALKER, who also takes photos, helps emcee and helps run sound. TOMY WRIGHT is with us for the first time this new season, and will play some guitar and sing after the feature. . . "

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No idea. . .

. . . about Bloodrock. . .

I only knew that DOA was a 'shake-me-up' kinda single that I heard when I was in junior high school (yeah, before they called it "Middle School") and thought it was just great because it was 'heavy' musically and imaginative in the perspective from which it was speaking.  But maybe a little too dark and possibly gross for some. . .

(from wikipedia.com)
". . . Bloodrock initially formed in Fort Worth in 1963, under the name The Naturals. This first lineup featured Jim Rutledge (b. January 24, 1947) – drums/vocals, Nick Taylor (b. October 29, 1946 - d. March 10, 2010) – guitar/vocals, Ed Grundy (b. March 10, 1948) – bass/vocals, and Dean Parks – guitar. They released their first single in 1965 “Hey Girl” b/w “I Want You”(Rebel MME 1003). Shortly thereafter they changed their name to Crowd + 1 and released three more singles: “Mary Ann Regrets” b/w "Whatcha Tryin’ to Do to Me"(BOX 6604), "Don’t Hold Back" b/w "Try," and "Circles" b/w “Most Peculiar Things.”

In 1967 Parks left Crowd +1 to become the musical director for the Sonny & Cher Show (the beginning of a long career as a session musician). He was replaced by Lee Pickens (b. December 8, 194?) – guitar. It was also at this time that Stevie Hill (b. Tulsa, OK) – keyboards/vocals joined the group. They continued as Crowd + 1 until 1969 when they changed their name to Bloodrock. They also recorded their first album, the Terry Knight produced, Bloodrock (ST-435). The album, released in March 1970, peaked at 160 on the Billboard 200 chart .

In 1970 Rutledge moved from behind the drum set to take on lead vocal duties exclusively. Rick Cobb (b. James Richard Cobb III) took over the percussive duties and added his voice to the group as well. This lineup recorded their next four albums: Bloodrock 2 (ST-491), Bloodrock 3 (ST-765), Bloodrock USA (SMAS 645), and Bloodrock Live (SVBB-11038).
Bloodrock 2 and D.O.A.

Bloodrock 2 was their most successful album peaking at #21 on the Billboard Pop Album Chart in 1971 mostly on the strength of their single "DOA" which reached #36 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on March 6, 1971. "DOA" also gave the band considerable regional exposure throughout the Southwest and West, particularly in Texas and Southern California. "DOA" was probably the band's most well known and well remembered single. The motivation for writing this song was explained in 2005 by guitarist Lee Pickens. “When I was 17, I wanted to be an airline pilot,” Pickens said. “I had just gotten out of this airplane with a friend of mine, at this little airport, and I watched him take off. He went about 200 feet in the air, rolled and crashed.” The band decided to write a song around the incident and include it on their second album.

In 1972 Lee Pickens left to form The Lee Pickens Group and released the album 'LPG" in 1973 on Capitol Records. Jim Rutlege retired from active music altogether, however in 1976 he also released a solo album on Capitol Records entitled: "Hooray for Good Times". Rutlege was replaced by Warren Ham in early 1972. The subsequent album, Passages was the last time Bloodrock visited the charts. It peaked at #104 on the Billboard 200 in 1972.

1973 brought another personnel change: Rick Cobb vacated the drums to be replaced by Randy Reader. This line up recorded one album: Whirlwind Tongues (1974).

The end of the road for Bloodrock came in 1975. Randy Reader left the group and an album, Unspoken Words, remained unreleased until 2000, where it was included as part of the CD release Triptych (along with Passage and Whirlwind Tongues). Unspoken Words featured Bill Ham and Matt Betton

A reunion concert featuring five of the six original numbers (Jim Rutledge, Lee Pickens, Ed Grundy, Nick Taylor, Stevie Hill, and Chris Taylor in place of original drummer Rick Cobb III) was held on March 12, 2005 in Fort Worth, for the benefit of their keyboardist Stevie Hill.

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Selective. . .

. . .  memory. . .

On the ride home from Pam's birthday dinner, we detoured past the apartment complex where we lived when we were first married.  Beautiful complex.  Well maintained and still very attractive.  Neighborhood has evolved. Many drastic changes have taken place while some, small sections still contain the quaint, old houses we so admired and fantasized about possibly buying (if we could have afforded it) way back then.  The pleasant drive triggered a litany of old memories from my very limited brain, some of which remain as clear as though they were yesterday. But others come with doubts about many of the details that I am able to recall.  Selective memory??  Probably. Nevertheless, I was able to continue the saga until we reached home.

(from wikipedia.com)
". . . Normal aging is associated with a decline in various memory abilities in many cognitive tasks; the phenomenon is known as age-related memory impairment (AMI) or age-associated memory impairment (AAMI). The ability to encode new memories of events or facts and working memory shows decline in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. Studies comparing the effects of aging on episodic memory, semantic memory, short-term memory and priming find that episodic memory is especially impaired in normal aging; some types of short-term memory are also impaired. The deficits may be related to impairments seen in the ability to refresh recently processed information. Source information is one type of episodic memory that suffers with old age; this kind of knowledge includes where and when the person learned the information. Knowing the source and context of information can be extremely important in daily decision-making, so this is one way in which memory decline can affect the lives of the elderly. Therefore, reliance on political stereotypes is one way to use their knowledge about the sources when making judgments, and the use of metacognitive knowledge gains importance.[8] This deficit may be related to declines in the ability to bind information together in memory during encoding and retrieve those associations at a later time.

Episodic memory is supported by networks spanning frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes. The interconnections in the lobes are presumed to enable distinct aspects of memory, whereas the effects of gray matter lesions have been extensively studied, less is known about the interconnecting fiber tracts. In aging, degradation of white matter structure has emerged as an important general factor, further focusing attention on the critical white matter connections. . . "

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Comedy. . .

Comedians are fascinating persons.  They can be so hilarious at "work" while as soon as the lights dim and crowd is gone, they can be terribly sad people.  That's not to say Tig Notaro is sad.  I don't honestly know that much about her except that she is very funny.  But this article gives a glimpse of how real life problems can influence a comedian and the fascinating interplay that results between the stage and real life.

 (from http://www.fastcocreate.com/1681714/tig-notaros-legendary-largo-show-now-available-on-louis-cks-web-platform)

". . . To say that Tig Notaro has had a challenging year would be a not-quite-laughable understatement. The result of the talented comic’s bout with breast cancer (and a collection of other poorly timed maladies), though, was the material and rare mood to pull off a single set that’s been described as both heartbreaking and hilarious in equal measure.

“In my 27 years doing this I have seen a handful of truly masterful performances. One was Tig Notaro last night at Largo.” That’s reigning stand-up king Louis C.K. tweeting the day after Notaro’s notorious August 3 show at Largo in California. This high-profile endorsement joined others by the likes of Bill Burr and Ed Helms, which, taken along with a widely circulated blog post, incited a wave of speculation that most of us had maybe missed out on something truly special. Now, it looks like we’ll actually get to hear it.

Notaro recorded the set at Largo, and when I spoke with her for a Co.Create profile a while back, she mentioned that clips would likely surface on the radio show This American Life. Thankfully, clips were not going to be enough, and now Louis C.K. is releasing the set through his web platform. The show, entitled LIVE--as in, what she hopes to continue to do--is available for $5 as of October 5th. . ."

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I'm not . . .

. . . envious. . .

. . . who me. . . NAHHH!!!!

I don't want to be a pop star. . . well. . . maybe I do . . . maybe I STILL do. . .

. . . well, mayBE I AM ENVIOUS!!  I ALWAYS DID WANT TO BECOME A POP STAR!!!
Who didn't?   Didn't You!!???

Well, let's be real.  I am who I am, 55 years old, married with three grown children, employed full-time (in a field OTHER than music), a homeowner, taxpayer, American citizen, community member, concerned citizen of planet earth in 2013.  I suffer no delusions.  Although I would love to achieve some modicum*

*mod·i·cum  

/ˈmädikəm/

Noun A small quantity of a particular thing, esp. something considered desirable or valuable.

Synonyms trace

of success with my original music, I am nothing but realistic about what my music is, how big a market that it may have, and just how lucrative that modicum could be.

But why does it still trouble me, (to the point of jealousy??? . . . not absolutely, honestly or truly to that point) but still, there's a twinge when I see (especially when I hear) some adolescent (particularly male, yet not exclusively) heartthrob pouting into the camera like a doe in the headlights and belting out inane lyrics to a technologically perfect yet emotionally vapid dance beat that's been perfectly produced to to the point of boredom. . .

. . . DAMN. . . I wish I could have been a Pop Star!

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