Reading . . .

. . .  the gory details of behind-the-scenes politics at the highest level of The U.S. government gives one pause. Granted, I was just a kid when these people were active, but it is absolutely mind-boggling to learn of the great lengths to which some will go in the interest of power.  And money, for that matter, although my current reading material is about power while the sub-plot of 'money can easily buy power' (a fact of which our current conservative supreme court justices are blissfully unaware) is all too present. And this is really nothing new to our times, my lifetime or recent history.  As long as history has been recorded the very same has been true. It makes me quite content with my own principles.  I will never be rich (financially) nor powerful (politically), but I will always be honest and true to myself and in any and all human interactions in which I participate.  Really!

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OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD)

My latest solo release, '2014', can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
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Baggage. . .

Six AM
The buses aren't nearly as crowded
As the night before
Someone said there was
Music and laughter
Behind all the shutters and doors
What was all of it for

Who needs friends
There's barely a minute for breathing
Everyone here works so hard
There's no party
When I reach my doorstep
I struggle to pull out my key
Where's the meaning for me

You see but you're unaware
There's life on the other side

But there's no bridge to cross
I'm looking through the fog
For some way out of here
I've baggage here to toss

Bless my soul
I've read about you in the paper
I've seen your picture somewhere
When you speak it's in volumes and volumes
I can't hear a word that you say
Funny it happens that way
I've been told that envy's the thing I've been feeling
For your kind of work and your play
But to tell you the truth
That it's only a wish
For a new kind of day
When worry and fear melt away

Could be
That a day will come
When you just might understand

But there's no bridge to cross
I'm looking through the fog
For some way out of here
I've baggage here to
I've baggage here to
I've baggage here to toss


Baggage
(instrumental)
©2013 Raymond M. Jozwiak
from '2014'




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OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
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My latest solo release, '2014', can be downloaded digitally at:

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Name Me . . .

. . . someone ridiculous. . .

(from http://www.jazzwax.com/2009/05/charles-mingus-fables-of-faubus.html)
Why the lyrics (to Charles Mingus' Fables of Faubus) weren't recorded the first time around on Mingus Ah Um isn't clear. Most likely the omission came at the behest of Columbia executives, who at the time didn't want to overly inflame the label's Southern markets. Writes Gene Santoro in Myself When I Am Real: The Life and Music of Charles Mingus:

"[The group recorded] Fables of Faubus, but Columbia, Mingus said, wouldn't let them record the lyrics."

When Mingus wrote the song in late 1957, the Little Rock standoff had been the most shocking and dramatic episode in the Civil Rights Movement. The event marked the first time that Southern racism was exposed on network television, and the news story unfolded slowly in September 1957. The sight of armed National Guard soldiers preventing nine students from attending a public school and the federal government's slow reaction was harrowing. The month-long televised drama deeply affected jazz musicians and people throughout the country who had heard about unjust conditions in the South but had never seen them in action.

Ultimately, the Justice Department sought and was granted an injunction against Faubus' order, and the governor had to withdraw National Guard troops. But the move offered little protection for the students or assurance that the community wouldn't riot or bar them from the school. So on September 24th—20 days after the incident's start—President Eisenhower finally federalized the Arkansas National Guard and sent the army's 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock enforce integration and safeguard the African-American students.
- See more at: http://www.jazzwax.com/2009/05/charles-mingus-fables-of-faubus.html#sthash.wzbbqq8Y.dpuf

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OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD)

My latest solo release, '2014', can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
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The Latest . . .

. . . from Doug Alan Wilcox; articulate, evocative and engaging singer songwriter
and good friend. . . 



(from http://www.dawilcox.com/doug_alan_wilcox_true.html)
On the making of “True”

I had been through a particularly crappy Winter - bouts of depression and malaise had kept me fairly off-kilter for months. Fortunately, I was able to use that pain to write a couple of new songs and had yet a few more tunes that were in the live show rotation but hadn't been recorded so figured it was time to get into the studio. In hindsight, the activity of recording probably saved me many more weeks of ugly mood. Things do happen for a reason.

Along about this same time, my friend and fellow singer/songwriter Rick Windon asked if I would be willing to to take a lyric he had rattling around and try to put my spin on things. The result, "It Only Feels Like Love", while not at all a happy song, is still perhaps my favorite on "True" (btw, this IS a mostly POSITIVE album, really..........).

Now, I've never spoken to other artists to see if their experience is the same but the recording process always takes on a life of it's own for me. I invariably go in with a plan that disintegrates into dust within days. However SOMETHING GOOD always happens in place of that plan.

In this case, the two brand-new songs that I was sure were going to be on this record ended up being set aside for another day - they just didn't fit the flow that was taking shape for "True". I got the idea to write a couple of instrumental, sound-scape-type pieces - not quite songs but bits to tie other songs together.

Another great friend, pianist Ray Jozwiak, had offered his services earlier on and I threw two of the instrumentals his way. One gained lyrics in the meantime and became the title track and first cut on the CD. These "sounds-capes" really mark a departure for me and I think lend a whole different tone to the collection.

This is what I mean by a project "taking on a life of it's own". Things tend to happen very organically and it's always an intriguing and surprising adventure (for me at least)  to see what I end up with.

So in the end, it all came along well in the course of just over two months. My lovely wife helped with production duties (a woman with a very good ear!)
and didn't fuss when I was locked up in the studio or spending time glued to the computer with headphones - listening over and over to mixes.

As you can see other places on this site, all my current recorded work is posted at BandCamp.com. Everything there streams for free so please feel free to drop by - no commitment. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed making this, and all, my records - and if you like what you hear, you know what to do............. :)

Of "True", Betsy Burnam says: "......... It's beautiful; almost Zen-like lyrics and feeling but with humor and gentle passion. Doug opens his heart........."


True
from the album True
by Doug Alan Wilcox
released 09 April 2014
© all rights reserved




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OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
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My latest solo release, '2014', can be downloaded digitally at:

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Marc J. Randazza, a Las Vegas-based First Amendment attorney and managing partner of the Randazza Legal Group,  has in interesting take on the recent media storm NBA Clippers' owner Donald Sterling. 

First, many have questioned whether or not Sterling's First Amendment rights were violated.  Randazza says his First Amendment rights remain intact. The First Amendment protects you from punishment by the government because of your speech. The NBA is a private club, and it can discipline Sterling all it wants.  The government is not imposing the punishment in this situation.  Neither does the First Amendment insulate you from criticism. In fact, that's the First Amendment in action. 

Going one further though, Randazza says that what happened to Sterling may have been illegal and was morally wrong. In California, you can't record a conversation without the knowledge or consent of both parties. The recording featuring Sterling and V. Stiviano may be the result of a crime. We all say things in private that we might not say in public. Conversely, Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy made his own stupid and bigoted statements to the world by choice.  He deserves every ounce of obloquy heaped upon him. Complain about the National Security Agency spying on all of us yet we condone giving our closest friends the ability to do worse.  

"The Sterling story is about how there is no more privacy. We live in a world where you can share your intimate photos with your lover, and they will wind up on a "revenge porn" website.

We live in a world where our intimate conversations will be recorded and blasted to billions of listeners. We live in a world where, say a gold digger can spy on her sugar daddy, and the world says that the creepy old guy is the bad guy."

(source:  http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/30/opinion/randazza-sterling-privacy/index.html?hpt=hp_c2)

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OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
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My latest solo release, '2014', can be downloaded digitally at:

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Mom Said . . .

. . . be wary of people that have two first names. . .

 . . . maybe she was wrong . . .


(from wikipedia.com)
" . . . Joseph Arthur began writing and playing music in his early teens, after inheriting an electronic keyboard from his aunt. At age 16, he played bass in a blues band called Frankie Starr and the Chill Factor, which disbanded by 1995. Initially, Arthur sought to become a noted bass guitarist, stating: "I never started singing until I was in my early 20s. I remember thinking, ‘OK – I am not a singer, I am a musician.’ I wanted to be this like heroic bass player so I listened to people like Jaco Pastorius, just smoking weed listening to Bitches Brew over and over again. And then like Nirvana came out and I was blown away and then I got into Bob Dylan. Around that time I started playing acoustic guitar and realized I could actually write songs if I wasn’t playing complicated bass lines."

Joseph graduated from Firestone High School in 1990 and continued developing his music. In the early 1990s, Arthur relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, continuing to record home demos, playing local clubs and working as a guitar salesman at Clark Music Store.

In 1996, Peter Gabriel's A&R associate Harvey Schartz presented Gabriel with a demo of Arthur's first EP, Cut and Blind. Gabriel and Schwartz arranged a live audition at The Fez nightclub in New York City, and Arthur flew up from Atlanta. The night was a success; not only was Lou Reed a guest in the audience, but within a few months Arthur was officially signed, making him the first American recording artist signed to Gabriel's label Arthur recorded his debut album at Gabriel's Real World Studios in England with producer Markus Dravs (Björk, Coldplay, Arcade Fire). The debut album Big City Secrets was released worldwide in spring 1997, and Arthur joined Gabriel's WOMAD tour in Europe. Big City Secrets displayed Arthur's often angsty and emotionally-wrought lyrics coupled with diverse instrumentation, which he himself described as "someone struggling to heal over experimental folk-rock", but went virtually unnoticed by the mainstream. Two years later, he recorded an EP called Vacancy, which earned him a Grammy nomination in 2000 for best recording package. . ."

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OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD)

My latest solo release, '2014', can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
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Need I Say. . .

. . . More? . . .

(from http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/04/28/palin-waterboarding-is-how-we-baptize-terrorists/?hpt=hp_t3)
". . . Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told a capacity crowd at a National Rifle Association rally how she would baptize terrorists if she was an elected official.

“If I was in charge,” Palin said Saturday in Indianapolis, “they would know, waterboarding is how we baptize terrorists.”

Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who ran against then Sen.-Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, with Palin as his running mate, has spoken out against waterboarding, calling it illegal and ineffective. During the Vietnam War, McCain endured years of torture and imprisonment as a prisoner of war under the North Vietnamese.

In her speech, Palin also said the Washington insiders who called the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood a case of workplace violence “don’t know what is right.” That shooting was carried out by Maj. Nidal Hassan.

“Not when that evil Muslim terrorist Major Hassan massacres his fellow military soldiers at Fort Hood,” she said.

Characterizing Hassan, “that devil” as a ‘disgruntled employee,’” is hypocritical, said Palin.

Palin called liberals hypocrites for their stance on issues varying from gun control to torture at the NRA event that was part of the organization’s 2014 convention.

But she backtracked later, saying, “Not all intolerant anti-freedom leftist liberals are hypocrites.”

“I’m kidding,” she said. “Yes, they are.” . . . "

What do you think?
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OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD)

My latest solo release, '2014', can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

Also, be sure to visit:
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