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When I was in high school, the smart kids were into Cat Stevens, CSN (and sometimes Y), and all the nouveau (for then) folk- rock. The “deeper” of the lot did the Seals and Crofts tangent. The cool kids were into The Who or Black Sabbath, with an ELO contingent in the mix. The band geeks were into Chicago and Maynard Ferguson. Still other kids ran the gamut from The Spinners to Parliament Funkadelic. I straddled all the camps, and added in my own special dose of Beatle freak to the mix. Damn, I’m old.
Rich
One of the things that has bugged me for the longest time is this tendency for people in the music world, especially that cliquish subset known as music academia, to pigeon-hole various styles and give them their official nod of sophistication while thumbing their nose by omission at those that they haven’t annointed. I was a Music Composition major in the early 80s. The young, hip, cool faculty members were all what I call academic jazz weenies. Because jazz had a place in the music curriculum, it was given the supposed status of being somehow more sophisticated than that slovenly rock and roll that I was into. Hecik, even the then-cutting edge electronic music classes were more of a testimonial to Walter/Wendy Carlos than they were to what people like Pete Townshend or George Harrison or some of the progressive rock keyboardists like Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman were doing with electronic syntheziers. I loved the idea of being one of the iconoclasts in the department by using compositional and arranging techniques that I had learned from loving The Beatles and having bought all of the editions of CHicago Sketch Score. Oy vey. It’s all music, regardless of sub-genre, and it’s all very improvisational, and it’s mostly all very good.
David Day wrote:Jonathan wrote:It’s ok, I just found the album listed on another site and it’s a typo on Amazon. The next track on the CD is the BH track, some song called “The Way It Is” which is vaguely familiar.
Never heard of it! 😆
David Day
Lake Lanier, GAA typo on Amazon? Wow! Some things WILL never change. That’s just the way it is. But don’t you believe me, hunt for them yourself. (sorry -this evil little voice on my shoulder told me to do that, even if it might mean that I will never have a snowball’s chance in hell of qualifying as a road scholar).
Rich
trent wrote:Very nice! I like the Bruce voicemail at the beginning too.Have any of the Caesar Salad folks been contacted by Bruce?
I don’t really expect him to. I don’t think anyone who participated in “Shadowhands” heard from him either.
I like MVF’s explanation, too. I can only imagine what the families of people whose jobs expose them to potentially life-threatening situations on a regular basis. Thus, I completely did not see that aspect of it. Now, I’m going to go back and listen to that song again and think of what MVF said. Thanks.
Rich
The Rich’s Cliff Notes version:
A woman has a one-night stand that she comes to regret. She thinks everyone is gossiping about her (as small town folk are want to do), so she moves away to avoid the embarrassment. And yet… there’s this wistful longing for “what it was like before.” While she’s wishing for what might have been, time still marches on, regardless of what happens. In short, the whole fear of embarrassment or whatever that caused her to leave turns out to be one big “yeah? so?” in the grand scheme of things.
The man in the long coat is guy who shared the one-night stand, and apparently not a stranger to such encounters.
The sad-eyed sisters are the gossips in town. The are sad-eyed, in part, because while they gossip about what happens to others as though they are somehow morally superior to the whole thing, they are secretly jealous because their love/sex life is a tad on the dry side (i.e. they are a bunch of miserable spinsters who couldn’t get laid if they paid someone to help them out).
OK, this is a bit of a stretch, but here goes any way….
I saw Bruce play with the Richmond Symphony at The Mosque (10th row, center — swwwweet!) back in ’92 or ’93, and loved it so much that I packed up everything I owned and moved to Syracuse so that I could be there when he played at The Landmark Theatre just after Thanksgiving of ’93.
OK, another factor might have been the job offer from some steel company that I now despise because I was stupid enough to go and work for them, but why should the truth get in the way of a good story?
Other than that, I guess I’m not much of a Road Scholar
As I get older, I find that I just don’t get the same mileage and the parts tend to break down easier. Plus, my wife is absolutely NOT a Road Scholar, and I’d have to drag her along kicking and screaming wherever I go. It’s fun when she kicks, but the screaming… well, never mind Rich
Actually, I was thinking of it the other way around. For example, who in “Bruce World” would be cast in what part if they put on “Jesus Christ Superstar” or “Hello Dolly” or even “Tommy”,
“Tommy”? Hmm… how about JV or JT as Uncle Ernie? Bonnie Raitt would sing a mean “Acid Queen”. Huey Lewis could be the guy who leads Bruce to the pinball table and sings “Pinball Wizard.” Did they do the Ann-Margaret baked beans scene in the stage version? Sheena Easton could do that part. Jerry Garcia could make a special appearance as the doctor who cures Tommy.
How’s that for strange?
Quote:You coming to Boone or Greensboro? Would love to meet and have a chat!
Vic is coming to Boone. You guys need to meet!Are you in Boone, NC? I thought you were in GA. If you are in NC, I’ll have to give you a shout the next time I get up the courage to visit my mother-in-law, who is not far away in Damascus, VA.
Rich
Just reading these reponses in this thread make me squirm. There are couple of strange things that I thought I’d bring up.
First of all, I have no idea whether I’m considered right-handed or left-handed. I write right-handed, but I shoot pool left-handed. I throw right-handed, but bat left-handed. And so it goes…
I think that most musical instruments are geared toward right-handed players. On a piano or any of the other keyboard isntruments, the melody/lead is usually with the right hand while the left hand supports it. When I played brass instruments, all of the manipulation of the valves to form the notes is with the right hand. Even woodwind instruments, which use both hands, require the bulk of the work to be done with the right hand.
The exception, and where I get all messed up, is with stringed instruments. The roles of right and left hands on a guitar or bass (assuming it is a ‘right-handed’ instrument) are reversed from those of the keyboards. The left hand is the one responsible for moving all over the fretboard to form the notes, where as the right hand is the one that takes care of the strumming, picking, or screwing around with the volum/tone controls or the flippin’ whammy bar.
Keyboard vs. Guitar:
Right Hand: Keyboard: Melodic Lines… Guitar: Rhythmic Support.
Left Hand: Keyboard: Rhythmic Support… Guitar: Melodic Lines.And yet, for some peculiar reason, I don’t seem to have much problem switching from piano to bass. Go figure.
And, of course, the difference between strings/keyboards and wind instruments is… it’s a lot tougher to sing when you’re playing a trumpet (although I’ve heard some people do it quite successfully, albeit peculiarly).
Rich
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought that. Now I have proof to show my wife that I’m not crazy. Thanks, y’all.
Si,
I hope that your surgery goes well, and that you are soon on the mend. Fear not, we’ll keep the forum jumping with lively discussions and debate 😮 It’s the least we can do for you when you consider how much you do for us with this site. On the way home from work, I’ll think up a couple of controversial topics that will keep this place nice and perky. It should make for some entertaining reading while you recover. Most important, though…. get through the surgery and recovery. I’ll include you in my prayers.
Rich Diakun
Quote:Thanks, David! All the Salad contributors did themselves proud. I’ve definitely been digging on these great Hornsby covers, which are in rapid rotation on my iPod. It’s just too bad we’re all spread out across the globe. I’d love to collaborate with you guys at a live gig some time.Hmm…. first the albums, then…
Did Nathan just plant the seed for BruceFest or something like that?
Rich
There’s another, very important, reason why musicians like Bruce’s music. He has made it cool to engage in what many music critics have derisively called “pointless noodling.” We all like to do it, and he does it better than the rest of us.
Rich
Quote:I grew up in Virginia Beach, aka Princess Anne county. Where do you hail from????I was born in Buffalo, NY (aka Snow Country), but my parents moved the family to Williamsburg when I was in 6th grade. I lived in York County until after I graduated from HS in’76. Since then, I’ve been eveyrwhere up and down the east coast, but I’ve lived in Hampton for the past 5 years now.
Rich
aka a sucker for history stuffI think what turns me on about his music mostly is that he transcends the “performing a song” thing and moves on to that level where he “saying something” with his music. There are some public speakers who you can hear and whatever it is that they’re saying doesn’t really sink in…. and there are some who can stir your mind and soul. It’s hard to quantify it, but I fell like Mr. Hornsby just has that “it” with his expression of his musical ideas and dreams. How many performers can you see in a live performance where they are doing an improv section and people are sitting there kinda saying to themselves, “go, man, go!”? I find myself doing that at Bruce shows, and after he’s done and goes back into the “song proper”, I feel an exhilirating rush that can only be summed with with the word, “yeah!” How’s that for articulating that which can’t really be articulated with words?
Rich
Thanks, Allisa! It is a far cooler thing that you have done than…. oh, well, you get the drift
Hmm…. any of y’all Tivo/DVR folks have a way to burn a DVD of this?
Well, with “Caesar Salad” and now “Crossroads”, the operative phrase seems to be “Burn, baby, burn!”
Rich
Quote:But will Ricky and Bruce appear on a night that also features Triumph the Insult Comic Dog or the Masturbating Bear? That is the question…I could see the Masturbating Bear fitting in with “Super Freak.”
Hmm… should we have some sort of wagering contest on what song they’ll play on “Conan”?
Rich
PS. I wonder if they’ll let Chaka Khan in on the “Super Freak” fun when they play Jamestown…
I’ve given this quite a bit of listening since my wife got me a copy for our 22nd Anniversary (she must love me
) . I really dug “Gulf Of Mexico Fishing Boat Blues”, found “The Deaded Spoon” and “Super Freak” to be a lot of fun, and am so glad that he chose to make a studio recording of the minor-key version of “Mandolin Rain”.That said, I thought the performance of “Super Freak” on “CMT Crossroads” did a much better job of conveying what a gas it must have been to play and how so many musicians really do rise above it all when they’re playing in front of an audience.
I also find myself comparing “Mandolin Rain” to the live version that I have on the CDs from the ’05 Holiday Concert in Williamsburg, with the live one winning out because of little things like JV’s nice fat bass work, and the sort of depth of sound and mood that just really make that verison of that song so flat-out amazing. I guess that’s one of the things that makes Bruce so interesting to listen to… every performance, whether it’s a studio recording or a concert rendition, has something a little different and quite special to offer. It gives us all plenty of room to pick one or more versions that we like best, no matter how hard the process of choosing might be.
Rich
Quote:Maybe there will come a time when Bruce can personalize his autograph on one of his cds…Scott (Wishful Thinking)
I’ve got a couple of Paul McCartney CDs with his signature on it. If I practice enough, I could probably get it down. Then, all I’d need is his checkbook (preferably before Heather cleans out the account).
Rich
Si, I’d love it if you would be willing to share out the graphics so that I could create some CD artwork for “Caesar Salad.” The plain white paper CD envelopes I’ve put the discs in is really quite boring. I promise I’ll share them out with every one else.
Rich
PS. For those of you burning the mp3s to CD, consider one minor change in the sequening. When I did my burn, I moved “I Will Walk With You” to the end of disc 1, and left the remainder intact. The reason/result is that with this minor resequencing, the difference in running time between the 2 discs is less than 10 seconds (instead of nearly 10 minutes). That’s probably just me being annoying about such things, but it fits nicely.
Oh yeah… this was about favorite lyics. Well, it changes, depending on the day and the mood. Right now, it’s:
“Theres a long lonesome sound in the distance calling back to me”
Rich
Quote:I remember Bruce mentioning in an introduction to “Down The Road Tonight” (from one of the Daily Doses) that the pkace in the song was located in “James County.” The closeset place I could find with that name was James City County,VA, which Wikipedia says borders Williamsburg. I guess the guys had to cross the county line to have their fun.Quote:Williamsburg is the city that is within the county of James City County. FUBAR, I know, but that goes back to the 1600’s.I was once able to track down the road and bridge where the picture on “Scenes From The Southside” was taken……simply beautiful!
Actually, James City County is technically separate from the City of Williamsburg. Unlike all other states in the US, incorporated cities in Virginia are totally independent political entities from the counties. Williamsburg is bordered by James City County on the south and west, and by York County on the north and east (with a little bit of wraparound here and there). As for the naming, that goes way back to 1619, when the Virginia Company (then the colony’s proprietor) divided the land of the Virginia Colony into 4 incorporated administrative districts, thus the addition of the name “city” to them. They were Elizabeth Citiie, James Cittie, Charles Cittie, and Henrico Cittie. The capital of the colony, Jamestown, was located in James City (I cant keep using the old English “citiie”, it drives me nuts!). These counties straddled the James River, which was then the “superhighway” of the colony. Since the demise of the Virginia Company, the original administrative design of the area has changed (mostly through subdivisions), but some of the names have remained. By royal decree, the “cities” became “shires” in 1634.
Counties and cities became totally independent of each other back in 1871, in the midst of considerable political upheaval during post-Civil War Reconstruction. There are 39 independent cities in Virginia and 3 independent cities in the US outside of Virginia: Baltimore MD, St. Louis MO, and Carson City NV. Just another example of the peculiarities that have evolved in Virginia since they played host to the little spat between 1861 and 1865. The notion of independent ciies and counties was further entrehched by the political machinations of the Barbour/Martin/Byrd organization between the 1880s and 1950s as they sought to consolidate their power base in the rural areas and fight off the increasing power of urban areas by isolating them politically.
In short… we do things in a different way in Virginia. Go figure.
Rich
As I get older, I find that I just don’t get the same mileage and the parts tend to break down easier. Plus, my wife is absolutely NOT a Road Scholar, and I’d have to drag her along kicking and screaming wherever I go. It’s fun when she kicks, but the screaming… well, never mind 
