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Not something I took notice of before - but being in politics can wear oneself down ...
YOUNGER-OLDER BROTHERS? - former UK prime minister Tony Blair and New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Gadzooks - well, why not stop in for a look at news items outside the headlines, in the arts and sciences; foreign news that generates little notice in the US media and ....well, just plain whimsy.....
ART NOTES - a photography exhibit of Leonard Nimoy is at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams through December 31st.
MUSIC NOTES - this past week the Belgian singer Roger Jouret - better known as Plastic Bertrand - admitted it was not his voice on the 1977 hit single Ça Plane Pour Moi but instead the voice of his producer, who wanted Jouret's face on the record sleeve.
A RECENT CARTOON by Tom Tomorrow about L'affaire Breitbart is quite funny.
MONDAY's CHILD is Calysta the Cat - a kitteh that fled the scene of a car crash and is now being sought by ....... the Oregon state police.
AGRICULTURE NOTES - although not easy to grow in England, sales of blueberries have overtaken those of raspberries and other more traditional UK fruits.
JUSTICE NOTES - mercifully, the conservative Chilean President Sebastian Piñera denied a pardon to people jailed for Pinochet dictatorship-era crimes.
MOTHER-DAUGHTER? - Judge Martha Revel (who presided over the recent Lindsay Lohan probation hearing) and social worker Mrs. Weiss in the film "Precious" (as portrayed by Mariah Carey).
HAIL and FAREWELL to the music man Mitch Miller who has died at the age of 99. A year and-a-half ago, I wrote this profile about him - some highlights: he performed on Orson Welles' infamous "War of the Worlds" radio program, he hired a young Leslie Uggams at a time when few black performers got prime-time slots - and even Pete Seeger was surprised to hear Mitch Miller lead people in a rendition of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" at an anti-Vietnam War rally. I felt that any look at American music in the 20th Century without mentioning Mitch Miller is - by definition - incomplete.
ART NOTES - nearly 60 master prints by Edvard Munch are at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC through October 31st.
POLITICAL NOTES - voters had to decide this week in Kenya whether to approve a new constitution. And it has passed by a large margin. An important aspect: it was supported by President Mwai Kibaki and which ... curtails his powers.
HISTORY NOTES - three time capsules are being created to mark what would have been the 70th birthday of John Lennon - which will be opened in thirty years on the centennial of his birth.
TUESDAY's CHILD is J.D. the Cat - a rescue cat who patrols the streets near Portsmouth, New Hampshire's historic Strawberry Banke district (often sleeping in flower beds). A relatively new book about J.D's exploits is a local best-seller.
BUSINESS NOTES - several good observations recently from that WaPo business writer Steve Pearlstein - the first stating, "It is only in the world of Chamber of Commerce propaganda that businesses exist to create jobs" and another about the state of Virginia's "latest attempt to secede from the United States".
SEPARATED at BIRTH - singer Christina Aguilera and TV star Heidi Montag.
ELECTION NOTES - with general elections in Australia due later this month, the center-right candidate for prime minister Tony Abbott has run into difficulties with woman voters, after socially conservative remarks on abortion, virginity and the like.
ART NOTES - an exhibit of Korean photography entitled Chaotic Harmony is at the Santa Barbara, California Museum of Art through September 19th.
I'M NOT CERTAIN whether to label this a story of perseverance, or madness ... or perhaps some combination-thereof. For years, a boy had regarded former Syracuse University and Denver Broncos running back Floyd Little as his hero. An unlikely choice, as Tom Mackie was neither from Syracuse, nor Colorado - but a white kid from Delaware who watched the Philadelphia Eagles yet admired the African-American Little's style - and was outraged later as an adult that Little was not in the Hall of Fame (despite superior statistics) having played for poor teams in Denver. The two finally met and getting Floyd Little inducted became Mackie's goal obsession: writing Little's biography, endangering his own marriage in the process and even sending DVD's to Hall of Fame voters.
I don't care if you like American football (in particular) or sports (in general). Please read this article and I think you'll agree this is a human-interest story of the first magnitude. Now, the wait is over: as Floyd Little will be inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio this coming Saturday. In thanking Tom Mackie for his efforts, Floyd Little summed it all up: "I was his hero. He became mine."
WEDNESDAY's CHILD is Lea the Cat - a lost Austrian pootie, now reunited with its family after being found nearly 300 miles from home (due to her microchip).
YUK for today - when I was ten years old I recall gagging at this particular Batman episode, where the Penguin is believed to be unstoppable as a mayoral candidate against the incumbent 'Mayor Linseed' and so Batman is drawn in to save the day. And so, from the 3:00 to 3:45 span of this video: Robin's pleas for larger campaign posters are in vain, as Batman is certain that voters ....'are only interested in issues'. (It gets even more trite than that).
DANCE NOTES - ballroom dancing of the 1930's is unifying several Parisian working-class neighborhoods again.
MUSIC NOTES - Swedish musicians have made their mark in just about every popular musical genre around the world - except country. Now, the Stockholm band Southern Skyline hopes to change that.
ART NOTES - an exhibit exploring masculinity in sports entitled Mixed Signals is at the Art Gallery of Calgary, Alberta through September 1st.
BEVERAGE NOTES - the world's oldest giant wine barrel - held in a German hunting mansion - has been refilled for the first time in its 416-year history.
CRIME NOTES - in an analysis of whether anti-gay violence in Vancouver, Canada is due to actual crime levels or simply better reporting: one analyst notes the city's traditionally gay neighborhood is centered "within an area close to huge events that attract rowdy partiers - a recipe for disaster". But throughout Canada, an editorial suggests "the movement out of gay enclaves is a sign of rising social tolerance".
THURSDAY's CHILD is a Texas pootie who was part of a recent Free Fur All adoption campaign for no cost in Austin, Texas.
BOOK NOTES - more than sixty-five years after it was published, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince is being revived on TV, film and in print.
DEBAUCHERY CENTRAL both in an essay and now in an editorial - it was noted that fewer British authors describe sex scenes - perhaps in fear of receiving a literary Bad Sex Award nomination.
FATHER-SON? - two European film stars: Frenchman Jean Gabin (also a war hero) and Englishman Kenneth Branagh.
QUOTE for today: whatever else he's done, Andrew Sullivan was always foursquare for marriage equality before many others were:
I am increasingly confident that when this case eventually gets to the Supreme Court, the logic of equality will win. Once you have conceded that gay people are a class, and that their sexual orientation is integral to their lives and immutable, and that they are not defined by sex acts that can be performed by gays and straights alike, then the ban on marriage equality is left without anything but an amorphous claim to heterosexual supremacy - or a judicially irrelevant appeal to simple custom (already invalid in five states and many countries) - to support it.
FRIDAY's CHILD is Billy Gene the Cat - a Minnesota pootie adopted during a Duluth shelter's 'free black cats' promotion.
......and finally, for a song of the week ............... it may be an overstatement when the San Francisco Chronicle journalist Joel Selvin wrote, "there are two types of black music: black music before Sly and the Family Stone, and black music after Sly and the Family Stone" - but if so, perhaps not by much. Emerging in a pivotal year musically (1967) the band Sly Stone assembled was (a) racially integrated, (b) had instrumentalists of both genders, (c) integrated soul, R&B and funk along with rock and psychedelia and (d) brought social commentary into R&B in a way not seen before. To do any one of those things in 1967 would have been noteworthy .. but all four? ......
Born Sylvester Stewart in 1944, the man later to be known as Sly Stone moved with his family from Texas to California in the 1950's. Under their parents' guidance, He and three of his four siblings recorded a 78-rpm disc "On the Battlefield for my Lord" in 1952. Sly studied music at Vallejo Junior College in the early 1960's and played in bands on the weekend. In addition, he became a DJ at the Bay Area R&B station KSOL but tellingly: added both the Beatles and Stones to his playlists. He parlayed this into a producer's job at Harvest Records, working with performers such as Bobby Freeman ("Do You Want to Dance?"), the Beau Brummels ("Just a Little") and the Great Society (with future Jefferson Airplane singer Grace Slick).
In 1966, organist Sly formed a band called Sly and the Stoners (with Cynthia Robinson on trumpet) at the same time as his guitarist brother Freddie formed one called Freddie and the Stone Souls (with Greg Errico on drums). At the suggestion of saxophonist Jerry Martini (Sly's friend) - the two bands merged to form Sly and the Family Stone in early 1967. The group included two other Stewart Stone siblings: sisters Vaetta leading a back-up vocal quartet, and Rose on piano (after finally agreeing to give up her day job). Critically, they recruited bassist Larry Graham - whose 'slapping' bass lines have become standard in funk music. After a successful regional hit "I Ain't Got Nobody", Clive Davis signed them to his Epic label.
Their first release A Whole New Thing got some good reviews (interestingly, one from Mose Allison) yet sold poorly, and it took urging from Clive Davis for Sly to work on crafting a breakthrough hit single. 1968's Dance to the Music was that hit, reaching #8 and the album of the same name became a success as well. Their next album Life followed in 1968 which did not have any hit singles but did garner more critical applause, as the band's sound was becoming more tight and Sly's songwriting more adventurous - all of which set the stage for an even great recording in 1969.
This band was unlike any that had preceded them. With white musicians Greg Errico and Jerry Martini, the band was integrated racially. In Cynthia Robinson and Rose Stone, there were female instrumentalists, not simply singers. They played in traditionally black venues and at white ones (notably in 1969 at Woodstock). The mix of R&B, soul, pop, Gospel-style singing, rock and San Francisco psychedelia hadn't been heard before, and their colorful clothing (plus Rose's blonde wig) made them a visual sight to behold. Their lyrics emphasized love, anti-racism and understanding - all of which the band amply demonstrated by its own group member composition.
Their magnum opus recording was 1969's Stand - preceded by the late 1968 release of the single Everyday People with the phrase "different strokes for different folks" achieving an iconic status even to this day. The album itself remained in the album charts for over 100 weeks, and its political tone became more edgy. The title track Stand as well as "I Want to Take You Higher", "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey" and Everyday People led to this album being ranked #118 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of all time. Later that year came their triumphant appearance at Woodstock and all seemed well at the dawn of the 1970's with the release of the Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) single which hit #1 on the charts. In fact, events were occurring that led to band's dissolution within a few years.
It began with Sly Stone's extensive heroin habit, which caused him to miss many of the band's concerts. He hired several friends to act as bodyguards, thus driving a wedge between himself and others in the band. And by the 1970's disillusionment with the pace of civil rights reform was beginning to take its toll. Drummer Greg Errico left in 1971 (with a series of drummers holding the chair for the next few years).
The band regrouped and released 1971's There's a Riot Going On which moved further in a moody direction. (It's a) Family Affair was another #1 hit single from the album, and the group's last. Backstage, all was not well. Saxophonist Jerry Martini was threatened with firing if he inquired again about management's handling of finances and bassist Larry Graham left after a backstage brawl in 1972. (Graham has had a successful solo career, beginning with Graham Central Station in the 1970's).
The group released two further albums: Fresh (from 1973) which had a Top 20 single "If You Want Me to Stay" and Small Talk (from 1974) - both of which garnered mixed reviews. More problems arose as (a) Sly was overdubbing the recordings excessively for a band reliant on a fresh sound, (b) his drug habit became overwhelming, (c) the missed concerts started adding up and (d) disco music was starting to cut into the band's appeal. The end came in January, 1975 when the band booked itself at New York's Radio City Music Hall, bearing all the risk. When the seats were only 1/8 occupied: they had to scramble to afford plane fare home - their last concert.
Sly Stone had some modest success as a solo artist throughout the 1970's (and touring with George Clinton) but a 1983 arrest for cocaine led to spiraling personal problems. Freddie Stone carried on for a time before becoming a minister late in the 1970's. Rose Stone became a session musician before becoming the music director at Freddie's church and Greg Errico played in many different bands over the years (David Bowie, Santana, Jerry Garcia Band).
There have been various incarnations of the band since; the Family Stone Band features some of the Stone family members (photo right) and Sly Stone was set to perform this past April at the Coachella Festival - but alas, just like the 1993 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies: Sly was late to the stage and went into a funk shortly thereafter. An enigma wrapped insid .....
The band's legacy, though is solid - besides the induction ceremony noted above: some of their achievements include: their Greatest Hits album was ranked #60 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and the magazine ranked them as #43 in the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Their musical legacy influenced musicians from Miles Davis to George Clinton to Prince, a tribute album entitled Different Strokes by Different Folks saw performers such as John Legend, the Black-Eyed Peas, Steve Tyler and Joss Stone play Family Stone songs, and the band was awarded a R&B Foundation Pioneer Award in 2001.
In addition to the aforementioned Joel Selvin biography: an authorized biography is set for release in 2011 and three years ago, the band's entire back catalog was re-released. Even if Sly Stone never sings another note: this band has left a high-water mark of distinction.
Though I have other favorites from them: at this time of the year, it's hard to surpass Hot Fun in the Summertime (fair-use extract below) which upon first hearing: I mistook for a Beach Boys song (and decades later the Beach Boys must have agreed, for they sang it on this album from 1992). The song was ranked #247 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of all time, and at this link you can listen to it.
End of the spring
and here she comes back
Hi, hi, hi, hi, there!
Them summer days
those summer days
First of the fall
and then she goes back
Bye, bye bye, bye there!
Them summer days
those summer days
Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime
