Not Exactly a Guilty Pleasure

I wouldn't say Jethro Tull is my favorite band, but you wouldn't know it by looking at my CD collection. I'd bet I have more JT than any other band, and it's not embarrassing exactly, but Tull really has no street cred. Most women don't care for them, and of course, they were a joke when punk came along --- and let's not even talk about the whole Metallica thing. I watch their videos and cringe. I remember seeing Ian Anderson interviewed on (I think) David Letterman, and Ian was in his country squire mode, so affected and uncomfortable I thought he'd bite his pipe stem in two.

All that being said, I still enjoy the music, and at the end of the day, that's what really matters. I remember (iffy at best!) that I first saw Jethro Tull on some TV special hosted by Leonard Bernstein. The point of the special was to show adults that the "kids" were listening to classical music and they didn't even know it! The Nice (with pre-ELP Keith Emerson) played "Country Pie" with all sorts of classical riffs thrown in, and Jethro Tull did "Bouree", based on a Bach piece. Ian looked a sight -- wore a long ratty greatcoat, played the flute (!), and he had that (now) iconic one-legged stork pose. How could I resist? Bought "Stand Up", their second album, and loved it. (This was the LP version, with the gatefold sleeve and the little pop-up of the band inside that really did stand up.) Still one of my favorites today.

Went back to their first LP "This Was", which even upon release was a transitional album, as they replaced guitarist Mick Abrahams with their permanent guitarist Martin Barre and left their more blues-based material behind. "This Was" is notable for the inclusion of a Rahsaan Roland Kirk song "Serenade To a Cuckoo", a brilliant move by Ian to not only show the main influence on his flute playing (Rahsaan did that whole huffing-and-puffing-and-singing-through-the-flute thing) but to acknowledge it up front so he couldn't be accused of stealng the style. The LP is spotty (uh oh, drum solo anyone?) but still a favorite. Somebody at the record store accidently spilled patchouli oil on my copy -- bonus!





I saw Tull live in Seattle a couple of times, even caught the '71 tour where they previewed a bunch of the "Aqualung" songs. Bought the "Benefit" LP and played it to death (not so much these days) and of course, their most famous, the "Aqualung" album. As much as I give lip service to the idea that albums are meant to be a full artistic statement, I find that I really do use the old 'skip' button on the CD player. The former Side Two of "Aqualung" I pick and choose the best tracks, but I can still listen to the former "Side One" uninterrupted.

And some time this fall, there's supposed to be a 40th Anniversary remixed version of "Aqualung" coming out. Was it really that long ago...

Next time: Living in the Past!

Back when I was able to get music at cost, I splurged on a few box sets (Miles Davis) -- and these great collections. They're both filled with both classic and obscure soul music, but the kicker is the great packaging. Somebody at Rhino had fun with these! "Beg, Scream & Shout; The Big Ol' Box of 60s Soul" has the CDs housed in a replica of the kind of box you'd use to transport your best 45s to a party. Even the inner sleeves are reproductions of original 45 jackets.

And "Can You Dig It? The '70s Soul Experience" comes with fake 8-track tapes! Genius, and a fitting package for a dynamite collection.

Holy Modal Rounders: Punk, Old-Time Style??

As I've mentioned earlier, the Holy Modal Rounders gave the finger to the folk music Olde Guard. Lyrics weren't sacrosanct, melodies could be appropriated, and enthusiasm was paramount. The HMR said "We ARE the folk, and this is how we do it!" Not really, I'm guessing, with the various drugs involved -- they seem like a band who fell into their approach to the folk tradition.

And to some, their "approach" was more like an attack: reckless abandon lyrically (if they didn't know the words, they'd substitute sometimes random, sometimes bawdy variations -- "Black Eyed Susie" anyone ?!?)

Lots of 'trad. arr.' on their first 2 LPs, or as the liner notes list it, "trad err": ("The Holy Modal Rounders" and...wait for it... "The Holy Modal Rounders 2"). Love "Flop Eared Mule" from HMR2 -- they get the lyrics wrong at one point, but soldier on. Brilliant!

A Summertime Salute to Rounder Records

Summer is the perfect time for bluegrass. I can't think of any other music that sounds better outside (on second thought, just about all of them do.) My first exposure to bluegrass (not counting "The Beverly Hillbillies") was the Tall Timber String Band, featuring Phil and Vivian Williams, still going strong today. I was a radio baby, so I didn't understand why bluegrass on stage sounded so different from the dry and dusty stuff I found on LP. Skip ahead a year or two. I hear The Holy Modal Rounders for the first time. The HMR took old-time standards and added psych-o-delic (and often "blue") lyrics. Then there's Peter Stampfel's voice -- nasal, whiny, and not particularly concerned with the right key. It wasn't until I heard old-timey Uncle Dave Macon that I realized that's where that voice came from. I'll deal with the HMR in depth later; my point here is that years after the HMR debut, Rounder Records (yes, named after the Holy Modal Rounders) released a 'comeback' album called "Alleged in Their Own Mind" in which Peter slandered partner Steven as a speed freak, a liar and a thief -- in their own liner notes!!








The Real Music Box is a set of 4 double CD sets, all of which are available separately as two-fers. My favorites are "Hills of Home" and "Hand-Picked". There is a bonus disc in the box set, featuring a selection of lesser-known (and mostly unavailable on CD) artists. Plus you get the great book that shows the early days of Rounder, selling LPs out of the box at bluegrass shows.

There are several record labels that have managed to sell music based on our trust in the label itself; ECM, for instance, or Windham Hill in the early days. Rounder belongs in that august company, and it's not for nothing that Alison Krauss still records on Rounder even though she's probably received many more lucrative offers.

Son of the Ghost of Firesign, Part Three

So...we mingle with the library folks, clap politely as donors are thanked, then David and Phil spy the wine bar, and they're off. Holy crap, I know nothing about these guys personally -- are they gonna get royally tanked before our program ?!? (No, they don't.) Later as we head out the exit, we're talking about all the local dot.com millionaires who've managed to make way too much money off e-commerce and e-banking and e-business, and I chime in bitterly "Yeah, what a bunch of e-holes!" Phil laughs so hard he practically falls over. "Did you just make that up?" (expressing the time-honored fear of the comic that's he's stolen, unconsciously or not, someone else's material). I assure him that yes, I just thought of it. (Surreal moment #2.)




Ten minutes to showtime. David & Phil are off to the side of the stage, still fine-tuning what they'll perform. Other than Program Guy, myself and Judith, the place is completely empty (there may have been a rogue waiter or two still cleaning up from dinner). Turns out that WLA has a "comedy" program of their own: librarians read their 'learned papers' on 'humorous' topics. Everyone who should be at our program is there instead. Program Guy and I both are prostrate on the stage, asking God to kill us now.

God spares us, people eventually trickle in. Oblivious to the skimpy crowd, D&P are sweet, hilarious and genuinely thought-provoking. Phil uses my joke and points me out to the crowd, afterwards fans line up to have albums signed, Program Guy and I are in a PTSD shell-shocked state, eventually we get to thank David and Phil, and Phil signs my program "You are NOT an e-hole!"



Postscript: the next morning, riding the elevator down with David & Judith and assorted library people (Phil lives close enough that he left after the program), someone turns to me and says "E-holes, huh?" Yes, that evening was all about me.

Phil Austin and David Ossman were professional, gentleman, poets and deeply funny people. I am so glad that I got a chance to be there that night.

PPS: Thank you to my lovely and talented wife Deoborah, who offered editorial assistance for this latest 3-part blog. Thanks, doll, you're the best!

Bride of the Night at Firesign Theatre, Part Two

I explain to Phil A. and David O. what we're hoping for , maybe a fifty minute program along the theme of the library conference, we'll pay a (ridiculously small) fee -- and they agree.

The big night. We have no idea what to expect. David arrives, then Phil. I unofficially become Phil's 'minder', and Programming Guy (PG) squires around David. David & Phil huddle to sketch out what they plan to do (some Firesign material, some of David's poetry, excerpts from Phil's as-yet-to-be published masterwork, bits of plays and reveries they've performed before in similar situations).






There's a dinner a few hours before showtime, and they graciously share the table with my boss & his wife and a few Whatcom County Library staff. David's wife Judith (who manages the sound system) joins us. Phil's wife, the enchanting Oona, remains at home.
Phil and David continue to huddle on and off during dinner, but still take the time to be charming dinner guests.

Since they're performing in that very same space later, Judith stays behind to set up the sound system, so PG & I escort David and Phil around the conference center. We head to a wine reception that's a 'thank-you' to big library donors. It's in a two-story glass-enclosed building, and since the donor panel speakers are on the mezzanine level, as we walk towards the building , our ground-floor view is everyone facing our way, gazing upwards. Says Phil: "I have a bad feeling about this..."

Nights at the Firesign Theatre, Part One of Three

For the uninitiated, well, how can I describe The Firesign Theatre, four or five crazy guys that took a love of old radio shows, dosed it with whatever was being served in the '60s, and alchemically produced radio plays on LPs that grew in depth the more that you listened. I was talking about the TV show "Lost" with someone a while ago, and I claimed that "Lost" was written knowing full well that TV shows were being packaged as DVD sets -- the show was packed with obscure asides and references because they knew that people would watch them many times over. With LPs, Firesign had the same canvas -- a medium that could bear repeated listening.
I'll go more into The Genius That Is Firesign in another post; this one's about the live experience.



1993: FS have reunited for a 'back from the shadows' tour. It's a love-fest. The Paramount is full of fans quoting the material as it's performed, and it's celebratory, not obnoxious.

Cut to 2000. I'm a member of the Washington Library Association, and they've just announced the theme of their conference: R/evolution. The blurbs they provide strike me as familiar -- isn't this what FS talked about in their albums, the future as past, media as a tool of propaganda and commercialism -- wow, wouldn't it be great if they could be part of this? So I e-mailed the program coordinator guy, and he says, "That would be perfect! (he's a fan) -- do you know them?" Umm, no, but I know that one lives on Whidbey, and another lives on Fox Island -- maybe we can at least get those guys to show? So, with no introduction, I decide to get in touch with Phil Austin and David Ossman. Emails, faxes, even letters are sent out. Then one of the most surreal moments of my life: Phil Austin, voice of Nick Danger, calls me at the Ferndale Library. I still get goosebumps thinking about it. Can you even imagine hearing that voice calling you on the phone? It was like I'd become part of one of their routines...