Another Domino falls? Derek and the Dominoes keyboard player, harmony vocalist, and more often than not co-writer Bobby Whitlock passed away at the age of 77.
Duane Allman, Carl Radle, Tom Dowd, Jim Gordon, and now Bobby Whitlock. Everyone who had anything to do with Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs except Eric Clapton is gone.
This makes me sad. Rest in peace, Bobby Whitlock. One of the most soulful voices I’ve ever had the good fortune to hear.
Ozzy Osbourne passed away this morning. Go and give your favorite Black Sabbath records a spin. I’ve already gone through Paranoid and Master of Reality. It occurred to me that the first time I ever heard Children of the Grave was while watching the live broadcast of Live Aid. The anniversary of that was just the other day. Small world.
I was going to post a clip of that song, but Sweet Leaf is just better.
Today is my father’s birthday. The first since he passed away last summer. I’m going to be sad today. I think that’s a given. When I was really little we used to watch reruns of Star Trek together (even though it often gave me nightmares). I’m watching Star Trek right now. Just because.
It’s also tax day in the united states. Your income tax return forms are due today. My father had a tax prep business. Tax day falling on his birthday was a sign somehow. These days my brother is a CPA so tax day is a big deal for him too. In that spirit, allow me to wish all accountants and bookkeepers a Happy Tax Day in honor of my father and my brother and also my mother who used to help with Dad’s tax business. Get through today and then you’re free until January. Sort of. I know you’re never truly finished with tax season. There’s always something more to work on.
I missed the big day. I had too many other things going on to notice it. Boston Red Sox pitchers and catchers reported for Spring Training two days ago. Later that night they signed the biggest free agent on the market, Alex Bregman. We have a few new pitchers this year, including one who looks like an ace in the making, and now we have a power hitting infielder with a couple of World Series rings to bolster the lineup.
Know something? The Red Sox might not suck this year. Are they World Series contenders? Maybe, but probably not. Might they make a run at the American League East title? They might. Given that my beloved Bruins are more or less shitting the bed this year after years of excellence (in the regular season, at least), and the Red Sox have been a gigantic suck-fest for the last few years… a reversal of fortune is timely. I wish my dad were still around to see one more good season. He suffered through so many awful Red Sox teams in his life that it would have been nice to go out with a winning team. Okay, now I am equal parts excited for the new season and sad for the past. Shit.
Anyway, I snuck in a photo before I left the house to go to work this morning so that I could make sure I had something for the photo a day challenge. Here it is… it sucks even more than the Bruins.
Today is the day. The day the American Experiment comes to a pathetic, self inflicted, fascist end.
I’m not going to watch the “inauguration”. Beyond the previous sentence, I plan to ignore it entirely and just try to pretend that it doesn’t happen even though that is just an old jerk being silly and deluding himself. There is an afternoon Bruins game today. It is Martin Luther King day and the B’s always play a day game. You would think that would make me feel a tiny bit better but the Bruins suck right now and MLK’s memory is being spit on by the other events.
Rest in peace, American democracy. 248 years was a good run, I guess. To the rest of the civilized world, I am so sorry.
Frankly I am embarrassed to write this post.
With the possible exception of Dune, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any David Lynch work. Blue Velvet… Eraserhead… Twin Peaks… Nothing. I’m not even sure if I’ve seen Dune or not. I know I’ve seen bits and pieces, but did I ever actually sit down and watch the flick? I might have. I’m probably 66.67% sure that I have, but that’s not 100%, you know?
This is a guy who, purely by reputation, I should be very much familiar with. I mean… Eraserhead, right? How can I not have ever seen Eraserhead? Also, Twin Peaks? Eraserhead was before my time but Twin Peaks came out while I was in my first, first year of college and everyone on Earth was watching it. I mean… I was in music school for crying out loud, how did I not watch Twin Peaks?
Now David Lynch has passed away. It’s too late for me to do anything more than catch up in his memory. Somehow that seems very shitty of me.
As always when a celebrity dies, I have written a post about them that was really all about me. I am a selfish asshole that way.
Rest in Peace, David Lynch.
Five years ago today. I still haven’t really gotten over it. I’m sort of sappy that way in my fanboyness.
Neil Peart: 9/12/52 – 1/7/20
The world of 80’s metal lost Paul Di’Anno a couple of days ago, and now the world of 60’s San Francisco psychedelic rock has lost Phil Lesh.
Again, making it all about me (friggin’ narcisist), I was a Jefferson Airplane fanatic (still am) through high school and beyond. Some of my friends were full blown Dead Heads. I struggled with The Grateful Dead. I liked literally everything I heard, but I couldn’t help but compare it to the Airplane and it always came up short.
A few years ago I decided to finally decide if I liked the band or not. Streaming services were a thing so I took the deep dive. What did I learn?
I learned that I really liked the band. I knew I was going to enjoy the guitar playing. I did not expect to be so impressed with the bass playing. Phil Lesh was fantastic. I mean, he was no Jack Cassady. He was no Jack Bruce. He was great though. Good enough that I wished I had gone down that musical road much earlier than I did.
Rest in peace, Phil Lesh.
Everyone in America, and possibly on Earth, loved Alan Alda as Hawkeye Peirce in M*A*S*H. Seriously. We’re talking national treasure here.
For me, I was like everyone else. Then I saw the movie. One watch was all it took. From that moment on, in my head when I thought of Hawkeye Peirce, I thought of Donald Sutherland. Every time. No exceptions. Alan Alda? Phenomenal as that character. Donald Sutherland? Better. I have spoken.
To our kids, Donald Sutherland will always be the bad guy in The Hunger Games. To me? Hawkeye.
Rest in peace, sax legend David Sanborn.
This will always be my favorite moment from his storied career. His alto sax playing on this song is super human.
Inside the Red Head's Head 