In 1697, William Congreve wrote a tragic play called "The Mourning Bride" and one of the lines was, "music hath charms to soothe the savage breast". For some reason people started quoting "savage beast", which literally means music has the power to reach the heart and calm us. Of course, this was the late 17th century and the world had not yet been put upon by Death Metal, which has the power to shake you to your final nerve.
Allow me to tell you a bit about me. I was in my very first Rock band in 1969. We were called Size 10, simply because we all wore size 10 shoes. I continued playing in bands until I was 42 years old, when I decided to get married and have a family. Perhaps the best band I was in was called the Rich Hunter Band. Everyone in the band was seasoned professionals with at least 20 years under their belt. Below is an example. It includes Ted Benson on keys, Tim Lathan on guitar, Jay Arnold on bass, Mike "Sticky" McKnight on drums, and yours truly on vocals.
I am a bit of a music snob. I love listening to Classical music, I am a huge fan of '60s and early '70s music, and I believe The Beatles
were the best band there ever was for one simple reason: they never stopped evolving. Unlike most bands, they didn't stand on their laurels. Each album became an excuse to try new things. The difference between "Please Please Me" and "Abbey Road" is palatable.
I loved the video of your band! It reminds me of the vibe Chicago had. I was a music and theater major in college. I played the violin and sang in the choir, but I listened to just about anything I could get my hands on, from Mozart to Barry Manilow to Metallica and Nine Inch Nails. My two favorite bands of all time are Duran Duran and the Jonas Brothers, not just because of the evolution of the music, but simply because it makes me smile. Thank you for sharing!
Covid-19 US-0 Covid-19 has shown the true colors of many Americans, particularly those of - shudder - Donald Trump. He could care less about the Pandemic, although he give it the old college try in the beginning, but, he wasn't that good in college either. That is correct, this " stable genius " saw it coming in January when he was briefed about it, but he ignored all the warnings and even two months later he was reticent to suggest people quarantine. And it later became a suggestion and he would leave it up to the governors instead of mandated quarantine for all but necessary workers. By leaving it to the governors, we saw Blue states cracking down, while Red States continued to ignore the warnings as if Conservatives were somehow too touch for the virus. Of course, later on, Trump acted as if he was America's savior, but in reality, he was the worst person to handle a large country during a pandemic. As mentioned in John Bolton's book, "In the...
Racism and Marijuana By Robert Rouse Early on in his career, Harry J. Anslinger went on the record basically saying cannabis use was no big deal. He called the idea that it made people mad or violent an “ absurd fallacy .” But this would change because his racist leanings. In 1930, Anslinger was appointed the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, the agency that led directly to today's DEA ( Drug Enforcement Agency ). What changed Anslinger's outlook was when he discovered several Black jazz musicians were dating White women. This infuriated Anslinger and he used the fact that Jazz musicians were commonly using the same product he had previously claimed was no big deal. While it was true it was a common staple among some of the Jazz greats, some like Cab Calloway ( right ) called it a song writing assistant and in 1931, wrote the song, " Have You Ever Met That Funny Reefer Man " which was eventually shortened to just " The Reefer Man "....
I loved the video of your band! It reminds me of the vibe Chicago had. I was a music and theater major in college. I played the violin and sang in the choir, but I listened to just about anything I could get my hands on, from Mozart to Barry Manilow to Metallica and Nine Inch Nails. My two favorite bands of all time are Duran Duran and the Jonas Brothers, not just because of the evolution of the music, but simply because it makes me smile. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
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