Shocking!

I've always loved listening to Sam Cooke, he had that butter smooth delivery that could make even the worst schmaltz tolerable. I love his album "Night Moves" despite the fact there really isn't a really good song on the whole thing. His pop stuff was always catchy and hummable. Songs like "Another Saturday Night," " Twisting the Night Away," and "Cupid," are oldies mainstays.

As good as his pop stuff was, his gospel was even better. That's what he did originally, and it's what allowed him to transition over to the pop world. There is a lot of depth and feeling in his singing, and it really rings true in his praise songs.

So imagine how shocked I was when I read about how he died. I always knew he died young, but I didn't know how. I had a vague idea that he died in a plane crash, it turns out I was probably confusing him with Otis Redding...

It turns out that like so many other popular musicians, Sam Cooke had the bad two-fer of liking to drink and not being able to keep "it" in his pants. He was a well known womanizer and had children by three different flames of his. The night he died, he drank a lot and got obsessed with a woman.

He and a woman that he interested in had been sitting and drinking for most of the night in a night club. They decided to leave together and go someplace more private. He tore out of there in his Ferrari (one HELL of a sweet ride BTW) and went to a cheap hotel in south central LA.

By that time, he had lost whatever mental faculties he had. He got violent and stripped her down to her underwear. She was afraid of being raped, so while he was going to the bathroom, she took off in her underwear.

When Sam came out, he was furious that she had left. He threw a jacket on (he wasn't wearing a shirt) and drove back to the office of the motel. For some reason he thought she had gone there. He stormed in and started screaming at the lady there, demanding what had happened to "his" woman. He grabbed her, shook her, and started to get rather violent. She reached behind the desk, pulled out her .22 pistol and shot him a couple of times. One bullet hit his heart and it was all over.

The police had gotten a call from the woman who had run away saying that she had been kidnapped and was now in a phone booth in her underwear. Within a couple of minutes, they got a call about a shooting in a nearby motel...

I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. Often times the ones who proclaim their holiness the loudest are the most corrupt. On the other hand, it's always easier to see the problems in other people... RIP Sam, hope you're doing better now...

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Sam Cooke

The more things change...

My friend Tami breathlessly told me about this amazing new band that she has been listening to. The band is called the Duchess and the Duke and their from Seattle (that's where she's from to, what a coincidence). By her description, they were a totally new combo of music, they reminded her of some other bands, but nothing else sounded like them. Give a listen to "Reservoir Park" below.



It's a good tune. I really like it quite a bit. But I know why I like it so much. They sound an awful lot like the Beau Brummels. I think their first album came out in '62 and they had a few hits, Their single below (Just a Little) sounds similar in my opinion...



So I guess there really isn't anything new under the sun. Art least this sound is a good one. I'm a sucker for anything involving a hollow body guitar...

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duchess and the duke, beau brummels

Merle Haggard

I went with my mother to a local resturant for dinner tonight. They had a couple of guys playing guitar and singing. It was nice to hear live music, but I remarked to my mother that all of the songs seemed to be downers of one sort or other. "Red Rubber Ball," "As Tears Go by," and "Bye Bye Love" kind of set the mood. He then said, "We're going to play an old Merle Haggard song for you..."

I only knew one song by Merle, and it was hardly a toe tapper. I used to hum it during my darker days in retail, it's called "Life in Prison." The chorus goes like this:

I'll do life in prison
for the wrongs I've done.
And I'll pray every night
for death to come.
My life will be
a burden
every day.
If I die,
my pain might go away.



Luckily, the guy didn't sing that one, but he did do one about being destroyed by a girl leaving. I dunno, maybe he was working his way up to "Life in Prison.."

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merle haggard, prison songs

Gary Glitter is more than insane...

Remember Gary Glitter? He's the one that did the song "Rock and Roll" better known as the one that goes, "unh eh uhnh eh HEY! de duh de duh.." More recently, he become infamous for his attraction to children. He was busted a while back when he sent his computer to e repaired and left all of his kiddie porn on the hard drive. After getting out of jail, he high-tailed it to Cuba and then kind of dropped out of sight. Until recently that is, I just read a news article that says he has been released from jail in Vietnam. He was busted for doing "Unnatural acts" with 11 year old girls. After serving several years, they are now going to deport him. But to where? He claims to not to want to go home to Britain (I can't imagine why) and he can't stay in Vietnam. Honestly, I have no idea who would accept him now...

He has some ideas though. He's thinking about going to Hong Kong or the Philippines and... get this, start his music career again. What, exactly, is he smoking? He was never that much of a talent to begin with, but now not only is he totally out of touch with modern styles of music, he's a well known pedophile. Yeah, I can see his album doing real well...

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music, gary glitter, pedophile

You want dark?

On the way over to dad's place I heard "Angel of Death" by Slayer on the radio. It may be the hardest, heaviest music I have ever heard on the air. I had to change the station because I couldn't really take any more of it. It wasn't the style, it just unnerved me... Maybe that's why I didn't think the Batman film was all that, I had already been creeped out by pros...

German Sopranos can be Evil

Check out this aria from Mozart's "The Magic Flute." As mom said, they're lucky she didn't kill that girl.. This is the infamous Queen of the Night Aria. The Queen of the Night is supposed to be beautiful and terrifying, I think Diana Damrau nailed it... Wait through the talking until you get to the singing, it's worth it!



Isaac

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I have forgiven Jesus

It's not often you hear any sort of Christian sentiments from a gay person. Usually, they are so alienated and treated like pariahs by Christians they say, "The hell with it," and never look back. This song is done by Morrissey, called "The Moz" by his fans, and is an interesting look at how a gay man can get on with his life.

Yes, strictly speaking, the title is blasphemous. But this is what I like about it, he may have a legitimate beef. When he asks, "Why did you give me so much desire/When there is nowhere to offload this desire?" I find myself scratching my head and saying, "Yeah, why did He do that?" I find this to be a rare combination of Christianity and homosexuality, and neither are shown in a really bad light. Part of me is happy to see that he is still talking to The Man at all...

The Moz has always had a certain way of delivering lyrics, love him or hate him, you know exactly what he means. The video isn't much (see below), but he does do a good job of subtly reinforcing the gay angle. He also looks disturbingly good as a vicar.



For those of you without broadband, here's the lyrics:

I was a good kid
I wouldn't do you no harm
I was a nice kid
With a nice paper-round
Forgive me any pain
I may have brung to you
With God's help I know
I'll always be near to you
But Jesus hurt me
When he deserted me, but

I have forgiven Jesus
For all the desire
He placed in me when there's nothing I can do
With this desire

I was a good kid
Through hail and snow I'd go
Just to moon you
I carried my heart in my hand
Do you understand?
Do you understand?
But Jesus hurt me
When he deserted me, but

I have forgiven Jesus
For all of the love
He placed in me
When there's no-one I can turn to with this love

Monday - humiliation
Tuesday - suffocation
Wednesday - condescension
Thursday - is pathetic
By Friday life has killed me
By Friday life has killed me

(Oh pretty one, Oh pretty one)

Why did you give me
So much desire?
When there is nowhere I can go
To offload this desire
And why did you give me
So much love
In a loveless world
When there's no one I can turn to
To unlock all this love
And why did you stick me in
Self-deprecating bones and skin
Jesus - do you hate me?
Why did you stick me in
Self-deprecating bones and skin
Do you hate me? do you hate me?
Do you hate me? do you hate me?
Do you hate me?

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music, religious freedom, Christianity, gay, homosexual, religion, morissey, the moz

My latest find on youtube

This is amazing. I've started to do some free association on youtube, just to see what I could find. A search under Dick Cavett turned up something really interesting. I do love ABBA. Don't give me that look, you love them too. They are one of the purest forms of pop ever made, and they are one of the best examples of that genre. I think that a lot of the appeal of the group has to do with how the two women harmonized. Their voices combined in a magical way. The only other time I have heard something similar is with the two women in the B-52s. There's no doubt that both of these groups would not be nearly as popular without the sounds of their harmonizing women.

We all know all of the songs by ABBA, but here's something a little different, ABBA doing Americana, and doing it pretty well. Yes, they are doing "Don't Fence Me in." I had no idea that Cole Porter wrote that, who knew? Enjoy...

My new blog...

I've come to realize how silly it is for me to post things about "The Magic Flute" and lovely sitar music in a blog entitled "Blogging in Yemen." So I've started this one for all of my music thoughts. I'm in the process of falling in love with trolling youtube, so expect some interesting content. Let me know if there's anything you want me to look into, any music that I should know about. I love music!