R.J. Stowell's Blog: rjsomeone, page 28

Calif. – 50 Years AgoOn my IHeart Radio show, on FB and h...

Calif. – 50 Years AgoOn my IHeart Radio show, on FB and here on AM, my focus is often the rock music of 50 years ago. My new novel, Calif., reflects that as well and when you are reading it, many of the happenings are indeed 50 years ago to the day. Here’s an excerpt from the novel – to the day…It’s funny, I don’t remember birthdays and one Christmas blends into the next, but I do indeed remember April 10th.
I made it a habit of getting up early, despite getting home so late. It seemed as if the more famous the act, the earlier we got to go home. It was the up and coming artists (and those who’d never make it) that stuck around afterwardand sat on the couch in the back or at the bar, and we’d sweep up around them.
At times, Mr. Chadwick brought me home. I’d acquiesce on foggy nights, there were a lot of those, but when it was clear and the moon was out,when you could see the stars reflecting off the sea, I’d walk slowly back home along the highway.
I’d get up, do my chores and walk into town or down to the Little Sur Diner. I’d have my breakfast and schmooze, then meander back home. I’d watch the new people come and the old people go. It was nice to be a part of a community, transient as it was.
It was on the morning of April 10th, and I honestly wouldn’t have known or cared what date it was, when I walked down the highway to the Little Sur. I got the paper and stuck it under my arm. The Little was a tan masonry building from the 50s with a big flourish of a marquee. There was a counter in back and booths along the window. They made a stellar breakfast and a good cup of coffee.
I ordered a Belgian waffle, coffee, and OJ, then I looked at the paper. Under the fold was the real news: Paul McCartney had called it quits; the Beatles had split. It wouldn’t have been worse news if Paul were really dead, though no one in the diner seemed concerned. The waitress, whose name was Dot, came to the table. “You see this?” I asked.
“No,” she said, “I missed that. More coffee, sweetheart?” I put a hand over my cup.That night at the Cat, a folky girl sang “For No One.” She sang it slow and sad like she wanted to cry. When she finished she said, “Stupid Paul” and sang a song of heartbreak.

Paul Quits Beatles - 50 Years Ago

Paul announced the Beatles' Split on April 10, 1970 with the release of his first solo LP. The newspapers reported the split on the 11th, but it wasn't a headline - it was "under the fold." That was the definitive moment, when it became real, but the progression started much earlier.On 22 August 1968, during the recording session for "Back in the USSR," Ringo Starr walked out of the studio and went home, fed up with McCartney’s criticism of his drumming. The remaining three Beatles finished the track without him and then, realizing that things had got out of hand, sent him postcards asking him to return and calling him the world’s best drummer. He came back to the sessions on 5 September to find his drum kit bedecked with flowers, and his good humor was restored. In an interview when asked if Ringo was the "best drummer" in rock music, Lennon had replied, "He isn't even the best drummer in The Beatles."On 10 January 1969, during the sessions for what would become Let It Be, Harrison and Lennon had a violent argument which is alleged to have descended into physical violence, although Harrison denied it. After lunch, Harrison informed the others that he was leaving the band: "See you round the clubs," was his farewell. He then drove to his home in Esher and wrote the song ‘Wah-Wah’, which would appear on his first solo album. The others contacted him over the next few days and agreed to his terms for returning, which were that they would no longer film in Twickenham Studios but in Apple’s own studio. They reconvened in Apple on 22 January.On 11 August 1969, the Beatles gathered together at Abbey Road to finish overdubbing and mixing "I Want You (She's So Heavy)." This was the last time that all four of them worked in a recording studio together.On 22 August 1969, they gathered together for a photoshoot at Lennon's home, Tittenhurst Park.
This was the last time that the four of them met for the purpose of anything other than a business meeting.On 20 September 1969, the band had a meeting at Apple, in which they signed their new contract with EMI and Allen Klein. It was at this meeting that Lennon told the others that he intended to leave the band. (He had taken the decision a few days earlier, at the Toronto Rock and Roll Festival.) Harrison didn’t actually attend this meeting as he was visiting his mother. It was decided at the meeting that Lennon’s decision would not be announced yet, as it would interfere with the release of upcoming albums.On 3 January 1970, Harrison, McCartney and Starr gathered at Abbey Road to record Harrison’s "I Me Mine." This was the last time they would play together until 1979, when they performed at Eric Clapton's wedding to Harrison’s ex-wife Patti.On 31 March 1970, with discussions about the release schedule of Let It Be and McCartney’s solo album ongoing, Lennon wrote to EMI to say "We have arrived at the conclusion that it would not be in the best interests of this company for [McCartney’s solo album] to be released on that date."Lennon and Harrison then wrote a letter to McCartney to inform him of this. It was supposed to be delivered by courier, but Starr took it upon himself to do it in person:Dear Paul, We thought a lot about yours and the Beatles LPs – and decided it's stupid for Apple to put out two big albums within 7 days of each other (also there's Ringo's and Hey Jude) – so we sent a letter to EMI telling them to hold your release date til June 4th (there's a big Apple-Capitol convention in Hawaii then). We thought you'd come round when you realized that the Beatles album was coming out on April 24th. We're sorry it turned out like this – it's nothing personal. Love John & George. Hare Krishna. A Mantra a Day Keeps MAYA! Away.
McCartney recalled: "So Ringo arrived at the house, and I must say I gave him a bit of verbal. I said: 'You guys are just messing me around.' He said: 'No, well, on behalf of the board and on behalf of The Beatles and so and so, we think you should do this,' etc. And I was just fed up with that. It was the only time I ever told anyone to GET OUT! It was fairly hostile. But things had got like that by this time. It hadn't actually come to blows, but it was near enough."
On 10 April 1970, McCartney issued advance copies of his solo album McCartney with a self-questionnaire in which he announced that he had no plans to make more music with the Beatles, and that he didn’t think he’d ever write songs with Lennon again:Q: Are you planning a new album or single with the Beatles?
A: No.Q: Is this album a rest away from the Beatles or the start of a solo career?
A: Time will tell. Being a solo album means it's "the start of a solo career..." and not being done with the Beatles means it's just a rest. So it's both.Q: Is your break with the Beatles temporary or permanent, due to personal differences or musical ones?
A: Personal differences, business differences, musical differences, but most of all because I have a better time with my family. Temporary or permanent? I don't really know.Q: Do you foresee a time when Lennon-McCartney becomes an active songwriting partnership again?
A: No.This was announced the next day as "PAUL QUITS THE BEATLES."

A 70s Road Trip - A Cassette Journey

1973. Made myself a cassette and took the keys to my old man’s Barracuda. Let’s me drive it – sometimes. Loves that car. I opened all the windows and put in the tape; “Sittin in a park in Paris, France…” I pulled out of the driveway in Studio City, turned right on Ventura by the Bla-Bla Café. “There were lots of pretty people there, reading Rolling Stone, reading Vogue.” Headed down passed Kirkwood Bowl into Hollywood. Guy in a Super Bee wants to race me at the light by the Market Basket. I give him a nod and when the light turned green, he was gone. I was just cruisin’, listening to Joni. “Ah, but California.”
I’m gonna see those folks I dig, I’ll even kiss a Sunset pig, California, I’m coming home.
I turned up Mulholland and punched it. Opened it up. Zeppelin, “Goin’ to California.” “Someone told me there's a girl out there with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair.” Turn it up. “The mountains and the canyons started to tremble and shake as the children of the sun began to wake.” Then “Radar Love.” The radio, you see, was playin’ some forgotten song. Brenda Lee coming in strong. I pulled off the road. City in the smog. The haze filling up the big bowl of the Valley, the San Berdoo’s purple peaks reaching up over the char; the city on the other side.
Made a left on Laurel. Mamas and Papas. “Young girls are coming to the canyon.” It was 12:30. Stopped at the Canyon Mart and got a roast beef and a Bubble Up. Talked to a girl sitting on the wall eating Granny Goose potato chips. She said, “Nice car.” Her friends came out. She hopped off the wall and said, “See ya.”
I drove down Sunset through the Strip and all the Billboards. There was a cool one for Close to the Edge and one for Ziggy Stardust. The song on the cassette was “L.A. Woman.” I was switching the letters of his name in my mind like a Scramble – J I M M O R R I S O N – Mr. Mojo Risin’. Wow. “Well, I just got into town about an hour ago.” Past the Whiskey and the Rainbow and the Roxy, through Beverly Hills and the big pink hotel and on past Bel Air. The vibe got chill as the traffic eased. I spaced out to Steely Dan.
I turned down the volume to hear the song of the motor purring along the curvy boulevard. That was a California song in itself. I drove down Sunset to the Sea. Turned up the volume. The Beach Boys. “The Warmth of the Sun.” There was a spot on PCH at Leo Carrillo. I got out and put my toes in the sand.

Listening Booth - LPs for Isolation

Over the years, particularly in the digital age, we've lost that sense of active listening. There's less time these days to sit there and meditate on the entirety of an LP. As magnificent as it is, we’ve parted out Dark Side of the Moon, as if we were following the instructions from "One of These Days;" "One of these days I’m going to cut you into little pieces."
Suddenly, all of us have the time again, and rather than tearing our hair out, here are some albums that approach the brilliance of DSOTM, albums well worth devoting 40 minutes of uninterrupted time.

 Moody Blues, Days of Future Passed. Commissioned to record a stereophonic rock 'n' roll version of Dvorak's New World Symphony for the new "stereo" label, Deram, the Moodies were given a top-notch producer (Tony Clarke), a full orchestra, and conductor/arranger Peter Knight.  Though initial sessions went well, there was little heart in the project.  With an orchestra on hand, the band were able to convince Clarke and Knight to record the group's own songs.  Though Decca was initially appalled that the band would be brash enough to hijack the project, they let it go through. The result was Days of Future Passed. It was an album overshadowed by the heavy hitters that year, from Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour to The Velvet Underground and Nico, Days stands up to this day.
Radiohead, Kid A. Those who know me know that I don’t have much regard for the 90s musically. Not that there weren’t great LPs, just not many of them. So when Kid A appeared in 2000, I was thrilled, if not overwhelmed. Was it as good at Dark Side? That part was a little frightening. Of all things, it's Neil Young, particularly with After the Gold Rush, who is Thom York's biggest influence. One of Neil's "tricks," like Bowie's, is to start afresh with each LP – which for Neil has led to a lot of subpar recordings, but that’s what York did with Kid-A, abandoning the guitar-oriented splendor of the first LPs for PF-like synths. Kid A is that good: it deserves its place alongside Dark Side of the Moon.


While King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King, while still obscure to most, is the monumental LP in the band’s 50-year canon, I tend to listen to In the Wake of Poseidon a bit more. The opening, "Peace - A Beginning," has Greg Lake in an enigmatic cavern, chanting an ethereal pastiche. "Pictures of a City" crashes in like a thinking man's metal with medieval nodes and a jazz structure far more sophisticated than anything on Court. The piece does indeed bear strong relation to "21st Century Schizoid Man," but a clone? No way. Nothing as complex and demanding as this could be seen as part of a formula. "Cadence & Cascade" as "I Talk to the Wind 2.0?" Again, nearly, yet more sophisticated. This is an adult ballad, a summery-yet-melancholy love song. Beautiful. The title track has echoes of "Epitaph" but its lyrical cleverness lends it credibility. The rest of the album holds its own, moves on, exemplifies: "Peace (A Theme)" shows just how good Fripp was as an acoustic minstrel; the hilarious and jazzy "Cat Food" is "Moonchild" plus; and "Peace (An End)" wraps it up in emotive style. "Peace is the end, like death of the war" - lump in throat time. Advice: listen to Wake as if Court didn't exist.

Buy This Book!

Calif. is the new novel by R.J. Stowell and the standalone sequel to Miles From Nowhere. Proceeds from the novels go directly to the support of AM so that we can continue to bring you the finest in rock lit and history. So, like, you know, please buy this book.

You can order Calif. from Amazon and download it for your Kindle - or you can read it for free on Kindle Unlimited. Kindle Unlimited is a great deal with 1000s of titles like the Harry Potter series, and your first month is free. Here's the link.

Calif. is Out Now! - The New Novel by R.J.Stowell

The new novel from R.J. Stowell is out now. If you enjoyed Miles From Nowhere, you will love Calif., Miles further adventures, this time not to Woodstock but into reality.

Calif. is available on Amazon by clicking here. You can get a Kindle version as well or read it for free on Kindle Unlimited.

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Seclusion - Day 14 - The Blues

For me, blues is live music; the stuff of Beale Street and smoky concert venues. Like most of us, though, the blues at home is summed up with Zeppelin, or maybe, more jovially, ZZ Top.When we look toward the deeper vinyl tracks, like jazz, the blues is often far less accessible. So, what are those blues LPs/tracks that get overlooked but ought to grace your turntable? Here are a few to get you started:Robyn Trower, Twice Removed From Yesterday. When Trower left Procol Harum in 1971, one wouldn’t have expected that his debut solo would capture the blues in such a definitive way. This was the band most famous for "Whiter Shade of Pale;" not particularly bluesy. Each track here is keystone blues with several standouts like "Daydream" and "I Can’t Stand It." And essential blues has a highwater mark with Trower's rendition of B.B. King’s "Rock Me, Baby."
Certainly a powerhouse LP, but far from being a household name is Cream’s Disraeli Gears. You know the songs, and accessible as "Sunshine of Your Love" may be, this is where blues turned psychedelic and then turned heavy metal.An album cover that terrified me as much as King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King, was Boogie With the Canned Heat. It’s pure rock blues, but the emphasis is on the vocals, instead, with the incomparable "On the Road Again." Their next LP would have a blues favorite, Goin’ Up the Country” – that’s hippie blues right there.Finally, one can't say blues without saying Stevie Ray Vaughn. Just go pick one. Check out "Texas Flood," you’ll be making those silly facial expressions and contorting your body all bluesy just because you can’t help it.

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