Wesley Britton's Blog, page 22
February 12, 2018
Book Review: Futura: A Novella by Jordan Phillips
Futura: A Novella
Jordan Phillips
Print Length: 84 pages
Publication Date: January 8, 2018
ISBN: 1974066916
ASIN: B078WWBBDB
https://www.amazon.com/Futura-Novella...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
It seems appropriate the last book I reviewed here was Maxwell Rudolf’s dark and grim The Arkhe Principle: A Post-Apocalyptic Technothriller. It was completely at the opposite end of the sci fi futuristic spectrum from the much lighter and brighter Futura: A Novella by Jordan Phillips. That’s by design. Publicity for Futura claims the 90 or so page read “pushes back on alarmist views of technology and artificial intelligence” in the future.
The story is set in the year 2050 in the city of Paris which has become something of a museum to the past on a planet which has largely forgotten history. All other cities have become much more technological and ultra-modern. Humans have little they need or have to do as the “invisibles” do all their work for them. Some “invisibles” are microscopic chips embedded practically everywhere, others power the ubiquitous robots.
The lead character is an American girl named Ruby who has fallen in Love with Paris and its synthesis of technology, love of nature, and foster ship of the arts. In the past, futurists had projected this sort of world would be “disorienting and depressing,” but in the view of Ruby and presumably Phillips, things are actually quite “liberating” where humans have countless and comfortable choices in their lives.
In many ways, Futura is a pleasant exercise in descriptive world-building as there isn’t much of a story. We see Ruby remembering the past relationship that brought her to Paris, her interactions with two friends, and her internal debate over whether or not she wants to get naturally pregnant. That’s the only conflict in the story with a rather, well, pleasant resolution.
Clearly, author Jordan Phillips wanted to blend her love of Paris, cutting-edge technology, and the arts in a very romantic-flavored project. If you’re an old softie at heart, this story might be a, once again, pleasant diversion from all the other and heavier offerings by countless pessimist pumping out all those dystopian yarns. And if you see the future as one full of bright possibilities, you may well want to spend time with Jordan Phillips.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Feb. 12, 2018 at:
http://1clickurls.com/XwyiHrh
Jordan Phillips
Print Length: 84 pages
Publication Date: January 8, 2018
ISBN: 1974066916
ASIN: B078WWBBDB
https://www.amazon.com/Futura-Novella...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
It seems appropriate the last book I reviewed here was Maxwell Rudolf’s dark and grim The Arkhe Principle: A Post-Apocalyptic Technothriller. It was completely at the opposite end of the sci fi futuristic spectrum from the much lighter and brighter Futura: A Novella by Jordan Phillips. That’s by design. Publicity for Futura claims the 90 or so page read “pushes back on alarmist views of technology and artificial intelligence” in the future.
The story is set in the year 2050 in the city of Paris which has become something of a museum to the past on a planet which has largely forgotten history. All other cities have become much more technological and ultra-modern. Humans have little they need or have to do as the “invisibles” do all their work for them. Some “invisibles” are microscopic chips embedded practically everywhere, others power the ubiquitous robots.
The lead character is an American girl named Ruby who has fallen in Love with Paris and its synthesis of technology, love of nature, and foster ship of the arts. In the past, futurists had projected this sort of world would be “disorienting and depressing,” but in the view of Ruby and presumably Phillips, things are actually quite “liberating” where humans have countless and comfortable choices in their lives.
In many ways, Futura is a pleasant exercise in descriptive world-building as there isn’t much of a story. We see Ruby remembering the past relationship that brought her to Paris, her interactions with two friends, and her internal debate over whether or not she wants to get naturally pregnant. That’s the only conflict in the story with a rather, well, pleasant resolution.
Clearly, author Jordan Phillips wanted to blend her love of Paris, cutting-edge technology, and the arts in a very romantic-flavored project. If you’re an old softie at heart, this story might be a, once again, pleasant diversion from all the other and heavier offerings by countless pessimist pumping out all those dystopian yarns. And if you see the future as one full of bright possibilities, you may well want to spend time with Jordan Phillips.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Feb. 12, 2018 at:
http://1clickurls.com/XwyiHrh
February 11, 2018
Book Review: The Arkhe Principle: A post-apocalyptic technothriller (Volume 1) by Maxwell Rudolf
The Arkhe Principle: A post-apocalyptic technothriller (Volume 1)
Maxwell Rudolf
Print Length: 314 pages
Publication Date: October 3, 2017
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
ISBN: 154686654X
ASIN: B0764Z611D
https://www.amazon.com/Arkhe-Principl...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
One of the many Facebook writer groups I belong to is called “Grim dark Fiction Readers & Writers.” After today, when I think “Grim dark fiction,” I’m going to immediately think Max Rudolf’s The Arkhe Principle. That’s because, beginning with the very first page, readers are going to be buffeted with violence of every kind and variety. Rudolf labels his book “post-apocalyptic”; without question, it’s harder to get more dystopian than The Arkhe Principle.
In the grim and dark future set some 250 years from now, we’re in a time following a wave of biological weapons the despised Americans and their hated contractions unleashed. Now, the king of Britain, King Edward, the Saxons and the Romans, have a very loose alliance as they seek to destroy the Americans’ capital and their worship of their god, Thomas Jefferson. It’s a savage future where you won’t meet many good guys. Mostly killers and victims and victims turned killers.
The main characters we come to know through fragments and often psychedelic flashes include police inspector Rosie Rex, her son John, Dr. Victoria Tesla/Katherine Dueva, who is in one existence a failing student at the ruthless Institute, and Gungnir Odinson, a psychopathic murderer and rapist. Among the many strange circumstances that connect these people is the fact they were accurately described in the manual for the great Arkhe, a pre-times technical manual that no one can decipher. That’s because just starting to read the manual causes great distortions in perception, and saying the word causes reality changing ripples in the world.
Those reality changing ripples continually make The Arkhe Principle a challenging read as Rudolf plays with language to convey those alternate states. Here’s a brief sample:
error. Good evening, Dr. Tesla. As you know, everything may possessPlasstien, including food. Our workers at our core facility are due to solve this conundrum...
Line. Error 999. Victoria? Doctor Tesla?
Error by margin. See manual 35 for assistance. Rerouting Planks. Please stand by.
The screen nulled out and flashed blue three times.
"Unfortunately, this will render all non-neo animals as inedible. Extinction plans are still in process and are predicted to end in 25 years. Violence
is progression towards UNIFICATION ERROR." It sputtered. "DNA Number: 235-ATGC-21912$>_Alpha_Original, your disruptive genetic entanglement is forming
drastic unfortunate side effects..."
The form turned to static.
Other passages are much more linear and straight-forward, but all readers of The Arkhe Principle should be on notice the novel requires close attention and some rereading as you go along to keep track of the shifting realities in a very unusual time and place. It’s the sort of sci-fi that should appeal to readers who, again, like their fiction dark, grim, apocalyptic and challenging.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Feb. 11, 2018 at:
http://1clickurls.com/uXZj7ry
Maxwell Rudolf
Print Length: 314 pages
Publication Date: October 3, 2017
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
ISBN: 154686654X
ASIN: B0764Z611D
https://www.amazon.com/Arkhe-Principl...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
One of the many Facebook writer groups I belong to is called “Grim dark Fiction Readers & Writers.” After today, when I think “Grim dark fiction,” I’m going to immediately think Max Rudolf’s The Arkhe Principle. That’s because, beginning with the very first page, readers are going to be buffeted with violence of every kind and variety. Rudolf labels his book “post-apocalyptic”; without question, it’s harder to get more dystopian than The Arkhe Principle.
In the grim and dark future set some 250 years from now, we’re in a time following a wave of biological weapons the despised Americans and their hated contractions unleashed. Now, the king of Britain, King Edward, the Saxons and the Romans, have a very loose alliance as they seek to destroy the Americans’ capital and their worship of their god, Thomas Jefferson. It’s a savage future where you won’t meet many good guys. Mostly killers and victims and victims turned killers.
The main characters we come to know through fragments and often psychedelic flashes include police inspector Rosie Rex, her son John, Dr. Victoria Tesla/Katherine Dueva, who is in one existence a failing student at the ruthless Institute, and Gungnir Odinson, a psychopathic murderer and rapist. Among the many strange circumstances that connect these people is the fact they were accurately described in the manual for the great Arkhe, a pre-times technical manual that no one can decipher. That’s because just starting to read the manual causes great distortions in perception, and saying the word causes reality changing ripples in the world.
Those reality changing ripples continually make The Arkhe Principle a challenging read as Rudolf plays with language to convey those alternate states. Here’s a brief sample:
error. Good evening, Dr. Tesla. As you know, everything may possessPlasstien, including food. Our workers at our core facility are due to solve this conundrum...
Line. Error 999. Victoria? Doctor Tesla?
Error by margin. See manual 35 for assistance. Rerouting Planks. Please stand by.
The screen nulled out and flashed blue three times.
"Unfortunately, this will render all non-neo animals as inedible. Extinction plans are still in process and are predicted to end in 25 years. Violence
is progression towards UNIFICATION ERROR." It sputtered. "DNA Number: 235-ATGC-21912$>_Alpha_Original, your disruptive genetic entanglement is forming
drastic unfortunate side effects..."
The form turned to static.
Other passages are much more linear and straight-forward, but all readers of The Arkhe Principle should be on notice the novel requires close attention and some rereading as you go along to keep track of the shifting realities in a very unusual time and place. It’s the sort of sci-fi that should appeal to readers who, again, like their fiction dark, grim, apocalyptic and challenging.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Feb. 11, 2018 at:
http://1clickurls.com/uXZj7ry
February 6, 2018
Creating a Multi-Verse, Part 1
Creating a Multi-Verse, Part 1
By Dr. Wesley Britton
This article first appeared at Book Likes.com on Feb. 8, 2018:
http://wesleyabritton.booklikes.com/
Truth be known, book six of the Beta-Earth Chronicles, Return to Alpha, is a book I never intended to write. Truth be known, the same is the story for book five, The Third Earth. So what inspired their creations?
To set the stage for these tales, we got to go back just about twenty years when most of my writing energies were focused on researching and writing my first four non-fiction books, Spy Television (2003), Beyond Bond: Spies in Fiction and Film (2005), Onscreen and Undercover: The Ultimate Book of Movie Espionage (2006), and The Encyclopedia of TV Spies (2009). Along the way, I generated so many articles, essays, reviews, and interviews that my first website,
www.spywise.net
contains enough material for several books as well. I’m still proud of that website and encourage all spy buffs—whether of literary spies, historical spies, or spies on TV or film to check it out.
At the same time, I had a job where I had too many empty hours to burn in my office at Harrisburg Area Community College. I don’t remember exactly when, but one afternoon, I began to daydream and let my mind drift to stories set on an alternate earth. To be honest, I thought I was just entertaining myself. I thought I had no gift for writing fiction. I had no intention of writing down my fantasies.
Still, the Chronicles began when I posed two questions to myself. What, I wondered, would happen to an ordinary man who suddenly finds himself captive on an alternate earth after his captors have blinded him? How could a blind man adapt and survive when he understands nothing he hears, feels, or experiences after losing his sight?
My imagination expanded from this starting point when I started thinking about what the blind alien might go through on this new planet. I wondered what might make him so valuable that scientists and world leaders might want to forever ensure his captivity? It couldn’t be anything he brought with him from our planet. His captors could simply take any object from him. Could he have special knowledge? Perhaps, although I admit I couldn’t think of anything.
Then it struck me—the Plague-With-No-Name, an ancient disease that kills three out of every four babies their first year on Beta-Earth. This might mean my character’s DNA could be of special interest. Might his body contain the cure to a plague that defined a world?
Then the idea came to me to start spinning out a tale that ultimately filled out a 20-year arc over four books. I knew I needed more than the plague to keep keeping my main character, Malcolm Renbourn, off balance. From the disaster at crater Bergarten in book 1 to conflicts with international leaders in books 2, 3, and 4, not to mention conflicts within the polygamous Renbourn tribe throughout, as well as inner turmoils within a man who slowly, very slowly came to accept new customs and ways of being, I threw everything I could think of at Malcolm and his family. After all, I wanted to blunt accusations that a man with so many wives was little more than an elaborate male fantasy. Considering what happens to Malcolm over the years, I suspect many male readers would think very long and very hard before deciding they’d like to trade places with Malcolm Renbourn of Alpha-Earth.
Of course, converting a long, elaborate daydream into stories that would hopefully interest readers took quite a few other levels of creativity to make it happen. I’ll get into that in part two of this blog’s anatomy of the Beta-Earth Chronicles.
Stay tuned—
By Dr. Wesley Britton
This article first appeared at Book Likes.com on Feb. 8, 2018:
http://wesleyabritton.booklikes.com/
Truth be known, book six of the Beta-Earth Chronicles, Return to Alpha, is a book I never intended to write. Truth be known, the same is the story for book five, The Third Earth. So what inspired their creations?
To set the stage for these tales, we got to go back just about twenty years when most of my writing energies were focused on researching and writing my first four non-fiction books, Spy Television (2003), Beyond Bond: Spies in Fiction and Film (2005), Onscreen and Undercover: The Ultimate Book of Movie Espionage (2006), and The Encyclopedia of TV Spies (2009). Along the way, I generated so many articles, essays, reviews, and interviews that my first website,
www.spywise.net
contains enough material for several books as well. I’m still proud of that website and encourage all spy buffs—whether of literary spies, historical spies, or spies on TV or film to check it out.
At the same time, I had a job where I had too many empty hours to burn in my office at Harrisburg Area Community College. I don’t remember exactly when, but one afternoon, I began to daydream and let my mind drift to stories set on an alternate earth. To be honest, I thought I was just entertaining myself. I thought I had no gift for writing fiction. I had no intention of writing down my fantasies.
Still, the Chronicles began when I posed two questions to myself. What, I wondered, would happen to an ordinary man who suddenly finds himself captive on an alternate earth after his captors have blinded him? How could a blind man adapt and survive when he understands nothing he hears, feels, or experiences after losing his sight?
My imagination expanded from this starting point when I started thinking about what the blind alien might go through on this new planet. I wondered what might make him so valuable that scientists and world leaders might want to forever ensure his captivity? It couldn’t be anything he brought with him from our planet. His captors could simply take any object from him. Could he have special knowledge? Perhaps, although I admit I couldn’t think of anything.
Then it struck me—the Plague-With-No-Name, an ancient disease that kills three out of every four babies their first year on Beta-Earth. This might mean my character’s DNA could be of special interest. Might his body contain the cure to a plague that defined a world?
Then the idea came to me to start spinning out a tale that ultimately filled out a 20-year arc over four books. I knew I needed more than the plague to keep keeping my main character, Malcolm Renbourn, off balance. From the disaster at crater Bergarten in book 1 to conflicts with international leaders in books 2, 3, and 4, not to mention conflicts within the polygamous Renbourn tribe throughout, as well as inner turmoils within a man who slowly, very slowly came to accept new customs and ways of being, I threw everything I could think of at Malcolm and his family. After all, I wanted to blunt accusations that a man with so many wives was little more than an elaborate male fantasy. Considering what happens to Malcolm over the years, I suspect many male readers would think very long and very hard before deciding they’d like to trade places with Malcolm Renbourn of Alpha-Earth.
Of course, converting a long, elaborate daydream into stories that would hopefully interest readers took quite a few other levels of creativity to make it happen. I’ll get into that in part two of this blog’s anatomy of the Beta-Earth Chronicles.
Stay tuned—
February 2, 2018
Mad About Mystery: 100 Wonderful Television Mysteries from the Seventies by Donna Marie Nowak
Mad About Mystery: 100 Wonderful Television Mysteries from the Seventies by Donna Marie Nowak
1970s TV detectives return to tell allabout the making of their fabulous and often funky series.
Albany, Ga. – BearManor Media announces the release of Mad About Mystery: 100 Wonderful Television Mysteries from the Seventies by Donna Marie Nowak.
Fabulous and often funky television mystery and detective series were as big a part of the 1970s as feathered hair, leisure suits, lava lamps, and bell bottom jeans. Remember The Rockford Files, Columbo, Charlie’s Angels, and Hart to Hart? Baby boomers rejoice: the histories behind the mysteries are now revealed by the unique and talented players that were part of these productions.
Get your magnifying glass ready for a close look at Peter Falk, James Garner, Angie Dickinson, Stefanie Powers, Diana Muldaur, Lance Kerwin, Tom Sawyer, Peter S. Fischer, Bob Herron, Michael Douglas, Raymond Burr, Telly Savalas, Sharon Farrell, Rock Hudson, Susan St. James, Lynda Carter, Farrah Fawcett Majors, Kate Jackson, Jack Lord, Dan Curtis, Aaron Spelling, and Jaclyn Smith.
Series and tv movies profiled include Duel (1971); Bad Ronald (1974); Crowhaven Farm (1970); Helter Skelter (1976); The House That Would Not Die (1970); The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975); Nero Wolfe (1979); The Night Stalker (1972); Salem’s Lot (1979); Trilogy of Terror (1975); Who is the Black Dahlia? (1975); The Woman Hunter (1972); Cannon(1971-1976); Charlie’s Angels (1976-1981); Columbo (1971-2003); Ellery Queen (1975-1976); Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977-1979); Hart to Hart (1979-1984); Hawaii Five-O (1968-1980); Ironside (1967-1975); Kojak (1973-1978); Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974-1975); Mannix (1967-1975); McCloud (1970-1977); McMillan & Wife (1971-1977); Police Woman (1974-1978); Quincy, M.E. (1976-1983); Rockford Files (1974-1980); Scooby Doo: Where Are You? (1969-1970) (1978); The Streets of San Francisco (1972-1977); VEGA$ (1978-1981); Wonder Woman (1975-1979).
Introduction by Stephanie Powers. Index. Illustrated with dozens of scenes and actor portraits.
About the author: Donna Marie Nowak is the author of Just Joan: A Joan Crawford Appreciation. She is an active member of Mystery Writers of America.
1970s TV detectives return to tell allabout the making of their fabulous and often funky series.
Albany, Ga. – BearManor Media announces the release of Mad About Mystery: 100 Wonderful Television Mysteries from the Seventies by Donna Marie Nowak.
Fabulous and often funky television mystery and detective series were as big a part of the 1970s as feathered hair, leisure suits, lava lamps, and bell bottom jeans. Remember The Rockford Files, Columbo, Charlie’s Angels, and Hart to Hart? Baby boomers rejoice: the histories behind the mysteries are now revealed by the unique and talented players that were part of these productions.
Get your magnifying glass ready for a close look at Peter Falk, James Garner, Angie Dickinson, Stefanie Powers, Diana Muldaur, Lance Kerwin, Tom Sawyer, Peter S. Fischer, Bob Herron, Michael Douglas, Raymond Burr, Telly Savalas, Sharon Farrell, Rock Hudson, Susan St. James, Lynda Carter, Farrah Fawcett Majors, Kate Jackson, Jack Lord, Dan Curtis, Aaron Spelling, and Jaclyn Smith.
Series and tv movies profiled include Duel (1971); Bad Ronald (1974); Crowhaven Farm (1970); Helter Skelter (1976); The House That Would Not Die (1970); The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975); Nero Wolfe (1979); The Night Stalker (1972); Salem’s Lot (1979); Trilogy of Terror (1975); Who is the Black Dahlia? (1975); The Woman Hunter (1972); Cannon(1971-1976); Charlie’s Angels (1976-1981); Columbo (1971-2003); Ellery Queen (1975-1976); Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977-1979); Hart to Hart (1979-1984); Hawaii Five-O (1968-1980); Ironside (1967-1975); Kojak (1973-1978); Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974-1975); Mannix (1967-1975); McCloud (1970-1977); McMillan & Wife (1971-1977); Police Woman (1974-1978); Quincy, M.E. (1976-1983); Rockford Files (1974-1980); Scooby Doo: Where Are You? (1969-1970) (1978); The Streets of San Francisco (1972-1977); VEGA$ (1978-1981); Wonder Woman (1975-1979).
Introduction by Stephanie Powers. Index. Illustrated with dozens of scenes and actor portraits.
About the author: Donna Marie Nowak is the author of Just Joan: A Joan Crawford Appreciation. She is an active member of Mystery Writers of America.
January 31, 2018
They Call Me Mud CD Coming from the son of Muddy Waters, Mud Morganfield on March 9
Blues Singer and Son of Legendary Muddy Waters Steps Out on New Album Recorded in Chicago with All-Star Cast
ANNAPOLIS, MD – Severn Records announces a March 9 release date for They Call Me Mud, the new CD from singer Mud Morganfield, son of the legendary blues icon, Muddy Waters. Produced by Mud Morganfield and Rick Kreher (who also plays guitar on the CD), They Call Me Mud was recorded at Joyride Studios in in Mud’s Chicago hometown. Mud penned 10 of the album’s 12 songs, with two others coming from his illustrious father’s catalog, “Howling Wolf” and “Can’t Get No Grinding.”
A stellar cast of Chicago area musicians adds some authentic, downhome blues touches to the recording, including Billy Flynn on guitar, Studebaker John on harmonica and backing vocals, Sumito Ariyo Ariyoshi on piano, E.G. McDaniel on bass and Melvin “Pookie Stix” Carlisle on drums. Special guests include Billy Branch on harmonica, Mike Wheeler on guitar and Mud’s daughter Lashunda Williams, who joins her dad on a loving duet, ‘Who Loves You,’ where Mud gets to stretch out on some of his R&B grooves. There’s also a horn section featured on several tunes, and Mud, himself, plays bass on three tracks.
“I think it’s the some of the best work I’ve ever done yet,” Mud Morganfield proclaims about the new disc. “I feel that with the variety of material I have on here, people will get a chance to hear the other sides of my music: everything from soul and R&B to jazz and, of course, blues. I got to play bass on three songs, too, and I’m so proud to a have my youngest daughter, Lashunda, sing with me on this album. She’s a natural, too, and regularly sings gospel at home.”
In the album’s liner notes, co-producer Rick Kreher recalls how he found out about Mud and finally got a chance to meet and become friends with the big man. “About a dozen years ago or so, I heard that a son of Muddy Waters was popping up at clubs on the Westside of Chicago and sitting in for a couple of tunes. A few weeks later, a Chicago blues club was having their annual musicians Christmas luncheon and there was this guy who certainly looked like Muddy. As soon as I introduced myself and he began to talk, I knew without a doubt that this was Muddy’s son. No one could have that deep baritone voice and as soon as he gave that little ‘chuckle’ that Muddy always did, I was convinced. Since that first meeting, we have become great friends and have worked together on many musical endeavors. Mud Morganfield has grown into a superstar on the blues circuit. Certainly, there will be comparisons to his dad, but that can be expected and rightly so. Mud comes as close to the Muddy experience as one can get. He will always pay tribute to his dad with the Chicago blues ensemble sound that Muddy created. But, Mud was also brought up musically in the ‘70s and ‘80s when soul, Motown and R&B ruled the world. Mud played bass and performed with bands playing the hits of that era. This, along with his blues pedigree, has influenced Mud’s own songwriting skills, which are constantly evolving.”
They Call Me Mud is Morganfield’s third album for Severn Records. Son of the Seventh Son (2012) was the first recording that brought Mud into the blues limelight. Mud wrote most of the songs on that album, which was nominated for numerous blues awards and received rave reviews around the world. His last album, For Pops (2014), a tribute to his dad that featured harmonica great Kim Wilson, was showcased on National Public Radio and garnered a Blues Music Award nomination for Traditional Album of the Year.
Rick Kreher describes the music on the new disc as “a blues buffet, with something for everyone. We have a new signature song, ‘They Call Me Mud,’ a hard hitting funky blues with Mud growling it on home. Some rockin’ blues with Studebaker John on harp and Mike Wheeler on guitar going toe-to-toe on ‘“Who’s Fooling Who?’ We have a couple of Chicago blues stompers, ‘Walkin’ Cane’ and ‘Rough Around the Edge;’ a great minor blues, ‘48 Days,’ with Billy Flynn channeling the great Jimmy Johnson on guitar; a Stax groove on ‘Oh Yeah;’ and Mike Wheeler again getting funky on ‘24 Hours.’
“Then, to honor his dad once again we have Muddy’s slide guitar blues, ‘Howlin’ Wolf,’ and the roaring shuffle, ‘Can’t Get No Grindin’,’ where everyone takes a solo turn. And finally, a jazzy instrumental, ‘Mud’s Groove,’ featuring the great Billy Branch on harp. This was the kind of song that blues bands would play before the star of the show would appear to get them into the groove. This song is a perfect finale to a CD that showcases Mud’s take on the blues.”
www.severnrecords.com
On Oct. 9, 2014, Wes Britton interviewed Kim Wilson (The Fabulous Thunderbirds) about his work with Mud on the For Pops CD. You can still hear the archived conversation at:
http://tinyurl.com/po7lbx2
ANNAPOLIS, MD – Severn Records announces a March 9 release date for They Call Me Mud, the new CD from singer Mud Morganfield, son of the legendary blues icon, Muddy Waters. Produced by Mud Morganfield and Rick Kreher (who also plays guitar on the CD), They Call Me Mud was recorded at Joyride Studios in in Mud’s Chicago hometown. Mud penned 10 of the album’s 12 songs, with two others coming from his illustrious father’s catalog, “Howling Wolf” and “Can’t Get No Grinding.”
A stellar cast of Chicago area musicians adds some authentic, downhome blues touches to the recording, including Billy Flynn on guitar, Studebaker John on harmonica and backing vocals, Sumito Ariyo Ariyoshi on piano, E.G. McDaniel on bass and Melvin “Pookie Stix” Carlisle on drums. Special guests include Billy Branch on harmonica, Mike Wheeler on guitar and Mud’s daughter Lashunda Williams, who joins her dad on a loving duet, ‘Who Loves You,’ where Mud gets to stretch out on some of his R&B grooves. There’s also a horn section featured on several tunes, and Mud, himself, plays bass on three tracks.
“I think it’s the some of the best work I’ve ever done yet,” Mud Morganfield proclaims about the new disc. “I feel that with the variety of material I have on here, people will get a chance to hear the other sides of my music: everything from soul and R&B to jazz and, of course, blues. I got to play bass on three songs, too, and I’m so proud to a have my youngest daughter, Lashunda, sing with me on this album. She’s a natural, too, and regularly sings gospel at home.”
In the album’s liner notes, co-producer Rick Kreher recalls how he found out about Mud and finally got a chance to meet and become friends with the big man. “About a dozen years ago or so, I heard that a son of Muddy Waters was popping up at clubs on the Westside of Chicago and sitting in for a couple of tunes. A few weeks later, a Chicago blues club was having their annual musicians Christmas luncheon and there was this guy who certainly looked like Muddy. As soon as I introduced myself and he began to talk, I knew without a doubt that this was Muddy’s son. No one could have that deep baritone voice and as soon as he gave that little ‘chuckle’ that Muddy always did, I was convinced. Since that first meeting, we have become great friends and have worked together on many musical endeavors. Mud Morganfield has grown into a superstar on the blues circuit. Certainly, there will be comparisons to his dad, but that can be expected and rightly so. Mud comes as close to the Muddy experience as one can get. He will always pay tribute to his dad with the Chicago blues ensemble sound that Muddy created. But, Mud was also brought up musically in the ‘70s and ‘80s when soul, Motown and R&B ruled the world. Mud played bass and performed with bands playing the hits of that era. This, along with his blues pedigree, has influenced Mud’s own songwriting skills, which are constantly evolving.”
They Call Me Mud is Morganfield’s third album for Severn Records. Son of the Seventh Son (2012) was the first recording that brought Mud into the blues limelight. Mud wrote most of the songs on that album, which was nominated for numerous blues awards and received rave reviews around the world. His last album, For Pops (2014), a tribute to his dad that featured harmonica great Kim Wilson, was showcased on National Public Radio and garnered a Blues Music Award nomination for Traditional Album of the Year.
Rick Kreher describes the music on the new disc as “a blues buffet, with something for everyone. We have a new signature song, ‘They Call Me Mud,’ a hard hitting funky blues with Mud growling it on home. Some rockin’ blues with Studebaker John on harp and Mike Wheeler on guitar going toe-to-toe on ‘“Who’s Fooling Who?’ We have a couple of Chicago blues stompers, ‘Walkin’ Cane’ and ‘Rough Around the Edge;’ a great minor blues, ‘48 Days,’ with Billy Flynn channeling the great Jimmy Johnson on guitar; a Stax groove on ‘Oh Yeah;’ and Mike Wheeler again getting funky on ‘24 Hours.’
“Then, to honor his dad once again we have Muddy’s slide guitar blues, ‘Howlin’ Wolf,’ and the roaring shuffle, ‘Can’t Get No Grindin’,’ where everyone takes a solo turn. And finally, a jazzy instrumental, ‘Mud’s Groove,’ featuring the great Billy Branch on harp. This was the kind of song that blues bands would play before the star of the show would appear to get them into the groove. This song is a perfect finale to a CD that showcases Mud’s take on the blues.”
www.severnrecords.com
On Oct. 9, 2014, Wes Britton interviewed Kim Wilson (The Fabulous Thunderbirds) about his work with Mud on the For Pops CD. You can still hear the archived conversation at:
http://tinyurl.com/po7lbx2
Book Review: Rising Vengeance (The Anarian Chronicles Book 1) by Stephen Trolly
Rising Vengeance (The Anarian Chronicles Book 1)
Stephen Trolly
Format: Kindle Edition
Print Length: 333 pages
ASIN: B01MQ0JZUN
https://www.amazon.in/Rising-Vengeanc...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
“The metallic smell of blood was overwhelming. The
dull crash of steel striking wooden and steel shields and
ringing off of enemy swords was loud enough to all but
drown out other noise. The twanging of bowstrings could
just be heard at the edge of the city as the defending archers
desperately tried to hold what remained of the walls from
an army that more than ten times outnumbered the meager
forces still inside of the city. The gate of the city was broken
and hanging on its hinges, and large portions of the walls
had fallen down, the results of the combined efforts of
Deshika siege engines and sappers, letting Deshik warriors
pour into the city by the thousands. No matter the number
of defenders elsewhere in the city, the Deshika were still
laying siege to the hundred foot tall battlements from both
sides in an attempt to take away the last high ground that
the defenders still had. And louder than anything were the
roars of gigantic beasts, like small, wingless dragons with
hard blue scales and long sharp teeth. “
The above opening sentences of Stephen Trolly’s Rising Vengeance perfectly set the stage for what is to follow, even if the scene is just a prescient dream by the main character, the human despising Taren Garrenin.
Taren is one of 10 a Morschcoda, the ruling council of the Ten Nations of Anaria, head of Drogoda, Lord of the Mordak, and Prince of House Garrenin. Hundreds of years old, he is one of the greatest swordsmen who ever lived. When we don’t see him in battle with the multi-limbed nine-foot tall monsters called the Deshika, we see him sitting with the council of the Morschcoda who meet annually anywhere from a week to two months discussing trade, war, treaties, governance. Because of his power and mental agility, Taren is, in many ways, the glue that binds the northern nations with those from the south, especially in strategizing how to mutually fight the relentless Deshika before many of the 10 nations begin fighting each other.
If the above description sounds like an elaborate and bloody epic of world-building, that’s certainly a large part of the picture. Anaria is a world where armies use normal weapons like swords and arrows, occasional futuristic science fiction devices like the portals that can transport people across long distances, flying dragons bearing riders, and magically-enhanced weapons and powers like special swords and rings and hitting an enemy with hot water geysers.
Trolly is quite vivid painting visual portraits of many of his characters, especially the members of the Morschcoda. What is missing from this canvas is much in the way of personal interaction. For much of the book, no one seems filled with passions, emotions, motivations or desires that might arise from any human relationships. Not until we spend time with Queen Guinira in her short captivity do we really learn much about a character’s inner depths, and that section reads like a turning point as a very different novel follows. From that point forward, the relentless clashes and battles become very personal indeed.
In other words, Trolly gives us a planet he describes with broad strokes and wide sweeps, but we’re not given many memorable characters to invest in or care about. So Rising Vengeance is a multi-faceted chess game that keeps reader interest by taking us deeper and deeper into the machinations, conflicts, and wars taking place all across the wide scope of the 10 nations of Anaria. And the saga has just begun.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Jan. 31, 2018:
http://1clickurls.com/rk6PfUT
Stephen Trolly
Format: Kindle Edition
Print Length: 333 pages
ASIN: B01MQ0JZUN
https://www.amazon.in/Rising-Vengeanc...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
“The metallic smell of blood was overwhelming. The
dull crash of steel striking wooden and steel shields and
ringing off of enemy swords was loud enough to all but
drown out other noise. The twanging of bowstrings could
just be heard at the edge of the city as the defending archers
desperately tried to hold what remained of the walls from
an army that more than ten times outnumbered the meager
forces still inside of the city. The gate of the city was broken
and hanging on its hinges, and large portions of the walls
had fallen down, the results of the combined efforts of
Deshika siege engines and sappers, letting Deshik warriors
pour into the city by the thousands. No matter the number
of defenders elsewhere in the city, the Deshika were still
laying siege to the hundred foot tall battlements from both
sides in an attempt to take away the last high ground that
the defenders still had. And louder than anything were the
roars of gigantic beasts, like small, wingless dragons with
hard blue scales and long sharp teeth. “
The above opening sentences of Stephen Trolly’s Rising Vengeance perfectly set the stage for what is to follow, even if the scene is just a prescient dream by the main character, the human despising Taren Garrenin.
Taren is one of 10 a Morschcoda, the ruling council of the Ten Nations of Anaria, head of Drogoda, Lord of the Mordak, and Prince of House Garrenin. Hundreds of years old, he is one of the greatest swordsmen who ever lived. When we don’t see him in battle with the multi-limbed nine-foot tall monsters called the Deshika, we see him sitting with the council of the Morschcoda who meet annually anywhere from a week to two months discussing trade, war, treaties, governance. Because of his power and mental agility, Taren is, in many ways, the glue that binds the northern nations with those from the south, especially in strategizing how to mutually fight the relentless Deshika before many of the 10 nations begin fighting each other.
If the above description sounds like an elaborate and bloody epic of world-building, that’s certainly a large part of the picture. Anaria is a world where armies use normal weapons like swords and arrows, occasional futuristic science fiction devices like the portals that can transport people across long distances, flying dragons bearing riders, and magically-enhanced weapons and powers like special swords and rings and hitting an enemy with hot water geysers.
Trolly is quite vivid painting visual portraits of many of his characters, especially the members of the Morschcoda. What is missing from this canvas is much in the way of personal interaction. For much of the book, no one seems filled with passions, emotions, motivations or desires that might arise from any human relationships. Not until we spend time with Queen Guinira in her short captivity do we really learn much about a character’s inner depths, and that section reads like a turning point as a very different novel follows. From that point forward, the relentless clashes and battles become very personal indeed.
In other words, Trolly gives us a planet he describes with broad strokes and wide sweeps, but we’re not given many memorable characters to invest in or care about. So Rising Vengeance is a multi-faceted chess game that keeps reader interest by taking us deeper and deeper into the machinations, conflicts, and wars taking place all across the wide scope of the 10 nations of Anaria. And the saga has just begun.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Jan. 31, 2018:
http://1clickurls.com/rk6PfUT
January 30, 2018
Grand Funk Railroad Plays The Mt. Airy Casino, on February 17.
Grand Funk Railroad will be playing the the Mt. Airy Casino’s Gypsies Lounge, on February 17 at 8 PM.
Gypsies Lounge is at 44 Woodland Rd., in Mt. Pocono, PA.
Tickets are $55 and $65.
The ticket buy link is: https://www1.ticketmaster.com/grand-f...
The website is mtairycasino.com.
The venue phone number is 1-877-MTAIRY-1 (1-877-682-4791).
Grand Funk Railroad is available for interviews with the media in advance; please call Anne Leighton at 718-881-8183.
Formed in 1969, Grand Funk was born out of the ashes of Terry Knight & The Pack, another band from Flint, Michigan. Currently the group includes original founding members Don Brewer (vocals and drums, writer and singer of the hit, "We're An American Band") and bassist Mel Schacher. Joining Don and Mel are true "ALL-STARS"-- Max Carl (38 Special, Jack Mack and the Heart Attack, Max Carl and Big Dance), lead guitarist Bruce Kulick (12 years with KISS and credits with Michael Bolton, Meatloaf and Billy Squier), and keyboardist Tim Cashion (Bob Seger and Robert Palmer).
Together, Brewer and Schacher have created a dynamic and multi-talented five piece band that will not only carry on the tradition of Grand Funk hits, but also has the potential to create a new chapter in the legacy of Grand Funk Railroad. With Grand Funk reforming in 2000, this new chapter in the band's biography is being written daily. Both seasoned Grand Funk lovers and contemporary rock fans--discovering the group for the first time on CDs and VH-1-- will be able to see and hear firsthand that Grand Funk Railroad's train is back on track.
“We're Comin' To Your Town, We'll Help You Party It Down,
WE'RE AN AMERICAN BAND!!!"
Gypsies Lounge is at 44 Woodland Rd., in Mt. Pocono, PA.
Tickets are $55 and $65.
The ticket buy link is: https://www1.ticketmaster.com/grand-f...
The website is mtairycasino.com.
The venue phone number is 1-877-MTAIRY-1 (1-877-682-4791).
Grand Funk Railroad is available for interviews with the media in advance; please call Anne Leighton at 718-881-8183.
Formed in 1969, Grand Funk was born out of the ashes of Terry Knight & The Pack, another band from Flint, Michigan. Currently the group includes original founding members Don Brewer (vocals and drums, writer and singer of the hit, "We're An American Band") and bassist Mel Schacher. Joining Don and Mel are true "ALL-STARS"-- Max Carl (38 Special, Jack Mack and the Heart Attack, Max Carl and Big Dance), lead guitarist Bruce Kulick (12 years with KISS and credits with Michael Bolton, Meatloaf and Billy Squier), and keyboardist Tim Cashion (Bob Seger and Robert Palmer).
Together, Brewer and Schacher have created a dynamic and multi-talented five piece band that will not only carry on the tradition of Grand Funk hits, but also has the potential to create a new chapter in the legacy of Grand Funk Railroad. With Grand Funk reforming in 2000, this new chapter in the band's biography is being written daily. Both seasoned Grand Funk lovers and contemporary rock fans--discovering the group for the first time on CDs and VH-1-- will be able to see and hear firsthand that Grand Funk Railroad's train is back on track.
“We're Comin' To Your Town, We'll Help You Party It Down,
WE'RE AN AMERICAN BAND!!!"
January 29, 2018
Book Review: Dead Air: A Glenn Beckert Mystery by Cliff Protzman
Dead Air: A Glenn Beckert Mystery
Cliff Protzman
Publisher: Mill City Press
Published: October 2017
ISBN: 978-1545607145
ASIN: B0765VNM1K
https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Air-Glenn...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
Back in 1978, I heard a radio playing Donna Summer’s disco version of “MacArthur Park.” When it was over, a very jovial DJ announced, “I can’t help it—every time I hear that song, I have an irresistible urge to go to the bathroom!”
I cracked up laughing, knowing that only a fellow DJ would understand that joke. You see, in those days jocks kept 45” singles of very long songs handy by our turntables to put on in case we had to hit the can. The 1968 Richard Harris seven-minute version of “MacArthur Park” was one of our early favorites.
I thought of that moment while reading the very first paragraph of Dead Air when Cliff Protzman painted a scene when a bar audience heard dead air after the 17 minute “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” ended and nothing followed. That song not long enough, narrator and Blue Water security company owner Glenn Beckert mused, to do your business and return? In short order, he learns the jock, Beckert’s high school best friend, was shot in the head while on the air.
Very quickly, Protzman takes us on a roller-coaster of a murder mystery ride that’s fast-paced and constantly engaging. In large part, that’s because the story keeps expanding from an investigation into the potential sale of a radio station to the many brief extra-marital romances the victim and his wife both shared to the possibility the victim was involved with a money laundering scheme. Along the way, “Beck” is warned by A former college teammate, police Lieutenant Paglironi, to back off. A beating in a parking lot also lets “Beck” know powerful forces don’t want specific questions asked.
Into this mix, stir in an old college flame, Irene Schade, who can not only break the encrypted code on the victims laptop that even the police can’t crack, she can arouse Beck’s long dormant romantic interest. This simmering love affair is but one plot device that humanizes Beck, as with his long suffering recovery from his beating. Most fictional heroes don’t go through this sort of lingering pain after a physical assault. I can think of a few exceptions, as in John MacDonald’s Travis McGee.
One aspect of the book well worth discussing is Protzman’s descriptive eye and his ability to share the flavor of the city he so clearly loves, Pittsburgh, Penssylvania. Here’s one passage where he demonstrates just how attentive to his setting he can be:
“HEADING TO MARKET SQUARE, I noticed that the spring sunshine was now penetrating the city skyline, warming the late March air. Revitalization had transformed the Square into a modern inner city oasis. The vegetation in the planters was
several weeks from blooming into a splendor of color. There were small curbside cafés and restaurants encircling the Square, catering to the lunchtime
crowd.
The air was pungent with the conflicting food aromas from the
numerous eateries in the Square.”
Dead Air is a murder mystery that isn’t as dark as some reviewers have implied but it is one of those proverbial page-turners that’s hard to put down. Cliff Protzman is able to tap into a venerable literary style and breathe some fresh air into the formulas. He can keep throwing out the twists and turns without getting off course.
I must admit, the character’s name worried me for a spell. A man named Glen nick-named “Beck” with connections to a radio station might have been a signal the author wanted to appeal to a conservative readership. But I saw no clues or hints this was in Protzman’s creative stew. So that was a red herring perhaps only this reviewer noticed. So, any reader who loves a good mystery should meet a new detective you’ll want to spend more time with.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Jan. 29, 2018:
https://waa.ai/zhOO
Cliff Protzman
Publisher: Mill City Press
Published: October 2017
ISBN: 978-1545607145
ASIN: B0765VNM1K
https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Air-Glenn...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
Back in 1978, I heard a radio playing Donna Summer’s disco version of “MacArthur Park.” When it was over, a very jovial DJ announced, “I can’t help it—every time I hear that song, I have an irresistible urge to go to the bathroom!”
I cracked up laughing, knowing that only a fellow DJ would understand that joke. You see, in those days jocks kept 45” singles of very long songs handy by our turntables to put on in case we had to hit the can. The 1968 Richard Harris seven-minute version of “MacArthur Park” was one of our early favorites.
I thought of that moment while reading the very first paragraph of Dead Air when Cliff Protzman painted a scene when a bar audience heard dead air after the 17 minute “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” ended and nothing followed. That song not long enough, narrator and Blue Water security company owner Glenn Beckert mused, to do your business and return? In short order, he learns the jock, Beckert’s high school best friend, was shot in the head while on the air.
Very quickly, Protzman takes us on a roller-coaster of a murder mystery ride that’s fast-paced and constantly engaging. In large part, that’s because the story keeps expanding from an investigation into the potential sale of a radio station to the many brief extra-marital romances the victim and his wife both shared to the possibility the victim was involved with a money laundering scheme. Along the way, “Beck” is warned by A former college teammate, police Lieutenant Paglironi, to back off. A beating in a parking lot also lets “Beck” know powerful forces don’t want specific questions asked.
Into this mix, stir in an old college flame, Irene Schade, who can not only break the encrypted code on the victims laptop that even the police can’t crack, she can arouse Beck’s long dormant romantic interest. This simmering love affair is but one plot device that humanizes Beck, as with his long suffering recovery from his beating. Most fictional heroes don’t go through this sort of lingering pain after a physical assault. I can think of a few exceptions, as in John MacDonald’s Travis McGee.
One aspect of the book well worth discussing is Protzman’s descriptive eye and his ability to share the flavor of the city he so clearly loves, Pittsburgh, Penssylvania. Here’s one passage where he demonstrates just how attentive to his setting he can be:
“HEADING TO MARKET SQUARE, I noticed that the spring sunshine was now penetrating the city skyline, warming the late March air. Revitalization had transformed the Square into a modern inner city oasis. The vegetation in the planters was
several weeks from blooming into a splendor of color. There were small curbside cafés and restaurants encircling the Square, catering to the lunchtime
crowd.
The air was pungent with the conflicting food aromas from the
numerous eateries in the Square.”
Dead Air is a murder mystery that isn’t as dark as some reviewers have implied but it is one of those proverbial page-turners that’s hard to put down. Cliff Protzman is able to tap into a venerable literary style and breathe some fresh air into the formulas. He can keep throwing out the twists and turns without getting off course.
I must admit, the character’s name worried me for a spell. A man named Glen nick-named “Beck” with connections to a radio station might have been a signal the author wanted to appeal to a conservative readership. But I saw no clues or hints this was in Protzman’s creative stew. So that was a red herring perhaps only this reviewer noticed. So, any reader who loves a good mystery should meet a new detective you’ll want to spend more time with.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Jan. 29, 2018:
https://waa.ai/zhOO
January 28, 2018
Book Review: Girl from the North Country by Conor McPherson, Music and Lyrics by Bob Dylan
Girl from the North Country
Conor McPherson
Music and Lyrics by Bob Dylan
Paperback:112 pages
Publisher: Theatre Communications Group (November 28, 2017)
ISBN-10:1559365625
ISBN-13:978-1559365628
https://www.amazon.com/Girl-North-Cou...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
In so many ways, reviewing the script of a play just as it sits on a printed page seems so disingenuous. To me, the script is a one-dimensional slice of a collaborative project that includes the writer, director, actors, stage-hands etc. etc. who collectively bring the intended experience to life.
In the case of Girl from the North Country, while we get the dialogue from the playwright as well as the song lyrics from Bob Dylan woven throughout the play, we don’t get the music the characters sing or hear as the drama progresses. In short, the script, complete as it may be, can only hint at the flavor of the full production theatregoers might experience.
Girl from the North Country originated as a project proposed by Dylan himself to Irish playwright Mcpherson. It premiered at the Old Vic, London, in July 2017, in a production directed by McPherson. The story is set in a boarding house in Duluth, Minnesota in 1934 during the economic ravages of the Great Depression. As with many of the characters in Bob Dylan songs and reputedly Conor Mcpherson’s previous plays, we see a cast of characters essentially lost and lonely in a setting very reminiscent of Thornton Wilder or Eugene O’Neill.
The core of the cast is the Laine family, centered around Nick Laine who’s the owner of the boarding house where everyone congregates on a snowy Thanksgiving. His wife Elizabeth is losing her mind, their daughter Marianne might or might not be pregnant, and their alcoholic, literary son Jean needs to find some sort of direction.
Roomers and transients include a preacher who’s more interested in selling Bibles than preaching from them, a former boxing champ on his way to Chicago, the town doctor, a widow, and a once prosperous couple with their mentally-stunted son. While the story is set on Thanksgiving, we see no celebratory feast. Instead, the characters mill around and make sandwiches.
All these people are representative types of a specific time and place, making Girl from the North Country a bit of an unusual period piece considering all the songs were composed in the ‘60s or later. Reading reviews of the play as performed in the Old Vic, I gather a musical arranger adapted the songs to fit the styles of the Depression. Another element readers of the text can’t appreciate.
Still, this hybrid of drama and music becomes something of an allegorical tale as all the themes should resonate with anyone from any time and any place. Especially those who once had something and then lost it, whether security, love, or earthly possessions. I look forward to seeing the play, perhaps on stage or on PBS or the like, to fully take in all the characteristics of a unique production. Bear in mind: the Dylan songs provided McPherson inspiration and perhaps some ambiance and atmosphere, but the lyrics contribute mainly oblique commentary on the characters or circumstances. This isn’t a musical where the songs are organic parts of the story nor are they an excuse to trot out a greatest hits retrospective a la Carole King. In fact, we hear very few popular tunes but rather hear bits and pieces from often very obscure Dylan deep-cuts. After all, they’re there to support a story, not be the drama itself.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Jan. 27, 2018:
https://waa.ai/zhjv
Conor McPherson
Music and Lyrics by Bob Dylan
Paperback:112 pages
Publisher: Theatre Communications Group (November 28, 2017)
ISBN-10:1559365625
ISBN-13:978-1559365628
https://www.amazon.com/Girl-North-Cou...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
In so many ways, reviewing the script of a play just as it sits on a printed page seems so disingenuous. To me, the script is a one-dimensional slice of a collaborative project that includes the writer, director, actors, stage-hands etc. etc. who collectively bring the intended experience to life.
In the case of Girl from the North Country, while we get the dialogue from the playwright as well as the song lyrics from Bob Dylan woven throughout the play, we don’t get the music the characters sing or hear as the drama progresses. In short, the script, complete as it may be, can only hint at the flavor of the full production theatregoers might experience.
Girl from the North Country originated as a project proposed by Dylan himself to Irish playwright Mcpherson. It premiered at the Old Vic, London, in July 2017, in a production directed by McPherson. The story is set in a boarding house in Duluth, Minnesota in 1934 during the economic ravages of the Great Depression. As with many of the characters in Bob Dylan songs and reputedly Conor Mcpherson’s previous plays, we see a cast of characters essentially lost and lonely in a setting very reminiscent of Thornton Wilder or Eugene O’Neill.
The core of the cast is the Laine family, centered around Nick Laine who’s the owner of the boarding house where everyone congregates on a snowy Thanksgiving. His wife Elizabeth is losing her mind, their daughter Marianne might or might not be pregnant, and their alcoholic, literary son Jean needs to find some sort of direction.
Roomers and transients include a preacher who’s more interested in selling Bibles than preaching from them, a former boxing champ on his way to Chicago, the town doctor, a widow, and a once prosperous couple with their mentally-stunted son. While the story is set on Thanksgiving, we see no celebratory feast. Instead, the characters mill around and make sandwiches.
All these people are representative types of a specific time and place, making Girl from the North Country a bit of an unusual period piece considering all the songs were composed in the ‘60s or later. Reading reviews of the play as performed in the Old Vic, I gather a musical arranger adapted the songs to fit the styles of the Depression. Another element readers of the text can’t appreciate.
Still, this hybrid of drama and music becomes something of an allegorical tale as all the themes should resonate with anyone from any time and any place. Especially those who once had something and then lost it, whether security, love, or earthly possessions. I look forward to seeing the play, perhaps on stage or on PBS or the like, to fully take in all the characteristics of a unique production. Bear in mind: the Dylan songs provided McPherson inspiration and perhaps some ambiance and atmosphere, but the lyrics contribute mainly oblique commentary on the characters or circumstances. This isn’t a musical where the songs are organic parts of the story nor are they an excuse to trot out a greatest hits retrospective a la Carole King. In fact, we hear very few popular tunes but rather hear bits and pieces from often very obscure Dylan deep-cuts. After all, they’re there to support a story, not be the drama itself.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Jan. 27, 2018:
https://waa.ai/zhjv
January 22, 2018
Girl from the North Country by Conor McPherson, Music and Lyrics by Bob Dylan
Girl from the North Country by Conor McPherson
Music and Lyrics by Bob Dylan
NEW YORK, NY – Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is pleased to announce the publication of Girl from the North Country by Conor McPherson, with music and lyrics by Bob Dylan. In Girl from the North Country, Conor McPherson beautifully weaves the iconic songbook of Bob Dylan into a show full of hope, heartbreak and soul. It premiered at the Old Vic, London, in July 2017, in a production directed by McPherson.
“Bob Dylan’s back catalogue is used to glorious effect in Conor McPherson’s astonishing cross-section of hope and stoic suffering… It is the constant dialogue between the drama and the songs that makes this show exceptional.” —Guardian
Duluth, Minnesota. 1934. A community living on a knife-edge. Lost and lonely people huddle together in the local guesthouse. The owner, Nick, owes more money than he can ever repay, his wife Elizabeth is losing her mind, and their daughter Marianne is carrying a child no one will account for. So when a preacher selling bibles and a boxer looking for a comeback turn up in the middle of the night, things spiral beyond the point of no return…
“Beguiling and soulful and quietly, exquisitely, heartbreaking. A very special piece of theatre.” —Evening Standard
Conor McPherson is an award-winning Irish playwright. His best-known works include The Weir (Royal Court; winner of the 1999 Olivier Award for Best New Play), Dublin Carol (Atlantic Theater Company) and The Seafarer (National Theatre).
Bob Dylan, born in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1941, is one of the most important songwriters of our time. Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016. He released his thirty-ninth studio album, Triplicate, in April 2017, and continues to tour worldwide.
For over 55 years, Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for U.S. theatre, has existed to strengthen, nurture, and promote the professional not-for-profit theatre. TCG’s constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to over 700 member theatres and affiliate organizations and more than 12,000 individuals nationwide. TCG offers its members networking and knowledge-building opportunities through conferences, events, research, and communications; awards grants, approximately $2 million per year, to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level; and through the Global Theater Initiative, TCG's partnership with the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics, serves as the U.S. Center of the International Theatre Institute. TCG is North America’s largest independent publisher of dramatic literature, with 15 Pulitzer Prizes for Best Play on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning American Theatre magazine and ARTSEARCH®, the essential source for a career in the arts. In all of its endeavors, TCG seeks to increase the organizational efficiency of its Member Theatres, cultivate and celebrate the artistic talent and achievements of the field, and promote a larger public understanding of, and appreciation for, the theatre. www.tcg.org.
Girl from the North Country
By Conor McPherson
With music and lyrics by Bob Dylan
120 pages
October 2017
$14.95
Music and Lyrics by Bob Dylan
NEW YORK, NY – Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is pleased to announce the publication of Girl from the North Country by Conor McPherson, with music and lyrics by Bob Dylan. In Girl from the North Country, Conor McPherson beautifully weaves the iconic songbook of Bob Dylan into a show full of hope, heartbreak and soul. It premiered at the Old Vic, London, in July 2017, in a production directed by McPherson.
“Bob Dylan’s back catalogue is used to glorious effect in Conor McPherson’s astonishing cross-section of hope and stoic suffering… It is the constant dialogue between the drama and the songs that makes this show exceptional.” —Guardian
Duluth, Minnesota. 1934. A community living on a knife-edge. Lost and lonely people huddle together in the local guesthouse. The owner, Nick, owes more money than he can ever repay, his wife Elizabeth is losing her mind, and their daughter Marianne is carrying a child no one will account for. So when a preacher selling bibles and a boxer looking for a comeback turn up in the middle of the night, things spiral beyond the point of no return…
“Beguiling and soulful and quietly, exquisitely, heartbreaking. A very special piece of theatre.” —Evening Standard
Conor McPherson is an award-winning Irish playwright. His best-known works include The Weir (Royal Court; winner of the 1999 Olivier Award for Best New Play), Dublin Carol (Atlantic Theater Company) and The Seafarer (National Theatre).
Bob Dylan, born in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1941, is one of the most important songwriters of our time. Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016. He released his thirty-ninth studio album, Triplicate, in April 2017, and continues to tour worldwide.
For over 55 years, Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for U.S. theatre, has existed to strengthen, nurture, and promote the professional not-for-profit theatre. TCG’s constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to over 700 member theatres and affiliate organizations and more than 12,000 individuals nationwide. TCG offers its members networking and knowledge-building opportunities through conferences, events, research, and communications; awards grants, approximately $2 million per year, to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level; and through the Global Theater Initiative, TCG's partnership with the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics, serves as the U.S. Center of the International Theatre Institute. TCG is North America’s largest independent publisher of dramatic literature, with 15 Pulitzer Prizes for Best Play on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning American Theatre magazine and ARTSEARCH®, the essential source for a career in the arts. In all of its endeavors, TCG seeks to increase the organizational efficiency of its Member Theatres, cultivate and celebrate the artistic talent and achievements of the field, and promote a larger public understanding of, and appreciation for, the theatre. www.tcg.org.
Girl from the North Country
By Conor McPherson
With music and lyrics by Bob Dylan
120 pages
October 2017
$14.95
Wesley Britton's Blog
This just came in. My favorite two sentences of all time!
“The Blind Alien is a story with a highly original concept, fascinating characters, and not-too-subtle but truthful allegories. Don’t let the ...more
“The Blind Alien is a story with a highly original concept, fascinating characters, and not-too-subtle but truthful allegories. Don’t let the ...more
- Wesley Britton's profile
- 109 followers
