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Post by Stormrider on Jul 30, 2009 6:08:58 GMT -6
Yes, this was not about the drug...I found on line a couple of months ago that it was really about a friend of John's son, Julian, who was named Lucy. He had drawn and colored a picture of her which sparked the theme and title of this song. This is not the actual online site I had read this on, but it is from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_in_the_Sky_with_Diamonds and Snopes has an actual copy of the picture that inspired the song: www.snopes.com/music/hidden/lucysky.asp The Smothers Brothers show was awesome! I loved that show and wish it had not been taken off the air because it was too risque. I wish they would run some re-runs of it. My husband and I saw the Smothers Brothers live out here in one of the Chicago Suburbs (can't remember where now). They are so funny. They have great timing and delivery of their comedy act. Wow! I just looked them up and came across their official website and I can purchase the tv show seasons on line: www.smothersbrothers.com/
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Post by Stormrider on Jul 30, 2009 16:35:54 GMT -6
Desi and I are heading to New York tonight Thursday, July 30th at 9:30pm Chicago time. We are going to perform for the milatary families of the 6-6 cavalry unit of Fort Drum at the Fairgrounds in Watertown, NY.
We will be back on Monday. Aug. 3rd.
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Aug 1, 2009 3:01:05 GMT -6
Hello, Stormrider [ for when you get back ]( & Everybody ): ~~~
Actually, I've been thinking I should apologize for getting overmuch carried away with my ramblings in those last posts - I seemed to get all over the map, especially when I got into the politics... You've heard of "Highway Hypnosis", right? Well, I think I developed a case of "Cyber-Highway Hypnosis" when I got "locked-in" to the monitor screen, typing away in a mad frenzy of inspiration ( if one could call it that )...
Politics can be part of "Music Appreciation" sometimes, though... I think we have all, at one time or another, gotten emotional over, or have felt deeply moved by, or inspired by: "patriotic" songs, or military anthems, or even protest songs, or songs of "solidarity"...
One thing I had started to notice, after listening so much to "Celtic Music" in recent times, was that there sure seemed to be a lot of patriotic fervor in some of the songs - but it was the kind of patriotic fervor not reserved for "King[Queen] And Country" [ AKA Great Britain AKA United Kingdom AKA England ] but for the "lost" kingdoms and nationhoods of Scotland, Wales and Ireland... And that same fervor is expressed in terms of fierce "national pride" for these respective countries ( in many of these songs )... Famous battles are recounted as though they just happened yesterday - The exploits of "Bonnie Prince Charlie" and William Wallace are recounted, bitter remebrances of oppression and betrayal are recounted --- At first, I always thought: "Well, this is just because this musical tradition is so deeply rooted in the past, and the enthusiasm for intense national pride being expressed as part of a pride of one's culture and heritage, and so forth..." More recently, I have come to realize that: ( sometimes, at any rate ) these kinds of songs are expressing the idea that it is an ongoing struggle ( of the oppressed Welsh, Scots, & Irish ) against the English, and that sometimes these songs express a fervent desire for ( once again ) having complete independence from The Crown, and for having a completely seperate national identity from the English... ( most of Ireland has already finally realized this years ago, but then there's still the sore spot of Northern Ireland, the source of so much bitterness and bloodshed in recent times )
I was watching recently a PBS program called: "In Search Of Myths & Heroes" [ hosted by Michael Wood - this episode concerned the Legend of King Arthur, and Celtic Britain ] Therein, I learned that what was left of the "Britons" ( a Celtic people ) had been been pushed into the farthest reaches of the West [ "Wales" ] when the Anglo-Saxons [ a Germanic people ] had invaded the island... There were some descendants of ancient Britons who were having some sort of re-enacted ceremony [ sort of like a Druidic/lodge-meeting/ camp-out /cook-out, I guess you call it ] where they still complained bitterly of their hated enemies, the Anglo-Saxons, who had taken their land from them and pushed them out...
Naturally, everybody who has Irish or Scots or Welsh heritage ( and who lives in the U.K. ) is probably not going around worrying about "independence" and re-establishing a seperate national cultural identity all the time... Many of these people just go on "preserving" aspects of their cultural heritage, without worrying about changing the political side of things... And, of course, there has been an awful lot of "co-opting" going on for a long time - where someone from an "ethnic minority" like a Welsh/Irish/Scots-person could "rise in the ranks" and become accepted into British society - and I'm sure there has been plenty of intermarriage over time ( and I think about all the Irish people who were "imported" into England to work as maids or footmen or laborers, many of whom might have remained on in England and are now part of the national make-up of people there ) ---
Anyway, I don't think most people in the U.K. are really worried about the situation, or even pay much mind to the situation - but, on the other hand, it sounds like there are still some people who still take the situation very seriously...
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Aug 1, 2009 3:33:39 GMT -6
One quick note more on: "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"...
Perhaps the title of the song was not "secret code" for LSD - but it is still a very remarkable & strange coincidence - especially considering how "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band" seems to have come straight out of the heart of the Beatles' "Psychedelic Period" ...
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Aug 1, 2009 4:03:43 GMT -6
Quoted from Stormrider: The Smothers Brothers show was awesome! I loved that show and wish it had not been taken off the air because it was too risque. I wish they would run some re-runs of it. My husband and I saw the Smothers Brothers live out here in one of the Chicago Suburbs (can't reFriend where now). They are so funny. They have great timing and delivery of their comedy act. Wow! I just looked them up and came across their official website and I can purchase the tv show seasons on line: www.smothersbrothers.com/-------------------------------------------------------------------- I know Tom & Dick were playing out here at the county fair - but that was about twenty years ago already yet ( never did get to see 'em live )-- I was glancing through this Smothers Brothers site, especially going over the archive of all the shows - One thing - I think I found a few of those "crazy names" for Pop groups that I may have seen on that jukebox at that donut shop: =="The Turtles" "Blues Magoos" "Herman's Hermits" "The Byrds" "Paul Revere And The Raiders" === I also saw that my recollections of seeing Donovan and the cast of "Hair" on this venue were correct! However, I was still thinking that Tiny Tim had made some appearances as well - but that must have been after the network replaced Tom & Dick with Glen Campbell... Of course, I will always recall with fondness Mr. Pat Paulsen... ( & his run for the Presidency ) "...On the issue of Gun Control, I say: Let people have as many guns as they want!... ...Just don't give them any bullets..." and: " People ask me whether I am a 'Right Winger' or a 'Left Winger'... Well, I tell them: I'm more just sort of 'Middle of the Bird'..." ===
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Aug 1, 2009 4:34:18 GMT -6
Fredegar said: ROCK ON! MAN! Now you are talking! ;D My dad ( who turned 76 last March ) is a big fan of both The Stones and The Who... ( he also likes Bob Dylan )... Maybe 15 years ago or more, he said he liked "Country Music" - but since then, I think he has drifted more into the realm of "Bluegrass"...
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Aug 1, 2009 4:40:38 GMT -6
Another "Avant-Garde" band that was popular around here back in the late 1970's was "The Tubes" -- I think there "signature song" was that: "So much water under the bridge..." song; [ "...this is not my beautiful wife... this is not my wonderful life... ...same as it ever was... same as it ever was... and the days go by... " ] ...Great song... I'm pretty sure it was theirs - but if it is, that's really the only song I know of theirs...
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Aug 4, 2009 1:29:48 GMT -6
Good Evening, Everyone - ( & Stormrider, I will wager that you came back bushed, from your trip to New York )...
I checked out a stack of CDs fro the library the other day - about 1/3 Jazz, about 2/3 Celtic, plus two Musicals...
I've got Dave Brubeck's most famous album ( "Time Out" ) playing in the background right now... Still some of most favorite Jazz of all time - Deliciously delicate, intricate melodies, and Paul Desmond is my favorite saxophone player ever... For some reason, when I used to listen to some of these same tracks on a CD player through headphones the percussive sound of the drums always seemed to over-ride all the other musical instruments that were playing... ( sort of felt like being inside of an echo- chamber, listening that way )... But then, there were some other albums by Dave Brubeck & his bands, where the drumming may have played a bigger role than on this one... Still, I noticed recently, when I was listening to my cassette tape of "Welsh Harp Music" on my Walkman, it always sounded like I had a mechanical music-box playing inside my head...
I usually don't even "choose" my own music to be played, however - this is almost like something new for me - ( because I am so used to just turning on the radio, tuning to the Classical or Jazz station, and letting the Dee-Jays select the offerings for me - an option that actually has it advantages - especially on a station like KCSM [ the Jazz Station ] because there is often quite a variety of artists and kinds of Jazz being played, plus the announcers also come on the air and fill you in on what artist was doing what on whichever piece, when it was recorded, what record label & so forth, plus, they sometimes offer their comments on the works, and sometimes alos might have anecdotal info to share with you about the biographhies of the artists, or behind the scenes history, etcetera - which helps to "enrich" the listening experience )
One of these days, I'm also going to get my hands on a CD I saw recently, "The Best Of Vince Guiraldi" ( also one of my all-time favorite artists of all time ) -
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Aug 4, 2009 2:12:09 GMT -6
Fredegar wrote:
Musicals were always a big thing for me, too ( although none of my folks were ever in the Theatre works ) - [ although my mom loved the Movies - which included some Musicals, of course - although she often used to comment: "In real life, people just never suddenly burst out singing and dancing in the middle of walking down the street or in the middle of a department store, or whatever..." ]
Anyway, especially when I was much younger, some musicals left deep impressions on me - and I always found the joining of wonderful music with the lyrics ( & in the context of the story-line ) to be a sort of intoxicating combination...
I know my mom took me to see "The Music Man" when I was quite young, and that impressed me deeply... I remember going around humming and singing "76 Trombones" & "There were Bells In The Hills" to myself years later... ( perhaps after I had seen it again, on TV )... We used to watch Musicals on TV as well - "The Flower Drum Song" - "The Pajama Game" - "Carousel" - "An American In Paris"- "West Side Story"...
I did participate in a Summertime production of a Musical once [ "Oliver!" ] but I was not singing a note, or even on stage - I was only manning one of the spotlights, high up in the rafters...
Of course I have my own favorites in the Musical genre: "My Fair Lady" tops the list ( all time fave ) - but I also like "Oliver!" & "Man Of La Mancha" & "Kiss Me Kate" & probably a few others that I can't think of right now...
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Post by Stormrider on Aug 4, 2009 17:49:45 GMT -6
yes, very bushed! But it was a great experience. I will start a new thread for the trip somewhere else on this forum. Right now,I am just scanning thru this thread and I hope to have more to say soon about some of the new comments that have been made, but this caught my eye: Ardo stated:Those aren't CRAZY! Those are completely NORMAL group names! I remember all of those groups fondly since they were big when I was in jr. high and high school. *** And with the number of new posts, I CAN picture you ""locked-in" to the monitor screen, typing away in a mad frenzy of inspiration"! ;D
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Aug 5, 2009 1:29:31 GMT -6
Hello, Stormrider! ---
I realize those names I mentioned ( the bands that appeared on "The Smothers Brothers" show )weren't all that outlandish - It's just that ( going back to that visit to the donut shop in the mid-60's & seeing all those "funny" names on the jukebox [ most of which I had never heard of before ]) - I was thinking maybe those bands might have been included in that group... It's been so long, I can't remember the band names that I saw that time for certain, but for a young boy who could have seven or eight ( most likely ) there sure seemed to be a bunch of "silly" names there... Other likely candidates might be: "The Strawberry Alarm Clock" "The Animals" and wasn't there some group called "The Froogs" ( or something like that? ) I guess the best thing would be for to do a little quick research on Pop Music of the Mid-1960's & see if I recognize any more names of bands which ( to a kid in the mid-60's, who was always a little behind the times, and was surprised to find out all these "unothodox" band names were out there, in existence...
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Aug 5, 2009 1:50:00 GMT -6
Whoops! - Not "The Froogs" at all - I must have trying to think of "The Troggs" ( which must have been a take-off on "troglodytes" ) But you have to admit "The Troggs" is a pretty funny name...
At the time I first saw these names, a name like: "The Monkees" or even like: "The Rolling Stones" would have seemed pretty silly to me...
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Post by Fredeghar Wayfarer on Aug 5, 2009 2:26:36 GMT -6
Hello, Once More, Stormrider ( & Everyone ) ~~~ To my mind, the canon of Beatles works could be divided up into different phases ( with overlaps, throwbacks and foreshadowings, of course! ) --- "The Lads From Liverpool" Phase - Mostly carefree, lively tunes with some lovely love ballads tossed in - "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" "Twist And Shout" "You're Gonna Lose That Girl" "Michelle" - & etc. The "Getting Deeper, More Sophisticated Phase": With songs like "Eleanor Rigby ( All The Lonely People )" "She's Leaving Home" "Fool On The Hill" The "Getting Political Stage" "Revolution" "Little Piggies" "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" The "Getting Mystical Stage" "My Sweet Lord" ( George Harrison's influence, I surmise ) The "Getting Silly & Absurd Stage" "We're So Sorry, Uncle Albert" Followed by The End - the big breakup... I'm sure if there are any real Beatles scholars out there who happen to be reading this right now, they must be tearing their hair out and going: "No, no, no, no, no! He's got it all wrong!" But this is just the way I recall it all being... Sounds about right. Although I believe "My Sweet Lord" was a post-Beatles Harrison song and "Uncle Albert" is a Wings tune. I would also add an Experimental Phase in there somewhere. One of the reasons the Beatles are my favorite band is the way they could write in so many different styles and genres and were always trying different things. The White Album alone has surf rock ("Back in the USSR"), honky-tonk ("Honey Pie"), country western ("Rocky Raccoon"), blues ("Yer Blues"), bizarre studio concoctions ("Revolution #9"), and a lullaby ("Good Night"). Regarding the movies -- I love how hilariously witty and quotable "A Hard Day's Night" and "Help!" are. Many times when musicians are given a movie showcase, the result turns out rather insipid. I'm not saying that the Beatles movies are masterpieces by any means but that absurd British sense of humor really works to their advantage. For instance, the public reaction to the hairstyles that you mentioned: "What would you call that hairstyle you're wearing?" "Arthur." ;D
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Post by Fredeghar Wayfarer on Aug 5, 2009 2:46:30 GMT -6
Musicals were always a big thing for me, too ( although none of my folks were ever in the Theatre works ) - [ although my mom loved the Movies - which included some Musicals, of course - although she often used to comment: "In real life, people just never suddenly burst out singing and dancing in the middle of walking down the street or in the middle of a department store, or whatever..." ] Anyway, especially when I was much younger, some musicals left deep impressions on me - and I always found the joining of wonderful music with the lyrics ( & in the context of the story-line ) to be a sort of intoxicating combination... I know my mom took me to see "The Music Man" when I was quite young, and that impressed me deeply... I remember going around humming and singing "76 Trombones" & "There were Bells In The Hills" to myself years later... ( perhaps after I had seen it again, on TV )... We used to watch Musicals on TV as well - "The Flower Drum Song" - "The Pajama Game" - "Carousel" - "An American In Paris"- "West Side Story"... I did participate in a Summertime production of a Musical once [ "Oliver!" ] but I was not singing a note, or even on stage - I was only manning one of the spotlights, high up in the rafters... Of course I have my own favorites in the Musical genre: "My Fair Lady" tops the list ( all time fave ) - but I also like "Oliver!" & "Man Of La Mancha" & "Kiss Me Kate" & probably a few others that I can't think of right now... Given my taste in music, I'm a big fan of "rock operas" like Rent (my all time favorite musical), Tommy, and Jesus Christ Superstar. But I do enjoy the classics like Guys and Dolls, Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story, and especially Camelot, given my fascination with the King Arthur stories. One of my new favorites is Avenue Q, as I grew up with the Muppets and Sesame Street and appreciate the satire of them. I was in a few musicals in high school and college actually ( Annie, Fiddler, Guys and Dolls, Into the Woods, Singin' in the Rain) but I never got any good parts. Just chorus. I was the understudy to Rapunzel's Prince in Into the Woods but he didn't miss any performances so I didn't get to go on. Still remember all the words to his song, "Agony."
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Post by Stormrider on Aug 5, 2009 6:05:12 GMT -6
Freddie: I'm impressed! I didn't know you had acting and singing in your resumé! Too bad you didn't get to do at least one show as Rapunzel's Prince. I've never heard of Avenue Q or Into the Woods but the rest I've seen from your list and Ardo's list. As a matter of fact, there are some that were made into movies and I was just thinking about checking out Netflix to add some of those kinds of movies to my Queue. I had always wanted to be in the school plays but I hated giving speeches and standing up in front of an audience. I was very shy in high school. I have gotten very brave and bold as I grew up, for example: dressing in Middle Earth clothing and going out to Tolkien conventions and the PJ Movie exhibit. Is that considered growing up? At least brave and bold anyway! Ardo: I am sure there are tons of strange band names throughout the ages. "Smashing Pumpkins" is an odd name and "Marilyn Manson" considering he is a very strange guy--kind of like Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson rolled into one! I remember a group named "The Troggs" but not anything they did off the top of my head. I guess if I hear something from them it would ring a bell. I think "The Froog" may have been a type of dance. Yes, it is! and it is actually spelled "Frug" but pronounced "froog": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fruggood ole Wikipedia has knowledge on ALL things!
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