Author: DOuG pRATt

Unsigned, unsealed, and undelivered

Beatles
Photo by Albert Marrion, 17 Dec 1961

I sort of assume that everybody with more than a passing interest in the Beatles has heard the complete recording session held at Decca on New Year’s Day, 1962, but maybe you haven’t. It’s a day that lives in infamy, of course, because they didn’t get signed to a record contract. But the fact is, at that point they still sounded — and looked — like amateurs. Brian Epstein got them into suits in March, but they still needed the ear of somebody who could hear their potential. Listen and decide for yourself. Would you have heard the greatness that was missed by Decca?

Wise words

Today’s Boston Globe has a short editorial called “Aging Boomers: Hit the pavement slowly.” This sentence says it all, for guys like me, because I’ve been there and done that:

Training all-out to overcompensate for fading physical gifts often leads to injuries.

After decades of seeming to be immune to running injuries, the last few years have taught me that exercising smarter, not running more, is what I need to do.

On the Colbert of the Rolling Stone

Since the January inauguration, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have shown they aren’t just about knocking Bush. Did they have a choice?

For the midterm elections a few years ago, Colbert shared the cover of Rolling Stone with Stewart. But now Colbert, who is in the second of three weeks away, has the cover all to himself. But what happens when there are no more print editions of magazines? There won’t be any covers of anything anymore. BTW, this blog turns three years old on Saturday, and this is post #1700.

A tip o’ the DogRat toupee to Denro for the tip.

Laura Ingraham’s wilder

I’d never heard Laura Ingraham before today. I didn’t even know who it was on the radio when I came across her program, until she went to a break and said her name. I’m a liberal, and I think Keith Olbermann goes overboard sometimes, but Laura Ingraham is very scary. I’ve seen clips of Glen Beck on The Colbert Report, and he’s even scarier. And that’s why I think Keith Olbermann has to go overboard. Because being willing to compromise is seen as a sign of weakness, and Olbermann knows it, so he doesn’t compromise.
Continue reading Laura Ingraham’s wilder

Stones cold case

Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney
Mick Jagger sitting at the feet of Paul McCartney — where he belonged. 😉

The 40-year-old case of Brian Jones’ death is being pried open.

http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2009/08/31/uk_police_to_review_rolling_stones_guitarist_death/

I’m somebody who thinks there’s nothing more to it than, “a coroner said Jones drowned while under the influence of alcohol and drugs,” but this gives me an excuse to say something about the Rolling Stones.

At some point in 1970, in my anguished early-mid adolescence, I realized I’d stopped caring, at a visceral level, about the Rolling Stones. It happened when I developed a deep, personal relationship with The Who. Later, I came to realize my waning interest in the Stones had also coincided with the disappearance of Brian Jones from the lineup.

Much of what I respond to in the Rolling Stones are the sounds and flourishes contributed by Brian Jones. Go back to my post at this link to hear an early example of what I’m talking about.

Some critics fault the Stones’ psychedelic period as being insincere and full of “us too” efforts, but these are some of my favorite recordings, thanks to Brian Jones. The delightful “Dandelion” wasn’t released until the Summer of Love in ’67, but it had been recorded in late ’66.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/SEP/Dandelion.mp3]

A favorite Stones psychedelic single is “She’s a Rainbow,” b/w “2000 Light Years From Home.” I’ve got to believe that Jones is all through both of these tracks.

2000 Light Years From Home

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/SEP/Rainbow.mp3,http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/SEP/2000LightYears.mp3]

I’m not an expert on Rolling Stones studio recordings, but the last notable release that sounds like it bears the distinctive Brian Jones brand is “Child of the Moon.”

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/SEP/ChildMoon.mp3]

Jones was undoubtedly played out and had nothing further to contribute, but once he was gone the Stones did only one more standout — “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” — and then, for me, it was downhill from there. What they were lacking without Brian was a feeling of creativity and musical expression. Oh, I thought “Sticky Fingers” was a great record — especially with the original zipper sleeve gimmick — but it didn’t take me over like “Who’s Next” would. And I enjoy “Exile on Mainstreet,” but I’ve never played it as more than background music.