Category: Music

Choice Music

I’m going to amend what I’ve been saying about why I am hanging onto FiOS TV. First, now that Turner Classic Movies is in true HD, and looks and so good on the JVC D-ILA video projector, I’ve cleared out DVR disk space to record selections from the channel. Being able to watch something at my convenience, without keeping an eye on the “Expires in X Days” notice in the Watch TCM app is nice. So there’s that.

Also, I would like give a nod to Music Choice, which like Watch TCM continues to require a cable subscription.

My buddy Bismo, a serious Blues fan, says the Blues channel on Music Choice is very good. I have the same opinion of the Classical Masterpieces channel, which plays a widely varied selection of music. I first heard the Swedish composers Franz Berwald and Kurt Atterberg (19th and 20th century, respectively) on Music Choice.

Sweden’s Neglected Composer

No Wonder It Was a Hit

Released on May 18, 1968, “Reach Out of the Darkness” by Friend & Lover was perfect for the summer between the previous year’s Summer of Love and Woodstock the following year.

Written by Jim Post and performed with his then-wife Cathy, it became a #10 Billboard hit. Post has died, and I think it’s groovy The New York Times has his obituary.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/24/arts/music/jim-post-dead.html

The All-American Band in the Royal Hall

Now showing on Netflix, this jaw-dropping awesome documentary makes the case for Creedence Clearwater Revival as one of the greatest ever American Rock bands.

The second half of the documentary is CCR’s searing hot 1970 concert at the Albert Hall, held just four days after Paul announced the Beatles had disbanded.

The unmistakable voice of John Fogerty. His equally distinctive guitar playing is enough to place him in the top echelon of performers. The fact he wrote virtually all of the band’s original material is all the more amazing.

Like George Harrison’s long-simmering resentment of John and Paul, it was inevitable that tempers would flare within CCR. Fogerty’s bandmates rebelled against his dominance. Most notably Tom Fogerty, who resented being in his kid brother’s shadow.

With John deserving his share of the blame, Creedence Clearwater Revival suffered one of the most acrimonious breakups of any major band. This isn’t even touched upon in the documentary, which is just as well.

CCR wouldn’t endure like the Grateful Dead did, but perhaps a better comparison is the Who, another band dominated by a singular talent. The friction between the Kinks brothers, Ray and Dave Davies, also comes to mind. But when CCR was on top, as the documentary proves, they were as good as it got.

P.S. I often send alternative versions of blog posts to my pal Denro:

Re: Not CC Rider
Netflix documentary on CCR. All bow down for what was, for a time, America’s greatest band. Burned so hot they had to burn out.

1983

I’d flown from Boston to somewhere, wearing a suit and tie, and I was in an awful Plymouth K-Car rental with the radio on, driving to a hospital to install a medical laboratory computer system. This is a song I associate with that time in my life, the work I was doing, and all of the traveling required to do it. Bring back the 80’s!