6th
& 7th November, 2008
New concerts begin
tonight!
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Photo by Jay Hagan,
7/12/08 Burbank, CA
A Thought for Today
Some miracles take a little longer than
others to happen. Yesterday’s big one got here just in time and best of
all you and I were here to witness it.
TO BEGIN WITH
Midnight has tolled and I’m still programming tonight’s show. Thought
reprinting an e-mail I just finished sending to a friend might be a
short cut way of telling you what’s up and up to the minute.
THE NIGHT BEFORE THE SHOW
Jim, It really will be good to see you again at last. Are you and Matt
coming to the first show or the 2nd all request program? Roughly 90% of
the material will be different from the first to the second set. I've
spent hours and hours agonizing over what to include & what to cut.
Performances will each run about 90 minutes without intermission that
means there will be no time to get together between shows.
By the time the deadline to submit entry's for consideration on the By
Request segment ended a month ago the total list numbered over 700
songs; including multiple requests from the champion list makers Jay and
Eric; both had very creative suggestions and each offered a couple of
off the wall and over the fence suggestions. I kept chipping away at the
long list and left LA for The Springs with 96 arrangements despite the
fact that I'll have to continue whittling until I'm down to about a
quarter of that number since a few of the hits will have to be done at
both shows.
BJ came up with a single choice; Bon Soir Mademoiselle. "Good on ya," as
Aussie pals might say. I haven't done it in years but know it by heart
because despite its age (wrote it in the early fifties) it's one of my
favorites . . . so I penciled Bon Soir in in ink. One hitch, the
arrangement for the song has gone missing from the music library.
The suggestions that came in were by no means limited to my own
compositions or even other writers work I'm familiar with and that makes
it all the more interesting for the performer in me. Harder too with
unfamiliar lyrics to learn & new arrangements to write.
Eric suggested Johnny Cash’s "Come Along and Ride This Train," had to
rule that one out because of multiple requests for other locomotive
ditties already chosen. Jay's list included "All Around Trinidad" from
my first commercial LP "Lazy Afternoon." but it's a long medley and
doing it would mean cutting 3 or 4 other songs – besides performing
Calypso without a rhythm section is a bit tricky. I am doing something
else from that album; a song introduced by my old pal Kaye Ballard who
will be in the audience. Jimmie Rodgers is also coming so you can bet
I'll do one of my songs he helped turn into a standard.
With less then twenty-four hours left till show time I'm still working
on both lists. Rehearsals all day tomorrow and am dog tired from staying
up all night last night as poll after poll confirmed the identity of our
44th president elect. No Fox Spews for this political TV junkie got my
straight dope from Keith, Rachael and Chris on MSNBC.
As a life long Civil Rights activist my joy at Obama pulling down yet
another barrier to equality was more than a little diminished by the
passage of the hateful Proposition 8 – earlier this week an article I
wrote about my opposition to it came out in a local magazine. Oh, and
that brings me to a a non political but apt line by Bob Russell in an
Ellington tune I'm singing 'why people tear the seam of anyone's dream
is over my head.'
Other songs I eliminated from the list today include: Tomorrow Mountain,
Unexpected Song, You Came a Long Way From St. Louis, Times Gone By, All
The Things You Are, Bring Her a Rose, The Far Side of the Hill, A Gal in
Calico, I’m Not Afraid, The Morning of My Life, Not While I’m Around,
The Port of Amsterdam, Listen to the Warm and My Buddy.
Best of all since ‘Our Guy’ won I was able to eliminate Brother Can You
Spare a Dime and Hard Times Come Again No More from the program.
Gotta Cow, Cow Boogie outta here. See you at the show.
RM 11/6/2009
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