2nd & 3rd September, 2010
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Boots & Rod. Photographed
by Edward, May 2010. ©2010 By Stanyan Music Group. All Rights Reserved
A Thought for Today
September is the turning time; ask the
man whose livelihood is apples or anyone who lives for love.
FOOTNOTES ON A LIFE IN PROGRESS
The two questions I’m asked most these days?
One: Did I survive being poisoned by a pair of eggs that weren’t
recalled from my kitchen in time? Barely and the good news is I ate my
first solid food today since the malady struck. I had a semi-delicious
tomatoes sandwich.
Two: How am I coming along with my new iPad? The answer to that one is a
little less positive. I’ve turned it on exactly twice since I stood in
line at my local Apple store to buy it on the initial day of this models
debut. (Yep I’m a Mac freak and always try to beat everyone to the punch
when one of their new products is introduced so I always fall for that
‘own it the first day’ ballyhoo.) The problem, of course, is time. I
haven’t had many free hours lately. The iPad’s learning curve doesn’t
look too daunting and there are hundreds of new apps for it every week
so once this Pandora’s Box is in operation there will be no looking
back.
I’m a year or so behind the various deadlines set for the second and
third Bear Family boxed sets, trying to complete a new book and a disc
of new songs and most exciting to me of all the current projects is new
CD shelves.
I know, I know I promised some time ago to stop or at least cut back on
collecting CD’s and LP’s. And I’ve been pretty good about keeping that
vow; in particular because I’m not as gainfully employed as I was at the
height of my out of hand . . .must have this series and that boxed set
days. And as I enter my dotage and my country slips deeper and deeper
into a double dip recession do I often wish I had a stack or two of that
other kind of CD (Certificates of Deposit) instead of what most people
who have seen them consider jaw-dropping stacks of plastic, magnetic
tape, vinyl and even shellac? I confess I sometimes do. But alas all the
Drew Pinsky’s and rehab in the world can’t cure musical addiction. And I
am an addict, a certified musical dope fiend hooked on everything from
Bop to Bach and all the genres that fall between.
Today I defiantly needed to get out of the house so I spent most of the
afternoon at what I consider the greatest music emporium in the world,
Amoeba Music, a two story block-long den of iniquity for hooked on
harmony boys and girls of every age, kind and stripe. First, second and
third hand discs and records can be had for reasonable prices and they
even carry all the newer stuff.
I swear I once saw LL Cool Jay browsing at Amoeba in what looked to me
to be the Country & Western nook and lots of us peruse this one of a
kind emporium in search of old LP’s or fresh imports from around the
world. Truckers go there for 8-Tracks and they even have on hand a few
piano rolls from what must have been the good old days.
I was in heaven today, feeling better than I have for a while and
drifting from section to section wanting everything. I was proud of
myself and Edward, who had tagged along to make sure I didn’t embarrass
myself by having a dizzy spell or two in this my hog heaven, was
astonished when I left the store with only three purchases. A four disc
Jo Stafford English import I picked up for under twenty bucks, Brian
Wilson’s Gershwin Reimagined and while checking out other favorite
performers in the used LP section I couldn’t resist a near mint copy of
Rod McKuen’s LP “Songs For A Lazy Afternoon.”
Rod McKuen: Songs For A Lazy Afternoon
As I said the LP was in near mint condition, especially since it was
issued 54 years ago. This ‘Spectra-Sonic-Sound’ LP must have been owned
all these years by someone who’s mono machine went on the fritz soon
after it was bought or maybe he or she bought it for the very hot cover
photograph of the 23-year-old Mr. McKuen. But I digress, all the time.
About the new shelves: I managed to find room for another 300 feet or so
of space that will accommodate around 35,000 CD’s that have been sitting
all over the house in boxes unfiled and thus mostly unplayed for the
last several years –– and as fast as Chris, our carpenter whiz can build
and install the shelves I’m filling them up (note to all the deadline
makers). . . in my spare time.
And, oh yes Eric, come hell or high shelving this will hopefully be the
week I start contributing to my new Facebook page and over the Labor Day
weekend we can start sorting out which audio and video tracks we can
start posting.
A final word about collecting. Never tried therapy or Yoga to bring a
halt to it. But empty pockets sure helps. Eleven bucks for a used Rod
McKuen album from the 1950’s, no matter what its condition, outrageous!
RM 9/2/2010 Previously unpublished
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