Dispatches from the Flying M

Two-record sets

This probably isn't a big deal in the digital era of MP3s, etc., but I still listen to records on vinyl from time to time (currently playing, "Nighthawks at the Diner," a live album by Tom Waits), and am occasionally inconvenienced by one of the strange holdovers from the old days.  Two-record sets were frequently pressed with sides one and four on one disc, two and three on the other, so when you stacked them on your record changer, you could have one and two lined up, then flip them and listen to three and four.

I've always had a turntable, but I haven't had a record changer since...well, I don't know.  The early 70s, I guess.  So for the sake of convenience, I usually listen to sides one and four, then two and three.  Which bugs me, because I generally figure any artist worth listening to arranged the songs in a particular order for a reason, and I like to listen to them in that order, just like I prefer to read the pages of a book in their suggested order instead of skipping around randomly.

There you have it--one of the weird tiny frustrations that make up a life.

Dixie Chicks

Congratulations to the Dixie Chicks for winning 5 Grammys last night.  They put out a terrific album and were recognized for that achievement.  Now it'd be nice if country stations started playing them again.  After all, most of the nation has come to agree with them about George Bush.  He's trying to claw his way up to a level where he'll be remembered as a mediocre president, rather than a catastrophic one, but there's no indication that he'll make it. 

You go, girls!

Duets that shoulda been...

Gram Parsons and Allison Kraus.  Any votes on what they might have sung?

Border Music

Having lived for almost 25 years in close proximity to the US/Mexico border--very close proximity here at the ranch--border issues have become very important to me.  The simplistic approach--that Americans can "defend" our southern border with a fence or a wall--is absurd, costly, and won't work.  In my book Missing White Girl, I deal with some of the issues facing border-dwellers, albeit in a fictional fashion, as the book is suspenseful entertainment and not a sociological treatise.  But the issues will continue to impact me, and my fiction, for some time to come.

Calexico is a rock band named after a border town, and they deal, in their music, with many of these same issues.  They're embarking soon on a tour, on which they'll be joined by some groups working on border and humanitarian issues.  To promote the tour, they're having a contest.  I'd be happy to promote it anyway, because their music is incredible, and it's good that they're helping to raise awareness of these issues.  But if I can win free tickets, so much the better, right?

So here's the scoop on the tour and the contest.  I hope you can make it to one of these shows.  And even if not, be sure to check out their CDs.

You probably never logged on to Myspace because you were wistful for civics class. Calexico's seven-date December tour, however, broaches some of the most serious social issues facing citizens on either side of the US - Mexico border today. Accompanying them on these dates will be representatives from several organizations including Humane Borders and Music for America raising awareness about humanitarian issues stemming from border and immigration policies.

So, the contest, you ask? What of the contest? Well, we'd like for you to help Calexico spread the news and bring people out to the shows by telling everyone you know about the events. The following is a list of things you can do to help. Every time you complete one of the opportunities from the list, you’ll be entered to win two tickets to the Calexico show nearest you, a copy of World Drifts In (Live at the Barbican) DVD, a vintage Calexico tour poster and a Music for America t-shirt. In other words, the more you do, the more likely you’ll be to win. The contest will close on Wednesday, November 29.

If you don't live in any of the cities covered by the tour, don't worry! You can still enter the contest and participate in spreading the word. See below.

1) Write your local newspaper, radio station and/or television station and tell them about the event. Ask them if they'd be willing to help by publishing an announcement about the event to inform your community. Send a copy of the letter or any published material to us at contest@tgrec.com. In the subject line, please type "CALEXICO TOUR CONTEST." You can also get in touch with us the old-fashioned way at:

Calexico Tour Contest – Quarterstick Records
PO Box 25542
Chicago, IL 60625

2) Repost this bulletin including a personal message to your friends. Then post a comment on Calexico's myspace page (myspace.com/casadecalexico) saying that you’ve done so.

3) Post this message on your personal blog (non-myspace blogs) and send the direct link to contest@tgrec.com. Be sure to include "CALEXICO TOUR CONTEST" in the subject line.

Calexico Tour Dates:
12/02/06 - Rialto Theatre, Tucson, AZ w/ Annuals
12/03/06 - Launchpad, Albuquerque, NM w/ Annuals
12/04/06 - Orpheum, Flagstaff, AZ w/ Annuals
12/05/06 - The Clubhouse, Tempe, AZ w/ Annuals
12/07/06 - Soho Restaurant, Santa Barbara, CA w/ The Broken West

Read more about Music for America and Humane Borders by clicking on the links below. For more Calexico information, click on their logo.

                        

Walter, Don & Dupree

I think the Steely Dan boys have a point here.  The first time I heard about the movie, I wondered if its makers had licensed rights to the song.  If you're going to rip off an idea, Hollywood, you should at least change the names.

Gram Parsons

One of my Father's Day gifts was the DVD of documentary film Gram Parsons--Fallen Angel, detailing the work, life and legend of one of the most influential figures in the history of country rock.  Gram's journey from Waycross, GA, his wealthy upbringing in Florida, his rise to musical stardom, his unfortunate death--like so many in that arena, from alcohol and drugs--and then, to seal the legend, the theft of his body en route to its funeral and its burning (ineptly, drunkenly) near Cap Rock in Joshua Tree National Monument (now National Park, but not when Gram used to love it, and now when I used to tramp around in it) is as dramatic and tragic as a Tennessee Williams play, as someone points out in the movie.

I would have liked to have seen more concert footage, but the movie is already long and including full song performances along with all the talking heads and what footage there is would have made it a miniseries. Thankfully, there is a segment on the great suits by Nudie the Rodeo Tailor that Gram's band, the Flying Burrito Brothers, wore on the cover to their brilliant debut album Gilded Palace of Sin.

By sheer force of personality, Gram made some of the preeminent rockers of his day take another look at country music, and helped to weld country and rock together into the subgenre that, along with country-folk, helped the US snatch rock and roll dominance back from Britain.  The movie's implication is that without Gram country-rock might never have happened at all, which I don't agree with.  Elvis and Buddy Holly, after all, combined elements of country music and R&B and gospel to make their individual contributions to rock and roll, and I'm sure country-rock would have found some other champion.  But it would have sounded different without Gram, and it might have taken longer.  As it is, Gram's influence led to great Byrds release Sweetheart of the Rodeo, and from there to the sounds of such classic acts as the Buffalo Springfield, CSN, CSN&Y, the Eagles, etc. 

Today the tradition is carried by Wilco, the Jayhawks, Venice, the Dixie Chicks, Steve Earle, and many others.  Gram's contribution is indelible, and the world is a better place for his short 26 years here.  Would that he had lived many more.

When he's 64

Happy birthday, Sir Paul McCartney!

Billy Preston RIP

I'm in a hotel room in Scottsdale, AZ, and just signed online only to see the sad headline that musician Billy Preston died today in Scottsdale.

I knew his health was poor, knew he has been in Scottsdale seeking treatment, and has been in a coma for some months.

A unique and creative voice has been stilled--not just a voice but one of the best keyboard players who ever graced a rock and roll record.

I saw Billy Preston open for the Rolling Stones on the Goat's Head Soup tour in, I think, 1972. He played a brilliant set. Later, when the Stones brought him on stage for a couple of numbers, his ovation was louder, longer, and more heartfelt than the Stones themselves had received. They were terrific performers, but he easily blew them away.

I have a souvenir of that concert--my friends and I hung around in front of the stage after the show, and when Charlie Watts came out to oversee the dismantling of his drum kit, he tossed us a couple of drumsticks. I still have the one I caught, all these years later.

But another souvenir is the memory of having seen a true virtuoso performer at his peak. Will it go round in circles, indeed.

Heaven's band just got a great keyboard man.

Idol Chatter

Congratulations to American Idle winner Taylor HIcks, who is, as of last night, the most famous bland pop singer in the country.

Just what we need more of...

The Seeger Sessions

Early in his career, Bruce Springsteen was saddled with almost impossibly high expectations.  Called the "new Bob Dylan," when the Born to Run album was released his face was simultaneously on the covers of Time and Newsweek. 

Astonishingly, he survived the hype and went on to become just what they said he was.  He's been one of the best live acts in rock and roll history for decades.  During the disco era and the hair act era, he kept rocking.  But he's also been drawn, more and more, to folk music.  The spare songs of Nebraska, Lucky Town, and others are his personal folk songs.  Unlike Dylan, who started in folk and went electric, Bruce was a rocker who went acoustic, but kept a hand in hardcore electric rock and roll.

The new CD, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, is a brilliant folk music recording.  Bruce seems to have reached back through history and grabbed these songs with both fists, wrenching them into the present.  He and the band sound great: lively and joyful, as if taking energy from the songs and transmitting it to the listener.

America's preeminent rocker has become, with this record, one of its best folkies.  If you like the best that American music has to offer, it's worth your time to check this out.