If you’re listening to this song
You may think the chords are going wrong
But they’re not
We just wrote it like that
—George Harrison
Quote of the Day
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Team Kimberlin Post of the Day
There’s a post over at the Justice Through Music Project website titled JTMP Attends DC National Cannabis Festival. The post has a picture of the gathering in front of the band shell, and the crowd is so small I wonder if Op-Critical was playing.
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Comparisons
Indeed, Larry Fine was a much better violinist than Albert Einstein.
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Scotty Moore, R. I. P.
Winfield Scott “Scotty” Moore, best known for his work as the lead guitarist on Elvis Presley’s first hits, has died at his home in Nashville. Scotty was 84.
By the time I got to know Scotty, he was working more as recording engineer than a guitarist, but his musicianship was evident on both sides of the double-glass window.
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Quote of the Day
If it sounds good, it IS good.
—Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington
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Quote of the Day
When a man is in despair, it means that he still believes in something.
—Dimitri Shostakovich
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Quote of the Day
Art destroys silence.
—Dmitri Shostakovich
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Quote of the Day
I’m glad I’m not me.
—Bob Dylan
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Quote of the Day
I frequently hear music in the heart of noise.
—George Gershwin
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Leon Russell, R. I. P.
Leon Russell died in his sleep on Sunday at his home near Nashville. He was 74.
Almost every time that I saw him, we were on opposite sides of the glass. I was usually in a control room, but the last time, the glass was the windshield of Leon’s car. He almost ran over me one day in the early ’80s while I was crossing 19th Ave. South from Marchetti’s (a restaurant) to Nicholson’s (a audio equipment store).
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No, Our Accounting Has Just Become More Selective
The actors and director who created This Is Spinal Tap are suing the film’s distributor for back royalties they claim are due to them.
The complaint alleges that between 1989 and 2006, Vivendi reported that the total income from soundtrack music sales was just $98.
It also claims that Vivendi reported that the four creators’ share of total worldwide merchandising income between 1984 and 2006 was $81, despite music and merchandise linked to the film racking up “tens of millions of dollars” in revenue.
None of the band’s drummers were available for comment.
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Light My Fire
John Hinderaker has a piece over at PowerLine about the Doors’ Light My Fire which was released 50 years ago. He includes a link to
the seven-minute version of “Light My Fire” the way the band wanted it played, with keyboard and guitar solos intact. I heard it this way countless times after the 2:45 radio version had faded from the scene …
I fondly remember the album version. I was working as a DJ that summer, and it was one of the few songs that I could get away with playing that was longer than three minutes. It was long enough to allow me to leave the control room, go down the hall to the men’s room, and make it back in time to play the next commercial or next song.
And then Alice’s Restaurant was released …
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Team Kimberlin Post of the Day
The most widely viewed post ever published here at Hogewash! was this review that Mrs. Hoge and I did in July, 2012, of the CD Nothing Else by Bret Kimberlin’s band Epoxy.
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Back in 2002, Brett Kimberlin fronted a band named Epoxy and released a CD called Nothing Else. The story he spun promoting the album was that it contained songs that he had written while he was being held as a political prisoner in the federal prison system.
The band consisted of Brett Kimberlin on guitar and vocals, Wade Matthews on Bass, and Robbie White on Drums. The genre of the album is someplace between grunge and punk, neither of which are among my favorite musical forms.
Let me first comment on Mr. Kimberlin’s voice. I had heard his speaking voice in court, and I understand why some people refer to it as whinny. His singing voice reminds me of the silly voice that Weird Al uses on tracks such as Eat It. Mrs. Hoge, who listened through the CD with me, said, “Eddie Haskell.” On most of the tracks his voice was off key, usually flat.
Most of the songs could have been filler tracks on a generic grunge album. Some of the alienation in them seems to be more appropriate for a 17 year old, not someone 30 years older. Mr. Kimberlin was in his late 40s when the recording was made. However, three of the songs stood out. Vicegrip was actually interesting musically. Donuts had clever lyrics. It’s about lousy prison food and would probably get a nod of approval from G. Gordon Liddy.
Then there’s the last cut Keyhole. It was outstandingly bad. Mrs. Hoge and I met while we were in the music business, and during her career as a recording engineer, she recorded more gold and platinum records than I did. Her comment was, “If you’re gonna mike a guitar that close, you should use a better guitar and make sure it’s in tune. And get a better guitar player.”
While he didn’t do especially well with the acoustic guitar on Keyhole, Brett Kimberlin is actually a reasonably good guitarist. He probably couldn’t cut it in Nashville or LA, but could make a living in a minor market (such as Seattle) or playing the Holiday Inn circuit. Indeed, the world would be a better place if he did ignore the usual advice and give up his day job.
Nothing Else by Epoxy (Pollen Records, $16.04 from Amazon) is interesting because of who recorded it, but I can’t honestly recommend it for the musical experience it offers.
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It’s still available through Amazon, but the price is now $17.51 for a new CD. Used copies are $2.05 and up.
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Team Kimberlin Post of the Day
Yesterday’s TKPOTD must have stoked some envy out in Sutter County, California. Very Ordinary Seaman Ferguson had this exchange with the Cabin Boy™ yesterday—
I’ve never heard lorddewclaw play either live or on a recording, so I can’t comment on what kind of musician he is. However, I have heard recordings that VOSF has posted of his alleged music. Based on what I’ve heard, I doubt that he could have made it as a sideman on any of Brett Kimberlin’s recordings. I’d advise him not to give up his day job, but I’m not sure he has a real one.
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Blogsmoke
SOUND: MODEM CONNECTING FADES UP TO FULL MIKE—SINGLE SHOT—RICOCHET
MUSIC: UP AND UNDER—RECORDED—CUT 1
ANNOUNCER: (VOICE OVER MUSIC) Around Twitter Town and in the territory of the net—there’s just one way to handle the harassers and the stalkers—and that’s with an Internet Sheriff and the smell of “BLOGSMOKE”!
MUSIC: THEME HITS: FULL BROAD SWEEP AND UNDER—RECORDED—CUT 2
ANNOUNCER: “BLOGSMOKE” starring W. J. J. Hoge. The story of the trolling that moved into the young Internet—and the story of a man who moved against it. (MUSIC: OUT)
JOHN: I’m that man, John Hoge, Internet Sheriff—the first man they look for and the last they want to meet. It’s a chancy job—and it makes a man watchful … and a little lonely.
MUSIC: MAIN TITLE—RECORDED—CUT 3
SOUND: Oldies playing on jukebox in background. Door from street opens and closes. Footsteps across the room
FRIDAY: Howdy, Sheriff.
PINKY: Pull up a chair and join us.
SOUND: Chair pulled out.
JOHN: Thanks. How’s it going this evening?
SMITH: Have you seen that The Grouch rebranded again today?
JOHN: What? Do they no longer have free speech in Muscle Beach?
FRIDAY: (Chuckles) I guess not. He’s now DJ_Middlefinger.
BRAIN: Has he gone back to playing music instead of his political rants?
FRIDAY: No. It’s still politics. “DJ” as in “Donald J.” “Middlefinger” is a reference to a TV character.
WAITRESS: Hey, Sheriff. What can I get you?
JOHN: How fresh is the coffee?
WAITRESS: I just made some. It should be finished dripping in minute.
JOHN: Cream and sugar.
WAITRESS: As usual. Staying for supper?
JOHN: Yeah. Something simple tonight. A bacon cheeseburger and fries.
WAITRESS: Lettuce and tomato … ?
JOHN: And onions.
WAITRESS: OK. Anyone else?
SMITH: Not me. I’ve got to get home.
FRIDAY: I’ll have what the Sheriff’s having, but hold the onions.
WAITRESS: OK. And a refill on your tea?
FRIDAY: Uh, huh.
PINKY: I’ll go with an order of the spicy fired mozzarella balls.
BRAIN: Make that two.
WAITRESS: OK. I’ll put your orders in and be right back with the coffee and refill.
MUSIC: SCENE BUMPER MUSIC—RECORDED—CUT 4
ANNOUNCER: Summer ended this afternoon. It’s now autumn. Cool weather isn’t that far off, so it’s time to start thinking about warmer clothes. Either a Team Lickspittle hoodie or a The Grand Hog sweatshirt would be a great way to keep warm, and spending money at The Hogewash Store is a great way to support Team Lickspittle. Stop by today and spend some of your hard earned cash. Or do your Amazon shopping via the link on the Home page. Or hit the Tip Jar. They’re all ways you can support the Team.
MUSIC: SCENE BUMPER MUSIC—RECORDED—CUT 5
BRAIN: (fading in …) … it was really mindbogglingly stupid to criticize someone whose music he’d never heard.
JOHN: Stupid? Perhaps. Really, it more like Dunning-Kruger-based arrogance.
BRAIN: Oh?
JOHN: You’ve heard some of his recordings. Would you say they were the work of a talented, or even reasonably competent, musician?
BRAIN: Uh, no.
JOHN: We’re dealing with a group of people who have failed at almost everything they’ve tried. In this guy’s case, his identify seems to be rapped up in his attempts at music making, and he’s failing at that just as he’s failed at almost everything else. He not only needs to believe that he’s good, he needs to believe that he’s better than someone else.
PINKY: But he isn’t.
FRIDAY: He’d be better off if he just worked hard at something he can really do.
PINKY: But he keeps choosing to make a fool of himself.
JOHN: And so the mockification continues.
MUSIC: CLOSING TITLE UP AND UNDER—RECORDED—CUT 6
ANNOUNCER: (VOICE OVER MUSIC) Even with a good imagination, we can’t come up with stories as strange as The Bomber and his buddies provide for episodes of “BLOGSMOKE”!
MUSIC: SWELL AND CONTINUE TO MUSIC OUT
ANNOUNCER: The Legal Department wishes the following declaimer read: “‘BLOGSMOKE’ is a work of fiction. Anyone who feels it might be about him should read Proverbs 28:1.” Be sure to tune in on Monday at 6 pm Eastern Time for the next intriguing episode of “Yours Truly, Johnny Atsign,” and join us again every Friday at 6 for alternating episodes “BLOGSMOKE” and “Blognet.” This is LBS, the Lickspittle Broadcasting System.
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The Times, They Are a-Changin’
I’ve conducted the score below hundreds of times and played one of the parts (trumpet, mellophone, or tuba) hundreds of times more. I’m used to people standing during the performance.
Of course, I’ve never performed at an NFL game.
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A Kiss of Patriotism
The Washington Times reports that the band Kiss led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance during a concert in Louisiana last Saturday.
Colin Kaepernick was unavailable for comment.
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Quote of the Day
Which is more musical, a truck passing by a factory or a truck passing by a music school?
—John Cage
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Team Kimberlin Post of the Day
One of the claims that The Dread Deadbeat Pro-Se Kimberlin has made in his LOLsuits is that all of us bloggers writing truthful things about him have hurt his ability to write and produce his songs and music videos. As this post from five years ago demonstrates, some folks might view a reduction in The Dread Deadbeat Performers output to be a good thing.
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Brett Kimberlin fancies himself a great musician. (H/T, Kimberlin Unmaksked)
The term “delusions of adequacy” comes to mind.
UPDATE—Here’s a statement made by a Justice Through Music Project spokesman (not Brett Kimberlin) about the time this video was released:
We want videos that have staying power, that make a cultural statement, and that have an emotional component to them so that they will influence youth. Politicians spend hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars on ads to influence middle class America, and they basically ignore young people totally; and we feel like the music videos are like the cultural statements or the ads for young people, so we hope to get them involved and influence them to make the right decision in November.
Uh, huh.
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Kimberlin and Op-Critical really ought to do a cover of I Fought the Law (And the Law Won).
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Team Kimberlin Post of the Day
As part of a continuing search to find a relevant cause that would motivate donors, Justice Through Music Project got involved with the anti-fracking movement. the TKPOTD from five years ago today dealt with part of that effort.
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Justice Through Music Project has posted another music video on YouTube. It’s a sorta/kinda cover of John Prine’s Paradise. It’s an anti-natural-resource-extraction propaganda piece aimed at the Keystone XL pipeline. In fact, the band calls themselves the Keystone Pipeline Kops instead of Op-Critical.
Now, if I were Brett Kimberlin, I would avoid having anything to do with any song from John Prine’s first album lest I remind listeners of other songs from that album that might have unfortunate references to drug dealing, porn, etc.
Sam Stone: “There’s a hole in daddy’s arm where all the money goes.”
Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore: “While digesting Reader’s Digest in the back of a dirty book store …”
Illegal Smile: “Won’t you please tell the man I didn’t kill anyone …”
Just sayin’ …
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The failure of The Dread Deadbeat Performer Kimberlin’s music career sounds like a real Dear Abby.
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More Pages to Explore .....
