An Ode to Meatloaf
For your consideration: my meatloaf recipe
Unlike most of my posted recipes, this one is going to actually have a couple paragraphs of blog entry. Sorry to those who can’t stand that. But I like meatloaf and want to write about it.
I love meatloaf, as long as it’s good. And my mother made a good one. And that statement is from someone who thinks his mother was not an especially good cook. She never met a steak she couldn’t turn into leather, and she put tomato sauce in macaroni and cheese, for heaven’s sake! But she made a pretty good meatloaf. I asked around the family if anyone had the recipe. The answer was no. But it was probably relatively basic with whatever she had around: ground beef, chopped onions, ketchup, egg, garlic powder, and crushed Ritz crackers instead of breadcrumbs. As an aside, I didn’t ask anyone what my grandmother’s recipe was. Who wants a meatloaf with green olives in it? Exactly.
I was motivated to come up with a meatloaf recipe during a recent trip to Florida. I decided to drive the coastal route through Charlotte, because I was so done with Atlanta traffic. My hotel in Charlotte was just across the street from McKoy’s Smokehouse. Their special of the day was meatloaf, and I am always up for meatloaf. It was terrific. It had a powerful herb flavor to it, which I eventually identified as thyme. I loved it. So when I started tinkering with meatloaf recipes, thyme was an important element.
The recipe I finally settled on was initially based on the Beef Council’s recipe (Beef. It’s what’s for dinner.). Then I combined it with some tips from a NYT recipe by Nigella Lawson (mainly the ground pork). Finally, I added my own modifications, mainly in terms of fresh thyme and chili sauce. And here you go. It takes at least two hours from start to table, in part because I have no concept of a faster way to pluck thyme leaves off of thyme stems.
Ingredients
1 ½ pounds of ground beef 80/20 or 85/15
12 oz ground pork
1 egg, slightly beaten
¼ cup low sodium beef broth
3 teaspoons prepared minced garlic
¾ cup ketchup
2 tablespoons chili sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 cup chopped onion or roughly one medium onion chopped - not more than 1 cup - finely chopped
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
¼ teaspoon dried thyme (I like it thymier but not leafier, hence the additional dried)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
3 or 4 slices of bacon
chili sauce for glaze
Process
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine meats, garlic, ketchup, beef broth, breadcrumbs, thyme, egg, Worcestershire, chili sauce, onion, salt, and pepper
Put in a 9X5X3 loaf pan. Cover with the bacon strips.
Bake for 40 minutes.
Remove bacon strips and glaze with chili sauce, however much you need to give it a good cover.
If it is drowning, carefully pour off some of the liquid. And I mean drowning. If the liquid has not covered the meatloaf, don’t bother. It will help it stay more moist. Nobody likes a dry meatloaf.
Continue baking another 25 minutes or more until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. Keep an eye on it. Because of all the extra liquid ingredients, you may have to eventually do a careful pour off. I did not.
Let cool.
Serve with mashed potatoes and some green beans, and you are in comfort food heaven.
Vinyl Disc Two: B-52s to The Beatles
And I’m at it again.
As a reminder, this series of blog entries is an ode to all the vinyl albums I owned up until just recently. I am building a giant Spotify playlist with one song from every album. And there will be a blog post for every cd’s worth. So here’s the second. Oh, and lookee! I figure out how to embed the playlist. I will go back and edit the previous post to do the same.
The B-52’s
The B-52’s (1979)
Rock Lobster
God how I loved the B-52’s! The beehive hairdos. The goofy dance pop like some early 60’s novelty song. The whole back and forth between Fred and Kate and Cindy. Just a complete package. This is their first album, with the delightful “Rock Lobster”. And we’re off.
The B-52’s
Wild Planet (1980)
Devil in My Car
When this was released, I was living in a loft apartment just off Graham Road south of 71st street. In many ways, I liked this album better than the first. I presume most people would pick “Private Idaho” to represent Wild Planet, but I always got a kick out of “Devil in My Car”. Go to hell in my own Chevrolet!
The B-52’s
Party Mix! (1981)
Party Out of Bounds
An EP of remixes. Surprise!
The B-52’s
Mesopotamia (1982)
Deep Sleep
Another EP. Now this album was a real left turn. David Byrne did the producing, and it really shows. Lush production, including sythesizers, horns, you name it. A much richer sounding album. This song is a great example. So very different from the raw bouncy feel of their previous recordings.
The B-52’s
Whammy! (1983)
Whammy Kiss
If they didn’t start singing, you’d think this was a Devo song. Just listen to the intro. But it sounds like they’re having fun.
Bad Company
Bad Company (1974)
Bad Company
Another album that was purchased many years after it was released. Half the people in the dorm in college owned a copy, as did my first post-college roommate. Anyway, Bad Company were a couple of members of the band Free and one guy each from Mott the Hoople and King Crimson. And since Paul Rodgers was the singer for Free, for years I thought “All Right Now” was a Bad Company song. He was also the voice of the Firm, a band he formed with Jimmy Page in 1984. If you’re old enough, you remember their one hit “Radioactive”.
Joan Baez
Blessed Are…
Blessed Are
I certainly did not buy this when it came out. In 1971, I was grooving to “4 Way Street” by CSNY, “Ram” by Paul McCartney, and “Every Good Boy Deserves Favour” by the Moody Blues. I suspect I bought this around 1975, after spending some time that summer driving around Utah with my brother Jack. In those days, he was big into country music and older folk music. This album also includes Baez’ biggest hit, her version of The Band’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”, which I have grown to really dislike. Levon Helm’s vocals are far superior to Baez’, and I will fight you about this.
Bananarama
Bananarama (1984)
Cruel Summer
Let’s jump forward a decade to a hit by the pop new wave girl group Bananarama. I probably bought this influenced by the video on MTV. Did I mention I was really into new wave and the big beat sound of the eighties? This album will not be the only evidence of that.
Tony Banks
A Curious Feeling (1979)
Forever Morning
In 1973, I became aware of Genesis and never looked back, but that’s a story for another time. Suffice it to say, I bought everything the band put out, and anything by the solo members. This is keyboardist Tony Banks’ first solo effort. I did not know it at the time, but apparently “A Curious Feeling” is a concept album loosely based on “Flowers for Algernon”, one of the most depressing books ever forced on high school readers across the decades. The album itself is not super. This instrumental is possibly the least painful of all the tracks.
Tony Banks
The Fugitive (1983)
This Is Love
It should be clear by now that I never learn. Banks always wanted to write pop songs, but he just wasn’t very good at it. Nor was he the most accomplished vocalist, as is evident here. For this album, he decided to do the singing. Possibly not the wisest choice, he says charitably.
The Beatles
Rubber Soul (1965)
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
This is not the first Beatles album I purchased. That would be “Magical Mystery Tour” in late 1967. This song, of course, includes the first ever appearance of sitar in western music.
The Beatles
Yesterday and Today (1966)
And Your Bird Can Sing
One note about Beatles’ releases in general. As a resident of the United States, my vinyl records were typically the versions available in the United States. Imagine that. This is a case in point. These days, “Yesterday and Today” is sort of considered a non-album, with tracks taken from the UK versions of “Help!”, “Rubber Soul”, and “Revolver”. Anyway, I always liked this song.
The Beatles
Revolver (1966)
Yellow Submarine
Not a whole lot to say about this album. But let me digress about how I used to listen to music back in the day. We had this cheap stereo record player that my dad got by joining a record club. I remember the first album he got was “Tom Jones Live”, but that’s not the point. Anyway, it was a simple exercise to set it up so that it would play the same album over and over. And that’s what I did. I’d listen to music and read. For years, every time I heard a song from “Revolver”, I would recall the science fiction stories in the collection SF12. McCartney’s “Ram” always reminded me of Tom Sawyer, which I had to read for school. Moving on.
The Beatles
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
A Day in the Life
Just a great song from a groundbreaking album. Actually it is a mashup of two songs, Lennon’s opening and closing sections, and McCartney’s bridge. Noteworthy for the long-resonating piano chord at the end. Oh, and I never heard the weird chanting at the very end until I got a digital copy, mainly because it was left off the US vinyl release.
The Beatles
Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
Strawberry Fields Forever
One good thing about US releases of Beatles albums: we got the singles. The Beatles had a policy that they would not put previously released singles on their albums, presumably so their fans wouldn’t have to pay for them twice. But if you were only buying the albums, it was nice to get the singles. All of side two of the US version of “Magical Mystery Tour” are previously released singles, and they are all killers! Good thing, says I, because side one is pretty weak. This album also triggers another memory for me. The single Hello Goodbye was released in late 1967, and was popular on the radio over the holiday season. I specifically remember this because I took my little transistor radio with me when we went to Dr. Baker’s house to watch IU in the 1968 Rose Bowl just so I could hear Hello Goodbye if they played it. Why did we go to the Baker’s for the Rose Bowl? My only guess is that they had a color tv. We didn’t get one until the spring of 1971. Oh, and the OJ Simpson-lead Trojans beat the Hoosiers 14-3.
The Beatles
The Beatles (1968)
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
The first Beatles album released on Apple Records. As far as I know, the first time the US version is the same as the UK version. If you wanted the single version of “Hey Jude” and “Revolution”, you had to buy it. I did. A monster album, The White Album is frequently uneven, but it is full of amazing creativity. This is when the breakup of the Beatles really began.
The Beatles
Let It Be (1970)
Two of Us
The last released Beatles album, which is really unfortunate, because it’s not that good. And it’s all Phil Spector’s fault. After recording the tracks in January 1969, it took Spector and the production crew until May 1970 to cobble the finished product together. In the meantime, the Beatles had reconvened with George Martin to record the far superior “Abbey Road”, which was released in late 1969. By all rights (and in my mind) “Abbey Road” is their last album, rather than this trainwreck. Anyway, it sures sounds like McCartney is addressing Lennon directly, and somewhat wistfully, with the lyrics in this song.
And that’s Disc Two
Vinyl Disc One: 10cc to Asylum Choir
In which I write about my vinyl records, some of them
Years and years ago, I recorded a set of cassette tapes with one song from every artist in my library. At the time, that took six ninety-minute cassettes. Then I decided to get more ambitious and do the same thing, but with one song from every album instead. I eventually ran out of steam and quit. Just this year, I sold all my vinyl to LUNA Records. So I have resurrected the idea. And while it will grow to be a really long Spotify playlist, I have decided to write about it one cd’s worth of music at a time. (Yes, I am actually burning these cds.) If I can figure out how to link a Spotify playlist here, I will.
Oh, and because I am anal that way, the list is alphabetical by artist, then chronological by release, because any other method leads to barbarism.
10cc
How Dare You? (1976)
How Dare You?
10cc are best known for their pop hits “I’m Not In Love” (from “Original Soundtrack” in 1975) and “Things We Do For Love” (from “Deceptive Bends” in 1977). The only 10cc album I ever bought was “How Dare You?”, after one of my dorm friends (and fellow prog fan) played it for me. There is some really delicious humor and wordplay on the album, but not here. Let’s open with this lovely instrumental title track. I heartily recommend this album in its entirety. Go listen to it.
Adam and the Ants
Kings of the Wild Frontier (1980)
Kings of the Wild Frontier
With only the second song in this list, we get to an album I really don’t care for very much. But this was 1980, and I was into New Wave, so I picked it up. If I played it more than half a dozen times, I’d be surprised. The title track is the one that offends me the least, so I’m going with that.
Allman Brothers
At Fillmore East (1971)
Whipping Post
Now that’s the ticket! The performances that opened doors for the Allmans and closed the doors of the Fillmore. The first time I heard this performance of this song, I was working the closing shift at the Baskin-Robbins at 56th and Illinois. When we were cleaning the store, we either listened to “CBS Mystery Theater” or WNAP. I remember distinctly being boggled by how they could possibly play a song this long. Probably just the dj’s excuse to go out for a smoke.
Allman Brothers
Eat a Peach (1972)
Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More
Mostly recorded after Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident, there are a lot of songs on “Eat a Peach” for and/or about him. This one specifically is a tribute from Gregg to his brother. Like the previous album, I did not buy this when it was released. In college, both were all over the dorms, so purchasing them was unnecessary. Only after I got out of college and got a job that paid real money, did either of them get in my collection.
Ian Anderson
Walk Into Light (1983)
Made in England
Anderson’s very first solo album, recorded with then Jethro Tull keyboardist Peter-John Vettese. Recorded in 1983, it is especially interesting for the array of synthesizers, keyboards, and drum machines used. Very different from run of the mill Tull, let me tell you.
Jon Anderson
Olias of Sunhillow (1976)
The Flight of the Moorglade
I like Yes a lot, and this album looked cool. But it’s just not that good. Too new age-y, even before that genre existed. This is about the only coherent piece of music in the whole lot. Did I mention that I used to buy albums based on what the album cover looked like?
Jon Anderson
In the City of the Angels (1988)
Hold On To Love
Some of my Yes fan friends absolutely hate this album. It is so poppy and upbeat. I kind of like it. This song was actually co-written Lamont Dozier of Motown fame (as in the writing cooperative of Holland-Dozier-Holland).
Laurie Anderson
Big Science (1982)
O Superman
It is nearly certain that I learned about Laurie Anderson in an article in Newsweek, which I subscribed to at the time. More of a performance artist than strictly a musician, some of the stuff on this album is very spare. I absolutely adore this track. Laurie went on to marry Lou Reed in 2008. Now that’s an interesting pairing.
Laurie Anderson
Mister Heartbreak (1984)
Excellent Birds
Much more musical album. Peter Gabriel adds backing and guest vocals on a couple tracks, this one included. A slightly different version is included on the cd version of his album “So” with the title “This is the Picture”.
Laurie Anderson
United States Live (1984)
For a Large and Changing Room
A truly odd album. Five record set! Wow. And I don’t like a lot of it. Sorry, Laurie. This one is basically the same riff as “Born, Never Asked” on Big Science. Which really shouldn’t come as a surprise, as I have learned that Big Science was actually a set of excerpts from the 8 hour long “United States Live” piece of performance art. By the way, just to illustrate how wonderful my wife is, Cheryl went with me to see Laurie Anderson in concert at the Murat, when she was on tour for “The Ugly One With the Jewels”, which is a spoken word album. To say she did not enjoy herself is an understatement. But she toughed it out. I don’t think she went to a concert with me until we saw Crosby Stills & Nash at the Murat just a few years ago.
Aphrodite’s Child
666 (1972)
The Four Horseman
Aphrodite’s Child were a Greek progressive/psychedelic band in the late sixties. Their last album was a wandering interpretation of the Book of Revelations. A buddy in college had a copy. I bought mine used at Ozarka, a now defunct used record store in Bloomington. One of the band’s members, Vangelis Papathanassíou, later became a famous electronic musician who simply went by his first name (Think “Chariots of Fire” or the “Blade Runner” soundtrack). The vocalist on this song, Demis Roussos, gained international fame as a pop singer. And since this album is not available on Amazon or Spotify, I was lucky to find this song included on a Roussos anthology.
Asia
Asia (1982)
Heat of the Moment
Steve Howe of Yes, John Wetton of King Crimson, Carl Palmer of ELP, Geoff Downes of The Buggles (?); how could they go wrong? Well, this progressive music fan was not impressed, but FM radio loved them, as did lots of record buyers. It spent nine weeks at the top of the album chart in 1982, and at the time of this writing, has sold over 4 million copies in the US alone. But for me, meh.
Asylum Choir
Asylum Choir II (1971)
Tryin’ to Stay ‘Live
Asylum Choir were Leon Russell and Marc Benno. I bought this album at a garage sale for $0.25. Yes, twenty-five cents. I believe I bought four different albums at that garage sale, maybe five. As I come to them in the list, I will surely mention them, ‘cause that’s how I am. Annoying. I think most people would consider this a Leon Russell album, given that most of the vocals are his, as are the arrangements.
And that’s that. For now.
Old Guy Radio for June 2020 - Guitar Heroes
In which I leave out everyone’s favorite guitarists
As a reminder, Old Guy Radio is named in honor of a segment of Tony Kornheiser’s old radio show, and I’ve been curating playlists for friends and coworkers under that name since 2012.
Also, in addition to the write up, whenever possible, I try to recreate these lists in Spotify. My profile name on Spotify is pearsons3and2.
Hard to imagine that I’ve been doing these for years and haven’t put together a list of guitar heroes. Heck, I even did one specifically about bass players, and another for drummers. Well, in honor of Eric Clapton’s 75th birthday (this past March 31st), here we go! Some that didn’t make the cut (let’s argue about it): George Harrison (was pretty good for the 60s, but never found his groove until Duane Allman taught him how to play slide guitar, then that was all he did), Pete Townsend (flamboyant, yes, but a better composer than a guitarist), and whoever your favorite is.
Some of these songs are long.
Eric Clapton - All Your Love - John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. Pioneer. Innovator. Bluesman. Game changer. People didn’t play guitar like he did. The documentary about him “Life in 12 Bars” is really difficult to watch. During the most prolific parts of his career, he was addicted to something, either alcohol or drugs. Amazingly, he married his best friend’s ex-wife, and they stayed friends. This cut is from one of his happiest times, playing the blues (Otis Rush cover) with John Mayall.
Jeff Beck - Heart Full of Soul - The Yardbirds. Clapton contemporary and followed him as lead guitar with the Yardbirds. A really inventive guitarist, especially for the times.
FZ - Inca Roads - Frank Zappa and the Mothers. There’s a lot to not like about Zappa. He seemed to dislike and/or discount everybody. And some of his music is unquestionably offensive. But boy could he throw together a guitar solo. He even released FOUR FULL ALBUMS consisting solely of live guitar solos! Who does that? One of his recording techniques was to work on material on the road before committing it to record. That is why many songs on his studio albums have mixed-in live parts. As is the case here. The guitar solo was taken from a performance in Helsinki, the rest of the song was performed in L.A. In addition to the great guitar solo (which is possibly my favorite of all time), there is fantastic work by George Duke on the keyboards and Ruth Underwood on the marimba, with Chester Thompson carrying the beat.
John Petrucci - Metropolis, Pt 1 - Dream Theater. The first one in the list nobody has heard of. Petrucci formed Dream Theater with drummer Mike Portnoy and bassist John Myung in 1985. A lot has changed since then, but they remain a force in progressive metal. Petrucci is one of those guys that actually plays a seven string guitar. The solo you hear in this song owes a lot to Eddie Van Halen, at least stylistically.
Prince - While My Guitar Gently Weeps - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame All Stars. I’ve seen Prince in many lists of great guitarists, and I have to give him his props. OG was never a huge fan of his style of pop funk, but he could sure play. In most of the studio work I have heard, he seemed to use the guitar as a supporting flavor, rather than the main ingredient. The guitar solo in “Purple Rain” for instance, is stately and beautiful, but in service of the song, rather than its point. And the intro to “When Doves Cry” is almost enough for admission into the list. But he gets in here for one specific thing: the guitar solo from the posthumous RRHOF induction of George Harrison.
Like most RRHOF performances, it’s kind of weird. Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne (both good friends of Harrison) share the vocals. Marc Mann from Jeff Lynne’s band takes the Clapton guitar solos basically note for note during the body of the song. But then at roughly 3:30, Prince sets the place on fire with the outro solo. Just amazing.
The New York Times published a pretty neat oral history of the event, although they hilariously suggest the song is Harrison’s best known Beatles song. Um, “Something” anybody? The video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SFNW5F8K9Y) of the performance is the best! Almost 85 MILLION views. The look on Dhani Harrison’s face when Prince strides in from the side of the stage is priceless. Where does the guitar go?
Jimmy Page - Achilles Last Stand - Led Zeppelin. Page was a very successful session guitarist before he joined what was initially going to be called the New Yardbirds. Well, they changed that to Led Zeppelin and off we go. Page was something of a studio whiz, layering and layering guitar sounds as he does here. (His remasters of the original albums are also pretty good.) I have seen this referred to as Page’s favorite LZ song, so it gets included.
David Gilmour - Shine On You Crazy Diamond - Pink Floyd. Gilmour took over as lead guitarist after original Floyd member Syd Barrett became incapable of performing, whether this was due to mental illness or heavy psychedelic drug use is unclear. The album that provides this song, “Wish You Were Here” is both Roger Waters’ first broadside against the recording industry (before “The Wall”) and his lament at losing his friend Syd Barrett, the “crazy diamond” in question. Anyway, Gilmour is a master of the slower tempo guitar solo, and this is a case in point. Also a very nice sax solo by Dick Parry.
Carlos Santana - Incident at Neshabur - Santana. Santana is such a fantastic guitarist. Zappa even said Santana was one of the guitarists he admired most. This fine instrumental is from “Abraxas”. Frankly, you should just listen to the whole album. You can thank me later. BTW, the cover art is a depiction of the Annunciation.
Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child (Slight Return) - Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix was a pioneer of a different sort. He tinkered with the electronics in his guitars and made sounds no one else had ever considered. He played a restrung right-handed guitar left-handed (i.e. upside down). Just an amazing talent. Gone way too soon. If you are listening to this with headphones, the guitar keeps moving around.
Steve Howe - Awaken - Yes. Howe was not an original member of Yes, but he was a key component of the classic lineup. His technique is so precise and simply astonishing. Man, that section beginning at around the 2:50 mark. Wow! And full disclosure: I really like Yes, but I have to admit there might be some excessive Wakeman keyboard noodling in this one.
Eddie Van Halen - I’m The One - Van Halen. Yes, I am one of those people. I like the Sammy Hagar era better. I think David Lee Roth is just a whooper and a yelper, and Hagar is a much better singer. I also think he made the band tighter. Nevertheless, Eddie could sure play guitar. Popularized the tapping method.
Eddie Van Halen - Beat It - Michael Jackson. And just for fun, let’s throw in the Eddie Van Halen solo that probably sold more copies than all his other solos combined. You’ll know it when you hear it.
Allan Holdsworth - Beelzebub - Bill Bruford. Another player no one has ever heard of. Probably better known in jazz circles, I became aware of Holdsworth through progressive rock, both as a guest musician (here on Bruford’s first solo album) and as a member of the prog supergroup UK. Oh, and apparently Van Halen borrowed Holdsworth’s amplifier to record the “Beat It” solo.
Duane Allman - Layla - Derek and the Dominos. A little more Clapton, and a lot of Duane Allman. Allman is often cited as the greatest slide guitar player of all time. This performance demonstrates why, especially in the piano coda. Just listen to Allman and Clapton improvise against each other. A true classic. Skydog was just a fantastic all around guitar player. To get a comprehensive feel for his career, including a lot of session work, seek out the compilation “Skydog: The Duane Allman Retrospective”, a mammoth 7 disc set. So much good music.
And that’s where I leave you this June. Stay safe. Stay distant. Try not to get arrested. Be kind to each other.
OG
Montreal Steak and Heartland Pepper and Garlic Crusted Pork Tenderloin
Very easy, very savory!
No long blog post here either.
I’ve made pork tenderloins dozens of ways, mainly using different types of marinade and then roasting in the oven. This one I kind of made up on my own after reading a recipe that used a cast iron skillet. I used my Dutch oven. This is super savory!
You can find McCormick Montreal Steak everywhere, and Urban Accents’ store locator suggests you can find their products at Walmart, among others.
Ingredients
1 to 1 ½ pound pork tenderloin
2 teaspoons McCormick Montreal Steak seasoning
1 teaspoon Urban Accents Heartland Pepper and Garlic seasoning
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil (not olive oil)
Process
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Prepare the tenderloin by trimming off the silverskin. This is the connective tissue visible along one side of the tenderloin. Also remove other connective tissue on and around the end. There are Youtube videos on trimming tenderloins if this makes you nervous. I promise, it’s easy.
Rub tenderloin with combined seasoning
Sear tenderloin in Dutch oven over medium high heat, 1 ½ minutes per side
Put Dutch oven in oven uncovered.
Use the following times as a guide. Since the tenderloin is being cooked by both the hot air and the hot metal of the Dutch oven, it will cook quickly. Make frequent use of your meat thermometer.
After 7 minutes turn the tenderloin. Cook for another 7 minutes and check the temperature. 140 is fine.
Remove the roast from the Dutch oven and let the meat rest at least 5 minutes before slicing.
My First Concert
What I did on June 18, 1971
If you were not aware, I am an obsessive list maker. I have a list of every book I have read since the beginning of 2005. It actually went back further, but the prior list is on a dead Palm Treo 300 (millennials, look it up). I keep a Master List of long range (maybe some short) home projects. And of course, I have a complete database of all my comics, but that was created mainly with the object to sell them all.
Anyway, the other day I started thinking about resurrecting a list of all the concerts I had been to. In the old days (pre-internet), this was hard to do. If you didn’t have a ticket stub, the only way to get the dates right was to go through newspaper microfilm. Which, while cool in and of itself, was amazingly time consuming. With the internet, this is a lot easier. Granted, there is misinformation out there. I have personally corrected some concert information about Genesis on a dedicated website by supplying, you guessed it, microfilm newspaper images. But this blog entry is not about the entire list. In the first place, it’s not done yet. As I write this, I have only completed through October 1979 (which gets me to 23 concerts). No, this piece is about my very first concert.
On June 18, 1971, I joined a couple thousand like-minded music fans at Clowes Hall to see Spirit and Rastus. Spirit were on tour with their inarguable masterpiece “Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus”. The opening act, Rastus, were a regional horn band in the mold of Chicago or Tower of Power. Believe it or not, I went mainly because I wanted to see Rastus.
First, let me set the scene. In mid 60’s Indianapolis, the only decent “pop” station was WIFE (1310 on your AM dial). It was a Top 40 station, and was our only alternative. Then in 1968, along came WNAP (93.1 FM). “The wrath of the buzzard” was a revelation! In addition to being IN STEREO (assuming you had one), it played album oriented rock as well as the hits. This is where you could hear stuff by Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Van Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and even King Crimson! Heady days indeed. And for quite a while in my teens, they would play complete albums every night at midnight. A perfect opportunity to build a collection of badly home recorded cassettes (Kansas’ first album, Bowie’s “Diamond Dogs”, “Mysterious Traveler” by Weather Report, and of course the mind-blowing “Genesis Live”). But that’s a story for another time. Let’s get back to 1970-71, when I was in 8th grade.
There were a couple of my friends who were into music like me: Jim Gerrard, Jim Bracken, Chuck Madden, John Litel. We would talk about albums we liked and sometimes listen to each other's albums at the other’s houses. At some point during the school year, WNAP started playing “Warm” by Rastus, and I think it was Jim Gerrard who went out and got a copy of their album. Eventually, so did I. Our consensus was that Rastus was like Chicago, only cooler. Because what you like is cooler than what the mainstream thinks. That’s the way it works.
Rastus was a really tight horn band formed in Cleveland in the late 60s. They played frequently in Chicago, Milwaukee, Cleveland, and thereabouts. Their first album was actually recorded in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Well, the studio tracks, at least. Because, of course, the album had two sides of live music, too. I did not know it at the time, but almost all of the songs they played were covers. Of course, I had not heard many of the originals. Even though Keef Hartley played Woodstock, he didn’t allow the band to be recorded. So Rastus’ “Sinnin’ for You” is the first version of the song I ever heard. Same thing for their killer version of Brian Auger’s “Black Cat”. And so on. Regardless, I loved this album and played it to death.
At some point, I learned on WNAP that Rastus was going to perform in Indianapolis, opening for Spirit at Clowes Hall. Clowes Hall! I can walk there from my house! So once I had accumulated the appropriate amount ($5, $6?), I walked over to the box office and bought a ticket.
So on that Friday evening in June, I walked the two or three blocks to Clowes, settled into my balcony seat and waited for the show. Rastus were everything I had hoped for. What a show! Then came Spirit. Although I acknowledge it today as a masterpiece, back then the only song I had heard off of “Twelve Dreams” was “Nature’s Way”, which I did like quite a bit. I just hadn’t heard any of their other songs and didn’t know what to expect. I certainly thought the bald drummer was interesting. But then I was confronted with the scourge of 1970’s rock concerts: the interminable drum solo. I couldn’t stand it. I got up and walked around the concourse. Eventually the show ended, rather forgettably, I am sorry to say, and I walked home. End of story. Or maybe not.
Many years later, we used to have a party game/conversation starter where everyone would say what their first concert was. By this point, “Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus” had developed an almost legendary reputation. When my turn came, I would get a lot of credit from others for having seen Spirit on that tour. I would usually (usually) admit that I was not as cool as they thought, and that I actually went to the concert to see the opening act. By the way, this is not the only time that happened, but we’ll leave that for another time.
Oh, and for the music historians out there, this was the same night that Carole King played her first ever concert in front of an audience, at Carnegie Hall of all places! Now that would have been a cool first concert. But still…
If I can figure out how to accept comments, let me know what your first concert was.
Force of Mortality - Joe Pearson
The first paragraph of an unfinished novel. Copyright 2020 by Joe Pearson.
Chapter One
Michael Cooper was a killer, and he was good at it, enough so that he had made it his living. Born Mikhail Bondarev in Odessa, Ukraine to ethnic Russian parents, he discovered his calling early. As a teen, Mikhail became engaged with the street gangs and the distribution of drugs. When someone from a rival gang required elimination, it was Mikhail that got called upon. Word spread of his efficiency, and he soon got called up to the big leagues, working for the mobsters that managed the narcotic smuggling in that large port city on the Black Sea. In time, he sought better opportunities and greater potential, and like millions of immigrants before him, looked toward America. “In New York you can be a new man.” After plying his trade for the Russian Mafia for a time, Mikhail was determined to branch out and offer his services to a wider audience. So he changed his name to its American counterpart, Michael Cooper, and set out to make his fortune killing people. Now, it wasn’t like he enjoyed killing, it was just that it didn’t really bother him at all. Everybody has to die eventually, he thought, why not now? And if somebody got paid to facilitate a death, where’s the harm in that?
But What If We’re Wrong - Chuck Klosterman
Klosterman has written a compelling and entertaining book that seeks to answer unanswerable questions.
What a wild book! The subtitle is “Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past”. Klosterman has really matured as a writer. His first book, “Fargo Rock City” is about metal music and growing up in a small town in North Dakota. This one is a pretty deep dive into a lot of unanswerable questions, some of which are truly disconcerting. Some are interestingly trivial.
In one essay, Klosterman questions who far future generations will associate with “rock and roll”, like we almost exclusively associate march music with John Phillip Sousa. Dylan? Elvis? Chuck Berry? It’s an interesting topic, covered possibly exhaustively.
One of the disconcerting ones is his consideration of the “simulation hypothesis”, which suggests we are only self-aware computer simulations in a program developed by a far future computer programmer. The arguments put forth by the main supporter of this thesis, Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom, are surprisingly, and discomfitingly, compelling. For the record, I believe I am real, but reading this section made me a little queasy.
Regardless, the depth of thought Klosterman has given to this wide range of topics is truly impressive. And yet, he retains the humor and occasional pop culture references (a lot of which reference the music of the 80’s and 90’s, since he was a music writer) of his other work. Fun read.
Oh, and the upside down title is not a mistake.
Joe’s Famous Ham & Beans
Old fashioned comfort food, ham and beans are the way to go.
This is a very simple recipe. Long ago, I switched to the quick soak method and have never looked back. Good luck finding dry beans right now, though.
Ingredients
1 16 oz package dry Great Northern Beans
6 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
¼ tsp minced garlic
2 tsp parsley flakes
3 Tbsp dried minced onion (or ½ cup chopped fresh onion)
Dash of cayenne pepper
1 12 oz package ham steaks cubed
Chopped onion for garnish
Shredded parmesan or cheddar for garnish
Hot sauce if you like it
Preparation
Pick through beans and rinse well
Put beans, chicken broth, minced onion, garlic, bay leaf, parsley and cayenne in large pan
Bring to a boil
Boil covered 2 minutes
Remove from heat.
Let stand at least an hour (hour and a half would be better) covered.
Return to heat. Add the cubed ham.
Simmer for about an hour or until beans are tender.
Serve with diced onion, shredded cheese and hot sauce as desired.
Goes really good with fresh cornbread or jalapeno cheddar biscuits (as pictured)
Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts - Kate Racculia
Funny, suspenseful, and touching, “Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts” ticks all the boxes. Read it now.
Delightful novel that sure turned out to be more than I expected or bargained for. I had to give a lot of thought about how to review it.
Tuesday Mooney is a goth loner who works as a prospect researcher on a hospital fundraising team. At one of the hospital’s fundraising events, eccentric millionaire Vincent Pryce (with a “y”) keels over dead. In his will, he leaves a chunk of his fortune to anyone who can play his game and solve his puzzle. Tuesday sets out on the treasure hunt with the motliest of crews: Dorry, her teenage neighbor and goth-in-training; Dex, her best friend and karaoke aficionado; and Nathaniel Arches, himself a mysterious millionaire who knew the deceased well. While this is a common enough theme in fiction (“The Westing Game”, “Ready Player One”, etc.), I have never seen it executed with such style and character.
But the novel is so much more than an entertaining adventure. It is also a mystery (several actually), a love letter to Boston (and Edgar Allan Poe), and an exploration of friendship, grief, and family. And it is about hope and joy. And the characters are not the cardboard cutouts they could become under less skilled hands. Tuesday is more than just the creepy tall girl who likes “The X-Files”. She still carries a deep sorrow from the disappearance of her best friend Abby when she was a teen. Dex is more than just the gay best friend. He is a financier who feels maybe he has lost his way. And Dorry is more than just the plucky teen next door. She worries about how her father is coping with the death of her mother, just as she herself is struggling with it.
Funny, suspenseful, and touching, “Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts” ticks all the boxes. Read it now.
The Three Body Problem - Cixin Liu
Just a mind boggling hard science fiction novel from Chinese author Cixin Liu. Originally published in China in 2008, the English translation was released in 2014 and subsequently won the Hugo Award and was nominated for the Nebula Award.
Just a mind boggling hard science fiction novel from Chinese author Cixin Liu. Originally published in China in 2008, the English translation was released in 2014 and subsequently won the Hugo Award and was nominated for the Nebula Award.
The story opens during the Cultural Revolution in 1967, as astrophysics student Ye Wenjie watches as Red Guards beat her professor father to death. Ye is then sent to what is effectively a forced labor camp in Mongolia. She is eventually selected to work at a mysterious mountaintop antenna facility. The story then jumps to the present day (actually the near future from the book’s point of view) and takes up with Wang Miao, a nano-tech researcher. There appears to be a struggle between pro and anti science forces that is going on behind the scenes. There is also a weird, immersive video game called “Three Body” which takes the player to a world in a system with three stars, whose orbits seem impossible to predict (the so-called three-body problem), resulting in catastrophic changes in worldly conditions. Roughly halfway through the book, you learn what it all is really about.
I have to say it is not an easy read. Several reviewers have mentioned echoes of Arthur C. Clarke. The author himself has admitted he was greatly influenced by Clarke. Like Clarke, events tend to matter more than characters, and the characters don’t always ring true. And the science is impressive. There is even a long section about unfolding the higher dimensionality of matter that is straight out of string theory. Mind blowing. My final verdict, though, is this. There are two more books in the series. I don’t plan to read them.
Mount St. Helens and the Drive of a Lifetime
In the spring of 1980, I decided to drive to Portland, Oregon to visit my eldest brother and his family.
What I didn’t know was that Mount St. Helens was also planning something special.
In the spring of 1980, I decided to drive to Portland, Oregon to visit my eldest brother and his family.
I left Indianapolis on a cloudy May morning in my 1979 Triumph Spitfire. As usual, my companion on this trip was my car stereo. It had a decent radio and a nice cassette player. I had added after-market speakers so I could make it loud. It would strain the limits of credulity to suggest I could remember all the cassettes I took on the trip, but I do remember “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll” by the Stones, and “In a Glass House” by Gentle Giant (which is a prog classic, believe me). I headed up and around Chicago, and then west on I-90.
On the morning of May 18, 1980, the radio told of a major eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state. This had been expected for some time, since St. Helens had been noticeably active and threatening since mid-March. Now, the big deal for someone driving west (e.g. me) was the eastbound ash cloud. Mount St. Helens blasted ash up to 12 miles into the air and kept pumping away for hours.
Driving through South Dakota and into Wyoming, I saw no sign of the event. In Wyoming, I-90 turns north into Montana, and this is where things started to get dicey. The further west I went, the worse the ash and visibility became. Eventually, the interstate was closed in Missoula, the home of Montana State University. I pulled into a gas station parking lot just off the exit ramp, tied a washcloth over my face, and slept in the car. Sleeping in the car was not unusual for me in those days, since I was an immortal twenty-something.
When day came, it was like a dense fog. You could drive on the surface streets, but you had to drive very slowly to keep from stirring up the ash on the ground, of which there was quite a bit. Everything I'd heard on the radio that morning said to go south. Of course there was no Google Maps back then, but there definitely were paper ones, and I was a map nut. I still have a long document box filled with them. I discovered that US-12 lead out of Missoula going south. At Lolo, Montana, seemingly beyond the ash flow, I could either continue south on US-93, or turn west and stay on US-12, which appeared to be open. It was the first east-west corridor that I came across that was not closed. There was a chance I would be stymied further down the road, but I decided to chance it. And I'm glad I did!
US-12 from Lolo to Lewiston, Idaho is possibly the most beautiful and scenic drive I have ever made. According to some on the internet these days, it possibly the most beautiful and scenic drive period. There are lots of YouTube videos of motorcyclists making the drive. It also has a significant history, but I didn't know that at the time. Lolo Pass is the route that Lewis and Clark took to get through the Rockies heading west. So there's that.
The drive climbs up through the majestic Nes Perce Clearwater National Forest, then down along the banks of the Lochsa and Clearwater Rivers. This is a fabulous drive, especially in a little sports car with the top down. It constantly winds along the bends of the rivers and is just an absolute blast. If you like driving at all, this is a bucket list drive.
Old Guy Radio for May 2020 - Home
First off, a short explanation. I have been a fan of Tony Kornheiser for years, i.e. I am a “little”. In his old radio show, Tony used to have a segment called Old Guy Radio, in which they played a song that was in Tony’s wheelhouse (think 1960’s), and Tony would tell a story about the band or his personal life as related to the song or the band.
About eight years ago, I adopted the “Old Guy Radio” tag when I started doing playlists for coworkers. The original intent was to learn up the whippersnappers. I still carry on creating monthly playlists, even in retirement. Whenever possible, I try to recreate these lists in Spotify. My profile name on Spotify is pearsons3and2. Anyway, over the next few weeks, I will archive all those playlist writeups here. So the main blog page will get kind of cluttered with them. Sorry, not sorry. And here it is…
Wow. What a time. I don’t know about you, but music has always been a great refuge for me (That and reruns of “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives”). Since we are all stuck at home (my every other weekly trip to the grocery store is nerve wracking), this list is all about home. It is kind of interesting that most songs about home are about a longing to get back there. I’ll just leave that out there. Anyway, there are over a hundred songs in my library with the word “home” in the title, so the difficulty here was trimming the list down. The primary dilemma for me was how many weird prog songs I could include without alienating my entire audience, presuming I haven’t already done so.
Among the excluded are Ten Years After’s interminable “I’m Going Home” from Woodstock (you’re welcome), Ozzy’s “Mama, I’m Coming Home”, “Home by the Sea” by Genesis, Sonny Boy Williamson (or LZ) with “Bring it On Home”, etc., so on, and so forth.
Home - Jethro Tull. Yes, leading off two playlists in a row with Jethro Tull.
Baby Let Me Take You Home - The Animals. The very first single for the bluesy pop combo from Newcastle, ‘way back in 1964.
Every Home is Wired - Porcupine Tree. Or wireless, as the case may be. Of course, this was written in ‘95 or ‘96, basically pre-dating wi-fi. And it is a good thing every home is wired. Just think if this pandemic hit in the 80’s. You’d still be going into the office every day!
Going Home (Where Women Got Meat on Their Bones) - Son Seals. Not making a sly reference to the so-called “quarantine fifteen”. No sir. Personally, I’m losing weight because of stress. Anyway, Son Seals was a blues singer and guitar player from a small town in Arkansas. In 1971, he moved to Chicago and signed with Alligator Records, the nascent independent blues label based there. His album “The Son Seals Blues Band” was the third ever album released by the label. This one is from his 1984 album “Bad Axe”.
Happy Home - Paula Cole. Cole is probably best known for “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone” or “I Don’t Want to Wait”, which was the theme from “Dawson’s Creek”. She got her first big break when asked to join Peter Gabriel for the “Secret World” tour. This track is from her first album “Harbinger”, which was released soon after the Gabriel tour.
Here at the Home - Tribe. Tribe were an alternative rock band from Boston. I was first exposed to them as the opening band for the Psychedelic Furs at the Vogue in 1991. I thought they blew the headliner out of the water. I really loved the harmonies of the male and female voices.
Home - Los Lonely Boys. Just a nice cut from the three Garza brothers. “I’ll never want to leave”. Good thing.
Home Again - Oingo Boingo. Where are we going? Home again. Yup. Always love a little Oingo Boingo. Band leader Danny Elfman went on to score movies (basically anything directed by Tim Burton) and write the Simpsons’ theme song.
Home Again - John Mayall. From the British blues legend’s 1971 “Back to the Roots” album. Mayall gathered together as many Bluesbreaker alums as he could find to record this album. For instance, Eric Clapton plays lead guitar on at least half the tracks, this one included. A little research (archived liner notes, odd Facebook posts, a couple Wikipedia pages) reveal that “Nancy” is Nancy Throckmorton, Mayall’s girlfriend at the time.
Home at Last - Steely Dan. I’d say this track is about Odysseus, especially with the reference to retsina, which is a Greek wine that has been around for millenia. From their album “Aja”, which retains its greatness after forty plus years.
If You’re Scared, Stay Home! - Stuart Hamm. Even if you’re not scared. Especially if you’re not scared. Hamm is an accomplished bass player who has released several solo albums, as well as playing on albums by guitar greats Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. I’m not a professional sound engineer, but I did edit out an embarrassingly bad section of rap in this one. I think I did a decent job. If you think you know where it is, email me. BTW, one of the voices is Tommy Lee, although he does not provide the drums on the track.
In Every Dream Home a Heartache - Roxy Music. Included because it is sooo weird. The first two Roxy Music albums were really quite odd, probably because Brian Eno was still in the band. Thereafter, they discovered a more art/glam sensibility, almost certainly due to the influence of singer Bryan Ferry. Yes the lyrics are as strange as they seem. Nice guitar outro though.
On the Way Home - CSNY. This is actually a song Neil Young wrote for Buffalo Springfield, the band he and Stephen Stills were in from 1966 to ‘68. The original was actually sung by Richie Furay (later to found the band Poco) rather than Young, and I kind of think it sucks. So you get the nice acoustic version from “Four Way Street”.
Please Come Home - Camel. From their 1981 album “Nude”, which tells the true story of Hirō "Hiroo" Onoda, a Japanese soldier who hid out in the Philippine jungle after the war, not believing the war had ended, and did not surrender until 1974. Yes, you read that right.
Take Me Home - Phil Collins. With background vocals by Sting and Peter Gabriel. The video was kind of cute, filmed all over the world while Collins was on the “No Jacket Required” tour. If you don’t like Collins, that’s fine. There’s a lot to not like, but he was a great drummer (emphasis on “was”: he has nerve damage and can’t drum anymore) and could write a fine pop song.
The Way Back Home - Kevin Gilbert. From Gilbert’s posthumously released concept album “The Shaming of the True”, which relates the tale of the rise and fall of singer Johnny Virgil. Gilbert had previously recorded a version of this song with his band Giraffe, but I like this one better.
This is Home - Switchfoot. Originally recorded for the end credits of “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”, this became a pretty popular hit for Switchfoot. Young Faith Pearson liked the song enough that it got purchased from iTunes and ended up in the Pearson Library. And it seems as good a place to end this list as any.
Take care of each other. Be kind. Take time for self care. And for heaven’s sake, STAY OUT OF MY SPACE!!!
Courage!
OG
Chicken, Italian Sausage, and Rice Soup
There will not be some twenty paragraph blog about how I learned this from my grandmother. The only grandmother I knew put green olives in meatloaf. I rest my case.
Ingredients
2 Italian sausage links, hot or mild, sliced (hot is better)
2 skinless boneless chicken thighs
4 cups low sodium chicken broth (divided)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
½ cup of rice
1 can cannellini beans with liquid
1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed
Shredded parmesan
Process
Sausage links are easier to slice (and/or peel if you prefer) if they are frozen or particularly cold.
As for the spinach, if you cannot find a large bag of loose chopped spinach, you can use a large butcher knife to cut a frozen package into quarters. The remaining pieces can be bagged and put back in the freezer.
Cook the sausage slices in a saucepan large enough to hold all the ingredients. You may want to add a splash of olive oil. Remove the cooked sausage slices.
Brown the chicken thighs in the remaining oil. A minute and a half per side.
Add 3 cups of chicken broth and the cream of chicken soup. Add the herbs. (I have use dried, but if you like fresh better, go ahead. Can’t translate amounts, sorry.)
Blend it all together. It might be easier to remove the thighs, but I make do without removing them.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 15 minutes or until thighs are done.
In a separate small saucepan, combine the rice and the other cup of chicken broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer covered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes.
When thighs are done, remove them to cool, then cube or shred.
Add everything (chicken, sausage, beans, rice, spinach) back into the pot. Simmer for a few minutes so everything is heated through and the flavors have melded.
Serve with shredded parmesan (optional) and/or croutons.
Declare - Tim Powers
This book is fantastic! It’s as if John le Carré wrote a fantasy espionage novel. Wow! Powers (author of “Anubis Gates”, which is also delightful) has crafted an ingenious “secret history”. He intermixes real people and real events to craft an amazing story about what “really” happened in the struggle between East and West in the 40s, 50s and 60s. This novel is really fascinating. The present in the story is 1963, as our main character is summoned back to the British Secret Service to complete a mission that ended in disaster in 1948. Sections of the novel are set in 1941 Paris during the occupation, 1945 Berlin just after the end of the war, 1948 Eastern Turkey, and of course the “present day” action in 1963, which mostly takes place in the Middle East. Very Le Carré-esque, but le Carré never wrote about dark desert springs that talk, among other fantastic elements. It’s a spy story, it’s a fantasy story, it’s alternate history, it’s a romance.
One thing I thought was particularly impressive was Powers’ ability to include real events and real people into this wondrous jigsaw puzzle of an alternate history. References are made to notorious double agent Kim Philby, his father and noted “Arabist” St. John Philby, lapsed priest and Soviet spy Theodore Maly, T. E. Lawrence (of course), Philby’s recruiter and handler Guy Burgess, and many more. Powers even manages to weave in the historical fact that Kim Philby had a head injury in Beirut during 1963. Just mind-bogglingly well researched.
Fun side note: As you know, I am very willing to “suspend disbelief”. But there was one anachronism early on in the book that just pulled me up short. In a passage set in London in 1963, one character mentions an audience with Pope Pius XII that happened only weeks ago. Pius XII was long dead in 1963. Why this bugged me when other obviously fantastical elements did not, is a mystery. Perhaps it was because the other historical references were otherwise impeccably researched.
So I wrote the author. In part, I asked whether it was an intentionally sly wink to those paying attention that the supernatural was going to play a larger part in the narrative going forward, as in an audience with a dead Pope. Powers wrote back! He said it was just a mistake, and said he was surprised I was the first person to notice, almost 20 years after the book was published. He said he did like my idea of an audience with a dead Pope, though! Affirmation, baby!
I think I am going to read a lot more Powers.
Look Ma, I Made a Website!
Welcome to the Monkey House
Welcome to Joe’s Blog and Grille, your one-stop shop for all the stupid stuff rattling around in my brain. There will be stories from my life, thoughts about music (and playlists!), book reports, the occasional recipe, and maybe, just maybe, a rare editorial.
If I have to be honest (actually, I don’t), I must say that at this point, the writing is easier than the website design. Being a complete amateur doesn’t help, but at least it explains why it is so amateurish. Oh well.
Courage!