Former Socialist, Former Republican, Former Contributor to The American Spectator, Former Resident of Canada, Back in Boston Area After Stints in New York City & Atlanta, Current Mustache Wearer & Aficionado of Baseball, Bowling in All Its Forms, Cats, Music & Healthy Living
Cianna Navarro, a 21-year-old student at Suffolk University in Boston, is lucky to be alive. The ceiling panel in question weighed 25 pounds. Had she been there a split second earlier there's a good chance she wouldn't be here to tell her story.
I am shaken up because I frequently use Harvard station and have been up and down the steps where the panel fell hundreds of times. It could have been me to whom this happened and perhaps I wouldn't have been so lucky. But for the grace of G-d.....
But ceilings are hardly the only problem when it comes to the MBTA. At Porter Square, the escalator is a constant problem. At any given moment, at least one of them is being repaired. I fear the kind of accident which occurred at Back Bay station on the Orange Line in December 2021 happening at Porter, but only on a much larger scale as these escalators are the longest in the entire system.
If there is any public work which needs federal infrastructure spending it is the MBTA. We can't have corroded ceiling panels full of water randomly falling on unsuspecting passengers.
David Lindley, (pictured in the middle) guitarist and master of virtually all stringed instruments, died today following an undisclosed illness. He was 18 days shy of his 79th birthday.
Lindley had a long association with Jackson Browne playing on nearly all of his hits and notably sharing back up vocal duties with Rosemary Butler of Birtha fame on "Stay". He also either recorded or performed with the likes of America, The Youngbloods, Ry Cooder, Graham Nash, Linda Ronstadt, Rod Stewart, Joe Walsh, Warren Zevon, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Shawn Colvin, Rickie Lee Jones and Ben Harper.
However, Lindley would get his start with the psychedelic band Kaleidoscope which he formed with his future brother-in-law Chris Darrow who would later play with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Kaleidoscope's psychedelia had a strong Middle Eastern sound much of which was driven by Lindley. David Lindley was playing world music even before the term was invented. He did this by keeping his mind open. R.I.P.
It's the same dynamic with immigration at large. Some people illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border but most simply overstay their visas. But it is easier for right-wing media outlets to vilify racial minorities than it is to actually address the main source of the problem at hand because it generates more anger. And with more anger comes more money. Now that is no laughing matter.
Five years ago today, Fanny would release Fanny Walked The Earth on the independent label Blue Elan Records.
It would mark the first release of new Fanny material since Rock 'n Roll Survivors which had been released on Casablanca Records in 1974. This iteration of Fanny featured the all-Filipina trio of sisters June and Jean Millington and Brie Howard-Darling. The Millington sisters had been friends with Howard-Darling (originally known as Brie Berry) since they were teenagers in Sacramento, California.
For a time, Berry was the drummer for The Svelts, the first band formed by the Millington sisters before she left to give birth to her daughter. After the formation of Fanny, she would be known as Brie Brandt and briefly returned to the fold. However, Fanny manager Roy Silver and producer Richard Perry wanted Fanny to be female Beatles which left Brandt the odd woman out. Following the departure of both June Millington and drummer Alice de Buhr, she formally joined the group and by this time was known as Brie Howard and appeared on the aforementioned Rock 'n Roll Survivors album. Fanny Walked The Earth marked the first time Howard-Darling would appear on the same album with June Millington.
Produced by Dave Darling (Brie's husband), Fanny Walked The Earth provides nods to the past but very much looks to the future ahead. Unfortunately, shortly before the release of Fanny Walked The Earth, Jean Millington would suffer a severe stroke rendering her unable to play bass and shelving any plans to tour in support of the album. Fortunately, the making of Fanny Walked The Earth would get some measure of attention in Bobbie Jo Hart's documentary Fanny: The Right to Rock.
Fanny Walked The Earth begins with a fiery vocal by Howard-Darling on "Lured Away" followed by the feminist anthem "When We Need Her" co-written by the Darlings. "When We Need Her" features backup vocals of onetime Fanny member and Pleasure Seekers founder Patti Quatro, Cherie Currie of The Runaways, Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go's and a trio of Bangles (Susannah Hoffs and the Peterson sisters - Debbi and Vicki).
"Walk The Earth" was co-written by the Millington sisters and Howard-Darling and features a drum duo between Howard-Darling and original Fanny drummer Alice de Buhr. For good measure, Wendy Haas-Mull, a onetime member of The Svelts and the short-lived L.A. All-Stars, chimes in on the Hammond B3 organ.
Then comes a triad of June Millington compositions - "Girls on The Road", "One" and "It Happened Here". "Girls on the Road" picks up where "Walk The Earth" leaves off focusing on the history (or should I say herstory) of The Svelts, Wild Honey and Fanny. "One" demonstrates the one is in fact, contrary to Nilsson's assertion, not the loneliest number. "It Happened Here" has the distinction of supplanting "What's Wrong With Me" (from Fanny's second album Charity Ball) as the shortest song in the Fanny canon at 1:40.
"Not My Monkey" co-written by the Millington sisters and Howard-Darling complete with a spoken word intro by June, is probably the catchiest song on Fanny Walked The Earth. Howard-Darling follows with the breezy, laid back "Cool Girl". "What Are You Waiting For" is another composition written by all three members, but this time Jean takes the lead vocal. Her syncopated delivery makes "What Are You Waiting For" my favorite song on Fanny Walked The Earth.
June's fourth and final solo composition on Fanny Walked The Earth is the gritty "Storm-Crossed". I will forever remember "Storm-Crossed" because this was the song June was rehearsing when I entered her home to celebrate my 50th birthday last September. Fanny Walked The Earth closes with an introspective ballad "Love Farmers" co-written by the Darlings.
Fanny Walked The Earth stacks up well with Fanny's five other albums. The one drawback I find with Fanny Walked The Earth is the same that I find with most Fanny albums - June Millington's lead guitar is watered down in the mix. I am puzzled as to why Richard Perry, Todd Rundgren and Dave Darling all saw fit to do so and believe it to be one of the great mysteries of life. There ought to be an 11th Commandment - Thou Shalt Turn Up June Millington's Guitar to 11. It is one of the reasons why I wish there had been a live Fanny album released by Reprise Records. Fanny is one of those rare bands that sounds at its best live as amply demonstrated by the Beat Club footage and June's full-throttled guitar is key to that sound.
This critique notwithstanding, Fanny Walked The Earth could have very well been the start of something. We'll never truly know, but if Jean Millington hadn't suffered a stroke, then I suspect there would have been one, perhaps two more Fanny albums added to the canon along with several tours gaining them a bigger following. As much renewed interest as there has been in Fanny over the past several years, there remains a very big "what if?"
Yet I must emphasize that Fanny Walked The Earth is a more than worthy album in its own right. Fanny Walked The Earth not only proved Fanny hadn't lost a step but that they had never stopped moving.
It has been a very long day for me. I had to rise at 4 a.m. to prepare myself for jury duty.
The reason I had to get up so early is by virtue of living in Cambridge. You see while Boston is in Suffolk County, Cambridge is in Middlesex County. Had I still lived in Boston it would have been simply a question of going downtown. But because I live in Cambridge, I had to report for jury duty in Lowell, Massachusetts.
I first became aware of Lowell, Massachusetts in the late 1980's when I read Jack Kerouac's On The Road as Lowell was Kerouac's birthplace. Little did I know I would one day have to go up there to perform jury duty.
I've been to Lowell several times. Once to see a Lowell Spinner minor league baseball game in 2001. Four years later, I saw America in concert up there for the very first time and got to meet both Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell following the concert (but that is another story for another day). The last time I was in Lowell was this past July to see Fanny: The Right to Rock with my friend Don Hammontree.
Needless to say, today's journey wasn't one of reverie. I had to catch the 5:47 a.m. commuter rail train to North Station. Complicating matters was heavy rain and darkness. With seconds to spare and out of breath, I made my train.
Upon arriving at North Station, I immediately made a rush for the 6:10 train to Lowell. When I arrived in Lowell just after 7 a.m. it was light out but still raining. Fortunately, my recent trip to Lowell last summer made it relatively easy to find the courthouse. I was the first person to arrive. But that was the problem - the courthouse was closed.
Fortunately, I did not have to wait long. A security guard who was reporting to work let me in through the metal detectors. Glad I was the only one there because I was wearing several layers and had a lot in my pockets. From there, it was smooth sailing. The court officer who handled the jury pool was very professional. He had an ample supply of water and encouraged us to use the facilities.
This was as far removed from my experience with jury duty in New York City back in October 2019. Let's just say I was not the first to arrive and that the court officers and staff were quite sullen and abrasive as they advised us that we went to the bathroom at our own risk.
The only complaint I have is how they kept emphasizing that people who had served on a jury before said they would gladly do it again. If you are summoned for jury duty you are obliged to go or be at risk of criminal sanctions. The people who said this on the video we were shown were not very convincing.
But I must emphasize this is a minor complaint the grand scheme of things.
Unlike my previous jury duty experiences in Boston and New York, today I never saw the inside of a court room. Although there were a dozen cases pending all of them were settled without trial. After nearly five hours in the jury pool, we were dismissed and thanked for our service.
I would have to spend another hour in Lowell before I caught the train back home. Unfortunately, Lowell has seen better times. The courthouse is only steps away from skid row and I can scarcely imagine what it would be like at night.
Notwithstanding Lowell's bleak atmosphere, if and when I am summoned for jury duty again, I would much rather do so in Lowell, Massachusetts than in New York City. The verdict is unanimous.
Jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter passed away today at the age of 89.
Shorter must be considered among the most important figures in American jazz of the past 60 years. He was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers eventually becoming the group's primary composer before joining Miles Davis Second Great Quintet along with pianist Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams on drums. Shorter also collaborated with Davis on his jazz fusion albums In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew. He would then further explore jazz fusion was a co-founding member of The Weather Report along with fellow Davis collaborator, keyboardist Joe Zawinul. Shorter was also an accomplished bandleader in his own right while working as a frequent collaborator with Joni Mitchell.
Earlier this year, Shorter was bestowed with his 12th Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo on "Endangered Species" on the album Live at the Detroit Jazz Festival which was released last year. I leave you with Shorter accepting his 2019 Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album with Emanon. R.I.P.
It would only be a slight exaggeration to say I have been listening to Dark Side of the Moon my entire life. The album was released less than six months after I was born. My first conscious memories of Dark Side of the Moon would probably have been in 1976 before the birth of my sister.
First among those memories was that our family's copy of Dark Side of the Moon was on 8-track tape. Thus, it probably wasn't until I was about 13-years old that there wasn't a break in the middle of "Time" as it changed tracks with that distinctive double click to get to David Gilmour's guitar solo.
Dark Side of the Moon also represents the first time I ever heard the word bullshit.
While Dark Side of the Moon is best heard in its entirety, the one song which stands out for me is "The Great Gig in The Sky" with its wordless vocals. Yet Clare Torrey's anguish could be understood in any language. For some reason, I remember my dad being of the opinion that it was a man who sang Torrey's part. While there are men who can sing at very high octaves, to my young ears the voice sounded female. My ears have rarely failed me since.
In the five decades which have followed, I have learned a great more about who and what was involved in making the album. Through legal action, Clare Torrey would eventually share songwriting credit with Rick Wright on "The Great Gig in the Sky." Alan Parsons was the recording engineer on Dark Side of the Moon and while David Gilmour and Roger Waters have occasionally tried to minimize Parsons' contributions, it was he who separated Dark Side of the Moon from the rest of Pink Floyd's great catalogue through its space-like sound. After all, it was Parsons who suggested Torrey sing on "The Great Gig in the Sky".
Then there is the question of Roger Waters who wrote the lyrics for Dark Side of the Moon and much of the music. Waters is living proof that one can be a musical genius and a perfectly awful human being full of bigotry and malice. In Waters' case, he directs his bigotry and malice towards Jews. Indeed, just yesterday, the city of Frankfurt saw fit to cancel Waters' performance because of his history of anti-Semitism.
From where I sit, I am content to listen to Dark Side of the Moon and other Pink Floyd albums. I certainly don't need to see him Waters in concert, nor do I need to hear his forthcoming re-recording of Dark Side of the Moonwithout the knowledge of either Gilmour or Nick Mason. It would be like Leonardo da Vinci repainting the Mona Lisa or William Shakespeare rewriting Romeo & Juliet.
Dark Side of the Moon stands on its own and will continue to stand on its own. There is no need for improvement because there is no way to improve upon perfection. Just listen for yourself. Then again you probably already have. But why not listen once more?
