I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".
OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.
CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM, our Laramie, Wyoming-based friend Irish Patti and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES — an exhibition entitled The Lure of Dresden: Bellotto at the Court of Saxony concludes at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas on April 29th.
At Fort Worth, Texas to April 29thAS WE HAVE SEEN in recent years: both government austerity and the desire for replacing that funding with wealthy donors has led to some tense situations (such as with the Kochs and the Sackler family).
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Barley the Cat— a Florida kitteh who went missing eight years ago but was reunited with her family (due to her microchip) from Ohio.
Barley the CatADDING INSULT to INJURY for voters in the Netherlands is the rise of yet another right-wing party, whose more youthful leader (anti-EU, climate change denial) has set his sights on reducing the 63% trust level in government held by its citizens — the highest in Europe.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Tuckles the Cat— a Connecticut kitteh who goes out for the day and makes friends in the neighborhood.
Tuckles the CatBRAIN TEASER - try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC.
TV NOTES — the first episode of the new re-boot of The Twilight Zone— with Jordan Peele as executive producer — is available for free on YouTube, with subsequent episodes coming out weekly on CBS All Access online streaming. You can sign-up for a one-week free trial, so you can binge-watch a bit later on.
Last week, CBS Sunday Morning had a story on the new show, with Rod Serling’s daughter delighted with the approach that Peele is taking. I’m unsure that a one-hour version is best, but it was a nice first try.
SEPARATED at BIRTH — Jared Bowen, a public TV host in Boston and Ben Shapiro, the AOC-crazed editor of the Daily Wire.
Jared Bowen — WGBH host Ben Shapiro (born 1984)...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… one of those guitarists who are well-known in the musical community (yet not well-known to the general public is the English-born player Albert Lee— not to be confused with the late Ten Years After blues player Alvin Lee. He has lived in the US since 1974 and has been both an in-demand session player as well as a musical director to the stars, and his story deserves to be told.
Born to a Romani family in the West Midlands of England, he fell in love with the early rock stars … especially those with a country music background. He started playing professionally in his teens at the dawn of the 1960’s, backing-up several different R&B bands. Just as the bassist Timothy Schmit twice succeeded Randy Meisner on bass (in Poco, then later in the Eagles), Albert Lee twice replaced Jimmy Page (in the bands of Mike Hurst and later Neil Christian) in the early 60’s.
In 1964 Lee joined Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds, one of Britain’s lesser-known R&B bands overseas (yet quite successful domestically). Leaving in 1968, he began to feel his roots in more of a country-rock direction (rather than the blues path followed by most of his peers) and played in back-up bands for visiting US country stars, such as Skeeter Davis and Bobby Bare.
In 1969 he co-founded Head, Hands & Feet— with country influences in a rock format (not unlike the Flying Burrito Brothers or the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band). They achieved critical success, but not commercial success, and split in 1973.
He moved to Los Angeles in 1974, and did session work for Don Everly, before joining his countryman Joe Cocker’s touring band. The following year, Emmylou Harris needed a name band in order to gain a major record label contract — and recruited several members of Elvis Presley’s band to form her Hot Band. He later spent five years as a second guitarist in Eric Clapton’s bands, and has issued solo albums over the years that have not been big-sellers, but helped establish his musical legend. His song Country Boy was later a hit for Ricky Skaggs.
Perhaps his most notable stint as a musical director was for the 1983 Everly Brothers reunion tour, which debuted at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Albert Lee worked on-and-off with the two brothers separately until 2010.
He developed his style as a fast-picker, garnering the nickname “Mr. Telecaster”. He now plays his own signature Music Man guitar in shows, although he has a collection of over forty guitars, including Don Everly’s custom-made Gibson J-200. In recent years, he has had his own band, as well as touring with fellow bluegrass musician Gerry Hogan’s band Hogan’s Heroes. There is a 2003 compilation album of some of his best-known work, and is now on on a European tour through May.
And while relatively unknown in the general public, he has a pair of Grammys (in 2001 and 2008) for country instrumental performances, earned entrance into Guitar Player magazine’s Gallery of Greats by winning five country music guitar polls and in 2017 won a Trailblazer Award in his native Britain at the UK Americana Awards.
Perhaps the best tribute are the artists who asked him to record/tour with them. Besides the stars already mentioned, you can add: Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis, John Prine, Herbie Mann, Nanci Griffith, Dave Edmunds, Jackson Browne, Brad Paisley, Nicolette Larson, Roseanne Cash and jazz saxophonist Eddie Harris.
Today at age seventy-five, Eric Clapton considers him to be among the best guitarists alive and Emmylou Harris adds:
“His sound is unmistakable: often emulated ... never equalled. When St Peter asks me to chronicle the highlights of my time down here on earth, I'll be able to say (with pride if that's allowed) that for a while I played rhythm guitar in a band with Albert Lee."
Albert Lee (in the 1970’s) ... …. and during this decadeOf all of his work, I am still partial to two songs he did with Head, Hands and Feet from 1972 — 'Let's Get This Show On The Road' is from their 1972 second album.
x xYouTube VideoAnother song from Head, Hands & Feet has remained in his repertoire over the years .. and here is a 2010 live version in Britain of … Song & Dance.
x xYouTube Video