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 Designs for Different Futures— with eleven thematic sections from international designers and artists — will be at the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota through April 11, 2021.
YOUR WEEKEND READ #1 is this essay (h/t to Abbrev. Pundit review) of an African-American newspaper columnist turned author … on white readers upset with any writings on race … that did not blame blacks themselves.
TODAY is the 95th birthday of the former Republican US Senator and governor of the state of Washington, Dan Evans and — to show you how far the GOP has changed — he was a supporter of schools, a regional transportation system, the environment, Vietnam War refugees, helped to run the John Birch Society out of the GOP and unsuccessfully sought a state income tax. Unpossible today.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Cera the Cat— one of the kittehs who have been staying at the Auburn, Maine public library as a means to be adopted … while also providing a nice respite (for both patrons and staff) during the day.
YOUR WEEKEND READ #2 is this Mother Jones essay on how the broken unemployment system of Rick Scott leaves voters unable to vote against him (nor Ron DeSantis) this year … so they may have to take-it-out against someone else.
FRIDAY's CHILD boarded a high-speed train in north-west China…. and was promptly escorted off, (apparently) unwilling to pay the fare.
WRITING in Maclean’s magazine, Canadian native David Frum gives his readers a comprehensive look on a second DJT administration, concluding with: “It’s not only American democracy on the U.S. ballot in November. It’s yours, too.”
BRAIN TEASER— try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC ...… and the usually easier, less UK-centered New York Times quiz (w/one common question).
FATHER-SON?— CNN analyst Fareed Zakaria and music star Bruno Mars.
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… a band that had both talented musicians and a vision of widespread influences to result in “American Music” was the Electric Flag— yet was short-lived due to both the weight of all of its ambitions, plus substance abuse, limited songwriting and vocal ability. Yet as its members went on to future accomplishments, deserves not to be overlooked.
When ace guitarist Mike Bloomfield left the Butterfield Blues Band (BBB) in 1967, he had an idea for a band that pre-dated Blood, Sweat & Tears (as well as Chicago): a blues-based rock band that added soul and the psychedelia of the day, plus jazz influences with a horn section. To achieve this, he recruited his BBB colleague (and also native Chicagoan) Barry Goldberg (keyboards) as well as the New York session bassist Harvey Brooks (who had recorded with Bloomfield on Bob Dylan sessions).
While at an NYC concert showcase, Brooks had noticed Wilson Pickett fining his drummer $50 for missed cues and on a break convinced a nineteen year-old Buddy Miles to join the new band, where he would play a central role. They were unable to persuade Mitch Ryder (whom Bloomfield and Goldberg had done session work with) to join, and thus recruited another BBB colleague Nick “The Greek” Gravenites (the composer of the BBB’s hit “Born in Chicago”). They also added a horn section: Peter Strazza (tenor sax) and on the suggestion of jazz-rock pioneer Larry Coryell, trumpeter Marcus Doubleday.
They were also able to hire as their manager Albert Grossman (Bob Dylan, Peter Paul & Mary) and their first project was neither a tour nor their first album: instead, a soundtrack for a Roger Corman film (written by Jack Nicholson) called The Trip— where the original casting of Gram Parsons and his country-rock were deemed too weak for a film about LSD.
Their first show was auspicious: the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, where they were well-received (although fatefully were not included in the film version). They then began touring in earnest, yet were hampered by the lack of an album. This was finally resolved in March 1968 with the release of A Long Time Comin’— with mainly covers (as the band’s own songwriting ability was erratic) and the vocals by Gravenites not always strong enough.
Just weeks after its release, trouble started: the band’s creeping heroin problems began to mount, with Barry Goldberg leaving to seek treatment. He was replaced by the Canadian keyboardist Michael Fonfara (from David Clayton-Thomas’s band) who was later fired by Grossman after a drug bust. Then in June its founder Bloomfield left, due to heroin plus insomnia.
The rest soldiered on, with Buddy Miles becoming its leader (and a better vocalist than Gravenites). They recorded a second album, with a title hearkening back to Mike Bloomfield’s original vision, An American Music Band— but the band was spent and split-up. A reunion album in 1974 failed to gain traction and its final performance came in 2007 (a 40th anniversary show at Monterey) with Goldberg and Gravenites the only founding members to perform. Yet its members carried on, and here is a look at some of them.
Mike Bloomfield was part of the legendary Super Session album (with Stephen Stills and Al Kooper as its headliners) and also founded his own band. I had a chance to see him in the late 70’s and a chance to say a quick hello. He died in February, 1981 under mysterious circumstances at only age thirty-seven and was named by Rolling Stone as #42 on its 2015 list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists.
Harvey Brooks resumed his session work and appeared on recordings from musicians as diverse as Miles Davis, The Doors, John Sebastian, Seals & Crofts, Richie Havens and the aforementioned Super Sessions album. He relocated to Israel last decade and at age seventy-six just released his memoirs this year.
Buddy Miles also went on to a productive career, most notably in Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys from fifty years ago. He also performed with Carlos Santana, led his own bands and also sang lead vocals on the critically acclaimed "California Raisins" claymation TV commercials and recorded two California Raisins R&B albums. Buddy Miles died in 2008 at the age of sixty.
Barry Goldberg (who is the nephew of Supreme Court justice Arthur Goldberg) went on to a career of session work and producing (especially Percy Sledge). At age seventy-seven today: since 2012 he has been in a part-time band called The Rides— with Stephen Stills, guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Stevie Ray Vaughn’s drummer Chris Layton, and is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with his other Butterfield Blues Band mates.
Michael Fonfara joined the band Rhinoceros (with Mothers of Invention drummer Billy Mundi and Iron Butterfly guitarist Danny Weis) and toured with Lou Reed in the 1970’s, before resuming his career in his native Canada with the Downchild Blues Band where he remains today at age seventy-four.
Finally, Nick Gravenites has also had a long career (as a guitarist/vocalist), working with such bands as Quicksilver Messenger Service, Big Brother & the Holding Company (after Janis left), was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and at age eighty-two performs in California to this day.
I am fond of their song Over-Lovin’ You, written by the late Ron Polte— a native Chicagoan and friend of Nick Gravenites, who also migrated west, inspired the name Electric Flag and later became manager of both Quicksilver Messenger Service as well as the all-female band Ace of Cups— and was praised by Miles Davis in Down Beat magazine’s “Blindfold Test” in 1968. Below, it is sung at the Monterey Pop Festival by Buddy Miles.
What can I do to keep myself from over-lovin' you ? What can I do? I need you
When I'm with you I don't act the way I should Can't help myself ... baby, that's no good
Things I should be concealing I cannot hide I can't keep revealing when I'm not satisfied When I'm with you I act very strange Can't help myself, I'll never change Don't you know that true love is so hard to find? I need you, don't you know you mess up my mind?
I can't fight it Can't hide it I'm so excited