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 Cézanne— the first major retrospective of his work in more than twenty-five years (including more rarely seen works from public and private collections all over the world) — will open at the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois beginning on May 15th (and ending September 5th).
YOUR WEEKEND READ #1 is this American Prospect essay on how some residents of rural, conservative Wyoming — who were tired of for-profit hospitals short-changing their needs (with chronically underpaid staff) — have started their own small community hospital, on a plot of land donated by one of two Native American tribes, comprising nearly a quarter of the county’s population.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Buddy the Cat— a Philadelphia neighborhood kitteh who wasn’t expected to survive his injuries suffered (after two boys set their dogs on him) — but recover he has, drawing donations from around the world, is currently being fostered and nearly ready for adoption.
THE BBC has a feature on Bolivia’s Camino de la Muerte (Death Road) — with parts of the highway only 10 feet wide plus a series of sharp turns, blind corners and mini waterfalls, the Inter-American Development Bank described it as "the world's most dangerous road".
YOUR WEEKEND READ #2 is this essay by the former Labor Secretary Robert Reich on the separation of red and blue states— and what lies ahead.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Ritz the Cat— who went missing from his Delaware home sixteen years ago, lived on the streets then suffered injuries … yet has now been reunited with his family due to his microchip.
BRAIN TEASER— try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC ...… and the usually easier, less UK-centered New York Times quiz.
THE OTHER NIGHT yours truly hosted the Top Comments diary with an Open Thread plus— including suggesting two Twitter accounts to follow on Ukraine.
SEPARATED at BIRTH (well, sorta)— Don Jr. and Tucker Swanson Carlson.
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… though it was (understandably) overshadowed by the forthcoming SCOTUS decision … this week marks the 52nd anniversary of the Kent State shootings ... and a look at the hit single that it generated (Ohio) deserves far more attention than ... “the leak”.
The sixty rounds (in 13 seconds) that National Guard troops fired at students protesting the Vietnam War at a rally — including some who were just curious and some who had previously supported the war — left several injured and famously four dead. The Pulitzer Prize-winning photo by journalism student John Filo (of an anguished fourteen year-old girl hovering over the dead body of Jeffrey Miller) ensured the event’s place in history. As Jeffrey Miller was a Long Island resident: it ensured extra coverage locally in my region (and I seem to recall sfbob has a family relation to?).
The event had an effect on several Kent State students present that day who became future musicians: Chrissie Hynde (of The Pretenders), Jerry Casale (and other members) of Devo and the guitarist Joe Walsh (James Gang, later the Eagles).
Meanwhile, the band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young was on the verge of collapse: a nationwide tour’s first show had gone badly and substance abuse plus long-running creative tensions (including the firing of bassist Greg Reeves and drummer Dallas Taylor) led to its cancellation. But not for long: as threatened lawsuits forced them to re-schedule in the near future, following a brief respite. They were able to complete all the tour dates before splitting at its end.
Then David Crosby showed Neil Young this … and history was about to be made.
That same day, Young had the first draft of Ohio ready. When finished, Crosby telephoned Graham Nash, saying “You won’t believe the song Neil’s written” and telling him to book studio time as soon as possible. Among rock stars, not even Bob Dylan had written a song name-checking a current politician. Management had concerns, as Nash’s Teach Your Children was rising in the charts (with worries about hurting its success) and Stephen Stills felt the lyrics needed another verse, wondering ”I’m sure a lot of the guys in that platoon were told they didn’t have live rounds”.
It was recorded on May 21st (just seventeen days following the shootings) and the band now used a new rhythm section of Calvin “Fuzzy” Samuels (bass) and veteran drummer John Barbata (formerly of The Turtles, and later joining Jefferson Starship). The “B” side of the single was — appropriately enough — Stephen Stills’ mellow and short Find the Cost of Freedom which Stills had written for Dennis Hopper (originally to appear in the film Easy Rider, but was not used).
It was rush-released by Atlantic and was heard on radio even before the single reached record shops. It climbed to #14 on the charts, largely due to FM radio play: some AM stations (particularly in the Buckeye State) banned it. Graham Nash said any thoughts of interfering with his own song Teach Your Children (which peaked at #16 before being supplanted by Ohio) were less important than “America killing its own children”.
Just eleven days after Kent State (at the HBCU Jackson State College in Mississippi) on May 15th: two students were killed and twelve injured. It is often overlooked in the aftermath of Kent State due to several reasons (besides the traditional lack of concern about shootings of Black citizens): the lack of a famous photo, that it concerned local racial tensions (not the nationwide Vietnam War tension) and that the killings came from the usual antagonists of local/state law enforcement — unlike Kent State’s shock of soldiers doing the killing. It did have one commonality with Kent State — the lack of any indictments of those who committed the shootings. Both events were part of the Scranton Commission that the Nixon administration empaneled (which ruled both the shootings unjustified) and Steve Miller (not known for social consciousness in his music) wrote a song entitled Jackson Kent Blues, with the line, “Shot some more in Jackson just to show the world what they can do, while we're marching to D.C. ‘cause there's too much to do”.
The song has been covered by not only Mott the Hoople but also The Isley Brothers and the collaboration of multi-Grammy winners Jon Batiste and Gary Clark Jr. and in 2009 was named to the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2010, a music writer for The Guardian called it rock music’s greatest protest record and that same year named by Rolling Stone as #395 on its Greatest Songs of All Time list.
And my first thought, when Trump held his photo-op outside Lafayette Square (with tear gas and pepper spray) …. the fact that National Guard troops were part of it led myself (and others) to say ... “Tin soldiers and Donald coming”.
While the single was rush-released in 1970, it did not appear on a studio album until 1974. Instead, album buyers know it best from the 1971 live album Four Way Street (recorded during that very summer tour of 1970) — and the new rhythm section of Samuels and Barbata, to me, truly make this rendition memorable.