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 and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES— an exhibition entitled The Land Carries Our Ancestors: Contemporary Art by Native Americans— featuring works by nearly 50 living Native artists that include weaving, beadwork, sculpture, painting, drawing, photography, performance and video — opens April 19th at the New Britain, Connecticut Museum of American Art (and running through September 15th).
YOUR WEEKEND READ is this essay in The American Prospect on how the Democratic party in Florida has an opportunity to rebound after a long slumber (with referendums on abortion/legal marijuana, plus the rising property insurance crisis, as well as an overhaul of the state’s party apparatus).
WEDNESDAY's CHILD is named Link the Adventure Cat - who accompanies an experienced outdoorsman on hikes, but on this occasion the Colorado daylight was miscalculated (and there was an inexperienced hiker with them) — so help was summoned … yet the helpers were surprised to see Link.
SO MUCH FOR THAT — All four GOP minority outreach centers set-up in Nevada in the last four years are now closed … along with at least three similar venues in metro Atlanta, Georgia — with one center now home to a sex toys shop (paywall).
THURSDAY's CHILDREN are named Oswald and Ginny the Cats - two North Carolina shelter kittehs brought together after Ginny lost her sibling to illness and felt adrift without a companion. Then came Oswald .. and the two are now a bonded pair, only adoptable together.
HISTORY NOTES — stunning frescoes of the Trojan War— mythological figures inspired by Homer's epic The Iliad — have been found in the latest sensational discovery at Pompeii, the ancient city buried by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
FRIDAY's CHILD is among the long-time resident strays at the Tropicana in Las Vegas (the Rat Pack-era hotel which closed its doors last week), with employees seeking to re-home them before demolition takes place later this fall. (The only remaining Rat Pack-era hotel remaining is the Sahara, which actually closed in 2011 but re-opened in 2019).
BRAIN TEASER— try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC ...… and the usually easier, less UK-centered New York Times quiz.
HAIL and FAREWELL to the retired Canadian-born PBS newsman Robert MacNeil, who has died at the age of ninety-three. He was preceded in death in 2020 by his long-time broadcast partner Jim Lehrer (on the MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour).
PROGRAMMING NOTE— in honor of the trial beginning tomorrow, there will be a Who Lost the Month in MAGA World ?!?! poll next week.
GRANDSON-GRANDFATHER?— two Englishmen: Russ Cook (who just completed a run across the length of Africa) and the late, great Cream drummer Ginger Baker.
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… although he is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a founding member of The Yardbirds— Paul Samwell-Smith left the stage three years after its founding to become a music producer, which has stood him in good stead ever since.
Born as Paul Smith in West London in 1943 (his mother added her family name to avoid being called “Mrs. Smith”), he attended school with future bandmate drummer Jim McCarty. They eventually joined forces with vocalist Keith Relf, rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja and guitarist Anthony (Top) Topham. Topham was only age fifteen, and had to leave after a few months (as his parents were worried about school). He was replaced by an eighteen year-old Eric Clapton, yet Topham never regretted it (having his own career and joining a re-formed Yardbirds from 2013-2015).
While not a songwriter per se, Paul did have an aptitude for arranging — which he did on two songs he co-wrote, Still I’m Sad and Turn Into Earth, writing the lyrics and arranging the Gregorian chant arrangements. In addition (inspired by an Eartha Kitt recording) he recommended the use of a harpsichord on the Yardbirds’ hit single For Your Love (that the song’s composer Graham Gouldman felt was a “stroke of genius”). He mentioned in his youth having an avid interest in tape recording, then utilizing Les Paul’s methods of multi-tracking. And soon, he began assisting the band’s producers (Mickie Most, Giorgio Gomelsky and Simon Napier-Bell) in the studio production, with the three producers increasingly relying on him.
Giorgio Gomelsky admonished band members that time-was-money, lateness would be fined and if they had any complaints to “report to Paul Samwell-Smith”. This was the final straw for Clapton (unhappy with the pop sound of For Your Love) who saw Paul with a new album (of someone he had never heard of) and said, “If Samwell-Smith likes him, he can’t be any good”. (Eric later had a re-think after listening to ... Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde).
Samwell-Smith had never felt truly comfortable on-stage, even dressing more like an upper-class lad than his bandmates (though he was also born working class) and so after recording on six Yardbirds albums (including live recordings) he left in 1966 to begin his new career. His first big break came after the Yardbirds split in 1968, and singer Keith Relf (along with drummer Jim McCarty) formed the band Renaissance (with a rock/classical music theme). Samwell-Smith produced their first album.
The president of Elektra Records (Jac Holzman) was impressed with the production values, and recommended Paul to an emerging performer in Britain, Steven Georgiou, with a stage name of Cat Stevens (and today, Yusuf Stevens). As a producer, Paul will be best-known for producing the early 70’s landmark albums Tea for the Tillerman, Teaser and the Firecat as well as Catch Bull at Four. And on the song Morning has Broken, Paul was able to utilize (on piano) the services of someone better known for electronic keyboards … Rick Wakeman of Yes.
His being recommended (by those on the business end) happened numerous other times, including A&M Records president Jerry Moss suggesting him to Chris DeBurgh (in his pre-Lady in Red days) as well as Charles Levison (of Arista Records) steering him towards the McGarrigle sisters.
Paul Samwell-Smith will turn age eighty-one next month, and was the musical director for the 1971 cult film Harold and Maude (with songs by Cat Stevens) and nearly two decades later in the same role for the 1990 film Postcards from the Edge (based partly on Carrie Fisher’s autobiography) with music by Carly Simon. And as a bass player, he was cited as an influence by Dennis Dunaway (with Alice Cooper) and especially Billy Sheehan (with David Lee Roth).
Two songs: one is the Howlin’ Wolf blues classic Smokestack Lightning— whose original title was Crying at Daybreak— where Paul’s descending bass lines are a guide for the rest of the band (recorded live when Clapton was still in the band).
The second is a 1971 song he produced for Carly Simon. — another musician that Elektra president Jac Holzman recommended Paul to. Interestingly, she was expecting her first date with … Cat Stevens at the time, and this tune reflects her frustration. The song gained a second life in the late 70’s into the 80’s when used in Heinz ketchup commercials … which she was reluctant to agree to, but relented … and the financial payoff was matched by her realization the song has endured.