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 Monet to Matisse: French Moderns— with dozens of works by those two artists and their contemporaries — is at the Portland Art Museum in Oregon through September 15th.
YOUR WEEKEND READS are these dispatches by Amanda Marcotte from attending the GOP convention: first, asking attendees “When was America great before?” (and receiving an interesting answer) … and then, observing that both MTG and Kari Lake had almost no book-signing requests, as the Hulk Hogan display showed that patriarchy is back, not the MAGA women.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Finley the Cat - a Colorado kitteh who wandered off seven miles from his home to a National Park forest (at 9,500 ft. elevation) before being discovered by a group of Michiganders on vacation.
SPORTING NOTES— ESPN has a story listing its choices for the 100 Greatest Athletes (from 2000-2024), with a bit more eclectic choices than in previous polls (33 not from North America, more female athletes .. plus one MME, snowboarding and cricket star apiece).
TRAVEL NOTES— in a major shift, Southwest Airlines will abandon its practice of using open seating (moving to assigned seats) and offering red-eye flights for the first time.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Indie the Cat— who went missing from her Montreal home eight years ago, then after turning up at the Ottawa Humane Society (125 miles away) was reunited with her family … due to her microchip.
THREAD of the WEEK— the Atlantic’s David Frum relates a story of a psychiatrist with wealthy clients who should have been content (if not happy) at their station-in-life … yet needed counseling due to their bitterness at the world.
BRAIN TEASER— try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC ...… and the usually easier, less UK-centered New York Times quiz.
SEPARATED at BIRTH— More like SON-FATHER?
Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick, Hit Man), born 1988 … Aaron Eckhart (Erin Brockovich, The Dark Knight), born 1968.
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… while I had another profile in mind, I just couldn’t miss a chance to pay tribute to a musical hero, John Mayall (and jlstexas has a tribute here at DK). His death (at age ninety) came just three months before he was to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (as an Early Influence). Looking through my notes, I was surprised to see that I never did a full profile on him … partly because my final essay each year is accompanied by his song Goodbye December. Although he will never see another December ... I’ll continue that practice in gratitude.
The discontinued NPR sports show Only a Game had a weekly feature entitled Three Stories You Should Know. Rather than a (rushed) full profile, here are the three aspects of John Mayall’s career that made him a noted blues figure.
He was not the pioneer of British Blues — that would be both jazz trombonist Chris Barber (who helped financed the passage of US blues veterans to perform in the UK) and Alexis Korner, who will be also be inducted posthumously along with Mayall. Yet Alexis Korner’s days as a headliner did not last. He was an older gent, didn’t have a good voice, was neither a guitar ace nor a major songwriter, and stayed a traditionalist after the blues-rock genre took over. His first tour of the US (his musical source) didn’t take place until 1971, long after John Mayall became the ambassador of British blues world-wide (and Korner died on New Year’s Day, 1984). Even though Mayall relocated to Laurel Canyon, California in the late 1960’s, he remained the face of British Blues.
Next, for the years 1963-1969, he served as the hiring hall for aspiring blues/rock/jazz musicians in the UK who went on to join major bands. He hired both Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce (who went on to found Cream) and Mayall’s 1966 album Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton is considered a landmark in British Blues.
Next, add Peter Green, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood (of Fleetwood Mac), Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones), Jon Hiseman, Dick Heckstall-Smith and Tony Reeves (Colosseum), drummer Aysnley Dunbar (Frank Zappa, Whitesnake, Journey, David Bowie), drummer Colin Allen (Stone the Crows, Donovan, Bob Dylan, Focus), bassist Andy Fraser (Free) and — in the USA — Canned Heat (Larry Taylor and Harvey Mandel). His post 1970’s hires aren’t well-known in rock circles, but guitarists Walter Trout, Buddy Whittington and Coco Montoya gained a foothold in the blues world.
His other main innovation were the four drumless band recordings (The Turning Point, Empty Rooms, USA Union and Memories) that he released from 1969-1971. He said the inspiration came from the film Jazz on a Summer’s Day— where the saxophonist Jimmy Giuffre performed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival with a drum-less and piano-less band … a notable exception to the norm. Mayall’s band was still Chicago blues-based, yet more jazz influenced … and in his 2019 autobiography, Mayall wrote that none other than Miles Davis (always looking for new sounds) congratulated Mayall on a sound he saw as unique (and Mayall’s autobiography is a terrific read, by the way).
I got to see Mayall a few times: the first (in 1975) was rather listless until the final 20 minutes. The last time (in 2013) was smoking, and I even got to meet him before the show in Vermont (when he was selling merchandise) … glad that was my final memory of him.
He was nominated for two Grammy awards, in 2016 was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and despite having lived overseas for thirty-five years: received the Order of the British Empire honor from Queen Elizabeth in 2005. And as noted: this October he will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies in Cleveland. The posthumous tributes will be immense and only wish he could have lived three months longer … to be there to receive these accolades in person.
Staying with the number three: first, this short song from the landmark 1966 album (known as the “Beano” album due to the comic book).
His most poignant song: from 1967’s The Blues Alone accompanied by drummer Keef Hartley. Forty-five years later in 2012, Joan Osborne did a nice cover of this.
And from his initial album: Crawling Up a Hill is about his decision to relocate from his native Manchester to London, as his life had been “A slow train, crawling up a hill”. Forty years later, British-Georgian singer Katie Melua had a hit with it.