Fuck The Flowers And Trees, Temporarily.

I'm hating this weather. Generally, I really like rain. My grass outside has got to be LOVING it. The sound of rain falling is very calming. But it's fucking robbing me of valuable playing time and money. I must say for the record, it's rare that I play for the financial gain. I genuinely enjoy playing and the money is icing on the cake. I was supposed to play Thursday in a place that isn't even outdoor but the foot traffic was so low 'cause the rain and we got the boot. Tonight, I was supposed to play Elwood's but they called us off. Total loss: 200 bucks. That's a lot of money to me. My new job pays me less than the old one so i'm a bit more money conscious these days. But in a small way i'm glad i'm not playing. I feel like shit. The last few weeks, i've been around sick people and I haven't caught anything but I had a sneezing attack at Publix and I feel really worn down and sniffly. Probably allergies brought out by the rain.

Tonight, we watched Raiders Of The Lost Ark so Jojo could see it and she liked it. I hadn't seen it in a while and it reminded me of the quality of movies I was lucky enough to grow up with. Kris made pizza, I made salad and Jojo made a mess.

Speaking of...Jojo has been working on her first original song and I have to say it's pretty good. She's got a melody line and everything. This morning, we're walking down the stairs together and she says," Daddy, I need another verse for my song. Here's the chorus...." Wow! I didn't start trying to write songs 'til I was a teenager. I told her she could save time by repeating the first verse for the third. I don't know if she's ready for professional advice. Hell. she doesn't need me. She could always just ask her husband, Paul McCartney (who keeps drinking all my cream soda!).

Paint It Black, You Devil.

I was supposed to play the Quillo Theater in WPB tonight but the weather isn't so hot and they decided to cancel us. Oh, well....back to the Stones. Big album: Get Yer Ya-Yas Out. This might have been my second Stones album. I remember getting it in some long-gone store near Commercial and Federal. I wore out my original copy (still have it though). I learned how to play guitar to it and I used to practice the drums to it. I used to open my window in my room and blast the neighborhood with me doing a Charlie Watts. There is so much great Mick Taylor on it but I was sad to learn some of it's overdubbed.

So anyway, Pete and I went to see Shine A Light and we were disappointed. First of all, the sound was real distorted and VERY guitar heavy. There were certain songs where you had to strain to hear the drums. And the mix was way compressed. The instruments were constantly fighting for sonic space. Second, the movie was mostly the Mick Jagger Show. Martin Scorsese would rather show the back of Mick's head for ten minutes than to feature the other members. Even though he's just a hired gun, Daryl Jones (their bass player) was only shown when he was standing near one of the other guys or when he was introduced. Not much Charlie. either. And whoever wrote the set favors Some Girls. I'm complaining but there were some bright spots. Keith did You Got The Silver and that was great. It was nice to see the Stones (or some of them) on the big screen. After the movie, Pete and I downed some fast food and had a good talk about our current state of musical affairs. Pete has always been a good friend and I was reminded of that. It reminded me of when he'd visit me in San Francisco and how he came to Denver to help me out on a gig.

You Don't Want My Trousers To Fall Down, Now Do You?

Last night, on the way home from seeing Shine A Light with Pete, I put Their Satanic Majesties Request on the stereo and I started remembering..... TSMR was my first Rolling Stones album that I owned. I lived across the street from some hippies that worked in lawn maintenance when I was about 9 or 10 or so. They used to smoke pot and drink in front of me but I don't remember them ever asking me if I wanted to do those things. They were really cool to me. And very generous for people who didn't have much. I remember them rolling joints in the spine of Hot Rocks. Matter of factly, most copies of Hot Rocks i've owned have smelled like pot.

Anyway, at Christmas time they chipped in and bought me TSMR and I was blown out. By this time, I had a lot of records that were bought or inherited but this was a genuine act of kindness! I used to listen to it quite alot until later when a friend who was a Stones fanatic convinced me that it was a piece of shit (which seemed to be the consensus for a while there amongst Stones fans/critics). I guess I wanted to appear cool in his eyes so I slid it to the back of the pile and I forgot about it for a few years. I eventually revisited it and have loved it ever since. What happened to the hippies? My Mom made me stop hanging out with them which was probably the right thing to do but I hated her for it. They eventually moved out of the neighborhood and wherever they are....Thanks!

There is so much to love about TSMR. My favorite things are the compressed guitars and out-of-tune jams and weird instruments like the dulcimer. The next important memory I have concerning the Stones happened probably the next year. Every other year or so, I used to go to NY for the summer to get out of my mother's hair and to understand the generational gap with my Italian Grandparents. This particular year ('78? '79...the year of Son Of Sam...I remember that much), I was quite Stones mad and I remember looking at the Some Girls record and noticing the record company address was in NYC. How convenient! I have no idea how I talked my Grandmother and sisters into going into the city on a whim to find...I didn't know what we'd find. Anyway, we looked up the address and headed over there. I'm sure my Grandmother probably made those people be nice to us. "We schlepped all the way here from the Bronx and you're not gonna give my Grandson anything to take home to FLAAAARRIDDAAAA"? I'm sure it wasn't that bad...I don't remember...coulda blocked it out.

Anyway, I was starstruck being in the Rolling Stones Records office and we didn't stay very long but I peeked down a hallway and saw a door with Mick Jagger's name on it. The receptionist gave me several copies of their current promo pictures and I was in heaven. I really wish I remember what happened to them. One more and i'll stop. Somewhere in the late 80's-early 90's, Ron Wood had a club in Miami called Woody's and the band I was in (name withheld) got to play there. We were sub-nobodies but were treated with respect and professionalism. Ron had a gallery of paintings and one of the staff let me looksee. I also noticed on the phone in the dressing room speed dial buttons with each of the Stones' names on it. Oh, the temptation. I have seen them a bunch of times and they've been great everytime. It's late so i'll save my review for next post.

Shit! Part 186.

Friday after work, we went to Johanna's school for a fund-raising spaghetti dinner. The spaghetti was OK at best and the lemonade gave me acidy-stomach. Now that i've dispensed with the negative aspect, I had a lot of fun with her. The kids were playing and I got some pics of her running around being a kid. She got a picture of me dancing real silly-like. We beat it out of there fast 'cause it was really hot. It feels like Summer is here early. That morning, Kris got us THIRD ROW tickets to Tom Waits' show in Jacksonville. WAHOO!! It's gonna be awesome. He almost never tours so we should naturally drop everything and run to see him. That night, I introduced Johanna to my portable record player and my Beatles 45s. Now that's all she wants to do.

Saturday, I went to my friend Steven's house to give my first drum lesson to his friend, Tess. I think it went well. I'm not the best teacher but i'm really gonna try hard. She already has scads of natural talent so it shouldn't be hard. And she likes Keith Moon so she's #1 in my book. After that, I added some electric guitar to one of Steven's songs and that sounded pretty good. All in all, it was a fun time down in Hollyweird. Today, we did a bit of house cleaning. Jojo sat in her room listening to Beatles 45s and I laid on the couch and put on my Sgt. Pepper record and fell asleep midway through side two.

I eventually made it to Elwood's where I discovered I broke the fuck out of my hi-hat stand (that's where the title of this post came from). It's not so broked that it doesn't work but I need a new one. I may be calling around to some music stores 'cause I have a few gigs this week; Thursday at the Quillo in WPB and Saturday and Sunday at Elweird's. Tomorrow, i'm gonna go with Pete and finally see the new Stones movie at the IMAX. I'm sure i'll post some sort of valueless review.

Unkey's Monkle.

Friday, we saw Bruce Springsteen with Keith and it was a good show. We had nosebleed seats but it was OK. I had a little something to contain the vertigo and anxiety that concerts and heights usually give me. The show was really long and in a good way. I'm amazed that his voice holds out for an entire tour. I was also impressed with his guitar sound and the fact that he did most of the leads. I kinda knew that from the last time we saw him. The quality of the show kinda took away the pain of paying 20 bucks to park. Man, things are really starting to get expensive! I gassed up the other day and spent a small fortune filling up. And i've only got an 11-gallon tank!

Saturday, I can't remember what happened.




Sunday, we went to my friend Steven's house and had lunch (homemade pizza) there. That was a great time. Jojo got to ride on the Puke-O-Rama in the backyard and Kris made some new friends. Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. E and Mahoneys! Steven's drum student Tess accompanied us to Resurrection Drums where I was allowed to buy a new cymbal. I wanted a 20' Paiste Giant Beat multi-function (crash/ride) cymbal but they were out of those (which is good 'cause they're REALLY expensive). I ended up finding a Paiste 2002 20' Medium something cymbal. I set it up on a kit and gave it a few good seconds of whacking and it was sold. I did some research and found out it's a crash. Duhr! Well, it sounds good as a ride or crash so i'm not disappointed in the least. I tried it out at my gig at Elwood's that night and I thought it sounded great. Some friends came to visit and cupcakes were consumed thanks to Kristie. Jojo was there too and she did a swell job helping pander for tips.

Yesterday I had a nice, quiet dinner with the family at Red Lobster. I apologize to anyone I upset by not answering my phone. I needed to lose the world for a day...i hope you understand.
Today, was a freakin' mess. I arrived at my job late 'cause Starbucks made me wait. Almost everything I did today was wrong. I had to undo a lot of stuff I did. Can't say it made me feel good. Turned in my suit to the dry cleaners for Saturday's Bar Mitzvah. Tomorrow can only be better. Normally, I would wallow in a pool of self-pity but i'm too tired. Good night. And thank you friends.

The Best Songs In The World #312