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May 8, 2024

Lesley Hazleton

"It's not how long I live that matters - it's how I live. And I intend to do it well, to the end."

March 24, 2024

Phil Lesh

"Box of Rain"

Walk into splintered sunlight,
Inch your way through dead dreams to another land.
Maybe you're tired and broken,
Your tongue is twisted with words half spoken and thoughts unclear.

What do you want me to do,
To do for you to see you through?
For this is all a dream we dreamed,
One afternoon, long ago.

"Box of Rain" has been streaming through my head for months. While the song is about endings (or perhaps transitions), it was released as track one on the Grateful Dead's American Beauty album, November 1970. Phil Lesh composed the music, Robert (ne Burns) Hunter the lyric. As an aside, Hunter is a direct descendent of Scottish poet Robert Burns and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Grateful Dead, the only non-performer to be so honored.

I remember a Lesh interview years ago where he talked about composing the song while driving to and from the hospital that was caring for his dying father. Like Lesh, I've been visiting my father at hospitals and nursing homes in recent months. "Box of Rain" was the last song performed by the Grateful Dead (Soldier Field, Chicago, 7/9/1995, final encore). Here's the outro:

Chris

Gram Parsons, 12/6/1969, Altamont Speedway Free Festival

Photograph by Robert Altman/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

"You know Gram Parsons wrote "Wild Horses," Paul, my brother, remarked as we were packing old photographs at my parents' house.

I was intrigued. Age Against the Machine regularly includes "Wild Horses" in our setlist - I grew-up with the song.

So I did a little research ...

"Wild Horses" was recorded by the Rolling Stones at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio between December 2 and 4, 1969 and released on 4/23/1971 as track three on Sticky Fingers. The song is credited to Richards and Jagger - the recording sessions were squeezed-in at the end of their 1969 US tour, days before the Rolling Stones and Parsons played the disastrous Altamont Speedway Free Festival where four fans died.

Wikipedia says, '"Wild Horses" is a song written by the British rock band the Rolling Stones with Gram Parsons." A source of the ambiguity is Mick Jagger himself, who is quoted in Robert Sandall's liner notes to the 1993 Rolling Stones compilation album Jump Back: "I remember we sat around originally doing this [Wild Horses] with Gram Parsons ..." (Source: Jump Back liner notes, PDF p.11).

While Jagger's quote suggests that Parsons had something to do with the composition of "Wild Horses," it is not a testament that Parsons wrote it. Mick's brother, Chris Jagger, goes a step further, commenting that "Wild Horses" is "basically Gram's composition, not that he got any credit for it." (Source: Chris Jagger, Uncut Magazine, February 2013, p. 46). It is not clear how Chris Jagger would have special insight into this matter, but his claim is fascinating.

Parsons, who died in 1973, commented that "Wild Horses" was "a logical combination between their music [the Rolling Stones] and our music [the Byrds / Flying Burrito Brothers]. It's something that Mick Jagger can accept, and it's something I can accept. And my way of doing it is not necessarily where it's at, but it's certainly the way I feel it." (Source: Bud Scoppa's liner notes to Graham Parsons' compilation album Sacred Hearts and Fallen Angels).

The bones of "Wild Horses" were composed during the summer of 1968, a time when Gram Parsons was living with Keith Richards at Richards' Redlands estate (West Sussex, UK). Richards recalled in his autobiography that when Parsons came to live with him, "we played music without stopping. Sat around the piano or with guitars and just went through the country songbook."

There is a grainy bootleg from this period released on The Rolling Stones Ultra Rare Trax Vol. 2, attributed to Richards and Parsons playing through the chords of "Wild Horses."

Keith Richards and Gram Parsons, Villefranche-sur-Mer, France, 1971

Fast forward 18 months to 12/7/1969, the day after the Altamont Speedway tragedy, Parsons recalled, "[Mick] said, 'I want you to hear this song man, because I think it's something that you might be interested in.' And he played me 'Wild Horses." (Source). The Rolling Stones had just recorded "Wild Horses" a few days earlier.

Parsons must have liked what he heard - he went on to record "Wild Horses" (Parsons' version) with his then band, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and released it on 4/1/1970, the last track on Burrito Deluxe (a year before the release of Sticky Fingers).

JFK commented that "Victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan." "Wild Horses" is definitely a victory - not surprisingly, there are several fathers. Both versions of the song are magical: Parsons' vocal delivery is movingly authentic and Richards' open-G based guitar arrangement is iconic.

Chris

Two important additions to the Age Against the Machine team:

John Bailey

Audience Engagement

John lights-up every room with his outgoing demeanor and truckload of charisma. He has years of entertainment experience including extensive work with DJ / record producer Mark Ronson. John makes sure everyone at your event has a great time!

Grayson Simon

Live Sound Engineer

Grayson started working as a live sound engineer in 2008; his years of experience ensure that Julia's vocals cut through, our sound is balanced and critically, our volume is where you want it. Grayson is also a licensed Emergency Medical Technician (good to have at our events in case of a medical emergency).

Spectators viewing the volcanic eruption on Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula, photo by Kristin Elisabet Gunnarsdottir - Getty Images

Most Intense Light Show of 2023!

Friedrich Nietzsche

"Without music life would be a mistake."

Twilight of the Idols, or, How to Philosophize with a Hammer

We recently played the annual fundraiser for Pawling Yoga and Wellness, a terrific nonprofit that provides wellness-based education, yoga and community building practices to all commers.

The event was held in a lovely Victorian stone building called the Akin Free Library. Two hours in, everyone was dancing, propelled by Mark's bassline and Rich's sharp side-stick snare. My 89-year-old father was boogying! We segued into Sade's "Nothing Can Come Between Us". Julia crooned:

I always hope that you remember,
We'll never really learn the meaning of it all.
What we have is strong and tender,
So hold on.

In the middle of the madness,
When the time is running out and you’re left alone.
All I want is you to know that,
It's strong still.
Can't pull us apart.

Patrick's back-up singing floated around Julia's smokey delivery. After the song's breakdown, Patrick launched into an unplanned keyboard solo. I looked around at my bandmates and out into the room full of dancers - we were all in a synchronized groove, cocooned in the soundscape. Patrick wound-down his improv and I started plucking a note on my guitar, staccato, building a chorus-soaked crescendo. My fingers sauntered across the fretboard - no stray thoughts - just presence - deep in the flow. We transitioned into the coda,

Nothing can come, nothing can come,
(Can Pull)
Nothing can come between us.
(Us Apart)

then brought the song to a close. There was a feeling in the room that something special had just happened - amazing the sense of connection live music can foster.

Chris

It is the third of June. Don McGee opened his Mixed Bag radio show today with "Ode to Billie Joe". McGee interlaced different versions of "Ode" throughout the show. After the second or maybe third version I realized that the song opens: "It was the third of June....", i.e., today.

Mom had a copy of the the album - it was part of my childhood. The first track on the album, "Mississippi Delta," is how I learned to spell Mississippi.

According to Wikipedia, both "Ode" and "Mississippi Delta" are, with the exception of an overdubbed string arrangement, as recorded by Gentry in demo tapes she submitted to Kelly Gordon, a producer at Capitol Records. At the time, Gentry thought of herself as a songwriter and hoped that Lou Rawls would record "Ode." Five weeks after release, "Ode" topped Billboard's singles chart and the album reached number one, displacing Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Bob Dylan parodied "Ode" ("Clothesline Saga"). In the late '60s and early '70s, Gentry became a regular fixture on TV shows such as the Andy Williams Show and the Glenn Campbell Goodtime Hour. Marshall Bowden writes on his excellent website, New Directions in Music, that Gentry retired from showbiz in 1981 after spending the 1970s as one of the top three acts in Las Vegas (the other two being Elvis and Tom Jones). Hmmmm, there is something about Las Vegas ....... as Paul McCartney remarked a few years ago, "Vegas is where you go to die." No plans for Vegas at this end, but we will be playing Dry Dock's Smokin's Aces in Norwalk on Saturday, June 24, 8:00. Be there. Aloha!

Chris

Patrick texted, "Backyard Jam at my house 2:00 Sunday. All musicians and friends and kids welcome." Sunday came, a crisp sun-soaked May day perfect for being outside. The musicians came - so did the friends and the kids. Some pets came too. Alex commented that the vibe was great. By 5:30 things were winding-down - the mics were off and guitars put away. The remaining dozen of us gathered in a circle of lawn chairs for the afternoon's coda. As we chatted, Donna, who had stopped by Patrick's on her way back from a workshop on traditional music, unpacked a banjo and, as she tuned it, murmured something about being nervous. She started softly, rhythmically strumming, laying-down a keltic purr, then began singing a haunting minor key melody that floated above the banjo's intensifying drone. The chatting stopped spontaneously. As her song took shape, we became spellbound. Donna delivered a second equally forceful song and then retired the banjo. Julia later remarked that the moment had been transcendant. Donna described the songs as "traditional" meaning they had been handed down through generations with unknown authorship. Must have been one hell of a good workshop!

As Donna performed, an analogue that came to mind was "Deeper Well" from Emmylou Harris's Wrecking Ball album. Like Donna's songs, "Deeper Well" has a droning foundation supporting an ethereal melody. Here is an intense 1997 performance of "Deeper Well" that captures the feel of Donna's songs (at least to my ear). In addition to Harris's steely vocal delivery, note Daniel Lanois's emotive guitar work and the audience reaction after he brings his solo to a close. Lanois co-authored "Deeper Well" with Harris and the late David Olney; Lanois also produced the Wrecking Ball album. The other performers in the video are Buddy Miller, second electric guitar (playing one of his oh so cool Wandre "Soloist" guitars); Brady Blade, drums; and Daryl Johnson, bass. This is a heavy performance, almost as powerful as Donna's :-)

Chris

I recently came across the above quote attributed to David Bowie but haven't found where or when he said it. Regardless, it is a positive (if bittersweet) ambition, and echoes Joni Mitchell's "life is for learning," a line from her song "Woodstock."
Chris

I fired-up Peter Gabriel's "Sky Blue" from Up this afternoon. The song is extremely evocative and features a moving coda (beginning around 4:40) sung by the Blind Boys of Alabama. Gabriel says he worked on the song intermittently for a decade - if you're not familiar with Sky Blue, it is well worth a listen.

Chris

Shari, Howard and I poured out of the Uber, crossed the street and found the house, a modern geometric structure contiguous with other much older homes. Greeted by a languid lab, we entered a large space. Modern oils hung from the walls. Floor to ceiling windows overlooked an enormous balcony and bay view framed by the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz - a living room fit to be San Francisco's answer to the Getty.

The gathering of sixty or so people was straight out of Joni Mitchell's "People's Parties:"

All the people at this party,
They've got a lot of style.
They've got stamps of many countries,
They've got passport smiles.....

Of course, Val was there. It was his 60th - hosted by Misha, a college buddy. Val had just returned from four months in Buenos Aires with excursions to Tierra Del Fuego, Antarctica, Colombia and Peru.

There was Yusuf by the fireplace, delicate and handsome, originally from London, who had worked with Val at a software company twenty years prior. Weiquing, a biotech CEO and statuesque Asian beauty from Hong Kong via Berlin, was center court - she liked my rock and roll boots. Val grabbed me and dragged me across the room: "Chris, meet Jim." Jim is a psychedelics guide, a profession apparently common in the Bay Area. After five minutes, Jim asks, out of the blue, if I grew up in Ohio - do psychedelics bestow psychic powers?

Boris, a film actor, raised the first glass and recounted a story I had just reminded him of, then he cold-called me to recite the punchline: "Not all of us can be Val!"

PJ, a script writer from New York who has known Val since 1980, retold Val's creation story. How Val mistakenly joined the fencing team in junior high (thinking he was going out for soccer) and how at 16, Val forced his parents to emigrate from Ukraine to New York. How the Columbia University admissions counselor, not knowing what to make of Val's lack of SAT score and transcript, had him take achievement tests in math, physics, and English - Val turned in perfect scores in the first two, so she steered him to the engineering program.

Marc, a boyish 63 going-on 50, described Val's fencing practice routines - essentially nonexistent, yet Val made All American. Howard took his shot, recounting the time he first encountered Val. Val was moving suitcases into a dorm room. By Howard's telling, Val had the same enormous grin on his face as he does right now! Who smiles while moving into a dorm? A newer friend asked if Val had always been like this - "yeah, I have a photo of him 35 years ago dressed as a pregnant nun - same giant smile."

We were all there to celebrate Val and Val, as always, was beaming. Why had we all come, many from across the continent, some from across the globe, to celebrate this singularity of a man? Val had shown each of us - every single beautiful person in that beautiful room, that Paul McCartney was right:

And in the end,
The love you take,
Is equal to the love you make.

Here's to another 60, brother!

Chris

P.S. Want to help the people of Ukraine? StandForUkraine.com

Jeff and Doug spent last weekend with us. I first met the two of them in August 1988 as the three of us moved into a concrete grad-school apartment tower that resembled a Russian housing complex (complete with an elevator designed to stop at every third floor). Jeff is a huge live music fan - the last time he was in town he introduced me to Cafe Wha! in Greenwich Village. (CafeWha.com If you haven't been there, know that Cafe Wha!'s house band is one of the best cover bands in the country. Our very own Patrick Sweeney played Cafe Wha!, as have Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Bruce Springsteen). Anyhow, after dinner last Saturday, we decided we wanted to hear some live music. Jeff, Doug and I piled into the car and made our way to The Old Greenwich Social Club (OGSC) to see Ace & Friends, a Grateful Dead tribute band. As we walked into OGSC, I thought I recognized a familiar face. "Is that Tolman?" I asked my friends. Neither Jeff nor Doug recognized Tolman and I hadn't seen Tolman in a decade, perhaps longer. Tolman is a giant, at least six-five, with sandy hair and a boyish look of a man who just stepped-off of an America's Cup sailboat. He too had gone to grad school with us. I walked over and struck-up a conversation and it was in fact Tolman, who then joined us for drinks. Turns out Tolman is a Deadhead. He shared stories of long-ago concerts and provided commentary on the more obscure songs covered by Ace & Friends. Even better, Tolman introduced us to a beer he described as "made from stagnant pond water" - Kent Falls Pale Ale. Despite the description, Kent Falls Pale Ale is amazingly good - reminiscent of a Scottish roadhouse ale, and OGSC serves it! Live music is special for many reasons, but perhaps the most significant is its ability to bring people together and that is exactly what it did for us last Saturday night.

Speaking of live music, Age Against the Machine is playing the St. Lawrence Club Friday, March 17 (St. Patrick's Day). If you're not familiar with the St. Lawrence Club, it is a terrific old-school dance hall open to the public where John at the bar serves generous drinks at great prices.

Chris

People listen to and make music for lots of reasons: to evoke emotions, to relax, to dance, to stimulate imagination, for nostalgia and so on. For me, music is a gateway to transcendence - a way beyond the noise of future worries, past regrets and my screaming little-boy ego. Music forms a path to a more permanent mental space - a mental space that is deep - where separateness evaporates and interconnectedness abounds. Where all that counts is "now" and our usual ongoing flood of linear thinking recedes from consciousness. The intensity of live drums combined with a high-octane bass line and soulfully delivered lyrics transports audience and performers to that interconnected space.

If you are looking for a little transcendence during these dark February evenings, join Age Against the Machine next Thursday, February 9 from 6:30 - 8:30 at Villa Italia Ristorante & Bar.

Chris

David Evans, aka The Edge (U2's guitar player) often uses 17 guitars during a concert. The need for different guitars to achieve different sounds is understandable, but 17 guitars!

There is another way. I started plugging my guitar into a synthesizer about 16 months ago and, with a little preparation, I can switch from open-tuned Martin D-28 acoustic guitar to a Les Paul played through a Marshal stack by paging through synth patches. For instance, when playing "Maggie May," I use a Guild 12 string acoustic guitar patch for most of the song but use a Gibson L-4 jazz guitar patch for the lead breaks.

Ray Kurzweil, inventor of the Kurzweil K250 synthesizer (among many other things) wrote The Singularity is Near in 2005. In it, Kurzweil predicted that machine intelligence will surpass human intelligence by the middle of this century (what he calls "The Singularity") and that machine intelligence will be orders of magnitude more powerful than human intelligence. The jury is out, but evidence supporting Ray's assertion is mounting. For example, using artificial intelligence tools, scientists designed Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine in less than a week (testing took an additional ten months). I recently started experimenting with the artificial intelligence application ChatGPT and its graphics-engine sibling, DALL-E2. The above picture, Three 3, was created by DALL-E2 based on parameters I entered.

Upcoming shows:

Thursday, February 9, 6:30pm Villa Italia Ristorante & Bar, 26 Mill River St, Stamford

Friday, March 17, 7:30pm St. Lawrence Club 86 Valley Road, Cos Cob

After our block party set on June 26, Jay Sweeney (Patrick's brother) suggested that Julia sing Norah Jones' "Don't Know Why." Julia dialed-up the lyrics on her phone and, accompanied by Jay on piano, crooned an atmospheric rendition of the ballad: WOW! This one is going in the set list.

Upcoming shows:

July 27 9:00pm MacDuff's Pub, 99 Railroad Avenue, Greenwich

July 29 7:30pm St. Lawrence Club 86 Valley Road, Cos Cob

June 2, 2022

"Never pass up an opportunity to hang out with musicians."

The Greatest Life Hacks in the World, David Brooks - New York Times Op-Ed page

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