35 Years Gone Or, Does It Matter?

Jim Morrison, for most people, died on this day in 1971, just a week after the Allman Brothers nailed the closing night of the Fillmore East. In 1995, when, one April Saturday morning in Santa Barbara as my brother and I waited to score Black Crowes tickets for a show at the bowl the next month, I struck up a conversation with a cool, albeit wierd, older guy about music and L.A. culture. Rock legends was the topic and Morrison's name popped up. The guy proceded to tell me that Morrison had helped Quentin Terentino write the screenplay to Pulp Fiction. I thought that the story was WAY too cool to tell the dude he was an absolute fool, but hey, Oswald really acted alone, right? Was the Lizard King truly the mystic icon of the hippie generation or just a drunken baffoon?

For those who enjoy reading rock journalism with an importance of the historical, then check out Becoming Almost Famous. Ben Fong-Torres' latest is a blast. Crazy...

Steve Dutcher, God bless you, please drop me another line with a way for me to contact you!!!

Back from Hawaii and I'm tanned and nowhere well rested. Go to Oahu with a toddler and the term 'vacation' is relative. Great time, though, thanks to my father in law and the most amazing spouse a man could have...

The summer concert season is looking up here, especially at the Concord Pavilion! Los Lonely Boys with Susan T in August, along with Bonnie Raitt and Keb Mo as well as Jon Mayer with Sheryl Crow! Then, of course, a topping of the Black Crowes in October at the Fresno Fair, which is a fantastic, wonderful place to see a show. Don't worry, guys, Hardware's nose will stop bleeding; he'll make the social.

What's the story with Wings? Does anybody out there truly appreciate the band or do we like them because it's Macca's band? I've been listening to the retrospective 'Wingspan' and I'm still not sure whether I enjoy the music or just like it because it's the closest the '70s came to having The Beatles still. Neither John nor George continued with their sound though their music was, imho, more touching and personal than Paul's. Paul just had 'it' that made anything he touched sound like the best knock-off of the Fab Four.

I've been considering making a Fourth of July mixed cd. Here's what would be on it so far:

4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) - Bruce
Independence Day - Bruce
Born On the Bayou - Creedence
4th of July - U2

anything else, or am I tapped? Maybe my Christmas cd would be easier...

Former Remnants, I'm listening to Linda Ronstadt right now wishing for DeeDee and us to be ripping it up somewhere. Instead, I'm on the verge of a migraine from jetlag and very little sleep. Oh, delirium...

Happy Fourth of July, everyone. 'Tis the day and the occasion to remember that the tree of liberty, according to Tom, should, every generation, be fertilzed with the blood of tyrants and patriots. Hope you enjoyed reading that. This could possibly be the last Independence Day where that statement won't be stricken from our national lexicon by the Bush gestapo. Our founders would be turning circles in their graves, wouldn't they?