Benches

Hanoi: Random Scenes

Cosmos by the Side of the Road (2)

Cosmos by the Side of the Road (1)

Suspicious Minds

This evening I find myself listening to Elvis Presley. Yeah, I'm a huge Elvis fan. Or I was. No, I am. Well...

Let's listen to a song, OK? It's really good...



That's as fine a pop/rock performance as you're ever likely to hear. I mean, everything is perfect. In particular, Elvis' interpretation of the song leaves no doubt: it's a sad, even tragic, song. The uptempo (yet subdued--it's not a rock tune) performance of the band makes a nice contrast to the lyrics and Elvis' voice. I think this is one of the greatest pop tunes ever recorded.

Now watch and listen to this video, a live performance of the same song:



Probably a lot of Elvis fans will watch this and think it's a great performance. They are wrong. It's an abomination. It's difficult even to begin to list everything wrong with this, but...

Elvis smiles throughout the performance. Check that. He's not "performing." He's mailing it in. Or, yeah, he's performing, but he's not "singing." Take your pick. From Frank Sinatra to Mick Jagger, I've never seen a singer crack a smile during the performance of a tragic song. He's visibly mailing it in. There is no greater crime in the performing arts. He is sneering at the audience.

He also, early in the clip, makes a joke with the lyric. What, is he a comedian? It's not even funny...

Then there's the music. I mentioned the uptempo of the studio version. This is almost breakneck speed for this song. Now, as a drummer, I know that singers will sometimes get me to play a tune a bit faster onstage. The faster the tempo, the less time they have to hold notes. Good singers only do this when necessary (sore throat, cold, etc.). No problem. But Elvis sounds like he's in OK form in this clip. So what happens is, he ends up making a mockery of the song. And the speeding up/"jamming" at the end just seems stupid. Is it supposed to be "rock" (with 20 backup singers and an orchestra)? Please...

I watch this clip and I see a once great performer who now just doesn't give a shit. I see self-loathing. He hates himself; and he probably hates his audience beyond words. Frankly, I don't blame him. He was The King. His audience stole his crown...

A Walk in the Woods

Tangled

Power Trippin'

Bzz...

Hangin' Out

Red and Green

Ray of Light

Dessert

So I'm out for dinner with my (11 year-old) daughter, and she orders a sundae-type thing for dessert. I just order a black coffee. When the (same) waitress comes back with our stuff, she says, "OK, who's having the coffee?"

My kid and I are on the same wavelength. The very subtle look she gave me made me proud...

Random Picture

Somewhere down the Coast

Moonlight Mile

One of my favorite Stones tunes of all time... This one doesn't usually appear on any of the "Best of" compilations. Damned if I know why not...

Simply, it's a beautiful tune. In atmosphere, arrangement, and dynamics it beats the crap out of what most people consider a classic Stones "ballad." Get yourself in the right mood--maybe you'll see what I mean...

NB: I like how the string arrangement does absolutely nothing to make the Stones sound anything more or less like the drug-addled boozers they are. The strings don't make the Stones sound good--the Stones make the strings relevant.

Also of note: In the Stones vs. Beatles "wars," there should be absolutely no question that the Stones played with a dynamic range that the Beatles could only dream of. That's what jamming and playing live give to a band. There are *no* dynamics in any Beatles tune I can think of, because they are all purely products of the studio. (The Beatles were a *pop* band that dabbled in rock; The Stones are a *rock* band that sometimes plays pop; that's a winning formula to me!)

Anyway, have a listen...

Lantern

Cheap Thrills

So this past Monday (it was a holiday here) I attended a concert at the prefectural auditorium. There were several chorus groups performing, including one my daughter belongs to; the members of most of these groups, however, were umm... a lot older than me...

After the concert I'm waiting outside having a smoke, when a young woman (who had to be at least 75) approached me, camera held out, and politely asked me if I could take a picture of her and a couple of friends (who were also quite "young"). I happily oblige them.

Then the one who'd approached me asked if she could take a picture of me with her two friends. I'm killing time, so why not? I line up between two two frail-looking old women and, in a moment of fancy, put my arms around them and give a big smile. Then, just as the camera clicked, the one to my right grabbed my ass! (Yeah, I couldn't believe it either!)

I let on like nothing had happened, but walked away thinking that growing old might have some secret benefits...