Paul McCartney - Egypt Station release

Photograph: MJ Kim/MPL Communications

Awhile back I did a sneak preview of Paul McCartney's new album, Egypt Station with a couple of YouTube songs released before the official September 7th release date. The highlight of that blog was my inclusion of the James Corden piece with Paul McCartney Carpool Karaoke which I have included here again at the end of the playlist.

For this week's release of the album, I was able to snag every song from the new album off YouTube from various sources. Here's the album on Amazon Music if you have a subscription.

This is Sir Paul's 17th solo album that he's calling 'a concept album' but I couldn't hear the travel or any other connected themes other than love or want of. I still think its a very good album that is worthy of a start to finish listen to as we used to do back in the day. I've only seen pictures as shown above of the album cover, but Paul's really put a great deal of visual art into the vinyl album that I think many fans will love to look at and read the liner notes while listening. Here's a link to buy on Amazon.

I start this playlist with three Jimmy Fallon videos with Paul on his show promoting the album last Friday, September 7th. I always enjoy Jimmy's love for Paul that now extends across several generations of fans.

If you want to read a review of this album, just read Rob Sheffield's Rolling Stone review here, with the opening line - "Make a list of all the songwriters who were composing great tunes in 1958. Now make an overlapping list of the ones who are still writing brilliant songs in 2018. Your list reads: Paul McCartney."

So happy Monday and start (or end) your day enjoying Paul's new music and sense of humor here!

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at the San Diego Copley Symphony Hall, 10/1/18

photo source

On Saturday night, I got to see Jason Isbell in my own backyard at the San Diego Copley Symphony Hall. It was special on several fronts. First, it was my first time seeing Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit live. Second, Amanda Shires who is Jason's wife and has her own solo career (and currently on tour) was in the band for the night. Third, Jason's and Amanda's daughter turned three that day, and came out for a song with the band as the entire audience sang Happy Birthday to Mercy Rose.

During the set up between opening act Aimee Mann and Jason's band hitting the stage, I saw a roadie bring out Amanda's violin and set it up on it's stand next to a smaller microphone stand to the left of Jason's center mic. I turned to my wife Mary Kit at that moment and told her, "It's going to a great night!" This past week, as I poured through a bunch of Isbell videos onYouTube, I listened to how Amanda's violin and harmony singing completes Jason's voice and the 400 Unit's sound.

By the way, guess what the '400 Unit' means? My guess was- it was some kind or type of farming equipment. The name actually comes from the annex of the "the psychiatric ward of Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital in Florence, Alabama." The things you learn on Wikipedia.

If you spend anytime looking into Jason Isbell you will learn he was born in Alabama and who's mother was only 17 at his birth. On my playlist this week, check out Children of Children and you'll get an insight to where and how Jason's songwriting developed with his upbringing.

In 2001, Jason joined the Drive-By Truckers and established himself as a solid songwriter and performer. However, with a long history of substance abuse he was kicked out of the band in 2007.

In 2012 with help from Amanda Shires, her manager Traci Thomas and Ryan Adams, Isbell entered a treatment center in Nashville. In 2013, Jason and Amanda were married by Todd Snider, who I'll be seeing September 22nd with John Prine in Seattle. (I had to throw that in, in my continuing game of '6 degrees' of rock 'n' roll.)

I'm happy to say, the happy ending is always a daily process, but it's really exciting to see that happiness on stage right in front of your eyes. Jason, Amanda, and Mercy Rose have the world in front of them, with a lifetime of love and song.

That brings me to Jason's song, If We Were Vampires, from his 2017 album, The Nashville Sound. If We Were Vampires is in my opinion one of the best love songs of the 21st century. I can't get enough of the lyrics and watching these two artist's sing this song live facing each other made this a special evening indeed.

If We Were Vampires

It's not the long, flowing dress that you're in

Or the light coming off of your skin

The fragile heart you protected for so long

Or the mercy in your sense of right and wrong

It's not your hands searching slow in the dark

Or your nails leaving love's watermark

It's not the way you talk me off the roof

Your questions like directions to the truth

It's knowing that this can't go on forever

Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone

Maybe we'll get forty years together

But one day I'll be gone

Or one day you'll be gone

If we were vampires and death was a joke

We'd go out on the sidewalk and smoke

And laugh at all the lovers and their plans

I wouldn't feel the need to hold your hand

Maybe time running out is a gift

I'll work hard 'til the end of my shift

And give you every second I can find

And hope it isn't me who's left behind

It's knowing that this can't go on forever

Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone

Maybe we'll get forty years together

But one day I'll be gone

Or one day you'll be gone

It's knowing that this can't go on forever

Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone

Maybe we'll get forty years together

But one day I'll be gone

One day you'll be gone

The Bangles

It's just another manic Monday

I wish it was Sunday

'Cause that's my fun day

My I don't have to run day

It's just another manic Monday

– Prince

In the six degrees of separation within rock 'n' roll, I was writing about The Cowsills a couple of weeks ago and the connection of John Cowsill being married to Vicki Peterson of The Bangles came up in the research for that article.

That then got me thinking of The Bangles again this past week and their smash hit of 1986, Manic Monday. Manic Monday came to mind because in San Diego, school starts today and I was thinking of all the students and teachers who would appreciate this song on a day like today. I was a teacher for 35 years, so the thought of getting up at 6am to get ready not only for the day but the school year was always that work person's grind of, "here we go again." Anyway, whether you are going to school or work, I hope your day goes a little easier with some Monday music, and that's why I'm here.

The Bangles have always been one of my favorite bands, because of their classic rock 'n' roll sound with harmony. In putting the playlist together last week, I could hear The Byrds and the Tom Petty sound in many of their songs. This band was never a "girl band" gimmick as the media and music industry sometimes portrayed. The Bangles have lots of great songs written and played by themselves as all four women sing lead on different songs with Susanna Hoffs on her Rickenbacker guitar, Vicki Peterson on lead guitar, sister Debbie Peterson on drums, and Michael Steele on bass. 

The band broke apart in the 90's as Susanna Hoff's was getting more lead vocals and attention from their record company, but like most hugely successful rock 'n' roll bands, they came back together in 2000 after taking a decade off as The Bangles. 

In 2004, Michael Steele left the band during the middle of their tour and today the band consists of the other three original members.  I would love to see these ladies live someday and now follow their Facebook page for such an event! 

Recently, I was eating lunch with my wife at the Prado in Balboa Park and put my phone on the table. I had my default ringtone set to the intro of Walk Like an Egyptian. Well, the phone rings and the Walk Like intro begins. A waiter walks right over to me and says, "You like The Bangles?" I say, "Yes," and she gives me a high five and walks on, like a busy waiter. Fans everywhere.

The Bangles are timeless and have taken good care of their voices and continue to play well together as a band. As a big fan of female rock 'n' rollers who can harmonize, I recommend them as a class act to follow. 

The Church of Aretha Franklin

I grew up in Gospel. –Aretha Franklin

My growing up in a mostly white Baptist church in a small town farming community could have been an isolating experience. However, my town was on the California central coast between San Francisco and Los Angeles. I remember many times going over to my friend Bill's house who lived one block parallel to the the US 101 freeway. In our junior high years starting around 1967, hippies hitch-hiked both north and southbound by the freeway on-ramps at Main Street. Maybe that's where my dreams of going to bigger places started...

How this links up with Aretha Franklin is that for me, she is one of those singers that took me to places in my mind that I had not experienced yet in reality. For me growing up in a white bread church, standing and singing hymns seemed so stiff and rote. I hadn't heard the sound of real gospel music until I heard Aretha's voice on AM local radio. In 1967 when Respect came out, I was hearing her soaring soul transformed to a secular medium. I loved the sounds of R&B and soul even though I had no direct connection to the experience. Aretha, like so many musicians of the time provided that bridge for me with her music to a connected spirituality that was real and authentic. As I got into my later teens and early twenties, I moved away from the church, but always appreciated black gospel because it was music you could feel, it soared. If you really want to go to church, just listen to Aretha's 1972 album, Amazing Grace.  There's no need to sit in a hard pew listening to a pastor busting your spirit and limiting your options. Aretha's voice (and piano playing) will set you free! (Amazing Grace album on Youtube).

Here's my Aretha playlist including my favorite Aretha song (written by Stevie Wonder),
Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do).  This song reminds me of being out of high school and going to Alan Hancock Jr. College in 1974, a very good year in my life. Anyway, the playlist tends to go back to that founding gospel R&B rock 'n' roll soul sound that opened up the world to a lot of people. Rest in peace our sweet queen.

Note - Catch the American Bandstand video featuring Respect in 1967. I just love all the white teens dancing to Aretha's music, as it's a geek flashback of all the white kids like me from anywhere USA.

The Cowsills - How the good shines through

Back in time there's a place I remember,

Feels so long ago.

Everything I imagined was in my reach,

Knew that it was going to last ever more.

(Chorus)

All I can say, yeah,

How the good shines through.

They were some good years.

From: Some Good Years, The Cowsills

Have you ever felt you were about to achieve a higher level of success and for whatever reason, that next level was taken from you? Times that by seven and you may want to lean in and hear the story of an exceptionally talented family, a family that could have been rock 'n' roll hall of famers. When I say talented, each one of the six Cowsill children were musical naturals that could all sing and play different instruments to their perfect harmonies. The Cowsills were in fact real contenders in the rock 'n' roll world of the late 1960's.

However, this musical family story begins and looms with the dark cloud of Bud Cowsill, The Cowsills abusive alcoholic father, and controlling manager of the group. His actions alone, would not only create a tremendous negative impact to his seven children growing up (including his wife Barbara), but to their collective fate in popular music history.  This story doesn't end with Bud, but it does have a long and winding road with many ups and downs for all of the Cowsills due to Bud's complete control over the family. One quick example, look at the header picture above of the family band. There is actually one son missing from the band, Richard. Richard (who died in 2014) was Bob's twin brother and excluded from the band from the very beginning, by Bud. Instead of playing music with his siblings, Richard was shipped off to military school and then, onto two tours in Vietnam. Yeah, Bud's a great guy.

As you look at the header picture left to right- The Cowsills begin with the oldest child,  Bill (or Billy) who was the band leader and lead singer of the group. Billy and Bob (two over from the left) start as a duo in 1965 after learning how to play guitars in the late 50's and early 60's. They work up to singing together in clubs around Newport, Rhode Island and begin to gain some traction locally. Smelling success right under his nose, Bud steps in and to his credit gets the boys more gigs, and expands the group with John (fourth from left) and Barry (sixth from left). After a little reshuffle, John moves to drums and Barry to bass.

The Beatles were the four boy's idols and their sheer motivation and ability took them on a sky rocket ride, from the boys watching their heroes on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, to themselves appearing on Ed Sullivan only three years later in 1967. Leading up to 1967, Bud thought it best to add Barbara, their mother and then, Susan (seventh from left), and finally Paul (second from left) to the group. In effect, Bud had himself a Sound of Music rock 'n' roll Trapp Family Singers.

Bill laments in the film documentary, Family Band: The Cowsills (a film by Louise Palanker, 2011- available here on Amazon), how any teenage boy would react when told that his mother was going to join his rock 'n' roll band! But the family did exactly what was told of them by their father. If you get a chance, watch the documentary, it's a must see as I'm just skimming the surface here to a very complex saga.

From 1967-1969, The Cowsills have three top 10 Billboard singles and are riding on top of the world. Then Bud does two critical epic fails as manager. In 1969, he fires Bill (over smoking some pot, but it's much deeper as Bill is beginning to butt heads with his dad) and then, he fires the band's writing team of Artie Kornfeld and Steve Duboff. Korfeld and Duboff wrote, The Rain, The Park, & Other Things, specifically for The Cowsills that in 1967 reached #2 on the American Billboard charts and #1 in Canada.

I don't know how a father fires his own son, but Bill (only at 19) was the singer-songwriting leader of the band whose own star was rising fast. I will say that Bill was so promising as a musician, that if things had turned out differently, we might have been talking about him and The Cowsills at a level at least in sight of another family band, The Beach Boys. Today, Brian Wilson is called, "a genius," but even with Brian's own controlling father, was given a creative incubation environment that allowed him to thieve as an artist. Billy on the other hand was never given anything close to that incubation opportunity to steadily grow. Instead, Billy was often psycho bullied, physically beaten up and literally driven out of the family by his father that he moved to Canada to start a new life. Removing Billy killed The Cowsills as a top act who quickly crumbled and disbanded by 1972.

How does a working family regroup from such folly? To make matters worse, and pouring salt in an open wound, Hollywood comes knocking in 1970 and wants to put the Cowsill kids on  television (ABC) as a family band TV show. But instead of using Barbara Cowsill, they hire Shirley Jones as the mom, and after the family declines the offer because of this fact, hire Jones' real step-son David Cassidy to be the stars of the The Partridge Family (from 1970-74). I had to add the Partridge Family logo here because, don't you think it's a bit ironic?

In the years following, Bill and Barry both had a rough journey. Bill created a musical career for himself in Canada and lead various bands (including The Blue Shadows) and produced many artists, but also developed numerous health problems.  Barry who was a fantastic singer and bass player was also a teen magazine idol (my wife as a 6th grader was in love with him).  As an adult, he did some solo work but with a lot more drinking mixed in throughout his life. Barry died in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, as he refused to leave New Orleans. Bill died shortly after in 2006 from his medical problems.

Mom Barbara, died in 1985 from emphysema and who's memory (as "minimom") seems to be closely protected by all the children. One can only imagine her life with Bud and trying to keep her family together. As for asshole Bud, he died in 1992 from leukemia and according to Bob in the documentary, never accounted for the estimated 20 million dollars The Cowsills generated in the late 60's that he subsequently lost in the years following. To this day, the rest of the family has never seen a penny of that money.

So that's the backdrop past. However,  there's a whole flip side to the Cowsill family album- a family that can look back, but with a focus on moving forward with great character and stamina for life.

Bob who was forced to step into his older brother's role of lead singer when Billy was kicked out, has managed to keep the band The Cowsills alive and kicking all these years. Along with Paul and Susan they continue to perform as a band with a second generation of family members and many different offshoots.

John is a professional musician who played with the regroup of the band in the 1990's and today is the drummer of the touring Beach Boys band featuring Mike Love and Bruce Johnston. John is also married to Vicki Peterson, a founding member of The Bangles. Vicki Peterson has also played with Susan Cowsill in The Psycho Sisters. Susan along with playing with The Cowsills for many years has her own band, The Susan Cowsill Band and also played in the Continental Drifters. Bob Cowsill has played over the years with The Bob Cowsill Band and I included a great Beatle cover they do in the playlist this week.

So what attracted me back to The Cowsills after all these years? It was one of my favorite songs as a middle schooler in 1967, and their break out smash hit, The Rain, The Park & Other Things. That song has such a great hook. A couple of weeks ago, I looked it up on YouTube for my Summer Tunes blog, and now I still can't get the harmony chorus hook out of my mind!

I love the flower girl

Oh, I don't know just why, she simply caught my eye

I love the flower girl

She seemed so sweet and kind, she crept into my mind

To my mind

What really got my attention was not the original recording, but the 2004 video of Bob, Paul, Susan and Barry (including Bill's old friend and mentor, Waddy Watchtel) performing it live. The family had come together for a benefit show they organized for their original leader and brother Billy to help fund his medical bills. From this live recording and album, The Billy Cowsill Benefit Concert at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles, The Cowsills were not just an oldies act, but a fresh band who still had the harmonies! In my playlist this week, you have to listen to, I Really Want To Know You with Susan on lead vocal, it brought me to tears. And if you're me, playing 'shoulda coulda', listen to their 1990 release, Is It Any Wonder, now please that song should have been a 90's era hit single!

Fast forward to now and The Cowsills have a new (and they say last) album coming out soon. 

They are controlling the distribution through PledgeMusic and here is the link to their campaign. As of this writing, they have 19 days left and just got 103% funded! I bought the pre-order CD for $15 (that must have been the  order to put them over ;-) and go ahead and hit that link if you're interested.

The Cowsills are currently on tour with the Happy Together Tour 2018 that I now see I missed in July in Orange County, darrnnnn. They are currently finishing the tour in the mid-western states if my little blog has somehow reached you on the plains.

I'll finish with the old saying, "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger" could be applied to the Cowsill children as they grew into adults. I can't help but think that Billy, Barry and Richard's identities and spirits were irreparably damaged by their father that had a lifetime effect and probably contributed to their early deaths. For Bob, Susan, John and Paul you see their love for all their siblings in the videos. They survived their roller-coaster up and down early years, and live their lives with such a positive energy moving forward, and that my friends is how the good shines through.

Summer Tunes 2018

Summer Tunes  2018 & 2019 • 2022 • 2023

T-shirts, cut-offs, and a pair of thongs
We've been having fun all summer long
Brian Wilson

Updated - Okay, starting week two of summer tunes as I have been busy on the YouTubes collecting nearly a 100 different eclectic videos for your summertime listening pleasure! This week I really got into watching Beach Boys videos, stories and just enjoying the music of Brian Wilson. Brian's one of rock 'n' rolls greatest artists and a fascinating character to put it mildly. I love this picture of him and wish him as much happiness as he has given all of us with his music! Please make some time this summer to relax, maybe next to a body of water, and listen to some music. Enjoy my friends!

Summer Tunes 2018 & 2019 Combined Playlist

Summer Tunes 2022

Summer Tunes 2023

Paul and John... via Dana Carvey

Getty Images

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a little blog about Paul McCartney's new album, Egypt Station coming out in September. In the video playlist I included Paul's recent appearance on Carpool Karaoke with James Corden.

This past week, I had a chance to see Dana Carvey on Jerry Seinfeld's, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, New Season 5, Episode 6. I just love this show and the Dana Carvey episode was great as Dana rolls through his impressions. He does a segment of the sketch with Paul McCartney talking to John Lennon in heaven about Kanye West. Now this was absolutely hysterical and I didn't realize that Carvey actually does a 5 minute piece on this in his 2016 Netflix Special, Dana Carvey, Straight White Male, 60. (As a side note - Dana Carvey is my birth class of 1955 and we all just seem to continue to ride that endless Beatles wave.)

So after the Comedians in Cars Episode, I immediately watched Dana Carvey, Straight White Male, 60 which I highly recommend. His Paul McCartney John Lennon sketch was so fantastic I had to find it on the Internet and write this blog. Anyway, Netflix didn't create a copyrighted clip for YouTube and the only other one I found wasn't up to par. So, thinking I could do a bit better, I set up me ol' iPhone on the tripod and shot it right off the big telly. I uploaded to YouTube and well... that lasted for about 15 minutes before my clip was blocked by YouTube (as it should Douglas Glen McIntosh), but I've now posted another one I found on YouTube (?)...

So watch the bit here with a few more gems stitched together to form the playlist, and then catch the entire special on Netflix, as it's a boomer's TV night event!

Harry Nilsson - Good Old Desk

My old desk does an arabesque,

In the morning when I first arrive 

It's a pleasure to see, it's waiting there for me

To keep my hopes alive

This past week I came across the 1968 song, Good Old Desk by Harry Nilsson from his third album, Arieal Ballet while listening to streamed music at well... my desk. I have a tricked out 60"x 30" sit to stand electric desk that I purchased at IKEA in 2015 (see build).  Since retiring from my 35 year teaching career, it has become my new place of work.

Almost everyday, I get up in the morning and write something into the cloud from my good old desk. It has really become an extension of myself as I grow my educational consulting business, do research, write my book (with Richard Oka), or post a music blog before my self-imposed deadline of Monday at 8am. The blog title, Monday Monday Music (yes inspired by The Mamas and Papas) but strictly named on my part to kick my ass into actually writing something every week.

My favorite desk story is that it's going to be Mary Kit's birthday a couple of years ago, and I decided to get her a 32" TV for her office/sewing room. I order it from Amazon Prime and it doesn't show up for a week. We call, they can't locate it and send another one out, and it comes in two days. Then, about three weeks later, the original comes with the box a little worse for wear, but its fine. We call, and Amazon says, "just keep it." The picture above of me standing, is MY 32" TV/computer monitor that I use to mirror my laptop screen, on my desk. I blow the text up and man, I can even take off my reading glasses and pretend I'm reading 12 point font again. Also, my grandchildren love to control the up and down button (with my supervision) and watch the desk grow and shrink.

So, if you're at your work desk right now and going through your email or on the web and come across this blog, take a listen about a place where maybe you spend a good deal of time. If you don't like your current desk, think of it as, "a sad song and make it better." I mean it, start right now, concoct a plan to get a better desk that fits YOU. Nothing better than creating at a space that you can call, "my good old desk."

If you already like your desk and it kind of follows with this song, knock on wood.

Paul McCartney - Egypt Station (peek)

Paul McCartney's new album, Egypt Station is set to be released September 7, 2018 but Sir Paul has given us several bits of new media to hold us over through the summer.

First, I saw the Carpool Karaoke with Paul for The Late Late Show with James Corden in Liverpool. I think its fabulous and the reason for creating this post.

Then, Paul has just released two songs off the album, I Don't Know and Come On to Me.

I'm still kicking myself for not seeing him at Petco Park in San Diego in 2014. These opportunities are shrinking with the greats and let that be a lesson mates to go see the band you want to see when your gut tells you to go!

Happy Father's Day

To our daughters and sons...

Snow Patrol - Wildness

I've been checking out newly released albums for an upcoming blog when I came across Snow Patrol and their new album, Wildness.

Snow Patrol is an Irish band formed in 1993 that I had never heard of before and lead by wonderful singer-songwriter, Gary Lightbody.

Wildness is a nice mix of Power pop songs that can land within a lot of different people's musical tastes. It is one of those albums that lives between pop and rock as it just kind of pulled me in. So check out Wildness on your music Monday as I think you may be hooked to listen to the whole album.

Angels in the architecture and devil in the details

Image Source

A man walks down the street

It's a street in a strange world

Maybe it's the Third World

Maybe it's his first time around

He doesn't speak the language

He holds no currency

He is a foreign man

He is surrounded by the sound

The sound

Cattle in the marketplace

Scatterlings and orphanages

He looks around, around

He sees angels in the architecture

Spinning in infinity

He says Amen! and Hallelujah!

From You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon

If you read my blog last week, Paul Simon, The Rhythm Poet, you can tell I haven't quite let go of my recent concert experience. As I was doing research for that blog, I came across an interview with Paul Simon that really spoke to me. As an artist, Simon talks about the concept of flow where sometimes the music and words come to him easily, and other times he works and works over a period of time to complete a song.

Now please take almost 5 minutes to watch this clip now, and I'll share my take on the other side.

What struck me about Paul Simon's curiosity with his own creative process describes how all of us are similarly capable of creativity in our own way and not just reserved for artists or people identified as gifted.

I'm not one to believe that God is directly providing that 'spark' of thought, but rather, through our own experiences we are all able to cognitively channel and engage our brains to create something new.

Paul's line, "He sees angels in the architecture" is for me a metaphor for that spark of thought framed around the idea and/or thing you are creating. The creating itself is thoughtful but is sometimes coupled with a 'spirituality' of goodness that is coming from some place to you and through you.

I found a similar passage from an excellent blog by Shannon Rusk, apply titled, Angels in the Architecture.

I prefer to consider the expression a metaphor.  Because I do believe that architecture, and by turns its architects, have the ability to do good, or otherwise.  But for me the angels in the architecture are not winged creatures or other beautiful details and careful ornamentation.  Rather, I see the angels as being the experiences and emotions and connections that architecture, at its best, can enrich and facilitate for those people who live their lives within and around it.  They can be something that architects deliberately design for, or they can happen just by chance, or as a result of the way people choose to use or adapt the building.  

Image Source

I'm currently writing an K-12 educational ebook titled, Learning Environment by Design. I've been researching and writing the book for a year now with a lot of passion and motivation to see it take shape, and to see it through.

 I've come to learn two things about creativity. One, you create the conditions for your own 'flow' as angels in the architecture within the structure you're building.  Secondly, your flow is sustained through your embrace of the process of iteration as 'the devil is in the details.'

Iteration is the act of repeating a process, either to generate an unbounded sequence of outcomes, or with the aim of approaching a desired goal, target or result. Each repetition of the process is also called an "iteration", and the results of one iteration are used as the starting point for the next iteration. Wikipedia

This creativity ying-yang of flow and details is a wonderful loop of inspiration and pace. For me, Paul Simon's work has always had a spiritual quality that has touched my soul deeply over the years. I guess what I appreciate now more than ever is the beauty and craft in the making of his songs.

As a student and young person, when it came to writing, I was a one and done draft with little regard for the process of editing. It's taken me a bit longer, but I've learned to love and embrace the 'rewrite.' Paul Simon would know something about that.

Paul Simon, The Rhythm Poet

Hello darkness, my old friend

I’ve come to talk with you again

Because a vision softly creeping

Left its seeds while I was sleeping

And the vision that was planted in my brain

Still remains

Within the sound of silence

from The Sound of Silence by Paul Simon

In my 12th grade English class the teacher Miss Dunn, did a poetry unit on Simon and Garfunkel. She unpacked Paul Simon's lyrics and we explored songs such as, The Sound of Silence and The Boxer as deeply as passages of Dickinson or Thoreau.

Paul Simon is simply one of American music's greatest treasures. By the late sixties, he had reached Bob Dylan's poet stature as the songwriter of Simon and Garfunkel.  But he just never stopped his momentum and continued to evolve as the quintessential instrument to channel American and world rhythms into music as a solo artist.

Last Friday, I got to see Paul Simon for the first time at Key Arena in Seattle. His Homeward Bound - The Farewell Tour is billed as the final tour of his career and at 76 I'm just going to have to take him at his word. His setlist included 25 songs with three well planned but heartfelt encores.

Joining me was my lovely wife Mary Kit, as well as my dear old friend Bill DeVoe and his good friend Neil Wiesblott from Vashon Island. Our foursome was part of the largely "Boomer" crowd that grew up listening to Paul Simon, and in turn, our children listened to Simon growing up with us.

In preparing for the blog this past week, I typically start with the playlist and wanted to feature many of the songs from his recent performances. I got really excited listening to Paul's 70+ year old voice in concert as the man is well preserved physically, vocally and musically.

On Saturday after the concert, I had a chance to have lunch with Bill and he talked about how Simon just continued to evolve as an artist through the decades, not afraid to explore and expose his audience to literally the rhythms and beats from all kinds of cultural influences. Our discussion turned to how historically white musicians have "taken" music from musicians of color and not given them credit for not only their influence but the dollars they have reaped from that influence.

You can go back to the 1920's and discover jazz performers such as Paul Whiteman (literally his last name), who was known as the "King of Jazz" to the larger white audience without publicly  acknowledging the black artists who in fact created the art form of jazz itself.

This too could also be applied to Elvis Presley in the 1950's as the "King of Rock 'n' Roll" to the larger white audience, and if I'm not mistaken, never overtly talked in the media about how black music influenced his music. I will say many black musicians like Little Richard have publicly said how Elvis' popularity actually boosted their careers, but not said by the man himself, in front of a microphone or television camera.

But in the 1960's and by the 1970's this pattern had begun to change. Groups like the Rolling Stones and musicians like Eric Clapton, openly talked about their black musician idols, and "put their money where their mouth is" by getting them big time booking gigs and appearances on TV.

Paul Simon took it a step further. He started putting people like the Jessy Dixon Singers in his albums and on his concert tours. He went to South Africa under Apartheid, hired all black musicians, recorded and toured with these musicians, and caught a bunch of crap for it. There are probably people who think Paul Simon has "taken" African music, but I would disagree. If you don't like the fact that Paul Simon is a musical genius whose world influences have created some of the most catchy rhythmic beat hooks of all-time, you probably just don't get rock 'n' roll. Rock 'n' Roll is for everybody but it's important to know where it comes from and to acknowledge the people who brought the beat, no matter who's playing it.

Then I learned to play some lead guitar

I was underage in this funky bar

And I stepped outside to smoke myself a “J”

And when I came back to the room

Everybody just seemed to move

And I turned my amp up loud and began to play

And it was late in the evening

And I blew that room away

Late in the Evening by Paul Simon

Paul Simon rocked Key Arena. He's got one of the most talented bands I've ever seen. I could only image the audition process to join this elite group of people who all seem to perform double duties of playing multiple instruments plus sing harmony or back up vocals as well. The percussion section is hypnotic and the horns are the pure joy of the soul. Paul was fully engaged, telling stories about the songs and his singing voice was fantastic! The crowd couldn't get enough as he moved from acoustic to full orchestral, big sound arrangements and back to acoustic guitars. It was not quite late in the evening and Paul Simon blew me away. I was not alone.

If you're wanting more, I would suggest Paul's new book by Robert Hilburn, Paul Simon the life. Here is a book review in the Seattle Times by Paul de Barrios. I haven't read the book yet, but I think it will be on my bedside table very soon.

And, a very positive review of the May 18th concert at Key Arena in the Seattle Times by Michael Rietmulder.

Update - (Hollywood Bowl review)
Paul Simon's Final Tour A Graceful, Masterful And Jubilant Celebration by Steve Baltin

You know when an artist is so enduring to you that you sing the lyrics and play the music of a favorite song, in your head. For me Paul Simon has that extra quality (like Stevie Wonder) when the rhythm of the instruments just play over and over in your head, in a good way.

Right now as I'm writing this, I'm playing the acoustic guitar lead into Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard, in my head, and that my friends is a gift on so many levels.

Team Tortoise Part III: Carry That Weight

Team Tortoise -  Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV

Image Source

Boy, you gonna carry that weight

Carry that weight a long time

from Carry That Weight | Lennon and McCartney

This is the third article in a mini-blog series about running, diet and music. If you haven't read the other two pieces, Team Tortoise Part I: Born to Run and, Team Tortoise: Part II: Getting in Tune, start there and then return here.

I don't care how healthy the above picture looks, for me, bread is "crack carbs." I could eat bread at every meal and then have toast late at night, for dessert. This is a family thing, built into my McDNA. Of all things possible in my recent quest for eating better, my aunt gives Mary Kit and I an electric bread maker this past week, and now I think of her as a drug dealer. 

Like most Americans, I'm addicted to carbs. It doesn't matter if I run everyday the rest of my life, there is no amount of exercise that's going to control my weight. We've all known the science for many years- reducing the level of carbohydrates one puts into their body is the first and most important ingredient to weight loss and management.   

But finally, after trying to lose weight since my 40's, I learned something. DIETING is actually the enemy of "health is a lifestyle." Dieting is a counterproductive activity, a "bait and switch" that tricks your body for a short-term weight-loss outcome. 

The Seven Day Cycle of Eating
I'm learning that I don't need to diet, but rather, just monitor the food I choose to eat on a seven day cycle. This cycle, combined with running every other day, is my 1-2 punch to lose and eventually maintain a healthy weight to carry.

If you want to lose (or maintain) your weight, there is only ONE RULE that you have to follow for the rest of your life-

1. Cut out, cut back and replace carbohydrate foods that you consumed in your past "crack carb life." If you actively identify and target specific high carb (and sugar) foods, you will begin to reprogram yourself with healthy eating habits of mind and body that require the most important element, consistency.  

Change here is really just a series of small behavioral steps. Over the past several years, I have made a progressive effort to either CUT OUT 100% or CUT BACK a significant percentage of my "carry that weight" hit list of crack carbs, on a consistent basis. 

Shout

Shout

Let it all out

These are the things I can do without

Come on

I'm talking to you

Come on

From Shout | Tears for Fears

• breakfast cereal and oatmeal (100%)
• dairy milk (100%)
• pancakes and waffles (95%)
• bagels (98%)
• all soft drinks, including sugar drinks like lemonade (100%)
• fruit juice, and fruit smoothies (95%)
• dried fruit (100%)
• chips (80%)
• crackers (appropriate name - 90%)
• flour tortillas (90%)
• quesadillas (100%)
• deli sandwiches, I love deli! (90%)
• regular pasta noodles (95%)
• rice (90%)
• potatoes, fries (90%)
• jam (100%)
• cookies, I love cookies! (95%)
• pie (95%)
• ice cream (90%)
• pastries/donuts (95%)
• bread, pizza and beer (0%) "A man's got to know his limitations."

But, I just couldn't go "cold carb." I needed to REPLACE my high carb intake with lower carb alternatives throughout the week. Here's some of my replacement behaviors. (Hey I should add a song to the playlist by the band, The Replacements.)

One thing Mary Kit and I learned several years back (on a WeightWatchers® diet) but did not practice again until recently, was to buy only low carb bread. Now you're probably saying, "but I don't want to eat bread that tastes like cardboard." Actually, there are some great low carb sliced breads out there. Here's a little simple math you need to do in your search for any lower carb food.

1. Look at the "Nutrition Facts" on the back label on most any food product.
2. Look for "Total Carbohydrate" (example - 12g, from Dave's Killer Bread 60 Calories Thin-Sliced, not to mention Dave playing electric guitar on the front label)
3. Under Total Carbohydrate look for "Dietary Fiber" (Dave's 3g) and subtract that number from the Total Carbohydrate number. So, for Dave's 60 calorie bread the total carbs = 9 grams per slice.
4. As a "carb standard" Mary Kit and I try to buy food with under 10 grams per serving. For sliced bread, our current favorites are the "Dave's 60 Calories" just mentioned and Eureka! Sweet Baby Grains (homage to James Taylor!) at 10 total grams of carbohydrate (Both breads found at Vons/Safeway). Once you start reading labels, you'll find that most sliced breads start in the 20+ Total Carbohydrate range.

Some "new habits" for NOT carrying that weight

• I have a body weight scale (to the 1/10th pound) and weigh myself in the morning after I have gone to the bathroom. I don't weigh everyday, because like most people, my weight is always fluctuating a couple pounds, but I do weigh several times a week to get a feel and monitor for the (ding, ding)... Sunday morning weigh-in. Hint- If I know I'm having a carb carnival on Saturday night, I do my weigh-in on Saturday morning, remember don't punish yourself.
  
  
• My strategic plan is to lose 1 pound a week for however long it takes me to get to 185. I use Google Calendar for all my scheduling and on the upcoming Sunday I have my current weight listed as an "all day event." For example, this week's goal is 201. It's been my goal for two weeks now. If I go under 201.0, my next week's goal is 200.0, if not, it remains at 201 and I slide that 201 calendar event down to next Sunday. If I weigh 199 this Sunday, my goal for next week is still 200.0. and I put up a new calendar event for 200 for next Sunday. I try to remain "slow and steady" and most importantly, not to create a weight system that punishes myself or causes me to feel I have to be on a DIET.
  
  
• Eat the majority of your your carbs in the morning. I often have two pieces of toast as part of my breakfast, but got to watch it for lunch and dinner, not everyday but maybe 5 days out of 7. Give yourself the whole day to burn those carbs off as they turn to glucose, and then from sugar to fat. Also, have a little real butter on your toast, and no margarine as it is part of the artificial diet machine.
• Eat a banana (or two) one hour before you run. It is high in carbohydrate and you'll burn the glucose for your running fuel. Bananas are also high in potassium and for me help prevent muscle pulls while running. For many runners, a banana also settles the stomach before a run.
• You must always hydrate everyday, but one hour before a run I also drink a 20 oz. Vitamin Water Zero (Lemonade or Orange) because it has electrolytes and helps with the muscle pull thing I tend to get. (Note - A 12-ounce serving of Gatorade's Thirst Quencher contains 21 grams of sugar.)
• You probably noticed I never stopped eating bread or pizza. Behaviorally, I made a choice. If I was going to continue those two habits, I was going to need to cut out, cut back or replace other carbs I was consuming.
  
  
• Channel your Jim Gaffigan (Bacon!) and have a couple of cheat meals a week. Your body metabolically actually needs the food change ups if you want to lose weight, and after all, "variety is the spice of life." (If you're a Seinfeld fan, kind of analogous to, "sex to save the friendship" to my take, "pancakes to save the stomach.")
  
  
• Protein is your friend. Find foods you like with higher levels of protein and increase that percentage from your old eating habits. Eat your protein after a workout because protein helps repair muscle and tissue.
  
  
• Start drinking protein shakes at least 3-4 times a week. My current favorite is Muscle Milk 100% Whey Vanilla Concentrate Blend (from Costco) at 27grams of protein per serving (no after taste). My simple protein shake recipe includes:
      -2 cups of Almond Milk
      -1 scope of the above whey vanilla concentrate power
      -1 frozen banana
      -a spoonful of peanut butter (helps the medicine go down) and let it all blend in the blender. This is my new smoothie as the frozen banana is the key to the smooth!
  
  
• I now literally go "cold turkey" with my "new sandwich" - a cold cut slice (or two) of turkey or ham between two pieces of cheese.
  
  
• I haven't eaten red met (99%) for many years now, but if you are a meat eater and like fish, increase your intake and you will feel the difference. If you hate fish, go with turkey, ham and chicken. For example, make a chicken salad sandwich and just leave out the bread. I make chicken salad with boiled eggs, pickles, mustard and some mayonnaise and just stir it up and eat it from the same bowl.
  
  
• If you are a burger nut, switch to lean turkey pre-made patties in the meat isle. (Making patties from ground turkey takes too much time and they are just too dry.) I'm a cheese burger guy from way back so include the DELICIOUS melted cheese but eliminate the bun and keep the lettuce, tomatoes and pickles.
• Avoid packaged foods with the leading label "Non Fat." That is a bait and switch for your mind but your body just breaks downs the excess carbs to sugar and stores as fat.
• If you are a vegetarian of any kind, you still have to reduce your carbs and get more protein, otherwise you will never lose weight and keep it off.
  
  
• Replace chips and crackers with (dry roasted) nuts as a snack. Costco has a good selection, but don't blow it and buy the trail mix (doh)!
  
  
• Replace pasta noodles with low carb Dreamfields Pasta noodles. Believe me, you won't even know the difference between regular pasta and Dreamfields.
  
  
• Sugar is the enemy. Choose sugar treats few and far between because the body is just going to convert it and store it as fat.
  
  
• If I need a sweet treat, I buy a variety of low carb Atkins Protein Bars, they are delicious. I make sure to buy the bars WITHOUT artificial sweeteners. But use your common sense, you shouldn't eat 3 bars a day (I have, several times).
• Fiber is your friend. It helps bring down your carb count and keep you regular in the digestive department. I also take a Philipps "Fiber Gummy" with every meal at home. I don't have any hard data (other than my scale) to support its helping me lose weight, but it's helping in the digestive department.
  
  
• Buy most of your fresh fruits and vegetables in bulk from Costco. It's just Mary Kit and I in the house, but it forces us to eat these foods more often before they spoil. Nobody wants to throw away food, so it's just another built-in motivator. Also, we have a pantry we used to call the "carb cabinet." As your behavior changes, your pantry should reflect that change. Your refrigerator becomes the new snack machine with things like dill pickles, olives, apples, cheese and berries.
  
  
• If you're a big time snacker like me, Become a big time berry eater. I eat a fair amount of blackberries, blueberries and strawberries from Costco. If you reach for the carb cabinet, take a few nuts and get back to the The Americans.
• Lastly, if you are living by yourself, it's up to you to create these new eating and exercise habits. If you live with a partner, your task is a bit harder because with most relationships, you often eat together. I'm not going to get into couple behavior here, other than to say you and your partner need to be on the "same page" when changing up your eating habits. My weight drops over the years have always been tied directly to Mary Kit. Relationships are an on-going process and hopefully the concept of "team" comes together for the both of you during your eating/exercise transformation. 

Boy, I carried that weight for a long time, this time for the last five years. One day, I just got sick and tired of the feeling that I had lost my former self in image and flexibility at 215 pounds. As I mentioned earlier, I wrote this Team Tortoise blog series to continue to motivate myself and maybe motivate you in some small way. I know as a Clydesdale or tortoise, I will need to continue to monitor my weight the rest of my life. I continue to strike the DIET word from my behavior and enjoy the "slow and steady" mantra of Team Tortoise in my running and lower carb healthy lifestyle.

As a lifestyle, Team Tortoise is also about stress relief. Music soothes the soul and is as important to me today as when I was a young 175 pound lean running machine. I hope this blog helps you a little more to connect to music on a weekly basis so that the current burdens you carry don't weigh you down too much. And, if you're looking for a Frank Costanza, "Serenity now" moment, you'll find it in your music. 

Here's a running start playlist that I've been adding to over the last three weeks to get us moving and smiling.

Notes on videos chosen- The Dave Wottle 1972 Olympic race really inspired me to start running | My first running shoes were the Nike "Cortez" | The movie clip from, The Black Stallion is about freedom and the freedom running can bring. It also reminds me of running at the beach in 1978 when I moved to Mission Beach | The "mans got to know his limitations" clip is just knowing who I am and listening to my body | The Nike commercial with the boy running on the road is about us all being on that lonesome road all by ourself, and that we will prevail on our journey.