Deep Purple Mark I

 

My journey into the Deep world of Purple began approximately 1984, when living in Paris, France.  Seeking to start off on the band, I went to Bazar Hotel de Ville (aka “BHV”, pronounced “bay osh vay”), a department store in eastern Paris near the town hall – the same town hall which had Louis Napoleon’s map of Paris and went up in flames during the Paris Commune in 1871.  The store itself became BHV the same year, 1871.  In any case, this store had a music section, and that section had these 12” black vinyl platters, including quite a few by Deep Purple.  Not knowing which album to start off with, I tried Deepest Purple, a compilation album.  All but two of its 12 songs, “Burn” and “Stormbringer”, were Mark II songs, the exceptions being the title tracks of the two Mark III albums.

 As you might expect, we’re mostly familiar with the classic lineup, known as the Mark II, which recorded In Rock (6/70), Fireball (7/71), Machine Head (3/72), Who Do We Think We Are (1/73), the classic live album Made In Japan, and three reunion albums, Perfect Strangers (10/84), The House of Blue Light (1/87), and The Battle Rages On (7/93).  For those of you wanting to collect literally ALL of the band’s recorded material, there’s Jon Lord’s Concerto For Group and Orchestra performed at the Royal Albert Hall in fall of 1969 – essentially an original classical music piece with the band adding its own contribution.  Most of us listen to it once and never again.  But before that, beginning in spring of 1968, was this one. 

 In 1968, Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, and Nick Simper had been playing in various bands with less success and recognition than they would have liked.  They agreed to form a band together, and recruited Evans and Paice (from The Maze/MI6) to fill out the ranks.  This lineup was more commercial than later ones, but only scored some success with “Hush”, itself a cover.  Aside from “And the Address”, redone on the latest album, “Hush” is the only Mark I song the band still plays.  Before Mark II had a substantial array of its own material, it was playing “Mandrake Root” and “Wring That Neck” in concert.

 At this stage they were an opening act, mainly for Cream and Vanilla Fudge.  Blackmore pissed off Eric Clapton by inserting non-rock material into his solos as a lark.  The first name was Roundabout, then changed to Deep Purple.  Their first gig was on April 20, 1968.  Their material sold far better in the US than the UK, where crowds dismissed them as an American bubble gum pop band.  In the US they appeared on Playboy After Dark.  They spent so much time in the US, and were so much more popular there, that they considered moving there permanently, but abandoned that idea when they learned that doing so would make Ian Paice, the youngest member of the band, liable to being drafted and sent to fight in Vietnam (male permanent resident aliens are required to register with the Selective Service – and thus are subject to being drafted).

 Band Members.

 Ritchie Blackmore (Guitarist).  He continued on to Mark II & III, leaving in 1975 to form Rainbow.  He came back later in 1984 for the reunion and left in 1993 on the Battle Rages On Tour.  Since then he has been playing renaissance music with his current wife Candice – and apparently they live on Long Island, of all places.   Generally he favors Stratocasters with 70s headstocks and scalloped fretboards, played through Marshall stacks.  Blackmore is notorious for being difficult to deal with and Rainbow went through various lineups as bassist Jimmy Bain said, “our banjo player kept firing musicians.”

 Jon Lord (Keyboardist).  He continued through Marks III-V and remained in the band for two albums with Mark VI, after Steve Morse replaced Blackmore on guitar.  He retired from Deep Purple in 2002, and died in 2012.  Easily recognizable by his mustache.  He added a fair amount of classical music to the mix.

 Ian Paice (Drummer).  By now he’s the only member who has been with band with literally every lineup.  I can’t say I know enough about drummers to comment on his style.  He does seem shy and least likely to cause any problems.  He’s left handed but plays a right handed kit, though with drum kits – as opposed to guitars and basses – I can’t tell the difference.  Same with left-handed amps, left-handed keyboards, or left-handed microphones.

 Rod Evans (Singer).  After being let go in 1969 he eventually formed Captain Beyond in the early 70s with former members of Iron Butterfly; he’s on the self-titled debut and Sufficiently Breathless.  In 1980 he joined an ersatz Deep Purple scam in which he was the only member remotely connected with the band.  The band’s management sued him, got a judgment of $400k, and he disappeared into obscurity.  Ironically he’s probably better esteemed these days for Captain Beyond than DP Mark I.  He has a deep, rich voice and not prone to shrieks, putting him in a completely different class than Ian Gillan or David Coverdale.  

 Nick Simper (Bassist).  He wasn’t too happy when they let him go in 1969 along with Evans.  He formed a band named Warhorse in the 70s and declined to be invited to the scam band in 1980.  He still shows up from time to time, but hasn’t done anything high profile since Deep Purple. 

 Albums.

 Shades of Deep Purple.  (7/68).  Debut album.  Track listing:  And The Address; Hush; One More Rainy Day; Prelude: Happiness; I’m So Glad; Mandrake Root; Help [Beatles cover]; Love Help Me; Hey Joe [Billy Roberts cover, though Hendrix’ seems to be the definitive version].  Bonus tracks on remastered CD: Shadows; Love Help Me (instrumental); Help (alternate version); Hey Joe (BBC recording); Hush (Live on US TV).

 The Book of Taliesyn (10/68).  My own favorite, thanks to “Anthem” and “The Shield”.  I recall listening to this one when we were visiting London.   Track listing: Listen, Learn, Read On; Wring That Neck; Kentucky Woman [Neil Diamond cover]; Exposition; We Can Work It Out [Beatles cover]; Shield; Anthem; River Deep, Mountain High [Tina Turner cover].  Remastered CD bonus tracks:  Oh No No No (out-take); It’s All Over (out-take); Hey Bop A Re Bop (BBC live recording); Wring That Neck (BBC live recording); Playground (out-take).

My original copy purchased in Europe back in the day is fairly flimsy, but is stereo.  The 180 grain reissue I purchased is mono.   The CD version is stereo. 

 Deep Purple (self-titled) (6/69).  Track listing:  Chasing Shadows; Blind; Lalena; Fault Line; The Painter; Why Didn’t Rosemary; Bird Has Flown; April.  Remastered CD bonus tracks: The Bird Has Flown (alternate mix); Emmaretta (out-take); Emmaretta (BBC live recording); Lalena (BBC live recording); The Painter (BBC live recording).  Here, unlike the prior two albums, only one song, "Lalena", is a cover (Donovan).  So the band had progressed to mostly originals.

 Live at Inglewood.  October 18, 1968.  As an opening act, no one seemed to bother to record their shows, so to my knowledge this is the only surviving live recording (CD) of this lineup.  Set: Hush, Kentucky Woman, Mandrake Root, Help, Wring That Neck, River Deep Mountain High, Hey Joe.  Obviously it was the Book tour, opening for Cream, no material from the self-titled album which came out in 1969.  The CD itself now seems to be out of print.

 As hinted earlier, this material is considerably different than the Mark II and later albums.  It’s somewhat commercial and late ‘60s pop, with some extended instrumentals which approach prog in nature.  Usually you’d expect a commercial band to give us quick and simple 3 minute songs and not bother going off on guitar and keyboard solos.  Plus you’ve got all those covers, which Mark II and later lineups didn’t bother with – at least not on vinyl.  It’s definitely a very different flavor, though Blackmore’s guitar and Lord’s keyboards are still recognizable.  Harking back to last week’s blog, it’s “not as good” as later Purple but still well above a threshold of “good”. 

 In July 1969 the band decided to move in a heavier direction.  They fired Evans and Simper and recruited Ian Gillan and Roger Glover.  The two had earlier been approached about joining, but their band Episode Six was on its way up and they felt they owed the rest of E6 a duty to take it as far was it would go.  By July 1969 E6 had stagnated, so the time was right.  Evans had decided to marry an American girl and move to the US, so he wasn’t too upset, but Nick Simper wasn’t too happy.  In a recent interview, though, he concedes that the band made the right decision to replace him with Roger Glover. 

 Deep Purple Mark VI.  Just a little item I want to address here as I don’t believe it merits a whole blog entry on its own.  In 1973, Ian Gillan quit and Roger Glover was fired, the band replaced them with David Coverdale (vocals) and Glenn Hughes (bass & backup vocals). This was Mark III, which recorded two albums:  Burn (2/74) and Stormbringer (12/74).

After Stormbringer Ritchie Blackmore got fed up with the funk direction the band headed in (“shoeshine music”, as he referred to it), mainly thanks to Hughes, and left.  The band replaced him with Tommy Bolin (Mark IV) which lasted for one album, Come Taste The Band (10/75).  The album itself was fine, but on the tour it turned out that Bolin was a heroin addict and his performances overseas, strung out without heroin, were train wrecks.  As soon as the tour ended (last show at Liverpool on March 15, 1976), the band broke up and went their separate ways.  Bolin died of a heroin overdose a few months later, December 4, 1976.

The Mark II lineup reformed in 1984, as noted above.  After House of Blue Light, Blackmore arranged to have Gillan replaced with Rainbow singer Joe Lynn Turner for one album, Slaves & Masters, which is Mark V.  Then Gillan came back for The Battle Rages On, the last album with the Mark II lineup.     

In the middle of that tour, Blackmore quit abruptly, leaving the band to find another guitarist to cover the remaining tour dates.  They found Joe Satriani.   After the tour the band offered him a permanent job, but he refused.  One story is that he felt Blackmore was “the” guitarist; another is that he was under contract with another label which had exclusive rights to any original material he wrote.  For whatever reason, Satriani did not join the band as a permanent member and the band did not record any new material with him.  Any live recordings from this tour are bootlegs and not official releases, and given the circumstances will remain so indefinitely.   So there is NO official DP material with Satriani and no new studio material with him.  The next guitarist to remain with the band was Steve Morse, who is still with them.  When Jon Lord retired in 2002, the band replaced him with Don Airey. 

Despite this, some refer to the touring lineup with Satriani as “Mark VI”.   No, Mark VI is the lineup with Steve Morse on guitar and Jon Lord on keyboards, (Purpendicular (2/96) and Abandon (6/98)), and Mark VII is the lineup with Morse on guitar and Airey on keyboards – who are still making records (Bananas (9/03), Rapture of the Deep (11/05), Now What ?! (4/13), Infinite (4/17), and Whoosh! (8/20)) and – COVID permitting – touring.   

Not As Good < > Not Good

 

Oftentimes people sometimes confuse the two.  I suppose many of us who are married, and had several different romantic partners over the ages, might acknowledge that the person they settled down with was not their optimal sexual partner – but the person who was, had other issues (e.g. infidelity or general personal incompatibility) which made the current partner the overall optimal one.

 Moving away from relationships, this features for several musical groups.

 GRATEFUL DEAD.  The band began in San Francisco in 1965 and remained active until Jerry Garcia’s death in 1995.  After that time, the surviving band members reformed for several tours, playing the classic material with no new material recorded or released after Jerry died.  Veteran Deadheads will tell you that Jerry’s health issues in 1986 mean that the ’86-’95 version was never quite as good as the ’65-’86 version. 

 A colleague of mine had seen them multiple times before 1986 and never after that.  I invited him to join me for the 2020 show of Dead & Company – Jerry’s place taken by John Mayer, and original members Bobby Weir, Bill Kreutzman and Mickey Hart still on stage, bassist Phil Lesh still alive but too old to tour anymore – at Jiffy Lube Live.  Initially he dismissed this out of hand, but after listening to official recording of the 2019 show, he changed his mind.  [Update 2021: While the 2020 show was canceled due to COVID, we managed to see the show in August 2021, and both enjoyed it immensely, Jerry Garcia's absence notwithstanding.] 

 I’m not in a position to compare Dead & Company with pre-86 Grateful Dead.  My sole experience with Jerry-era Dead was two shows at RFK, 1992 and 1995.  I would say the subsequent shows I saw were comparable enough in quality to make the shows worth attending.

 AC/DC.  Bon Scott died in February 1980, soon replaced by Brian Johnson.   The first two Brian Johnson albums, Back in Black and For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) were top quality and just about as good – in my opinion – as the Bon Scott albums.  After that, the quality dropped dramatically.   Listening to the current album, Power Up, it’s occurred to me that musically, the band is still OK.  The “weakest link” is Johnson’s vocals, accurately described as “Marge Simpson”.  Of all the available singers, Brian Johnson is the best they can find?  Fortunately the band plays Bon Scott material and plenty of songs from Back in Black.  But later material from Blow Up Your Video through Stiff Upper Lip seriously straddle the distinction between “not as good” and “not good”. 

 Black Sabbath.  For their part, Sabbath have their classic Ozzy Osbourne era, followed by two excellent albums with Ronnie James Dio, then a slew of albums which aren’t nearly as impressive.  However, I listened to Eternal Idol and Headless Cross, both with singer Tony Martin, and found them enjoyable enough.  Not quite up to Heaven & Hell or Vol 4, but enjoyable enough.  I’m revisiting TYR right now, and will tackle Cross Purposes, Forbidden, and 13 in the coming weeks.  I can’t say there’s any Black Sabbath album, with any singer, I’d describe as “not good”.  Moreover, on the Cross Purposes tour, they pulled out “Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath”, “The Wizad”, “Into the Void”, and the full “Symptom of the Universe”, including the second acoustic part.  I’ve heard bootlegs from the ‘70s with Ozzy, and even then they weren’t playing the full song.  So give them some credit for putting on an awesome show, even if it wasn’t even Martin’s own material.

 Van Halen.  I haven’t heard the Gary Cherone album (Van Halen III), nor the fourth Sammy Hagar album (Balance), and of course I have heard all the David Lee Roth albums – offhand, I don’t recall much about A Different Kind of Truth, the only post-Hagar DLR album.  I prefer the DLR material, but Hagar’s stuff is good enough to qualify as “not as good” instead of “not good”.  Having said that, also prefer Hagar on his own and with The Circle (with Vic Johnson and Jason Bonham) or Chickenfoot (with Joe Satriani and Chad Smith).  I can’t say I’ve heard anything by Hagar I could call “not good”. 

Wishbone Ash.  Here's a band that's been around since the early 70s.  The classic lineup, for the first four albums, S/T, Pilgrimage, Argus, and Wishbone IV, was Andy Powell (guitar/vocals), Ted Turner (guitar/vocals), Martin Turner (actually not related to Ted) (bass/vocals), and Steve Upton (drums).  After IV the various band members left, leaving Andy Powell the only original member.  The classic lineup reunited in the late 80s for Nouveau Calls, but soon Powell was left by himself again, at this point I don't know why.  By the time I got into them and was looking to see them live, (2000), Powell remained the only original member of the band.  I chose to see the band anyway, and lo and behold, it was a worthwhile experience.  Of course, Powell's lineup plays plenty of classic tunes, and the current group puts out new material of competitive quality.  Maybe not as good as the first four, but certainly "good enough". 

Amplifiers

It looks like I missed my self-imposed Friday deadline due to another case of writer’s block.  I had already written about Marshall amplifiers, and in so doing, also addressed the issues of tube vs. solid state, distortion, and the birth of the Marshall stack.   Moreover, until recently, I was only using Marshalls.

A few basic points I’ll address which apply to all amplifiers.  Most guitarists – and bassists – can acknowledge and recognize that a large percentage of their sound comes not from their instruments but from the amps they play through.  A $2000 Gibson Les Paul Custom isn’t going to sound nearly as good through a $100 solid state amp it will through a Marshall tube combo or half stack – or any of the competing amps of comparable quality.  And an amp cranked up loud enough will make single coil pickups, ostensibly thinner and less substantial than humbuckers, still sound thick and nasty, which is why Stratocasters and Telecasters, plus Gibson’s P90s, aren’t nearly as rare among guitarists playing hard rock and heavy metal, or even doom, as you might imagine. 

Getting back to the larger topic…

Recently I picked up a Laney combo – L20T-112.   Laney is famous for being the amp brand favored by Tony Iommi, the guitarist for Black Sabbath.  It's a 20 watt, 1x12" combo with delicious distortion and remarkably strong reverb.  The Dual Reverb doesn't seem to have much at all, despite its name.

Fender Twin Reverb.   Probably Fender's most famous amplifier, with a strong, distinctive reverb sound.  Originally 85 watts, then 135 watts - which was far too loud - and so they went back to 85 watts again.  It's a tube amp with 2 12" speakers.  The list of Twin Reverb players is like a who's who of famous guitarists.   Fortunately, Fender still sells them.  The original blackface (pre-CBS) '65 reissue is $1700 new, the subsequent CBS silverface '68 reissue is $1400 new, and now there's a solid state modeling version, the Tone Master (looks exactly like the '65) for $1000, supposedly half the weight of  real tube Twin Reverb.  With one exception, all the Twin Reverbs I've seen around were Tone Masters, though the local used guitar store has a vintage '66 blackface listed for....$3000.  The '65 reissue is probably the best deal, though I'm not in the position to add any more equipment to my existing arsenal.

Mesa-Boogie.   Randall Smith founded this company in 1969, with Santana as one of his first customers.  He hot-rodded Fender amps for more gain and distortion.   Some of the cooler combos have wicker grilles.  My first exposure to Black Sabbath was indirect, through Ozzy Osbourne's live album Speak of the Devil, intended to satisfy father-in-law Don Arden's contractual demand for a live album just days after Randy Rhoads died.  Brad Gillis, the replacement guitarist, blazed through Sabbath classics like "War Pigs" with a rich, full distortion:  Mesa Boogie Mark II's.  Unfortunately, these amps are extremely expensive, even 1x12" combos go for $2000.   Were I to collect amps, I'd add a Mesa Boogie to my collection.

Hiwatt.   Tube amps, I've seen Justin Hayward (Moody Blues, Isle of Wight) and David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) playing them, and the local used guitar shop has a few, along with Mesa Boogies and a whole room just for Marshalls.  Created in England in the early 60s by David Reeves.  However, I can't say I have much familiarity with these.   The company is still in operation today.

Orange.  The favorite amps for stoner rock bands, including Matt Pike & Sleep, with Wishbone Ash being the earliest band to be prominent users.  I have a small practice amp, not even a 1x12" combo.  

Ampeg.  Bass amp manufacturer, Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones being one of the first to use them, and Al Cisneros of Sleep also being a more contemporary fan.   Not being a bassist, I can't comment too much except to say they're a popular brand.   Lemmy still preferred Marshalls.

Sunn.  An amp company which spawned the name of the droniest stoner rock band ever;  SunnO))) (Amps Left On Accidentally Record New Sunn O))) Album (thehardtimes.net)).  I can't say I have much experience with these amps.  I know Randy Holden of Blue Cheer is featured with them on the cover of his solo album Population II, switching from the Marshall stacks which were ubiquitous with him and Leigh Stephens back in the day.  

Vox.  Most famous amp is the AC30, played by the Beatles, the Stones, and Queen's Brian May.  They also make guitars and effects (e.g. wah-wah pedal); even drums.  They're now owned by Korg. 

We think of stacks as being the loudest, but a relatively small combo, with a single 12” speaker, can be extremely loud in a small, indoor location – and in a live situation, miked up to the club’s P.A. system.   Moreover, my experience has been that my tube amps, sitting in one place for years at a time, don’t need much maintenance, i.e. changing and biasing the tubes, and this minimal maintenance doesn’t rise to the level of being inconvenient – at least not to me.  

Disenchantment

 I had planned on doing a blog about “Modern Family”, the eleventh and final season of which I recently finished, only to check and see that I already blogged about the show – ten years ago.  So I simply updated it as necessary.  That left me looking for another topic.  Well, “Disenchantment” Season 3 just wrapped up – as most streaming shows these days, all at once – and I watched it.  In fact, there was such a gap between Season 2 ending and Season 3 coming out that I had to watch Season 1 and 2 again to refresh my memory about who everyone was and what was going on.  So here it is.

Done by the same gang who give us “The Simpsons”, although this is on Netflix and not on FOX.  It’s animated, of course, but the setting is a fantasy world, Dreamland, and the central character, Beanie, is the princess.  Her mother Dagmar disappeared – we find out later – and her stepmother Oona proves to be more likable than you might expect.  Her father, King Zog, is a bit of a sourpuss and by season 3 is borderline psychotic.  Her stepbrother Derek is not too bright, but still not a bad kid.  He looks remarkably like his mother Oona.

Characters.

Beanie (Abbie Jacobson).  She’s cute and average intelligence, somewhat sympathetic and likable.  Basically a generic young woman, in that regard.  By the end of Season 3 she has to take over as queen, so we’ll see what happens there.

Elfo (Nat Faxon).   He’s an elf.  Elves are prominent but very short.  Each seems to have a name describing their particular distinction, with Elfo alone being just a regular elf.

Luci (Eric Andre).  Short for “Lucifer”, he’s a small demon often mistaken for a cat.  Leave it to him to be the most cynical character of the lot, though his ultimate fate is somewhat surprising.

King Zog (John DiMaggio).   I grew a mustache for Lent and have put on pounds, so I inadvertently turned into a live-action cosplay version of him, though somewhat less grumpy.  Zog really doesn’t seem to do much except be grumpy and condemn various jesters to trap door banishment. 

Queen Oona (Tress MacNeille).  All the humans on the show are white, with the exception of Oona and her race, who have light blue skin and are amphibious.  My subjective suspicion is that her race is intended to be this universe’s equivalent of Asians, though she doesn’t display any behavior we’d normally attribute to Asians – whatever that might be.  Initially she’s marginally untrustworthy but eventually proves to be more likable than Dagmar.  She became queen after Dagmar disappeared. 

Queen Dagmar (Sharon Horgan).  At some point we learn what happened to her – and what she’s up to…and it’s not good.  It reached the point where Beanie has to impersonate her (!). 

Overall, the show brings the same cynical humor we could expect from “Futurama”, albeit in a fantasy context rather than science fiction.  Since so much of fantasy, whether live action or animated, takes itself so seriously, this element in itself sets “Disenchantment” apart and makes it so fun to watch. 

In fact, not only is there magic, but remarkably, in season 3, Beanie finds a steampunk world where science reigns – so in this world, magic and science appear to coexist, which is itself an intriguing premise.   Heaven and Hell are also in here, so that adds – irreverently – some religion.  Again, all highly recommended.  

Autograph

 Over the years I’ve been a music fan, and as such attended various concerts.  At a very small minority of those shows, I had the pleasure of meeting the musicians themselves and getting them to autograph various items.  However, I’m not in the habit of seeking out autographs, so the instances of doing so are so few and far between that I have little trouble in describing each of them in a brief, Friday blog entry.

RONNIE WOOD.  From 1979-1982 I attended Marymount, a Catholic school in Neuilly, just outside Paris, in that European country commonly referred to as “France”.  The school had an annual fair in the spring.  At the one in 1984 we acquired Judas Priest, Defenders of the Faith on cassette, and the Y&T albums Mean Streak and Black Tiger on vinyl.  At another one I had occasion to briefly meet Ronnie Wood, the second guitarist of the Rolling Stones.  One of his children was attending school.   By this time I was in high school at the American School of Paris, so his kid was not a classmate of mine.  I happened to be wearing a denim jacket which also – by coincidence – had the Rolling Stones lip & tongue patch on it.  Mr. Wood was nice enough to sign the patch itself.  Sadly, by now the signature has faded to the point I can no longer see it.  But he was cool.   As a side note, to date I have not seen the Rolling Stones in concert, nor have I seen Ronnie Wood in concert in any way, shape or form. 

FAITH NO MORE.   In November 1989 we attended the Faith No More concert at the old 930 Club, in Washington, DC, when it was still back on 930 F Street.  This was the band’s The Real Thing tour, when it had Mike Patton on vocals and Jim Martin on guitar.   I managed to persuade Jim Martin to sign my The Real Thing CD insert, and drummer Mike Bordin did so as well.  I wasn’t able to meet or talk to the other band members.  I still have that CD.

WISHBONE ASH.   This English band was at its peak in the 1970s, headlining larger venues like Merriweather Post Pavilion.  By the time I managed to see them, guitarist Andy Powell was the sole remaining original member, and they were playing small clubs instead of armpit heaters.  Of course, had they been playing an armpit heater, I would not be able to talk to Andy Powell in person and get him to sign my Wishbone Ash CD inserts.  Oddly, even years after the vinyl renaissance, those early albums are still not reissued.    

TESLA.   In 2007 the band released a CD of covers, Real to Reel, ostensibly a two disc set.  The second disc you picked up from the band itself on its tour.  I saw the tour at the Ram’s Head Live in Baltimore, Maryland.  Oddly enough, lead guitarist Frank Hannon was actually running the concession stand.  In addition to handing over my copy of the second disc, he also autographed the case.  Thanks, man!

BLUE CHEER.   Actually, I didn't come away from the BC encounter with any autographs, per se.  This is a band which had its initial peak of fame in the late 1960's, coming from San Francisco like the Grateful Dead, and even loosely associated with Owsley, the premiere source of LSD back then - even down to naming themselves after one of his strains.   Fast forward to modern times, and bassist/singer Dickie Peterson got the band back together with guitarist "Duck" MacDonald.  While this lineup did play classic material - exclusively of the Leigh Stephens era, it seems - Dickie put out new material that was heavier and more modern - and just as enjoyable. The band played a show at Krug's Place in Frederick, Maryland, in December 2005, and my college comrade Ken invited me along.  I managed to get my picture taken with Dickie, which is the primary picture for my Facebook profile.  

MEET & GREETS.   As noted, my own experience meeting rock stars has been rather limited.  My brother Matt, on the other hand, has been to several meet & greets and thus had a chance to hang out with, and talk at length with, various rock stars.  These include Doro (from Warlock), Ace Frehley (of KISS), and Biff Byford of Saxon.  He spoke with Pete Trewavas of Marillion.  He was also at the Faith No More show mentioned above.  

One last name drop: back when we were living in Paris, our parents met up with Martin Sheen.   This wound up with my sister, Sarah, visiting the Sheens in California and hanging out with Emilio Estevez.  I don't think Charlie was around the household back then.  

America's Homegrown Fascism

Yet again, Facebook proves an ample supply of various yahoos with their bizarre delusions.  I’d like to address many of these issues.

TRUMP = HITLER?  I addressed this before and will do so briefly here.  We managed to avoid descending into a fascist dictatorship under Trump.  Partly this was because Trump himself is far too lazy to be an effective dictator; the man has never worked a day in his life and doesn’t plan on doing so anytime soon.  Partly this is because, fortunately, most Americans don’t want a dictatorship.

LEFT-WING SUPPORT for DICTATORSHIP.   Somewhere along the line, the American Right Wing (ARW) decided that the Democrats and their fellow travelers were determined to give America a communist dictatorship.  Nowhere close to the truth and of course no evidence to support this.   What most Democrats would like is universal health care and a social safety net, and they don’t care how high the taxes would have to be to pay for it: they expect Mr. Amazon and Mr. Facebook to pay for it.  I can’t say I support that agenda, but it falls well short of Castro’s Cuba or Mao’s China. 

I can imagine a very tiny percentage of the far left wing who would be happy under a communist dictatorship provided they were the ones running it.  As a rank and file worker or peasant – or a prisoner in a gulag – they would be much less satisfied. 

RIGHT-WING SUPPORT FOR DICTATORSHIP.   Provided the dictatorship was nationalist and gave us all the trappings of traditional American patriotism, much of the ARW would be perfectly happy with a fascist dictatorship.   Presumably this dictatorship would enslave or eliminate Jews, blacks, Hispanics, gays, Asians, etc. any undesirable non-white people.  And these people would be content being rank and file workers and peasants under such a regime – so long as the regime got rid of all those aforementioned undesirables.   These people are far too stupid to recognize the irony of an “American dictatorship”.  The Founding Fathers worked their butts off in 1787 to make sure we didn’t wind up with another despot, which is what the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are all about.  “Right to be white” seems to be the only one these people recognize. 

BIDEN STOLE THE ELECTION.   Please.  Hillary Clinton was much more divisive and less popular than Joe Biden, so there was no reason for a Hillary voter to switch to Trump.  That being the case, Biden could expect to get at least as many votes and states as Hillary did.  Moreover, all the “battleground” states in 2020 were states that Trump won in 2016, so he’d have to win ALL of them to win his 270 electoral votes, and of course he didn’t.  And high profile Republicans endorsing Biden – and no Democrats endorsing Trump – likewise didn’t hint that Trump would win this time around.  Also, if the Democrats could steal the White House, they would also have arranged to flip close races in the Senate and take control of Congress.  But idiotic conspiracy theories are the basic bread & butter of the ARW.    

TDS.   Trump encouraged his Yahoo Army to storm the Capitol on January 6 to prevent Congress from certifying Biden as the next President.  He refused to concede the election to Biden and made various idiotic noises about the election being stolen – and 50+ frivolous lawsuits alleging theft with no support behind them.  Even his own attorney general, Bill Barr, told him these claims had no merit and he had lost the election. 

To the extent Trump has committed federal or state crimes he needs to face prosecution.   Bringing him to justice thereon is no more “Trump Derangement Syndrome” than the Nuremburg Trials were “Hitler Derangement Syndrome”. 

TRUMP & PUTIN.  I’m hearing some Trump supporters complain that Biden isn’t taken seriously by Putin and other leaders whereas Trump could deal with them as equals.  More idiocy.  Trump didn’t “deal” with Putin – in between blasting our own allies, proposing ending NATO, and other foreign policy missteps, Trump essentially gave Putin whatever the Russian leader might possibly hope to be a US foreign policy ideally calculated to favor Russian interests.   We should count ourselves lucky he didn’t turn over the “football” and CIA control to Putin. 

Trump epitomizes every vice and character flaw which Americans could possibly have and hold the office of President.  He embarrassed us in Europe and overseas to the point where foreigners actually felt sorry for us.  Trump was the Ugliest American.  You’ll notice that to the extent foreigners did love Trump, these were foreigners also loved Boris Johnson (UK), Jair Bolsonaro (Brazil), and other similar foreign leaders at the far right of the spectrum.  We think of the Ku Klux Klan as being a Southern institution in former Confederate states, but the Klan exists in former Union states as well, and even in Canada.  That being the case, I wasn’t surprised to learn that some Canadians love Trump too.  Whenever you have people willing to support quasi-fascists due to a misplaced concern about a nonexistent communist conspiracy, you’ll find enthusiastic supporters of Donald Trump.  The smarter ones know and understand the difference between the North Korea which the dumber ones claim the Democrats want and the Sweden and Denmark the smarter ones know is the Democrats’ ideal for America, but still see fit to cynically support Trump anyway. 

There were cynics in the 1930s convinced that Stalin was bad enough to justify supporting Hitler.  In the US it was Charles Lindbergh, who pissed away the goodwill he earned as an aviator by jumping in bed with Hitler; and no one took him seriously after WWII, rightfully so.  How morally corrupt to do you have to be in 2021 – long after the Holocaust is common knowledge – to support a fascist agenda?  After US troops liberated Buchenwald in 1945, Eisenhower made it a point to bring local German civilians to the camps to see for themselves what was going on – and what these people disingenuously claimed they had no idea was happening.  Where did all the Jews go?  Hmm?  Looks like we found what’s left of them.  And even today you have people either denying this happened or even more provocatively, bark and bray that “six million wasn’t enough.”  These are your Trump supporters.  

CANCEL CULTURE.  Various private entities, like the Seuss estate and Disney, determined that some of their earlier work had some less palatable elements, and voluntarily withdrew these materials from public sale and domain.  This wasn’t the US government or state governments banning the items in question, but voluntary acts by private parties.  Naturally, the same yahoos who can’t recognize the inherent incompatibility of American patriotism with Confederate and Nazi flags, also don’t understand that “censorship” and the First Amendment only applies to government actions, not private parties or boycotts. 

MAINSTREAM MEDIA.  ABC, CBS and NBC are obviously slanted in the liberal direction, but there’s a limit to which they can portray the news to fit their agenda.  Moreover, we’ve had FOX for some time – and the Washington Times, here in the DC area – balancing out with a more conservative slant.  But even FOX isn’t inclined to abdicate wholesale to a President who summarily dismisses anything remotely unfavorable as “fake news”.  Once it became apparent that Trump expected everyone to make him look good, even news agencies such as FOX which might have been sympathetic to him found there was a limit to what they could tolerate.  That doesn’t mean FOX is lying to us if it reports anything unfavorable to Trump.  Dismissing the “mainstream media” as outright lies and fiction to be completely ignored altogether is yet another example of the consistent idiocy of the ARW.    

BLUE LIVES MATTER.  As I write this, the trial of Officer Derek Chauvin, accused of holding down George Floyd to the point where he died, is going on in Minnesota.  Chauvin has his defenders, remarkably enough.  Yes, there are people in the US who believe that no matter how egregious the police misconduct, the cops are always right.  Not more often than not or most of the time, but literally always.  Most of us remember in 1992 when a jury in Simi Valley, California, presented with videotape evidence of four LAPD officers beating Rodney King as he was on the ground and not resisting, acquitted them.  Mind you, both California and Minnesota were Union states during the Civil War, so former CSA states hold no monopoly on racism or this misguided worship of the police as infallible and completely unaccountable.  If you believe the police are right 100% of the time, bravo: you're a fascist.  

Fortunately for America, actual support for a fascist dictatorship is at the margin and not widespread.  Our latest candidate for dictator -  himself a fan of Russia’s dictator and contemptuous and rude to any foreign leader with any decency - was a lazy moron who couldn’t be bothered to leave the golf course long enough to be an effective despot.  We’ll see what criminal and civil actions emerge to bring him to account for his 4+ years of crimes, corruption and incompetence.  Stay tuned.  

Quarantine 2.0

 It’s now been a year since my first COVID blog post.  On Tuesday I had my first vaccine shot (Moderna), with the second scheduled for April 27.  Many people I know have already had both shots or at least the first one. 

Sadly, the COVID did have an enormous impact on my Mom.   Last April, she was lucid and talking, and I was able to take her around places.  In July she went to the hospital for an operation which wound up having complications.  From then  until December, she bounced back and forth from local hospitals to local assisted living facilities.  She caught the COVID around December 17, and on December 27 she died.  Her death certificate marks COVID as the cause of death.   That death was especially hard because I was by her bedside with my brother when she actually passed away.  Every other relative, including my father (who died in 2004 of a stroke) took place outside my actual presence.

In January and March 2021 I went to CVS for COVID tests, not having sufficient priority to merit a vaccine yet.  Both tests were negative.  I had purchased a digital thermometer (oral) and have been using that to monitor my temperature, which appears to remain normal.

In March 2020, Gold’s Gym closed down for quarantine.  In June it reopened, albeit with masks mandated and enforced, temperature checks at the entrance, and every other cardio machine turned off for social distancing.   I checked my weight at both times, and weighed no more in June despite having no gym access during that time than I did in March.  About the only thing I could do at home were situps, pushups, and walking up the stairs.   I used to be able to climb all 20 stories at once, but at 52 I’m running out of breath after 5 floors, so 10 floors seems to be my current max. 

By now Trump is gone and his replacement appears to be doing what he can as President to fix the problem instead of writing it off as a “hoax”.  Not that Biden can create and distribute the vaccine himself, but at least he’s doing something.  Moreover, Trump’s own behavior and public statements encouraged his own inbred army of yahoos to refuse to wear masks or social distance – so to that extent, he did make the problem much worse by his own incompetence. 

My other concern was that the virus would mutate into variants which would resist the vaccine.  From what I’ve read, the vaccine appears to be effective against all current variants and probably will.  The cumulative death rate in the US is 2%, meaning of ever 100 people to catch COVID, 2 will die even with medical attention. 

I will continue the masking and social distancing thing.  My subjective impression is that this thing will only end when a substantial majority of the world’s population is vaccinated and we see NO new cases for days on end.  Then and only then can we take off the masks and get back to normal.  And I would hope that we’d learn something for the next virus that comes by.

Oh, and don’t get me started on the “COVID is a hoax” morons, or the anti-vaxxers.  Moreover, holding views which are not only not supported by science but outright dangerous to everyone else is not harmless or simply someone’s difference of opinion, but could have fatal consequences.  If you refuse to wear a mask, and infect 100 people with COVID, two of whom die, I’d say we’re talking about two cases of manslaughter (causing someone’s death without an express intent to kill).  When this is over, I’d suggest the police and prosecutors get to work on prosecuting anyone who can be proven to have caused COVID deaths by this means.  For their part, anti-vaxxers should be socially ostracized and treated as lepers.  Here ends the rant.