Psycho from the Eighties with a Messed-Up Nose
Considering that Michael Jackson was a psycho from the Eighties with a messed-up nose, it's just plain weird that one little word is missing from almost all of the 1,000,000 obituaries and "testimonials" which have flooded the internet and airwaves in the last 24 hours...
But why would you want to hear that one little word from me, when you can hear it from Eric Clapton live from Tokyo, with one of the greatest tour bands ever assembled by anybody anywhere?
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Rutabaga:
I have nothing to say about Michael Jackson, but I do thank you for the video of Eric Clapton, who is one of my favorites, as is this song.
June 26, 2009 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
And Nathan East on bass!
Wobba-dah-wop-wop-a-dah-dah-wop-dah-dah-wop-wop-dah-DAH!
Your comment actually reminded me of a great scene in the movie Munich, where the Israeli hit-squad shares a room in an all-purpose safe-house with a gang Palestinian terrorists.
They start arguing about what to play on the radio, and just when things could get very ugly, since all of them are armed with machine guns, somebody turns on a Motown oldies station, and everybody loves Motown!
And now even Rootie and wwstaebler are reconciled (sort of) by their love of Clapton!
But seriously... I'm glad you enjoyed it.
June 26, 2009 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Et tu, thank you, Ruta.
June 26, 2009 6:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ugggh, can't let a Clapton-lovathon pass without stepping in both barrels blazing.
And if you're going to bore me with AllStar lineups, I'll meet you and raise you two.
And there are still people who won't talk to me after I quoted the Keith Richards line about Elton John - "a career made out of songs about dead blondes".
June 26, 2009 7:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's a 3rd with no point just because I can.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0u14EE2Z0s
And a 4th to make it all go away:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP2YC_YMlw0
June 26, 2009 7:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Roxy Music!
Except for the Avalon album, those guys were totally generic, and even if there wasn't anybody else in their genus, they still sucked!
Not to mention the horrible jinx that follows them around!
I gave a dj friend Avalon on vinyl twice, and both times somebody broke into his house and stole the turntable with Avalon still sitting on it!
But if you carefully re-read my comments, you may observe that the star in the all-star line-up who gets the most love from me is... Nathan East!
Wobba-dah-wop-wop-a-dah-dah-wop-dah-dah-wop-wop-dah-DAH!
June 26, 2009 7:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
I thought it was the cocaine head, which is probably what got me on Lowell "Eightball/Thanks I'll Eat It Here" George.
But if it's Nathan you're after, you undoubtedly know and are quite pleased that he played at Obama's Inaugural concert!!! Now hold the cream cheese, please. (No, it doesn't make any sense, sometimes I just have to resort to that).
June 26, 2009 7:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
What a great moment!
Nathan playing "Fool That I Am" with Etta James...
"Fool that I am
for falling in love with you.
Fool that I am
for thinking you loved me too."
There's even a hypno-video on YouTube for training Obamabots to sing that song every they see the Messiah!
June 26, 2009 8:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Typo!
"...every time they see the Messiah!"
And I also left out...
Harharharhar!!!
June 26, 2009 8:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Dude. Clapton's in constant danger of boring even himself to death, and you throw up a deep-dish snore like Cocaine? With an all-star band?
Oh dear.
June 26, 2009 10:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Eeek!
Quinn scurries out of the tall weeds to put down Eric Clapton! This is obviously worth a story from the wily Rutabaga!
Way back when Eric/Derek was just a Domino/holdover from the Sixties, and the shine had begun to fade, only one thing stood between our Hero and a peaceful semi-retirement of revival bands and middle-aged groupies, and that one thing was...
Duane Allman!
"If Clapton goes down, guitar-rock goes down with him," said young/old Duane to himself, so he gave away the greatest single guitar riff in the history of the Universe, and Layla was born!
That ain't the story.
The other half of Layla, those rolling piano chords which gild the Layle-lily and inspire even microscopic animals and bacteria with intimations of eternity, was invented by the greatest of all rock drummers, a guy who just messed around with whatever piano was handy between takes... Jim Gordon, a man with a beat like money, a man with a beat like your mother's heart.
Flash forward 37 years, and we find our amiable Rutabaga relaxing at a Starbucks in Sacramento, California, after combing through classic vinyl at the Beat on J Street, and with his inner eye still saturated by images of bands gone by, and... who should emerge from the nauseating mass of Sactown yuppies but... James Beck Gordon, a man with one huge reason for wanting not to be recognized, but instantly recognized by our amiable root veggie!
What to do?
Hasn't Rootie already shot 50,000 celebrity photos? And this would be a jewel!
But no!
So Rootie quietly slipped his ever-ready Canon 30D back into the bag, and James Beck Gordon smiled that peculiar little smile which only full-tilt schizophrenia can ever smile, and went quietly on his way, and that, my friend...
That was the story.
June 27, 2009 12:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Des: could care less what anyone says about Elton John and dead blondes (although he does give his all in a concert, one has to admit) but bringing Bonnie Raitt into the equation does raise the ante of what I consider to be excellence, as well as the overall tone. So thanks.
June 28, 2009 6:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think cocaine was his problem. Plastic surgery destroyed his nose. Demerol, morphine, Oxycontin, Valium and other prescription drugs are probably what killed him. He emulated Elvis in every way except for getting fat.
June 26, 2009 5:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Demerol!
I just wrote a beautiful testimonial to that drug, and recommended it for TV advertising only a few days ago!
Here's the money quote...
But if you want to burn the kind of holes in your brain that turn you into a circus freak, Demerol just ain't good enough, and you need...
Cocaine!
June 26, 2009 6:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Though you could graduate to Dilaudid if you have the right pharmacy connections. 3 out of 4 doctors recommend.
June 26, 2009 7:37 PM | Reply | Permalink