Father of Six

For the musically inclined, the musically curious, or for those of you who know someone that would be fascinated by a list such as that which will follow, I offer the songs that took me 75 miles on my bicycle today. I set the iPod to shuffle and went on my merry way.

(Of course those of you who might be completely disinterested, feel free to skip this post.)

There’s something for everyone: Blues, Country, R&B, Classical, Opera, Rock and various sub-genres of Rock, Rock Opera, Jazz, Gypsy Jazz, Flamenco, Spoken Word (2 Forms,) and Pop.

Print this list. See how many songs or artists you recognize. Share it with your friends. Total the time and see if you can tell how long I spent riding my bike today. The potential for fun and games is endless.

Hey Love 2:45 Stevie Wonder
Bye Bye Blues 3:52 Rishell & Raines
Broken Dreams 6:29 Diana Krall
Fleche d’or 6:48 Biréli Lagrène
World Looking In 4:08 Morcheeba
Nature Boy 6:15 Biréli Lagrène & Jimmy Rosenberg
All Night Thing 3:52 Temple Of The Dog
One Of These Days 4:52 Bill Frisell
Love Gun 3:16 Kiss
Early In The Morning 2:13 Corey Harris
Sonnet 64 1:00 William Shakespeare / Ossie Davis
1e 6:05 The Teaching Company (High Middle Ages)
Jockey Full Of Bourbon 3:33 John Hammond
Christine Sixteen 3:10 Gin Blossoms
Ouachita Run 2:39 Alvin Youngblood Hart
I Got the Fire 3:10 Montrose
Skinny Woman 2:10 R.L. Burnside
For Your Love 5:01 Stevie Wonder
Ixtapa 5:14 Rodrigo Y Gabriela
Soulshine 7:43 Gov’t Mule
Fantasia in D minor, K 397 (K 385g) 7:16 Mozart: Mitsuko Uchida
I Don’t Know (Satisfaction) 3:53 Sly & The Family Stone
Cracker Ass Cracker (Live) 3:26 Keller Williams
Everyday People 2:23 Sly & The Family Stone
Preaching Blues 2:52 Robert Johnson
La belle vie 1:55 Biréli Lagrène
Endless Parade 8:59 Gov’t Mule
Turkish March (From The Ruins Of Athens) 1:50 Ludwig Van Beethoven
Coriolan Overture 9:18 Ludwig Van Beethoven
When I Was A Cowboy (Western Plains) 3:14 Alvin Youngblood Hart
Sonnet 16 1:06 William Shakespeare /Brian Stokes Mitchell
The Fool And Me 3:55 Robin Trower
Power Of Love 6:58 Jimi Hendrix Band Of Gypsys
Long Line Skinner 5:53 Mississippi Fred McDowell
Dune Buggy 2:44 The Presidents Of The USA
God of War 7:11 Tyr
Tidal 4:19 John Paul Jones
Stone Cold 4:24 Rainbow
H.C.Q. Strut 2:58 Django Reinhardt
Mr. X 2:22 Alex Lifeson
Sample In A Jar 4:57 Phish
Handel: Messiah - But Thanks Be To God 2:13 English Concert & Choir
The Ocean 4:31 Led Zeppelin
Gitano Soy 3:04 Manuel El Chachi & Spanish Gipsy
A Mí Manera 3:51 Gipsy Kings
Oceans 2:42 Pearl Jam
Rag Doll 4:25 Aerosmith
Bloodshot Eyes 2:49 Pat Benatar
Guided By Wire 3:22 Neko Case
Le jazz et la java 2:36 Yves Montand
Midnight Rider 4:28 Gregg Allman
Passion (Instrumental) 3:02 Gipsy Kings
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is 3:22 Chicago
If You Really Love Me 3:00 Stevie Wonder
In Your Eyes [Live] 5:09 Jeffrey Gaines
Time To Confess 8:28 Gov’t Mule
Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning 2:03 The Word S-WORD
Motherless Child 2:57 Eric Clapton
Fortunate Fool 3:47 Jack Johnson
Orff: Carmina Burana Dance1:42 Vladimir Dolezal,Orff: Carmina Burana
Malted Milk 2:22 Robert Johnson
I Got A Problem 4:35 Albert Collins
Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning 2:55 Corey Harris
Baba O’Riley 5:09 The Who
Sonnet 54 1:08 William Shakespeare/Gerry Bamman
Consequences 4:28 Robert Cray
Plume 3:38 Smashing Pumpkins
When It’s Love 5:39 Van Halen
There Is No God 6:08 Extreme
Train In Vain 4:46 Annie Lennox
A Tu Vera 3:12 Gipsy Kings
Let Me Serenade You 3:06 Three Dog Night
Orff: Carmina Burana-Ave, Formosissima 2:04 Vladimir Dolezal,Orff: Carmina Burana
Down By The Seaside 7:52 Robert Plant & Tori Amos
String Quartet #1 In G, K 80 - Adagio 6:21 Mozart: Éder Quartet
10c 4:37 The Teaching Company (High Middle Ages)
Everything’s Alright 3:35 Andrew Lloyd Webber (Jesus Christ Superstar)
Un Amor 3:38 Gipsy Kings
Night Life 4:26 Willie Nelson
157 Riverside Avenue (Live) 7:38 REO Speedwagon

Tami and I met John and his wife Beth at the Downtown Littleton Light Rail Station and went to dinner at the Limelight inside the Denver Center for the Performing Arts complex.

We then saw a concert performance of Richard Wagner’s opera, The Flying Dutchman.

The performance was highlighted by James Morris singing the role of the Dutchman. Mr. Morris is considered the world’s leading interpreter of the Dutchman role.

I particularly enjoyed the performance of Stephen Costello as the Steersman, and Stuart Skelton as Erik. Mr. Costello’s voice was bright and lively, while Mr. Skelton seemed to enjoy performing the Wagner opera more than anyone else on stage.

It was a nice evening and we enjoyed the company of John and Beth.

I went to Sunnyvale (San Jose) Monday through Wednesday this past week. Knowing in advance that I was going to take this trip, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the San Jose Opera was currently performing Verdi’s Opera, Rigoletto. I bought tickets for myself and the guy that was traveling with me. We went on Tuesday evening, and even attended the lecture before the performance. It was very powerful, and a fantastic production.

Here is a link to a review from the San Jose Mercury.

The marquee.

Our view of the stage from the second row balcony.

The program and my ticket stub.

A self-portrait reflection in the mirror in my hotel room after the performance.

By sheer dumb luck I saw a special on Country Music Television featuring Allison Krauss and Robert Plant. They played a lot of stuff from their duet album, but they also covered a few Led Zeppelin songs.

Here is a link to You Tube with them playing When the Levee Breaks. Allison sings and plays the violin solo, and Robert is playing guitar in the background.

When the Levee Breaks.

Pretty hot stuff.

3. “The Lemon Song” - Led Zeppelin. Just how much more risqué can you get? “Squeeze my lemon, baby.”
2. “Rave On” - Buddy Holly. It’s a crazy feeling. Any Crickets tune, really.
1. “Cotton Fields” - Creedence Clearwater Revival. ‘Boom-Boom’ on the top of your guitar.

There’s plenty more where that came from. And I dig the Elton John list. Little Pink Houses just missed the cut.

Several months ago while at a wine tasting at Vintner’s Cellar of Littleton with Tami, Tim, and Jeanne, the proprietor of the place was playing a CD by this guitar duo called Rodrigo y Gabriela that just knocked my socks off.

I bought the CD, fell in love with the sound and style and became very enamored with the pair and their story.

I saw a video of their most-played song, Tamacún, on “youtube,” and then was completely floored with this instructional/demo – especially the rhythmic technique employed by Gabriella. (Play the second video and the prepare yourself for a spectacular display at about 3:00 through the 4:00 mark. Watch her right hand while you listen to the sound she produces. Wickedly Amazing!)

I found their web-site and saw that they would be performing in Denver on May 1st at the Ogden Theatre.

I immediately bought tickets. And told anyone and everyone about the virtuosity of Rodrigo y Gabriela.

I was fired up and anticipating the live show for several weeks. The evening arrived, and Tami and I (me more than she) got geared up to go to the show.

Here is what transpired.

Parking
I knew beforehand that parking was going to be an adventure. I really didn’t want to park in an unsafe spot, nor did I want to walk several blocks in the rain. So we found a paid parking lot near the Smiley’s Laundromat, thus beginning the first ordeal of the evening.
1. Finding a parking spot in the “lot” where there wasn’t one to be had.
2. Paying the alternative lifestyle, Little Richard wanna-be $7 to park in a lot with no clear spaces.
3. Not being able to find a spot where our vehicle wouldn’t be subsequently hit.
4. Finding a spot, but being told by alternative lifestyle, Little Richard wanna-be that the spot wasn’t part of his lot.
5. Parking behind a completely different building with clearly visible “tow-zone” signs.
6. Being told by alternative lifestyle, Little Richard wanna-be that where I parked was indeed ok, and that area was park of his lot.

Venue
Have you ever been to a concert at the Ogden Theater in Denver? It Sucks, with a capital S.
1. There are “21” areas where alcohol is served, and to get into these areas you must present your ID and get a wrist band. Someone’s grandmother was staffing the access point and it took perhaps 10 minutes for Tami and I to get through a line 3 persons deep.
2. There was absolutely no place for us to position ourselves in order to see the stage. I’m 5’10” and Tami is 5’6”. I could find an area where if I stood on my toes and held myself very still I could see. There was no place for Tami to do the same.

The Show
I was hoping that things would improve once the show started, and we would be able to see the stage, and be entertained. So much for modest expectations. (I made these observations from the vantage point of - back of the room, standing on my toes, craning my head/neck to peer between two 6-ft-plus dudes. Not a pleasant way to spend an evening of musical entertainment.)
1. The opening act came out unannounced, picked up his guitar, sat down in a chair, started to play a miserable, sorrowful arrangement, enhanced by vocals that could be generously described as a harsh and irritating whine. The guy looked like he had been dragged in off of Colfax, handed a guitar, and was told – “just make something up, and do it for 30-45 minutes.”
2. His first song ended to a smattering of polite but unwarranted applause. He made a one or two sentence speech, whereby someplace in the midst of he probably mentioned his name, and began his second piece.
3. At which point I had calculated the period of time I would have to endure this trivial imposition on my senses to get to the intermission, wait impatiently through the intermission, finally to have Rodrigo y Gabriela begin their performance, of which I would not be able to see because of the terrible sight lines, and over-capacity crowd, and decided I had had enough.
4. We left and went home.

Fallout
I was pissed off beyond belief. I’m still angry as I write this bitch-fest missive. But I’ve learned some very important things.

1. I’ve finally acknowledged that I’m 45 years old, and have very little tolerance for standing up for several hours when the reward for doing such is negligible.
2. I will never, ever again buy ticket to a performance at the Ogden.
3. I will never, ever again buy tickets to a performance at a venue that doesn’t have assigned seating.
4. I really don’t pay attention to the live music scene as much as I did when I was younger, so why in the world would I think it would be a good idea to go to a concert now?

All of this complaining is very unfortunate, and a disservice to Rodrigo y Gabriela. I still love their music, and am still incredibly impressed with Gabriela’s technique. It is extremely disappointing that I wasn’t able to see them perform live.

Danielle came over the other day to borrow my “best of” Procol Harum and “best of” J. S. Bach CDs. Well, actually she just wanted the PH CD so she could get A Whiter Shade of Pale (AWSoP) into her iTunes library, but what kind of a father would I be without providing her with the J. S. Bach source compositions?

I cannot possibly deliver a full criticism of the piece here, but will offer a few salient opinions.

The two Bach songs which greatly influence AWSoP are “Sleepers Awake,” and “Air on a G String.” AWSoP isn’t precisely one, nor is it a direct copy of the other, but an ingenious melding of the two Bach pieces to create a rather splendid, magnificent and wonderful tune, whilst underneath it is somber and even grave. Interestingly enough, Matthew Fisher, the PH organist who, after a long legal struggle, is recognized as co-author and the creative genius for the song, claimed that Bach’s B Minor Mass is the primary influence for the intro. I’ve tried to tie the B Minor Mass to the tune, but can’t make the auditory connection.

AWSoP is also very symmetrical and circular, there is no place for a break, bridge, or coda, and so the recording softly fades away, leaving the pattern still echoing in the listeners mind. I believe that it simply cannot be improved upon.

Lyrically, the song is somewhat of an enigma. There is something going on in this song and it might be compelling, or perhaps not. Originally released in 1967, some critics have said that AWSoP is when rock lyrics began to be seen as poetry. Maybe, but publication of the song represents a distinct demarcation; it’s when rock grew up. I ’m not sure I’d call it poetry. There are some literary references there which spice things up a bit, but more than anything else, I think it’s an attempt at stream of consciousness whilst telling the story of a failed attempt at a sexual encounter.

On the title, singer and lyricist Keith Reid has this to say in the Melody Maker edition of 3 June 1967:

“. . . at a ‘gathering’ ‘Some guy looked at a chick and said to her, ‘You’ve gone a whiter shade of pale.’ That phrase stuck in my mind. It was a beautiful thing for someone to say. I wish I’d said it.’”

So what is AWSoP about? This is how I choose to interpret the lyrics –

To wit:

AWSoP Interpretation (Sorry about the link to a separate file, but I couldn’t seem to figure out how to format it properly here.)

Put the two aspects together – the musical and the lyrical - and what you have is kind of a juxtaposition of classical baroque fugue underneath a stream of consciousness or surrealist poem about a dude at a party, getting into altered mental states, trying to have sex with a chick, and realizing it is never going to happen.

One of the original sources - 250 seconds - of pure rock psychedelia.

By the way, I’m especially fond of the tune. I had Tami convinced that it needed to be a part of our wedding. Unfortunately I haven’t always been as smart as I am now, and in 1995 all I could tell the church organist was that we wanted AWSoP. He told us he couldn’t find the sheet music (liar) and didn’t know how to play by ear (not much of an artist, eh?), so he chose some other random organ fugue, which probably turned out to be Bach anyway.