Cold and White Album

Utterly freezing this morning – Nine degrees (-12.8 C).

“Number Nine, Number Nine, Number Nine”

That bit of brain junk is from the White album my personal favorite of the boys output mostly because it is just so all over the lot and does foreshadow their solo careers – John, Politics, compassion, anger and searching, Paul silly love songs and well love songs and silly songs, George Cosmic ohm unto ohm (can I confess a liking for All Things Must Pass here? I can? Why thank you) and Ringo novelty songs and trophy wives. It makes it a very interesting listening. I don’t think it’s their best – I’ll give that to Revolver, followed by the Hard Day’s Night Soundtrack.

On a side note I’d like to say years ago I read an essay in I think Harper’s Magazine where a music teacher spoke about his experiences teaching music to high school students – the article was done in the 80’s I think, anyway the author was saying that the kids didn’t understand what the White Album was about since the Beatles were their Parent’s music, his point being the Beatles at that time were exhausted.

Thinking about this I’d have to say – exhausted artists do not make double alums of new material – granted maybe “why don’t we do it in the road” isn’t the strongest in the boy’s catalogue but hell it’s better than Flying on Magical Mystery Tour – so I can’t really buy the idea of the Beatles at a creative low point here – it was a pretty low point as far as them working inside of the band went – things were tense and not a lot of fun.

I’d lean towards Let It Be as when the Beatles hit the wall creatively and yet – listening to Let It Be Naked showed a lot of what I didn’t really like about the Album was the doing of Phil Spector not the lads or George Martin.

Actually Rock n’ Roll has been around long enough to see what people do when they feel that their fount of ideas is drying up – they do the dreaded album of covers – Dylan did two of these back in the 90’s, the Band did one, John Lennon did one; Paul did one (much later in his career and right after Linda died, it’s an odd album in some ways very very upbeat for a man who’s wife of many years had just died but that’s Paul – what goes on inside you don’t get to see, like ever.) and even Duran Duran did one – it’s what artists do when they feel that they have lost their way and decide to go back to the beginning – what got them going in the first place before the Humvees and the dancing girls and the brass section and the inflatable pig that seems to play lead guitar in the 3rd song while the lasers spell out names of the women who have dumped you – well you get the idea. Back to the roots – which was what Let it Be was going to be – before Phil got his hands on it. (I’ll write about Spector some other time – no time now)

To me the White Album illustrates the lad’s sense of confinement and frustration in being within the Beatles not a loss of creative force – again a band at loss for ideas doesn’t just tape a fragment of a song and use it as the opening for Revolution #9.

Well so much for Beatles talk for today.

Word out of the Libby trail is that when they wanted to get their point across Cheney would appear on Meet the Press as with Tim Russet they could control the message there. Much smarter folks than me (and folks who can stand it – which I can’t –really) have noticed that while GOP and Cheney get softball questions and no follow ups from Tim, Democratic and liberal minded guests are grilled like steaks. This bit coming from the trial explains why that was the case.

I suspect that Tim Russet’s integrity has taken a pretty big hit. He’s supposed to be a reporter and a skilled interviewer in service of the truth – and when the hell did he take over meet the press? Back in the day Meet the press was well, meeting the press – there would be a guest and several print reporters who showed up on a rotating basis – maybe they should go back to that format – it’ll beat having folks endure what is bound to be Russet’s self-serving and disenguous comments about all this.(he’s up to his neck in the Libby deal anyway – I think he got dragged into the grand jury at least one) – so they should either change the format or require Russert to have the world “sold” stamped on his forehead whenever he shows up on TV.

Speaking of TV – Reading the transcript of Cheney’s interview with Wolf Blitzer you get the sense of a man completely and utterly cut off from the world the rest of us live in:

Cheney: Iraq is wonderful – they are doing wonderful things
Wolf: But just this day
Cheney: Listen it’s wonderful – there are flowers blooming on every street corner
Wolf: So why is the president adding
Cheney: Those troops are for the victory parade.
Wolf: But in the state of the union address
Cheney: He said victory parade, it’s to show the press that Iraq is wonderful and it is
Wolf: But
Cheney: And all the children are riding ponies it’s wonderful to see. I don’t understand why you in the defeatist media don’t show the ponies more.
Wolf: Ah speaking of children, your daughter is
Cheney: She’s not my daughter
Wolf: Sir?
Cheney: She’s not my daughter, she’s a man.
Wolf: A man?
Cheney: she’s living with a woman so of course she’s a man. She’s not gay or anything
Wolf: But you keep saying she, if she is a man…
Cheney: and I’ll thank you to keep my family out of this discussion, we are very happy to hear we are going to have a new grandchild and you can just but out of my daughter’s life.
Wolf: Isn’t she a guy?
Cheney: she’s my daughter
Wolf: But she’s a man
Cheney: Yes.
Wolf: So how can she, I mean he –
Cheney: back off my daughter, she’s going to have a baby
Wolf: But you just said she was a man
Cheney: Yes
Wolf: And she’s going to have a baby
Cheney: For god’s sake that is common knowledge what the hell is wrong with you? Listen Blitzer one more crack about my family and I’m going to pop you one.
Wolf: So
Cheney slugs him.

I’d talk about it more but I don’t have the time but it’s absurd that the right wing is saying in essence that in order to defend American liberty and rights (including the right of free speech) that we need to obey and follow the president without question. Aside from the head exploding contradictions in such a position, it’s not like W has anything like a good streak going here. If it’s the 3rd quarter and he hasn’t completed a pass and keeps dropping the snap it’s time to pull the quarterback.

The Enemy Below has requested a review of the movie Phantoms – Ben Aflack is in it which does to sit well with me. Still he assures me it’s better than Crossroads.

Gig tonight at Otto’s – lord knows if anybody shows in this weather, if they do they are part polar bear. But if you come, once our teeth stop chattering we’ll give you a great show.

Peace Love Number 9