I think we’re more than all in agreement here that something very, very special took place during the middle 1960’s; a magical, monumental something in the air(waves) which gave rise to an undeniable socio-artistic upheaval courtesy of bards like Dylan, bands like the Beatles, filmmakers like Kubrick and, if I may push the issue quite thinly, television the likes of Get Smart and Green Acres to boot.
Although his legal name was Spencer David Nelson Davies (he dropped the ‘e’ from his last name early on), those of us who were fortunate enough to be his friend knew him as Spence.
When my friend died on Monday (October 19), the news hit me like the grill of a Mack truck going 200 (miles or kilometres, you choose). Spence was 81 but I always thought he’d live into his 90’s. His mother did. He came from strong Welsh stock and that’s one of the initial things we had in common.
So even though Tarantino’s latest failed to put Paul Revere or his Raiders back up at the Toppermost of the Poppermost, and American Funnyman Neil Hamburger’s long-too-awaited Still Dwelling seems to have passed totally under the fryer, the Pig Player this past year was kept busy as always spinning, alphabetically as always…
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This is a tough column to write, because I am saying goodbye to a very good friend.
Peter Mossman, a very talented visual artist, passed away last Saturday. Although my drawing skills are limited, I will try to use words to paint a picture of my friend, whom I first met in 1973 at a meeting of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society. I remember that he didn’t say a lot, but when he did speak, people tended to listen.
Some of the Harry Nilsson article was originally posted on FEBRUARY 25, 2009 and Updated on February 28th, 2019. The Patty Faralla addendum is brand new. New photos in both.
Harry…
Covers of his songs were often more successful than his own, original, recordings. Ironically, the two biggest hits he ever had were written by Fred Neil, and Peter Ham.
That is sort of the story of Harry’s life …
He is probably the most underrated American songwriter of the last 50 years (other than me, of course), but his songs came from deeper than most writers are willing to dig.
Lindsey Buckingham got kicked out of Fleetwood Mac (again), The Monkees made their first-ever Christmas album (!), and I am still waiting for that big Turtles Battle of the Bands Commemorative Special Anniversary Collectors Edition. In the meantime though, I remained happily pigging along beneath headphones to (in strictly Alphabetical order)…
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Something short and bittersweet for DBAWIS this time; words I quickly put to paper – originally for Outer Shell Magazine I believe it was – all those years ago regarding a man who, I’d bet, many of us still reflect upon very frequently indeed.
You may say I’m a writer. But I’m not the only one…
It was touch and go in the early part of 2016 for Classic Rock. Half the people that have ever made music in my lifetime died in the first 6 months. That’s an exaggeration, of course, but it looked like it was going to be up to The Rolling Stones to save the planet. Well, since the release of The Beatles documentary “Eight Days A Week” the geezers are rallying.
We live in a very unique time. Pop culture is such a big part of our everyday existence that we are able to watch a rare breed of genius rise and zenith in real time. It’s hard to imagine being there when Bach or Beethoven performed their most celebrated Sonatas and Symphonies for the first. It is so long ago that their stories and their music seem like stuff of myth – we don’t even have recordings just modern interpretations from the sheet music they left behind.
2016 has been a difficult pill to swallow. Aside from the escalation of hate-filled death and carnage on the world stage we’ve seen an unprecedented number of celebrity deaths in the first half of the year. People are struggling to wring the nuances out of our loss. I see it as the final chapter of the 20th Century. I expect that shortly before the total devastation of World War 1, the trend watchers noted the passing of elders and statesmen and people of importance who single-handedly built the 19th century particularly in ushering in the Industrial Revolution and licking the wounds from global conflict not the least of which was the American Civil War. It was an era with its own particular set of upheavals.
Bullseye Records of Canada
Segarini: Don't Believe a Word I Say 