Jihad!

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I always thought Ted Herbert invented that word. It appears in the Dune series. If you've never read any of it, it's a sci-fi series. One of those long-ago-and/or-far-away stories. There's a planet that has an essential item. One group owns it, another group wants it, but neither of them have considered the small indigineous population. This small group of locals rise up and take it for themselves. Jihad is that their messianic leader calls their war against the exploiters.

This is not too far from the recent history of the middle East. Everybody knows about the Balfour declaration, directive, whatever, that the British used in 1917 to divide the region into the shape it's in now. In the early '70's, the people who lived there took control of the valuable item that came out of the ground. Or at least, their governments did. The people of the region still live a very poor quality life. The pool of people who are extremely rich because of oil is a little bit bigger than it was before, but it's still very small.

The reason I bring this up is because of a conversation I avoided getting into over the last weekend. It almost became a debate between two friends over the election. My friend appears to have simplified a complex issue to a single, simple solution; Barak Obama means peace. There was no point in entering into this discussion. It becomes two people shouting slogans at each other, and that is not productive.

This friend has this addy, so here's my side, as if they were listening. I'll start with my slogans. The invasion of Iraq was a good idea. George W. Bush is a good President. History will NOT compare him to Neville Chamberlain.

Whew! That sure felt good. I guess I can stop there, right? After all, as long as I shout my slogans, I've done enough, right? Oh, you want to know HOW I can be so insane. Well, all right. Since you're a friend.

Y'see, it seems that the poor, downtrodden people of the Middle East are sick of it. Their own governments don't care about them, and the people who provide those governments with the billions they build their palaces with don't seem to care either. As oppressed people inevitably do, pockets of them have become radicalized. They've begun to fight back. Their own governments have too tight a grip on things at home, but hey! It's actually easier to hit the people writing the big checks anyway. Let's fly some jets into their skyscrapers!

Now, let's face facts. If they do that often enough, it could hurt this country. No, really. I honestly think that there are people who think it's all right to let downtrodden people do anything they like. Who knows? Maybe this country is so corrupt that it deserves to die.

And . . . I think that's where I'll leave it. The premise is, this country deserves to die. The world will be better off without a United States of America.

Live music

Hi. A little update on live performances. Got asked to be a last-minute fill in for the monthly poetry reading at the Moultonboro public library, and found myself the opening act for a very talented young man who calls himself Redbeard Bullrider. He gave me his card, but then I had to ride home in the rain, so all the printing washed off. Still, he has a website of some sort, and if it's half as good as he is live it's more than worth the google search. He's not only very gifted, but was gracious enough to help me with a song. Thanks, Red.

The centerpiece of my performance was the CD, Rough Edges. I had nine copies with me and came home with only one. Four were paid for, two were traded for books of poetry, and the last two took my word that I wasn't interested in charging for them. Which is cool, by the way. And, if you have one, and the link has led you here, search the blog for references to "Rough Edges" to find the liner notes for the CD.

Anyway, that was all on Tuesday, August 5. On Friday, the 8th - which was also my wife, Lynn's 39th birthday - I played with the band at Bluesology. The band goes under the semi-poor name of The Red Hat Band, which relates to the red fedora I wear on stage. We never have thought of a proper name, and that is how people refer to us, so we're making the most of it.

The down side of that is that it makes it appear to be my band. It is not. It is a pretty equal collaberation between myself on guitar, Ken Anderson on drums, and Jonathan Sindorf on bass. We all sing, and we all pick material. For the most part we're classic rock, but we've been known to blur the edges pretty badly, even resorting to original material when pressed.

Which reminds me, there's an interesting gig coming up in the fall. More about that later. To see The Red Hat Band, come to the 4-wheeler annual pig roast in Warren NH on Sept. 13, or the Bridgewater Inn in Bridgewater NH on Sept. 19.

Global Warming and Four-Buck Gas

It's going to wind up being one of the driving issues of this election year, that much is certain. As such, I want to pitch in my $.02 on the topic, as I don't hear anybody else taking my particular stand.

I'm sure some of you have noticed that the price of gasoline has gone up considerably in the last couple of years. You also would not be alone in noting that this coincides with the take-over of Congress by the Democratic party. No less than former Vice-President Al Gore has stated that he'd like to see it be five dollars a gallon. The other day on Imus In The Morning, NY Times columnist Tom Friedman said that there should be a federal mandate keeping the price at no less than four dollars.

These wise, accomplished people have a good reason to believe this. With the price of gas sky-high, there is a strong movement to find an alternative to fossil fuels. Many alternatives that have already been discovered are now more cost effective than when gas was $1.50. T. Boone Pickens is making waves by suggesting a combination of wind, solar, and natural gas to wean ourselves off foreign oil. All these choices were too expensive a couple of years ago.

Get it?

Besides the reliance on foreign powers, the other big disadvantage to fossil fuels is that they're dirty. Nobody's suggesting coal as an alternative, because it's even dirtier than oil. It's no big secret that this is the motivation of the left for wanting expensive gas in order to drive the move to alternative fuels. Yes, expensive fuel may be crippling our economy, but it's for the long-term good. Not that anyone expects Barack Obama to put it like that out on the campaign trail, but it's still the truth.

There are many on the right who have added this to the pile of great sins being committed by the left. There is a firm belief among many conservatives that there is no such thing as global warming, and that any amount of pollution can be absorbed by the environment. Those people should sit in a running car in a closed garage for a couple of hours and see what they think then.

The simple fact is, whether or not pollution causes warming, cooling, or whatever, it's not good to shovel dirt into the air and water. That's a no-brainer. It would be good to have an alternative to fossil fuels for that reason, if for no other.

As for dependence on foreign powers, remember for a moment that we are the biggest customers for the Saudis and their friends in OPEC. The less of their oil we buy, the less influence we have over them. After nobody's buying their oil any more, they go back to being poor. The average person there is anyway, but the royalty will join them. They've brought it on themselves. After all, the people who own the ground the oil comes out of have to be the ones getting the $140 a barrel. I have little sympathy for them. I reserve it for their people, who will benefit more by following Iraq to freedom than staying with their rich rulers into more bondage.

The biggest problem I have with the liberal position, that expensive gas is good, is that it is not good for most of the country. The average schmuck who drives to work and heats with oil is getting screwed. All that wind and solar power may replace oil for producing electricity, but our light bills won't go down either. Most of the monetary benefit will be felt by factories, skyscrapers, and other high-volume users.

Ironically, the left has come up with a solution that will most benefit the richest 1% of the populace. The rest of us will see what used to be disposable income, if we had any, eaten up by energy costs for a fuel we will have no replacement for. That may be the greatest irony of all. They are promoting the idea of clean alternative fuel to the general public, and for the most part we're all for it as long as it won't break us financially. Every time gas goes up, another diesel Rabbit gets converted to run on fryolater grease.

But the people who could make the most use of wind and solar power resist the switch if the price of oil remains cheap. It is because of their stubbornness that we are forced to put up with these crippling prices, and that's the simple truth. There will be no widespread alternative to gasoline for another century, unless the internal combustion engine itself becomes obsolete.

So which lousy alternative will we choose in November? High energy prices, or continued pollution? I would love it if any of you out there would leave your thoughts in the comments section, even if you think I'm totally off the rails. All I ask is that you be nice, and please be brave enough to leave your name.

Good gig at Bluesology 7/11/08

Hi.

Well, the Red Hat Band played last night at Bluesology, the club at the Lodge at Belmont, home of the famous dog track. It's a great club, with very good acoustics, and it's been a real pleasure to play there.

We did our standard thing of classic rock covers and it went over really well. We did a lot of our favorites; Walk Away Renee, Sultans of Swing, Some Kind Of Wonderful. Plus, we're adding some new tunes to the mix; Soak Up The Sun, You Wreck Me, and Ken's really beautiful version of Wicked Games. At one point the audience was getting so into it that they cleared a bunch of tables and put them off to the side to make a dance floor. Get down with your bad selves, so to speak.

Big thanks to Jewel Fox, a good friend of the band and one of Ken's drum students, who sat in on three tunes. This allows Ken to play some guitar. Jewel is really coming along well, and she sounded great.

Our next gig is again at Bluesology on 8/8, which is also my wife's birthday. Help me talk her into coming, would you?

Also, if you email me regarding this blog, please put something about Peter Pan in the subject line. My email address is set for exclusive, because I get so much spam. I want to make sure I don't delete you along with all the offers for cheap Viagra.

Great Rock and Roll Moments

There are moments in rock and roll that we keep coming back to. You hear a song start on the radio, and you anticipate the little moment's arrival. It's a personal thing, but I think it's safe to say that everybody's got their favorite ones. Below, I offer some examples. Feel free to leave your own favorites in the comments section.

The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again

Now, when I talk about moments, I don't mean songs. I mean little thing within songs that elevate them. They make us remember the song, and pull us back for another listen time and time again. We might not even notice that it's happening. In this example, we definitely notice it. This has got to be the definitive "moment" of all rock and roll.

First, we need to put it into context. The song, and the "Who's Next" album, were released in 1971. Live rock was in an overkill mode, with shows becoming more and more elaborate all the time. Kind of like tailfins in the '50s. Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Yes, the big acts were travelling with semi's full of props, sets, and special effects.

Amidst all this, one of the biggest draws of the day was The Who. It was kind of embarrassing, really, because except for a laser show later in the '70s they kept things pretty simple. If you've ever seen them, you'd know why. They put on quite a show just standing there and playing. Well . . . not exactly just standing there. Except for bassist John Entwhistle, of course. The other three, Keith Moon, Roger Daltry, and Pete Townshend, are remembered as some of the most dynamic performers in music history. Even now, with only two surviving members and both in their 60s, Daltry and Townshend can throw down with the best of them.

It is to Daltry's everlasting chagrin that he had to share a stage with Townshend. It wasn't enough that Pete wrote most of the songs, he was also the ultimate stage presence. In any other group nobody would remember anybody but lead singer Roger Daltry, but in The Who he was always second banana to the skinny guitarist with the big nose.

This song and its "moment" are the one single, solitary time that Roger ever got to upstage Pete. It happens at the end of the instrumental break. The synthesizer noodles around, Moon brings in scattered drum fills, it builds up to a peak, and all of a sudden Daltry lets go a shriek from the deep, dark recesses of his gut. It is primal and cathartic. No one else could do it. Daltry can't even do it any more. It's a throat-ripping howl that sends chills up and down your spine the thousandth time you hear it.

That is what a "moment" is.

Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run

To me, this is The Boss' best album. In fact, it's one of two or three that I even like. I'm not real big on Bruce, but this record kicks ass. This song has a really nice moment, again at the end of the instrumental break. The band tumbles down the chromatic scale from root to root, Baaahhm, Baaahhm, Bahm bahm, bam bam ba-ba-ba-ba b-b-b-b b-Baaaaahhhhmmm.... The band rumbles on a I chord for a few seconds, and somewhere in the background, The Boss checks in . . .

"One, two, three, four,
Highways jammed with broken heroes in a last-chance power-drive!"

Oh, MAN!! It picks you up out of your seat.

"Everybody's out on the road tonight, but there's no place left to hide."

Bruce Springsteen - Jungleland

Last cut on the same album, and in my humble opinion his greatest song. A nine-minute mini-opera set in the mean streets of some nearly-nameless Jersey burg.

"The Rangers had a home-coming
In Harlem late last night
And the Magic Rat drove his sleek machine
Over the Jersey state line"

It builds, swirls, swims and rolls through the deep New Jersey night, special but not much different from any other night here. It slowly climbs to a peak, and then the music drops away like a roller coaster. From a driving 4:4 rocker, it bottoms out into a 2:4 dirge, nearly silent but still firm. And gliding over the top comes one, single, clear note from the saxophone of Clarence Clemmons.

Yeah, I know, The Big Man doesn't hold a candle to the great sax players like Coltrane, Rollins, and Parker. But with that one, singing, sweet note he makes the others sound like Kenny G. The note, and the sweet, simple legato line that follows it come straight from the heart and hover like your stomach on that roller coaster. When the guitar finally comes back in you realize you haven't drawn a breath in a while.

Eddie Money - Two Tickets To Paradise

Nope, don't care much for Eddie Money. Or this song, to be honest. He's like a poor-man's Springsteen, a John Cougar Mellencamp wannabe. I've seen him live, years and years ago, opening for Santana at Boston Garden. He was all right, I guess. The secret of his success apparently was the guitar player, Jimmy Lyons, who co-wrote most of the songs and led the band. They split up after a while, but eventually got back together. Last I knew they were still on the road endlessly regurgitating their three hits.

This was probably the best one. Catchy little tune, and they actually delivered it like they meant it. I've got to admit, if I'm not paying attention I actually get into it a little. Especially after the last verse, and just before the final chorus. The band executes the final turn-around and the piano player does four rapid-fire sweeps down the keyboard. Those things where you just lay the flat of your hand on the keys and run it from top to bottom. It's that moment of unbridled passion that elevates this song above the mundane.

George Michael & Elton John - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me

Is there a lamer human being on the planet than George Michael? If so, it may be Elton John. To be fair, I actually like both of these artists. I've been a fan of Elton John's since he came out. Great songwriter, and a completely unique singer. As for Michael, I don't care much for his own recordings, but he can work magic with other people's material. You should hear what he did singing Queen at Freddie Mercury's tribute concert. Awesome pipes; just a reprehensable human being.

This recording is a live cover of one of Elton's hits from the 70's. George sings the first verse solo, and then introduces Elton. He takes the second verse, and Michael does counterpoint in the background. At the end of the verse, they harmonize on "Oooohhh," and on into the chorus. That "oh" is the moment. Chills, baby.

Dave Edmunds - I Hear You Knocking

Dave Edmunds is a weird duck. Simultaneously retro and progressive. Prog-a-billy. This song is a perfect example. It sounds like it was recorded at Sun studios on a single microphone. It bumps and lurches along like a school bus driving down a set of railroad tracks. The instruments all pound the one and three. The beautiful moment is, I think, just before the final verse. The bus bumps to a halt on the one. A beat, just one single beat, of silence. Then, on the three, one V7 chord on the piano. Just the piano. Bang, with a wince of the 7 note. Beauty.

Paul McCartney - Smile Away

This one's one of my favorites, from one of my favorite albums. Ram, 1971. Second album after he left the Beatles. First song is Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey, which is definitely one of those love-it-or-hate-it songs. I happen to love it. The fade-out fades straight into the opening of Smile Away, which is one of Paul's goofy nonsense songs.

It's got a funky, rocking little beat propping up some throw-away who-gives-a-f*&$ lyrics. In the background, Linda and somebody are singing what sounds like "Don't-know-how-to-do-it" over and over. It bops, and bops, and bops, and bops along until just before the final verse Linda changes the background to Yaaaaahhh, yah-yah-yah-yah-yah-yah-yah, be-Dump be-Dummm. It's just enough to push it over the top. Great stuff.

Foghat - Slow Ride

This one harkens back to the original example. Foghat is one of the great underrated bands in rock history. They are the '65 Chevy Impala of rock and roll. Now, in the new century, a '65 Impala looks pretty cool. Back then, it was just another family car. Dig out your long-unheard copy of Fool For The City or Rock And Roll Outlaws and give it a spin. They were surprisingly sophisticated, although we didn't appreciate it at the time. After all, the seventies were the time of progressive rock, and sophisticated meant you rearranged Wagner for a four-piece band. If they came out now, they'd be huge. And, like AC-DC, every album sounds basically the same. They started off great and stayed that way.

Slow Ride was far from their greatest song, but it probably had their greatest moment. Rod Price was one of the great slide players in rock, and Lonesome Dave Prevrett (sic) was a singer of surprising range and emotion. Slow Ride is a bawdy little ditty that bumps and grinds seductively along. Da-dump (thump) da-Da-dump (thump) da-Da-dump (thump) da-Do-n-Dooo, all the way through the last verse. In the instrumental break it builds in speed and intensity until you think the top of your head is going to come off. It goes and goes and goes and then comes to a screeching halt. Then, Lonesome Dave pulls one from the bottom of his toes.

"Ssslooow rriiiiide!"

Followed by the greatest crash-and-burn ending ever. It's beautiful, and brutal, and delicious.

Dave and Rod have departed this mortal coil, but the music lives on. It is this moment, and the ones above, and the ones like them, that are the reason that rock and roll is so great. It takes from every kind of music that came before it and after it, and boils it down to its essence. Then it is placed into the hands of a passionate person who hopefully has learned to play their instrument well enough to translate that passion into music and timbre.

Of course, I've forgotten a few thousand good examples of these moments. Feel free to share your favorites.

Bike Week

Going to the Weirs during bike week is kind of like going to the fair. Except you bring your own ride. And, it's definitely geared toward grownups.

I can remember back in '64 or '65 riding home from a Saturday night at the races in Loudon with my folks. We hopped in the car and turned on the radio and immediately learned that it would be a good idea to make a detour from our regular route. There was a riot in progress at the Weirs, on the edge of Lake Winnepesauke in Laconia, NH. It was being led by a large contingent of the Hell's Angels motorcycle club. Governor John King had called out the NH National Guard to help the Laconia PD bring order, and they arrived in armored troop carriers.

The Guard and the Police rolled over the drunk-and-disorderly bikers like a truck. The authorities suffered zero casualties. The same could not be said for the bikers.

The centerpiece of Bike Week is a motorcycle race, which is now sanctioned by the AMA and held at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It's possible that as many as 3 to 5 % of the people coming to Bike Week actually attend the race. The rest are here . . . well, mainly because the rest are here.

It's a chance for the locals, who deal with tourists year-round, to act like tourists themselves. They get to walk around and gawk at the bikes and bikers. The place to do this is the Weirs. You can see motorcycles all over New Hampshire during this time, but there is no greater concentration of them then at the Weirs. And the best part is that most of the vendors are from out of town, so we locals can take a day off and just watch.

This year, 2008, is the 85th annual race. In the mid-1960's the race moved from wherever it was held before to Bryar Motorsport Park, a road course that also hosted sports car races, etc. One prominent feature of BMP was a knoll that overlooked the track that came to be known as Animal Hill. This was where the hardest partying took place. In the early '90's, Bob Bahre, owner of Maine's Oxford Plains Speedway, bought the track and converted it to a one-mile oval that now hosts NASCAR and the like. There is a road course, where the motorcycle race still is held, but Animal Hill is gone.

The best time to hit the Weirs is early in the week. By Friday the real crazies, the former occupants of Animal Hill, are arriving in force. The alcohol begins to flow in earnest, and it starts getting a little dangerous. On Tuesday or Wednesday, most of the bikes are expensive Harleys owned by lawyers and dentists. The well-behaved brothers and cousins of the Angels of '65.

And yes, it is definitely geared to adults. The central theme of bike week is "F--- you." It's everywhere. I never realized that there were so many ways to phrase this simple, arrogant statement of defiance. And all of them can be emblazoned on a t-shirt, ball cap, bumper sticker, tattoo, or whatever you like.

I rode to the Weirs on my Yamaha 750 on a Wednesday. I made the mistake of not getting there until about 11 am, but was lucky enough to find parking reasonably close for only five bucks. On a good Wednesday it's possible to get there early enough to park among the herd in the middle of the main street. Not only is that free, but you have the thrill of being among hundreds of really cool bikes.

The first time I rode there on my own putt, I had a 400cc Honda with a milk crate bungee-corded to the back of the seat. As I climbed off my humble little rat-bike, parked among all the chrome-plated American iron, I noticed I was being watched by two particularly heavy, hairy, leather-clad gentlemen on the sidewalk.

"It's not the bike, it's the man," I said, staring them right in the eye. They nodded, smiled, and let me live.

Bike Week is oriented around American motorcycles, and Harley-Davidsons in particular. I once saw a neat little tableau at the Weirs. One guy was standing on the sidewalk, dressed head-to-toe in Harley logo clothing from his boots to his do-rag. His friend - I assume they were friends - was sitting astride a shiny Yamaha Royal Star, a full-dress Electra-Glide knockoff. The Harley guy was merciless in his derision of his friend's 'rice-burner.' Finally, he said the magic words:

"A real man rides a Harley-Davidson," he said.

The friend gave him a sour look and said, "A real man . . . does as he damn well pleases."

Translation: F--- you. Amen, brother.

I had a great-uncle who rode a motorcycle. This was back in the day when the only bikes available were Harley-Davidsons and Indians. The Harleys were more reliable, but the Indians were faster. Uncle Earnest rode an Indian, and the New Hampshire State Police rode Harleys. He liked riding real fast, so he knew from personal experience just how fast the Harleys of the NH Highway Patrol were. Finally came the day when two troopers rolled up to his home. He thought they were there to arrest him. Instead, they asked if he would like to join up. He said he would, under one condition; that he get to use his own bike. From that day on, the New Hampshire State Police were all-Harley, but one.

My Uncle Jim Parris always had a full-dress cruiser, usually a Harley Electra-Glide. There were a few years during the late 60's when he gave it up. People were so scared of the Hells Angels and their ilk that it became difficult for the average Joe to ride in peace. Now, the Average Joe IS bike week. It's become an event for the upper middle class, who have enough money to buy the bike and can take off enough time to enjoy it.

When going to the Weirs, I try to blend in. A little mid-week bad-ass. A little. I wore a black t-shirt with a Fender Telecaster on the chest, and a hat with the Unites States Postal Service logo on it. Don't tread on me. I got a pretty good deal on a new jacket, saw a lot of cool bikes, dropped some words of encouragement on a few Christian biker ministries, and listened to a couple of good bands. Not a bad afternoon, all in all.

Bike Week dominates the whole state of New Hampshire. It used to be Motorcycle Weekend, but now is two weekends and the week in between, and is dribbling over into the weeks on either end. It is reviled by many, but makes so much money for the state that it is accepted and even encouraged. The sound of rumbling motorcycles can be heard everywhere.

Last year, on the Monday after bike week, we were at work at the Moultonboro post office right off route 25. Suddenly, one of the clerks stopped and said, "Hey, wait! Hear that?"

We all stopped. "I don't hear anything," somebody finally said.

The clerk smiled. "Yea-a-ah," she said.

Translation: F--- you. Amen, sister.

Quick update

Hi.

Just a quick update on things in general. Now that the NH primary has come and gone, I'll be concentrating on music again, I suppose.

You may note a new link, for another blog called IDIC. This is one by a couple of friends of mine from Frontier Fleet. Both are conservatives, and both Americans, but with markedly different points of view. East and West coast, high and low tech, young and old, but both very good and quite insightful writers. Check them out.

I'm in a band once again, playing with old friends Jonathan Sindorf and Ken Anderson (bass and drums respecively). We've been playing at the Bridgewater Inn in Bridgewater, NH mostly, with the odd thing at the Country Cow (Plymouth) and occasional private parties. Check us out at the Country Cow, just off exit 26 of I-93 in Plymouth on June 6. Also, at the Bridgewater Inn on May 16.

I've also been playing occasionally as a solo, mostly at the Colatina Exit in Bradford, VT. Great Italian food. Check them out. No upcoming bookings there, but I'll keep you posted.

On the down side, one of my all-time favorite music venues will be closing at the end of May. The Middle Earth Music Hall in Bradford, VT is in its final month, so click the link to their website while it still takes you somewhere and pick a show to go to. You won't regret it.

That's all for now.

Saturday before NH Primary

Hello, hello, hello, hello, hello . . .

Dirt Track NH is actually getting some attention, but I'm yet to get any comments at all from this blog. Except for the interview with Reggie Mantle, of course, but that's understandable. FYI, sometime in the near future there'll be an interview with Jughead Jones! I've still got editing to do, but it was a great time, if a little tense.

Anyway, it's the Saturday night before the 2008 New Hampshire Presidential Primary, and I would be remiss in my duties as a sharer of deep thought if I let it pass without saying something. It's also turning out to be a pretty exciting contest, in spite of a dearth of candidates. Oh, there are names on the ballot, but JEEZ!

I'm a registered Independent, as is my lovely wife, Lynn, so we're getting mail and phone calls from EVERYONE! Lynn's seriously thinking about taking a Democratic ballot, but I'm pretty sure I'm taking a Republican one. As I write this, I'm watching a 24-hour news channel - I refuse to say which one - and the fallout from the Iowa caucuses is still falling. Obama won handily for the Dems, with Edwards second and Queen Hillary an embarassing third. On the Reps side, Huckabee beat Romney by about 10 points.

So, from a STILL undecided NH Independent (and aren't we all, really?) here are my thoughts on most of the major candidates. And, to make it all on the up-and-up, I'll list everything alphabetically. But first, my thoughts on some of the major issues of the day.

COMPETENCE: I think this is an important thing to think about when choosing a President. In my lifetime I've seen every president from Eisenhower to Bush 43, and it looks like a pretty difficult job. I've seen people take the job that had the best ideas and intentions, but simply were in over their head they day they got there. Think Jimmy Carter. Was there ever a nicer man? I believe he honestly did what he thought was the best for everybody, but nothing went right for him. The economy tanked, the middle east went in the toilet, and when he left we were in the 444th - and last - day of the Iran hostage crisis.

On the other hand, for all his problems and general bad attitude, Richard Nixon was imminently competent. Yeah, he tried to clothesline his opposition in the '72 election and had the secret enemies list and acted like a despot, but when it came down to the day-to-day business of running the country, he could do the job. He was a master politician, which means he was a juggler of ideas and people and managed to almost always keep all the balls in the air. He ended the Vietnam war, and even got us out on our own terms. He negotiated the SALT 1 and 2 treaties with Breshnev, which is the most anyone's done to date about nuclear proliferation. And, he opened China. Even when faced with a major inflation problem, he tried to solve it with his Phase 1 and Phase 2 price controls. They didn't work, but they were inspired ideas that had never been tried before.

The most amazing thing about Nixon is that he built his reputation on being a far-right-wing anti-communist, but as president did more for more liberal causes than Kennedy and Johnson put together. I remember a scene from near the end of Oliver Stone's movie bio, where Nixon is weeping, and says to Kissinger; "I gave them everything they wanted. Why do they still hate me?"

Good question. Personally, I think Nixon was a better president than Carter, because he was competent. In my lifetime, I would rank Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, and Clinton the highest in this catagory. The lowest would be Johnson (and I liked him), Carter, and Clinton.

GAS PRICES: Is there anybody, outside of a few conservative talk-show hosts, that don't believe that the price of gas is decided by the companies together? If the free market were truly in charge here, it would be going down. It's a mature industry. Plus, it's not like there's not a plethora of sources for the stuff. We all know that the Arabs and Venezuelans and Mexicans and everybody else get together to set the price, which has nothing to do with the cost of production.

There is one fact that should be considered; the money we spend on oil is the only tangible influence we have on the middle east. We're their biggest customer. The more we become energy independent, the less influence we will have there.

It also suggests that the oil companies have too much influence on our government, because we should be negotiating a better price with some of the providers. If we could cut a deal with Saudi Arabia, then Venezuela would have to drop their price to sell to us. The dirty secret that too many highly-placed conservatives don't want to address is the huge influence that oil companies have over them.

In the end, it is imperative that we DO come up with a viable alternative to oil. For both the short and long terms. Not just for our national security, but for the future of the race and the planet. Have you ever realized that most modern energy sources involved burning something? Whether it's oil, or wood, or coal, or the oxidization of plutonium, most modern energy sources leave a residue that is very hard to recycle. Maybe it's time to look back, to the days when wind and water powered the engine of industry and transportation.

Because industry and transportation will continue. It is what differentiates the most powerful countries from the poorest. It is also, especially in the case of transportation, what a free people do. We make things and go places. America produces the pollution it does because we all travel, wherever we want, whenever we want. We are a car culture. If you follow the logic of most liberal environmental policies, they would inevitably restrict that car culture. Think about that next time you want to go somewhere.

The fact is that on this day, at the store down the street, the price of regular is over three dollars a gallon. There is nobody running for President who is going to be able to change that. It will change when the oil companies and the producers wish it to change. Which means, either we will do something to please them, or to intimidate them. All the Democrats will stroke the providers and piss off the companies. All the Republicans will do the other. And we won't be rid of either. Alternative energy can get rid of them both. Then, the middle east can go back to what they were before 1900; poor.

HEALTH CARE: Do I think there should be a Government program that will provide health insurance for everybody? No. It's too easy to abuse. I personally think most government programs should be done from the state or local level. If the State of New Hampshire wanted to consider a state-run health insurance plan for those who could prove they can't afford any other kind, I'd consider backing it if it were written wisely.

The problem with anything like this - and by that, I include Social Security, Medicare, etc. - is that it's so easy to abuse. Granted, publicly available free health insurance would be a heck of a lot better than a totally socialistic health care system. I can remember watching a debate on C-SPAN between the leaders of the five major Canadian parties back in the '90's. Even the most conservative didn't dare suggest the possibility of privatizing health care, they just promised that they'd run it better. Once it's in, we're stuck with it.

The fact is that we have the best health care system in the world. Presidents of other countries come here when they have major health problems. Most of the advanced drugs, technologies, techniques, etc. in the field of health care come from here. Yes, some doctors, hospitals, and maybe even some nurses and orderlies are overpaid and abuse their power. I suppose socialized medicine would cure that, the way that shooting a dog would rid it of fleas.

I simply think that the free market has way more potential for fixing problems than the federal government. As for people who don't have insurance, we should tread lightly and carefully, because some of those people CAN afford to have it. They're just waiting to see if there's a hand-out in the offing.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: The thing to remember in this phrase is that it includes two words, the first of which is ILLEGAL. We have immigration LAWS, which should either be enforced, or changed. PERIOD. If we're going to have borders, and regulate who can and cannot cross them, then we should do whatever it takes to enforce those regulations. Walls. Troops. Whatever. As for the people who came here illegally, they should be made to leave. Tough job. Gonna take a long time. Better start NOW.

Some on the far left are trying to recast this argument as one about immigration. I have nothing against people trying to come to this country. There are legal ways to do it. Use them. If you snuck in, no visa or passport, go home. Don't go to our hospitals, ask for a hand-out, or put your kids in my kids' school. GO HOME. Get a passport and a visa and drive or walk up to the border. Smile, show your paperwork, and welcome to the US of A. Call ahead, and I'll bring some sandwiches.

IRAQ: How long have people been begging God for someone to do something about the Middle East? Well, George W. Bush is finally, FINALLY doing something. And it's very good thing that we, as a nation, are trying to do. It is important that we win, not just for us, or the Iraqis, but for the rest of the middle east and for the world.

That thing is, bring a Democratically elected Republic to the middle east. Some people say that this form of government won't work in the Muslim world. They said that about Japan after World War 2. They were wrong then, and they're wrong now. As Winston Churchill once said, "Democracy is the worst form of government . . . except for all the others." Democracy CAN work in the Muslim world, just like it worked in the Buddhist/Shinto world, the Catholic world, the Protesant world, and anywhere else, because it is governing at the direct endorsement of the governed. We have a major revolution every four years, and a minor one in between. We, the people, overthrow our own government on a regular basis. This keeps us from, so far at least, getting stuck with a Hitler or Saddam Hussein because of a couple of bad days.

The United States is an ongoing experiment in this form of government. In 1776, it had never been tried. Some really intelligent people decided that it was time. So far, it's worked out pretty well. For all the problems, possibility and reality of corruption, unfairness, it's still the closest thing to a Heaven on earth that has ever existed on this world. Maybe Haliburton is running the version of it that exists in Iraq right now - and maybe they aren't - but as soon as we take our hands off it the people of Iraq can change it. Democracy works. We've got it, let's export it.

And just a quick aside on this whole "weapons of mass destruction" complaint. First of all, that was one of 14 reasons to go in, all of which were valid. And, everybody everybody EVERYBODY believed he had them. Then, thanks to the UN's dithering, we gave him fourteen months to get rid of them, which he did, in Syria. What they did with them, God only knows. President Bush can't say that, though, because we have to maintain the illusion that we're nominally allied with Syria. And that's the way it is.

WAR ON TERRORISM: It's simple. There are people in this world who have banded together against us, the USA, because we are infidels who, in their opinion, wrongly influence the world. They wish us dead. We have to stop them. Not out of hate, but because they won't stop unless we MAKE them stop. That's another reason why I support the war in Iraq; because Saddam's Iraq was a safe haven for these people.

The real question is, does America deserve to survive? If you think not, then you should join Al Qaeda. They are the strongest force currently trying to destroy us. If, on the other hand, you DO believe America deserves to survive, then you shouldn't get in the way of the people that are trying to stop our enemies from destroying us.

I'll agree that there is corruption in our government. Democrats say it's all on the Republican side, and vice versa. Both are right. At the end of the day, where else would you want to live? If, by the miracle of the internet, somebody from another country is reading this, there has to be at least some small part of you that wishes you were here. This isn't a cut on Europe or Russia or Japan or anywhere else. It is a simple statement of fact. We are the movers and shakers of the world. The poorest Americans are better off than the middle class of a lot of countries. Without us, your lives will change, and not for the better. If Al Qaeda or anybody else takes us out, you will suffer for it. Please, for your own sakes as well as ours, help us win this thing.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY:

This is not the Democratic party I grew up with. My wife is 14 years younger than me, and raised by conservative Republicans. I like joking with her that I'm old enough to remember when the liberals were right. You know, back when the issues were Vietnam and civil rights. Whatever happened to those people?

I recently read a book on the history of the Whig party, and I was amazed by how little things have changed from the 1840's. Politicians do the same dirty tricks; they're just better equipped now. The Whigs came from the remnants of the Federalists, along with the Democratic Republicans who didn't like Andrew Jackson. They were bound together less by ideals than by opposition to Jackson. That's how todays Democrats look to one who remembers Kennedy, Humphrey and McCarthy and has read a lot about FDR, Truman, and Adlai Stevenson.

Clinton, Hillary Rodham: Is there anyone who actually believes a word this person says? I'm sorry, but let's face facts; right now, this whole election is about her. 80% of the electorate has already decided what they think of her, and the main reason for holding the election is to find out which way most of them will go. We either love her, or hate her. The ones who are undecided may very well decide the outcome of the 2008 election IF she gets the nomination.

Disclaimer: I listen to many different sources for my news. I firmly believe that every news source is biased, because that is simply human nature. So, I listen to NPR, watch CNN and Fox, and also listen to conservative - and liberal, when I can find it - talk radio. I say that because I want to tell you that I heard this on Rush Limbaugh. Supposedly, Hillary's senior thesis in college was about Saul D. Alinsky. Mr. Alinsky proposed that there should be revolutionaries that sneak in the back door and change the system from inside. This suggests that Hillary is one of those. (I would refer the gentle reader to a book published around 1980 called "The Aquarian Conspiracy.") This, from a former Goldwater Girl. FYI, here's a link to the MSNBC story on the topic:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17388372/

With all due respects to Mr. Alinsky, if that's true, and if she wins, she's going to have to filter everything she wants to do through the democratically-elected congress, and the Supreme Court that was left in place by her predecessors. Don't worry, she can only do so much damage. We're America. We've put up with worse than her.

I see her as Bill Clinton with a mean streak. You may have noticed above that I ranked Bill Clinton among both the most- and least-competent presidents. That's because he really did nothing. He leaned a bit to the left, but not enough to derail the healthy economy that Reagan and Bush built. Still, it would have been nice to have someone with vision in charge. I think Hillary has vision, and she's yet to reveal it. She spouts the platitudes she thinks people want to hear, but she has a secret agenda. Her '93 health care plan revealed part of it. I believe she's a socialist, but she can only do so much.

Edwards, John: This guy should be made to watch tapes of his own stump speeches. I get the impression he's never heard anything that he himself has said. Listen up, people; he's a trial lawyer. That's how he made his money, and he's got plenty of it. He's a rich fat cat who made his money off the misery of others. His answer to everything is to surround himself with victims, and then promise to use the power of the Presidency to get back at the people who have made these victims miserable.

Obama, Barak: Nice kid. Come back when you're not so wet behind the ears. Oh, he won Iowa, and is tied with Hillary in NH? Shit, he may win. Y'know, he's a little too free with the public purse, and he sounds like a warmed-over Hubert Humphrey in his stump speeches. Even Jack Kennedy knew that if you cut taxes for the rich, they invest. Don't kill American business and send us back to the Carter years, please.

In all seriousness, the thing I'm keeping an eye peeled for is his handlers. He's a kid, as far as politicians go. He has liberal ideals, and that's not altogether bad, because I honestly believes he cares about people and thinks he's on the right track. He's enough of an idealist to be . . . acceptable, I suppose. BUT, he will need a lot of help. There are a lot of strings between the fingers of the President, and he doesn't realize yet just how many. If his handlers are crooks, then he'll be another US Grant/Warren G. Harding/Jimmy Carter. If they're people motivated by a clear vision of how the world should be, he could be the liberal George W. Bush. Which means he'll try and do idealistic things. So look out.

Richardson, Bill: Governor of New Mexico. No chance. I've heard he's strong on controlling the borders, and the gun people like him. My wife, Lynn, is seriously considering voting for him. Or Obama, just to tweak Hillary. Imus likes him too, but I think he's still backing McCain. To his credit, he's probably got the best ideas, but he's got no chance. If Iraq's an issue for you, he's promised to have our troops home within 6 months of his inauguration.

REPUBLICAN PARTY:

The Republican party has also changed. The party that nominated Dwight D. Eisenhower had a wing that followed Coolidge's dictum; the business of America is business. What's good for General Motors is good for the country. Then you had the populist wing, which was a lot more electable after the Great Depression. That wing was probably a remnant of the party that nominated Lincoln.

Barry Goldwater changed things, by codifying some new ideas on conservatism. The big business wing became the right wing. Barry may or may not have made a good president, but Ronald Reagan put a lot of his ideas to work, and work they did.

Back in '88 Newsweek printed a list of some of the subdivisions of the major parties. The one I most identified with was "God-and-country Democrats." In a nutshell, I have a social conscience, but it leads me to vote Republican. I come from New-Deal-Dem stock, and my ideals and values haven't really changed, but as time goes by I see the Republicans as having the better way.

Basically, everybody wants the same things, and all politicians promise them. Peace, prosperity, security, equality, and liberty. Gone are the days when a ruler could just decide to declare war on a whim, raise an army, and go get a whole bunch of innocent people killed. You don't like Bush? Read some European history.

Also gone are the days when one group could overtly insist on better treatment than another. I can actually remember when the public debate included topics like, were black people as good as white? Were they worthy to eat in our resturants, ride our busses, or date our girls? I know there are still people who think in such narrow terms, but they keep it to themselves.

Anyone who considers themselves a conservative in 2008 should ask themself if they could have been one in, say, 1964? 1929? 1860? Would you have thought that schools, etc. should be segregated? That big business should be allowed to manipulate the national economy, no matter what the outcome? That some people should be kept as slaves? I used to be a liberal, but guess what? We won! Progress happens.

Giuliani, Rudy: I keep coming back to this guy. I think Hillary would shred him, but we might not have to worry about that. Let's face it, the guy's got mob connections, he's been married three times, I disagree with a lot of his social positions, and his own kids aren't going to vote for him. But I might. I like his ideas on reducing the size of the federal government, and nobody else has ever paid more than lip service to the concept.

He's proven himself capable of making tough, unpopular decisions and seeing them through. Sometimes people forget that everybody in New York hated him until 9/11. He did completely turn that city around, though, in spite of all the opposition. He uprooted a lot of deeply entrenched corruption while he was there. I think the beltway dreads this man. I wish he was pro-life, but the Supreme Court's in pretty good shape.

Huckabee, Mike: Congrats on winning Iowa, Mike. You may be the guy that keeps me from voting for Romney. Not that I'm going to vote for you.

Don't get me wrong, now. I appreciate the fact that he is up front about his faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. There are two simple reasons I'm not voting for him. One is that I simply disagree with a lot of his stands. He's doing that populist thing, which means he's promising that Government will solve their problems. Government does a lot more to cause problems. Shoot, you take away his talk about his faith, and he sounds like John Edwards. Plus he's pretty weak on border security, and he doesn't really believe in the Bush doctorine.

The other reason is that competence thing. I just don't think he's got what it takes to do the job well. He'll be bound to his handlers, like Obama, and there's too many times that this simply hasn't worked out. I think he'd wind up a Republican Jimmy Carter. Mike, you're in over your head. Go home.

McCain, John: If he gets the nomination, I'll have no problem with voting for him. I think he may be the most capable candidate of either party. He will do the job expertly. I do have some serious differences with him, though. I think he's too soft on illegal immigration. I also think he'll be a little too free with the public purse.

He will strongly prosecute the war on terror, though. He will also get things done. He is probably the most capable of crossing the lines on the floor and getting people to work together. I also think he will be the most comfortable working with foreign powers. Plus, he will not be subject to his handlers. He's a leader.

Paul, Ron: No, really. Oh, okay.

Truthfully, he's got some halfway decent ideas and raises some salient points. He's right that the special interests have far too much influence over our government. I like that he thinks we should balance the federal budget, every time. In the end, I think he's pure-d-wrong about Iraq. He talks like 9/11 never happened. He's casting the Bush administration in the role of evil conquerors, and I'm sorry, but that's not the deal. There is no way on God's green earth that I would vote for this man.

Romney, Mitt: Up to last week, my most respected political confidants on the right side of the aisle were all undecided, but this man was their second choice. And, their wives were voting for him, and that's it. As of now, my wife has rejoined the ranks of the undecided, but she was trying to talk me into Mitt for the last month.

I think he'd make a pretty good president, actually. I actually find his candor regarding his changes of heart on some issues - or, as they're commonly known, flip-flops - refreshing. I especially liked his explanation in a debate regarding why he changed his stand on abortion. He said that he was for it, until the first time he had to sign a bill that allowed it. And he found he couldn't do it. He admits to being human. I'd like to see a little more of that, instead of a bunch of juggling to prove that yes was really no. I find the words "oops, sorry," from a politician to feel like a breath of fresh air.

One quick note, on the outside chance that somebody from the National media ever sees this. New Hampshire Democrats identify with their counterparts in Massachusetts, but NH Republicans consider Mass. Republicans to be just another kind of Democrats. Being from our immediate Southern neighbor is not to Mitt's advantage. And, Curt Schilling has already endorsed John McCain.

Thompson, Fred: I'm seriously tempted to vote for this guy. In a lot of ways, I like him the best. He's ignored NH, though, and will likely leave with no delegates. That didn't affect me in 2000 or 1996, when I voted for Alan Keyes. I was making a statement. Fred's hoping for a good showing on Super Tuesday. So far, that strategy's never worked. It sank Al Gore in 1988, and Jerry Brown in 1976. Fred and Rudi may find that the question is already decided, and they're left out.

As far as his stands on the issues, Fred is the John McCain that I can agree with. He's a good old-fashioned Goldwater/Reagan conservative, and I've got to tell you, it works. Confession: I was raised by FDR-New Deal liberals, but the Democratic party left me. I got out of the service just before the Carter administration and watched how the country changed under Reagan, and I'm a believer. So is Fred. But, like Reagan and George W., I also suspect he'd let the Federal Government keep growing.

GEORGE W. BUSH:

Might as well talk about him. After all, he's the fellow all these other people are anxious to replace. Good luck to them.

I think he's been an excellent president. A man of action and decision. He has, once and for all, proven the dictum of the beltway; if you want to make enemies, do something. Most politicians spend their time desperately trying NOT to do something. It's like a dance, with a lot of movement, and a lot of noise, that keeps the status quo in place. After all, things are pretty good as they are, right? Let's create the illusion of activity and call it progress.

I think that Bush spends way too much money, and that he's probably in the pocket of big oil. But, when we needed action, he provided it. He showed the UN for the dithering do-nothings that they really are and began a process that, one way or the other, will result in change. Either we will continue his work and all be the better for it, or we'll back up and the people who suffered under the status quo will continue to rise up against us.

I believe that history will be very kind to Mr. Bush. One thing it will not do is compare him to Neville Chamberlain.

TWO PEOPLE I WISH WOULD RUN:

Jerry Brown: Former Governor of California, son of Pat Brown, former Governor of California. This is the guy that Mitt Romney reminds me of when Mitt's explaining why he changed his mind. Brown had this gift as well. When California agriculture was falling victim to the gypsy moth, he refused to spray for environmental reasons. When it became clear that the people wanted it, he threw up his hands and led the charge.

He ran for the Democratic nomination in 1976 and again in 1992. In '76 he started too late, and Jimmy Carter got the jump and the nomination. Our loss. In '92 he was a dark horse that was given no chance. But he hung in there, won the Maine primary and a couple of small caucuses, and when the circus got to New York there was only him and Clinton standing.

I watched Clinton beat him, in a one-on-one debate on Phil Donohue's show. Brown is a visionary, and he would lean forward, practically rubbing his hands while describing what he perceived to be the reasons to vote for him. Clinton sat back, relaxed, and agreed with almost everything he said. The way it came off was, Brown looked like a lunatic while Clinton was polished and controlled.

The big difference is, Clinton didn't really do anything. Brown would. Check out the work he's doing as mayor of Oakland, California. Or did as Governor. He has visionary ideas on mass transit that could actually make them an acceptable alternative for people who travel by car. Granted, I certainly don't agree with all of his ideas, but he has so many that there's plenty of good ones.

Condoleeza Rice: The current Secretary of State, and a damned good one. She is brilliant. I have to admit, I don't know what any of her stands are, except for the assumption that she's in favor of President Bush's foreign policy. One thing is for sure, she's very intelligent, highly accomplished, and a super hard worker. She is the most travelled SecState in history. She has negotiated successfully with the leaders of nations where a black woman normally isn't allowed to show her face, much less represent their government in sensitive negotiations.

She is also living proof of the liberal bias of most of the American media. Remember all the acolades when Nancy Pelosi became the first female Speaker of the House? Where were they when Bush named the first black woman SecState? It would have been big news if Bill Clinton had named her to the post. But he didn't. Most of his cabinet was white men.

. . . and finally . . . The President we need now:

Everybody likes invoking the names of great Presidents past. Truman, FDR, Lincoln; all great. The Republicans like calling on the spirit of Ronald Reagan. Another good choice. On tonight's debate, John Edwards compared himself to Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican. In your dreams, John. Here's three of my favorites, who don't get mentioned often enough:

Andrew Jackson: I'll grant you, he was cruel to the Indians and owned slaves, but as far as running the government he was one of the best. He had the courage of his convictions right down to the bone. He took on the Bank of the United States and its president, Nicholas Biddle, in a fight that threatened to ruin the American economy. The bank ruled the economy, and Biddle thought he ran the country. Jackson refused to re-sign the bank's charter, which came up every five years. He thought it was too much power in one man's hands.

Biddle proved him right by immediately calling in all its loans on businesses and farms. By the time he got through squeezing, public opinion was firmly behind Jackson. I think about this every time I hear anything coming out of the Federal Reserve. People thank Bill Clinton for the good economy of the 90's. They should thank Allan Greenspan, and then thank God that Greenspan liked Clinton. He didn't like George H. W. Bush, and so he engineered a little recession in time for the '92 election. It's amazing what you can do over the short-term with a little adjustment to the prime interest rate. Yeah, a little of Ol' Hickory would be nice.

John McCain strikes me as the candidate that has this kind of moral strength, and possibly Fred Thompson and Rudi Giuliani.

Grover Cleveland: This man made his reputation as a reformer while Governor of New York. Under his administration, the size of the federal government actually shrunk. It may have been the last time, to date. He ticked off so many people with his unwavering frugality he got beat out of a second term. His replacement, Benjamin Harrison, was so incompetent that Cleveland got reelected the next time around.

Rudy Guliani's simple but effective plan for reducing the size of the federal government reminds me of Grover.

Woodrow Wilson: Wilson was the whole package; a visionary who could stand on the ground and get things done. If the allies who won the First World War had followed his 14 points, we might well have avoided the Second World War. As it went, France and England insisted on cruel retribution in the old-fashioned style, and the League of Nations went the way of the Articles of Confederation. He was a man ahead of his time.

I think Jerry Brown could be that kind of president.

If you're lucky, that'll be all I have to say on politics for a very long time. Pop the champagne, and don't forget to vote. And while you're at it, lie to the pollsters at every opportunity.

Interview with Albus Dumbledore

This is an interview with a man who really needs no introduction. Lead guitarist for The Order Of The Phoenix, he later went solo, while continuing to do the occasional Phoenix project. It was thought that he would go on to be bigger even than the Beatles or Elvis, especially after he shut down Gellert Grindelwald in a guitar duel at the Isle of Wight festival. 

Instead, he devoted himself more and more to the business side of the music industry. His own records have shown remarkable growth for an artist over the years, as he preferred to follow his own muse over the winds of popular acclaim. Even so, his legacy is more firmly rooted in the young artists he’s nurtured over the years.  

Known now as “The Professor,” he is the Chief Executive Officer of Hogwart’s Group, one of the oldest music companies in Great Britain. Covering the recording industry, music publishing, management, and even an advanced music academy, it is believed that Albus Dumbledore has had at least as much influence over the music we hear today as he might have following the star of his own popularity. It was a rare privilege to sit with this great artist for a private interview.

  ------------------- 

 RC: Thank you for the gracious invitation to speak with you today, Professor. 

AD: The pleasure is all mine, I assure you. 

RC: It’s not many artists who can boast the recent release of their seventh Greatest Hits album. 

AD: Strictly a business decision, I assure you. There’s not a great deal of recent material on it that actually made an impact on the charts, but the release puts a little life into the old catalogue. (Laughs) Not that I need the money any more, but one likes to create the illusion of being relevant. 

RC: I think your relevance is pretty firmly established, if I may say so. Far beyond your sales figures, and they are impressive. 

AD: Thank you for saying so. 

RC: There are those who would say, beyond your artistic accomplishments, you are quite simply one of the most powerful men in the music industry. 

AD: Oh, do they now? And just what does that mean? 

RC: (After a significant pause) Well, simply that . . . you have a great deal of influence in the world of music. 

 AD: And where might that world be? Hmm? 

RC: I’m not sure I . . . 

AD: Quickly, what’s the biggest hit you can think of? 

 RC: Biggest hit? Song? Oh, probably . . . Stairway to Heaven, or Hey Jude . . . 

AD: Let’s say Stairway to Heaven. A classic, to be sure. Hardly anyone between the ages of sixty and ten would fail to recognize it. In a hundred years if you were to dredge up the name ‘Led Zeppelin’ that song will surely spring to mind. I understand it is the most broadcast song in history. And yet, to someone driving down the road listening to it on their car radio it’s seven minutes of their commute; nothing more. It was preceded by another song, and followed by yet another. If Stairway To Heaven had never been written, the DJ could substitute Hey Jude, or anything else. 

RC: I suppose so . . . 

AD: So what kind of power is there, really, within what you consider the ‘world of music?’ 

 RC: Well, you know . . . the power to increase wealth, to grant fame, establish a legacy – 

AD: But all relating to a luxury item, essentially. Popular music is the sort of thing that gives one power on the scale relative to the amount of money you earn from it. When I was young, we were trying to achieve real power. 

RC: What do you mean, real power? You mean, use your fame as a platform to, say, run for public office? 

AD: (laughs) My dear boy, a pop star already has more power than a Prime Minister or a President. A politician’s powers are clearly delineated, and he owes his very soul to outside interests who exercise their power behind the scenes. But even somebody like, for instance, Hannah Montana can affect the very way people think. Now, that’s power. And we were looking even beyond that. 

RC: I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I’m following you. 

AD: All right . . . here’s an example. How many cycles per second is the A below middle C? 

RC: 440, I believe. 

AD: That is correct. And an octave above? 

RC: 880? 

AD: Correct again. And an octave below is 220, and below that is 110, and so forth. To get an A that is one hundred and ten cycles per second, you’d have to take the bottom string on a five-string bass and tune it down a whole step. An octave below that would be 55 cycles per second, and on and on. Now, can you tell me what note the planet Earth is playing? 

RC: . . . er . . . planet Earth? 

AD: In order to know that, you have to know how many seconds in a year. And not just break 365 days down to hours, minutes, and seconds. It might be in some scientific journal somewhere, and I’m sure there’s a little flexibility of a few seconds every year, but it would be possible at that point to halve it, and then again, and finally get a note within the hearable range that would be a relative octave with the note the Earth is playing. Or Mars, or Saturn, or Mercury. 

Now, to a student of astrology, this could potentially have more of an impact than the chart position of a song. If you wanted to influence destiny, of a person or the planet or any other subject of a song, you would write the song in Saturn’s key, because Saturn is supposed to be the planet of destiny. 

RC: I’m beginning to see. 

AD: That’s not the only example of the potential power of music, either. There were musicians who were trying to reproduce the state of mind attained through transcendental meditation, or psychotropic drugs, and for the listener as well as the performer. We were all reading about how the pyramids must have been made by telekinetic energy, and we were even trying to tap into that. Through the intelligent use of music, anything seemed possible. There are still those who strive in these directions, I’ve no doubt. 

RC: So why did you stop? Or did you? 

 AD: I did, and the reason is simply this; power corrupts. I found that out the hard way, unfortunately, during my ill-conceived partnership with Gellert Grindelwald. 

RC: I’ve seen the articles about that. It created quite a stir when that information became public. 

AD: He was attempting no less than mass hypnosis, and in experimentation I was quite frankly shocked by the direction things began to go. We had half an album in the can, and I don’t mind telling you that I burned the tapes as soon as Gellert left. I am happy to report that no bootlegs of those sessions survived. He carried on alone, which is why I stood against him at the Isle of Wight. 

RC: I hate to say it, but . . . I can actually see some benefits to such things. You know, if the right people use the methods you were exploring . . . 

AD: Congratulations. That’s the same kind of thinking that gave us rock stars like Adolph Hitler and Mao Tse-Tung. It’s tempting to take power and put it in the, quote-unquote, right hands. Trust the word of someone who’s held power in his hands; it’s dirty. You can’t use it to make things clean. Believe it or not, Hitler, Mussolini, Mao, and their ilk honestly believed that they had the best intentions when they set out to do the things they did. The people we should fear the most are the ones who believe they are on a mission from God, and are seeking to power to BE a god. 

RC: But isn’t it worth the risk, in order to – 

AD: Every child knows that there are powerful people in the world who are abusing their power. The people who populate our daily newscasts don’t even have the tenth share of the real power, and everybody knows that, too. The answer is not to replace one form of bondage with another. The answer is to give people the power to free themselves.  

(At this point, I leaned back in my chair and quickly skimmed over my notes. I suppose I had a look of concern as I turned my attention back to the old Professor.) 

RC: Excuse me, but . . . 

AD: Is there something wrong, dear boy? 

RC: I’m sorry to say it’s . . . beginning to sound like an advertisement for impotence.  

(Dumbledore blinked rapidly and smiled.) 

AD: I beg your pardon? 

RC: It sounds like you’re saying that power is bad, so don’t have any. Enjoy being nothing. 

AD: (laughs) Nothing so Zen as that, I assure you. First of all, it would be terribly hypocritical of me to take that attitude, don’t you think? The one with all this power in the world of music? By all means, go ahead and do whatever it is that you do, and accept the benefits gained. 

But then, what will you do? Will you grasp what you’ve gained, or will you open your hand? Will you keep these blessings for yourself, or will you choose to be a blessing to others? That was the biggest disagreement that I had with Gellert Grindelwald. He did not trust his fellow man. 

In a way, I could see his point. Unlike many others, I believe humanity is a fallen race. And yet, if we’re going to change the world, these are the people we have to deal with to do it. A perfect world will have to be populated by perfect people. Unfortunately, there’s only one person whose life I have any real lasting control over; my own. 

Grindelwald had ideals, but he thought the thing to do was make everyone else adhere to them. He couldn’t even adhere to them himself. He never realized that people behaving correctly requires that they trust one another. Unless you make mindless robots of them, of course. But if people are to have free will – and they most certainly do – then we simply have to trust each other. 

RC: But didn’t you just say that you believe humanity to be a fallen race? How can we truly trust each other? 

AD: We bite our tongue and do it anyway. Not stupidly believing everything that everyone says, of course, but as a means of bringing out . . . what was it one of your Presidents once said? The better angels of our nature?

RC: Abraham Lincoln. 

AD: Indeed. The Bible says that we should keep our minds on that which is excellent, praiseworthy, beautiful, and so forth. How can we do that at the same time as we’re finding fault with everyone? Finding bad things to think about is ridiculously easy. My job, as an artist and a teacher and promoter of artists, is to fill the world with so much good that the bad gets crowded out. It’s easy, and even profitable, to shock people. I find it much more fulfilling to inspire them.

Robert Plant and Ronald Reagan

I know I've been very music - and in particular, guitar - centric lately, but this is a general-topic blog, and it's almost time for the NH Primary, so I'm going to talk a little politics. Hope you don't mind. Tough cookies if you do.

Got to confess to being a semi-reformed political junky, and living in New Hampshire kinda shoves me off the wagon every four years. It's a very frustrating year, too, as there's nobody out there that particularly lights my candle. There's usually somebody, even if they don't have a prayer. Unfortunately, this year the most interesting candidate is Dennis Kusinich. Scary. Allan Keyes, where have you gone? Anybody seen Jerry Brown around? Or maybe Pete DuPont? Dear God, anybody but Hillary!!

A lot of people complain about the New Hampshire primary, but I think it's the perfect place to get right down to brass tacks about some basic prinicples. It's a good place to discuss the differences between Liberal and Conservative, because NH is a state full of eccentrics. Extreme is the norm here. Anyway, the point I'm trying to get to is one of the most basic.

One thing that everybody agrees on is that it takes money to run a government. Gotta pay the army, support foreign dictatorships, etc. One side (I'll let you guess which one) says we gotta raise taxes, especially on rich people. I'll grant you that there's a lot of people in the world, and in this country, that have more money than brains. Or class. But before we start reaching into their pockets, let's consider a little history.

Remember the George Harrison song, Taxman? One for you, nineteen for me? Believe it or not, that was the tax rate in Great Britain at the time. 95%. Guess Old Blighty showed those rich so-and-so's.

So consider the tale of one Robert Plant, lead singer for Led Zeppelin. Back about '74 he was in a bad car accident in Greece. He returned to England where he received the best of care. Then, one night, against his Doctor's orders, he checked out of the hospital and was put on board a helicopter to continue his recuperation in Switzerland. Why? Because if he'd stayed one more day in England he'd have been subject to their income taxes.

So, instead of 95% of what he made that year, the Crown got . . . nothing.

So go ahead. Raise the taxes on the rich. That's what the Caymans are for. Instead of 36% of whatever they make, the country can have the pre-Reagan rate of 78% of . . . NOTHING!!

My father once had an idea that I still think would be a good one to try. Pay everybody in cash. Have all the employees line up and somebody from the company count out what they earned straight into their hand in cash. Then, you walk down a line and FICA takes so much, and Social Security takes so much, and so on. And when you're peeling off those bills from that wad that you worked for, smile. I think it would take about one of those paydays for there to be a major tax revolt in this country. We would start asking those people we handed OUR money to just what they planned to do with it.

I've worked for the Government. I served a hitch in the Navy, and I've seen where a lot of our tax dollars go. I've been made to carry 75-pound boxes of pork chops off the ship and into the trunk of a Chief's car. I've sat on those $8000 toilet seats and used those $500 screwdrivers. Just from the abuses I've personally seen, I would bet that a good 1/3 of the money the Federal Government gets are stolen. And that doesn't even get to the assinine things that we throw buckets of money at.

Conservatives like to argue that tax cuts, like the ones that President Bush gave, actually INCREASE revenues. Liberals act like they don't hear that, and say the gov't needs more money, so let's raise taxes. I wish one side or the other would actually publish figures. In such-and-such a year, the tax rate was X and XX dollars came in. Compare it with year YY, rate of Y%, intake of YYY dollars. Bush Jr, Reagan, and Kennedy all cut taxes to raise money. Bush I let a tax hike go through, and we had a minor recession. Could we see some damned figures, please?

I think it was Ron Paul (who I do NOT like, and who I think is a complete banana) who recently said that the biggest problem with the Bush tax cuts is they weren't deep enough. They should have been cut enough to actually make less money come in. Ron Paul may be a nut, but he's right about that!!

So that's my thoughts on taxes. Don't get me started about Iraq.

The 5 Most Important Guitarists

Yeah, I'm a guitar player. Sorry 'bout that. That explains why this blog is so guitar-centric, though. So, consider yourself warned.


As for today's topic, these are not necessarily my favorite guitarists, or a comprehensive list of the ones I think are the best. I'll get to that, don't worry. No, these five I'm honoring here are the ones I believe have had the most influence on the instrument, the way it's played, the way it's presented, and the prominence it now enjoys. Last time I saw a figure on the subject, it was estimated that there are roughly 20 million guitar players in the United States. We have just emerged from what could easily be called "The Century of the Guitar." If that is true, all twenty million of us should bend the knee to these five people.


And, no, these are not exhaustive biographies or discographies of these people. For that, I recommend you start with http://www.allmusic.com/.



The first on the list (which is roughly chronological, by the way) would have to be Andres Segovia. He was born in Spain at a time when the guitar was something that proper ladies learned to play so they could entertain guests in the parlor. I'm sure you've seen instruments that were referred to as "parlor guitars." Well, that's what they mean. It's one of the things you learned at charm school.


Oh, yes, there was guitar music, and even professional guitarists, but it was considered a small instrument that played small music. It was Segovia that forced the world of music to acknowledge it as a serious musical instrument. He showed it to be a versatile instrument rhythmically, harmonically, and melodically. He transcribed many great works for the guitar, and commissioned many more. By the time he reached middle age, composers were lining up to write for the guitar, and for Segovia.


Once he'd established its potential, Segovia fought long and hard to maintain the purity of the classical guitar. To the end of his performing career he refused any form of amplification. To his ear, even a microphone could not accurately reproduce the tones. A Segovia concert, no matter the size of the hall, was absolutely silent while the Maestro played so that nobody would miss anything. In middle age he met a young Chet Atkins. He was quite taken with the talented young man, and even gave him playing tips, until he found out that Atkins played electric guitar. He never spoke to him again.

In spite of this, he was a prolific recorder and a shameless promoter, not only of his own music, but of the classical guitar in total. And just as shameless an innovater. Just about everything that we take for granted about the classical guitar, from the little footstool to the length of scale, the shape of the body, the construction, the tuning, just about everything was directly influenced by Segovia.

To put it simply, the guitar as we know it - not just classical guitar, but the guitar in total as a musical force - would not exist without Andres Segovia.



The next on the list is Charlie Christian. He has been called "The first guitar hero." As big band jazz was giving birth to be-bop, he proved that the recently-invented electric guitar could solo right along with the trumpets, saxophones, etc. Until Charlie, the guitar was relegated to the rhythm section along with the drums and upright bass. Comp chords and keep time. It didn't matter if you could play scales and runs, because nobody could hear you over the horns anyway.

Jazz guitars were arch-topped in order to help them project, and builders tried everything they could think of to make them loud enough to keep up with the band. When Gibson began producing the ES (for Electric Spanish) 150 Charlie was one of the first pros to get one. Before long his name became synonymous with that model. It also became synonymous with jazz guitar. When musician's musician Benny Goodman put together a sextet on the side, he tapped Christian to play guitar. The Benny Goodman Sextet not only laid the groundwork for the next twenty years of jazz innovation, it was the first major multi-racial band in American popular music.

Unfortunately, Charlie Christian died in 1942 at way too young an age. As I recall, it was tuberculosis that claimed him. Whatever it was, he was only in his twenties. To me, that makes it even more amazing that he had such a huge influence in such a short time. Every time you hear an electric guitarist take a solo, thank Charlie Christian.

Which brings us to Les Paul. If Les had never played a note, he'd have been a huge influence on modern music. The man invented multi-track recording, fer cryin' out loud! Before Les Paul, you went into a studio, turned on the machine, and hoped you could produce a good performance. If you wanted something to be heard on your recording, you'd better bring it with you.

Les figured out that if you put two recording heads side by side, they could record two different tracks on the same piece of tape. Before long he and his wife, Mary Ford, were making recordings in their home using nothing but his guitar and her voice. Amazing recordings, rich in tone, timbre, and harmony. On the road, they didn't need a band. Just a copy of the backing tape. Throughout the late '40's and early '50's they produced hit after hit.

Les was also an innovator of guitar construction. He had the idea for a solid-body electric years before anybody was making them. He tried for years to get Gibson to listen to him. They refused, until Leo Fender's Telecaster came out. Then, all of a sudden, it seemed like a pretty good idea after all. To this day, a Gibson Les Paul model is one of the most coveted guitars.

But after all that, you've got to sit down and listen to the man play. And damn, could he play! Still does, in fact. At this writing, he just turned 92. He still has a gig every Monday night at a club in New York City, and everybody who's anybody drops by to listen, and maybe even jam a little. Les had - and has - that wonderful combination of technique and flash that makes his music irresistable.

Next up; Chet Atkins. Quite simply, this man has influenced the playing of practically everybody who's followed him. What is most surprising about that is that he did not come from the world of Classical music, or even Jazz, but Country-Western. Classical, and nowadays Jazz, get studied in college. Country, on the other hand, is now and has always been a music of the people. In spite of this, or maybe because of it, Chet has without a doubt influenced more guitarists than anyone who ever lived.

A brief history of fingerstyle country guitar goes sort of like this; in the beginning was Mother Maybelle. "Can The Circle Be Unbroken" is only one of the many famous songs Maybelle Carter wrote for the Carter Family. In the '20's and '30's, she, husband A. P. Carter, and her siblings - and later, her daughters - would harmonize, often accompanied by nothing more than Maybelle's guitar.

She had a unique style for the day. She would play a melody on the bass strings with her thumb, and in counterpoint strum chords on the upper strings with her fingers. It was a simple style that created a lot of music. The great Merle Travis turned the idea on its head by playing alternating bass notes with his thumbs and countering with arpeggios and melodies on the treble strings with his fingers.

These two greats by no means invented fingerstyle guitar, however. It was the standard way to play Classical guitar and lute, long before Segovia came along. But most Jazz, Country, and other "folk" musicians strummed with a plectrum. Mother Maybelle and Merle helped bring a new level of harmonic and rhythmic sophistication to their music.

Enter one Chester Atkins. As a young man he was hungry to improve his playing, and so he began studying Classical guitar. And yet, instead of becoming a Classical guitarist, he brought what he learned back to the music he loved. This as much as anything about Chet proved to be a huge influence on all who followed him. Nowadays it's common for musicians to cross the lines between styles. In Chet's day, it was considered a pretty radical thing to do.

Chet went on to become A&R Chief for RCA records, as well as the label's senior producer. In this role he literally set the standards for country music for decades. He is the man we can thank - or blame - for bringing country music uptown. He is the reason that the best musicians and songwriters can now be found in Nashville.

Toward the end of his life as he began to step away from the business end he returned to his first love; the guitar. He recorded a number of duet albums with musicians he admired, including Merle Travis, Mark Knopfler, and two grammy-winning collaborations with Les Paul. He was practically a regular on the Prairie Home Companion radio show.

The final guitarist on my list is none other than James Marshall Hendrix. Like Charlie Christian, his life and career were cut short. And, like Charlie Christian, he forever changed the way that guitarists approach their instrument.

To me, the basic idea behind Hendrix' style is that of the electric guitar as an orchestra. He would find a new sound in his instrument and figure out how to add it to his palette of colors. To him, the guitar wasn't just a part of the band. He truly believed that with a bass player and a drummer he could play anything he wanted.

The key ingredients were volume and electronic processing. As Metal instrumentalist Steve Vai has pointed out, "volume IS tone." The more you turn your amplifier up, the more possibilities you open up. The slightest touch to the guitar makes sounds, and he used them all. He would lightly brush the strings, tap on the body and back of the neck, play with the strings above the nut, work the switches and potentiometers while he played, and generally use everything he could find.

To all this mechanical manipulation he added the ever-growing line-up of effects pedals that were being invented in the 1960's. Wah pedals, phase shifters, flanging, echo, reverbs, delays, octave dividers, leslie cabinets, whatever anybody came up with to alter the signal, he'd give it a try. Experience Bassist Noel Redding told of the frustration he'd feel when somebody came to the studio with a new toy. Instead of working on the song, Jimi would start exploring the latest gadget. He and drummer Mitch Mitchell would leave, have lunch, hang out, go shopping, and when they came back a few hours later Jimi was still at it with that same toy.

To most guitarists before him, feedback was something to be avoided at all costs. He learned how to conjure it and play it. He showed all of us guitarists that there's more to our instrument than melody, harmony, and rhythm. When Adrian Belew imitates elephant shouts, he's following Hendrix. Same with Sonny Landreth when he plucks behind the slide. And Kaki King, when she explores the sonic boundries of her Ovation acoustic. Or Eddie Van Halen when he dive-bombs with his whammy bar. All hail, King Jimi.

At the time of his death at the age of 27, Jimi was preparing to do a recording session with Gil Evans and a small orchestra. This is the same Gil Evans that Miles Davis recorded three of his most highly acclaimed albums with. Jimi was looking at ways to go beyond what was expected from him as a popular musician, and not just as a guitarist. His compositions were getting longer and more complex. You can see it in Electric Ladyland, Band Of Gypsies, and the recordings that the family has released as First Dawn Of The New Rising Sun.

There. Whew. Finally glad to get that off my chest. Let the debate begin.