Month: December 2006

I just read where Charles Dickens was in Albany, NY in March of 1868, where he read “A Christmas Carol” to a packed house. I was intrigued that one of our pastors last week compared John the Baptist, the forerunner to Jesus, with Jacob Marley, who warned Ebenezer Scrooge of the visitors to come. Scrooge did repent of his penurious ways.

So I wonder: is the most familiar Scrooge, portrayed by everyone from Mr. Magoo to Patrick Stewart, what repentance looks like in the minds of whoever posted that sign, and dozens like them?
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Last Sunday’s Advent service went well. I heard a recording on Friday. What’s missing from the CD, though, is the Amen. There are two amens and an introductory sentence that all start off with the same notes. While some of us sang the “Amen”, others, inexplicably, started singing “I was glad when they said unto me.” Train wreck on the EASY piece after getting down the much harder one.
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See Fred Hembeck’s post of December 14, where he shows his very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very obsessive-compulsive relationship with Santa Claus.

1. When did the term “drop” replace the word “release” when describing the sale date of an album? “My album will be dropping on January 2.” And why drop? My wife has a theory about this; one’s album is like one’s baby, and in birthing a child, the baby drops down the birth canal. Plausible, but is it correct?

2. When did the term swag add the definition of “promotional items, especially when given for free, considered as a group,” and by extension, free stuff? As opposed to window treatment?

3. When did kumbaya become a term of scorn? “We didn’t hold hands and sing kumbyah.” “This is the sort of mushy, ‘kumbaya’ leftist pablum that is deserving of derision.” Just this week, I saw Rosie O’Donnell on “The View” – I was flipping through channels, really! – get her colleagues to hold hands and say, sarcastically, “Let’s all sing Kumbaya!”

GIVE US AN EXAMPLE OR TWO OF AN ESPECIALLY GOOD OR INTERESTING:
1. Movie score. Last Exit from Brooklyn by Mark Knopfler. I assume this means not the soundtrack, where I would pick “The Harder They Come” or “West Side Story”.
2. TV theme. Hill Street Blues. In fact, I have a whole album of Mike Post TV theme songs (Rockford Files, L.A. Law) on vinyl, and except for “The Greatest American Hero”, I like ’em all.
3. Melody. There’s an old country song called “Beautiful Brown Eyes”; “Gethsemene (I Only Want to Say)” from Jesus Christ, Superstar; “Cryin’ “, though I prefer the k.d. lang/Roy Orbison version to the Orbison original.
4. Harmonic language. Beach Boys “God Only Knows” or “Our Prayer””
5. Rhythmic feel. “Moby Dick” – Led Zeppelin. I think the bass, even more than the drums, create the rhythm. “Expressway to Your Heart” – Soul Survivors. Pretty much any uptempo Motown song of the 1960s; “Love Is Like An Itchin’ In My Heart” is running through my head presently.
6. Hip-hop track. Not my area of expertise. “White Lines (Don’t Do It)” – Grandmaster Flash.
7. Classical piece. The Samuel Barber Adagio. Beethoven’s 7th Symphony.
8. Smash hit. Oh, like I could narrow it. “I Only Have Eyes for You” – the Flamingoes; “Since You’ve Been Gone” – Aretha Franklin, which is perfect song because, after one note, it goes right to the tune, not allowing disc jockeys to talk over the opening; “The Boxer”- Simon & Garfunkel.
9. Jazz album. I’ve recently recommended Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck. I’m thinking some compilation album that hits on some varied vocalists. If pushed, one of the songbooks that Ella did.
10. Non-American folkloric group. Afro Celt
11. Book on music. Most of my books are list books: Top Pop Singles, Top Pop Albums” Forced to pick a narrative form, “Blues People” by LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka.
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An attempt at humor, sent to me:

A woman goes to the post office to buy stamps for her Chanukah cards.
She says to the clerk, “May I have 50 Chanukah stamps?”
The clerk says, “What denomination?”
“Oh my God,” the woman says, “Has it come to this? Give me 6 Orthodox, 12 Conservative, and 32 Reform.”

The only time I ever literally fell out of my seat laughing was when I saw the movie Young Frankenstein in the scene when the monster, played by Boyle, was having…difficulties with a blind man, played by Gene Hackman. I thought this was so terribly funny, that I fell into the aisle of the movie theater, convulsing. YF is my favorite Brooks film.

Conversely, I didn’t LOVE Raymond, so I never saw the TV show, except for one episode, for which he – reportedly – should have won an Emmy.

As for the album: if you like James Taylor, you’ll probably like the disc. What does one want from a Christmas album? A couple of unexpected cuts – he sings In the Bleak Midwinter, which I seldom here on “secular” albums. A twist on the familiar – “Jingle Bells” reminds me of a slowed-up version of the Bing Crosby/Andrews Sisters version, for some reason.

As I noted the other day, Lefty asks LOTS of questions. One from this post last week got me thinking about “Christmas” songs, and why some of them actually are considered as such. Moreover, why one couldn’t play some of them, say, in January? Or February? Three of them are on all versions of the James Taylor album: Winter Wonderland, Jingle Bells, and the somewhat randy Baby, It’s Cold Outside. Let It Snow also qualifies. And as I’ve described here, we’re not even IN Christmastime, we’re in Advent, so some of those Christ-Mass songs don’t even make sense until December 25 or later – the Three Kings may have taken their time getting to the manger.

So, I resolve:
1. to keep playing Christmas music until January 6, Three Kings Day, and
2. in honor of the biggest Christmas geek I know, to play some winter songs on January 30
Probably doing other things on January 30, which will be discussed in due course.

You might have heard about the so-called “War on Christmas from these articles:
Mo Rocca Wants His Christmas Big
‘Christmas’ makes a comeback in public spaces
W.Va. City’s Xmas Scene Has No Jesus
Critics Aren’t Keeping Quiet Over ‘Silent Night’ Lyrics Change
But no one can declare a war on Christmas like this person.

Studio 60 is rebroadcasting its Christmas show, last broadcast on Monday, December 4, on Monday, December 18. The last six minutes or so are rather affecting.