Four Oct. 6 birthdays, probably all deserving more than a quick hit. But here goes.
Millie Small, my first
Taste of pre-reggae “bluebeat””
“My Boy Lollipop”
Matthew Sweet, a fave,
Hot power pop, guitar rock
Hangs with Bangles, too
David Hidalgo
A mainstay of Los Lobos
May the wolf survive!
Tommy Stinson, bass
In Replacements, G ‘n’ R,
Soul Asylum, too
Six strings, six million
Notes you must have played and still
Left us wanting more
Today’s overdose:
Janis Joplin, heroin,
1970
Holding Company
Was holding, and Big Brother
Was not watching you
Psychedelic soul
Southern Comfort powered blues
Raw intensity
As good as she was
Music couldn’t release her
From all her life’s pain
She couldn’t hold on
So take another little
Piece of my heart now
Eddie Cochran, Oct. 3, 1938 — April 17, 1960
Stevie Ray Vaughan, Oct. 3, 1954 — Aug. 27, 1990
Lindsey Buckingham, Oct. 3, 1949 —
An early rocker,
Texas blues man, latter-day
Beach Boy born today
Some days have a thread
Running through them, in this case
It’s a guitar string
Eddie Cochran lived
Long enough to write such hits
As “Summertime Blues”
He played in movies,
Overdubbed and multitracked
He was “Somethin’ Else”
Death premonitions
After Buddy, Big Bopper
Richie Valens crash
Wrote “Three Stars” tribute
To those fallen friends, didn’t
Live to see release
While touring England
He died in a taxi wreck
At age 21
Helicopter crash
Claimed another guitar man
Texas’ “Stevie Ray”
Stephen Ray Vaughan rocked
The blues several years before
He hit the big time
Played in high school bands,
Flunked music theory, dropped out
Hit the road full time
In the Nightcrawlers,
Triple Threat, Double Trouble
He drew attention
But no record deal
Would come Stevie Ray’s way till
1983
His intensity
Finally reached wide audience
“Texas Flood” hit big
Cocaine, Crown Royal
Don’t mix well, though; Stevie Ray
Had double trouble
Studio records
Never lived up to live ones
He struggled with that
And in ’86
Stevie Ray Vaughan damn near died
He had to clean up
His comeback was good
Sometimes with brother Jimmie
And bigger-name stars
But foggy mountain
Added him to the long list
Of rockers snuffed out
There’s one still picking
Though he seldom uses picks
Lindsey Buckingham
A certain genius
Winding, intricate pop from
Brian Wilson’s muse
High school, Stevie Nicks
Bet she was a real vision
Edge of 17
Career exploded
In Fleetwood Mac, millions sold
Two No. 1 discs
Rumours’ catchiness
Sprawl of Tusk let him branch out
Do his tall-grass stuff
But impermanence
Like imperfection is part
Of all things human
Lindsey and Stevie
Dissolved, as did the great group;
Re-formed, time to time
He goes his own way
Quirky solo work, “Trouble”
To new “Seeds We Sow”
Not bad for a guy
Who never took lessons, still
Doesn’t read music
Richard Harris, Oct. 1, 1930 – Oct. 25, 2002
Julie Andrews, Oct. 1, 1935
Stars came out today
The lovely Julie Andrews,
And Richard Harris
He was King Arthur
She was Guinevere, but not
The same production
Turns out they DESPISED
Each other after being
In film “Hawaii”
Good she did the play
He the movie, preserving
Peace in “Camelot”
Richard Harris raised
As much hell as anyone
On the stage or screen
Indifferent parents
Left him feeling cold; he drank
From an early age
It’s a miracle
He lived as long as he did
In his liquid state
I think HE’s who left
That damned cake out in the rain
In “MacArthur Park”
Sobered up at last,
Or he’d have checked out sooner
Wizardry came next
Albus Dumbledore
Was his final role — too bad
Just two episodes
So raise a Guinness
In his memory if you must
But stop after one
And what can a guy
Say about Julie Andrews?
British loveliness
‘Liza Doolittle
Mary Poppins, Maria
Three legends in one
Most beautiful voice
The sweetest face, almost hid
Impressive acting
Her “Modern Millie”
And “Victor Victoria”:
Bright comedic gems
Love you, Ms. Andrews
So glad you keep shining on
— And happy birthday!
Remembering James Dean made me think it’s time to add a couple of other Hollywood figures to the blog, people who died earlier this year. Speaking of figures, Jane Russell died Feb. 28, and I wrote these March 1:
Goodbye Jane Russell
You made it to eighty-nine
Built to last, I’d say
Goodbye Jane Russell
Time finally ran out for that
Hourglass figure
The great director Sidney Lumet died April 9. He had a long string of excellent movies, many of which are mentioned here. I often don’t write on the weekend, but he died on a Saturday, and I couldn’t pass up such an extraordinary career.
‘Bye Sidney Lumet
You made dozens of stories
Seem so real on screen
The verdict: Guilty
The charge: First-degree genius
In “Twelve Angry Men”
You captured O’Neill’s
“Long Day’s Journey Into Night”
And family hell
Nuclear terror
Led to supreme sacrifice
In Cold War’s “Fail-Safe”
“The Pawnbroker” showed
Some tortured souls must remain
Forever in hock
Lumet, Pacino
With “Serpico,” “Dog Day” proved
Lightning can strike twice
“Serpico” ripped veil
Off of police corruption,
A city’s decay
“Dog Day Afternoon”
A robbery gone so wrong
A film made so right
In “Find Me Guilty”
Lumet made Vin Diesel act
— With stunning results
“Before the Devil
“Knows You’re Dead”: Grim finale
Of petty evil
“Garbo Talks,” “Deathtrap,”
A King documentary,
He could do it all
‘Bye Sidney Lumet
We’d be mad as hell except
Your work was complete
James Dean, Feb. 8, 1931 — Sept. 30, 1955
New York Times obit page, Sept. 28, 2011:
Arch West, Johnnie Wright, Wilson Greatbatch
Three films, fatal crash
Live fast and die young, James Dean’s
Mythic rebel youth
Alec Guinness saw
Death in Dean’s Porsche Spyder
Obi-Wan was right
James Dean, so handsome
So tormented and so cool
What a total waste
Neil Young said better
To burn out than fade away
But he’s done neither
So keep creating
Yeah, I like that plan, versus
The alternatives
Won’t make New York Times
When I go like these three guys
That’s OK with me
One day’s obit page
Strange who passes before us
Slice of life — and death
Arch West, creator
Of the Dorito. Did he
Go out with a crunch?
Arch West, Doritos
Were his idea. Will God
Make more just like him?
97 years
Arch West lived, didn’t just let
Chips fall where they may
97 years
Lived singer Johnnie Wright, too
Kitty Wells’ husband
Had the guts to try
A different beat: Latin lilt
Made “Poison Love” hit
Had the smarts to snag
Ellen Deason as bride, switch
Name to Kitty Wells
And he knew her star
Was brighter than his, helped her
Rule ’50s country
Wilson Greatbatch lived
“Just” 92 years, the pup
Of geezer all-stars
Greatbatch made his first
Heartstopping discovery
Accidentally
Then he figured how
To use that discovery
To keep hearts going
Next he figured how
To make big idea small
To fit inside us
Voila! Pacemakers!
But there was just one problem
Batteries ran out
So he kept working
— You’ll get a charge out of this —
Succeeded again
It’s energizing
How he perfected a cell
To last a decade
He invented things
His whole life, never gave up
On changing the world
So take your foot off
The gas, fire up your brain,
Creative juices
Whatever you’ve got
The world needs right now — and for
A few decades more
Jerry Lee Lewis, Sept. 29, 1935
Jerry Lee Lewis
Playin’ the devil’s music
For six decades plus
Lou-zee-anna boy
Married at 16, 15,
14 — Who’s counting?
Elmo and Marnie
Hocked the farm to buy their boy
That first piano
With Jimmy Swaggart,
Mickey Gilley (his cousins)
He played up a storm
Bible school expelled
Him for his Killer version
Of “My God Is Real”
Deaf A&R men
Aren’t new: the Grand Ole Opry,
Hayride turned him down
But he shined at Sun
“End of the Road” was the start
Record grooves on fire
Played piano like
Drums, 88-string guitar
All rolled into one
“Whole Lotta Shakin’,”
“Great Balls of Fire” still stand
Among all-time greats
Scandal derailed him —
As if you’ve never married
Your cuz who’s 13
Jerry Lee Lewis
And His Pumping Piano
Suddenly were shunned
The Killer played on
But for a lot less money,
Seldom on the air
The wives came and went,
Time passed, and he went country
The Killer was back
Outlasted them all
Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison
Elvis, Johnny Cash
The Last Man Standing
Of Million Dollar Quartet
Only good die young
Once more with feeling,
Jerry Lee, I guess we’d still
Take a chance on you
Young 76
What do you bet he’ll make it
To old 88?
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