DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS
My Fellow Americans, Life is actually just a microscopic, deluded moment in time, so let's cut to the freakin' chase. One look at our impending election debacle can solidify my case. It has been my contention since birth, that the answer to every difficulty we encounter on this sacred yet demented Stone, can be revealed with ultimate clarity through the ultra neurotic engagements of Music, Art, Literature, Film, Poetry and a good Pastrami sandwich. Why would any sane human spend so must time on a film set (Do you know how long you gotta wait until your 8 second deliverance of an edited beyond repair line gets a chance to become a professional embarrassment etched in time forever? ) or expend so much energy in a recording studio, piecing together another ode to a man or woman who could not care less how much love existed within your digestive tract? It's all about hymns and prayers and a quest for mercy and forgiveness and silence and faith. We were blessed with Charles Bukowski, Gene Chandler, Lenny Bruce, Mitch Ryder and a legion of creative explorers whose influences provided the air we breathe. So Let's Dance! This site shall explore the reaper, find a way to disarm the stench of injustice, discover some true loves and talk it all over before it's all over. So what's the worst that our desires could produce? Failure? So sue me. I'm going to require your assistance in making as much trouble for the grown-ups as possible. Let the record show that my childish heart yearns to disrupt the madness. Join me Ladies and Germs!
With Gratitude For Gena Rowlands, Nancy Sinatra, Jerry Quarry, Leo Gorcey, Arthur Alexander and Joey Heatherton, Your Splendid Bohemian, Rich Buckland.
DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS
BILL MESNIK OF THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENTS: THE SUNNY SIDE OF MY STREET - SONGS TO MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD - EPISODE #59: CAUSE WE’VE ENDED AS LOVERS by Jeff Beck (Epic, 1975)
This cut off Jeff Beck’s second solo effort was produced by the magisterial George Martin, the Beatle’s north star. The song was gifted to Jeff by Stevie Wonder, who did so, (according to JB), as an apology for having released the barn-burner Superstition first, after promising to let Jeff have it. He needn’t have worried - the plangent tone and human voicing Jeff discovered while creating this track was akin to a 49er striking the motherlode. Fittingly, he dedicated the recording to Roy Buchanan - another guitar master of a similar tonal inclination.
It’s uncanny - watching Beck’s delicate hands on the Live at Ronnie Scott’s video: the fluidity that this whammy bar wizard achieves creating the illusion of a cooing human voice, pregnant with longing and passion, takes my breath away. As the bare fingers of his right hand caress the spring loaded whammy bar, sensuously modulating the pitch and vibrato, he makes love to his instrument. It’s pure romance.
The recent demise of this musical icon came as a shock because he always seemed like Peter Pan, eternally youthful, with his toned, sleeveless arms and bowl haircut - a shredding bad boy. Not just another British Invasion survivor from decades past, but an ever fresh and present musical force. Well, Thanatos, you may have taken his life, but, Death be not proud - his soul will live forever.
