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'S SUNNY SIDE OF MY STREET PRESENTS: WILDFLOWERS BY THE HOLY MACKEREL (REPRISE, 1968) - EPISODE #80
I discovered this track on a WB compilation set named “My Mind Gets High”, and boy… upon hearing this cut did I ever started experiencing flashbacks. In 1968, The Holy Mackerel was explicitly created as a vehicle for young, up and coming singer-songwriter Paul Williams, whose heavily processed vocal, along with the sitar, places this psychedelic artifact squarely into its late 60s time zone, and although I didn’t start my hallucinogenic experiments until a bit later (around 1970), Wildflowers sonic acid bath trips me out nostalgically.
Paul Williams became a household name in the 1970s when his elfin voice and tiny stature captured America’s imagination on tv, radio, and film. It didn’t hurt that he had a prodigious songwriting talent, too: (We’ve Only Just Begun; Old Fashioned Love Song, etc). His brother, Mentor - also a songwriting Colossus (Drift Away) was recruited for his sibling’s manufactured band, as well - it was a hastily, and often reassembled group of rotating membership, which only lasted about a year or so.
Interestingly, Paul didn’t write this tune; it was penned by bassist Bob Harvey, who later worked for Elvis - and, indeed, it eschews the sentimental tendencies of its lead singer’s writing. This is more of a mood piece, which perfectly captures that moment when the acid starts to come on. Sublime.
