God only knows.....

 

When I heard Brian Wilson and friends 9 years ago, he was somewhat frail but the music he wrote and played, including the Beach Boys hits, never sounded better.

He was a senior maestro, sitting behind the piano and conducting a stage of talented players and singers, who made his music, even live, sound perfect. It was scary brilliant, and so was he.

Paul McCartney calls God Only Knows the best song ever written.

Without the legendary Pet Sounds album, there would have been no Sgt. Pepper. That musical brilliance was the Beatles answer to Wilson's innovation. 

Nobel Laureate and Bard of the 20th Century, Bob Dylan said he "admired his genius."

Listen to the hits, or to his avant-garde' creations and the sound infects you, with happiness and the never ending summer of youth, and it is marvelous.

It was bitter sweet hearing the tunes again, when the genius was being mourned. And when the idiot king sends the marines to Wilson's home area, and illegally federalizes the national guard. It doesn't matter anymore that no one in LA wanted them there, not the Governor, Mayor, Police Chief or the citizens.

The idiot king is mad and vengeful and a nation destroyer. Standing in front of uniformed troops and talking his insane trash politics demeaning not those he savaged only, but taking the US to new lows, dangerous and deranged lows. 

Yea, hearing Brian Wilson, his brothers and cousin Mike and buddy Al was a dose of sunshine, but poignant to the point of tears. It seemed only a temporary railing against this nose dive. Oh those happier, innocent times when we wanted to salute our land of liberty. As grade school kids, even in an imperfect and not yet fair US, we had a nation we were proud of.

 Just a fews hence from when that Cub Scout in uniform stood on the back row under the watchful eye of an untrusting teacher and next to his buddy John Smith, we Boomers would be under the thrall of a political system that seemed bounding with hope as a young President invited us to ask what we could do for our country and when even those of us in the great mid west wanted to go surfing...surfing USA.

A sweet time, rich with what will be, shinning with dreams.

We grew up tough though, doing duck and cover drills. Remember those? We'd have to duck under our desks and cover our heads to protect us from the Atomic bomb. I had nightmares about the bomb. I read a lot about the bomb and why we had to worry about it. I decided then the "duck and cover" was not going to stop any of us from being incinerated or vaporized, so I stopped ducking and covering. When my mates were being compliant, and Mrs. Rogers would be scorning me to obey I tried to explain how it was all useless. 

But there was hope too. Our government had developed a vaccine against dreaded polio that was killing and crippling our generation. We lined up to be Polio Pioneers, testing the Salk Vaccine.

Health Secretary RFK jr would just boil himself wouldn't he? It was a time of honor, a time when science and medicine was making for a better future. It was a time to be smart, to reach for the stars. We believed that our leaders also believed in the words of the Pledge of Allegiance "...under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all."

I listened to a lot of Brian Wilson's work over the years and like that pledge I believed what I heard, especially California Saga

Have you ever been south of Monterey?

Barrancas carve the coastline

and the chaparral flows to the sea

'Neath waves of golden sunshine

Have you been north of Morro Bay?

the south coast plows the sea

and the people there are of the breed

they don't need electricity.

That's precisely where I sit, remembering Brian Wilson and that era. My electricity comes from the panels on my roof.

 

Have you ever been down Salinas way

Where Steinbeck found the valley?

 

There the monarch's autumn journey ends

on a windswept cypress tree.

Again this Father's day weekend, my daughters and grands will join Lana and me on our annual trip to the Live Oak Music Festival. It's a tradition out here.

Have you ever been to a festival

The Big Sur congregation?

Where Country Joe will do his show

and he' ll sing about liberty. 

And the people there in the open air

are one big family

Yea, the people there love to sing and share

their newfound liberty.

I expect California music veterans and longtime emcee Joe Craven will have a few things to say this year. There will be mention of Sly Stone, and Brian Wilson. There will likely be more. Live Oak is a fundraiser for our public radio station. Yea, that kind of targeted, enemies list, media. So, maybe we'll get put on the idiot king's list. A badge of honor. 

As we take this nostalgic pause, we rightfully should recall those men called POTUS who actually quoted song writers and poets. And they all visited the Kennedy center to enjoy the arts. Not one of them showed up only to fire the staff!

Take us back to the trail, Brian.

"I may not always love you

but as long as there are stars above you

you never need to doubt it 

I'll make you so sure about it.

God only knows, what I'd be without you..."

To my kindred of age and temperament, keep on rockin' in the free world.

See you down the trail.

DIFFERENT & GENIUS

DIFFERENT

   Before the dawn of awareness, back in the dark ages of the 1950's, we had what were kindly called "Special Ed" classes.

    In the Muncie elementary school the special ed class room was in the basement, but trips to the boys room gave us a chance to glimpse into a world different that our own. There were kids in wheel chairs, kids who's faces and heads were different, some of the loud voices were different and there were some who just looked sad.

    I noticed more of the same when we moved to Ft. Wayne and the Special Ed kids were not entirely, but a little more integrated into other classes and social activity. Still there were kids who's only apparent "special ness" was they were quiet and withdrawn.

    By my freshman year I had become a friend of a kid with muscular dystrophy. He struggled to speak but it was merely a physical affectation, his mind was keen and he was extraordinarily bright. His body betrayed him and physical motion was a challenge so we walked more slowly but we built a friendship that has lasted. He benefited from being moved out of a "special ed" class into the mainstream.

    Clearly some with particular conditions seemed to benefit from the closer attention provided by a special education teacher. It was those quiet and somewhat non social kids I continued to wonder about, until years later I learned of autism and Aspergers syndrome.  When that veil of ignorance was lifted I understood in retrospect a friend from earlier days.  

     He was, I was told, a genius. His room was full, truly full, of completed models of every airplane, ship, submarine, car or boat. OK a lot of kids were model makers, but these you had to see to believe.  Tiny to huge and they were perfect. What Mike had on other kids was his encyclopedic knowledge of every plane, boat, car and ship he had made. And then there were the Dinosaurs of every imaginable size and shape and again there was his encyclopedic knowledge. Same for the Rocket ships, which in this case he made and fabricated himself. Plus there were the pages and pages of the detailed and intricate drawings of dinosaurs, rockets, planes and boats.

     Mike could also play the piano. To my young and frankly somewhat bored ears, he sounded like a concert master. 

    I learned you could not touch Mike, he would freeze, choke and/or maybe yell. He wouldn't play ball, they were dirty and there was touch involved. He'd ride his bike, but only on a clearly prescribed route. We could never make even a slight variation. Mike had been in my grade school for a couple of years, but missed a lot of classes. Eventally he had a special teacher. He lived only a couple of blocks away, though Mike never came to my house. I didn't mind that we were at his place because his mom made sure we had plenty of Twinkies, an extravagance for our family. She was always nearby and would routinely look in as we hung out which meant watching him build or explain a model or riding that special bicycle route.

     I thought of Mike as I watched LOVE AND MERCY the amazing film playing now, telling the story of a special boy, Brian Wilson.

    We thoroughly enjoyed seeing Brian and his band in concert last September, his musical genius still fully evident and switched on.

     But what a rough trail he's traveled. Those who are fans know the story, but seeing it vividly portrayed increases the respect and admiration for one of those quiet, maybe sad and special kids.

     Paul Dano as the young Brian and John Cusack as the elder are superb. Their performances are riveting. The versatile Paul Giamatti is perfect as a maniacal and manipulative Dr Eugene Landy, who controlled and for a period ruined the life of a musical genius. Elizabeth Banks is more than merely a beautiful foil to Landy's meanness and temper. Banks portrays Melinda Ledbetter's struggle to free Brian from the prison of Landy's drugs and control and she does so with an authenticity. Brian Wilson calls the film very factual.

     Director Bill Pohlad does a masterful job of capturing how the young Wilson struggled to capture the genius but bewildering inspiration in his head and turn it into a unique and remarkable music and sound. 

     The Wrecking Crew, subject of a recent film is seen working with Wilson and giving him credit for his brilliance, even if eccentric. 

     If you are a fan, this is a must see though at times is a bit painful or heart breaking. Your respect for Wilson will  increase. 

     I can't imagine how contemporary music and Brian's life would have been different had he grown up away from Southern California where artistry, creativity and even eccentricities are tolerated. I wonder though what became of my pal Mike and others who traveled in less sunny and accepting climes. 

JUNE TAKES

  Early summer brings Twilight on the Terrace at Hearst Castle where Cafe Musique plays on a plaza being refurbished.

HOW MUCH PAELLA CAN YOU EAT?

   You can try to answer that at the annual Pinot and Paella Festival in Paso Robles. Begun by Marc Goldberg and Maggie D'Ambrosia of Windward Vineyard the Festival has become a signature central California event. 20 Paso Robles Pinot Noirs and 15 Paellas. Proceeds to to the Paso Robles Youth Arts Foundation.  Enjoy-

   

  By the way, trying to determine your favorite is challenging.

   See you down the trail 

  

    

PERPETUAL LIGHT-SELFIE HELP-HE'S BACK

BRIGHT

BRIAN WILSON

Living Legend

     If there was a Mount Rushmore of rock and roll, Brian Wilson would be up there.  More than two hours of high energy performance and what you get is hit, after hit, after hit.

    The principal Beach Boy was joined by his pal and an original Al Jardine for a powerful evening at the Vina Robles Amphitheatre in Paso Robles. Jardine lives just up Highway 1 in Big Sur.

    When you open with California Girls, Dance, Catch a Wave, Hawaii, Shut you Down and Little Deuce Coup you set a mood and the audience was into it.

     Wilson has assembled about as tight and solid a band that a living legend can get. Scott Bennett and Darian Sahanja lay in vocal support that is every bit as good as what Wilson got from the Beach Boys. He is a musical savant and still pushes the edge. Who else would stage a live performance of Heroes and Villains-a tricky number even in the controlled environment of an edit studio? He introduced a fully instrumental Pet Sounds and asked the audience to "just listen what a band can do without vocals."

     Wilson's rapport with the audience was warm and genuine. It appeared as though he and Jardine enjoyed sharing the stage again.

      The maestro introduced God Only Knows as his "greatest song writing accomplishment." His "best!" But there were plenty of others, In My Room, Little Surfer Girl, Then I Kissed Her, Don't Worry Baby, Wouldn't It Be Nice, Sloop John B, Help Me Rhonda, I Get Around, and etc. It seemed as though the Amphitheatre jumped up in mass when they played Do You Want to Dance. And the place practically levitated when he lead into Good Vibrations.

      By the way, Jardine's voice is magic. He still sounds like a kid in his 20's. Brian is older, the band is bigger, but he's still a musical magician and can make you feel like kid and as if you are in perpetual sunlight. 

Here's how some of the big kids arrived-

A MESSAGE FOR MALES

Are you paying attention NFL?

HELP FOR OUR AGE

WITH A SMILE EVEN

     A HAPPY UPDATE

     Those of you who have been following this blog for a few years will recall the posts about my friend and former colleague who wrote of his battle with leukemia including a bone marrow transplant.  I'm happy to include recent thoughts and a photo from Bob Foster.

   Photo Courtesy of Iowa State/Bob Foster

Never did I imagine that I would again be testing the wireless broadcast system on the sidelines at Jack Trice Stadium before a Big 12 game.  Resuming duties as a game site producer on a Big 12 Football radio broadcast seemed no longer possible.  Saturday afternoon was very emotional.  I wept several times and knelt in sprayer of thanksgiving before the game began.  Now, I am better prepared mentally and emotionally to approach with intensity the game broadcast at Texas on 10/18.  It is all because of Jesus I am alive.
Bob Foster.

See you down the trail.

   

NO PLACE LIKE IT & A HARD MEMORY

OFF THE HIGHWAY

     Big Sur owned my heart from the first time I saw it

in 1969.  By the time Brian Wilson's California Suite was 

written in 1973, the area had become mythical as a place where nature, at its most beautiful, turned on hearts, spirits, creativity and imagination.

       On a recent trip I collected a few images that bespeak

the kind of ethos and attitude that remain.

     

It continues to be a place where originality
dwells in the majestic Redwoods.

     Sitting in this room, a gentle breeze on my face, smelling the freshness of the forest and being tranquilized by the blue of the pacific and the sweet sounds of the wind chimes is 
mesmerizing. It nourishes, deeply.

    Dabbles of warm sun rain through the pines and redwoods.

Mike Love and Brian Wilson immortalize the beauty in this video. CALIFORNIA SAGA/BIG SUR BRIAN WILSON from CALIFORNIA SUITE Do do do do do do do do do Cashmere hills filled with evergreens Flowin' from the clouds down to meet the sea With the granite cliff (big sur mount) As a referee Crimson sunsets and golden dawns A mother deer with their newborn fawns All under big sur skies (big sur mount) That's where I belong. Big sur I've got plans for you Me and mine are going to Add ourselves to your lengthy list of lovers (big sur mount) And live in canyons covered in springtime green Wild birds and flowers to be heard and seen And with my old guitar I'll make up songs to sing. Where bubbling springs from the mountainside Join the big sur river to the oceanside Where the kids can look for sea shells at low tide Big sur my astrology it says that I am made to be Where the rugged mountain meets the water And so while stars shine brightly from up above The fog rolls in through a redwood grove And to my dying fire I think I'll add a log. From time to time I must go away The thoughts of big sur won't let me stay Away from big sur Oh big sur   Link to this post from last year's Jade Fest to get a sense of the timeless Big Sur Congregation. A TRAGIC CALIFORNIA MEMORY     We are voting today but the California primary  evokes that horrible night in June 1968 when Robert Kennedy was gunned down.         I spent time with Kennedy and his campaign in April when he campaigned in the Indiana primary.  As a young reporter, it was my first presidential election and Kennedy's star power and charisma was impressive and memorable. His death, like Martin Luther King Jr.'s fueled the maelstrom and upending of the social fabric in that searingly unique year.       There is rancor and division today, but by comparison to 1968 we are living in a halcyon Penny Lane.       See you down the trail.