What You'll Find Here: Music, Movies and Me

Since May 1976, I have written in journals. When I have nothing particularly resonant to say about my own inner turmoil, philosophic ramblings, sexual peccadillos or whining on about the state of the world around me...I have always fallen back on reporting the cultural time consumption that takes up in inordinate portion of my daily goings on.

In the 40+ years since my first concerts seeing Children's Symphony presentations on Sundays at the Pasadena Civic or The Hot Jazz Society's monthly Dixieland romps in an old meeting hall on the edge of the L.A. "River" across from Griffith Park, I have been sold heavily on the magic of live music. As Neil Young so aptly put it, "Live music is better bumper stickers should be issued."

Growing up a few orange groves and canyons length away from Hollywood also contributed greatly to my family's addiction to movie going. From the time I was a small there were weekly trips to the drive-in theaters that dotted the landscape, or the local Temple theater for the Saturday matinees. Once in a while we'd drive the 12 miles into Hollywood and see something in one of the magnificent old movie palaces like Grauman's Chinese, the Egyptian, The Pantages or later the Cinerama Dome. My dad loved Westerns and War movies, as if he didn't get enough shoot-'em-up as an L.A. County Sheriff in his day gig, my mom adored musicals and comedies. My brother and I loved them all.

At SDSU, I played in my first gigging band and began booking concerts on campus as part of the well-funded Cultural Arts Board, kindling for my future life in and around music.

So it's not surprising that my first jobs out of college were working in local video rental places (which were all the rage) or managing a couple of Sam Goody record stores in Mall's on the East Coast where we marveled at the new CD format and sold the first home computers and video games (yes Commodore and Pong and Atari).

So these are really just extensions of all of those journal entries talking about the great new movies I was seeing and LPs/CDs I was listening to.

Though iPODS/iPADs, apps, smart phones and downloads now make music and movies accessible in your own pocket, there is still nothing like sitting in front of a stack of speakers with a room full of people swaying to music created before your eyes. Nor is there anything that works quite so well for me to escape the real world and all of it's pressures just outside than two hours in a dark theater, absorbing the stories flickering across that wide screen as they pull you into their world.

But a really good taco runs a close third...

Sunday, October 5, 2008

SPRINGSTEEN FOR OBAMA IN PHILLY

Bruce Springsteen pleaded the case for Obama for President at a free rally in Philadelphia on Saturday. Steph Brown and I went down after a lengthy SEPTA hassle getting there but made it in time for Bruce who came on about 30 minutes before his scheduled time. There were approximately 50,000 people there for a rally designed to help register voters in the swing state of Philadelphia.

Bruce played a stirring, emotionally riveting 40+ minute solo acoustic set as City Hall loomed behind him with an American flag billowing in the wind from atop a downtown skyscraper on this beautiful day in the town where this nation was formed.

Each song chosen contained an appropriate line or message of hope and the crowd cheered and sang along at each appropriate phrase.

After former mayor Ed Rendell and Gov. Bob Casey spoke, Bruce came out as rumors of a surprise Obama visit swirled in the wind and said, "I'm not Barack Obama, but I'll do my best," he said. "It's good to be back in my home away from home." Not only the city where the United States got it's official launch, it is also the town that broke Springsteen, who before local DJ Ed Sciokey took up his case and The Boss hit town with some legendary early, long, incendiary shows was known only along the Jersey Shore.

The Promised Land (all audio and video in this blog are from Philly Obama Rally)

THE PROMISED LAND (his tune not Chuck Berry's!)
"The dogs on Main Street howl 'cause they understand
If i could take one moment into my hands
Mister, I ain't a boy, no I'm a man / and I believe in the promised land....
...There's a dark cloud rising from the desert floor
I packed my bags and I'm heading straight into the storm

Gonna be a twister to blow everything down
That ain't got the faith to stand its ground
Blow away the dreams that tear you apart
Blow away the dreams that break your heart
Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted."

Audio of Tom Joad:

THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD
Bruce sings, by way of John Steinbeck,

"Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air

Look for me, Mom, I'll be there

Wherever there's somebody fightin' for a place to stand
Or a decent job or a helpin' hand
Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free
Look in their eyes, Mom, you'll see me."

Audio of Thunder Road:

THUNDER ROAD
"SHOW A LITTLE FAITH!" (the crowd screams this line with him)

"With a chance to make it work somehow,
hey, what else can we do now
except roll down the windows and let the wind blow back your hair.
Well, the night's bustin' open these two lanes will take us anywhere.
We got one last chance to make it real
to trade in these wings on some wheels
climb in back, heaven's waitin' on down the tracks."

Audio of No Surrender and Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street:



NO SURRENDER
"We made a promise we swore we'd always remember
No retreat no surrender

Like soldiers in the winter's night with a vow to defend
No retreat no surrender."

DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET?
He hasn't played this one in ages but did it in Philly since he'd played it here so much before he was a star...
great line: "The Daily News asks her for the dope / She said, 'Man, the dope's that there's still hope.'"

- he intro'd the next song with a little speech. He wanted to "say a little something" and asked for a rock to hold down the paper he'd read from, "Don't throw it," he laughed.

And man he should be a speech writer for Obama. Eloquent, poignant, pointed and poetic. The Boss...here's what he said. (pt. 1 begins with the end of BUS STOP and ends with 1st half of speech w/ crowd shots and the first minute of THE RISING. Pt. 2 video is most of the speech plus the entire version of THE RISING)


PT. 1:


PT. 2:


"Hello Philly,
"I am glad to be here today for this voter registration drive and for Barack Obama, the next President of the United States.

"I've spent 35 years writing about America, its people, and the meaning of the American Promise. The Promise that was handed down to us, right here in this city from our founding fathers, with one instruction: Do your best to make these things real. Opportunity, equality, social and economic justice, a fair shake for all of our citizens, the American idea, as a positive influence, around the world for a more just and peaceful existence. These are the things that give our lives hope, shape, and meaning. They are the ties that bind us together and give us faith in our contract with one another.

"I've spent most of my creative life measuring the distance between that American promise and American reality. For many Americans, who are today losing their jobs, their homes, seeing their retirement funds disappear, who have no healthcare, or who have been abandoned in our inner cities. The distance between that promise and that reality has never been greater or more painful.

"I believe Senator Obama has taken the measure of that distance in his own life and in his work. I believe he understands, in his heart, the cost of that distance, in blood and suffering, in the lives of everyday Americans. I believe as president, he would work to restore that promise to so many of our fellow citizens who have justifiably lost faith in its meaning. After the disastrous administration of the past 8 years, we need someone to lead us in an American reclamation project. In my job, I travel the world, and occasionally play big stadiums, just like Senator Obama. I've continued to find, wherever I go, America remains a repository of people's hopes, possibilities, and desires, and that despite the terrible erosion to our standing around the world, accomplished by our recent administration, we remain, for many, a house of dreams. One thousand George Bushes and one thousand Dick Cheneys will never be able to tear that house down.

"They will, however, be leaving office, dropping the national tragedies of Katrina, Iraq, and our financial crisis in our laps. Our sacred house of dreams has been abused, looted, and left in a terrible state of disrepair. It needs care; it needs saving, it needs defending against those who would sell it down the river for power or a quick buck. It needs strong arms, hearts, and minds. It needs someone with Senator Obama's understanding, temperateness, deliberativeness, maturity, compassion, toughness, and faith, to help us rebuild our house once again. But most importantly, it needs us. You and me. To build that house with the generosity that is at the heart of the American spirit. A house that is truer and big enough to contain the hopes and dreams of all of our fellow citizens. That is where our future lies. We will rise or fall as a people by our ability to accomplish this task. Now I don't know about you, but I want that dream back, I want my America back, I want my country back.
"So now is the time to stand with Barack Obama and Joe Biden, roll up our sleeves, and come on up for the rising."

THE RISING
"Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight."

Audio of This Land Is Your Land:

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND
He sings Woody Guthrie's populist classic with the seldom sung verse with crowd chanting "Yes, We Can" in time to the song. Incredible.

Bruce Springsteen has been the every man's poet laureate of the rock n roll world for the past 35 years and has time and again taken a stand for what he believes in. This show was remarkably moving and to have been a part of it will forever be a memorable and proud moment in my life.


all of the excerpted lyrics in the review above are
Copyright © Bruce Springsteen (ASCAP)
except THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND by Woody Guthrie
© Copyright 1956 (renewed), 1958 (renewed), 1970 and 1972 Ludlow Music, Inc.