My friend Greg brought up the Traveling Wilburys this week in an email. An amazing collection of truly historic musicians that made two records, appropriately titled Volume 1 and Volume 3 (that's not a typo). The band was made up of George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Jeff Lynne (of ELO fame). The band was formed when George Harrison and Jeff Lynne were working on a B-side for a single on Harrison's Cloud Nine record. They were all hanging out and Harrison recruited everyone to cut Handle With Care, and the rest was history. Sadly, Roy Orbison passed away before Volume 3 and Del Shannon was set to replace him, but he passed away too.
So the question is, if you were starting a super-group, who would be in it? Please submit your groups in the comments section if you are so inclined. Mine would be Bruce (obviously), Bono, Eddie Vedder, Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello and Little Steven as the producer. Jackson Browne, Roger McGuinn, Sting and Adam Duritz would be my alternates.
Some other quick thoughts:
- Bob Costas did a great special last week on HBO. It was a live town hall meeting on the sports media landscape. If you can catch it, I highly recommend it. Click here for the replay schedule. If you are a sports fan at all, you won't regret it. An amazingly thought provoking 90 minutes.
- I need to devote a blog solely to song titles that never appear in the song themselves, i.e. Incident on 57th Street. My preliminary theory is that most songs like this are amazing songs, but more research is needed. Off the top of my head, I can think of 5 great songs in which the title never appears. Again, if you can help, shoot me a note or leave a comment.
- If you aren't watching Lost, go back and start from the beginning immediately. Wow. Amazing show.
- I am going to see Bruce and the E Street Band this week at the Count Basie Theater for the first E Street show in a theater since 1980. Do you think I am excited?
- Speaking of Bruce, here is the Bruce YouTube clip of the week. Across the Border with Danny on accordion. Click here. RIP Phantom.
- Another future blog will be on the best jobs in America. Let me know if you have any ideas.
That's all for now. "Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive...if you can."
JN
Friday, April 18, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
RIP Phantom Dan
Danny Federici, organ player in the E Street Band, passed away today. Nicknamed The Phantom, Danny played with Bruce as long as anyone in the band having been part of the Jersey Shore scene and early bands with Bruce.
The organ and accordion add so much depth to the E Street sound. If the piano provides the romance, the organ provides the mystery. I am listening to some favorites tonight that feature the organ. If you have listened to Bruce for years, you may have never noticed the organ because like most E Street sounds (other than the sax), it's typically very subtle and part of the overall texture. Go back to and listen to Backstreets, Spirit in the Night, Kitty's Back, Jungleland (listen to the lines "From the churches to the jails..." and then "the hungry and the hunted..." the organ will give you chills), the under current to the closing coda of Racing in the Street, Promised Land, and even most recently the solo on Living in the Future ("Let the wild dogs run..."). If you listen for it, the organ will blow you away.
I certainly can't say it any better than Bruce, so I will close with two quotes. The first is from the speech he gave when he was inducted in to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame.
"Danny Federici, the most instinctive and natural musician I ever met and the only member of the band who can reduce me to a shouting mess. I love you Danny. Your organ and accordion playing brought the boardwalks of Central and South Jersey alive in my music. Thank you."
And from Blood Brothers...
"But the stars are burnin' bright like some mystery uncovered
I'll keep movin' through the dark with you in my heart
My blood brother"
RIP Phantom Dan.
JN
The organ and accordion add so much depth to the E Street sound. If the piano provides the romance, the organ provides the mystery. I am listening to some favorites tonight that feature the organ. If you have listened to Bruce for years, you may have never noticed the organ because like most E Street sounds (other than the sax), it's typically very subtle and part of the overall texture. Go back to and listen to Backstreets, Spirit in the Night, Kitty's Back, Jungleland (listen to the lines "From the churches to the jails..." and then "the hungry and the hunted..." the organ will give you chills), the under current to the closing coda of Racing in the Street, Promised Land, and even most recently the solo on Living in the Future ("Let the wild dogs run..."). If you listen for it, the organ will blow you away.
I certainly can't say it any better than Bruce, so I will close with two quotes. The first is from the speech he gave when he was inducted in to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame.
"Danny Federici, the most instinctive and natural musician I ever met and the only member of the band who can reduce me to a shouting mess. I love you Danny. Your organ and accordion playing brought the boardwalks of Central and South Jersey alive in my music. Thank you."
And from Blood Brothers...
"But the stars are burnin' bright like some mystery uncovered
I'll keep movin' through the dark with you in my heart
My blood brother"
RIP Phantom Dan.
JN
Sunday, April 13, 2008
My wife is pretty funny...
For those of you who don't know my wife Christine that well, she can be pretty funny. Twice in the last few weeks, she was pretty hysterical, albeit not on purpose. I promised her that I would memorialize one here in the blog so that I could never forget it. The other happened this morning, so I figured I now had a reason to blog.
The first one occurred on our wedding anniversary, which happens to be April 1. The night before, I was in the city for a fantasy baseball draft. I got home around 12:15 and she was still awake. We had a full conversation on the events of the day and when I climbed in to bed, I said, "Happy Anniversary...I love you." Her reply was, "Happy Anniversary...I hope it wasn't the worst two years of your life." With that, she was fast asleep. She's very sentimental.
The other funny one was today. I had my first softball game of the season, and Christine brought our daughter Avery, as well as our nephews, Nicholas and Anthony. They spent some time walking around the park, playing at the playground, and as I was loosening up for my first at-bat, I noticed that they were over by the car.
I came up with a man on third and one out and was focused on hitting the ball hard, in the air, to drive in the run. On the second pitch of the at-bat, I hit a long fly ball down the left field line that I thought was curving foul. I watched the ball for a few seconds and then noticed that it wasn't curving as much as I thought, so I started running. The ball landed fair, and I ran around the bases for a home run. After getting the obligatory congratulations from my teammates, I was standing near the bench, catching my breath and Christine came back over. She asked, "Are you going to get to bat up soon?" When I explained that I had just hit a home run, she was sorry that she missed it. Needless to say, the guys got a big kick out of that, and made sure that she knew when I was coming up the next time.
Some random notes...
A very Happy 30th Birthday to my brother-in-law Jeffrey. Also known as Uncle Mistah to my daughter, he is truly a great addition to our family. We celebrated last night at Sammy's Romanian Steak House on the Lower East Side, which is a favorite of the family going back many years.
Is there any way that Big Papi hits .074 for the year? I don't think so either.
My vote for the NBA MVP this year is Chris Paul, but I am a little biased as he is the star of my fantasy hoops team. More on my fantasy team next week, once the season is over.
I am stealing a feature from Bill Simmons. Bruce YouTube clip of the week. Last week, Bruce played two nights in Anaheim, CA and each night, Tom Morella of Rage Against the Machine guested on The Ghost of Tom Joad. Rage covered it in the past and Bruce and Tom re-worked the song. Think the version of Youngstown from the 99-00 tour. Here is the clip...from BS.net. http://youtube.com/watch?v=Sp-oDAxx8So
Does anyone know why Girardi didn't walk Manny on Saturday with a base open and two outs? If so, please let me know asap.
That's all for tonight...until the next time, "Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive...if you can."
JN
The first one occurred on our wedding anniversary, which happens to be April 1. The night before, I was in the city for a fantasy baseball draft. I got home around 12:15 and she was still awake. We had a full conversation on the events of the day and when I climbed in to bed, I said, "Happy Anniversary...I love you." Her reply was, "Happy Anniversary...I hope it wasn't the worst two years of your life." With that, she was fast asleep. She's very sentimental.
The other funny one was today. I had my first softball game of the season, and Christine brought our daughter Avery, as well as our nephews, Nicholas and Anthony. They spent some time walking around the park, playing at the playground, and as I was loosening up for my first at-bat, I noticed that they were over by the car.
I came up with a man on third and one out and was focused on hitting the ball hard, in the air, to drive in the run. On the second pitch of the at-bat, I hit a long fly ball down the left field line that I thought was curving foul. I watched the ball for a few seconds and then noticed that it wasn't curving as much as I thought, so I started running. The ball landed fair, and I ran around the bases for a home run. After getting the obligatory congratulations from my teammates, I was standing near the bench, catching my breath and Christine came back over. She asked, "Are you going to get to bat up soon?" When I explained that I had just hit a home run, she was sorry that she missed it. Needless to say, the guys got a big kick out of that, and made sure that she knew when I was coming up the next time.
Some random notes...
A very Happy 30th Birthday to my brother-in-law Jeffrey. Also known as Uncle Mistah to my daughter, he is truly a great addition to our family. We celebrated last night at Sammy's Romanian Steak House on the Lower East Side, which is a favorite of the family going back many years.
Is there any way that Big Papi hits .074 for the year? I don't think so either.
My vote for the NBA MVP this year is Chris Paul, but I am a little biased as he is the star of my fantasy hoops team. More on my fantasy team next week, once the season is over.
I am stealing a feature from Bill Simmons. Bruce YouTube clip of the week. Last week, Bruce played two nights in Anaheim, CA and each night, Tom Morella of Rage Against the Machine guested on The Ghost of Tom Joad. Rage covered it in the past and Bruce and Tom re-worked the song. Think the version of Youngstown from the 99-00 tour. Here is the clip...from BS.net. http://youtube.com/watch?v=Sp-oDAxx8So
Does anyone know why Girardi didn't walk Manny on Saturday with a base open and two outs? If so, please let me know asap.
That's all for tonight...until the next time, "Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive...if you can."
JN
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