JohnO

Also, I have yet to hear any so-called football expert talk about Tebow's, IMO, greatest contribution to his club. . . . by changing their offense around to accommodate his strength and minimize his weakness, they're running the ball twice as much as passing, which leads to much more time off the field for their defense, which is better rested, come the 4th quarter, when the game's on the line.

Guys - Tebow could wind up being a Hall of Famer, for all we know. Beating the likes of a 2-11 Vikings and an offensively crippled Bears, though, and struggling to do it, doesn't prove anything yet. He's beaten 1 playoff team so far - the Jets, another 8-5 team. I've been an NFL fan for over 50 years, and what this looks exactly like is the '61 or '62 SF 49ers, who started using a shotgun offense on every play, and ran off 6 or 7 wins because it was a novelty and none of their oponents' defensive coordinators could (or would) change things around to deal with it. Finally, George Allen, Chicago's defensive guru, studied game films and devised a means to stop it. . . . . and the 49ers wound about .500 for the season. And the 49ers were beating their opponents by 3-4 TDs per game, not having to come back every game. I suspect the league will catch up to Teabow. Hell, his own GM, John Elway, would like to drfat a QB to replace him.

The Bears played conservatively because of Tebow? No offense, but with Cutler out, replaced by a QB who turned the ball over 6-7 times against Oakland and KC the past 2 weeks, plus Forte out (who was leading the league in total yardage before getting hurt last week), I'm not really sure if they had any real options. They scored 3 points last week against KC - and Tebow had nothing to do with that! Barber is a hack 2nd stringer, with a history of fumbling. And frankly, I was hoping the Bears would knock Tebow out of the game this week, but no such luck. . .

I was gonna say. . . .in every damn one of the Broncos games that Tebow "won", his team's defense has shut down their opponent most of the second half, and Denver's running backs have gained a ton of yards - and, as Giro points out, their kicker has saved them numerous times. If people want to blather on about his heart, that's fine, but he's also the biggest (250-260 pounds) and strongest QB in the league physically. To me, the most positive thing he's done is to make people appreciate that there's more to quarterbacking than just passing. That kid didn't win the Heishman trophy by not knowing what he's doing. . . .although I do find it a bit humorous that such a devoutly religious sort played for Urban Meyer and that University of Florida program, which, in any given year, probably had more players locked up in local jails than any other college tootball program!

Have a great one today, Tim!!!

Jerry - The guitarist on the left in this video is Jim Reese. who played on the 45 version of I Fought The Law on Mustang Records (1965 or 66). Jerry Miller of Moby Grape was a member of the band earlier, when they were still living in El Paso, before relocating to LA. Jerry played on an earlier version of the song that the band recorded in El Paso in '64, with a slightly different arrangement and lyrics ("zip gun" instead of "six gun", zip being in the original lyrics by Sonny Curtis). To complicate matters more, Jerry isn't sure if the version he played on was the regional hit in Texas on Exeter Records, or just a demo - he wasn't in Fuller's band very long at all. While the BF4 had the best known hit version, I believe the song had already been recorded at least 3-4 times prior to their '66 take on it. The Crickets recorded it originally in '59; a band called The Lancers covered it in '62, & Sammy Masters in '64, the same time as Fuller's Texas version.

Ira - In spite of the grief you sometimes take here over Bobby, he's IMO the best living interpreter of Buddy's material nowadays. . . . and, as such, he belongs on that damn special! Over the years, the only artist I'd take over Bobby V, as far as doing Buddy's tunes, would be the late, great Bobby Fuller. Mr. Vee has big-time credibility with Holly fanatics. Speaking of which. . . .just saw The Randy Fuller Four last month at the Norton Records 25th Anniversary Fest - Bobby's brother Randy on bass and vocals, Bobby Fuller Four drummer DeWayne Querico, and two ringers on guitar (Deke Dickerson and Chris Sprague). They opened their set with a thunderng version of Love's Made A Fool Of You.

Who's Fogelberg? Sounds like a lawyer or maybe a CPA. . . .

Not surprising at all. Mick, Keef and the boys have always felt that they owe a huge debt to the Chicago bluesmen. . . .their band's name came from a Muddy Waters song - one of Hubert's employers over the years (after one of the hundred or so times that Howlin' Wolf fired him). I've personally seen Muddy, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Otis Rush, and Luther Allison, all from Chicago, opening for the Stones over the past 40+ years. Keith played on Hubert's last studio album, and Charlie and Bill Wyman recorded with him back in the 70s on Howlin Wolf's London album. The band were long-time friends of his.

Not a good weekend for musicians. . . Soul singer supreme Howard Tate passed away at the age of 72 on Friday or Saturday, complications from leukemia. He had a totally insane voice - could leap to falsetto (and usually did) at the drop of a hat. His Get It While You Can album on Verve is, IMO, one of the best soul LPs in history. Was rediscovered in 2003 after being retired for a long stretch, and put out several comeback CDs over the past 8 years. Saw him in New Orleans at the Ponderosa Stomp in 2009.

In honor of Hubert, I've been playing a bootleg of his June 2004 show from the Chicago Blues Festival, where he backs David Johansen doing a set of The Wolf's greatest hits. An oddball pairing which works well.

Ira - I already responded to your earlier PM on this, and, to add to that. . . .honestly, I don't really care what Love calls his band these days. There have probably been at least 50 or so lineups of musicians calling themselves The Beach Boys over the past 4-5 decades, usually with at least 2 guys who actually were in an early incarnation of the band (and usually another 2 ex-members who want to sue them!), so to me, it's impossible to get bent out of shape by Love continuing to use the name. If that's what it takes for him to make a living these days, more power to him. If anyone attends one of his shows thinking they're getting Brian and Al as well, they're probably such a casual fan that they won't care anyway. That said though, I have no desire to see the band, even though I'd love to see and hear Bruce perform. I've read way too many interviews with Mike where he seems to consider "Kokomo" equal or superior to anything that Brian ever wrote. . . .after all, it was a huge hit, so that proves it. Likewise, he tends to be a tad too creative in his revisions to the band's history - who knew, for example, that he really did like Pet Sounds and Smile back in the day (contrary to testimony by other band members, Tony Asher, Van Dyke Parks, etc.)? To me, he's just in it for the money now. His new-found interest in those 2 albums seemed to coincide with new reissues (or Brian's new live recordings or re-recordings), and more cash for him. And I'm sure his band does a great job live. He's always used top notch musicians and singers. And so do Brian, Al, Papa Doo Run Run, Jeffrey Foskett when he plays solo shows, any number of BB tribute bands, etc.

Howlin' Wolf's longtime guitarist (and later solo artist) Hubert Sumlin passed away yesterday, age 80. Ranked # 43 in the latest Rolling Stone list of 100 greatest guitarists. A very unique player, and an all-time great.

A tribute to Jeff P. from Otis Lee Crenshaw (AKA Rich Hall) - "Fast Cars & Airplanes"........(actually, it's a tribute to musicians who died in gardening accidents, but Jeff's mentioned first and foremost)...... www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v6eqXGU2VE

Marv - Eric's music is the single common denominator that we all share on this board. I seriously doubt that anyone ever joined ericcarmen.com primarily to express their political or religious views, or to live out whatever personal fantasies they wish to indulge in. It was always the music first here....the rest followed when the music by Eric, Raspberries, etc., dried up. I agree with your comment about this board seeming to be very right wing-oriented, due to Cartoon World posts. I say "seeming to be", because I know, through various PMs over the years with board members, that there are a lot more moderates and liberals on this board than it appears. (Mostly, we stay the Hell out of Cartoon World.) As you stated, many of us have trouble relating to CW posts - ain't our version of reality, and we're outnumbered anyway, so why bother? To me, life's too short to spend time trying to unsuccessfully change someone else's opinion....or trying to get validation from your friends, whom you already know agree with you. That said, I have no problem with this board being used for all sorts of topics. If I don't want to play in a particular sandbox, I'll stay out of that area. However.....While, as ststed above, Eric used to participate in various Cartoon World discussions, I suspect he would be appalled if he knew that fans of his music had been driven off this board due to the tone/attitude of some of the CW posters....and yes, it has happened. In addition, I personally know of several cases where old-timers on this board PM'd brand new members who had been subjected to CW attacks, asking them to stay, and telling them that most of the folks here are nice people. Personally, I think we need all of the EC fans we can get. Does anyone here think that Eric has such an overabundance of fans that it's okay to drive them away here? It's easy to sit back and say - well, they just have to develop a thicker skin. If my first post here had been in Cartoon World, and had been met with maybe a dozen responses, all telling me I'm wrong....and folks, political and religious beliefs are 100% subjective opinion, NOT facts!.....I would have flown the coop, and basically said "screw ec.com".... On that note, I'm off to NYC for Norton Records' 25th Anniversary Spectacular....4 nights of trashy music.

Marv - Grammatically speaking, the term "latter" usually refers to the last item mentioned of two. I stated that I preferred Ecstasy over Tonight, because the latter song, meaning Tonight, was Eric's love letter to Marriott. Where's the problem?

"Ecstasy" over "Tonight", for me, for one major reason. The latter song has always struck me as Eric's love letter to Steve Marriott, just as "I Don't Know What I Want" is to The Who. "Ecstasy" is pure Raspberries to me, distilling all of their influences, while not relying primarily on any single one of them. I've never heard or read of anyone say that "Ecstasy" sounds like anyone else.

Giro - I also saw Joe live around '70 or '71, but under odd circumstances. I was working that summer in downtown DC, at the Speakeasy, a dive bar and sandwich shop on the corner of 14th & H Streets (a bad neighborhood, which got cleaned up during the Reagan years, allegedly at Nancy's insistence after the first couple rode through it the first time in their limo.) Anyway, I was at the counter one Saturday night, when a well-built, very well-dressed gentleman, sporting about $50 grand in diamonds (4 rings), came in and started talking to me and my friend Bob. Both of us got a good look at him - it was Joe Frazier!! He was there, asking us how to get into the club upstairs (Casino Royale) - he and his band The Knockouts were doing a show there later that night. We went and got the club manager, who unlocked the gate to the stairs/entrance. To make a long story short, we got invited to his show that night. . . . awful singer, and it was hard trying to figure out what he was saying between songs, but he was a nice guy, and gave us autographed 8 x 10 photos. Lucky for him he had another career in boxing!

Yeah, Metal Machine Music is the point at which Lou went off the rails for me as well, although I wasn't too crazy about Sally Can't Dance, his last studio effort prior to that. While I loved the two live albums from the Academy of Music shows, I think I was more crazy about his band, especially the killer guitar tandem of Hunter-Wagner, than I was about Lou. Likewise, I also enjoyed Robert Quine's work with him in the 80s. . . .a lot more than Reed's efforts then. Also, I've met him twice in NYC over the years - the first time in '98, in the meat packing district around 3 in the morning on the street; the second time in a guitar shop in the West Village in '05. Lou is not a friendly guy. Disappointed both times. . . which, I'm sure, affects my opinion of him.

Has anybody heard this yet? It's only been out a week, but I've already seen it described as the worst R&R album in history, a train wreck, yet another typical (and awful) Lou R. concept album, and a piece of crap that makes his "Metal Machine Music" (an hour of pure unadulterated feedback) seem like a stone masterpiece! On Amazon.com, 33 of 53 reviewers rate it as 1 star (out of 5), and many of them state that they'd like to give it zero stars, but that's not possible in that rating system. Anything that gets this kind of a reaction....I'd like to hear it!....even if I've had no use for Lou for at least the past 40 years, and have never cared for Metallica in the least....

In all seriousness, Perry has had 5-6 movies open at #1 at the box office, and most of the 9-10 films he's made have grossed anywhere from $50M to $75-80M, after being made for relative peanuts. While he's probably the most successful African-American filmmaker in the world, he's pretty much unknown to a large segment of the population in this country, and is virtually unknown outside of the US. IMO, he's a much better businessman than filmmaker, having earned between $100-150M last year alone, via all of his tv shows, films, plays, screenplays, writings, etc. His films are primarily family-oriented fare, although he's been crticized by other Black filmmakers as perpetuating negative racial stereotypes, and they're generally lambasted by the critics ("Precious" aside, which he co-produced)....and I'm sure Perry worries about that, all the way to the bank.

"What am I missing?" Perhaps the fact that Tyler Perry seems to like dressing in drag in his movies way too much.....and he likely has more money than Joe P. and Stephen T. combined!

Wendy- At the risk of beating an already dead horse (this thread), I guess I'm puzzled as to what else I can post here as the reason why I brought up Wally's initial comment, unless I start lying about why I did it. As I explained above, very few people on this board attended the show; several who did not, wanted to know details about it; Wally said it to introduce the show.; and frankly, I saw no reason not to bring it up. You didn't like the comment; I thought it was funny. Had I felt like you, I wouldn't have posted anything on it. I respect your opinion. Not having passed Mindreading 101, though, I had no clue that anyone was going to get bent out of shape over posting this info. Why would I? To me, it was an innocuous comment which I didn't view as an insult to Eric. I have no evil ulterior motive in having posted this info. Yet, in spite of my earlier explanation above, you still ask in your last post - why was anything about this comment even posted here in the first place? To me, this means you either didn't read my earlier explanation, or you don't believe me. If it's the latter, any particular reason? And BTW, "we all know what a shit-eating grin means." Do we? In the household I grew up in, that term meant a wide grin, showing one's teeth, not automatically something negative. Per Wicktionary, it means "A broad smile indicating self-awareness that may suggest self-satisfaction, smugness, discomfort, or embarrassment. The term is ambiguous and may indicate either a genuine broad smile or a fake broad smile." Sounds like it covers both your scenario and Kay's explanation of Wally being embarrassed, no?

Marv - Thanks! Hope Kay doesn't mind my quoting her here, to try to put this thing to rest........ For what it's worth - Kay Bryson's words about Wally's remark (taken from another board)........... "The drummer's wife suggested that Wally should come out and do one song alone to start the show. As everyone knows, Wally is a band guy. He's never wanted to be a solo artist. He likes the commaraderie and interplay between band members. But he decided to do "I'd Rather You Leave Me" before the rest of the band joined him on stage. Wally is always nervous before a show, whether before a few people or thousands...it doesn't matter. But he was a little extra nervous for this one for many reasons, one being the solo song. When he came on stage, he said something like, "Here I am all by myself" meaning without his band, something he's rarely done. He immediately realized the connotation and said almost embarrassedly, "I can't believe I just said that". All pure and innocent with no hidden agenda." 'Nuff said.....

"And on that note, I don’t know why the comment was brought up in the first place on Eric Carmen’s board. I wouldn’t have voiced my opinion (nor brought up the subject on my own) if said subject had not been broached." OK, I'm the one who brought it up, and here's why........... (1) Hardly anybody on this board attended the show - there were just a small number of us there. (2) From comments I received via PMs here and/or messages/posts on Facebook, it appeared that those who were unable to attend, really wanted to hear the details from the show. (3) Wally's comments, which he made throughout the entire show, and which were well-received by the audience, if their laughter was any indication, are definitely a part of any show he does. I missed the majority of his comments from where I was in the ballroom, because of the volume of their laughter. And for all I know, Terry Hatcher (the guitar tech) and his mother and relatives might be reading this, and are pissed about my having brought up Wally's comments about him. That said, sorry, but I still don't see Wally's initial comment as an insult to Eric. If anything, it was the only acknowledgement tossed EC's way all night....and if he hadn't have said it, what we might be debating about here now is the fact that Wally refused to mention Eric.....it's a no-win situation! And yes, any comment made about anybody CAN be construed as an insult, if that's what you choose to read into it. Example - Wendy, you made an earlier post on this thread where it looks like you referred to a "talented artist" (Wally) insulting or poking at an "(extremely) talented artist" (Eric) Couldn't that be easily construed as an insult to Wally, calling him inferior to EC?.....especially in light of Eric having said before that Wally's as good at what he does (guitar) as Eric is at what he does (front man, writing hit songs)? Lastly - why post this on an Eric Carmen board??? Good question! And one which I'll answer with a question......Why the 23,510 posts on Cartoon World, most of which are devoted to pushing a particular political agenda, one which is already apparently shared by most people here? (And those of us who do not, for the most part, just stay the Hell out of that section.) P.S. And admittedly, I'm probably scarred from my 4th rock & roll show I ever attended, where the Davies brothers (Kinks) insulted each other over the mike most of the show, then got into a three-way fist fight (including drummer Mick Avory) during the encore, ending when Dave D. kicked Mick's drum kit all over the stage....