JohnO

Agreed.

"Just because they stiffed does not mean they were not great. Wild Honey, 20/20, Sunflower,all great. "Surf's Up" is easily in my top 5...over Pet Sounds!" Oh, I agree.....Sunflower is in my Top 3 Beach Boys albums, and I love all of 'em. All I was pointing out above was that - for every critic who rants and raves about SMILE, there's another who says it was a self-indulgent piece of drug-fueled crap, and it would have been a career-killer for Brian and the band, had it been released. The fact of the matter is - from a sales/chart standpoint, AND, for the most part, from a critical review standpoint, their career headed south anyway, even when SMILE wasn't released....regardless of how much we love 'em and continued to love their records. And to Chris - Not sure what your point is - I don't think anyone on this board is trying to claim that the Beach Boys were anything but Brian's creation or the result of his genius.....although the band continued for one Hell of a long time as a live act without him, and were a pretty damn good one!

While I will undoubtedly get this, I can't help but wonder if it's going to be a letdown or anti-climax.....between (1) the fact that what we're getting is actually the SMILE sessions, and not the finished album (or, in many cases, even finished songs), as it was intended in '66/'67, and (2) the fact that I suspect all of these sessions have been bootlegged to Hell and back, in dozens of variations. (And I have most of them.) Per Brian, the sessions as they exist made no sense to him back then, as far as assembling a coherent album - one of the main reasons he threw in the towel instead of assembling and releasing it. (The other reasons being his fragile mental state at the time, and vehement objections by several of the band members.) He only recently put together a (his) version of SMILE which he and his band recorded and released in 2004, and he's stated that, to him, that's the definitive version of the album. I'm sure these finally-released sessions will be interesting. But I also can't help but think that this may have been a career-killer for the band had it been released after Pet Sounds. Then again, Pet Sounds was their 9th or 10th studio album in the Top 10, and their last one until 15 Big Ones in '76. Smiley Smile, Wild Honey, Friends, 20/20, Sunflower, etc., all pretty much stiffed as far as chart action, compared to their work through Pet Sounds.

Not quite sure what part of "back in the day" that Tony doesn't understand, but I can assure him - the majority of these 60s/70s wrestlers mentioned here are every bit as dead as his hero Dan Fogelstein, and are probably more fondly remembered by more people. . .

That was Bulldog "Brower", by the way, not "Brauer". Hell, everyone watched rasslin' back in the day......except, I guess, Tony, who was busy, to use Tracy's words, knitting doilies, and (in his own words) listening to songs that actually make you feel like you're swaying back and forth in a boat....

To any Slade fans - Strongly recommend getting your hands on the 2009 CD by Slade bassist James Lea (who wrote/co-wrote and arranged all of their hits), "Therapy" - it's ungodly good!....and has a bonus disk of James' semi-legendary 2002 show at the Robin 2 Club in London, that he did for charity - one of only two live shows he's ever played since leaving Slade. It's just him on guitar and vocals, with a bassist and drummer, and was allegedly one of the loudest live shows ever - he does a slew of Slade tunes and covers, and does them well. Available via www.amazon.co.uk or James' web site. It was released under his full name - James Whild Lea.

Tracy - Doesn't sound a whole lot different from spending the day reading/posting at EC.Com, no?

Hey Tommy - Congrats!

Miriam - Great to hear that you're doing better now! I've had Crohn's for over 40 years, involving a number of surgeries, and it can flare up at any time, unfortunately....you just have to take it a day (and a flare up) at a time.

Paul Rodgers is a great addition, and I just saw Nicole Atkins this past Sunday and Monday nights, opening for Fountains of Wayne at the Birchmere. Great set of pipes! (Too bad I'll be at Irving Plaza for DGeneration that night.....)

Marlene - Have a great one tomorrow!!!

Tommy - I think they have 9 games left head-to-head. Realistically, all things being equal, they probably need to win at least 6 of them. 6 wins would make them 7-11 against Boston for the year. Their records, excluding the games they've already played against each other, are: NY - 67-34, Boston - 60-41......so, if they can continue to be the better team against the rest of baseball, they can win the Division anyway. However, if they play like crap the rest of the way against Boston, which they've done so far (have been outscored 60-37 in the 9 games they've played), and wind up something like 5-13 against them, would they even have the confidence to beat them, come the post-season? Doubt it. Regardless of the outcome of their last 9 head-to-head games, they need to hope that Boston will lose in the 1st round of the playoffs.

Sure, you can. Just don't pull a Roger C, and claim that Andy Pettite misremembered, or we may subpoena hm (& his wife)!

Ira - "Before You Accuse Me" was written (and first recorded) by Ellas McDaniel, AKA Bo Diddley, and not Gene McDaniels. Not the same guy.

".....in a year that's seen JohnO playin' gigs....." Huh?????????????????

Just heard "Behind The Parade", Tommy K's latest, at lunch today. Yet another incredibly excellent effort, although I could do without the 6 minute slow, moody, drony instrumental on a 10 song, 40 minute gem of an album (make that a 9 song, 34 minute gem!) Release date is 8/31, although you can get a downloadable MP3 version now if you pre-order the package (includes a CD, 180 gram vinyl version, plus download MP3 version) from Second Motion Records. Tommy will be touring in September to promote this new CD - at the Iota in Arlington, VA on 9/9, NYC on 9/10, etc. (Cleveland on 9/13 at the Grog Shop).....

To me, this trial has stunk to high heaven from the very start. The perjury charges stemmed primarily from the testimony of 2 individuals - Clemens' ex-trainer Brian McNamee, who was threatened by the Mitchell Committee that he would be prosecuted for possible steroid distribution if he didn't deliver them a big name for their witch hunt, and Andy Pettite, who stated in his Congressional testimony that Roger C. mentioned to him once that he had used PEDs. McNamee is a clubhouse snitch who cut a deal to save his own ass, and Andy P's statement simply isn't enough to make a serious case with....unless we're talking about lying to Congress, I guess (which, to me, is kinda like stealing from Bernie Madoff!) It's basically a he said/he said case, with neither Clemens nor McNamee very believable. Why the Govt. has wasted millions on this, I'll never know. And it's not as if Clemens is going unpunished, assuming he is lying, and he did take PEDs. He will forever be associated with steroids, he'll never make the Hall of Fame, and his considerable accomplishments (most of which were done long before he may or may not have juiced) forever tainted....which, I'm sure, is punishment to a man with his ego, a man whom many people believe could probably pass a lie detector test about this issue with no sweat, having convinced himself he's incapable of wrongdoing....

(NOTE: This is also posted in the baseball thread....) Interesting! - The judge in Roger Clemens' perjury case in DC just declared a mistrial and stopped the proceedings, after the prosecutors ignored him regarding evidence he had earlier ruled as inadmissable. They wanted to put Andy Pettite's wife on the stand to corroborate his testimony that Clemens had told him that he had used performance enhancing drugs. Andy had discussed Clemens' comments with his wife that day. Since she hadn't spoken directly with Clemens, though, the judge ruled that the jury wouldn't be allowed to hear her testify. Today, prosecutors were playing video from Clemens' 2008 Congressional testimony, which happened to include a remark from a Congressman about Pettite's conversation with his wife. End of trial. A hearing is now scheduled for Sept. 2, to determine if they'll hold another trial or not. Personally, I think this first one was a waste of taxpayers' money.

OK, I have guitars all over the house. Here are my current favorites: (1)blackguard tele with a neck humbucker, hand-made by Rick Kelly of Carmine St. Guitars in NYC. Rick makes the best sounding/playing guitars going, for the money ($1,500-2 grand range....Fenders of comparable quality cost at least 3 times as much). G.E.Smith, Bill Frisell, Mark Ribot, Bill Kirchen, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Robert Quine (RIP),and Keith Richards are just some of his customers. On the downside, he's got about a 2 year waiting list if you want one - I bought this second-hand. The best tele I've ever owned...Lightweight, with an outrageously flamy maple neck. Rick's work can be seen at www.kellyguitars.com. (2) Early '97 Fender No-Caster relic. (3) Bill Nash butterscotch blackguard tele relic, with a 3rd pickup under the pickguard - many sounds available! (4)'04 Fender 50th Anniversary Masterbuilt Strat ('54 relic) (5) '59 reissue Gibson Les Paul with a chambered body - weighs less than most teles (6.9 lbs), sustains forever! (6) a great cheap guitar - a lime-green Reverend Hot Shot Junior (no longer made), with 1 P-90 pickup. Sounds like a 50's Les Paul Junior on steroids. (7)I also have a couple of recent teles with b-string benders - fun to screw around with. Over the years, I've gotten rid of my old vintage instruments. Prices went way way up in the early 90s, and I sold most of 'em.

I'd add my 2 cents to all of the grieving here....except I'm not sure he's gone yet! Earlier today, Wikipedia showed a death date of "7/7/11?" for Rob, which has since been removed. If you google on "Rob Grill, death", there's no reference to his death - just a couple of links to an article from 7/5/11, stating he's near death........

Elizabeth (E.G.) also made some absymally awful records in the 80s as well....If this damn laptop permitted me to copy & paste URL addresses, I'd post a dreadful youtube video or two here. Not sure what was worse, her music or acting.....(she had trouble pronouncing "Pee Wee" in "PW's Big Adventure".....it kept coming out as "Pee Vee")

I thought you were posting something about E.G. Daily, the actress (co-starred in "Pee Wee's Big Adventure," last seen in Rob Zombie's movie "The Devil's Rejects".........)

Ira, old buddy - Have a great Birthday tomorrow!!! (P.S. Will be in NYC this Sunday for NRBQ at the Iridium Jazz Club on Broadway & 51st. It's Les Paul's old club. Unfortunately, will be there just for those shows.....zooming in and out...)

Steve - yeah, you're right if all we're looking at is the results of the playoff series, and not the quality of the competition. However, LBJ also got to the finals with Miami his initial season there, and not his 4th, was it, in Cleveland?And with a totally rebuilt team, a team that most of us wrote off as probably losing early in the playoffs. To quote a well-known basketball expert from earlier this year here - "This team will not win a sausage. They can't beat good teams, and the mix will not work. The talent cannot make up for a real lack of chemistry. . . .I don't think they get to the Eastern finals." Recognize the quote? Looks to me like the team did get their sh*t together, but either peaked too soon (against the Bulls), or just didn't match up well against Dallas. BTW, Jordan was tagged as a loser around his 5th or 6th season, when he couldn't get his team past the Pistons in the post-season. Wound up with 6 rings.

Also. . . . While Dirk N had a huge series and is the one true Dallas superstar, not sure I would have voted for him as MVP. The series turned the Mavs' way when Jason Terry heated up, starting in Game 4. He continued to kill the Heat the rest of the series.