DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS
My Fellow Americans, Life is actually just a microscopic, deluded moment in time, so let's cut to the freakin' chase. One look at our impending election debacle can solidify my case. It has been my contention since birth, that the answer to every difficulty we encounter on this sacred yet demented Stone, can be revealed with ultimate clarity through the ultra neurotic engagements of Music, Art, Literature, Film, Poetry and a good Pastrami sandwich. Why would any sane human spend so must time on a film set (Do you know how long you gotta wait until your 8 second deliverance of an edited beyond repair line gets a chance to become a professional embarrassment etched in time forever? ) or expend so much energy in a recording studio, piecing together another ode to a man or woman who could not care less how much love existed within your digestive tract? It's all about hymns and prayers and a quest for mercy and forgiveness and silence and faith. We were blessed with Charles Bukowski, Gene Chandler, Lenny Bruce, Mitch Ryder and a legion of creative explorers whose influences provided the air we breathe. So Let's Dance! This site shall explore the reaper, find a way to disarm the stench of injustice, discover some true loves and talk it all over before it's all over. So what's the worst that our desires could produce? Failure? So sue me. I'm going to require your assistance in making as much trouble for the grown-ups as possible. Let the record show that my childish heart yearns to disrupt the madness. Join me Ladies and Germs!
With Gratitude For Gena Rowlands, Nancy Sinatra, Jerry Quarry, Leo Gorcey, Arthur Alexander and Joey Heatherton, Your Splendid Bohemian, Rich Buckland.
DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS
THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "DOUBLE TROUBLE" -NEW SERIES! WITH NANCY SINATRA, LEE HAZELWOOD, AND MIMI FARINA - A THEATER OF DREAM LOGIC, PAIRING TUNES WHICH CONNECT THE DOTS OF POPULAR MUSIC - DOUBLE DOWN!
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome back for more
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Let’s talk about dreams….
Dreams can be intoxicatingly erotic; they can be filled with loss and longing; you might be falling, trapped in an confusing maze, or carried across bodies of water in a leaky boat. I often have the actor’s nightmare - where I’m about to go onstage, but I don’t know my lines and I don’t even know which play it is. These are dreams from which I wake up in a cold sweat.
SUMMER WINE by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood (Reprise, 1966)
A Succubus is defined as a female demon or supernatural entity that appears in dreams to seduce men. This is probably what singer-songwriter-producer Lee Hazelwood had in mind when he paired up with the husky voiced Nancy Sinatra to tell the story of a cowboy who swaggers into town, and meets an alluring siren, who then invites him to spend the night partaking of her special home-made brew. He drinks too much of the elixir and wakes up the next morning alone, hungover, and without his silver spurs. This might have been a cautionary tale, but the smitten cowboy is left craving more of the same.
Understandable. Nancy had seduced us all with These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ and Sugar Town, and was at the peak of her magnetic powers. Teaming up with Lee was a smart move, too, because this Svengali was an American original; an independently minded auteur, with an irresistible basso, who, with his muse, went on to create many evocative and enduring tracks before going their separate ways.
The structure of the song is simple: Nancy sings only the recurring chorus describing her recipe: “Strawberries, Cherries, and an Angel’s kiss in spring…” This plays like an ear worm, stuck in the cowboy’s head as he relates his mysterious tale of submission.
HOW CAN WE HANG ON TO A DREAM by Mimi Farina (Philo, 1985)
Mimi Farina became a widow at age 21. The younger sister of Joan Baez, who was one half of an anointed, royal duo of folk music, was left bereft when Richard Farina, her husband and partner, rode his motorcycle into oblivion.
After casting about for years, trying to find her civic, and artistic footing (forming the charitable performing organization, Bread and Roses - and, even trying improv comedy) - she finally emerged in 1985, stronger and more confident at the age of 40, with a beautiful solo effort. Here she interprets the Tim Hardin composition HOW CAN WE HANG ON TO A DREAM? - which delicately puts all her trials into perspective.
Mimi died of cancer in 2001, leaving behind a legacy of fragile, dream-like beauty and wonder.
It seems that some people are too good for this world. I’m reminded of Richard and Mimi’s anthemic PACK UP YOUR SORROWS…”If somehow you could pack up your sorrows, and give them all to me….you would lose them, I know how to use them, give them all to me.”
Mimi did just that for us.
