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" - TO BE OR NOT TO BE? A QUESTION FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON, POSED BY NICK DRAKE AND WILL OLDHAM. DOUBLE DOWN!!
As the holidays roll around, and daylight retracts, the thoughts also cloud over to infuse the mind with a grayish motif. We’re encouraged to gather our loved ones close and practice gratitude for life’s bounty. But, what if life’s gifts have been obscured by the overwhelming influence of a mortal depression, a reflection of the disconnect between what we see around us - (disease, deprivation, tyranny, man’s inhumanity to man, etc.) - and, the opposing commercial messages which exhort us to joyfully consume?
Is this dark attitude the result of an imbalance of chemicals in the brain which can be easily adjusted by the ingestion of a pill? Or, is the undertow into hopelessness something more fundamental - an irreconcilable part of our genetic makeup - a part of life we just have to stoically accept and get on with?
Great artists reckon with these impulses by creating profound music. Today we celebrate two of the most striking practitioners of this heroic enterprise: Will Oldham and Nick Drake.
WILL OLDHAM
I See a Darkness is a masterpiece of simple straight talk about the things most of us never say. It expresses an honest representation of the apprehension that a sensitive soul feels, yet mostly keeps to themself about the inevitability of the abyss. Death walks beside us at all times, and, it helps to staunch the bleeding of fear by keeping our blindfolds on. But, sometimes, there is an urgency to share these thoughts with a friend or a counselor, and the monologue of this song invites us into that private conversation. It packs an overwhelming punch. Johnny Cash also interpreted this song near the end of his life as everything in his being boiled down to the basics.
Bonnie Prince Billy, aka Will Oldham is a DIY, Kentucky based actor-musician with a diverse resume, featuring projects with many collaborators. He’s a married man with a child, and perhaps all this inter-activity has grounded him and kept him productive. This makes sense - there is raw boned sense of the practical inherent in his style that complements the mystical.
NICK DRAKE
The doomed, etherial Nick Drake was not so lucky. He stood apart, and was other-worldly from the beginning, always uncomfortable in his own skin. His recorded output was sparse, and number of his performances minimal, yet profound in their influence. Dead at 26 from an overdose of antidepressants, Nick didn’t live long enough to see the reach that resonates with his work today, 50 years after his passing.
River Man, in 5/4 time plucked on a nylon string guitar, abetted by a serene string arrangement by Harry Robertson, is a mysterious descent into the deep waters of associative imagery. Nothing is overtly stated, but the character of Betty and the narrator going to see the River Man who has the answer to the meaning of life puts me in mind of the Millais’ painting of drowned Ophelia, floating in the river, surrounded by flowers. At peace at last.
