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Odds & Ends: News/Humor (with a "Who Lost the Week?" poll) [1]

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Date: 2023-01-22

1965 pamphlet by preacher (now 86 y/o) .... hypnotism, huh?

I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".

OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.

CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM, our Laramie, Wyoming-based friend Irish Patti and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.

ART NOTES — an exhibition entitled Monet and Friends Alive — part of the recent trend of immersive displays, with works of Monet, Pissarro, Renoir and Cézanne (and set to music) — is at the Indianapolis Museum of Art to May 28th.

Indianapolis, Indiana through the end of May

2023 CALENDAR NOTES — one calendar (which is downloadable) is from the US Army Corp of Engineers — in which each monthly image shows a giant cat lounging on or attacking equipment or a key piece of infrastructure (reservoirs, bridges, etc.) — which a reviewer at CNET declares So Bad ... It's Brilliant.

I would be remiss if I forgot to include my annual recommendation of the 2023 Conservative Women’s Calendar from the Clare Booth Luce Center — (one for $5, four for $14 !!!) — although there is no preview of the names (perhaps nervous about including MTG or the 546-vote representative from Colorado)?

THURSDAY's CHILD is named Mr. Jingles the Cat — who was found wandering in the London Underground, now adapting well to the family who adopted him.

Mr. Jingles the Cat

x FDR's views on Major League Baseball during World War II, today 1942: pic.twitter.com/iEixvoXHjS — Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) January 15, 2023

FRIDAY's CHILDREN are named Shadow the Cat and Sassy the Dog — a bonded pair found by a Michigan shelter (along with a male dog) living for some time in a field that, if unclaimed, will require the two inseparables be adopted together.

Shadow the Cat and Sassy the Dog

BRAIN TEASER — try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC ...… and the usually easier, less UK-centered New York Times quiz.

SEPARATED at BIRTH — Academy Award winner and political activist Patty Duke and Fleetwood Mac musician Stevie Nicks.

Patty Duke (1946-2016)

Stevie Nicks (born 1948)

..... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… last month (in noting the death of Christine McVie) I made mention of the transitional period of Fleetwood Mac — which I often refer to as the “Middle Mac”. Since this period of the band is not well-known, it might do well to highlight this period (from the spring of 1970 to the end of 1974).

The band originated in 1967 with three members of John Mayall’s blues band: guitarist Peter Green and the rhythm section of drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie — who provided the band’s name and are the only two constant members. Of Peter Green, BB King famously commented that Green was “the only living guitarist to make me sweat. He had the sweetest tone I’ve ever heard”.

Over a three-year period, they issued several excellent blues-rock albums: stars in their native Britain, a growing audience in the US (appearing on Playboy After Dark, even). By the dawn of 1970, they had two additional guitarists: Jeremy Spencer (an adept slide-guitarist) and Danny Kirwan, who could rock-out quite well yet had a gift for slow instrumentals.

Peter Green suffered from many ailments and emotional issues, leaving the band in the spring of 1970. For-the-life-of-me, I cannot find a profile of him by myself (perhaps a future topic). For now: his departure led to a change in the band.

In the interim, an excellent blues singer in Britain was making-a-name-for-herself. Christine Perfect (yes, her family name) was the lead singer of Stan Webb’s Chicken Shack blues band (which exists today) with a stirring rendition of the Etta James tune I’d Rather Go Blind. She married John McVie in 1969 and — while their marriage did not survive — became an integral part of the band in time.

The first Middle Mac album was late 1970’s Kiln House — on which Christine was an (un-credited) accompanist and did the artwork for the album.

Released Sept, 1970 — #39 UK, #69 US

The album featured some straight-ahead tunes such as Jeweled-Eyed Judy and Station Man — and continued the band’s trend away from pure blues, though it still had an undercurrent of it. It was the last album for Jeremy Spencer, who left music to join a religious cult, though has begun performing in more recent years.

1971’s Future Games saw Christine McVie join as a formal member, as well as the first American member, guitarist Bob Welch (who was hired solely on the basis of hearing a tape, not an audition) to replace Spencer. These two moves led the band further away from blues into what would be their later sound, though with another Kirwan guitar classic Woman of 1,000 Years.

1972’s Bare Trees is the last album with Danny Kirwan (and is why I like the following three albums less) though he goes out with several nice songs, including the gentle Dust and Sunny Side of Heaven — yet with the rocking Child of Mine. Christine McVie’s Spare a Little of Your Love points to the future sound of the band, while Bob Welch contributes a song that went unnoticed .. until he recorded it five years later as a solo artist, Sentimental Lady (reaching #8 in the charts).

1973’s Penguin (John McVie’s fascination with the flightless bird) features two new members: vocalist Dave Walker (ex-Savoy Brown) who only lasted one album and guitarist Bob Weston (ex-Long John Baldry) to replace Kirwan, who had a falling-out with the band, in addition to substance abuse (and who died in 2018). It showcased Christine McVie’s Did You Ever Love Me (with steel drums) and Bob Welch’s Bright Fire pointed towards the future Fleetwood Mac.

A late 1973 release was Mystery to Me — with Bob Welch’s Hypnotized garnering some play on album-oriented stations and Christine McVie’s Why — a more rocking song from her during this period.

Bob Weston was fired from the band for having an affair with Mick Fleetwood’s wife, emblematic of the band’s interpersonal relationships (and Weston died in 2012). In addition, the band temporarily split, leading to lawsuits .. that led Bob Welch to recommend the band re-settle in the US (which Mick Fleetwood has said was the best part of the chaos that arose) until Bill Graham convinced their record label to back Welch, Fleetwood and the McVies.

Heroes are Hard to Find was the final album in this series, which relied on songs exclusively from Christine McVie (Prove Your Love) and Bob Welch (She’s Changing Me). Welch felt burnout from the intervening years and left for a solo career that had some success for a number of years, yet did not endure. The band replaced him with the Buckingham-Nicks duo … and gained superstardom that I don’t care for, yet I do not begrudge them anything … for the 1967-73 music they gave to me.

When the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, the official inductees were the five original members plus Christine McVie, Buckingham & Nicks (quite apropos) … yet no one only in the Middle Mac. Though he was a (distant) fourth in my favorite guitarists of the band, I felt Bob Welch merited inclusion — and Mick Fleetwood has said that was not the decision of the band, but instead of the committee (probably not liking his solo work, which I didn’t care for, either). Bob Welch, sadly, took his own life in 2012. Two songs to highlight:

The first is Danny Kirwan’s instrumental Earl Gray from the Kiln House album.

The other: Christine McVie’s ballad from Future Games, Show Me a Smile.

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