a lot of words and some of you will think it's a lot of words on
a lot of words and some of you will think it's a lot of words on
Well, time to post. after a few days of interesting materials and queries, some ramblings crossed my head space and i must first make sure that all musicians are credited/paid in this posting and make sure i know how i got that tape, is it a bootleg, was somebody paid, okay all straight it's festival time it seems and all sorts of folks are out, festivals are free of course but there is a pecking order and say how do you get to be a v.i.p. and sit up front by the stage? that's where the critics go i guess, mostly middle aged white cats who have the pallor of indoor hobbyists, i.e. they'll shrivel like slugs in too much sun and really are festivals any way to hear music? i know the oldsters who remember the glory days of Newport may think so and even i displaced exchicagoan remember the early days of the Chicago jazz fest, when things were somewhat intimate, no corporate sponsors nor beer/food/tshirt vendors everywhere. people seemed to be friendlier, oh that was a different america. you could actually see/hear the music back then. Now, the stages are put really close to each other for maximum unenjoyment and how can you hope to enjoy a piano trio in an outdoor space? And who does the hiring at festivals, you would think somehow someone somewhere would think to hire experienced sound people, not the nephew of the cousin of the sister of the next door neighbor of the city councilman. SO what does all this have to do with Ra? (is anyone upset yet) well, what is the arlestra is coming to ford detroit fest and then cleveland this holiday weekend and so there is joy in the air over that. and ann arbor/detroit was the scene of many great shows over the years, so a lot of the fans will gather and there are new old releases out and inquiries on the list re the new old releases: NOW here's my thoughts on that. (bet you're tired of reading this. annoyed yet?) having the original of nuclear war, and not the reissue can't compare sound quality, but i never thought saturns, el saturns, etc. were notable for sound quality as per audiophile terms, but rather for the SOUND of the music. (hey congrats to brave souls who played nuclear war on their radio shows before previewing. Nothing like a few mfer's going out on the airwaves to solidify your position as a dj.) And lately i have been listening to Lanquidity. having both lp and cd made me ponder do i need both and thus listened to cd all around the house. It's great and not just for sampling riffs. and guitar made me go listen to GeorgeClintonFunkadelicparliment stuff. Years ago a put a lot of records on cassette tapes and sold the records(Ohoh, shouldn't have said that, "usual state of being" may be after me, the musicians didn't get any money when i sold the records. ohmegod, i am a cultural cretin and a musical parasite). well, cassettes ain't always the best way to listen and wish i had a lot of the records back, I digress, Like this one, who remembers the great Eddie Hazell record, Dames, games and guitar things, or maybe it was games, dames and guitar things. really great playing and listening to both made me feel that ra and his players had a great bond with the George(not bill) Clinton mob. Ra was perhaps not trying to be funky, he is/was didn't have to try, to sell records, for him, funk was the next progression. on Lanquidity the guitar man, discoKid? forgot player and cd is not close at hand, was reall appropriate to the sound desired. AND HEY, who hated the funky Ra? c'mon admit it. No everybody was hip to electirc miles, farout coltrane even bebop at first hearing. Me, I loved live Ra ogan frenzies, but hiroshima and other excursions released on saturn lps are a bit much and even wearying to my ears at times. New thought: perhaps ra was using the guitar as a therimin source, people have been discussing the theremin (msp) recently. To my ears, which admittedly are bad, guitar and the therimin have at times similar tones.
WELL, i think i am done. (bet if you got this far you're glad) Oh, if you care to respond, don't attach all this verbiage to your response, then we'll get everybody upset, especially those who get the list in digest form. and make sure you
be at peace,
lenni