Aahh! So much to do, and I wasted away my morning in a boring safety class and whiled away the time by thinking about my may midtown monthly/japan-themed article and now my head is swimming with ideas and my belly is swimming with June's curry! I have been craving Japanese curry since we got back (alas, I dont' think anyone makes the delicious rolls with curry baked inside that we had there, which June says are her favorite) and I think June is the only one that makes it. Does anyone know anything different? Turns out June is from right near Kamakura, the beach town with the giant buddha (pictured) that L and A took me and GW to while we were there. Small world indeed. I told June she should start serving omurice and her husband said she makes it at home but she didn't seem interested in making it for the cafe. I think it would catch on.
Oh yeah, the thing with Joe Boyd was really rad, that guy is like the Zelig of rock music, he's been there for it all. He was the sound guy at the famous Dylan goes electric moment and was the one that Pete Seeger was entreating to turn it down while Seeger's wife cried (what a wuss!). If you missed it, you should still buy his book, it promises to be great. There's a quote from Brian Eno on the front calling it the best rock book he's read in years so what more do you need? The new Time Tested space is amazing and I especially love the giant KZAP advertisement. My dad used to have a KZAP cat sticker on our Nova way back.
Yeah, Joe Boyd was great. I'm gonna have to go buy that book, unless somebody gets it for me for my birthday, because I didn't want to stand in line last night as I had a piece I had to finish writing. But listening to Boyd talk was a first-rate evening of rock arcana. Just for producing those beautiful Nick Drake records (my fave winter Sacto bicycling music) got me down there. And that story about how Dick Clark got set up to be the well-scrubbed caucasian gatekeeper of rock'n'roll was topnotch.
ReplyDeleteGlad to finally meet you, too.
Plum Blossom on j/18 has those curry rolls; other flavors too. you've gotta get there early in the afternoon though, 'cause they sell out.
ReplyDelete-lily
crap, now i HAVE to eat something from plum blossom. thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeleteI'm already 50 pages or so into the Boyd book-- good stuff!
ReplyDeleteand RE: Mrs Pete Seeger the wuss...
heard Boyd on Fresh Air this morning and they played the live version of 'Maggie's Farm' (the set opener) from Newport-- it pretty much sucked. Dylan's delivery sounded forced, plus there was some really loud super annoying bongo-sounding drum that was really loud in the mix... sorry Joe Boyd, your sound mix didn't cut it. If i'd been expecting 'Freewheeling Bob Dylan' and got that version of Maggie's Farm I'da gried too.
hmmm...I thought there was footage from that in the Scorcese doc and I remember it being badass, maybe that was a different concert, though, like and English one when all the folkies were pissed.
ReplyDeleteJoe Boyd!Joe Boyd!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could have asked him some Incredible String Band questions.
I get Joe Boyd and Joe Wood mixed up.
-heckamax
All I gotta say is I`m Otaku For Curry Pan...105 yen at most combini`s!!! Yasui Desu Yo!!!
ReplyDeleteJay
Kumamoto Bike Gang Called "Carp Herpes" story..
ReplyDeletehttp://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070321p2a00m0na017000c.html
It usually will say the page is old..But go to the main page and find the story..
What a crazy name for a bike gang.So the leader tried to mow down a kid.Hell--They`ll try to mow down anybody..
Hey Heckasac--
Did ya see any Yankees???Check out Kishidan.They`re the best japanese Yankee band ever...
I wanted to ask him about the String Band too! It seems like there would be some funny stories. But I guess the totally random question about Fred Neil won out. I'd like to propose an Incredible String Band listening party. All the records, in order, see how much we can take. Maxwell, I know you're in.
ReplyDelete-miller
speaking of june's, she's going to japan for a month on wednesday, so go eat there now! her business has been really slow and there's no excuse for that!
ReplyDeleteYeah, that random comment was from a record collector-dealer named Jeff Hughson. Fred Neil? I wonder if he asks that one every time he goes to a book signing? "Mr. Greenspan, in all your years as an economic advisor, did you ever happen to meet Fred Neil? Did you listen to any Fred Neil records when you were formulating your economic recovery plans? And could you give us your of Fred Neil's oeuvre, and where you think he stands in the pantheon of songwriting greats?
ReplyDeleteJeez.
Scott, I wish you'd asked that Incredible String Band question, too. Or I wish somebody would have.
Incredible String Band Party!!
ReplyDeleteI have most of the albums -- I don't own the first or "U". The party should also have lots of crafts and we should dress like we are on the cover of "Hangman's...". I know a certain Armenian who would be down. Somehow I feel this is up Jed's alley too.
-heckamax
I went up Jed's alley once, it's an experience I'll never forget. I'll come to the party as long as I can dress like a hippie and have hippie hair (bet you didn't know it's a wig). If that's not possible then I'll be sulking out back...in Jed's alley
ReplyDeleteI got "U" covered, Maxwell. And the 1971 Mike Heron solo record which is more rockin & has John Cale & the Who (under the pseudonym "Tommy & The Bijoux") on it but isn't as good as that makes it sound. I propse speaking like the String band as well which will include many "oohh my!" exclamations among other things. So what's the best String Band record? I say "5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion".
ReplyDeletemiller
OK, I don't have "The Big Huge" which is weird because in their discography, it's listed as "Wee Tam & The Big Huge" & it's a double record but I have just a single record of Wee Tam. No damn Big Huge to be found. I don't have Earthspan, Seasons they Change or No Ruinous Feud either. Or the first one. God, those dudes made a lot of records!! String Band party!
ReplyDelete-miller
Well, its a toss up between that or "The HangMan's Beautiful Daughter" although I love me some "Wee Tam". Did I mention that I own the Incredible String Band Movie?
ReplyDeleteAlso, today I am lending the above mentioned albums to my Math teacher bro who has never heard ISB. ISB fever.
-Heckamax
Poor Jed. I know where his alley is, too. Its near Wu and Natalie and Jay's.
You have the movie?! Is it called "Be Happy For The Song has No Ending"? I have a soundtrack with that title. Maxwell, I had no idea. Also, good is "I Looked Up".
ReplyDelete-miller
That's the movie, dawg (In Sean Connery voice). We should watch it!
ReplyDelete-heckamax
That's curious that you should bring up Jed's Alley because that's the name of the new restaurant Randy Paragary approached me about a few months ago. Jed's Alley will open next fall by the Towers. It will be Kazakgascaran-El Sobrante traditional fusion. You would be surprised at how well Central Asian and Okie flavors blend. And, of course, Incredible String Band on the house speakers. Make your reservations now!
ReplyDeleteJed
I can't think of a good time to watch it. Oh wait, how about at THE STRING BAND PARTY!!!!
ReplyDelete-miller
let me offer a slogan: taste jed's alley again for the first time
ReplyDeleteJed's Alley, Rock, Life.
ReplyDelete-miller
News flash!!
ReplyDeleteJoe Boyd said ISB's Licorice is believed to be dead, however, her last contact with the world a letter post marked from, you guessed it, Sacramento, California.
I think she's around.
-heckamax
No way! Liquorice come home!!
ReplyDeleteShe's name-checkedin a Bright Ideas song, by the way.
-miller
What?! You name checked Licorice? Sacramento's one and only?
ReplyDeleteWould you mind quoting yourself?
-heckamax
It's from our Christmas novelty cassingle "All I Want For Christmas Is A Mellow Hippie Girlfriend". There's actually two ISB references - I think I'd just gotten in to them.
ReplyDeleteTo quote myself:
"She's psyched on Laura Nyro, Joni Mitchell and The String Band"
and
"She's got a mello hippie first name, maybe Liquorice or Heaven"
Thank god only Maxwell is reading this!!
Secret Blog!!
-miller
Secret Blog!!!
ReplyDeleteWhen is the Cassingle and Loving It Smashing Times gonna come out? Would this song be on it? I certainly hope so!!
Can I make a "work out" Smashing Times -- songs to lift weights to?It would feature The Cult and U2 among others.
Secret Blogggggggggggggggg.
-heckamax
I already made a "work-out" Smashing Times. I hope you like "Working Out With Weights" on repeat! A Cassingle Smashing Times is a good idea, though the hippie girlfriend song wasn't technically a cassingle (a cassingle label called Popgun put that out).
ReplyDeleteNew SEEEEEEEECRET Blog!
-miller
Dude!!
ReplyDeletecan I get a copy of the "Working Out With Weights" Smashing Times!
I need to work out with weights while listening to "Working Out With Weights".
-heckamax
I think we can work something out.
ReplyDelete-miller
Work something out with weights?
ReplyDeleteDoes Smashing Times have a Myspace? Why not, dawg?
I've been fantasizing that the "bird lady" or the "walking around by Simon's talking to myself lady" have Scottish accents. Why? Because its Licorice, of course!! And then Mojo writes an article about how I found her.
-heckamax
Now I've got "Working Something Out With Weights" stuck in my head! Of course that's Liquorice - she's been right under our noses the whole time! We have to rope her in to band - we'll be freakier than all the freak folk bands put together. "Where's Devendra?" "Liquorice freaked him out & he split man!". Maybe when I finally get internet at my house I'll discover MySpace. Just wait, Steve will have a MySpace, my bathroom towel will have a MySpace, the free box will have a MySpace....
ReplyDeleteWorking Something Out With Weights,
-miller
Oh man Oh Man oh Man
ReplyDeleteThe free Box has got to have a Myspace!!! The "bird lady" has got to be Licorce (sp)! After reading the Joe Boyd book, I wish I could ask him more about Anne Briggs, Vashti, and Incredible String Band.
Question: "Who was finer? Anne Briggs or Vashti?"
-heckamax
Tough call but I'm going with Anne Briggs. But if Anne Briggs was all, "Scott, I love you but I need to go wander through the countryside alone for 6 months" and Vashti was all "join me on my cross country trek to Donovan's commune", I wouldn't be bummed. Do you have The Time Has Come by Anne Briggs? I always push it on people but it's so good! An emergency burn can be arranged.
ReplyDeleteThe free box has 3 new friends. A striped shirt that didn't fit right, some shoes that looked better in the thrift store than on, and some crazy 70's gown.
-miller
Secret Bro On the Secret Blog,
ReplyDeleteDude, I have Anne Briggs! You already burned it for me!! Boyd said that she returned in the 90's her powers intact. True?
By the way, that striped shirt has my name on it. Maybe the shoes.
-heckamax
I read that part in the book but that's the first I've heard of her ever coming out of retirement. She's supposedly completely against it. I figure, with Devendra coaxing every old folkie out of retirement, that she HAD to have been approached - she's the freakin' queen! Her legend has it that she ONLY came out of retirement once - to sing at A.L. Lloyd's funeral. I wondered if J.B. put that bit in there more for effect. Come back Joe Boyd! So many questions. Hard hitting questions such as "that crazy lady with the bird over there is Liquorice, right??!"
ReplyDeleteAs Heckasac proper sits dormant, the SEEEEECRET BLOG thrives!!
Joe Boyd come baaaaaaaaaack!!
ReplyDeleteOkay Miller, who is the freakiest of the freak folk? I'm talking past and present. You know what? F -it, I love freak folk!
1. International String Band
2. Devendra (just because)
3. Animal Collective
4. John the Baptist
5. Vashti Bunyan
6. The Bird Lady aka Licorice
Am I wrong?
Am
Hmmm, the freakiest of the freak folks? Well, Judee Sill FREAKS me out the most - does she fall under the wide umbrella of freak folk? Is it too good to be true to have the String Band party on 4/20??
ReplyDeletemiller
Freak Folk!!!
ReplyDeleteJudee Sill -- pretty freaky, pretty folky. The ISB party keeps getting delayed but I swear it'll happen. I want a schedule that will include arts and crafts a screening of the Hobbit animated movie that syncs perfectly with Wee Tam and the Big Huge.
-Al