A BAT in the Cave

"You are the best. You are the worst. You are average. 

Your love is a part of you. 

You try to give it away because you cannot bear its radiance, but you cannot separate it 

from yourself. 

To understand your fellow humans, you must understand why 

you give them your love. 

You must realize that hate is but a crime-ridden subdivision of love. 

You must reclaim what YOU never lost. 

You must take leave of your sanity, and yet be fully responsible for your actions." 

-Gnarls Barkley, in a letter to the legendary rock critic Lester Bangs

For your musical pleasure...Gnarls Barkley The Odd Couple "Would Be Killer"

The photo above is a picture that I took on my mom's phone this afternoon as we were running errands.  She noticed this fabulous gargoyle on the side of someone's chimney.  At first, she thought it was two gargoyles, but as we are going back to ONE right now, we quickly realized that it is in fact a single gargoyle that is holding his mask and showing his demon side.  

Just something to think about . . . we should all be more aware of the masks we wear that we "keep in a jar by the door". (Bonus points if you can NAME THAT TUNE!!!)

I personally would like my masks to look the same as what's underneath.  I'm sure everyone in their soul of souls wants that as well, except we live in this crazy society where everyone is so political and angry and it's really gotten so frightening to live in a world where all we can do is fight over power.

Power. What IS power?  Is power respect?  Do you deserve respect?  I think you do because I think I deserve respect too.  Didn't we all learn some version of the "Golden Rule" when we were growing up?? Perhaps I should have been on the short bus the whole time that I was in school because it has taken me a really long time to stop caring so much what others think about me.  I'm still working on that.  Daily.

At this particular junction in the progression of the adventures in becoming a New Orleanian, I have to say that Lady Nola knows her stuff.  She's rough and tumble and that's how I like things.  I grew up with two brothers - what do you expect??  What's even better (sometimes worse...) about her is that she has this sassy, swingy way in which she woos you to come in and sit a while.  Linger a little longer...

So I'm lingering.  I'm taking things slowly.  And that's a really good tempo for me right now. 

I think a Hubig's Pie sounds good right now....

Not Fade Away

Hit Play, Then Read!

May 29, 1957 was my dad's 10th birthday, and I believe he was living in Tahoka, Texas on a dry land cotton farm.  He was picking cotton on that day, probably.  I don't think they got the day off for their birthday, but you'd have to ask him.

Anyway, the point is, my 10 year old dad, living in Tahoka,  TX, was 33 miles away from where Buddy Holly grew up.  On my dad's birthday in 1957, while he was picking cotton in Tahoka, TX, Buddy Holly and his band members recorded "Not Fade Away" in a recording studio in Clovis, New Mexico.  Holly had already recorded "That'll Be The Day" in February of that year.  According to the Buddy Holly Center, Holly wasn't allowed to use any of the songs he had recorded under his contract with Decca and needed a new name so they could release the new song, "Not Fade Away".  That's when they became Buddy Holly and The Crickets.  Instrumentation used in the recording included a cardboard box, knee slaps, and a celeste.

The version above, Florence & The Machine's, was recorded here in New Orleans while in town for her appearance at VooDoo Fest in 2010.  Instrumentation used in the recording include a brass band, tuba goodness, and some MoJo soul thrown in.  This track is part of the compilation cover album "Rave On Buddy Holly", which will be released on June 28.  You can have a listen to all the tracks on the cd at NPR's Website.

It's funny to me that Buddy Holly recorded a song called "Not Fade Away" 54 years ago and that song has spanned the musical globe ever since.  "Not Fade Away" has been recorded by The Rolling Stones (1964), The Byrds (1965), Rush (1973), Bruce Springsteen (1978), and The Grateful Dead recorded the song and performed it over 530 times during their touring days.  Numerous other artists have covered this song, as it is a classic.  Without Buddy and his Crickets, there would have been no Beatles and there would have been no Stones.  There is even a version of "Not Fade Away" on YouTube that features Bob Livingston performing the song in different countries all over the globe.

So, even though Buddy passed too soon at the age of 22, he has definitely not faded away.  I doubt Buddy Holly, who grew up 33 miles away from my dad, would have thought his music would still be influencing others half a century later.  I don't know about you, but I grew up knowing all of Buddy Holly's songs.  It was just part of growing up in West Texas - you knew who Buddy Holly was and where he came from.

I actually ended up in Lubbock, TX for my undergraduate degree.  Home of Buddy Holly.  He's kind of in my bones like New Orleans is in my bones, if you really think about it.  Now, Florence and The Machine has recorded the same song, in the same town in which I reside.  Coincidence?  Maybe Buddy is stalking me from the grave...