.
Welcome back, my friends, to the "Battle" that never ends.
We're so glad you could attend. Come inside! Come inside!
.
This is 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS' ('BOTB') where you listen to different recordings and vote for the one you like best. A new Battle gets posted on the 1st of each month and on the 7th, I place my own vote, tally 'em all up and announce the winner.
.
Friend? Foe? Stranger? No matter, ALL are welcome. So pull up a chair, pour yourself 24 oz. of DOG BITE High Gravity Lager (or the poison of your choice) and turn it up to Eleven!
.
[NOTE: Links to the first year of 'BOTB' (#1 - #24) can be found at the very bottom of this page.]

Sunday, April 15, 2018

2018, APRIL 15: BATTLE OF THE BANDS (Or, PIONEER CHICKEN VS. GOLD CUP COFFEE)

.
Republican Vs. Democrat, Male Vs. Female, War Vs. Peace, Light Vs. Dark, Good Vs. Evil, Man Vs. Machine, Love Vs. Hate, Dog Vs. Cat, Sun Vs. Moon, Brain Vs. Brawn, Oscar Vs. Grammy, Angel Vs. Demon, Laurel Vs. Hardy, Beer Vs. Wine, TV Vs. Radio, Pitcher Vs. Batter, Paper Vs. Plastic, Reality Vs. Fantasy, Yeshua Vs. Beelzebub, Rock Vs. Paper Vs. Scissors, Islam Vs. Everything, Singer Vs. Singer, Band Vs. Band...
.
'BATTLE OF THE BANDS' ('BOTB')
.
Yes, it's time once again for 'BOTB' and another installment in the "Battle For Los Angeles" category.
.
.
Alright, let's get on it. Let's get ON this thing!...
.
When the city of Los Angeles comes to mind, most folks probably think first of Hollywood -- maybe the movie studios, or the famous Sunset Strip, or the intersection of Hollywood & Vine and the hand / footprints of legendary stars at the Chinese Theatre. Others might first think of the warm, sunny skies and "The Beautiful People" on the beaches in Malibu, Venice or Santa Monica. 
.
For the majority of folks, the thought of L.A.'s seedy underbelly -- the hustlers, the prostitutes, the grime 'n' crime -- are probably just afterthoughts, if they are thought of at all.
.
Circa 1982, a buddy and I drank Jack Daniel's whiskey one night while hanging on the letter "H" of the Hollywood sign. But that's a story for another BOTB installment. 
.
Studying to become an actor, I spent a lot of time humanity-watching in different parts of L.A. The city has many moods and many types of people, and I liked to immerse myself in them and interact with them. 
.
Echo Park and Hollywood Boulevard (both of them pretty grungy and edgy in the 1970s and early '80s) are just two of the places I used to spend days blending into the background to observe people. 
.
Today's Battle looks at the sketchy side of L.A. life. The first song is from the point-of-view of a writer-wannabe with a drug problem and living in Echo Park. (Fun Fact #1: My parents' first residence as newlyweds in '58 was in Echo Park. The stork brought me the next year and they moved to an apartment in Santa Monica.) And the second contender is singing about the raunchy life of runaway teens hustling on dirty, dangerous Hollywood Boulevard. (Fun Fact #2: The second artist actually produced the song by the first artist.) 
.
Warren Zevon's eponymous 1976 album was produced by Jackson Browne and it contained 'Poor, Poor Pitiful Me'. Linda Ronstadt's cover of that song became a Top 40 hit for her. But the ninth track on that LP was a ballad titled 'Carmelita'. It was about a drug-addicted writer listening to a Mexican radio station from Echo Park in L.A. and it mentioned a "Pioneer Chicken Stand" on Alvarado Street. (In the 1970s and early '80s, Pioneer was Kentucky Fried Chicken's biggest competitor in the L.A. area. My family got the Pioneer take-out pretty often because it was cheaper than KFC.)
.
Let's listen in...
.
'CARMELITA' by Warren Zevon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeb0OI8wXN4

.
Interestingly, in the old photo below of Hollywood Boulevard, there is a white Pioneer Chicken fast food sign at the right edge. On the left, The Gold Cup coffee shop sign dominates the photo.
.
Ironically, The Gold Cup plays a part in our next competitor's song...
.
"The Gold Cup" at extreme left.  "Pioneer Chicken" at extreme right.
.
If there truly is a "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams", it's Hollywood Boulevard. (I'd almost chuckle to think of the disappointment people must have felt after traveling across the country to stand at the world-famous intersection of Hollywood & Vine. That dirty little corner swarming with winos, druggies and prostitutes must have been one of the world's all-time greatest let-downs! Ha!!)
.
In 1980, 'Boulevard' became one of Jackson Browne's biggest hits. Wackypedia sez:
.
Browne said in a radio interview: "It's about runaways, and, you know... as sort of a bystander, it's about Hollywood Boulevard. I used to live right above Hollywood Boulevard, and there's a place called The Gold Cup and there's a lot of runaway kids and there's a lot of teen prostitution around there. It was partly written from the point of view of a young person on that street ...  You're sort of, maybe, empathizing with them to some degree, and also trying to say 'it's only time.' It's time on the boulevard, but this doesn't mean this is who you are and where you'll always be, I guess was what I was trying to say..."
.
From my old days of hanging out people-watching on Hollywood Boulevard, I vividly remember The Gold Cup (Browne refers to it as "the Golden Cup" in the song), and indeed there were always lots of teenage street urchins in and around that coffee shop.
.

'BOULEVARD' by Jackson Browne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajnjhU4CAUw&t=16s
.
The Battle Within The Battle:
.
.
VERSUS
.
.
Question: "Will Warren Zevon lose to Jackson Browne?"
.
The Magic 8-Ball (1-0) sez:  "Don't Count On It"
.
The Amazing Sixwell (0-1) sez:  "Most Likely"
.
Alright now, “you know the gig”... I welcome you (whether I know "you" or not) to vote for your favorite of these songs in the comment section below. And feel free to tell us WHY you chose one song over the other. 
.
After voting here, I suggest - actually I insist - you pop over to the blogs of the other 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS' participants to see which songs they have chosen and vote there also.
.
Vote your vice... Vice your voice... Voice Your Vote...
.
@ ‘TOSSING IT OUT’ by clicking HERE.
@ 'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS' by clicking HERE.
@ 'CURIOUS AS A CATHY' by clicking HERE.
@ 'THE SOUND OF ONE HAND TYPING' by clicking HERE
@ 'JINGLE JANGLE JUNGLE' by clicking HERE.
@ 'CHERDO ON THE FLIPSIDE' by clicking HERE.
.
As I've done in the past, I will continue to return to my 'BOTB' blog bits on the 7th and 21st of each month to post my own votes and announce the winners in the comment sections.
.
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
.

54 comments:

  1. I've never been much of a Zevon fan--not that he's not good, but he just never tapped into my sense of musical appreciation. I much prefer Browne's music even though he himself is a political wacko. Between the two songs here Zevon doesn't win me over.

    I'm going to go along with the crowd on this one (I'm assuming Sixwell will be right on this one) and cast my vote to the musically more appealing Jackson Browne.


    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out / Battle of the Bands

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LEE, it's a good thing we don't take politics into consideration much in BOTB or else there might not be any BOTB at all, eh? Ha!

      I think this Battle could swing either way. It should be a pretty close one. I just hope it's not SO CLOSE that it turns into another Tie. I had two BOTB Ties in a row once, and I don't EVER want a repeat of THAT. What a waste o' time.

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends

      Delete
  2. People wanted to go to that intersection still thinking it was 1920. I love looking aT old Hollywood pictures when it was a sleepy village with orange groves. The second song I know very well, it is a good song by I am voting for Warren Zevon because I love the Spanish influence in the song and it is relaxing and..pretty if I can say that. So...while you and your friend we’re hanging off the H part of the sign drinking whiskey, did ya see the ghost of good ole Peg Entwhistle?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I think you're right, BIRGIT. People go to Hollywood & Vine believing it's like the old times and that they might see movie stars just walking down the sidewalk. GOL!

      I don't know what Hollywood & Vine looks like today, but back when I could be found hanging out in the area, a movie star walking down the street would have probably been mugged faster'n you could say, "Gimme yer money, big movie star!"

      Ha! I've actually been up to the Hollywood sign many, many times. I used to like taking friends up there with me at night. In fact, that's where I was at midnight when 1979 turned into 1980.

      You had to know how to get up there because there's a lot of narrow, winding little roads that climb that mountainside. It's not like one can just get into a car and drive directly to the Hollywood sign. In fact, even if you know where you're going, you can only drive just so far, and then you have to park the car and start hiking around the backside of the mountain to get to the sign. (I hear they've got it all fenced off with hidden motion detectors all over the place nowadays.)

      Nope, I never encountered the ghost of Peg up there, but I DID think about her a few times while I was there at night.

      Thanks for your vote, Birgit. I think this could be a really tough contest. The "Familiarity Factor" probably gives Jackson an edge, but I suspect the Spanish guitar in Warren's song will probably appeal to other voters like it did you.

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...

      Delete
  3. Stephen darlin'

    Such an interesting battle. I like your little tidbits of trivia from your past, sprinkled in just the right amount over the post (such as a proper seasoning)

    I tried really hard to think of a Warren Zevon song, but all I could think of was THIS ONE that kept showing up in my youtube recommendations a month or so ago.

    I've always enjoyed Jackson Browne. Running on Empty is one of my favorites, so I guess it really is no surprise that I am drawn to his song more than Mr Zevon's.

    Please give Sixwell my best, and cast my vote for Jackson Browne.

    ~MMQE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thank you for the kind words, MMQE!

      I thought sure your "THIS ONE" link was going to take me to 'Werewolves Of London' -- Warren Zevon's one Top 40 hit. (Ha! So now I have to ask: Was that one of the contestants that you had in mind when mentioning your upcoming NSFW BOTB installment?... Which you obviously chickened out of. And when you chickened out, was it Pioneer chicken or KFC?:^)

      I appreciate your bote, Mary. I'm pretty curious to see how this Battle shakes out, since other than the "Down 'N' Out In L.A." theme, the songs are so different (non-hit vs. hit; ballad vs. uptempo; chicken vs. coffee).

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...

      Delete
    2. haha! I didn't chicken out. I'm planning it for May 1. One of the contestants will be -Not Warren Zevon (see what I did there?)

      ~M

      Delete
  4. I fully expected to vote for Jackson Browne, and yet, after listening to both I vote Warren Zevon. For me, the song has a more timeless sound. I typically like Jackson Browne more, but he is using a very typical formula used in the 70’s to present. To me, the melody and arrangement on the Zevon tune are more appealing/timeless.

    If Jackson Browne produced Warren’s album, he should have taken the same care on his own. I didn’t hold the stereotypical production against him, but it also didn’t help.




    ReplyDelete
  5. Found this video of Jackson Browne doing Zevon’s song as a cover. Good band.

    https://youtu.be/j9nT_KezjDU

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BR'ER MARC ~
      Thanks for stopping in with your $0.02, McBrother. It's always a pleasure to get your input on one of my musical Battles.

      One vote for the "timeless" Carmelita in Ensenada. (I wonder if she's incarcerated in the same Ensenada jail cell that I was. Yuk-Yuk. ...Of course, it WASN'T anything to laugh about at the time.)

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends

      Delete
  6. Played a little faster the Zevon song could sound Mexican. I loved the music vibe, and almost voted for it based on that. But, the song itself lacks - I don't know, emotion. It just did not grab me. I do love the Browne song though. Has a lot of zazz, lol.

    I love trivia and old pictures of big cities. Oroville is really small, but I like looking at historical pictures. The town has changed so much, even since I was a kid.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. COSAS SALVAJES, ¡muchas gracias por votar! Aprecio recibir tus dos centavos. He grabado su voto para el "zazz" de Jackson Browne.

      Creo que tal vez Warren Zevon fue un cuarto de galón cuando grabó 'Carmelita'. Debería haberle dicho a la camarera, "¡Más Margaritas, por favor!"

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...

      Delete
    2. huh????? I'm German-Irish Dude. Know zero Irish, but I can read a bit of the Deutch. Not EVERYONE in California speaks Spanish, lol.

      Delete
    3. I just went to 'GOOGLE TRANSLATE' to find out what the hell I had written. Google Translate sez:

      WILD THINGS, thank you very much for voting! I appreciate receiving your two cents. I have recorded your vote for the "zazz" of Jackson Browne.

      I think maybe Warren Zevon was a quarter of a gallon when he recorded 'Carmelita'. I should have told the waitress, "More Margaritas, please!"


      Hmmm.... Yeah, I guess that sounds reasonably about like something I might write. But I think we can safely say that Google Translate should not be trusted in any legal dealings involving contracts and small print.

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...

      Delete
    4. lol. You must have been channeling your "Carmalita." I got the gist. That translation totally sounds like you :)

      Delete
    5. Ha! Yeah, that translation sounds like me... three Margaritas to the wind.

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...

      Delete
  7. I like both, but I'm going for Zevon but you probably guessed that

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MIKE, Warren Zevon told me to tell you that you are a [link> "Predictable Boy".

      (Yes, I see and talk to dead people.)

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...

      Delete
  8. And Stephen,

    Having been at that Alvarado Chicken Stand and on the Boulevard, it was a tough battle indeed. But my vote goes for Warren Zevon, despite the salmonella risk taken for that photo a while back. Mind you Jackson's song was good, and it reminded me of that album and others by the only guy I know whose hair style has lasted nearly 5 decades. I guess I was drawn to the personal desperation of Carmelita a bit more than the third person youngsters on the boulevard. Be well.
    JW,
    Pooh

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ...And, GENERAL LYNTH, that's not all!...

      Your Salmonella risk-taking for the sake of my picture-taking was not in vain. That very photo you alluded to shall make an appearance in my BOTB RESULTS post on April 21st, regardless of who ends up winning this Battle.

      >>... "Jackson Browne -- the only guy I know whose hair style has lasted nearly 5 decades."

      Ha!-Ha! [:^D
      That sounds like something my old drinking buddy, Pooh, would have said! ...Oh, wait.

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends

      Delete
  9. I've always thought that the only HOPE I have of ever knowing the real spiel about cities like LA, San Francisco, Boston, Las Vegas, etc., is by talking to someone who actually lived there. A more-or-less normal person like yerself suffices nicely, so keep the tales a-comming.

    Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, there is nothing inherently wrong with Jackson Browne or Jackson's music. Certainly, he had had a prolific career and is loved by many.

    But Z E V O N. The defense (like that needs defendin'...) rests and rocks.

    Nice battle, McBrudder!
    Cherdo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DOC MacSIS ~
      I'm "more or less normal"? Well, which is it? More or less?

      I've been called many things in my life, but I tell you with the utmost seriousness that "NORMAL" has never been one of them.

      Actually, I believe there IS something inherently wrong with Jackson Browne, but let us not impugn his music and consider it tarnished as a result of that.

      Thanks for checking in, MacSis. You has a open invitation. And I has a cheezburger, a brand new pair of roller skates, and a brand new key... in E. (If that don't work, I'll try E Flat.)

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...

      Delete
  10. Sixgun McItchyfingerApril 15, 2018 at 6:48 PM

    This is another good battle. It pits an excellent but often eccentric songwriter against an excellent but usually NOT eccentric songwriter. One is much more popular than the other. One is considered a musical genius that should have been more popular, if we weren't all so shallow.

    These battles that revolve around LA are very cool. Fondly known as “The City That Sleeps Very Little,” and also as “La Ciudad de Los Incendios,” LA has a seedy underbelly that you feature here in these songs. I don’t like seedy very much. Zevon sings about his addiction in a relentless stream of sorrow. In your setup, Browne conveys his intent with “Boulevard” to tell those trapped in a seedy scenario that it doesn’t have to stay that way. You can overcome it. I like that optimistic viewpoint.

    I knew a man whose job was praying for people who was contacted once by a woman totally down on her luck. She was a prostitute with no money and no hope. They discussed goodness and hope and faith, that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” She needed to obtain that good that she wasn’t seeing. She left. Two years later in an elevator, a nicely dressed woman in a business suit said hello. He was puzzled; she said: “you don’t recognize me, do you?” You prayed for me two years ago. It changed my life.” And he learned that SHE was now doing the same thing: praying for others full time. She had spiritualized her life, left the seedy behind, and was married with a good income.

    So, again… I don’t like dwelling on “seedy” much.

    I really like Warren Zevon. I can happily listen to a full album side of his and thoroughly enjoy it. But if I had to listen to him all day I think I’d shoot myself. (That is not an insult. I feel the same way about the Beatles.) I can listen to a couple of Browne albums through before tiring of it.

    The particular song by Jackson is one of my favorites, and it gets my vote here.

    Also, after your encouragement, Mrs. McItchyfinger is planning on voting within the next couple of days. We’ll see how she votes. She may have more of an affinity for seedy. After all, she married me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. More to come later, but for now...

      I just got finished watching three hours of Rocky & Bullwinkle episodes and, I swear, I just read this whole comment with the voice of Bullwinkle speaking it in my mind.

      Hoo-Boy! I need some Boris Badenov now... Dahlink.

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends

      Delete
    2. Sixgun McItchyfingerApril 15, 2018 at 9:14 PM

      (Natasha)
      "Bohriss... Vat do you zee?"

      (Boris)
      "See nuthing. Is Dark."

      Delete
    3. MR. McITCHYFINGER ~

      >>... “The City That Sleeps Very Little”

      Ha! Yeah... only about three hours a night, from what I've heard.

      And your comment has reminded me to ask you: Have you ever seen the movie 'MAN OF LAMANCHA'? I am thinking of seeing it, but I fear there is opera in it.

      >>... "I knew a man whose job was praying for people who was contacted once by a woman totally down on her luck. She was a prostitute with no money and no hope."

      I believe I spoke with her once on Hollywood Boulevard, but she wanted more money than I had. ...So I went to La Cienega Boulevard instead.

      I look forward to hearing from MRS. McITCHYFINGER.

      In the meantime, wipe that sweat off your upper lip area!

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...

      Delete
    4. I've not see it, strangely enough. Most musicals or films of musicals I've seen, but not this one. But - let not your heart be troubled - there is singing, but apparently nothing CLOSE to opera. Musicals are a far cry from operatic anyway, and apparently this one is very far.

      That isn't sweat. I just had borrowed Joe Kennedy III's chapstick.

      Delete
    5. :o) Ahh, that's good news, all the way around!

      However... do you know WHERE that Chapstick has been?

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...

      Delete
  11. For me the main criteria of a good song is that it sounds good. The Zevon song he seems to have that Dylan-esque warble in his voice. I'd have more insight as to why I don't like the song except it so didn't sound good I started daydreaming after 30 seconds and didn't really listen. I'd have to down a handful of percocets with a sea breeze chaser to listen to it again.

    In contrast, the Jackson Browne song sounds fantastic. Whether or not he consciously thought "I'm gonna do a big - huge hook." It's a great sounding song.... on a loop in my head now. It's catchy. Gets my vote.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. GEE, DOGG...

      >>... "For me the main criteria of a good song is that it sounds good."

      For me, it's that it has a good beat and I can dance to it.

      >>... "The Zevon song he seems to have that Dylan-esque warble in his voice."

      It may have been a Roy Orbison warble... or perhaps an Orson Welles warble... but I get yer meaning either way.

      McBrother, if you bring the Percocet, I'll bring the Sea Breeze chasers.

      Thanks for coming by with your two cents. THAT and another $86.48 and we can get drunk together. (Of course, if we lower our standards to Thunderbird & Diet 7-Up, we can get to the intersection of Drunk & Staggering much sooner. ;^)

      I'll see ya soon on that "other" blog, Brother.

      ~ Stephen
      Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...

      Delete
  12. Howdy Reno!

    Wow, interesting choices. I like Warren Zevon okay (Carmelita is sad on so many levels), But I LOVE Jackson Browne and how he lends a sense of community with "Nobody gets it like they want it to be" while the tempo seems to say that's okay, too ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HiYa, dIEDRE ~

      I appreciate you stopping by to cast a vote. Jackson Browne appreciates it even more so.

      >>... "Nobody gets it like they want it to be"

      Really? I always assumed it was just ME... and Robert Barone.

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...

      Delete
  13. The songs are virtually the same length, but Warren Zevon's seemed like it went on and on forever. I was familiar with "Boulevard," which got heavy airplay on AOR stations in Chicago and did well on the charts, meaning they played the crap out of it and made it an EBS Special. Maybe a few years not hearing it made it more likeable, or maybe just in comparison I like it better, but the upshot is, I vote for Jackson Browne.

    Sixwell! I love it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JOHN ~
      I get the feeling you know of Mr. Criswell. Mr. Sixwell is related to him -- being a cousin six loose screws removed by way of a shotgun wedding.

      >>... "Warren Zevon's seemed like it went on and on forever."

      That's because, unlike Jackson Browne's 'BOULEVARD', Warren Zevon's song was a 'ROUNDABOUT' or 'ROTARY'. (He originally wrote it as a 'CUL-DE-SAC', but Jackson Browne, who produced Warren's album, suggested making it a Roundabout instead.)

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...

      Delete
  14. Stephen,

    Song writers have a way of using the dirt from the streets for inspiration. The backstory of each paints a very sad life. In this round, I have to go the Amazing Sixwell's call, JACKSON BROWNE. Join me when you can in today's hodgepodge of 4M, Sparks, A2Z, & BoTB. Have a tunetastic week, my friend!

    Curious as a Cathy
    iPad Art Sketch 'N' is for Naptime for Baby

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CATHY ~

      You have no idea how much Sixwell appreciates that you heard this match-up the same way he did. The last thing he wants to do is lose to an inanimate 8-Ball object twice in a row. That wreaks havoc on a psychic's self-confidence.

      SURGEON: "Why did you drive head-on into that bus?"

      PSYCHIC: "I didn't see it coming."

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends

      Delete
  15. This vote is gonna be hard for me. I like both of these guys. Well…I should say I like the music of both of these guys, as people they were each kind of creepy. Both seemed to have issues with spousal abuse. Ha, and not in a funny way.

    Anyway, Jackson is a favorite of mine and his music is certainly a part of the soundtrack of my life. He has an unmistakable sound and was a part of that great collaborative musical genius that produced so many hits and stars. It was a credit to these people who worked together promoting the talent and particular ‘sound’ of each other to give us decades of music that spoke to a diverse group.

    I remember seeing Jackson in person (at a time when he was all about peach and love, before his abusive problems) in a impromptu concert at a ‘no nukes’ rally at Rocky Flats, a bomb factory just outside of Denver, CO. He was a good outdoors on a windy day with minimal sound equipment and technology as were his recordings.

    Sadly to say, I never did see Warren in person, but he sure is able to put his finger on the heart and spirit of several generations and the over all hypocrisy in the world. Was he laughing at himself or everyone else. I don’t really know or care, I like a lot of his stuff.

    “Carmelita’ holds a special place in my memories. Maybe it’s just because today is another cold and windy day in Idaho (IDAHO, what, pray tell, I ask you, am I doing here?) and I’m being nostalgic and longing for the warm balmy breezes of ‘de islands, but… While living in the Caribbean we looked at a house to rent. It was in a out of the way place, on the beach, of course, and on the way to one of my favorite spots on island – Cane Bay. Anyway, the owner Carmelita expounded on the virtues of her little apartment. It was the lower level of a two story house (Carmelita lived upstairs). The place was really a dumb, but most places in the islands were and it did have it’s charms. Dump and all, I strongly considered it, but in the end declined. We drove past it at least twice weekly on our way to Cane Bay and each time would have to sing out a chorus of Zevon’s Carmelita. The rest of the story is…Carmelita has a fire in her half of the house and due to it’s ‘out of the wayness, a factor that held great appeal to me, the fire department, such as it was, never made it and the entire place burned to the ground. Alas, poor Carmelita (I do believe everyone escaped without injury). Ever the fact that all that remained was a charred spot in the jungle, it didn’t stop us from singing out that chorus every time we passed.

    Ok, that was enough lucid dreaming for one day. Give my vote to poor poor pitiful Carmelita who will remain in my mind as a warm balmy view of the Caribbean Sea although only a charred spot on the ground and in the reality of the song a part of the LA underbelly

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OUT-OF-THE-WAY FAE ~

      Sad but interesting story!

      >>... "poor poor pitiful Carmelita"

      Ha! :^D You clever girl, you!

      Good thing you were listening to your angels whispering in your ear the day you just said "No" to renting THAT place!

      I have my own "Carmelita" story, but that will need to wait until this BOTB's Results post.

      Yeah, ya know, when you think about all the people who came out of that same scene and knew each other, partied with each other, produced each other, and played on each other's recordings, it really IS quite a notable group...

      Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, Linda Ronstadt, David Lindley, The Eagles... and probably a few I'm forgetting. (FUN FACT: Some Beach Boys even sang some harmony once on a Zevon zong, but I'll save that for a future 'BOTB: Battle For Los Angeles' contest.)

      Thanks for the A-List and E-Ticket comment, my friend! You dun goot!

      Why, pray tell, am I suddenly in the mood for a Tequila Sunrise? Heck, I never really liked them much back when I COULD have 'em.

      Good thing I ain't at the Silver Queen Saloon right this second. I can almost hear myself saying, "Tequila Sunrise, please." ("Tequila" -- that's Spanish for "Mexican jail". Did you know that already?)

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends

      Delete
  16. Jackson Browne used to punch Daryl Hannah in the face. Warren Zevon's stage manager punched me in the face.I'll forgive him, but not Jackson Browne. I'm going with Warren Zevon for the win cuz I'm a sucker for any type of Spanish music. On a side note, I got jumped at the Pioneer Chicken on Sunset Boulevard by LaBrea. Probably should not have been trying to get chicken at 2 in the morning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. >>... Probably should not have been trying to get chicken at 2 in the morning.

      Yeah, man, you outta know better'n that! The cutoff time for chicken is 1:30 AM. Sheesh! I thought EVERYBODY knew that!!

      Damn, Lelly, to read your comment, no one would guess that you're, like, 7'2" tall. How-the-hell-big was Warren Zevon's stage manager?

      Jackson Browne pretty much HAD to punch Daryl Hannah in the face. I mean, you can take one look at the guy and know he's not going to try to punch any MAN in the face!

      A sucker for Spanish music sucker-punched at the Pioneer Chicken stand... by gobs, I think I feel a new song coming on! Where'd I put my pencil and notepad?!
      :^D

      Hey, muchas gracias for the vote, my ol' buddy, LellyR. I truly, truly do appreciate you taking the time to stop by and cast your $0.02 into the pot.

      OK, the very next "Bitter Brothers Meeting" shall take place at the Pioneer Chicken stand on Sunset Boulevard. We'll see if those punks still want some of you when we've got Nappy and Rick with us! Ha! (Me and Pooh, too.)

      Yak again soon via E, Brother.

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...

      Delete
  17. I don't think I have to tell you the way we vote, but to make it official, two votes for Zevon. Browne is good, but Zevon is... Zevon. And I don't think I can find it in good conscience to vote against a song that has my wife's name all over it.

    And hmmm, Magic 8-Ball, now 1-0 and I foresee it being 2-0 very soon. Maybe it just needed some competition to get it to take these battles more seriously?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hokey-Smoke! Two more botes for the Zevon zong!! I guessed wrong on this one. Well, actually, just HALF-wrong. I had you boting for Zevon but thought your cohort, Other B, would side with Jackson Browne.

      I believe you are right. I don't think there was ever ANYTHING really wrong with the Magic 8-Ball. It was just playin' possum all this time, because it simply didn't care. (Damned prima donna thought it could do or not do whatever it pleased: "You can't force ME to entertain your friends!") But as soon as I brought in some competition, suddenly its ego was threatened and it started to straighten up and roll right!

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends

      Delete
  18. Al Bondigas here. I like both of these songs, however, neither one are among my favorites by either artist. I never really knew much about them until the later stages of my life. In fact you turned me on to Warren Zevon if you remember. I hear a lot of Jackson Browne music with Pandora and other internet music channels and like a lot of his stuff too, even if he is a liberal.
    springsteen is the only liberal rocker who actually turns my stomach and I would never rule fer that punk against anyone. Anyway, I guess I need to make a rulin'. Slam dunk rulin' fer Warren Zevon. That's it. That's my rulin'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JUDGE AL ~
      I don't recall what song I may have used to introduce you to Zevon, but 'BOOM BOOM MANCINI' would probably be a good guess on my part.

      But then again, you'd undoubtedly heard 'WEREWOLVES OF LONDON' a godzillion times prior to 'BBM'.

      I do recall a road trip we took together once where we stopped in Carson City and I bought a compilation CD by Zevon, which we played repeatedly for the rest of that trip.

      Yeah, Springsteen, man... As the trite movie slogan goes: "This time it's PERSONAL!"

      I don't like being bamboozled. And Brucie badly bamboozled us!!

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...

      Delete
    2. When I had that mp3 thing some years back you recommended that I download a few Zevon CD’s, which I did, and I really took to them. I ended up having at least four different ones. Yeah, I really liked Boom Boom Mancini and Desperados Under the Eaves, and many more. Also, don’t forget the trip to Cali where we went to the Rainbow Bar and saw the Hyatt House.

      Delete
    3. Oh, right! "The Rainbow Bar" and the "Hyatt House" -- two "must-visit" locations for any fan of Zevon's zongs.

      And you were there when we took photos of Pooh at the former location of "the Pioneer Chicken stand", too, right?

      Someday, in a future 'BOTB: Battle For Los Angeles' installment 'Desperados...' is going to make an appearance. I guess I already know who you'll vote for in that one, even though I don't yet know who his competitor will be.

      I definitely don't like everything he wrote and recorded, but there's a hard-to-'splain "intimacy" about a lot of his songs. And they have a way of sort of creeping into your consciousness.

      ~ D-FensDogG
      'Loyal American Underground'

      Delete
    4. Yeah, I was there when the picture was taken. Just shaking my head as usual. Lol.

      Delete
    5. Hey, at least we didn't get jumped there, like LarryR did! :o)

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends

      Delete
  19. Mink DeVille was following Warren Zevon at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Kansas not Missouri. I was a guest that night and at the end of their show I attempted jump up the front of the stage to take a look around, very drunk. I got clocked and knocked before my feet hit the ground. The stage manager was only doing what I probably would have done to someone else. Now Desperados, wasn't there a video of that song Shot by a certain flying bird band at the Paramount Ranch? Seems to me I know someone who spent a lot of time on a stretcher playing a dead guy on Mash up there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. YOU, drunk? Say it ain't so! Gee, you oughta be ashamed o' yerself!

      Ya know, LELLY, it sometimes occurs to me that were it not for drunken nights (and days), I'd probably not have any stories worth telling.

      DID The Eagles cover that song? (I assume that's the "flying bird band" you're referring to. ...Unless it's The Flying Bird-rrito Brothers ;^)

      Yeah, I fell victim to typecasting when they kept hiring me to play a dead man. (I don't think they took as much advantage of my winning personality as they could have. At least that's what Mama said!)

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...

      Delete
  20. Since I am tapping this out on my phone, I am going to say straight up that my vote is for Zevon. It's hard to say when my fingers will run out of gas...

    Zevon's vocals are smooth going down. Speaking of down, I love the melody in the line "I think I'm going down." Particularly the note on "down" because it's so unexpected and a wonderful surprise.

    The Jackson Browne song was good, but it didn't grab me by the throat.

    That's all I've got...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here comes GIRL WONDER, flying in under the wire to save the day! ...Er, well, maybe not exactly saving the day (as Zevon already appeared to have this victory in hand), but to at least make her opinion heard! Good deal.

      Frankly, I don't know why EVERY singer doesn't lower their voice every time they sing the word "down". I mean, that just makes complete sense, amirite?

      Thanks for checking in, Robin, I appreciate it. And nice to hear from ya!

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends

      Delete
  21. ATTENTION PEOPLES!

    If you are interested in seeing the final vote tally for this 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS' installment and my closing thoughts on it, you can put the following URL into your browser:

    http://stmccpresentsbattleofthebands.blogspot.com/2018/04/botb-results-2018-april-15-or-warren.html

    ~ D-FensDogG
    'Loyal American Underground'

    ReplyDelete

---> NOTE: COMMENT MODERATION IS ACTIVATED. <---
All submitted comments that do not transgress "Ye Olde Comment Policy" will be posted and responded to as soon as possible. Thanks for taking the time to comment.