East Coast or West Coast? What's it gonna be? In this installment of Battle Of The Bands' BattleOfTheBooze, the spirit that's about to speak is WINE. You know, as in...
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"wine that makes glad the heart of man"
~ Psalm 104:15
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Most folks know the first recorded miracle that Jesus performed was turning water into wine at a wedding celebration feast. One of the very best books I have read was written by John Eldredge and titled [link>'BEAUTIFULOUTLAW: Experiencing The Playful, Disruptive, Extravagant Personality Of Jesus'.
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Just for fun, before getting this musical Battle underway, let's take a quick look at what Eldredge had to say about that first recorded miracle performed by Christ:
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To see bigger'nbetter, click on the images.
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So, this BOTB installment includes two songs which mention wine (rosé is a type of wine). Here are the relevant lyrics:
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Well, Billy slammed on his coaster brakes
and said anybody wanna go on up to Greasy Lake?
It’s about a mile down on the dark side of route eighty-eight
I got a bottle of rose so let’s try it
~ Bruce Springsteen
'Spirit In The Night'
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Cruising down the center of a two way street
Wondering who is really in the driver's seat
Minding my business along comes Big Brother
Says, son, you better get on one side or the other
I'm out on the border, I'm walking the line
Don't you tell me about your law and order
I'm trying to change this water to wine
~ The Eagles
'On The Border'
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Alright, doggone it, let's get on it.
Let's get ON this thing!
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Please vote in the comment section for which song you like better and then, like good peoples, please visit all of the other BOTBers and contribute to their contests, also.
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I intend to return here on or about Oct. 22nd to announce my own vote and the final tally.
If that picture is a mystery to you, then I recommend you return to my Oct. 1stBattle Of The Bands post HERE and read the comment exchanges between Pooh Lynth and myself. That'll explain the history behind that photo.
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We're all familiar with the saying "A 2 at Ten is a 10 at Two". Well, at 824 Bay Street in the very early '80s, the saying was: "A drunk at Ten wears a chair at Two".
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Anonymous partier at 824 Bay Street, after passing out and getting "the business", circa 1982.
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This installment of BOTB's Battle Of The Booze was between Tom Waits ("bourbon") and David & David ("JackDaniel's"), and I very sincerely appreciate everyone who came by and participated in the voting. Just to illustrate how wrong I can be, I'll confess that, while constructing this last Battle, I was of the belief that Tom Waits would win it by a comfortable margin. Uhp! I'm an idiot!!
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In my Battle post, I mentioned how 1986 was a tough year for me, due in large part to the suicide of my great friend Kelly.
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Skydiving Kelly & his pal Mr. Coors.
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In 1986, David & David's only album, 'Boomtown', really spoke to me, conveying many of the thoughts and feelings I was experiencing at the time. Rarely, if ever, had I been as personally connected to a collection of songs.
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Although I have 'Boomtown' on CD today, and can't imagine not owning it, I rarely play it anymore. The songs are unique & quite good but, happily, those themes and emotions are in my distant past. Today, I have a great deal more inner peace.
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So, how did I vote in this BOTB installment? Like most teenagers at the time, when I was a teen I loved the sound of loud electric guitars. Scott Gorham, Michael Schenker, Buck Dharma - I thought those guys were the cat's meow and the dog's bark!
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In the late '80s, after getting heavily into Jazz, the tenor saxophone became my favorite musical instrument. But then sometime in the early to mid-'90s I came to realize that no instrument rocks my world quite like the electric organ. Man, lay down some seriously charged organ on a track and I am guaranteed to dig it big time!
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Well, the heavy bass & orgasmic organ on the Tom Waits song 'LittleBoyBlue' is definitely my cup of tea mug of beer! I find that combo extremely exciting (plus, I dig the lyrics also). So, despite all of my personal history with the David & David songs, my vote for Tom Waits was never in question. Nevertheless, this contest was a blowout:
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FINALTALLY:
Tom Waits = 3 votes
David & David = 8 votes
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My thanks again to everyone who contributed, and I hope you'll return for my next installment of BOTB's BOTB on October 15th.
My Friends, My Friends, please bear with me this time, OK? . My last BOTB's BattleOfTheBooze contest was sugar & spice & everything "nice", and most everyone seemed to like it. This one, with its heavy, Heavy, HEAVY keyboards and even heavier theme, won't likely be as appreciated. But, as an infamous person once said:
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"Sometimes you just gotta unleash the dog and let it go sniffin’ around whichever way the wind blows it."
~ Stephen T. McCarthy . My all-time favorite movie soundtracks are: . #1)[Link> BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S by Henry Mancini. . #2)[Link>ONE FROM THE HEART by Tom Waits (& Crystal Gayle) . #3)[Link> THE ENDLESS SUMMER II by Gary Hoey . (Anybody who thinks movie soundtracks cannot Rockreallyhard has obviously never heard Gary Hoey's guitar work in 'TheEndlessSummerII'.) . 1986 was a rough year for me. The angels of "Los Angeles" had departed, and one of the very, very best friends I've ever had committed suicide in '86. And it was still eight years before I would meet Yeshua. A tough time for ol' STMcC (who wasn't really ol' yet, but was beginning to feel kinda ol'). . However, that same year, David & David released their only album, 'Boomtown', which made them a one-hit-wonder when their song [link>'Welcome To The Boomtown' climbed to #37 in the Billboard charts. . David (Baerwald) & David (Ricketts) and their only album attracted a "cult" following, which still exists today. I know because... I'm a cult member. Without boring you to death with details, I'll simply say that I had 'Boomtown' on 'repeat' in '86 & '87 because I felt that The Davids had been "reading my mail". The songs really spoke to me (like me speaking to myself!) . That brings us to this installment of BOTB's Battle Of The Booze. We have 'LITTLE BOY BLUE' by Tom Waits from his soundtrack for the movie 'OneFromTheHeart' going against 'ALL ALONE IN THE BIG CITY' from David & David's only album 'Boomtown'. . Please vote for your choice as "the lesser of two weevils" here. And then go deposit your two cents-worth in the Battles of the other BOTBers. I plan to return on Oct. 8th with my own vote and the Results. . Alright, let's get on it. Let's get ON this thing! . So, Abracadabra Now she's disappeared Everything's Canada Dry So, watch your behavior And rattle your cage With a bottle of bourbon Good-bye ~ 'Little Boy Blue' by Tom Waits . LITTLE BOY BLUE by Tom Waits https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjuRjjBwidc
. What's the matter, buddy? Do you want another drink? Try JackDaniel's It really helps you to think. ~ 'All Alone In The Big City'
My most recent BATTLEOFTHEBANDS' BattleOfTheBooze contest took place HERE. It was between Three Dog Night's 'Joy To The World' ("mighty fine wine") and America's 'Ventura Highway' ("moonshine").
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Most of the voters stated that they liked both songs, and that goes for me, too. I still remember how immensely popular 'JoyToTheWorld' was when I was just a li'l boy. The moment you heard that memorable opening line, "Jeremiah was a bullfrog", you knew exactly what song was about to play.
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However, 'VenturaHighway' by America has a certain dream-like nostalgic quality about it that immediately has me reminiscing & missing golden days long gone.
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'Me, Lynth&TheBeachReport' - now available on compact disc!
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So, including my own vote for the "golden days long gone" song, the outcome looks like this:
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FINALTALLY:
Three Dog Night = 4 votes
America = 8 votes
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Not a bad Battle, and 'Ventura Highway' will advance to the eventual Battle Of The Booze playoff rounds.
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My very sincere thanks to EVERYONE who took the time to visit 'n' vote!
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I'll have something new for you to drink hear on October 1st , so y'all come back now. Thanks!
I currently have a list of about 115 different songs to use in my BOTBBattleOfTheBooze contests. The problem is that my mind makes an infinite number of connections between different things. So, if I really wanted to, I could probably find some sort of connections between all 115 of these songs & reasons why one song should do battle with any number of the others. In other words, it's difficult for me to narrow down the possibilities. My brain was doing cartwheels, whirligigs, somersaults, and bibbidi-bobbidi-boos trying to figure out what my Sept. 15th Battle oughta 🐝.
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I finaventually narrowed it down to doing a birthday tribute to my good friend Joe, who was born on Sept. 21st. Meaning that I was going to use the hit song 'VenturaHighway' by America, which I recorded from the radio on Sept. 21, 1985. I titled the cassette tape 'Me, Lynth&TheBeachReport' and, to this day, it is one of my all-time favorite possessions. It's not just a physical tape; it's a Spiritual message. I'd explain that, but you'd think I was more'n a wee bit o' crazy.
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'Me, Lynth&TheBeachReport' cassette tape from 1985.
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cassette notes
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I couldn't even calculate (with a calculator) how many different songs I considered using against America's hit. But then on the night of 9/11, the Light suddenly came shining through. The keyword was "America".
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My mind connected America, the 2/3rds American group formed in London, with 'AmericaSings', one of my all-time favorite Disneyland attractions. 'America Sings' was created for America's 1976 Bicentennial Celebration, which is humorously recreated in the movie 'TheSpiritOf'76', starring David Cassidy.😏
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In 'AmericaSings', Disney's animatronics perform Three Dog Night's 'JoyToTheWorld'. {There's your "dog", if'n you was waitin' for it to appear here.}
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As be necessary, BOTH songs mention booze:
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Jeremiah was a bullfrog
Was a good friend of mine
I never understood a single word he said
But I helped him a-drink his wine
And he always had some mighty fine wine
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Ventura Highway in the sunshine
Where the days are longer
The nights are stronger than moonshine
You're gonna go, I know
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For anyone who might want to see 'JoyToTheWorld' sung in Disneyland's attraction 'America Sings', which was dismantled in 1988, click HERE and then skip forward to the 17:00 mark.
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Alright, let's get on it.
Let's get ON this thing!
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Please vote for the song you like best here, and then please visit all of the other BOTBers and participate in their Battles also. I thank ye kindly.
My thanks to all the DogGs & DogGesses who took the time to visit & participate in my most recentBattleOfTheBands' Battle Of The Boozecontest which took placeHERE.
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Lynyrd Skynyrd's "champagne" ('What'sYourName?') was going up against Hank Williams Jr.'s "whiskey" ('BornToBoogie').
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When I was a teenager, I really liked the Skynny Lyzyrds but, today, as an adult (kinda-sorta), I only like three of their songs, and 'What's Your Name?' ain't one of the three.
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Both songs in the Battle featured horns & honky-tonk piano, but I thought they sounded better & more forceful in the Bocephus song. Plus, Bocephus also added a little Blues harmonica, which always appeals to me. .
Additionally, I agree with Sixgun McItchyfinger who stated that the lyrics to the Skynyrd song are "shallow and sordid". But you know what? It's really hard for a relatively unknown song to beat a big radio hit song in BOTB. .
FINAL TALLY:
Lynyrd Skynyrd = 8 votes
Bocephus = 5 votes
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Each of these artists has now won one Battle against each other; looks to me like a future 'rubber match' may be in order.
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Thanks again, all y'all, for playing along. I hope you'll return for my next BOTB installment on September 15th. Until then...
After last month's BOTB Tribute to the memory of my dear friend FAE, dogged if I don't feel it's time to open things up now with some high-energy, rambunctious Country-Rock! Hang on to yer Stetson & let 'er rip!!
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As you probably don't remember, my January 15thBattleOfTheBands' BattleOfTheBooze installment had Lynyrd Skynyrd's song 'WhiskeyRock-A-Roller' battling against the Hank Williams Jr. song 'MyNameIsBocephus'. Bocephus doubled the amount of votes that Skynyrd received (8-4).
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I've decided to give Skynyrd a rematch in this Down South Country-Rock extravaganza. Will Bocephus whup 'em again, or will the boys from Florida get revenge for the last beating they took from that Louisiana guy?
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Skynyrd's final big hit was 'What'sYourName?' (#13 in 1978) and it mentions "a drink of Champagne". I'm pitting that song against Hank's 'Born To Boogie', which mentions "Whiskey by the gallon".
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Please vote for the song you like best, and then please be sure to check out what the other BOTBers are offering and also drop your two cents in their Battles.
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I'll return here on or about Sept. 8th with my own vote & the final tally.
My eternal gratitude to everyone who came by to read my Battle Of The Bands Tribute to Barbara (a.k.a. FarAwayEyes, FAE, Nitro Wilbury Babskiddo) and submitted a vote in the contest which took place >HERE. And averyspecialThanks & shout-out to my friend >'Wild Thing' Donna for writing & posting her own BOTB Tribute to FAE.
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My contest was a rare 3-Way between 'Far Away Eyes' (The Rolling Stones) versus 'Summertime' (Janis Joplin) versus 'Wildflowers' (Tom Petty).
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I predicted the outcome of this BOTB installment precisely! I must be sikike! Despite the title of the Rolling Stones' song 'FarAwayEyes', which Barbara had borrowed for her online pseudonym, Tom Petty's 'WILDFLOWERS' was the perfect musical epitaph for FarAwayEyes (Barbara). Without a doubt, I knew in advance that The Stones' 'Far Away Eyes' was the biggest underdog in this Battle and that it might not get a single vote (and, no, it didn't), but I still felt that it needed to be in this BOTB contest.
I was 422.83% sure that Mr. Petty would run away with the victory here. I have no doubt that Barbara herself would have voted for Tom and is looking down at these Results, very pleased with them!
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FINAL TALLY:
The Rolling Stones = 0 votes
Janis Joplin = 4 votes
Tom Petty = 9 votes
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I gave Janis Joplin my own vote. Honestly, I was never a real Joplin fan. As mentioned, I went to see Big Brother & The Holding Company perform on August 3rd primarily because I was thinking about how I'd once told FAE that she had "Janis Joplin Hair". I was thinking that the only J.J. songs I liked were 'Piece Of My Heart' & 'Me And Bobby McGee'.
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But when the band launched into 'Summertime', I had one of those "Uhp! I'm an idiot!" moments. I had forgotten all about that song & the history I have with it. (It's a Senior Citizen thang.)
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First of all, the passion in Joplin's singing!...
"Honey, n-n-n-n-n-n-n-nothing's going to harm you now!"
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While hearing the following lyrics sung on Aug. 3rd, I *knew* this song was intended to be in my BOTB Tribute to FAE:
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One of these mornings
You're gonna rise, rise up singing
You're gonna spread your wings
Child, take to the sky
Lord, the sky
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I also remembered how this song is connected to another dear departed friend of mine. I've mentioned my acting buddy Marty, who was killed by a car thief in 1989. In 1981, when the movie 'AmericanPop' was released, Marty and I went to see it together. We both loved it. I later bought the soundtrack LP (which turned me onto Dave Brubeck's 'Take Five', which turned me into a Jazz fan).
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Marty identified with the character Tony in 'AmericanPop', and one year for his birthday, I created an oil painting for him, 4' to 4'5" tall of this image:
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It came from the following scene in 'American Pop':
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So, today, I have that song and that imagery associated in my mind with two good friends who have gone on to Heaven before me. . I'm pleased that Tom Petty's 'Wildflowers' won this Battle, but I'm equally pleased that I was inspired by The Spirit to use Joplin's 'Summertime' in this BOTB Tribute.
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I intend to eventually write a full-length Tribute to Barbara and post it on my 'Stuffs' blog (and I'll post a link to it on this site). Before that happens, however, I'll need to look through a lot of old Emails. (Is 963 a lot?) Prior to that, I'm planning to return here with a new BOTB's Battle Of The Booze installment on September 1st. I hope you all will return here, too. Until then...
It is with a very heavy heart that I am composing this, the only Battle Of The Bands installment I've ever constructed upon a foundation of deep sadness.
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I recently learned from my friend Donna (a.k.a. Wild Thing) that our mutual friend Barbara (a.k.a. FAE) of the blog Far Away Series has left us and gone Home (a.k.a. Heaven). After sufficiently looking back & compiling the right information, I fully intend to eventually publish an
E-Ticket Tribute to the wonderful & incredibly unique FAE on my 'Stuffs' blog. But until then, this BOTB installment will be the placeholder.
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Barbara went by the pseudonym farawayeyes. I still recall the time I left a comment on one of her blog posts in which I called her FAE. She asked me what this "FAE" stuff was about, and I replied: FarAwayEyes. Amusingly, after that, a LOT of her commenters also began calling her FAE, which she came to accept.
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As she and I began Emailing each other, I gave her a new nickname: Nitro Wilbury Babskiddo (or just Nitro for short), which I also began using in her comment sections. Over the years, she and I exchanged many gifts, letters & cards, which she would sign as "~Nitro" or "~N".
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As most of you know, FAE was the person who published the first "Battle Of The Bands" in our li'l corner of the blogosphere, which was the springboard for what we are still doing NOW, thisveryday.
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In her blog bit on Wednesday, July 10, 2013, titled 'House Guests & Battle Of The Bands', FAE posted a BOTB using NinaSimone & Muse. She later described it thusly:
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Glad you guys enjoyed the Battle of the Bands. I admit it was a lazy way to fill a blog post for me this past Wednesday.
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And two years later, in 2015, she added this:
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If you didn’t know this before, I actually started this in an attempt to post something on my site when I had nothing else to say. Mr. Stephen T. McCarthy picked up on it and encouraged me to join with him and make it a bi-monthly endeavor. Others started to join in and... as they say... 'the rest is history'.
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[FunFact: On this blog, I have always written "Battle Of The Bands" and "BOTB" in blue as a tribute to Barbara who always posted in blue & wrote her Emails in blue.]
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Here are a few more quotes from FAE (Nitro), whom I will greatly miss until I too go Home:
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I consider myself a ‘water person’. I love the water and do some of my best thinking ‘neck deep’. When it’s cold outside and all else fails, even the shower proves to be a great ‘think tank’ for me.
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...my personal thermostat no longer works, and I can not seem to ever get warm enough, plus having lived in a place of perpetual Summer for three years... well, I think you can see why Summer is now my favorite time of year.
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If you know me or think you know me, or if you've only come around here occasionally you know that my favorite musician / writer of all time is TomPetty. This past Summer, right smack dab in the middle of my move from Nevada to Idaho I was taken to see him perform in person at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado. ... When Tom sang 'Wildflowers', I promise you it was just for me. ... TomPetty wrote my life in his songs. I know a lot of people say that about musicians, but this is uncannily true.
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When asked in a blogfest, "What is life to you?", her response was 'Wildflowers' (which was linked to the Tom Petty song).
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Although she didn't have the easiest life, Barbara (FAE, Nitro Wilbury Babskiddo) remained a steadfast, Bible-reading Christian who had manyextraordinary Spiritual experiences!! She related several of them to me via Email.
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Trying to decide on which songs to use in this memorial BOTB contest, I was overwhelmed by the countless possibilities, like a mangy dog overwhelmed by ticks & fleas! At one point I was thinking of constructing a Battle between NinaSimone & Muse, like FAE did in the very first BOTB.
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After much reminiscing & mental agonizing, I decided that Tom Petty's song 'Wildflowers' (which was quite possibly FAE's all-time favorite song) absolutely had to be in this contest.
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On August 3rd, I went to see Janis Joplin's backing band Big Brother & The Holding Company perform. The drummer (Dave Getz) & bass player (Peter Albin) are original members of the group.
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Big Brother & The Holding Company, Aug.3, 2024
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The primary reason I wanted to see that band was because of a humorous incident that Nitro & I shared in an old Email exchange. After I saw this old photo of her for the first time...
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FAE holding baby Michael.
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...I wrote this: "You looked so 1968 with all that JanisJoplinHair". She replied, "I've had a lot of comments about my hair, but that is the first time anyone has ever called it JanisJoplinHair".
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A photo I took in the >Silver Dollar Saloon in Virginia City, NV. - Aug. 12, 2024.
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I knew that Summer was FAE's favorite season & that she liked Joplin's cover of the song 'Summertime'. On Aug. 3rd, when Big Brother & The Holding Company played 'Summertime' & the vocalist (Darby Gould) sang the lyrics below, I felt the Holy Spirit prompt me within and I knew that I was meant to use Joplin's version of this song in thisBattle!
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Don't you cry
One of these mornings
You're gonna rise, rise up singing
You're gonna spread your wings
Child, take to the sky
Lord, the sky
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I have nodoubt that Barbara - from where she Lives now - embracing my snarkastic sense-of-humor, approves of this song selection!
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Therefore, I thought this Battle had been "settled" & "decided": It was going to be Tom Petty (wildflowers growing & a boat in the water) versus Janis Joplin (her hair spreading like wings and taking flight in the Lord's Summer sky).
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But then I remembered that many years ago, Barbara admitted to me that (as I had suspected) she'd taken her online pseudonym, Far Away Eyes, from the Rolling Stones' song of the same name.
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Therefore, in honor of Barbara (farawayeyes, FAE, Nitro Wilbury Babskiddo), this BOTB installment is going to be a very rare 3-Way contest. Below are your contestants. Please vote for the song that *YOU* like best. No matter how you vote, it will be a tribute to our dear friend and Heavenly resident who started this whole BOTB shebang 11 years ago & which still lives on now, even after her departure to a FarAwayBetterPlace!
