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Welcome back, my friends, to the "Battle" that never ends.
We're so glad you could attend. Come inside! Come inside!
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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.
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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!
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[NOTE: Links to the first year of 'BOTB' (#1 - #24) can be found at the very bottom of this page.]

Monday, January 21, 2019

BOTB RESULTS From 2019, JAN. 15: (Or, CARLOS SANTANA VS. GATO BARBIERI)

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STMcC’s Vote On '2019, January 15th: Battle Of The Bands' (BOTB) - Or, Carlos Santana Versus Gato Barbieri - And The Final Tally:
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FIRST: I thank every one of you who showed up to listen and vote. If you weren't doing that, I wouldn't be doing this.
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SECOND: As of tomorrow at about 15:00 (that's 3:00 PM for you civilians) I will be officially cleared to move into my new home.
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And you know how it is when you move. For awhile, I will be without AlGoreNet service. And right now, I don't know which days I will actually be physically moving my shit  stuffs. Therefore, I don't know which days and for how long I will be without service. And then we're always at the mercy of "cable guys" and such.
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I'm going to try to compose and set up my next two BOTB installments to automatically post on Feb. 1st and Feb. 15th, and I will do my best to host these Battles. I will also do my best to vote on all y'all's Battles. Even if it means I have to do it in single sentences posted from my cell phone from some coffee shop (NOT called Starbucks!) with Wifi. But if you don't hear much from me over the next two BOTB periods, please understand why and *KNOW* that I will be Bach. Maybe even Beethoven, too.
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As for my Battle this time, it took place HERE. It featured the song 'EUROPA (Earth's Cry, Heaven's Smile)', and I used the live version from the Carlos Santana 'Moonflower' album against the rendition by Jazz saxophonist Gato Barbieri from his album 'Caliente!'.
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Back on 9-15-2018, BOTBer John Holton created a contest using the same song and contestants, except he utilized Carlos Santana's studio version of the song. John's Battle is HERE. Following are comments that John and I exchanged back then, prior to him creating that Battle. And all the comments below will 'splain why I re-did this Battle using Santana's live version of the song:
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Me: Good choices, JOHN! I always dug that ‘Caliente!’ album, and over the years I toyed with the idea of using Gato’s ‘Europa’ against the Santana original in BOTB. I’ve always shied away from it, though, figuring it would be a landslide victory for Carlos.
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John: Actually, I think you’d be surprised in a BotB between the two of them. But that’s up to you.
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Me: It’s definitely a Rock and guitar-centric crowd, so I think Carlos and his guitar would pretty well clobber Gato and his saxophone. But, hey, if you like the idea of that match-up, consider it all yours. My gift to you to use whenever you want. Me, I’m too a-skeered to try and pull that one off.
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Here are the voting Results from John's Battle:
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Gato Barbieri = 4 votes
Carlos Santana = 3  votes
Carlos & Gato together = 1 vote
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During the Battle, I posted the following comment-vote to John:
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Me: Very interesting Battle, JOHN. This is quite possibly the first time in BOTB history where someone put two musicians up against each other and then offered a third option with the two musicians performing the song together. Cool ‘outside-the-box’ approach.
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And this Battle is more of a challenge to me than I’d anticipated, because here’s the funny thing: When I thought of putting Gato against Carlos, I ALWAYS automatically assumed I’d use Santana’s LIVE version from the ‘Moonflower’ album. That’s the version I grew up listening to and I prefer it to the studio recording. (I just came from listening to the ‘Moonflower’ version at YouTube and found quite a few commenters there saying that they also prefer that particular live version to the original studio take.)
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For me, if it’s Gato versus Santana’s ‘Moonflower’ recording of ‘Europa’, my vote goes to Carlos. But Santana’s studio rendition versus Gato’s, now that changes things for me.
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As far as instruments in general go, I prefer the tenor sax to the electric guitar. And I love Gato’s emotionally intense style of guttural playing. So I think, in this particular match-up, I’ll... go with Gato. To my own surprise, I am voting for Gato (because he’s not going up against Santana’s live version from ‘Moonflower’). 
~ D-FensDogG 

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Well, in *this* Battle, which DID use Santana's more lyrical and soaring live version of the song, I voted for Carlos over Gato. Nevertheless, the Battle was WAY CLOSER than I thought it might be. John was right about that:
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Carlos Santana = 10 votes
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Gato Barbieri = 7 votes
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In The Battle Within The BattleThe Magic 8-Ball (13-7) was wrong and The Amazing Sixwell (14-6) was right. (And now it begins...) 
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I hope you will all be here again for my February 1st BOTB installment... even if I'm NOT 
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy 
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20 comments:

  1. Interesting experiment, but I'm not surprised that Carlos won as I am not overly surprised that the final tally was so close. It was a pretty even match much like my own this time.

    Hope your transition goes very smoothly and you are back in full force soon. Sounds like a life adventure with an ample dose of life hassles to accompany it.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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    Replies
    1. LEE ~
      Thank you. I'm hoping to at least be present to a small degree for the next couple Battles. I'm pre-scheduling mine to automatically post. And I may not be able to reply to comments on my next couple BOTB installments, but I will make an effort to get my votes in on all the other BOTB contests via my cell phone. Although my comment/votes will more likely be only of that "single sentence" variety (e.g., "I vote for Tiny Tim.").

      But once I'm settled in CC, I'll return to BOTB [Link> "like a full-force gale".

      ~ D-FensDogG
      'Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends'

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  2. Moving can be stressful, but it sounds like it's exactly what you want. Enjoy it as best you can and we will all hang around till you return. I hope all goes well.

    Great battle. Because...Santana!

    Hugs,
    Cherdo

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    Replies
    1. DOC MacSIS ~
      Thank you. This move is more than what I want, it is what I NEED. And, agreed, moving is always stressful. But relatively speaking (relative to my last move 4 years ago from Phoenix to Reno), this one should be a walk in the park.

      I shall return!...
      (Hey, that's pretty good. Feel free to quote me. That could actually catch on, it's so good.)

      ~ D-FensDogG
      'Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends'

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  3. Hope all goes well with your move, Stephen! I'm actually surprised the battle was that close, figuring Santana would win easily. Good one!

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    1. Yes, DEBBIE, the same goes for me. I wasn't worried about any shutout (Gato was WAY too good for that), but I did expect a much more one-sided outcome considering how awesome Santana's live version is. But... I'm actually very pleased the Battle was so close. Regardless of how I personally feel about a match-up, I'm nearly always (at least 98% of the time) hoping for a competitive contest.

      ~ D-FensDogG
      'Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...'

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  4. Stephen,

    I was on the right side of the battle but that doesn't surprise me. I had to vote the way the mewsic moved me. Cool battle all the same regardless if my guy lost!

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    1. You've got the right attitude, CATHY, my friend.

      Although I DEFINITELY prefer the tenor sax to the guitar, generally speaking, Santana's guitar is so stellar (and I literally mean "stellar") in this live version of his song, that even Gato's great sax couldn't overcome it, as far as my own ears translated 'em.

      Santana's more down-to-earth and calculated studio version of the song doesn't quite measure up to Gato's great saxophone, in my opinion. But I feel that Santana actually "felt" his tune more acutely in that rendition from 'Moonflower', when he was playing it live before a real audience.

      ~ D-FensDogG
      'Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends'

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  5. For what it's worth I voted for the winner. Curious who I voted for on John's battle to see if I was consistent.

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    1. You got me curious as well, MIKE, so I just checked. Yep, you voted for Santana both times.

      However, even if you hadn't, I wouldn't have considered it an act of inconsistency, since the Santana versions were different recordings. I myself voted for Gato over Santana's original studio recording, but I like Santana's live version from 'Moonflower' a good deal better'n Gato's (wonderful) rendition.

      ~ D-FensDogG
      'Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends'

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  6. McCarthy's in the house!

    Don't know if I'd ever vote for Santana on anything - biased ears. One thing about moving is it's almost necessity to get rid of clutter, less boxes to move. You strike me as a person that doesn't have much clutter. When I moved, took boxes of books to the Goodwill. Didn't claim any on my taxes. Couldv'e taken pictures that the boxes do indeed contain 100 books. The IRS may say "We only see 99 books." Better to claim no contributions on taxes. and if you buy $500 online in the year, claim $1000. And if TurboTax notes you have a %1 chance of being audited do you want to buy protection so if you are audited TurboTax lawyers will talk to the IRS and you'll never have to talk to the IRS - Yes, I'll buy it. That's how paranoid I am about federal government (any government really). Where was I before I said the word "I" and "Me" 10 times.
    Kudos on your getting and finding the right place. Sounds like a cool and calm place - you found it, home, a fresh start, and place to kick your boots off, set a spell, a place to lay your hat.


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    1. McG DogG ~

      >>... That's how paranoid I am about federal government (any government really).

      I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least"...
      'Civil Disobedience' by Henry David Thoreau
      1849

      I'd sign my name to that statement any time.

      They may be from the government, but they most definitely are NOT here to help us!

      I went through a period where I moved so often that I wound up giving away a ton of my books, too. Just got tired of lugging them from place to place, so each time I moved, I'd jettison more books.

      Then came a period of relative residence stability, and damned if I didn't start re-buying a bunch of the books I had given away years earlier.

      Today, I'm not a pack-rat, but I definitely have my share of clutter. However, by far, books represent the largest percentage of stuffs I'll have to move. I'm like 90% books, movies, and music, and 10% furniture (and that's counting my computer as "furniture").

      I sincerely hope that the NEXT move I make, after this upcoming one, is straight up to that Great Mobile Home Park In The Sky!!

      Thanks for the kudos, McBrother. I'm very, very pleased to be moving where I am. I feel convinced that the differences between it and the city I'm leaving are like day and night, Heaven and hell, Mayberry and... well... Reno.

      ~ Stephen
      'Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...'

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    2. McsomewhatmoreIrishblodthanmineIrishBrotherMan,

      I don't know if you're joking or serious abut mobile home park. In 6th grade through high school (then I was the last kid to move out and my mom could afford a house)…. we lived in a mobile home park. Best sense of community that shall never be matched: In the center of the mobile home park, a half basketball court, a shared pool (the rule was an adult had to watch you at the pool, that'll make kids meet other kids' parents) and community center with two pool tables. And a monthly news letter. The park was two "separate" halves. One for families and one for seniors with no kids (some Korea vets). The park monthly newsletter (that's community right there) noted (paraphrasing) "Be on the lookout, there's a light blue car cruising the neighborhood." I drove a light blue car and was driving around the park learning to drive! I went back a few years later to shoot baskets within minutes the park manager walked up and asked what I was doing there. That's a safe neighborhood! I shook his hand and reintroduced.
      If you can tell, it's a cool place. (No garage door openers where people press a button and disappear each day).

      I have a bunch of books, and am tired of politics, more reading Hollywood Babylon type books... they're in their own world but it doesn't really affect the world... easy reading.

      Anyway, me me me and also cheers/congrats again.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsccjsW8bSY


      Delete
    3. McG DogG ~
      Sorry for the somewhat delayed response time but I've been busy as hell, cleanin', packin' and mo' packin'.

      I'm actually serious about the mobile home park bit. I'm leaving one in Reno for another one in Carson City.

      When I was a little kid living in Orange County, CA., my paternal grandmother lived in a mobile home park, and somehow it remains in my memory with a kind of golden aura about it. In fact, once, many years ago, I even had a very vivid dream that I had returned to my grandma's mobile home and... well, this sounds odd but... in the dream, the mobile home was apparently a kind of depiction or representation of Heaven in my mind. So, I'm not really all that surprised to find that in the town I think I've been searching for since 1992, I'll be living in a mobile home park.

      I loved your comment and the reminiscing about the park you grew up in. That story about the "light blue car" *literally* made me LOL.

      And, hey, the URL to the Talking Heads song... As you could probably guess, I've never been a Talking Heads fan, although I did see them perform live once, for free, at UCLA. That was probably in 1977 or '78.

      HOWEVER!... I really dug that song, McBrother! I'd never heard it before but, my, what a happy, happy song! I listened to it three times in a row and even did a little dance to it. Ha! Shhhh..... Don't tell anyone, because I really CAN'T dance, but my feet didn't get the memo.

      I was listening to that song and at one point, I found myself saying out loud, "The Beach Boys". Yeah. It's happy like a Beach Boys kind of song. So, after listening to 'This Must Be The Place' three times, I put on a Beach Boys CD. But after just one listen, that had immediately become my favorite Talking Heads song. I think you found my official '2019 Moving To Carson City Theme Song'. Thank you! (I just listened to it again while typing this comment. And as soon as I hit "Publish" on this comment, I'm going to listen to it AGAIN!) Great theme song, and Talking Heads never sounded so good to me!

      ~ Stephen
      DogGtor of Alcohology &
      King of Inebriation Nation

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    4. Stephen MC.

      I'm glad you replied at all as in hindsight, I thought my post rather self-indulgent.

      You know the old adage, "Wherever you are, you are." It helps to be in a good place, and there you are.

      You know likely better than I, the adage, the reason Californians are so mellow, is they know a disaster could happen any moment (not a predicted blizzard each year or hurricane every two years.. just an earthquake, mudslide, or serial killer(s) out of nowhere all of a sudden).

      One more self-indulgence... the mobile home park was in Vacaville, a few blocks away from the California Medical Facility, sometimes home of Charles Manson, with some of his groupies at the prison gates. One thing when you start driving, they tell you, "Don't pick up hitchhikers." Dennis Wilson.. I could tell you stories that I read about second hand.

      So glad you like the Talking Heads song. I hear you, many of their songs could be clever and/or spazzy by half.

      You did it, you got the right place. (So many people say they're going to leave So Cal and never do... ) Third time is a charm.

      Cheers,

      Delete
    5. G McDogG ~
      Phase 1 of the two-Phase move was accomplished yesterday, but not without a temporary price. (A minor price to pay considering the expected payoff.) It really left my mind and body wrecked - too tired and too dehydrated to sleep well last night. My personal friend, the Winter Warlock, told me in advance, "There will be blood... and cussing". And indeed there was. Phase 2, the final Phase, should be relatively easy. And I'll remember to eat something beforehand next time. 2 tablespoons of lecithin, 3 cups of coffee, and 4 cups of water is just not enough fuel for the body to load a U-Haul, drive it 30 miles, unload the U-Haul, and drive it 30 miles back again.

      I did not think your previous comment was self-indulgent at all. I rather enjoyed it.

      Yeah, Talking Heads is generally more your style than mine, I suppose. You know, '80s New Wave. That's more in your wheelhouse than mine. But I definitely enjoyed that one, and I even read some stuffs online about it / them. Imagine me reading a long article about TH. I never saw *that* coming, and neither did my personal friend the Winter Warlock.

      So, yesterday, as I was improvising Phase 1 of the move-out - packing this now, leaving that for later - I was moving things around...

      I have a stuffed mouse (whom I cleverly named "Mouse") that was a birthday gift to me when I turned one year old. He's been with me for 58 years and 5 months now. I picked him up and absentmindedly moved him aside, because he just wasn't big and heavy enough to warrant moving in Phase 1. Late last night, I happened to notice where I had set him earlier in the day and it struck me as being amusing. I didn't even remember putting him there.

      [Link> MOUSE patiently awaits the day he will be moved to the new home during Phase 2.

      ~ McStephen

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    6. McStephenBroMan,

      Ahahah.. "Get in the damn U-Haul dresser, get in the corner... get in there table! You think you're better than everybody else bookshelves - get in there! Up against the wal1! These boxes full of books will keep your Precious wood from being scratched!" I hear you, I get worn out just from yardwork. If the drive was 50 miles, that's the least of it, you'd get more of a rest on the drive, cupholders, gotta have cupholders, and a drivethru fast food place wouldn't hurt... then again if you're healthy.. it wouldn't make you sick.. if you're healthy you can stomach a fast food meal or two.

      Obviously I'm biased, new wave isn't your older brothers Oldsmobile/muscle car Foreigner/Journey/Styx jersey. (Straw man argument): New wave isn't all the same.

      Mouse is cool.

      Looking around here, I don't see - well, I see a framed needlepoint I inherited from my ma. My own stuff? I respect your keeping track of your mouse. I had a red locker/chest that contained... I only remember two things in it - a frisbee and my first baseball glove. I never threw the chest away, moving from place to place they disappeared as did my hardcover "Best Goalies In Hockey" hardcover book and football cards in a shoebox in alphabetical order. I never threw them away! They're like a sock in the dryer.

      Delete
    7. McG DogG ~
      "A sock in a dryer" -- Ha!-Ha! It's like there's a Devil's Triangle in everyone's dryer.

      Once upon a time ago, like, oh, about 1976-'77, I was a huge Styx fan. (I didn't like Journey, and I was too stupid to realize that Styx and Journey were the exact same band.) Then later I wised up and started referring to them as REOJourneyStyxWagon. Ha!

      Hey, if your locker with the frisbee and baseball glove in it, your football cards, and your book 'Goalies In Hockey' ever show up in my dryer, I'll save them and get in touch with you, Brother. :-D

      ~ Stephen

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