You’ve Made Me So Very Happy was one of the first singles I remember owning. Like all the singles Columbia made through the 60’s and 70’s, the vinyl was pretty darn soft so the song turned scratchy within a few spins. (I remember doing radio in the late 70’s and early 80’s, when we still used records, avoiding CBS product because you knew the first 3 seconds of the song would be burned by repeated “cueings”.

My brother-in-law, a true to life, horn-playing, motorcycle riding hippie introduced me to the rest of the “Sweat” catalog, inadvertently, by letting me listen to his record collection (which included the Chase albums, as well). Later in life, Blood, Sweat And Tears’ greatest hits was always a chart-topper when my younger brother and I would have late-night, somewhat chemically distorted listening sessions.

Agree or disagree, the three best Blood, Sweat and Tears songs:

Blood, Sweat And Tears – And When I Die
Blood, Sweat And Tears – Hi-De-Ho
Blood, Sweat And Tears – You’ve Made Me So Very Happy

Miss Congeniality: Lucretia MacEvil

Michael’s comment yesterday about traveling between Los Angeles and San Francisco in the back of a station wagon, singing Down In The Boondocks with his sister Patty, got me to thinking the same sort of scenario from my childhood.

For me, it was the 183 mile trip between my hometown, Elmira, NY, and Fredonia, NY, the place where both my older brother and sister went to college. From the time my brother started at SUNY Fredonia in 1968 through my sister’s departure in the late 1970’s, I figure we visited the Lake Erie coast about 200 times.

I have a lot of fond memories of “dear old Fred State”. We’d stay in the Dunkirk Motel, in these little houses that today are called “suites” but in 1968 were called “efficiencies”. We spent hours walking along the as-yet-unpolluted Lake Erie, throwing stones into the waves, collecting wood and shells and setting adrift messages in bottles destined for Europe (though I think the “other side” of Lake Erie is actually Michigan).

I remember watching, on a little black and white TV in the “living room” of our hotel, Bob Robertson hit 3 home runs for the Pirates during the second game of the 1971 National League championship against the Giants, then going outside and reenacting the game in its entirety by throwing a rubber ball against the brick exterior of the house. We travelled up and down the West Coast of New York, from the huge antique barn in Stockton, NY to Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo where my brother, a zippie (i.e., music student) would perform.

A lot of music was played to soothe the savage beasts in the back of our Ford Grand Torino. Unlike Michael and Patty, who sound like they got along pretty well, my younger brother and I were always at odds. Like some sort of Herculean Greek tragedy, we were always butting heads to see who could stay on the top of the hill. But, when the going got tough, we were relegated to separates auto zones (back before seat belts were required) and music was used to assuage the tension.

On one particular trip, it was not only the kids who needed soothing: our beloved German Shepherd, Bootsie, seemed a bit at loose ends. To this day, my Mom still remembers how we sang Up Up And Away, about 100 times, as Boots lay on the floor of the back seat. When Up Up And Away stopped working, it was Sister Golden Hair, then Spinning Wheel, then You’ve Made Me So Very Happy. Four straight hours of 4 songs, over and over again (kind if like Top 40 radio at the time).

Fifth Dimension – Up, Up And Away

America – Sister Golden Hair

Blood, Sweat And Tears – You’ve Made Me So Very Happy

Blood, Sweat And Tears – Spinning Wheel

Photo: Administration Building at SUNY Fredonia

Remember that one from Music Man (one of my favorite Broadway shows)? My wife is the theater director at the local high school; she’s considering doing Music Man next fall so she can cast our 8-year old, Skyler, as Winthrip. (Eat his dust, Ronnie Howard.) They’re doing Pippin in a few weeks in which Sky is playing Theo. He’s gonna rock and I will be a proud papa.

Did I mention that we had band practice out in the Buddha Barn again this past Monday? Have I mentioned that we still suck?

OK: we still suck.

I’m trying to convince these guys that there’s nothing that will make a sucky band sound better than three chords and a straight four-on-the-floor beat. They, on the other hand, don’t seem to understand our true lack of talent: they’re thinking we can play Stevie Ray Vaughn songs and do justice to Summertime Blues (like I’m Keith Moon, or something). Even dead, Keith is a better drummer than I am.

I may have to pursue a solo project.

Skyler wants to start a record label, record his piano improvisations and sell the albums online. He’s already decided on the label and website name (Skaddio) and the division of profits. Since he’s 8 and I’m 46, he divided 8 into 54 and decided he should get 14% of the profits and I should get the other 86%. Spoken like a true artist! (Confidentially, I may give as much as 20%. Spoken like a true mogul!).

Recently I’ve been posting artwork with my articles but, today, I just can’t resist this one:

I love the fact that EVERY guy in this picture has the same HAIRCUT. And these guys, with their gauzy shirts rolled up to their biceps, are the perfect 70’s teenagers, pimple-faced versions of Peter Frampton. Best of all, you have to dig the posture of the guys on the immediate left and right of the kids with the sign, the classic pissed-off-at-your-parents slacker/stoner attitude. Those guys are probably Senators now.

So, the whole Marian, Librarian thing comes about because this post features some of the tunes I found at the library this week. I had about five minutes to grab my allotted 15 discs, so I scooped up someone else’s returns almost verbatim.

Ben Webster – Late Date – I’ve actually been a bit of a jazzbeaux at times in my life…in high school when all the marching band stoners were listening to Herbie Hancock and later in life when I spun Sunday night jazz at a station in Ithaca, NY. This one, which features Oscar Peterson and Ray Brown, is from Webster’s classic Soulville album.

Son House – Grinnin’ In Your Face – I’ve gotten to know Son House through a couple of contemporary women singers: Ruthie Foster and Rory Block. I saw Ruthie sing this at the blues festival in Portland and got to review Rory’s version for the current issue of Blues Revue. His version makes for a triumvirate of great interpretations.

Big Joe And His Washboard Band – From the second Northern Exposure soundtrack, a TV show my dearly departed Dad and I used to love watching together. My wife is convinced that living in a trailer, working as a poetry reading morning DJ in Alaska is actually my lost destiny.

Richmond Fontaine – $87 And A Guilty Conscience That Gets Worse The Longer I Go – I knew nothing about Richmond Fontaine when I grabbed this CD. I just liked the sophisticated sound of the name. Turns out they’re from nearby Portland and, with songs with titles like this, they have to be good.

Blood, Sweat And Tears – Lisa, Listen To Me – I’m a huge Sweat fan. Saw them in the park a couple of summers ago. (Coincidentally, the guy playing bass was a one-time member of a band led by a friend of mine in Long Island). I have most of the songs on this disc but, as it says in the opening graf of the liner notes: “…the two CDs you got as a bonus for buying this little booklet…”. Truly the liner notes are great reading in and of themselves.

David Bowie – Cracked Actor – No guitar banging band of any era compares with Aladdin Sane era Bowie. Period.

Frank Zappa – Can’t Afford No Shoes – Sometimes I wish I was Zappa. Not because I want to be a seriously ugly chain-smoking rock star or even that I like his music. It’s because he was weird, he was independent and he was fierce.

Feist – Brandy Alexander – Another artist I know little about but everyone seems to be pretty excited about her. This is a pretty good song to listen to after Zappa.

Daniela Cotton – Make U Move – In the “Wake Of Winehouse,” as I like to call it, I’m cynical about new soul singers. But Daniela Cotton sounds like she has some musical cajones. I’m excited to listen to this record. This is the only cut I’ve heard…and I like it!

Ahmad Jamal – My Heart Stood Still – Jamal’s version of Misty is one of my favorites. This cat is one of the most underrated out there.

King Crimson – Discipline - I should be as brilliant as any of them, even at their worst.

Yo-Yo Ma plays Dvorak – I haven’t even ventured into the classical section of the library yet; this was just sitting in the stack. Love the cello. Love Dvorak. And I think Ma is cool.

Coleman Hawkins – The Bean Stalks Again – Late era Coleman, second only to Richmond Fontaine in the cool title sweepstakes.

Kiss – Rock And Roll All Nite – The one, the only, the original Kiss Alive!

One For All, All For One

Time to give some propers back to an early Fusion 45 supporter, Jeff over at AM Then FM. One of the best music writers on the web rolls some R.B. Greaves, John Hartford and Dionne Warwick of late. A must have on your bookmark list.