Record Stores (#atozchallenge)

I miss my record browsing days.  Flipping through the bins of vinyl albums was an adventure that could absorb hours of my time.---Arlee Bird.

J&R on Park Row, in New York City  (Wikipedia)

 Record Stores

         When I asked "What Does Manhattan Say to You?" I wasn't too surprised by the answer I got from Larry at DiscConnected:

      Having grown up so close to NYC (Philly), a lot of images come to mind.

      However, my most vivid images are of St. Mark's Place in the east village, where I would venture four of five times each year for a CD buying excursion. The stores are gone now, but the block had about eight different stores that would usually yield more treasures than I had any business spending money on.

       The day would usually start at J & R Music World on Park Row, across from the World Trade Center.

      My last trip there was on Friday, September 8, 2001, I believe the same day Ryan Adams filmed his "New York" music video. Sadly, the lower triangle's landscape changed forever a few days later, and that was my last trip to J & R. The village stores closed over the next few years, and now I find my CD's on the internet.

     But I miss those days spent browsing. I had a good friend (Kent) who was also an avid collector, although my collection eclipsed his when his priorities got screwed up and he had offspring.

     I had a job offer in Manhattan at the same time as I took the transfer to Arizona, and I still do not regret it. In my twenties, I would have loved the city life, but by that time, I'd spent ten years on the road (as an auditor) and was ready for a quieter life.

     Still a great place to visit, though.

My Own Music Sprees

         Larry's story is one to which I can totally relate except for the locale.  I would have loved to have shopped those record stores in Manhattan.  I call them record stores even though most of my purchases eventually became cassettes and then later CD's.  My earliest buying excursions would mostly have been shopping the cut-out bins for record albums when I still lived in Tennessee.  If they were cheap then I might buy a number of them in one visit.  However when I was paying full price I'd usually only be able to afford one or two at a time.

        Later on when I began touring with a road show I spent my free time in whatever city I happened to be in scouring the record stores for cassette tapes.   I guess I bought a few thousand cassettes during the 80's.  My favorite place to go cassette shopping was on Younge Street in downtown Toronto.  Since we were paid in Canadian money when we worked in that country I wanted to spend as much money as I could so I didn't have to lose money exchanging to U.S. currency when we returned to the states.   I'd load up on the latest cassettes as well as older music that I had been wanting.  On my off days--we usually had about a week off in Toronto--I'd spend hours in those music stores which were huge.  

       I can easily see myself in Manhattan shopping those same stores that Larry describes.  That is if it were back in the 70's, 80's, or 90's.   Now I very rarely buy any recorded music.  In the nineties I started buying CD's and now have a huge collection that I rarely listen to.  In one sense it's sad to think of all that money I spent on vinyl, cassettes, and CD's.  On the other hand I can think of the hours and hours I spent listening to and enjoying that music.  My hours driving during my road years would have been much less enjoyable had I not had my music to entertain me.

        Have you spent a lot of time in stores browsing for something that you enjoyed?   Do you own much recorded music now?   Can you recall some of your old favorite haunts for buying recorded music?  

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Sweet Ride Home

   

           For starters you might want to first head over to DiscConnected and click on the "Sweet Ride" video for some background music to accompany this blog post.  And while you're there say hi to my ol' pal Larry Cavanaugh.  He's got a great blog that's a great place to hear good music new and old.

            So now you got the music playing and I can tell you what's happening with me.  I'm heading back home to Tennessee again.  This year is the most times I've gone back to Tennessee in the same twelve month span.  This time is just another visit and not a relocation.  I'll be back in Los Angeles in time for the BlogWorld Expo.  I wouldn't want to miss that.

            I'll be driving a rental truck from Phoenix, AZ to Maryville, TN as I help my sister move back to be closer to family.  I've lost count of the number of times I've driven across country, but it's always been enjoyable to me.  The difference this time is that I'll be driving by myself as my two sisters follow in a car.

           As long as I'm able to stop whenever I need to and take a break from driving, I should be fine.  I do pretty well at long distance driving.  Usually I'm in a car with my wife and a good stereo.  I'll miss that part.  But driving alone in a truck that will probably be noisier and slower than my wife's car may actually have some benefits that I can take advantage of.

           For one thing I can plan out blog posts for the future.  I often do this even while driving short distances around town.  With eighteen hundred miles and three full days of driving I should be able to plan out blog posts for the next couple of years or so.  I'll keep a notebook in the truck cab with me so I can jot down my ideas when I take my breaks.  Now with five blogs under my name I'd better be doing some planning.

          Then considering that NaNoWriMo will be starting up shortly after I get back home, some of my thoughts will undoubtedly be drifting in that direction.  In my past two NaNo attempts I didn't start planning anything until the first day of the novel writing challenge.   I was considering taking this same approach this year, but now it looks like I may have a very busy November waiting for me and planning the novel ahead of time might be a helpful strategy.

          Another thing that I know will be on my mind as I'm driving is my BlogWorld Expo mission.  I will want to plan out a strategy of which booths I will want to visit the most and what I will want to learn.   Just a few days after I get back to Los Angeles, I will be facing what will possibly be one of the most intense opportunities for learning as much as I can in two days that I've ever experienced.  Getting psyched up for this event will require good planning if I want to get the most out of it.

         There will be no shortage of things to think about as I drive across country--my life, my job prospects, my family's future.   If I need to rest my brain and let someone else think for me I guess I'll always have the radio.  Unfortunately I won't have any mobile devices like a CD player or an I-pod, so that won't be an option, but I don't think I'll be lacking in things to keep my mind occupied.  Then of course, I should probably pay attention to driving some of the time.

          By now, if you were listening to the "Sweet Ride" song on Larry's DiscConnected blog, the song has probably ended.  If you weren't, maybe you can still hop over to his site and say hello to him.   I guess I'm thinking about Larry because he lives in Phoenix and I'll be in and out of town in such a flurry I won't have time to meet up with him

          For that matter I'd say anyone who lives along Interstate 40 between Holbrook, Arizona and Knoxville, Tennessee could stand along the roadside between today (Friday) and Sunday night and wave as I drive by in the rental truck.  Of course since I don't know exactly where I'll be at what time then that won't be very practical.  But if you do happen to see a rental truck rolling down that highway, just think of me.  Think of me anyway as I take my sweet ride home.

          Have you ever made a cross country move?    Did you rent a truck and move yourself?   Have you gotten to know my buddy Larry at Disconnected yet?


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Lyrical Larry

      My guest today is Larry Cavanaugh, who is Blogging from A to Z on his music blog DisConnected.  He also writes on a more politically oriented blog called Back in the USSR.

       So far Larry is the only blogger I have actually met in person, an event which I wrote about here.  At this time I learned about Larry's talent for writing song lyrics and later I was fortunate to obtain several of his self-published books of lyrics.  After having read this talented man's lyrics I asked him if I could introduce this side of him to my readers.   And now I'd like you to meet Larry Cavanaugh.

    
Can you start out by telling a bit about yourself?


Larry Cavanaugh at age 20



        Born in the Sixties, product of the Seventies. A high school English teacher sparked my interest in writing and introduced me to my favorite musician, Todd Rundgren (more on that below). Entered college as an English major, succumbed to the pressure to find work and graduated with an Accounting major and a writing minor. Continued to write while working on a CPA certificate, travelled the world as an auditor, fell in love and fell out of love a few times, kept writing, got tired of traveling, relocated to Arizona, had one last romance and threw in the towel. Am an avid music collector, and still work in accounting and listen to Todd Rundgren.


How and when did you get started songwriting?

          As a kid, I was always writing stories. They started out as crudely drawn comic books with my friend Chris providing the finishing art, and by junior high they were mostly science fiction and fantasy (a reflection of what I was reading at the time). In high school, I encounter Tom Williams, an English teacher who taught me that even though most of my friends were not achieving academically, it did not make me less their friend to perform at my best in class, helped me grow up, and inspired me to write my first poem



         He brought into class an album entitled Ra by a band called Utopia, and played the eighteen minute song “Singring And The Glass Guitar (An Electrified Fairy Tale).” The point of this exercise was to show the class that a short story (the assignment) could take many forms. I loved this album, and went out and purchased it that weekend, beginning a love affair with the music of Todd Rundgren that continues to this day. While I ended up writing a short story in the traditional sense (I was having trouble getting the fantasy lyrics to work), I started writing song lyrics pretty much as fast as I could churn them out.

Where do you find your inspiration?



A more recent photo of
Larry Cavanaugh



            Interesting question, and I’m not sure I really know. I think I need strong emotions to inspire me. My writing has dropped off precipitously the last decade, which coincidentally began with the ending of a romantic relationship that had been on-and-off for some fifteen years, and I was very much in love with the lady. When I started writing as a teen, I was “in love” every other week (like most teenagers have a tendency to think), so the words came easily. I was also passionate about other things, so I tried my hand at protest songs, songs about finding your path in life, etc. I lost two people close to me in my thirties, and there were a lot of songs that came from the grief that asked questions about what it (life) all means.

         Interestingly enough, depressed moods do not inspire me to write (not that I get depressed all that often).     It really seems to be emotions born of passion (love, anger, jealousy) that fuel my fire, so to speak.     Maybe I’ve had it too good the last decade…


Do you have an idea in your head of how you'd like a song to sound and what styles do you prefer?

          Sometimes, yes-the melody will come to me and the words will just flow. Sometimes a line will occur to me and I’ll build the rest of the lyric around it. The styles are usually classic rock, ranging from ersatz Springsteen to arena rock, with a lot of Rundgren influences thrown in (big surprise there, huh?). As much as I like progressive rock, you really need to be more of a musician for that. I will often have progressive ideas, but since lyrics are secondary, there’s nothing to anchor those ideas in my mind. Most of the lyrics you’ve read have a melody that I still remember, for some as many as thirty years later.

Have any of your lyrics ever been actually put to music and recorded or performed?

          Only three have been recorded (to my knowledge), two in demo form and one was the flip side of an indie 45 release by a Philly band back in the 80’s. That’s the only one that I am sure of that has been performed live. Finding musicians to collaborate with has always been somewhat harder than I’d expected.

In your thinking, what is the difference between lyrics and poetry.

            Poetry has some fairly rigid rules around structure. Sure there is free form poetry, but usually the expectation is there for a certain rhyme pattern, and certain metre. You can get away with a little more with a song lyric-you can cheat on rhymes easier, and squeeze in extra syllables in a line since the singer will just make it fit to the music. Try that with a poem and it will often throw the reader off.

          Of course, that’s my opinion-there are a lot of poets out there who would disagree, I’m sure.


         When I started writing, I had fantasies of making a living at songwriting. Sadly, there’s not much of a market for poetry, and most poets that see their work in print are self-published. Nothing wrong with that (I did it with the lyric collections), but hard to pay the rent that way.


         Now if some aspiring young musician were to turn just one song lyric into a hit…

Can we obtain any of your lyric books and how would we go about it?

Well, I have a few left. I guess one could e-mail me at lmcava@yahoo.com with the subject line LYRIC BOOK and we’d work something out. If there was enough interest, I’d see about getting additional copies printed.

What are your writing plans for the future?

Lately, it’s been mostly checks. I’ve gotten quite good at it.

Can we see an example of one of your lyrics?

          I wrote this when my younger sister was dying of cancer. She was one of my best friends, and this was a dark time for me. It was hard to see any sense, or order, in life when one of the best people I knew was dying (she died two months later at age 34) from a disease that I can only characterize as evil.      

                  I SEE HEAVEN

I saw a man with a sign that read ‘God Is Dead’
As I pondered this, I scratched my head
Guess he had a point-how else do you explain AIDS?
Then I thought and I thought and I thought some more
Thought so much ‘till my brain got sore
Had the man lost his faith? Maybe he was just afraid.


Cause if you look closely you can see God’s hand
In a flower’s bloom, in every blade of grass
In the light of a full moon-in every sun rise
I see heaven when I look in your eyes


Heard a lady on the subway screaming “Where is God?”
As I listened to her, I found it odd
But with cancer in the world, who am I to debate?
Then I got to my knees and I prayed for a sign
But I got no answer or else I was blind
I was scared for a moment-afraid we were too late


Then I heard a bird’s song in the morning light
And knew that God was near day or night
Every rainbow is a sign of His grace
I see heaven when I look at your face


(acoustic guitar break with harmonica)


And if you search hard enough you will see the signs
Of the miracles that God has left behind
In every wonder of beauty He placed His clues
I see heaven when I look at you


Copyright 1998 by Laurence M. Cavanaugh


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          People like to say “God has a plan.” I don’t believe that. Yet, I do believe that there is something we can learn from everything. Her suffering and death taught me to live life a day at a time. As clichéd as that sounds, you really should enjoy what you’re doing today, because tomorrow is not guaranteed. I wrote this for Mary Anne, who is still missed more than a decade later, and for Eileen, who was a pretty important part of my life at the time.

        This is intended to be played folksy/bluesy, with an acoustic guitar, accompanied by a harmonica.




      Thank you Larry for taking some time to share your lyrical talents with us today.  Be sure to stop by to say hello to Larry at DiscConnected.    And if you're looking for something deeper and more controversial visit his other blog Back in the USSR.   Either way be sure to let him know you learned about his blogs here on Tossing It Out.




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Super 8 Debut Albums

           Be sure to check out all of the other lists by going to DiscConnected where you will find the Linky list.

            I thought that it would be difficult to come up with eight debut albums, but the difficult part as usual was in narrowing it down to only eight.  I didn't.   So what I did was come up with four upon which there would be probably be wide agreement on.   After that I have eight debut albums that are special to me.   You'll probably notice that most of these are from the late 1960s and early 70s--that's just the way it is.

Some No-Brainers:

     Steely Dan    Can't Buy a Thrill (1972)     This album first hit my radar when I saw Steely Dan performing "Reelin' in the Years" on The Midnight Special television show in 1972.  They blew me away.  And when I heard the album I was even more impressed.  Since that album, Steely Dan has been consistent in the quality of their releases.  But if this had been their only release, they would have still made musical history on the merits of this one alone.

King Crimson    In the Court of the Crimson King  (1969)     One of the early progressive rock albums remains one of the best of the prog rock genre.  It's an amazing album and the group has a reputation for cutting edge music.

    Blood, Sweat, and Tears  The Child Is the Father to the Man (1968)    Chicago II is probably my

 favorite of the horn band albums, but BS&T I think surpasses Chicago's debut effort.   Blood, Sweat, and Tears' debut is phenomenal jazz-rock fusion.

 

    The Band     Music from Big Pink (1968)     In my opinion one of the top ten best rock albums of all time.  I am not the only one with this opinion.







Some of My Favorite Debuts:


      Good Rats   The Good Rats (1969)     I recall that I was in the University of Tennessee at Knoxville Undergraduate Library perusing a classical music magazine in 1970 and I found a review of this album.   I thought it odd that they would be reviewing a rock album in a magazine like that so I figured the album must be good.  I found a copy in the University Bookstore and bought it.   It was good and I enjoyed it.    Years later I was looking through cassettes in the cut-out bin of a record store and found several tapes by the Good Rats.  I had not realized that the band had continued recording after that debut album.    The first album is not my favorite, but it is an excellent album.  On hearing the later albums the Good Rats became one of my favorite groups.  The Rats still play primarily in the New Jersey area and maintain a solid base of hardcore fans.




        Crazy Horse     Crazy Horse  (1971)     Primarily known as a back-up band for Neil Young, Crazy Horse has been around with various line-ups for many years.  The original band members released a very fine album in 1968 when they were called The Rockets.   This Crazy Horse album is the first released under this group name (without being Young's back-up band) and I'm going to call it a debut, though in a way it's not.  It's a superb album that adds Nils Lofgren and  Jack Nitzsche to the line-up and includes support from Neil Young and Ry Cooder.     Danny Whitten's "I Don't Want to Talk About It" is included on this album and has since been covered by many artists including Rod Stewart and Rita Coolidge.



         Grin (Nils Lofgren)   Grin (1971)   Grin was a band headed up by the very talented singer, songwriter, and musician Nils Logren.  He has been a singer and guitarist in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band for about 25 years in addition to his solo work.   His debut with Grin displayed his diverse skills as a songwriter.   This is an outstanding album.

Seals and Crofts     Seals and Crofts   (1969)     This duo had a string of huge hits throughout the 1970s.  Though they had been veterans of hit bands since 1958, they didn't make a real name for themselves until they embarked as a duo.   Their many commercial hits were wonderful examples of some of the finest in pop music, but this debut album to me is their real masterpiece.  Heavenly harmonies and mystical songs make this album an absolute joy to listen to.




       Spirit    Spirit (1968)   This is hands down one of the best, most tasteful, most well-rounded, finest musicianship bands in the history of rock.  I'll put them up against Steely Dan any day.   Their debut is a musical masterpiece and I just don't think there is any reasonable argument otherwise.  Spirit ranks as one of my favorite bands.

     The Police     Outlandos d'Amour (1978).   Before Sting and the Police became absolutely huge they were an edgy band that rode in on the New Wave rock music movement.   The album includes the controversial hit "Roxanne".   The entire album is simple reggae influenced rock and it's all good.

        Judybats    Native Son (1990)    This alternative rock band comes from Knoxville, Tennessee.   I have four of their albums and they are all excellent.  This debut is a truly outstanding effort that includes the Roky Erikson song "She Lives" which was also included on the tribute album Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye.

          Rich Mountain Tower    Rich Mountain Tower  (1971)  One of the earliest records released in quadraphonic stereo sound, this has the feel of the harmony bands like Crosby, Stills, and Nash.   The band came out of Knoxville, Tennessee and has a sweet country soft rock sound.   Of the three albums this group made, this is the only one I've heard.  The album is a real gem..




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Let's Get Real!

That's a Lotta Blogs!

          As the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge roster nears 300 sign-ups, some of you may be looking at the list and thinking, "How am I going to visit that many blogs each day?"

          The answer?  Truthfully?  You won't!   Not unless you have some super fast computer and have nothing to do all day but visit blogs.  Very few of you have that luxury and even if you did, would you be actually spending much time on each blog and leaving decent comments?



Spending Quality Time

         We have often seen it in the other blogfests, challenges, and other events.  In one day or two we feel obligated to whiz through a list of blog participants and leave abbreviated stock messages on the level of "that's nice".  Of course, I do see many fine and fun comments, but I'm just saying and I think you know what I'm saying. 

          The beauty of a month long blog event is that you can face the reality that a daily grind of trying to visit every single blog in the challenge and leave your rote response can be a grueling ordeal that would be difficult to sustain for too many days.  Diffusing the networking over a month long period allows you to settle into more of a blogging as normal mode except with more choices involved. 


Getting to Know You

           Since we still have a few weeks ahead of us we can start visiting the blogs on the list and see who's going to be doing this.  Get out there and mingle a bit and see what others do.  You'll still have your favorites, but now is a great time to get to know some bloggers whom we have heretofore missed--some of these may be the types of blogs that you have been looking for.

           Check out a few new bloggers each day and don't forget to follow them.  And if someone new stops to visit and follow your blog, be fair and visit and follow them back.  It's not like you've made any major commitment.  If you find out later that you absolutely can't stand a blog that you have followed, you can always unfollow later, but that's a post for another day.

Try a Blog Workout

           Think of the April Challenge as a marathon.  You don't want to just wait until April 1st and just dive in.  I highly recommend that you start warming up with stretches and calisthenics.  Run through the A to Z sign up list and see how many blogs you can realistically visit each day. 

           One weekly event that I've tried just to see how fast I can go through a number of blogs and leave short reasonably inventive comments is a weekly feature on MizB's Should Be Reading called Teaser Tuesday.  Some of you already participate in this one.  Participants leave a two line teaser from a book they are reading.  If I have absolutely nothing to say about the teaser I just move on, otherwise I try to come up with something clever or unique to say.  If the blog looks interesting enough I may linger  and I may even follow it. 

          You can find many of these blog events and probably have your own favorites.   Many of you are currently honing your networking chops with Rachael Harrie's Crusade.  This is a excellent opportunity to get a blog workout. 

          Another event coming next Monday February 28th is DiscConnected Super 8 Debut Albums Blog Hop.  In fact, I'll let you sign up below.  Come on music lovers --how about jumping in on this one!
Here's the list:



          
You Can Handle the Truth!

           The truth is that the April Challenge is going to involve some creative thinking on your behalf.  It looks like it may be an impossibility to post six days a week and visit all of the other blogs.  And what if there are 300, 500, 1000, or more blogs?  How can you possibly do that?  Well, that's why it's called a challenge.  You can do it if you set your mind to it.  Don't let this intimidate you.  Meet the challenge head on, and if you start preparing now it will probably be much easier that you thought.

            Today Alex J Cavanaugh will be featuring fellow A to Z Team member Jeffrey Beesler with some ideas and encouragement that should be useful to you in the Challenge.

           In the coming weeks, the A to Z Team members will be offering posts to help you blog better, write better, and to get you revved up for the April marathon.  We want to help you get into shape.

            We also want your input on what you recommend.   What are you doing ahead of time to prepare?  Do you have any favorite types of blog events?  Do you feel intimidated by the April Challenge?  If so why?  Is there anything special you would like help with?



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Close Encounters of the Blog Kind

           The future was the topic on this blog over the past week.  In the week to come I'll be looking at the past.  Tossing It Out is a site where Time and Space sometimes go out of kilter and we might not know where we've been or where we are going.  That's what Saturdays are for--to get us oriented.

            If you've missed what's happening, next week marks the One Year Anniversary of Tossing It Out.  I'm not going to make any huge deal out of it.  No contest, no giveaway--nothing like that.  Oh, I might dance around my office in my pajamas and wave the flag or something.  But no confetti (I don't want to clean it up) and no champagne (at least I don't think so). 

          What I'll be doing is just having some peaceful blog reflection as I look at my year of blogging and ponder life in general.  I'll be starting Monday by looking back at my Top Ten TV Shows--I'll be saying more about this later in this post.  Then for the next three days I'll be indulging in tossing out my memories of Tossing It Out and giving a hint about what's to come in the future.

            Finally, on Friday I'll be participating in the Writing Compelling Characters Blogfest hosted by Elana Johnson, Jennifer Daiker, and Alex J. Cavanaugh.  Last time I looked there were 111 participants--sounds like a great way to meet some new bloggers and add new followers to your own blogroll.  If you haven't yet, get over there right now and sign up.

                             An Unexpected Surprise!

             Last weekend I got a surprise email from Larry at  DiscConnected.  He said he was coming over from Phoenix to Downey, California, which is near where I live, to see progressive rock group Spock's Beard in concert.  He offered that I might want to see the concert and at the same time we could meet in person.  Though I was vaguely familiar with Spock's Beard, I didn't know that much about them, but I was very interested in seeing them.  Most of all though I wanted to meet Larry whose blog I've been following for a while now.  After all, other than my own family members who blog, I have never met a real live blogger in person.   What an opportunity!

          Now it was odd enough that someone nearly 400 miles away from me was telling me about a concert that I didn't even know about that was five miles from my house, but to think that Larry was going to drive this distance to see some band seemed surprising.  Turns out he is a big Spock's Beard fan and they rarely play in concert in the U.S.   After seeing them in concert now I too am a huge fan.  What a concert!  This was one of the best bands I have seen.  If you ever have the opportunity you must see them.   Larry gives a complete rundown on the show and our meeting complete with pictures on his site.   Hope you'll check it out.

Larry Cavanaugh (DisConnected) (r) visiting in lobby before the show with Spock's Beard's extraordinary guitarist Alan Morse (on left)

                                       Blogfest Fun!

            If you haven't signed up yet there is still time to join up for Alex J. Cavanaugh's Top Ten TV Show Blogfest.  That's coming up this Monday.   I'll be there--will you?

  And If You're Near Long Beach, CA This             Weekend

          This weekend at The Queen Mary in Long Beach, California I'll be visiting Ghost Fest Expo 4 , which is an event dealing with paranormal activities and other unique phenomena.  George Noory of Radio Coast to Coast will be there with a line up of speakers who will be presenting special seminars and exhibits.  I'll be there visiting my ex-employer and good friend Philip Morris, who will be speaking about the Bigfoot Hoax film.   I posted about this Bigfoot Hoax story back in March.

    Become A Follower of Tossing It Out!

        As of this writing I am poised to hit 400 followers.  I'm hoping to hit this milestone this week to coincide with the first blog anniversary.  If you aren't following yet, please hop on board and enjoy the ride.  And be sure to tell all of your friends, neighbors, and family.