#Musician: Bruce Hall

[lisamarie-vee]

[deebris]

Between us

Batfamily x batsis (platonic!)

Synopsis: This would be the first night you and Bruce would spend together as father and daughter, something you had been eagerly looking forward to. Everything seemed peaceful during dinner until the main singer of the restaurant, Bruce's ex-girlfriend from many years ago, decided to show up and stir things up.

Warnings: Mentions cheating, discrimination agaisnt people with physical disabilities (not from Bruce, not from you), a bit of angst, fluff at the end.

Word count: 5.2k

Note: This is part of The Mysterious Visitor universe, but for those who haven’t read it: the reader is Damian’s twin (though there are no physical descriptions of her), and Talia kept it a secret from Bruce even after her son became Robin. The reader began living with the Batfamily at the age of 13.

You smiled as you reached the last step of the staircase and heard the melody of Dream a little dream of me being played. This restaurant wasn’t very different from those you used to visit with your mother, but it was still different in many ways. It was a large hall, full of yellow lights and whispers from the various conversations happening simultaneously, but what caught your attention most was the singer. Her voice was powerful, yet as soft as a feather. Her arms moved gracefully, as if she knew precisely where to guide them.

Today, it was just you and Bruce, but you had barely entered the place before several men in fine suits began greeting him and making jokes, most of which you didn’t understand. Your smaller figure went unnoticed, and you made no effort for this, staying in your personal silence while you admired the chandeliers and walls with wide eyes. The place wasn’t discreet and was obviously very expensive.

You liked observing people. Many beautiful young women were laughing, but what drew your attention were the unique hairstyles and dresses each of them wore. As Bruce tried to follow the waiter to your table, someone would rise from their own seat every few seconds to talk to him. Yet despite all the handshakes, he never let go of your hand. Until an older lady noticed the little girl Bruce Wayne had brought along:

“And who is this young lady, Bruce?” she asked with a warm smile, and you finally stopped looking around to focus on the people your father was conversing with.

“This is my daughter, Ophelia,” he said, calling the woman by her first name with familiarity. Bruce had a certain affection for her, as she had been a friend of his mother when she was alive.

“Oh! Martha would have been so happy to see the two of you.” She placed a hand on her chest and gently stroked your chin. “And where have you been hiding her?”

“She lived with her mother, but she’s staying with me now,” Bruce replied, beaming at the lady, who excitedly called her husband and son, likely around your father’s age, to come greet you. They were among the few people you truly enjoyed meeting.

It didn’t take long for you two to finally reach your table. Bruce pulled out a chair for you to sit, then took his own. The waiter immediately poured wine for him, while your glass remained filled only with water.

“Do you like the music?” he suddenly asked, noticing how you were staring at the musicians.

“I do,” you said, starting to fiddle with the napkins. “I tried playing the flute once,” you mentioned, and Bruce loved when you initiated conversations without realizing it. It made it easier for him to learn more about you, and in a way, it was an endearing trait of your personality.

“Tried? Why did you give up?” He kept the conversation going, relaxed in his chair and entirely focused on every small expression you made.

“I didn’t have enough breath to blow,” you snapped your lips in frustration, remembering how disappointing it was not to be able to play. Your father wanted to laugh internally but did everything to hold it back, knowing it would irritate you. “Do you play anything?”

“I used to play piano, but I’ve had no time, and I barely remember the last time I touched one,” he squinted as he spoke, and you felt sad seeing how much he seemed to miss the instrument.

“Why is there a woman in costume over there?” you asked suddenly, changing the subject entirely, and your father had to turn his head to see whom you were talking about. There was a woman in flamboyant clothes and a white wig talking to a man Bruce recognized as the owner of the establishment.

“She’s the opera singer who used to perform here when it was still a theater.” He got comfortable in his seat again and opened the menu. “She only goes on stage at 10. If you want, we can stay and watch her later.”

“This used to be a theater?” you perked up, scanning the room again, trying to imagine how it must have looked years ago, without all these tables and with an audience facing the stage. Bruce smiled internally, having caught on that your curiosity had been piqued.

“When the old owner died, his son decided to turn the place into a restaurant,” he glanced briefly at you and noticed how you were expecting him to say more. “The boy didn’t live in the city, and when he came back, he thought the business was too archaic. But he decided to keep some of the staff as a tradition.”

“I wish I could have watched a play here,” you said, frustrated, resting your head between your hands. Bruce thought about telling you to take your arms off the table but dismissed the idea.

“You’ve never seen one?” He turned to the next page, evaluating the meals.

“No… Only on TV,” you replied, poking at the edge of the other menu the waiter had left for you but not bothering to open it.

“We can go one day. I’ll take you,” he said after finally deciding what to order, but before calling the waiter, he looked at you curiously. “Have you decided what you want to eat?”

“I…” you hesitated for a moment. “Can you choose for me?” you asked with pleading eyes.

Bruce frowned. He opened his mouth to understand but closed it immediately. He had noticed details about your behavior like this in recent weeks—small, seemingly insignificant things that still managed to catch him by surprise. It was normal for children your age to choose what they wanted to eat, but it seemed Talia had been very strict about your diet. Alfred prepared your meals, and Bruce couldn’t recall you refusing any of them. Fortunately, you seemed easygoing in this aspect.

“Are you sure you don’t want to choose? Something savory instead of sweet?” he suggested, and you thought for a moment but nodded. Bruce knew about your fondness for sweets, which made him sometimes push you to avoid them.

Bruce raised his hand to call the waiter, but suddenly a high-pitched female voice approached from behind. Neither of you had noticed when the singer had finished her song, stepping away from the microphone while the band played without vocals, heading toward your table.

“Bruce Wayne!” she called out excitedly, placing a hand on his shoulder. Your father looked at her, not expecting her to come over, barely noticing the man accompanying her until he also started speaking, though more loudly than her.

“Miss Conti,” Bruce muttered her name uncomfortably. “Mr. Williams,” he acknowledged the restaurant’s owner. After Williams took over the place following his father’s death, Conti was hired as the main attraction. The two had a public affair, something socially frowned upon, but for some reason, the man’s wife tolerated the scandal.

“Mr. Wayne, I needed to talk to you. Are you enjoying the evening?” Williams attempted to start, but he was interrupted:

“Oh, come on, Bruce. You know you can call me Cecilia,” the woman chimed in, rubbing your father’s shoulder with her thumb before removing her hand completely and then noticing you sitting next to him. She opened an even bigger smile, though her eyes didn’t follow suit, widening with curiosity. “And who’s this lovely girl here?”

Bruce let out a small laugh, happy to mention you. “This is my daughter.”

“I didn’t know you had a daughter. How’s Richard doing? Still as confident as when he was a boy? God, he must be a grown man by now.” She made comment after comment but didn’t give Bruce a chance to respond before she started speaking again: “Oh, but you’re such a cute little thing.” She approached your chair, cautiously analyzing your face, running her fingers over your earlobe and then sliding them along your jaw. You had no other reaction but to thank her, feeling uncomfortable with her touch and very confused about who they were.

“You’re very beautiful too, Miss,” you said sincerely. The woman before you was truly stunning. Her blonde hair was impeccably styled in an elegant bun, and her makeup remained flawless, without a smudge. She wore an orange dress adorned with small sparkling stones that glimmered under the lights. Your teenage eyes were captivated by her appearance. She didn’t seem to be more than 40 years old.

“Oh, hearing her speak makes her even more adorable,” she gestured in the air as if wanting to pinch your cheeks, softening her voice the way people often do when talking to pets.

“A really lovely young lady, if I may say so,” Williams added with an awkward smile as he pulled a chair from another table to sit. You looked at Bruce, confused, thinking it would just be the two of you. The woman did the same but, instead of fetching one herself, asked a random man in a staff uniform to bring her one. “Remember what we were discussing at the city library’s grand opening, Wayne?”

“George, forget business for a second. Let’s have some fun,” Cecilia cut him off. “Where did you two come from?” she asked you both.

“We were at the auction,” your father answered, tense at their lack of social grace. If you hadn’t been there, Bruce wouldn’t have hesitated to be rude and tell them to get lost, but in front of his children, he tried to keep that side of him in check.

“Oh! The one the opposing candidate, DuPont, organized?” she added a malicious tone to her voice, as if implying something. “I must say, I never thought I���d see you supporting one of your biggest competitors in Gotham’s mayoral race, Bruce.”

“We’re competitors, not enemies,” he tried to respond lightly. “Besides, I don’t see why we couldn’t end up collaborating.”

"You should have declared support for the current mayor. The citizens of Gotham tend to reelect the same names, as you well know. Carnegie will win again," the other man interrupted. Bruce, impatient, clenched his fists under the table, frustrated with the direction the conversation had taken. He had hoped for a quiet dinner alone with you to get to know you better, but it seemed he had chosen the wrong place.

"Mr. Williams, no offense intended, my only reason for being here is to have dinner with my daughter. Please, let’s put politics aside for tonight." He wished he could ask both of them to leave, but suddenly, Cecilia started talking to you. Bruce, visibly irritated, called the waiter, wanting to finish the meal as quickly as possible so he could leave. After placing his order, he turned to you and asked, "Carbonara?" Seeing you nod, he ordered that too.

"I'll go for an arugula salad with truffles," Cecilia said, her smile becoming increasingly irritating, seemingly oblivious to Bruce's displeasure.

"For me, a lobster ravioli with lemon foam and caviar," Williams added, just to be included, and you grimaced at the thought of caviar.

"What did you think of the auction? Did your father buy something special for you?" Cecilia turned to you at the table, with a noticeable interest in getting your attention.

"It was interesting, Miss Conti," you replied simply, using the surname you remembered your father mentioning.

"Oh, dear..." Cecilia said in a falsely disheartened tone. "Bruce drags you to these boring events? Girls your age usually prefer to go to the movies or something like that."

"I like movies," you said, irritated, not quite understanding what she was getting at. "And I enjoyed the auction. There were some very beautiful paintings there."

"Argh, I hope you’re not talking about those by Isabela Zaragoza." She picked up a wine glass the waiter had served a few minutes earlier and drank. "She can only sell her works at charity auctions." She let out a sarcastic laugh, and Mr. Williams joined in.

You looked at Bruce for a response, but all you saw was a hard look. Your father was hardly looking at any of you, breathing deeply with impatience. You didn’t like what they were doing; it seemed cruel, even though you had no idea who Isabela Zaragoza was.

"Oh, Bruce. You know it's true." She rolled her eyes, and it was clear that Cecilia was the dominant one in the duo, always very talkative and starting conversations. "In all of Gotham City, the only one who buys her art is your father. It must be out of pity; someone who paints with their feet probably won't get very far in their career."

You were shocked by what she said. It was something so unexpected to hear that you froze in place completely. It was absurdly cruel, and seeing your wide eyes, along with Bruce's furious expression, made Williams, who had been laughing with her earlier, become nervous.

"Cecilia!" He whispered her name sharply. "She was just joking. Zaragoza is a fantastic artist." He tried to ease the tense atmosphere, sweating coldly.

"I must say she paints better with her feet than you sing with your mouth, Miss Conti." Bruce suddenly replied in a dangerously low voice, and it seemed to hit a nerve with her, as the calluses that were forming in her voice knocked her confidence. He knew he was wrong to try to humiliate her back; it wasn’t a mature move, especially since he didn’t want you to take that as an example.

You let out a quiet laugh at that but immediately stopped when Bruce looked at you. He had a soft sadness, not of disappointment, but of concern. He regretted his own behavior and knew he would need to talk to you about what Cecilia and he had said later. The woman in question tried to laugh with you at first but miserably failed. It was obvious that Bruce had wounded her ego.

"When we were dating, you praised my voice a lot, Bruce." She suddenly mentioned, and you looked at him in surprise. You hadn’t noticed how your father had almost frozen in place before asking:

"You and my dad used to date?" Your voice carried genuine curiosity, and Mr. Williams beside you seemed uncomfortable with the topic.

"Yes, dear." She looked at you, then turned her face to Bruce mockingly. In the background, you could hear your father clearing his throat, trying to draw your attention away from the subject, but he couldn’t. "It's been many years. It was fun for a few months, that is until Robert found out, of course." She laughed a little too loudly for the setting, taking another sip from her glass.

"Who is Robert?" You asked, your voice dropping, your playful smile now gone due to the strangeness of the conversation.

"Oh, he was my husband." She said it as if it were nothing, and Bruce suddenly stood up from the table, moving to his seat and pulling you to leave. His expression had crumpled like paper as he stood up automatically, still processing what she had said.

"Let’s go." Bruce told you, embarrassed but trying to mask it with an expression of fury.

"But the dishes haven’t even arrived yet, Bruce." Cecilia melodramatically added, placing a hand on his arm, a silent request to stay.

"We're leaving." He repeated more firmly, pulling you by the shoulders away from her. Bruce leaned a bit over the table to face her head-on, and with harshness, he unleashed his anger on her: "I know what you're trying to do, you viper, and you will regret this. Never dare to approach me or her again."

"Did I say something wrong?" She spoke cynically, finally showing an expression that matched her feelings for him: disdain.

"Wayne, we can resolve this." William stood up from the chair, visibly shaken. The meticulous plan he had been crafting for months was crumbling before his eyes. Bruce's funding was the key to expanding the restaurant, and Cecilia had ruined everything. "I'm sure we can forget this incident if Ceci apologizes."

Bruce felt the tension rise in his body, the throb of a vein in his forehead, while the heat of irritation burned under his skin. "Do you think I’m going to accept something like that? In front of my daughter?" He spat the words, struggling to maintain his composure. His fists were clenched, ready for a blow that never came. It was only when you gently tugged on his arm that he made the decision to leave. As you walked out, William's frustrated shouts echoed through the hall, his anger directed at the blonde woman, who was furious at being dismissed immediately.

Bruce's frustration was palpable. The last thing he wanted was to deal with someone as inconvenient as Cecilia, especially in your presence. The shadow of his reckless past still hung over him, an open wound. Women like her were living reminders of the regrets that haunted him, of thoughtless choices he would do anything to change.

Near the exit, you spotted the opera singer again, and the memory of what your father had promised you tugged at your heart. "Aren't we going to stay to hear the opera lady?" your voice carried a twinge of sadness.

Bruce sighed, his fingers gently squeezing your shoulders, but the discomfort was evident on his face. "Sorry, I know you wanted that." The weight of the situation was palpable, and he couldn’t help but imagine what you were thinking about him now.

The chauffeur, caught off guard by the rush, quickly opened the door. Bruce, however, did not wait. He let you enter first, slamming the door shut as soon as he settled in. Inside the car, he exhaled the air he hadn’t realized he was holding, diverting his gaze to you. His focus was on the scenery, his face too serene, but he noticed how you were biting your nails—a small sign of nervousness.

He swallowed hard. What a terrible way to end the evening, right next to you. The silence hung heavy in the air, and he feared asking what was going through your mind. Who would have thought? Bruce Wayne, afraid of the words of a child.

For a moment, he watched you press your cheek against the glass, your eyes wandering over the city lights.

"S/n," he called your name, his voice hoarse. You murmured in response, waiting for him to continue. Bruce opened his mouth, but the words got lost along the way. His expression hardened, and he turned to the window as well, the silence remaining until you arrived at the mansion. And you, very focused on observing the movement of the streets, didn’t mind.

When you arrived at the entrance, Alfred was already there, helping you take off your thick coat at that very moment. The butler was surprised at how quickly the two of you returned. He knew that Bruce wouldn’t take long because of you, needing to sleep early, but he hadn’t expected it to be at this hour.

"Master Bruce, Miss Y/n. Did something happen?" He asked, noticing your silence. For Bruce, this was a common demeanor, but whenever your went out, you returned home commenting on every tiny detail of everything you saw.

"Boring people." You replied with a grimace, using that false tone of indifference that Alfred knew how to identify very well.

"Boring people?" He returned rhetorically while glancing at Bruce, who silently took off his own coat and exited the room without saying goodbye to either of you. He had certainly overheard the brief conversation but was ignoring you two. "There are always a few." The older man said with a smile at you.

“I don’t like going to places with a lot of people; it’s annoying having to give everyone an explanation. But it was nice to go out with Bruce.” You started voicing your thoughts aloud, and Alfred knew you wouldn’t hold back in front of him.

Sometimes he felt like you treated him as a sort of confidant, a diary, but then he realized you didn’t make an effort to hide anything from anyone in particular, except for extremely specific things. Another clear sign of Talia. She must have raised you to be like this, as no other girl your age would likely be so open.

“Did you have fun with him?” The butler continued encouraging you.

“Yes!” You became animated again, just as you had on other occasions. It seemed like all you needed was a little push to break the ice. “He let me place bids at the auction. I even competed with someone.”

“Did you win?”

“Yes!” You repeated the exasperated expression. “In the end, I almost didn’t place a final bid because the money got really high, but Bruce said to keep going.”

“And what did you get?” Alfred asked, guiding you to the kitchen. At some point, you would ask for his hot chocolate, so he preferred to get ahead of it.

“It was a compass from the colonial era.” You followed him and sat in the middle chair at the counter, one of the seats in front of the stove, since watching the butler cook had become one of your hobbies. It happened so often that everyone knew that chair was yours, and only you sat in it. “The money went to the children from the orphanage, so Bruce said I could.”

“Well done.” He replied, very focused on something but still paying attention to every word you said. Just then, Jason entered the kitchen, surprised to see you there, just like Alfred.

“You got back early.” He commented, recognizing the situation, raising his eyebrows at the butler, who gave him a keen look as he watched him head for the fridge. “What happened?” The boy asked, lacking any real interest.

“Bruce argued with a couple at the restaurant after the auction.” You said, resting your head on the counter, and Alfred could feel his ears itching. He had finally arrived at the point he wanted. “I saw a motorcycle like yours when we were coming back.” You added for your brother.

“Bruce argued at the restaurant?” Jason questioned you, ignoring your last sentence, not out of malice, but because he didn’t expect the animated man who had left home earlier to come back with such news.

“It wasn’t really a fight.” You tried to correct yourself, feeling guilty for revealing this since neither of them seemed very happy. “He just ended up discussing.”

Alfred extended an arm toward Jason as if asking for permission to interject in the matter. “Miss Y/n, who did Master Bruce argue with?”

You worried you were saying too much and might upset Bruce later because of it, but the way things happened, you knew the people at the tables around must have seen the scene, even if they didn’t know the context. Sooner or later, they would know who the parties involved were.

“A man named... Williams I think.” You whispered, looking at a random point as you tried to remember his name, losing Jason’s incredulous expression as he recognized the name of the place’s owner. “And a woman named Cecilia Conti.” The last name made Alfred nod silently, as he remembered the woman well.

“What did those two do to annoy him?” Jason dared to ask, looking at the butler with curiosity. The man was good at hiding feelings, but he sensed that Alfred knew very well the last person. The name wasn’t strange, but still, it wasn’t someone Jason recalled being mentioned with any importance.

The delay in hearing your answer made the two of them stare at you again in confusion. You pulled your hands from the counter and joined them in your lap, never meeting their gazes. It was an uncomfortable situation for you, and unfortunately very disappointing, but you knew Bruce wouldn’t want you to go around sharing this. If you were in his shoes, you wouldn’t want anyone to know either. It wasn’t something that should be simply said.

“I don’t know.” You whispered again, looking up to see if they believed you. Obviously, neither of them did, but Jason was clever and changed the subject.

“So you saw a motorcycle like mine, huh?” He moved closer to you, holding a bottle of tonic water he had taken from the fridge. “Which one was it?”

“I don’t understand motorcycles.” You replied with a discouraged huff.

Jason glanced at Alfred and noticed that he was watching you both the whole time. Knowing him well, Jason realized that Alfred would go after Bruce to understand the story since you obviously didn’t want to tell.

“I was going to take a look at the exhaust on mine. Want to come with me?” He asked, remembering how you enjoyed learning a bit more about how the systems worked when he showed you last week. “I’ll let you get your hands dirty this time.”

“Are you serious?” You asked excitedly, smiling when you saw him shrug, but you quickly widened your eyes as you remembered something: “I can’t, I need to sleep. First day of school.”

Your statement made Jason check his wristwatch, looking at the time. He looked at you as if feeling sorry, saying, “Good luck, squirt.” And he headed to the garage of the Batcave, from which you suspected he had just come.

Alfred was happy that Jason was bonding with you. Knowing the boy's genius, the older man thought he would resist developing some kind of relationship, very different from Dick. But apparently, your nature pleased him since he didn’t shy away from spending time in your presence, like now.

Before midnight, you had already washed your hair and were trying to dry it with a hairdryer, but it was a bit difficult to stretch your arm back. You were clumsy, and usually, your mother did that for you, but after a few minutes, you managed. The problem was that everything got messy, and you wanted to sleep so you wouldn’t be tired the next day, but you had to detangle it or it would be worse. You must have been very focused while trying to fix your hair because you didn’t even notice your father opening the door.

“You’ve got everything ready.” Bruce said, analyzing the clothes on your sofa, with his hands in the pockets of his dress pants, having only taken off his jacket. “Excited for the first day of school?” He asked you with a strange tone.

“I think I’m more nervous.” Your response came with a furrowed brow, wondering what the day would be like. You had never been to school before, and it seemed Damian and Tim were really good there, so you felt a bit pressured to at least try not to embarrass them with poor performance.

“I still remember how it was for me.” He continued, watching your uniform with a melancholic gaze, reliving some old memory. Bruce liked how well ironed everything was, and it made him proud to know that you did it all by yourself. “You’ll do fine, trust me. A girl like you won’t have many problems making friends or getting good grades.”

“Alfred helped me choose the shoes.” You pulled out a pair of low-heeled white dress shoes to show him. They were delicate and would certainly stand out against the uniform. “Aren’t they pretty?”

“They are.” Bruce smiled, looking more at you than at the shoes themselves. “Have you eaten?” He asked, concerned.

You grimaced and took a moment to respond, letting out a hesitant “Yes.”

“Did you really eat?” He gave you a disapproving look, not convinced.

“Hot chocolate.” You let out the answer you knew he didn’t want to hear. You ate a bit of everything, including healthy stuff, but your sweet tooth was hard to control.

“You have to eat something besides sweets before bed.” He said, trying not to give in to the remorseful look you gave him. But the feeling of guilt hit him, knowing he should have ensured you had dinner at the restaurant.

“But I already brushed my teeth.” Your mumble made him sigh, searching for words to bring up a topic he wanted to avoid at all costs.

“Sorry... For what happened there.” He took his hands out of his pockets and sat on the bed, extending his arm for you to come to him. “You shouldn’t have had to hear that.” His voice was in an unnatural tone, firm and grave, but your silence notably bothered him.

“S/n.” He called your name, seeing your face look up to meet his. “You can be angry. You don’t have to pretend.”

“Why should I be angry?” Your question was innocent. Although it was disappointing, you didn’t feel angry at him. Besides, before you got to know him for real, Bruce Wayne was already a famous figure. His personal life was constantly in the newspapers.

“I want you to know that back then I was young and stupid.” He ran his hand along your arm as if wanting to offer some kind of comfort. The realization that you could have changed your opinion about him was killing him since you two left there, and he worried about doing something wrong concerning you, as Bruce wanted your trust, and he knew Talia wouldn’t let any mistake slip by before coming back and throwing it in his face. “I’ve changed. Do you understand me?”

“So you wouldn’t do that again?” You asked calmly, and that relieved him.

“No, never again. That was the first and last time.” He placed the hand that was on your arm to gently caress your cheek, suddenly remembering the time. He couldn’t take much more of your time. “There’s something more important I want to talk to you about as well. What Conti said about Miss Zaragoza…”

“It was wrong,” you quickly added, noticing how conflicted he seemed about what had happened.

“And what I said after…” Bruce continued, trying to find the right way to say it, but you spoke up again:

“That was wrong too.” Your soft voice sounded in understanding.

“Smart girl.” He smiled slightly, placing his hand on top of your head. “Can you do me a favor?”

“What?” you asked, rubbing your sleepy eyes.

“Can you not mention Miss Conti to Dick?” Bruce continued looking at you attentively, noticing the silly expression on your face. He felt genuinely grateful to see that the incident hadn’t affected your mood towards him. “Your brother doesn’t like her either.” Bruce gave you a light pinch on your side, which made you laugh.

“Alright!” you murmured as you got up, now excited thinking about the day ahead. “No telling Dick.” You emphasized, already pulling the covers up to lie down.

Bruce had also stood up, going to the switch to turn off the light when your voice sounded again: “Can you take me to school tomorrow? Just to the entrance.”

“I will,” he replied calmly. “And no more sweets for the rest of the week. I won’t go easy on you.” Bruce said finally, turning off the switch and carefully closing your bedroom door.

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@aenishas

[the-hottest-band-tournament]

Submissions for the hottest 80s male musicians

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Phil Collins 

Michael Monroe

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Tom Petty

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Nasty Suicide

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[frankiefellinlove]

Bruce’s #1 Fan

By Stan Goldstein

Seven years ago today, May 1, 2017, Bruce Springsteen's "Fan No. 1" Obie passed away. If you don't know who Obie was, she was Bruce's most loyal, dedicated fan. She had the same seat/spot for every show she attended: front-row center (per Bruce's wishes). She closely followed his various bands starting with Child in the late 1960s, eventually becoming his cook and personal assistant (Steve Van Zandt's too) and, most famously, a lifetime front-row-center invitee. In a world in which "superfans" are often infamous, Obie was merely legendary.

There was a memorial service for Obie a few days after she passed at a funeral home in Asbury Park and Bruce gave one of the eulogies. Here's what he said:

Well I'm the guy that Obie spent a big part chunk of her life dedicated to. Being the focus of that attention was pretty challenging very often. Obie was quietly demanding. I didn't know I was going to speak today so I'll just give you some memories I have of O.

First time was at West End Park. We were playing next to Howard's movie theater, and one beautiful summer afternoon, I remember this girl sitting there with the flag around here. So right from the beginning she just looked different from everybody else. Obie was a misfit, outsider, a rebel and didn't look like nobody else, didn't talk like anybody else, didn't think like anybody else. She was just a unique character. And everything that the word fan connotes in all of its myriad, strange, bizarre and wonderful ways. She was a Fan-atic, she was Fan-tastic. She was deeply, deeply dedicated.

Obie's taking more than a few of my secrets with her right now. We lived very, very close to one another for a long time. And I had chicken and grapes! And I had chicken and bananas, chicken and peaches. She covered the fruits and the chicken completely.

What can I say, she was always a heartful soul. She was dedicated to me that if a bullet came my way she would be there to catch it. There was a deep, deep and very personal connection and love. I feel honored to have the seed. And what can I say, I loved Obie a lot. I'm going to miss her very badly when I get out there on the stage, that front and center spot will be empty. We love you O.

To read more about Obie, here's something I wrote that was posted on the Backstreets news page shortly after her death: (Sorry, this is another long post)

REMEMBERING OBIE DZIEDZIC, "FAN NUMBER ONE"

It was about 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, September 23, 2012 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's Saturday show had crept into Sunday morning due to delays from thunderstorms, giving the 55,000 fans a chance to celebrate Bruce's actual 63rd birthday with him. A giant birthday cake was brought out, everyone sang "Happy Birthday," and Bruce then cut the cake. He brought the first piece to Obie Dziedzic, who was in her normal spot, front and center.

"The first piece goes to Obie, our first fan, right there, " said Steven Van Zandt.

Bruce followed with, "Obie, we love you. Obie was following us when we were 16. We love you, O!"

It was a special moment, one of hundreds Obie shared with Bruce Springsteen for more than 45 years — actually starting when Bruce was 18, not 16, but it sure seemed that way. Bruce called her his "first fan" and "Fan No. 1."

Obie Dziedzic — pronounced "Je-zitz," to answer a question she was often asked — passed away early Monday morning after being ill for the past couple of months. She was a friend to not only Bruce and the E Street Band, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, but to musicians and music fans around the world.

Obie, known as "O" to her close friends, grew up in Long Branch, NJ and loved music. She attended tons of shows at Asbury Park's Convention Hall, seeing The Rolling Stones, The Doors, The Who, and so many more in the 1960s. But it was one afternoon in 1969 at Long Branch's West End Park, which is still there today at the corner of Brighton and Ocean avenues, that she first saw the young musician who would change her life forever.

"There he was, this Adonis," Obie once told me. It was a then-18-year-old Bruce Springsteen leading the band Child.

Obie saw rock and roll future even before Jon Landau. Right away, she was drawn to this talented, handsome musician and made sure to see him perform anywhere and everywhere. Later when Bruce was in Steel Mill, Obie would bring pizzas to the surfboard factory in Ocean Township, NJ, where they were living. Yet she was too shy to stick around until she got to know Carl "Tinker" West, Steel Mill's manager, who befriended her. Soon she was friends with Springsteen, Van Zandt, Vini Lopez, Danny Federici, and many other musicians. She attended every Steel Mill show she could, standing in line for hours to make sure she was at the front of the stage.

Obie was a fixture at the Upstage in Asbury Park. She later saw Dr. Zoom and the Sonic Boom, and she was there the night Clarence Clemons walked into the Student Prince in Asbury Park to play with Bruce for the first time in 1971. She would drive Bruce to those Student Prince gigs too, although she said on Saturday nights she did have to watch The Mary Tyler Moore Show first.

Driving around the Jersey Shore with Obie was always a treat, as she had so many stories to share. "See that there? It used to be a Carvel," she said, pointing to a building on Ocean Avenue in Long Branch. "That's the place where Bruce told me he had his first album coming out. Garry Tallent used to live in those apartments right across the street." When Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. was released in January of 1973, Obie found an autographed copy left for her on her doorstep.

When Bruce started to tour with the E Street Band in the early 1970s, playing some theaters, Bruce made sure she was still always up front, promising her, "Obie, whenever and wherever I play, you will always have the two front-row center seats." It was a promise Bruce always honored, for more than 40 years. When Bruce and the E Street Band used a general admission setup on the floor, his security director made sure Obie was in her normal front-row spot. She always wanted to be on the same side as Bruce and Steve.

She had one firm rule. She did not want Bruce to know she was at a show. She wanted to surprise him when he took the stage. At the April 20, 2016 show in Baltimore that I was fortunate to attend with her, we made a little bet on how long it would take Bruce to see her. It was one of Obie's first show since that 2012 birthday show. I said second song; she said not until a few songs in. We were both wrong. When Bruce took the stage, he made eye contact with her immediately. A huge smile lit up his face. It was a thrill to watch this bond between the two of them. You can hear Bruce give many shout-outs to Obie on the live recordings from over the years.

Bruce's former tour manager Bob Chirmside shared this post on Facebook:

For the five years I worked on the road with Bruce Springsteen as his road manager we held two front row tickets for Obie at every show. And I mean every show! Promoters knew better than to screw this up. Everywhere from Philly to San Diego those two seats were held by Bruce according to his wishes and the band's rider. It was always good to see Obie in those seats, and it put a smile on Bruce's face having a special someone to play to. Bruce couldn't have asked for a more loving fan. But Obie was much, much more than a fan. During the time I lived with Bruce, Obie altered and sewed his clothes, did errands, and made Bruce his meals. Obie took incredible care of him. Obie loved Bruce and got to see a side of him that few of us rarely do. On a side note. If you're wondering what happened to the front row tickets if Obie didn't attend. Well, 15 minutes before the show began, I quickly exited the venue and gave the tickets to someone that wasn't able to buy tickets. Most people couldn't believe it was for real. It felt good to put smiles on faces. Thank you Obie for the good memories!

"She was hired by Steven first. He needed an assistant at Miami Productions, and he hired her in 1975 when the Jukes got signed and recorded their first LP," said Billy Smith, a historian and Obie's longtime friend. "Steve needed someone at home in Asbury Park to run things while he was touring with Bruce. While she followed Bruce's tours as a friend/fan from the beginning, she didn't work for Bruce until the Darkness tour in 1978. On the road she did everything: coordinated guest tickets, sewed their clothes, cooked, etc. Anything that needed doing, she did it. A personal assistant to everyone."

If you listen to Southside Johnny's live version of "Having a Party," you'll hear the line, "Obie's doing the twist."

Not only did Obie help out Bruce, Steven, and Southside, she was there for John Eddie, John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band and others when they were first starting out. She was a fixture on the Jersey Shore bar scene in the 1970s and '80s and always, always friendly to fans. You could go right up to Obie and talk about music, Bruce, Southside. She was also close friends with Peter Wolf.

When the discussion comes up as to who has seen the most Bruce shows outside of Bruce himself, the answer is pretty easy: Obie. She was there for all 10 nights of the legendary Bottom Line shows in August of 1975. She even drove Bruce to some of those shows. "We hit traffic on Route 36 in Eatontown headed out toward the Parkway and I was a mess," Obie told me. "But Bruce was as calm as could be."

Obie, who lived for the past 16 years in Neptune, New Jersey, never gave an interview; her loyalty was 100 percent to Bruce. She was never, ever going to say anything which might upset him. She had, however, been working on a book, which sadly will never be written now. I was fortunate to have her read to me some of the stories that she was going to include. They were a delight to hear: How she and Bruce would go to the drive-in movie theater In Eatontown, New Jersey, and put a sofa in the back of his white pickup truck and sit back and enjoy the night. Another was when she was helping Bruce move into a house on Navesink River Road in Middletown in the early 1980s — she swears she saw and talked to a ghost!

Bruce mentioned Obie in his recent autobiography, Born to Run. He told the story how she was with him and Steve and Maureen Van Zandt when they weren't allowed in Disneyland or Knott's Berry Farm in the early 1980s because Bruce and Steve were wearing bandanas.

He also gave Obie credit for helping him select one of two versions he had of "Racing in the Street." Bruce told this story before playing it at the April 22, 2005 Devils & Dust show at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park:

I had two different endings. I'm going to dedicate this to you tonight, Obie. My oldest fan is here tonight and I love her very much. This is Obie Dziedzic — a round of applause, the woman's been around since forever.There were two people that actually helped me with writing the end of this song, and Obie was one of them. I had an ending where there's the two guys, but I had another ending where a woman enters the picture, and I played 'em both for Obie.Obie said, "I like the one with the girl." I said, "Okay, that's that." Then I played one for Steve, and Steve says, "Well, the one with the girl is what really happens. You got your pals and got the boys' club, and it lasts for a while, and you try to play down all the homoerotic stuff."I'm gonna do this tonight for Obie. I love you, and thanks for the help.

Bruce told a similar story in the 2010 documentary The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town, in which you can also spot Obie at the 58:49 mark.

There are so many good things to say and write about Obie — the tributes have been pouring in on social media — one of the best is from photographer Lynn Goldsmith. Obie told me this was the best description about her devotion to Bruce that she ever read about herself. To those who had the privilege to know her, it describes her perfectly:

"The girl with her head down is Obie," Goldsmith wrote, describing her 1978 photograph of Springsteen collapsing into an overjoyed crowd. "She was Bruce's biggest fan. She was there when they couldn't sell out a small club. She devoted herself free of charge to washing their clothes and doing whatever needed to be done. She did not get paid except with front row seats and the joy of knowing that she was making it easier for Bruce to be Bruce with her unconditional love. I wished I could have been like her. She inspired me because she was able to give with no strings attached. She gave freely because she believed in the power of love."

Obie was able to see several shows in the spring and summer of 2016. She was at both Brooklyn shows in April and attended all three MetLife Stadium shows in August. Her final show was on September 14, 2016 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Looking back, it may be fitting this was her last concert, as she told me, "That was the best Bruce Springsteen show I have ever seen."

The final time Obie got to see Bruce on stage was at his conversation with Bob Santelli at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, on Jan. 10, 2017. After the talk, Obie saw that Bruce's coffee cup was still on the little table on the stage. She said to me, "Get that for me!" and I was able to have someone hand it to me. I gave it to Obie. She had one more souvenir. One of the organizers of the event later said to me, "We noticed one of the cups was missing!"

Soon after that, Obie started to not feel well, and she was in and out of the hospital for a couple of months. Bruce, Steve and Maureen, John Eddie and many others made sure to visit her. Once when I checked in at the desk to get a pass to see her at Jersey Shore University Hospital in Neptune, the guard asked me, "Are you famous? It seems everyone who has been going up to see this patient is famous."

He was wrong. It was Obie who was famous.

Right now she's sitting in the front row in heaven, watching Danny and Clarence play away.

[krispyweiss]

“Rock and Roll Guitar God” Duane Eddy Dies at 86

Duane Eddy, whose string of instrumental hits in the 1950s and ’60s had an “incalculable” impact on the music that followed has died, the Arizona Republic reported.

The guitarist, 86, died April 30 in Tennessee of unspecified causes.

“Rest in peace, Duane Eddy,” Joe Bonamossa said. “A true pioneer and bonafide legend.”

Mick Fleetwood called Eddy a “very understated, sweet man who had talents way more than most ever knew,” while former Mac guitarist Rick Vito called Eddy “my friend and guitar hero.”

“Thanks for your influence on the world and for providing us with so much joy and inspiration,” Vito wrote on social media.

“Well done, Duane.”

Eddy scored more than 15 top-40 singles, most notably “Peter Gunn” and “Rabble Rouser.” He was a “rock and roll guitar god who invented twang,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame said in an online eulogy.

“Eddy was one of the musicians most responsible for popularizing the electric guitar in America, and his impact on artists like the Beatles, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Bruce Springsteen is incalculable,” the Rock Hall said.

The Country Music Hall of Fame also cited Eddy’s influence in remembering the guitarist.

“His style inspired thousands of hillbilly cats and downtown rockers … to learn how to rumble and move people to their core,” it said in a statement. “The Duane Eddy sound will forever be stitched into the fabric of country and rock and roll.”

Said Slash: “RIP, Duane Eddy.”

5/1/24

[pers-books]

The 2024 Shortlist

The BBC’s 13th Annual Celebration of Audio Drama

2023 marked the centenary year for audio/radio drama at the BBC. For 100 years of this unique genre, audio drama and comedy have provided enjoyment, diversion, illumination, insight and escape for listeners, evolving in approach and style as audio practitioners have responded to new ideas and technology with ingenuity, imagination and inspiration. These awards celebrate the creativity of actors, writers, directors, producers, musicians, sound designers and all who work in this vibrant art-form.

The winners will be announced on Sunday 24 March 2024 in a ceremony in the Radio Theatre at BBC Broadcasting House London. The winners of the Imison and Tinniswood Awards (judged and administered by the Society of Authors and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain) will also be announced at this ceremony.

Best Original Single Drama

Benny and Hitch by Andrew McCaldon, producers Neil Varley and Tracey Neale, BBC Audio Drama London

Churchill versus Reith by Mike Harris, producer Gary Brown, BBC Audio Drama North

Dear Harry Kane by James Fritz, producer Sally Avens, BBC Audio Drama London

Eat and Run by Paolo Chianta, producer Lorna Newman, BBC Audio Drama North

Rare Earth by Richard Monks, producer Nicolas Jackson, Afonica

Voices From the End of the World by Lucy Catherine, producer Sasha Yevtushenko, BBC Audio Drama London

Best Adaptation

The Age of Anxiety by W.H.Auden, adapted by Robin Brooks, producer Fiona McAlpine, Allegra Productions

Beowulf Retold based on the version by Seamus Heaney, producer Pauline Harris, BBC Audio Drama London

Bess Loves Porgy by Edwin DuBose Heyward, adapted by Roy Williams, producer Gill Parry, feral inc

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper, adapted by Robert Macfarlane and Simon McBurney, producer Catherine Bailey, Catherine Bailey Productions and Complicite

If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino, adapted by Tim Crouch and Toby Jones, producer Nadia Molinari, BBC Audio Drama North

One Moonlit Night by Caradog Prichard, adapted by Rhiannon Boyle, producer Emma Harding, BBC Cymru Wales

Best Original Series or Serial

The 5000 by Sebastian Baczkiewicz, producers Gaynor Macfarlane, BBC Scotland

An Eye for a Killing by Colin Macdonald, producer Bruce Young, BBC Scotland

Flirties, written and produced by Jess Simpson, Audiocraft

There’s Something I Need to Tell You by John Scott Dryden and Misha Kawnel, producer Emma Hearn, Goldhawk Productions

The Tomb by Sebastian Baczkiewicz, producer Joby Waldman, Reduced Listening

Trust by Jonathan Hall, producer Gary Brown, BBC Audio Drama North

Best Actor

Hiran Abeysekera, Dear Harry Kane, director Sally Avens, BBC Audio Drama London

Max Irons, The Bronze Horseman, director Susan Roberts, BBC Audio Drama North

Toby Jones, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller, director Nadia Molinari, BBC Audio Drama North

Lorn Macdonald, Confessions of a Justified Sinner, director Kirsty Williams, BBC Scotland

Tim McInerny, Benny & Hitch, director Tracey Neale, BBC Audio Drama London

Tom Walker, Call Jonathan Pie, Alison Vernon-Smith, Yada-Yada Audio

Best Actress

Gabrielle Brooks, Bess Loves Porgy, director Michael Buffong, feral inc

Dinita Gohil, Victory City, producer Alison Crawford, BBC Bristol

Maxine Peake, The Women of Troy, director Nadia Molinari, BBC Audio Drama North

Rosamund Pike, People Who Knew Me, director Daniella Isaacs, Merman

Lydia Wilson, Happy Birthday, Mr President, director Gaynor Macfarlane, BBC Scotland

Fenella Woolgar, Lines in the Sand: The Journeys of Gertrude Bell, director Jessica Mitic, BBC Audio Drama North

Best Supporting Performance

Sacha Dhawan, Anna Karenina, director Nadia Molinari, BBC Audio Drama North

Erin Doherty, The Seagull, director Toby Swift, BBC Audio Drama London

Mark Heap, Kafka’s Dick, director Dermot Daly, Naked Productions

Sophia Del Pizzo, There’s Something I Need to Tell You, director John Scott Dryden, Goldhawk Productions

The Marc Beeby Award for Best Debut Performance

Izzy Campbell, Of a Night, director Jessica Mitic, BBC Audio Drama North

Rosie Ekenna, Faith, Hope and Glory, director Anastasia Osei-Kuffour, BBC Audio Drama London

Rosalind Eleazar, Hindsight, director Gaynor Macfarlane, BBC Scotland

Jadie Rose Hobson, Exposure, director Anne Isger, BBC Audio Drama London

Dan Parr, The Test Batter Can’t Breathe, director Tracey Neale, BBC Audio Drama London

Olivia Triste, Rise, director Dermot Daly, Naked Productions

Best Sit Com or Comedy Drama

Call Jonathan Pie by Tom Walker, producer Alison Vernon-Smith, Yada-Yada Audio

Kat Sadler’s Screen Time by Kat Sadler and Cameron Loxdale, producer Gwyn Rhys Davies, BBC Studios Audio

Michael Spicer: Before Next Door by Michael Spicer, producer Matt Tiller, Starstruck Media

Mockery Manor by Lindsay Sharman, producer Laurence Owen, Long Cat Media

She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith, adapted by Barunka O’Shaughnessy, producer Emma Harding, BBC Cymru Wales

Where to, Mate? devised by Jo Enright, Peter Slater, Abdullah Afzal, Nina Gilligan, Andy Salthouse, Keith Carter, Jason Wingard, producer Carl Cooper, BBC Studios Audio

Best Stand Up Comedy

Daliso Chaponda: Citizen of Nowhere by Daliso Chaponda, additional material Meryl O’Rourke, producer Carl Cooper, BBC Studios Audio

Janey Godley: The C Bomb by Janey Godley, producers Julia Sutherland and Richard Melvin, Dabster Productions

Maisie Adam: The Beautiful Game by Maisie Adam, producer Georgia Keating, BBC Studios Audio

Olga Koch: OK Computer by Olga Koch and Charlie Dinkin, producer Benjamin Sutton, BBC Studios Audio

Rob Newman on Air by Rob Newman, producer Eloise Whitmore, Naked Productions

Sarah Keyworth: Are You a Boy or a Girl by by Sarah Keyworth, additional material Ruby Clyde, producer James Robinson, BBC Studios Audio

Best Use of Sound

The Adventurers, sound by Alisdair McGregor, producer Boz Temple-Morris, Holy Mountain

The Dark is Rising, sound by Gareth Fry, producer Catherine Bailey, Catherine Bailey Productions and Complicité

Hamlet Noir, sound by David Chilton, Lucinda Mason Brown, Weronika Andersen, producers Charlotte Melén, Carl Prekopp and Saskia Black, Almost Tangible

Slow Air, sound by Alisdair McGregor and Eloise Whitmore, producer Polly Thomas, Naked Productions

Voices From the End of the World, sound by Peter Ringrose, producer Sasha Yevtushenko, BBC Audio Drama London

The Women of Troy, sound by Sharon Hughes, producer Nadia Molinari, BBC Audio Drama North

Best Podcast Audio Drama

Badger and the Blitz by Richard Turley and Darren Francis, producer Richard Turley, Roxo Ltd

Below by Aaron Gray and Paul Skillen, producer John Wakefield, HTM Television

Flirties, written and produced by Jess Simpson, Audiocraft

The Haunter of the Dark – The Lovecraft Investigations by Julian Simpson, producer Sarah Tombling, Sweet Talk Productions

The Salvation by Justin Lockey, Jeffrey Aidoo, and AK Benedict, producers John Hamm and Boz Temple-Morris, Holy Mountain and Free Turn

Tagged by Brett Neichin and John Scott Dryden, producer Emma Hearn, Sony Music Entertainment and Goldhawk Productions

Best European Drama

Evicted by Karel Klostermann, adapted by Tomáš Loužný, producer Renata Venclová, CZR Czech Radio

Faust (I Never Read It) by Noam Brusilovsky, producer Andrea Oetzmann, SWR Südwestrundfunk with Deutschlandfunk

Irina’s Soul Is Like a Precious Piano by Rona Žulj, producer Katja Šimunić, Croatian Radiotelevision

The Sick Bag Song by Nick Cave, adapted by Kai Grehn, producer Lina Kokaly, Radio Bremen

The Supervisor by Nis-Momme Stockmann, producer Michael Becker, NDR Norddeutscher Rundfunk

This Word by Marta Rebzda, producer Waldemar Modestowicz, Polish Radio Theatre

-- WooHOO! The Haunter of the Dark, part 4 of The Lovecraft Investigations, is up for a BBC Audio Drama Award! I am made up!

[xabiramone]

Happy birthday to Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, producer, actor, activist and author. He is best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin. He is also known for his roles in several television drama series, including as Silvio Dante in The Sopranos (1999–2007) and as Frank Tagliano in Lilyhammer (2012–2014). Van Zandt has his own solo band called Little Steven and The Disciples of Soul, intermittently active since the 1980s. In 2014, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band. Van Zandt has produced music, written songs, and had his own songs covered by Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Jackson Browne, Gary U.S. Bonds, Darlene Love, Ronnie Spector, Jimmy Barnes, Meat Loaf, Nancy Sinatra, Pearl Jam, Artists United Against Apartheid, Carla Olson, Michael Monroe, Lone Justice, and the Iron City Houserockers, among others.🎂

[joons]

Have Brian Wilson and Elvis every been connected in any way? Like, did they ever meet, listen to each other's music, etc.? If not, what do you think would have happened if they had?

Brian adored Elvis, as most teenagers did in the early '50s and '60s. Brian covered "Blue Christmas" in 1964 and often cited Elvis as one of his musical inspirations. Brian loved him for his vocal abilities, not just his status as a rock-n-roller: "I liked Elvis Presley’s songs," he said. "... I thought Elvis was a very underrated singer, he was a very good singer. He was more of a star. He was known more for his fame than his voice. I think he deserved more credit for his voice."

Brian's affinity for Elvis is evident in his stage setup for his Smile concerts in 2004, which was the first time his incomplete masterpiece (originally set for release in 1967) was performed in its entirety for the public. Brian, like Elvis, has dealt with extreme stage fright for most of his career, so for inspiration, he includes notes from his band and an image of Elvis on his keyboard.

According to band members Mike, Al, and Bruce, Elvis did know the Beach Boys and got to meet some of them in 1968 when he was preparing to resume live appearances and recording tracks for the Comeback Special.

AL JARDINE: Bruce (Johnston) and I met Elvis in the late '60s. He was working in the studio across the hall from us at Western. Bruce and I went over and introduced ourselves and he was very delighted to see us. He was trim and great looking, just like his album covers. He hadn’t gone back out on the road yet. We encouraged him to get back to work and he took us up on it. MIKE LOVE: He was in the big room at Western and had his cape on at the time (laughs). He was preparing to go back out on tour and he was asking us, “Well, what’s it like?” He was a really kind gentleman. He couldn’t have been nicer. He definitely knew who The Beach Boys were. You couldn’t not be aware of who The Beach Boys were in the '60s.

Brian was not with them at the time and never got to see Elvis perform live, but their careers continued to connect in interesting ways. Jerry Schilling, a member of the Memphis Mafia and good friend of Elvis, departed Elvis' group in 1976 to begin managing the Beach Boys full time. He became good friends with the band, especially Carl Wilson, the youngest Wilson brother. "After Elvis, Carl was my closest friend," Jerry said. After Elvis' death in 1977, Carl offered to visit with Vernon Presley, Elvis' dad, to spend time with him and get his mind off his grief.

Jerry Schilling was also married to Myrna Smith, a member of the Sweet Inspirations, a gospel group that provided backing vocals for all of Elvis' stage shows. Myrna wrote the lyrics for many of Carl's solo projects, including a tribute song for Elvis that was being considered as the theme song for the 1981 documentary This Is Elvis. Carl wrote the music, played guitar and sang backing vocals, and Myrna wrote the lyrics and sang. The song was abandoned, but the demo tapes were recovered not too long ago.

JERRY SCHILLING: The song ... tells who Elvis was … the lyrics and the music. It’s simple, it’s sweet, and it’s deep. It’s emotional to talk about it, because all three of these people – who were so close to me in my life – are all gone. But boy, this is a great piece of all of their music left behind honoring Elvis, and done by Carl and Myrna.

Elvis and Brian also both got to work closely with guitarist James Burton. Burton was much more of a long-term staple for Elvis, but he played in sessions for Smile and remembered how Brian would invite musicians to his home and make them spend the night so they could play at all hours.

Now, we get to the best part: Brian and Elvis did meet once, and it's one of my favorite stories of all time. Here is Brian telling the story on The Tonight Show.

It's been told a few different ways (Brian, bless him, is sort of an unreliable narrator, so bear this in mind), but every version is just incredible.

JAMES BURTON: I walked into the big studio, and Brian Wilson was in there mixing a record that I played on. And he said, "Whatcha doing here, man?" [I said,] "I’m in the next room with Elvis rehearsing." He said, "Oh! Please, please take me to meet Elvis." I took him in and he walked up to Elvis and was just looking at him. And Elvis stuck his hand out to shake hands and he couldn’t move. Daily Express/Elvis Birthday Celebration at Graceland, 2020

•••

JERRY SCHILLING: We were at a rehearsal session at RCA Studios in Hollywood, and Elvis always prided himself on our security. There was security at the studio as well. This big, overweight, bearded guy came into the studio and went right up to Elvis and went, "Hi Elvis, I'm Brian." And Elvis was very upset with us thinking, "How did this guy get in here and who is he?" So Brian said, "I'm recording next door. Would you come over and listen?" And Elvis looked at us; it's almost in spite of us since this guy had gotten through. He said, "Yeah, I'll go over."  So we went over, and Terry Melcher, Doris Day's son, was producing. Terry played a track for Elvis, and Brian said, "Do you think we have anything?" And Elvis said, "No." And we went back to our studio. Later, the security guys told us it was Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. elvis.com.au

•••

BRIAN WILSON: I was recording with Terry Melcher at RCA Victor Records in 1975. We were working on the song “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” Terry said, “Hey, Elvis is in the next studio recording.” That was a big surprise to hear he was in the studio next to me. So I walked into the studio and said, “Hi, I’m Brian Wilson,” and he goes, “Hello, Duke.” I don’t know why he called me Duke. I said, “Would you like to hear what I’m doing in the studio?” and he said yes. So we walked over to my studio and listened to what I was doing and then said he had to leave. It was a thrill to meet him and he was real happy to meet me. Rock Cellar, 2013

•••

BRIAN WILSON: Yeah, around 1969 we were recording in the same place as Elvis, and I asked him if he’d come across the way to our studio. He shook my hand and goes, “I’ve heard a lot about you. How you doin’, Duke?” He called me “Duke,” don’t ask me why. (laughs) So I figured okay, Elvis is like me, a joker, so I’m going to play a little joke on him. I knew he was a black belt, so I faked a karate chop and a kick at him. He blocked them both easily, and I started cracking up, to show him I was kidding, but he didn’t think it was funny and said, “Hey, Duke, don’t do that.” I said, “Hey man, I’m just kidding around.” So we talked about music for a few minutes, about “Good Vibrations,” and then the conversation sort of died down, so, to liven things up, I threw another karate chop at him. He backed up in his chair, says, “I’m a little worried about you, Duke,” and then signaled to his boys that they were leaving. I never saw him again. I regret that. He was quite an artist. Interview with Alex Simon, 2012

•••

What has been your most embarrassing moment? BRIAN WILSON: When I karate chopped Elvis Presley. He called me "Duke" - I was so nervous I acted stupid. It was in 1975 at RCA Victor Studios. After I did that, he said, "I gotta get outta here." The Guardian, 2004

BLESS HIS HEART.

This was definitely in 1975, not 1969, while Elvis was working on "Pieces of My Life" from the Today album. Around this time, Brian was mostly just fussing around in the studio, trying to come up with the Beach Boys' next album and attempting to produce small songs for other acts. Brian says he met Elvis while recording "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," which most likely means not his 1964 version but the version he was producing for California Music, a supergroup involving Terry Melcher, Bruce Johnston, Dean Torrence, and others.

This is the song he played for Elvis, most likely.

BRIAN: Do you think we have anything? ELVIS: No.

I agree with E, I think; you had to have the biggest brain imaginable to understand Brian's sound in the mid-'70s. The songs he'd come up with over the next two years are awesome, but weird, and you can tell this is an early effort in a period where he wasn't really trying very hard to complete anything. Actually laughing so hard at Elvis listening to this and just 😬

I don't think Elvis was actually mad or anything, there are a thousand stories of him and his bodyguards reacting quickly to any sudden movement and then relaxing once they realized it was just an overeager fan, and Brian is the biggest wild card, lmao. I'm sure if Elvis had no idea who he was at the time or how he got in, he was probably a bit unsettled but didn't want to be rude. Also very likely that Elvis was bored out of his mind recording in this time period and just wanted an excuse to procrastinate.

Getting back to the other ways they're connected, I love what Brian said, "Elvis is like me, a joker." That's so true. They are both always the Weirdest Person in the Room, which you can SEE in this brief meeting. It kind of makes me think they wouldn't get each other unless circumstances were ideal to really let loose. They both had bonkers, deadpan humor that would go over most people's heads, and they both loved playing pranks on people. I think they would enjoy talking about music and spirituality as well, though Brian would have to keep it to non-drug-related revelations. They are also both girl dads, and it makes me happy just to imagine Lisa, Carnie, and Wendy all playing together. Carnie and Lisa were almost the exact same age, born just two months apart. 🥺

And, to wrap up this incredibly pointless deep dive, what I would wish most is that them knowing each other would have sped up their mutual healing. Brian to me represents the impossible, one-in-a-million shot where the cycle of exploitation that befalls sensitive, genius people in the industry breaks, and someone who was taken advantage of regains control of their life and makes their art on their own terms. Like Elvis, Brian also dealt with enormous creative pressure at a young age, crippling stage fright, a sense of alienation from his peers, a longing to go beyond formulaic music and tap into deeper emotions, binge eating and general disregard for his own health, problems with overmedication, and eventually an abusive manager who controlled all aspects of his personal life. And just ... somehow, he got out of all that and got another chance. I dearly wish Elvis had had more time. Both their stories show how precious life is and how important it is that our loved ones advocate for us, even when we're unable or unready to advocate for ourselves. And to keep responding to the joy and humor and heart in ordinary experiences and people, even when life feels hard.

And they're both so funny, pleeeeeease.

[singeratlarge]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Paul Badura-Skoda, singer-songwriter Bruce Barr, composer-guitarist Glenn Branca, William Butler (Arcade Fire), Roseanne Cash’s 2009 album THE LIST, Le Corbusier, Kevin Cronin, Britt Ekland, my cousin Daniel Ertel, The Fisk Jubilee Singers (1871), Ioan Gruffudd, Fannie Lou Hamer, Thor Heyerdahl, David Hidalgo (Los Lobos), the 1929 film THE JAZZ SINGER (the first major “talkie”), Mylon LeFevre, “Swedish Nightingale” Jenny Lind (she filled concert halls before microphones were invented), Carole Lombard, Thomas McClary (Commodores), The Monkees 1969 appearance on the LAUGH-IN TV show, Meg Myers, producer Jim Pierson, Shostakovich’s 6th Iron Quartet (1956), Fay Spain, Millie Small, Matthew Sweet, Karol Szymanowski, George Westinghouse, and the 1965 single by The Supremes, “I Hear a Symphony.” The song is a romantic idyll for the wonders of a lover, and it was the 6th #1 hit single for The Supremes. It was composed by the incomparable Motown Records songwriting team of Brian Holland, his brother Eddie, and Lamont Dozier. They’d been writing since they were teenagers and wrote hits for The 4 Tops, Marvin Gaye, Martha Reeves, and others. Dozier said, “We were keeping up not only with what was going on at Motown, but in the world, meaning The Beatles, The Beach Boys…There was definitely a standard…Everything that came out had a signature as well as it had to sound like a hit.” Dozier said they’d regularly go to chamber, opera, and symphony concerts “for song concepts.” Baroque, electronic, ethnic, and orchestral influences became part of “the Motown sound.”

“I Hear a Symphony” was a turning point. Early Motown hits like “Money” and “Please Mr. Postman” were rooted in r’n’b, rock’n’roll, and gospel, and they sold mostly to teens, but Motown President Berry Gordy envisioned a broader audience. Ray Charles had already merged “strings with soul,” but his audience was older. The Beach Boys, Phil Spector, The Beatles, and other British Invasion pop acts cherry-picked ideas from musicals, classical, and the avant-garde (perhaps prophesying the “progressive rock era” when Keith Emerson would do Bartok, Bernstein, and boogie-woogie in one flash). By comparison, Motown was even more pro-active about marrying classical, jazz, and pop/rock to “soul music.” Motown arrangers (Paul Riser, etc.), were inspired by Broadway and the jazz orchestrations of Duke Ellington and George Gershwin. They hired musicians from the Detroit Symphony to connect elegance with The Funk Brothers, the Motown house band. “I Hear a Symphony” features the muscular drumming of Benny Benjamin and the distinctive baritone sax solo of Mike Terry. 

Singing it demanded an exuberance that stretched the vocal abilities of then-22 year old Diana Ross. She still claims it’s one of her favorite Supremes songs to do, and it’s on my list of 12 pieces of music that changed my life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpL1TTxffO0

#birthday #dianaross #supremes #symphony #motion

[goldkirk]

Hymn, Ch. 21

Damian is lying flat on the rug, smushed on his stomach and locked in eye contact with the cat.

Teacup stares. Damian stares. They breathe in double and half time. Neither one blinks.

“You’re a little scary sometimes, you know that?” Timothy says, and there’s a loud fwump somewhere behind Damian. He assumes it is his brother rolling over the top of the sofa and landing on its seat.

“Fear is power,” Damian replies automatically. The rug suddenly prickles against his skin everywhere he’s touching it.

“Fear sucks, and we don’t need it,” says Timothy.

“Being hunted by mountain lions,” Damian counters.

“Fair,” concedes Timothy. He rolls over onto his side and props his head on one hand. “I see you decided to bond with Teacup.”

“She is quiet,” Damian grumbles into the rug. “Unlike every other creature in this place.”

On cue, the sounds of rhythmic thumping and incoherent voices drift up again through the old floorboards, along with the faintest hints of a melody.

An amused noise bursts out of Timothy’s nose.

“Where is Nova?” Damian asks.

“Nova? I see. No ‘Hello, Tim’, no ‘Good to see you Tim’, no “you’re my favorite brother, Tim’? Just the dog?”

“Hello, Tim. Where is Nova.”

“Kidnapped. Steph took her out for a run.”

Damian twists around, locking eyes with Timothy. “Again? She went this morning.”

Timothy shrugs. “Bruce was doing his frowny-eyes thing out the window when she left, so I guess he’s on it.”

“What is on it?” Damian asks.

“On top of it. Taking care of a thing. Handling a situation.”

“Ah.”

They lie together in silence perhaps for one minute, perhaps for more.

“What are they singing?” Damian finally asks.

Timothy drops his head off the edge of the sofa cushion, angling one ear towards the floorboards, and screws up his face for a moment as he concentrates.

“Jack Black’s Hanukkah song, I think.” he says. “Jason got into his holiday playlist while baking, and now he and Dick are having a whole concert in the kitchen. Somehow Jason hasn’t burned any cookie batches yet.”

It’s Damian’s turn to roll over. He stares up at the ceiling, laces his fingers together over his stomach.

“Is Jack Black an important historical musician?” he asks.

Timothy bursts out in a laugh.

“There is no need to mock me,” Damian says. He scowls.

“I’m not! I’m not. I just hadn’t ever thought about him that way until now, and you surprised me, is all.” Timothy then seems to consider for a few moments. “Jack Black is. Hm. He’s definitely an American legend, but I’m not sure if he’s a legendary-slash-historic singer or not. I only know a little bit of the stuff he’s done. We should ask Dick, he’ll know.”

“The last time I asked Richard something, he made me watch Sesame Street.”

“Sesame Street is good for the soul. And a developing child’s brain.”

“It was horrible.”

“Did you see Big Bird when you watched it? I used to love Big Bird.”

“I was attempting to block out the experience.”

“What about Elmo?” Tim asks. “Elmo’s fish?”

“It was demeaning ,” says Damian. “It was infantilizing .”

“Did you get to see Snuffleupagus? What did you learn? I remember learning how to count to ten in Spanish. Do they still have Zoe?”

“I came up here for peace.”

“How about Oscar the Grouch? If you practice, I bet we could dress you up as him next Halloween. Bet Dick would laugh.”

“I will end you.”

“I love you too.”

Teacup chooses this moment to step her paw directly onto Damian’s cheekbone, and whatever the boy’s response was going to be is cut off by a shout. Damian jolts, Teacup bolts, and Timothy begins to laugh.

Until Damian hits him with one of the floor cushions, that is. And at that, their on-and-off tactical pillow fight is immediately back on, and they tumble out the door, down the hall, and off into the next winter break adventure that falls into their laps.

---

“Hey,” Jason pipes up, just before the end of the movie. “Has anyone else noticed how much Scrooge looks like Alfred?”

“Yeah,” says Dick. “It’s so weird. The first time we watched this, Bruce and I asked Alfred if he had a secret acting side job we didn’t know about.”

The others are silent for a few moments as the characters sing onscreen.

“And?” says Jason.

“He gave us the look,” Dick finishes. “He said ‘Do you really believe I would not only star in a film but act alongside a cast of mainly inanimate puppets?’ And then he walked away.”

“But it’s a legend!” Steph says. “It’s Dickens! It’s British! It’s got detailed period clothing for everyone. It’s the most historically accurate version of the story to date!”

“Minus the Muppets,” says Tim.

“Minus the Muppets.”

“And the jokes,” Jason adds.

“Did he ever say he didn’t?” Steph demands.

“Well,” says Dick. “No. Not explicitly.”

“Guilty until proven innocent,” Steph concludes grimly, and she locks eyes with Jason. “We’ll get the truth out of him one way or another. Just wait. It’s exactly an Alfred thing to do.”

“Have fun with that,” Dick tells them, flopping back on the couch, and, coincidentally, on top of Damian. “He didn’t give a straight answer to me, he won’t give a straight answer to you. But I will tell you this.” He pushes up off of a still-protesting Damian and leans forward, making sure Jason and Steph are giving their rapt attention. He lowers his voice. “When I looked up the listed actor, I found a whole lot of stage acting credits but not a single other film to his name. The man exists on paper and in records, but somehow isn’t anywhere to be found in any residences he’s on paper as owning. Do with that what you will.”

“We’re going to get to the bottom of this,” Jason swears. “I’m going to go corner Alfie with cookies and ask about his thespian adventures. Brown, you in?”

“I’m in,” Steph says immediately. She hops off the armchair she’s been sitting in and heads after Jason as he stalks out the door. “If he has a secret acting career, we’ll know.”

“I doubt it,” Dick mutters. Then, back at normal volume, he asks, “Who wants to finish this and then put on Die Hard?”

Cass waves to catch his eye. Allowed? she asks. Us all? Her mouth twists and face scrunches up, doubtful.

“What Bruce doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” Dick says with a grin. “Are you going to tell on us? ‘Cause I won’t.”

She and Tim and Damian all shake their heads no.

“Well then,” Dick days with finality. “It’s settled. We have exactly three hours and nineteen minutes before he’s back from the soup kitchen. Jay and Steph should keep Alfred busy for a while. We’re good to go.”

They watch the rest of the movie’s closing musical number, singing or bobbing (or in Damian’s case, tapping one finger quietly on the cushion) along.

Then, somehow, they end up putting on Jumanji instead of Die Hard, because it’s “good for Damian’s Jack Black education”, and also their souls. With how much they have to pause the movie for laughter even after Bruce makes it home, Dick can’t bring himself to regret it. He can watch Die Hard with Bruce later in secret, anyway. Maybe it can stay just theirs for one more year.

---

Hours later, when they’re all asleep or nearly, and scattered around the lounge, the credits roll on the second Jumanji movie. Alfred’s grandfather clock in the hall begins to toll.

Dick blinks his eyes open for a moment as fingers brush across his forehead. His eyes meet Bruce. Dick goes to speak, but something comes out of his mouth that’s more a garbled mumble than any real word. He frowns.

“Happy Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, chum,” Bruce gently teases. “Still can’t stay awake after all these years, huh?”

“Mean,” Dick slurs. “I’ve been busy. S’not not my fault everyone needs stuff.”

“I know, Dick,” Bruce whispers back. He smooths his hand over Dick’s forehead again, once, twice. Then his hand settles on Dick’s cheek, upside down. “You do so much. You’re amazing. You need rest too, not just the others.”

Dick mumbles something in agreement, then lets his eyes drift back closed. He feels Damian’s weight shift against his leg, followed by a tiny jostle, and he snuggles further into the sofa’s plush back cushion.

The next thing Dick knows, a hand is back on his head. His cheek this time, gently tapping.

“Dickie. Dick. Come on, Dickie. Time to get to bed if you want any energy for presents tomorrow.”

“Always have energy for presents,” Dick mumbles back. He’s immediately hijacked by a jaw splitting yawn.

“Bed,” Bruce repeats softly. “I already got the others up there. Just you left. You’re so tired, bud. Let me help.”

Dick does.

He lets Bruce help him up into something close to sitting straight, then lets Bruce help get his feet back on the floor. Bruce and he both wince at the sound his left knee makes as he uncurls.

“I think we’ll take a trip to Dr. Thompkins soon,” says Bruce. “That can’t be feeling good. Why haven’t you mentioned it earlier?”

“I’ve had worse,” Dick says tiredly. He waves a dismissive hand. “There’s been a lot going on around here. My knee can wait.”

“No,” Bruce chides. He hooks his thumb under Dick’s chin and tilts it up till they’re making eye contact. “No matter what’s going on, you’re important too. We’re teaching Damian to not wait and to ask for help when he’s in pain. What can we say if he asks us ‘Why not you?’?”

“Low blow, B,” Dick says, and sighs. “Point taken.”

“I know you’re independent, and I know you’re more than capable. You’re a strong man and a wonderful brother and son. I just ask that you keep me in the know. No carrying more than you can bear.”

“I’ll remember next time,” Dick offers.

“Sure,” Bruce agrees amiably. “Come on, trooper. Bed.” He hooks an arm under Dick’s, gives him a pull off the sofa. “Let’s get to sleep before the whole night is over. Don’t want to be too tired for Alfred’s breakfast feast.”

“Never,” Dick agrees.

He lets Bruce take a little of his weight—just a little. They make their way down the hall, up the staircase, through the manor, into his room. Bruce deposits him on the toilet, hands him a waiting toothbrush, and leaves.

Dick closes his eyes and brushes tiredly. He leans over to spit and rinse in one of his sinks, then drops the toothbrush with a clatter back into its cup. He looks in the mirror at his eye bags, his wrinkled clothes, his pale face, and he sighs. He runs one hand through his already-messy hair as he steps out of the bathroom, but finds his path blocked by Bruce.

“Hello?” he says.

“Hi,” says Bruce.

“I thought you went to bed.”

Bruce shakes his head and takes Dick’s weight again. “Not yet.”

They make it to the bed, and Bruce carries his shoes to the wall by the door as Dick shucks his pants.

Bruce makes eye contact as he pointedly drops three different knee braces onto the nightstand. “Wear one,” he says. “You don’t need to be in pain because other people are.”

“Okay,” is all Dick can say.

“I’ll say it again when you need. I’ll say I for years. You don’t need to self-sacrifice. You’re already what we love and need. Healthy, happy Dick Grayson. That’s what you’re meant to be. We’ll work on it. Okay?”

“Okay, B.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

“Get your sleep,” Bruce orders. “And in the morning, leave the kids to me. I’m the adult. Take a breather.”

“I’m an adult too.”

“Yes, and you’re also a kid. My kid.” Bruce pulls him close and drops a quick kiss on the top of his head, then pulls back again and heads for the door. “You’ll always be my kid, Richard John Grayson. Sleep, knee brace, eat. Those are your orders for the morning. Leave the rest to me.”

Dick sighs.

“Sir yes sir,” he tosses out. He sees Bruce’s mouth twitch.

“Good night, Dick. I love you. I’m so glad you’re here.”

“You too, B,” Dick says through another yawn, and he lets himself tip over onto the pillow, pulling his heap of blankets up around him. “Happy Christmas. See you in the morning.”

Bruce gives one last wave, flicks off the light switch, and shuts the door quietly behind him.

Dick rolls onto his back and settled in, signing long and high. Sleep. Rest. Eat. Okay.

He can do that. He can get some rest. I’m the morning, they’ll all be full of excitement for a two-holiday day and all it includes, eating Kringle and latkes and Christmas cookies and whatever else Alfred and Jason had cooked. They’l be sad and happy and all the other feelings that haunt around the edges of their giant house. It will be wonderful, and it will be messy, and it will be theirs.

  Dick smiles just a bit as he drifts off to sleep. The morning will come with its joy when it’s ready, and when it’s time, he’ll be up, and he’ll be there.

[iwantoseeafrigatebird]

the Orkney trip

part 12

day 10 (continued)

The orkney blues festival! I started sitting in the royal hotel, first featuring a texan and spider who was on harmonica. The texan performed with Jerry Jeff Walker and got a request to do Mister Bojangles, I was extremely delighted as the song is special to me too. I don't remember was it them or were the italiens who came after who also played a whiter shade of pale which is again special to me due to being a withnail and i soundtrack. Later on in the evening, there was this guy called Ian Siegal who had a Kris Kristofferson story to tell (in which Kristofferson mistook him for someone else during a concert) with a song written in Kristofferson's style.

Malcolm from the ferry was sitting just next to me and gave me some old time banjo recommendations. Of them I'm really enjoying Bruce Molsky right now, his version of the wreck of the dandenong accompanied me from Thurso to Inverness where I am at the moment waiting for the connecting train to take me to Edinburgh. He also recommended me Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer who collaborated with a chinese musician and produced an album called "from china to appalachia" wherein they play both classic chinese and appalachian tunes with banjos and chinese classical hammered dulcimar (i used to play chinese dulcimar too) and it sounded beautiful. I cannot believe the existence of this album. The true "folk music from around the world unite" moment.

local tribute band at the legion.

the italiens, tom attah, and two californian harmonica players who just happened to be around for the festival. they played with the band in the legion too. At one time they had three harmonica players in the house. It was so much fun because it was an instrument I truely adore, those two californians are all good players and Spider from aberdeen is simply phenomenal.

the finale performance in the town hall.

They all jam very well together. it was a bit of a tribute concert for the singer Kyla Brox's (she has a powerful and beautiful voice perfect for the blues) late father too, she invited Ian Siegal to do a song she used to do with her dad and required two voices, which was a really heartfelt performance in my opinion. Everyone was having fun.

musicians being musicians

But if I have to pick a favourite, it's the Aberdeen Harmonica player for sure! I recorded everything and they sound reasonably good, here's a link if anyone's interested. I don't usually listen to this kind of blues but just the energy and virtuosity makes it all worthwhile.

Advertisement time, Brown's hostel in Stromness, 25£ could get you a superb bed if shared with others (there were three beds in my room but no one else was there that night). It's over fifty years old now and accordingly was the first hostel in Stromness. They had sleeping bags on bunk beds at first, but gradually people started to expect better rooms and facilities and she gradually upgraded everything.

When I phoned her, I said I just needed one bed. She didn't have any single room anymore, so asked "do you mind sharing?" I said "oh no of course not definitely". Then I thought where have I heard this dialogue before: fortunately this ain't nantucket, the whaling industry has died out, and there was no harpooner coming back from peddling his head. It was a Sunday too.

-

day 11

Catching the 6:30 ferry from Stromness to Scrabster. Final farewell to The Old Man and to the island of Hoy. Put on Farewell to Stromness as well, be cheesy.

The seastack is clearly visible.

Waiting for the train in Thurso, killing time in a second hand bookshop with a sizable collection of books about seafaring and ships. The owner said he always buy books about ships and has got five times as much back home. Noted down a few names that I might go home and look up online.

Finally, the sign of the national cycles network route 1 in front of thurso station. It's where I started, it's my "to and back again". Met quite a few cyclists who did the route from land's end to John O'Groats.

(tbc)

[sexchangedotcom]

i cant include every artist dads are varied in their music taste dont kill me ok

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 8.14

Beer Birthdays

Eugene L. Husting (1848)

Brandon Hernández (1976)

Five Favorite Birthdays

Halle Berry; actor (1968)

Mila Kunis; Ukrainian-American actor (1983)

Gary Larson; cartoonist (1950)

Steve Martin; comedian, actor, writer, banjo player (1945)

Bruce Thomas; English bass player (1948)

Famous Birthdays

Russell Baker; essayist (1925)

Emmanuelle Béart; French actress (1963)

Catherine Bell; actor (1968)

Herman Branson; African-American physicist, chemist (1914)

Sarah Brightman; English singer-songwriter (1960)

John Brodie; San Francisco 49ers QB (1935)

Lodewijk Bruckman; Dutch painter (1903)

Sharon Bryant; R&B singer (1956)

Kevin Cadogan; rock singer-songwriter, guitarist (1970)

Méric Casaubon; Swiss-English author (1599)

Yannoulis Chalepas; Greek sculptor (1851)

Darrell "Dash" Crofts; singer-songwriter and musician (1940)

David Crosby; rock singer (1941)

Charles Jean de la Vallée-Poussin; Belgian mathematician (1866)

Mstislav Dobuzhinsky; Russian-Lithuanian-American artist (1875)

Slim Dunlap; singer-songwriter and guitarist (1951)

Tracy Caldwell Dyson; chemist and astronaut (!969)

Richard R. Ernst; Swiss chemist (1933)

Erica Flapan; mathematician (1956)

Francis Ford; actor and director (1881)

John Galsworthy; English writer (1867)

Alice Ghostley; actor (1926)

Larry Graham; soul/funk bass player and singer-songwriter (1946)

Buddy Greco; singer, pianist (1926)

Marcia Gay Harden; actor (1959)

Jackée Harry; actress (1956)

Robert Hayman; English-Canadian poet (1575)

Lee Hoffman; author (1932)

Leopold Hofmann; Austrian composer (1738)

Doc Holliday; dentist, wild west gambler (1851)

James Horner; composer (1953)

Ernest Everett Just; African-American biologist (1883)

Jan Koetsier; Dutch composer (1911)

Margaret Lindsay Huggins; Anglo-Irish astronomer (1848)

William Hutchinson; founder of Rhode Island (1586)

Magic Johnson; Los Angeles Lakers (1959)

Stanley A. McChrystal; American general (1954)

John McCutcheon; folksinger (1952)

Paddy McGuinness; English comedian (1973)

Lionel Morton; English singer-songwriter, guitarist (1942)

Bruce Nash; film director (1947)

Frank Oppenheimer; particle physicist (1912)

Hans Christian Ørsted; Danish physicist and chemist (1777)

Susan Saint James; actor (1946)

Paolo Sarpi; Italian writer (1552)

Ben Sidran; jazz and rock keyboardist (1943)

Stuff Smith; violinist (1909)

Danielle Steel; writer (1947)

Jiro Taniguchi; Japanese author and illustrator (1947)

Bruno Tesch; German chemist (1890)

Ernest Thayer; "Casey at the Bat" writer (1863)

Pieter Coecke van Aelst; Flemish painter (1502)

Carle Vernet; French painter and lithographer (1758)

Claude Joseph Vernet; French painter (1714)

Earl Weaver; Baltimore Orioles manager (1930)

Wim Wenders; German film director (1945)

Lina Wertmüller; Italian film director (1926)

[waugh-bao]

i saw your previous ask about keith's solo work and now i'm curious about your opinions on charlie's solo work! also, do you have any recommendations for charlie, i've only listened to from one charlie

If you discount session work (because Ronnie did a ton both before and after he joined the Stones), Charlie actually has the most extensive solo/non-Stones catalogue. It’s very diverse and I think the vast majority of it is very high quality.

So in terms of his session work, far and away his best contribution (that we know of - this isn’t even listed on his Wiki) was as the drummer for The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions. He, Bill, Stu, Steve Winwood, and Eric Clapton acted as the backing band for Howlin’ Wolf on a Chess Records-Rolling Stones Records collaboration covering some of his most famous songs in 1971. For my money it’s one of Wolf’s best albums and showcases beautifully what a talented blues drummer Charlie was. He could have gone toe to toe with the old Chess guys like Fred Below if he wanted to.

It was only for one song, not an entire album, but he, Keith, and Ronnie were the backing band for Marianne Faithfull’s cover of “Ghost Dance” by Patti Smith in 1993:

Charlie was in a few non-Stones bands. Probably the most famous, although it’s really not terribly well known, is Rocket 88. The founding line-upwas Stu, Charlie, Alexis Korner, and Dick Morrissey and membership fluctuated during different projects and concerts during its active period (1978-1981). You can find a couple videos of their performances on YouTube, but their one released album, from a live concert in 1981, is really fantastic. Jack Bruce does bass and vocals on it and he and Charlie make an absolutely amazing rhythm section. 20x times better than anything he ever did with Wyman.

He was also associated with another boogie woogie band, The ABC&D of Boogie Woogie, which he didn’t co-found, but which he got into through Dave Green (his childhood best friend and the bass player for most of his solo work). That band also unfortunately only has one album, but there’s a lot more available on YouTube to enjoy because they were around in the early 2010s. This is my favorite song they covered:

It’s never been entirely explained how it came about, except that it was initially facilitated through one of his friends, the trumpeter Gerald Presencer, but Charlie did an album with the Danish Radio Big Band in 2010 that was released in 2017. The 7 tracks include 2 original compositions and 5 re-arranged Stones songs. Whoever did the arrangements and composition did a wonderful job and it’s great highlight of Charlie’s flexibility and originality as a drummer.

In the late 1980s, he and Keith did a cover of Charles Mingus’ “Don’t Let Them Drop That Bomb on Me”, it’s worth it just for the little documentary clips of the two of them, never mind the song itself, which is also well done:

That’s not everything Charlie ever did which wasn’t explicitly his own project, but it’s the highlights.

As far as his own bands/albums go, unfortunately his first album, Live At Fulham Town Hall (1986) isn’t available to stream, but you can find the tracks on YouTube and a neat little documentary/live performance clip:

(This would also be a good time to mention that there’s a beautiful, very high quality segment of Charlie playing a Duke Ellington composition on BBC4 in 2019 along with Dave and some American jazz musicians, as well as a cute little interview with the two of them after):

Everything that follows that album, with one exception, is a variation on The Charlie Watts Quintet, the group which appears on 1990’s From One Charlie to Another:

The biggest difference between his jazz albums, other than the number of players (it tended to range between a quartet, a quintet, and a tenet), is whether or not they have a vocalist. The last one, Watts at Scott’s (2004) is the one which does not and it’s a mixture of original compositions (generally written by his pianist Brian Lemon) and covers of jazz standards, including Ellington’s “A Train”:

1991’s A Tribute to Charlie Parker with Strings is a really neat, original project. It has Bernard Fowler narrating the story of Parker’s life through Charlie’s book about him from the ‘60s and covers songs which were on Parker’s own With Strings album as well as original compositions like “Terra de Pajaro.” There is one song “Lover Man”, which has vocals provided by Bernard, the rest is purely instrumental. Pete King was the saxophonist for all of Charlie’s jazz projects and he absolutely kills it on this album.

The two albums which really showcase his collaboration with Bernard and his skills as an accompanist to a vocalist, Warm & Tender (1993) and Long Ago & Far Away (1996), are lovely collections of jazz standards and standouts from the Great American Songbook. I love them both, I think which one you want to listen to just depends on your mood. The second album is definitely more melancholy:

It also has Charlie’s only solo music video, for “I’ve Got a Crush on You”, which is gorgeous and good humored:

The weirdest album in Charlie’s oeuvre, to put it bluntly, is the Charlie Watts/Jim Keltner Project (1999). It’s very avant garde, probably the most purely creative but also least accessible thing he ever did. The album was made at the same time the Stones were recording Bridges to Babylon, so Mick and Keith pop up on two different tracks (separately), but the bulk is Charlie, Jim Keltner, and a few other percussionists who contributed bits and pieces. It’s a world music-jazz-techno-beats melange of original pieces, some of which were inspired by the work of certain jazz drummers and some of which are more entirely abstract. To be honest it’s not really something you can describe, you sort of just have to listen and see if it’s your thing.

[90363462]

happy birthday Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American rocksinger, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", he has released 21 studio albums during a career spanning six decades, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Springsteen is a pioneer of heartland rock, combining a commercially successful rock sound with poetic and socially conscious lyrics reflecting the issues of working class American life. He is known for his descriptive lyrics and energetic concerts, which sometimes last over four hours

Springsteen released his first two albums, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, in 1973. Although both were well received by critics, neither earned him a large audience. He changed his style and achieved worldwide popularity with Born to Run (1975), followed by Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) and The River (1980), Springsteen's first album to top the Billboard 200 chart. After the solo effort Nebraska (1982), he recorded Born in the U.S.A. (1984) with the E Street Band, which became his most commercially successful album and the 23rd-best selling album of all time as of 2024. All seven singles from Born in the U.S.A. reached the Top 10 of the BillboardHot 100, including the title track. Springsteen mostly hired session musicians for the recording of his next three albums, Tunnel of Love (1987), Human Touch (1992), and Lucky Town (1992). He reassembled the E Street Band for Greatest Hits (1995), and recorded the acoustic album The Ghost of Tom Joad(1995) and the EP Blood Brothers (1996) solo.

Springsteen dedicated The Rising (2002) to the victims of the September 11 attacks. He released two more folk albums, Devils & Dust(2005) and We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006), followed by two more albums with the E Street Band, Magic (2007) and Working on a Dream (2009). The next albums, Wrecking Ball (2012) and High Hopes (2014), topped album charts worldwide. In 2017, 2018 and 2021, Springsteen performed the critically acclaimed show Springsteen on Broadway, in which he performed songs and told stories from his 2016 autobiography; an album versionfrom the Broadway performances was released in 2018. He released the solo Western Stars (2019), Letter to You (2020) with the E Street Band, and a solo covers album Only the Strong Survive (2022). Letter to You reached No. 2 in the US, making Springsteen the first artist to release a top-five album across six consecutive decades.

One of the album era's most prominent musicians, Springsteen has sold more than 71 million albums in the U.S. and over 140 million worldwide, making him the 27th best-selling music artist of all time as of 2024. His accolades include 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Special Tony Award. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2009, was named MusiCares person of the year in 2013, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016 and the National Medal of Arts in 2023. In 2010, Rolling Stone ranked Springsteen 23rd on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", describing him as "the embodiment of rock and roll".

Favorite song/album?

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

whats your favorite band/musician.

Oh man hard question to answer!

At the moment?

I would say I’m going through a real big Nina Simone moment.

But, The Amazing Devil is a regular favourite, also Debbie Wiseman’s soundtrack for Wolf Hall, and Bruce Peninsula.

Thank you!! ❤️❤️❤️

[ask meme]