Teenage Jonathan and Boston's "Spiritual Sparkplug"
If you’re reading this, chances are you know how much I love and am interested in the overlap of the Velvet Underground and Jonathan Richman in Boston in the late 60′s. For the AW68 book, I interviewed Jonathan (slowly) via snail mail but have only recently met him; I’ll talk about that eventually when it’s time. If you need a refresher on the gist of what we’re talking about, just listen to J.R. recount the first time he met Lou Reed, randomly, as both were walking through Harvard Square; it’s an undeniable delight.
Last month, when a new interview with Richman appeared, I was really surprised to see something new about that time period included; it popped up when the interviewer asked him about meditation. His answer:
Yes, I have a meditation practice and this started when I was 17. As I was searching Boston’s music scene for an entryway into I knew not-exactly-what, the janitor and carpenter at the rock ballroom where the Velvet Underground played asked me if my parents would maybe permit me to come to a meditation group he was a part of. They did permit and I found a home in the world. I also found a silence-among the two dozen other souls each striving for peace inwardly – that was of a different sort from any sort I’d been a part of before. Even my earlier recorded music borrows some of this from that group.
This is interesting in itself, I think, but because I can fill in some of the blanks here which, for me, help paint a picture of the intersection of creativity and spirituality, both in Richman’s work and beyond. Firstly, the janitor he’s speaking about is Mitch Blake, the spiritual de facto fix-it man at the original Boston Tea Party, the fella who could really get Lou talking about occult topics backstage, and someone I interviewed with great interest for the book.
First Mitch, from AW68:
The fact that it’s Mitch Blake to whom Jonathan’s referencing here means the meditation group they both belonged to was Isabel Hickey’s. And Isabel Hickey is...very interesting. Both Blake and Rob Norris (a brief member of the last-gasp Yule-led Velvets) both spoke to me about enthusiastically attending astrologer and spiritual teacher Isabel Hickey’s “Friday Night Fix” meditation sessions. In Boston, Hickey was known as the “spiritual sparkplug” and her followers skewed towards the young side, despite already being in her mix-sixties at the time. Like Ram Dass, people noted the unusual quality of someone with such a “broad Bostonian accent” delivering such far-out wisdom (Watch Ram Dass comment on his accent here).
Hickey follower Brian Clark recalled, “Issie’s regular teachings and meditations on those Friday evenings were a boon to many who would come to hear about the ‘real self’ behind the personality, how we create our inner condition, and how, in order to change our life, we must change our attitude. These conscious-raising ideas appear simple now, many having been recycled into mindfulness exercises, but back then they mesmerized Issie’s audience.” Mitch Blake also spoke of how ahead of certain mainstream trends the Fix was: “Many of the musicians at that time were meditating a lot, becoming very spiritually oriented, and doing the kinds of things that have become mainstreamed now. It was pretty intense.”
Knowing that Richman was receiving this kind of messaging from Hickey on a weekly basis at such a young age goes a long way in explaining his initial blossoming as an artist and almost immediate, drastic reinvention of that artistry in which booming amplifiers and distortion were put away forever. I wrote about this change in the book, but just listen to Richman’s most recent recorded music to hear how he’s still pursuing this line of thought, arguably more explicitly than ever before:
“The heart's enough! That's it!
Where the heavens put me, that's good enough!
What shape they put my body in, that's good enough!
Where I am, that's where I'm supposed to be
Follow the heart!
If they want me to know it
If the heavens want me to know it then I'll know
I'll do no other thing
Do no other thing”
— And Do No Other Thing
In 2020, the BBC described Richman’s entire career as embodying something they called “radical positivity.”
“A lot of people ask where we are and what we ‘re doing and why?,” Mitch Blake explained to me back in 2017. “Which generally can be answered fairly simply but it's not an answer that most people are very satisfied with, so they keep looking. Everybody keeps looking.“ A few minutes later, he let me know what he believed the answer is:
“We're all in a one to one relationship with the rest of the entire universe. We all reflect each other. All we have to do is be thankful for where we are. Enjoy it. And express it.”
Isabel Hickey self-published books throughout the 1970′s including Astrology: A Cosmic Science and It is ALL Right, in which she imparted her knowledge about how to “gain inner peace,” “transmute negativity,” and “evolve beyond appearances.” She passed away at her home in New Hampshire—which she referred to as Harmony Hill—in the summer of 1980. (more Hickey info here)
It turns out Mitch Blake was going to open for Jonathan Richman at a concert this past summer in Nantucket, MA, where Blake has lived for many decades. Before becoming the Tea Party’s janitor, it turns out, Blake used to perform folk music at various Boston coffee houses. I kicked myself for having missed the chance to see that unique bill, but when I checked in with Mitch, he told me that at the last minute he decided that the night should be all about Jonathan. Who would give up an opening slot for Jonathan Richman?, I thought to myself. Then I got the sense that Blake’s life-defining beliefs that we all reflect one another, and expressing gratitude for simply being here, manifested themselves in every decision he made, including ceding the spotlight to an old friend who used to sit alongside him for their Friday Night Fix in Boston in another century.
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Sweetness - A Joel Miller Story
Joel Miller x f!reader/f!oc
Joel masterlist
Joel has done his best to forget about his birthday, and for good reason. Ellie, however, has other plans in mind. When she recruits their pretty neighbor in Jackson to put together a surprise for him, Joel is thrown for a real loop.
warnings | 18+ angst, that's pretty much it, this is just real fluffy
Joel does his best not to think about his birthday, for a plethora of reasons. September twenty-sixth, the day that everything came crumbling down all those years ago. The day he lost his babygirl.
All those years on the road, and then in the Boston QZ, it had been easy to keep it to himself, usually spending that wretched day drinking until he couldn’t think straight. Every year, the only gift he got was that of pure, blissful oblivion, and a pounding headache the next morning.
Since settling in Jackson, it’s been harder to keep this information under wraps. Ellie somehow managed to needle out of Tommy when his birthday was, and had declared that Joel needed to pick a new birthday after realizing how depressing that date truly is. When Joel refused to comply with her demand, Ellie designated it herself as April second. She had found an astrology book on the road and had firmly decided that Joel was an aries, whatever that meant.
That had been a few months ago, and Joel has just been hoping his annoyingly persistent companion has forgotten about her declaration. But when he meets his brother the morning of April second for their usual patrol shift, he quickly realizes he will not be so lucky.
“So, I’m under strict orders to wish you happy birthday, brother.” Joel thinks briefly that he’d like to smack the shit-eating grin off Tommy’s face, instead settling for a scowl and a huff.
“Goddamnit, was hoping she’d forgotten about that.” Tommy snorts, slapping Joel hard on the back.
“You should know by now, Joel. That one’s just about as stubborn as you.”
…
When he gets back to town after his shift, the rest of the afternoon is spent painfully responding to awkward birthday wishes, all said with the caveat that Ellie had told them to do it. Joel could throttle the kid by the time he gets home.
As he goes to open the door, however, it’s immediately slammed shut in his face, Ellie huffing on the other side.
“You can’t come in yet, old man! Just hold your horses!” Joel scrubs a hand down his face.
“Ellie! I’m really not in the mood for this shit.”
“I don’t care! It’s your birthday and what I say goes! Now sit down on the porch, I’ll let you in when we’re ready.” He can’t believe this kid, but he’s a little too worn down to not heed her instructions. Besides, he tried the door again, and it seemed that she had slid a chair under the handle to keep it from budging. He settles into the rocking chair on the porch, closing his eyes for a spell, even dozing off in the cooling Spring night.
He’s rather rudely awakened by Ellie kicking at his boots.
“Hey! Time to come in, old man. Got a real surprise for ya.” Joel groans as he stands from his seat, stiffly getting pulled inside by Ellie who immediately comes behind him on tip toes to cup her hands over his eyes.
“Ellie, would you please–”
“Shut it and walk, old man. It’s a surprise.” He huffs, begrudgingly letting her lead him through the house towards what he guesses is the kitchen.
When Ellie finally peels her hands away from his face, Joel is shocked to see her standing there. The pretty, young neighbor who Joel sees teaching the kids in the makeshift schoolyard from time to time. They’d only shared passing conversation, he’d catch her sometimes out in the garden in her backyard in the evenings. She always offered him a wide smile when he’d say hello.
She’s holding what Joel realizes is a cake, or he guesses you could call it that. It’s a short, square little thing that they’ve stuck two, lit taper candles in. She’s smiling softly at him and he can’t take his eyes away from hers, a frozen moment of time. Ellie startles him when she shouts in his ear.
“Happy birthday, old man!” Whatever spell had been cast is now broken. Suddenly, Joel feels very overwhelmed and angry. He can’t quite figure out why, so he does the one thing that does make sense to him. He turns heel and stomps straight out the door, heading down the street and ignoring Ellie’s shouts of his name. It’s not his fucking birthday, and he’s sick of all this pretend shit.
…
He winds up down at the bar, and even though it’s not his birthday, he revives his old tradition of trying to drink himself under the table. He doesn’t get far though before his brother is sitting down across from him.
“Now tell me why Ellie showed up on my doorstep in a complete fit because some asshole fled his own damn birthday party.” Joel just sighs, hanging his head.
“Don’t wanna talk about it.”
“Nope, that doesn’t work for me. ‘Cause not only did you piss Ellie off, but I’m pretty sure you broke that sweet little thing’s heart.”
“I’d hardly call Ellie a sweet little–”
“Fuck, Joel. I’m not talking about Ellie.” He huffs her name, raising his eyebrows at his brother, and Joel’s stomach churns.
He hadn’t even been thinking about her, that shy smile she shared with him before he ran off. He thinks about the cake she had been balancing in her arms, that she had probably helped Ellie make it, put a lot of time and effort and resources into something he was too chickenshit to even acknowledge. Joel feels terrible, and he knows it’s not the booze talking. He brings his palms over his face, pressing his fingers lightly into his eyes, kneading at a quick-forming headache.
“Joel, no one’s saying you gotta enjoy your birthday. But I’m saying you gotta stop being a dick to people who are trying to care for you, man. Ellie may be a little… enthusiastic. But Christ, Joel, she loves you like a father.” Joel glances at Tommy, sighing.
“And that neighbor of yours. Well, if you can’t see a good thing when it’s right in front of you I’ll smack you around myself, maybe then you’ll see the way she looks at you.” Joel scoffs at that, shaking his head. He figures his brother is just trying to convince him to apologize to her. There’s no way in hell she’s actually been looking at him the way his brother is insinuating. She’s her, lovely and pretty and popular around town. And he’s him. Enough said.
“Alright, Tommy, alright. I’ll apologize to them, both. Just, fuck, get off my ass.” His brother smirks at him as Joel rises from the table. He’s had enough of people for the night.
“You better make it right, brother. And, hey, happy birthday you old shit.” Joel flips off his grinning brother, heading out into the darkening night towards home.
…
As he nears his home he sees that all the lights are off. Ellie must have stomped off to a friend’s house, too pissed at him to stick around. He’s going to have some serious apologizing to do tomorrow. The glowing ember of a cigarette catches his eye on the porch next door. He can see her silhouette in the faint glow of light coming from her house’s windows. She’s sitting, wrapped in a blanket, taking long drags and letting the smoke wisp out harshly.
He doesn’t know why, but his feet carry him over to her house, she tilts her head at him where he stands at the steps of her porch.
“Well, Ellie and I thought you may have skipped town, you looked so upset in that kitchen.” She blows a billow of smoke out the corner of her mouth, watching him carefully. Joel clears his throat.
“Don’t know why you smoke those. S’no good for you.” She scoffs, but stamps out the butt of her cigarette beneath her boot.
“S’that all you came over here to say? My own little public service announcement?” He shakes his head, swallowing hard.
“Want to apologize. For earlier. I just– fuck– I wasn’t expecting that. Didn’t really know how to react.” She sighs looking off just over the top of his head. Joel wishes she’d meet his eyes again.
“It’s ok, Joel. It was stupid, really. Ellie asked for my help, and I like that kid. Wanted to do something nice for you. But I see now that it was silly.” Joel steps up onto the porch, trying to get a better look at her downturned face.
“It wasn’t stupid. I was stupid. What you did was real nice. I just– I’m not used to–”
“Not being in constant life-threatening danger?” She quirks an eyebrow at him, he sighs. She scoots over on the bench seat, a silent invitation for him to join her. He does, sitting down with his elbows on his thighs, looking at her over his shoulder.
“I get it, really. I know that may be hard to believe. But I wasn’t always so lucky to be somewhere like Jackson.” She glances at him before looking back down at her hands in her lap.
“I had a little brother. Jack was his name. Back before, well before. He was only two years younger than me, and I never let him forget it. But damn I loved him. And he loved me. Every year, he insisted on being the one to make my birthday cake. And, Christ, they were bad. He’d get our mom to pick up the Betty Crocker mix from the store, you know? And the canned frosting. But he’d always manage to do something real weird to it.” She laughs lightly, but Joel can see the shimmer in her eyes.
“There was one year, he baked gummy worms into the cake. Fuck, it was so gross, the worms sort of melted into the batter so it was this sticky, rainbow mess. I told him it looked like a gnome had vomited on a platter.” Joel feels his mouth pulling up into a smile. She sighs.
“When I lost him… well, every year without him on that stupid day just reminds me that he’s gone.” She clears her throat before harshly swiping under her eyes.
“I don’t know why I told you all that. I guess just to say that I get it. And that I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Just figured it’d be nice for someone to have a good birthday” Joel sits back on the bench, letting his arm rest along the top of the chair behind her.
“When is yours?” She finally turns and looks at him, furrowing her brow in confusion.
“Your birthday, when is it?” Her face softens.
“Promise you won’t tell anyone?” His mouth quirks at that and he nods.
She leans into his side, cupping her hand over his ear conspiratorially and whispers the date to him. Joel’s breath hitches at the close contact. He hums when she leans back.
“You know, today isn’t my birthday, not really.” Her eyes widen at him, he laughs softly.
“It’s really, uh, September twenty-sixth, you know, the day that everything–” she brings one of her hands to rest on his knee, giving it a light squeeze.
“Yeah, I know. Can’t say I blame you for choosing a new one.” He snorts at that.
“Oh, I didn’t choose it.” She clicks her tongue, nodding and huffing a laugh at that, muttering Ellie’s name under her breath. She gives his knee another squeeze.
“Well, your secret is safe with me so long as mine is safe with you.” He nods, bringing his hand to rest on top of hers. She flips her palm and entwines their fingers. A warmth breaks out in Joel’s chest at the way her thumb strokes the side of his hand.
“C’mon. It’s still your not-birthday and I left that cake in your kitchen. Better not let it go to waste.”
…
That’s how Joel finds himself sitting at his dining room table, on a day that’s not his birthday, as the prettiest lady in Jackson lights candles in the cake she’s put in front of him.
“I’m not gonna sing to you, seeing as it’s not really your birthday. But go ahead and blow out the candles, handsome.” He feels like he’s going to break out in hives under her gaze. He’d be hard pressed to admit that he’s really just blushing at her words. He complies with her order.
She offers him a fork before sitting down next to him, and they both dig into the pan. Joel’s pleasantly surprised at his first bite and she grins around her fork at his reaction.
“There’s no sprinkles or frosting, but I’d say Ellie and I did a pretty good job, given the circumstances of course.” Joel hums.
“I can’t believe you went through all that effort. Don’t know the last time I had something like this.” She waves his words away.
“It’s not a big deal. Besides, how else was I supposed to woo you?” Joel chokes on the bite of cake he just swallowed. She giggles as he regains his composure, only slightly.
“Woo me? You’re trying to woo me?” She shrugs, going a little shy in her glances at him.
“I thought I was being obvious. But you don’t exactly make it easy, Joel Miller.” Joel’s dumbstruck at her words. He sits back in his chair.
“Christ– I just– why would you want anything to do with me?” She huffs, setting her fork down and resting her chin in her palm.
“Well, now that you ask, I don’t know. You were kind of an asshole this afternoon.” His face goes slack at that but she just laughs. It makes his heart kick in his chest.
“I’m kidding, Joel. But yeah, I may have been harboring a little crush on you since you moved in here.” Joel’s still speechless, he feels like his brain has been jostled around in his skull. She breaks the silence with a big yawn, checking her watch as she stretches.
“Well, I’ll let you chew on that, in more ways than one. I better head home.” She’s already standing and walking towards his front door and Joel is a bumbling mess as he follows behind her. He keeps trying to start to say something, but all that comes out is a stammered “I– you– uh– well.”
He finally manages to spit something out, “thank you, for the, um, not-birthday cake, and for everything.” Her mouth turns up in a lopsided smile. Joel’s brain finally seems to be back online, and he continues.
“I, um, wouldn’t be opposed to that. To you wooing me.” She crosses her arms over her chest, stepping closer to him.
“Oh, you wouldn’t?” Joel shakes his head.
“No. Uh, consider me wooed.” He’s rewarded with a grin from her and he’s got that warm feeling in his chest again.
“Hmm, well in that case–” She steps in a bit closer, bringing her palms to his chest and lifting up to press a quick kiss to his lips. Joel freezes for a moment, but he snaps out of it quick enough to bring his hands to her hips, dipping in to chase after her lips for a deeper, longer kiss.
She pulls away first, a bubble of laughter, before leaning back in for a chaste peck. He presses his forehead to hers. What she says comes out in a whisper.
“Happy not-really-your-birthday, Joel Miller. I’ll see you later.” She’s slipping out of his grasp and out his front door, not before hollering back at him to save some of the cake for Ellie. Joel stands, staring dumbly at the door, running his fingers over his mouth, searching for remnants of their kiss.
He thinks to himself that this has been the best not-real-birthday he’s had in a very long time.
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˗ˏˋ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐙𝐀𝐑 🦋🍀 ˎˊ˗
⋆✩⋆ ─── 🎶long drives, blue skies, straight to the horizon. dancing in the rain, even through all the lightening!🎶 - Always Been You, Michael Sanzone
⋆✩⋆ ─── series masterlist
⋆✩⋆ ─── pairing : luke hughes x charlotte lazar
⋆✩⋆ ─── main masterlist
𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙻𝙾𝚃𝚃𝙴 𝙻𝙰𝚉𝙰𝚁. ┊
─── profile.ᐟ
FULL NAME CHARLOTTE JAMES LAZAR
DATE OF BIRTH NOVEMBER 7, 2003
PLACE OF BIRTH SALMON ARM, CANADA
NICKNAMES CHAR, CHARLIE, CJ, LOTTIE
PREFERRED NAME CHARLIE
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN SCORPIO
LAST KNOWN ADDRESS SALMON ARM, CANADA
CURRENT ADDRESS NEWARK, NEW JERSEY
HEIGHT 5'6
EYE COLOR BLUE
HAIR COLOR BROWN ❪NATURALLY❫, BLONDE
TATTOOS NONE
PIERCINGS EARS, HELIX, BELLY BUTTON, NOSE
FAMILY CURTIS LAZAR, REANNE LAZAR, OWEN LAZAR
CLOSEST FRIENDS CURTIS LAZAR, JACK HUGHES, DAWSON MERCER, NICO HISCHIER, BENSON BOONE, JADEN HOSSLER, MADISON LEWIS, TABITHA SWATOSH, KOUVR ANNON
RELATIONSHIPS LUKE HUGHES ❪ 2023 ❫, RYAN PATTERSON ❪ EX BOYFRIEND ❫
INSTAGRAM @/CHARLIE_LAZAR
FACE CLAIM ASHLEY MAE BESSON
─── favorites.ᐟ
FAVORITE ANIMAL KITTENS
FAVORITE DRINK APPLE JUICE
FAVORITE FOOD PIZZA
FAVORITE COLOR BLUE & SAGE GREEN
FAVORITE SEASON SUMMER
FAVORITE HOLIDAY CHRISTMAS
FAVORITE HOCKEY TEAM NEW JERSEY DEVILS, BOSTON BRUINS, DALLAS STARS
FAVORITE MOVIES MARVEL MOVIES, THE NOTEBOOK, THE MAXMZE RUNNER SERIES
FAVORITE ACTORS/ACTRESSES JOE KEERY, JUSTIN BIEBER, TOM HOLLAND, JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT, MEGAN FOX, RUDY PANKOW
FAVORITE SINGERS TATE MCRAE, BILLIE EILISH, JUSTIN BIEBER, KELSEA BALLERINI, SHAWN MENDES, MORGAN WALLEN, JESSIE MURPH, BENSON BOONE
FAVORITE TV SHOWS TEEN WOLF, STRANGER THINGS, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, OUTER BANKS
✫✬✭✮✯
─── extra facts.ᐟ
𝜗𝜚 Charlotte is going to NYU for film and photography.
𝜗𝜚 The New Jersey Devils team often lets her film and take pictures of the players for her classes.
𝜗𝜚 Her loves the color green, but ONLY sage green.
𝜗𝜚 She use to live in New York, but when Curtis was drafted to the Devils, she moved in with him in New Jersey.
𝜗𝜚 She started a YouTube channel in 2019 with the name ❛Life With Charlie❜ where she post daily vlogs of her life and often collabs in LA with various other YouTubers and TikTok stars.
𝜗𝜚 She absolutely adores her nephews Owen and Cayden. Owen is definitely an auntie’s boy.
𝜗𝜚 She’s really shy when you first meet her, but it takes no time for her to warm up to you.
𝜗𝜚 When she first met the Devils, Jack actually freaked her out with the amount of talking he had done with her.
𝜗𝜚 Her brother is super overprotective and always tries to scare boys away from her ❪ which she’s really grateful for at times ❫
𝜗𝜚 She met Benson Boone during a trip to LA and the two instantly hit it off, becoming best friends.
𝜗𝜚 She loves to read and sometimes gets lost in another world when she’s ready.
𝜗𝜚 She’s always wanted to fall in love in the rain.
𝜗𝜚 When she gets nervous, she bakes a ton which results in her making goodie bags for the team.
𝜗𝜚 When she flirts with someone or finds someone attractive, she always giggles and twirls her hair around her finger.
𝜗𝜚 When she meets Luke, she’s instantly playing with her hair and giggling while the youngest Hughes boy is grinning widely as his brother watches on with a look of disbelief on his face.
𝜗𝜚 Despite the playful banter that goes on between Luke and Curtis, he’d rather Luke date his little sister rather than Jack or anyone else on the team.
𝜗𝜚 She makes sure she attends as many Devil’s games as she possibly can to support her boys.
𝜗𝜚 Out of everyone on the team, Jack is definitely her best friend.
𝜗𝜚 She wants to meet actor, Dylan O’Brien.
𝜗𝜚 She’s a natural brunette but she dyes her hair blonde.
𝜗𝜚 When her and Luke begin dating, Ellen and Jim fell in love with her.
𝜗𝜚 Quinn instantly begins treating Charlotte like his sister, and the two often find themselves making fun of the other two Hughes brothers when they’re all together.
𝜗𝜚 She has a group chat between herself and the three Hughes brothers.
𝜗𝜚 Luke absolutely loves that his brothers love his girlfriend.
𝜗𝜚 One day, before they are dating, it’s raining and the boys are at practice, Charlotte having joined for the day, and remember that she has always wanted to fall in love in the rain, Luke instantly pulls her into the parking lot where he kisses her for the first time.
✫✬✭✮✯
─── charlie’s aesthetic.ᐟ
─── charlie’s closet.ᐟ
─── charlie’s bedroom.ᐟ
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