July 2021 - Page 3 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

Robin Williams would have been 70

seven years gone

Robin Williams died almost seven years ago, on August 11, 2014. I wrote about him at the time, and I was surprised by how affected I was by his passing.

Mark Evanier wrote at length about Robin, both before and after his death. For instance, he found remembrances from Penny Marshall, who directed him in Awakenings (1990), and fellow comedian Lewis Black, among others.

In 2018, Vanity Fair excerpted New York Times culture reporter Dave Itzkoff’s then-new biography, Robin. From the article intro: “He was still harboring guilt about his divorce from Marsha Garces, his second wife, and mother of two of his children, and adjusting to life with his new wife, Susan Schneider, whom he married in 2011.

“Meanwhile, Williams was also reeling from a cataclysmic diagnosis: in May 2014, he had been told that he had Parkinson’s disease, news that stunned and overwhelmed the once-nimble comedian. Even more crushing than this is the possibility that Williams was misdiagnosed; an autopsy would later reveal that he actually had Lewy body dementia, an aggressive and incurable brain disorder that has an associated risk of suicide.”

Decline

You should read the piece, which attempts to discern why the performer kept working in less-than-stellar films. His last TV series, The Crazy Ones (2013) didn’t connect with audiences. And “starting in October 2013, Robin began to experience a series of physical ailments, varying in their severity and seemingly unconnected to one another.”

Also, in the September 27, 2016 issue of Neurology magazine, his widow Susan Schneider Williams wrote about “The terrorist inside my husband’s brain.”

But I just subscribed to Robin Williams’ YouTube channel because I need to remember the joy that he was having, something he had to share with others. And here’s a nice recollection by Dan Hernandez, a young writer on The Crazy Ones. Plus, 12 facts about the performer.

Movie review: Summer of Soul

(…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Summer of Soul In the summer of 1969, there was a massively successful music festival in New York State. No, I’m not talking about Woodstock.

The documentary Summer of Soul recounts the Harlem Cultural Festival, which took place on six weekends, drawing about 300,000 people. It had big-name artists such as Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, the Chambers Brothers, and David Ruffin, recently of The Temptations, wearing a too-warm suit. The festival film was directed by the late Hal Tulchin, but the reels sat in a vault for nearly half a century.

Questlove (Ahmir-Khalib Thompson) of the band The Roots learned about the footage. He edited down over 50 hours of film that tells the story about not only the festival but the context in which it took place, a year after MLK’s death and, in the case of one show, during the Apollo 11 moon landing.

These are extraordinary performances. Gladys Knight and the Pips reminding us about how well the late choreographer Cholly Atkins trained Motown acts. The 5th Dimension, tired of some folks finding their sound “too white”, letting Billy Davis Jr. “go to church” on Let The Sunshine In. Sly and the Family Stone confused the crowd initially with their mixed-race/mixed gender/funkily garbed presentation as they performed Higher, which they later performed at Woodstock.

More artists

The concert also features Mongo Santamaria, the Edwin Hawkins Singers, the Staple Singers, Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach, and even the salty Moms Mabley, among many others.

Two highlights: Nina Simone, looking as she often does like a black goddess that she was, performing an early version of the anthem I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free. And Mahalia Jackson asking Mavis Staples for assistance singing Precious Lord.

But perhaps the most fascinating parts of Summer of Soul are the interviews with some of the people who attended the festival. Clips from the event made them feel as though they weren’t crazy. This remarkable thing really did happen. It was as wonderful as they re-remembered it, even though the concerts seemed to have been forgotten by the world.

See the film, subtitled (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), if you can in a movie theater. My wife and I caught it at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany. It is also available presently on Hulu.

Superlative concerts I have attended

from Seals and Crofts to Sheila E.

Tom Petty Lots of fine folks seem to be doing this meme. So what the hey.

First concert: Seals and Crofts, November 12, 1971 in New York City, Boz Scaggs opening.

Last concert: Janet Jackson, July 26, 2018 at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. No, wait, I saw Cheap Trick February 7, 2020.

Best concert: I have always said that it was Talking Heads at SPAC or the Temptations at the Colonie Coliseum during the Reunion tour, both from back in the 1980s. Still, Paul McCartney, July 7, 2014, with my daughter rates very high.

Worst concert: Almost certainly Joe Jackson at the Palace Theater in Albany in 1989. I swore I told this story but I couldn’t find it. Jackson, after playing one or two familiar songs, played the entirety of Side 1 of his new album, Blaze of Glory. Then a couple old songs, then the entirety of Side 2.

The audience was ticked and many of them headed for the concession stands or the bathrooms. They returned when he played stuff they knew. I should note that I subsequently bought the album, and I think it’s fine. But playing a half dozen unfamiliar songs is not a way to win over the crowd.

At least Jackson was comprehensible. The 2007 Bob Dylan concert in Albany at the Knick* was awful. Fortunately, the opening acts, Amos Lee and Elvis Costello, were great.

Seen the most: the Temptations; Lucinda Williams; Pete Droge; the Neville Brothers; Crosby, Stills, and Nash – no Young; Joan Armatrading; Sheila E.; and infamously, Joni Mitchell I’ve seen twice each.

Next concert: God only knows.

Most fun concert: Probably Bruce Springsteen in Albany’s Knick* in 2009. Though Elton John c 2000 at the same venue was a hoot. And there was a battle of the bands in San Diego in July 2018, which my niece’s band, Rebecca Jade and the Cold Fact won, and I got free drinks.

Loudest: actually, it might have been Sheila E. at the New York State Fairgrounds in September 2019. They crank out the sound so even those not in the audience could hear it.

I need to note a band I saw open for No Doubt in Albany in 1997. I THINK it was MxPx. The sheer constant audio assault was unnerving. The Specials were also on that tour, and a bunch of the idiot kids literally turned their backs on them.

Wish you could see: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

* There’s a venue downtown originally called the Knickerbocker Arena. Then they sold the naming rights and it became one of a number of entities called the Pepsi Arena. Currently, it’s the Times Union Center. I just call it the Knick.

“Useless skills” in our modern world

InformationTechnology Arthur – yes, that Arthur, the Kiwi Illinoisan, wrote in response to a recent post of mine. Hmm, I’ll have to ask him, though, what got him to remember another post of mine, that one from a decade ago:

Apart from people under, say, 30 or so, all computery technological stuff has to be learned—we didn’t grow up with it. Most of us, I think, do best when we can migrate what we know to a new setting.

For example, the reason I can fix my blog when things blow up is because I learned useful stuff when I was young(er) that serves me well now that I’m old(er). For example, I can edit the HTML code in my log because I learned to use coding when I used an olde timey wordprocessing program called Wordstar in the 1980s. I still have to look up how to change or fix code in my blog, but I at least basically understand what I have to do because of that earlier training.

In January 2011, you published a post about “useless skills”. I wonder how those “useless skills” help us in our modern tech world. What ones help you?

My wife has a breadmaker, but she would rather create it the old-fashioned way if only so the bread will fit in the toaster.

Skillz?

I think I have soft skills. I can read a map, so if the GPS is not working, or is taking me the wrong way – it’s happened – I can figure out a way home. In a city with a decent, but unfamiliar, mass transit, I can generally negotiate that too.

When I was working, I had a better-than-average chance of finding the answer if it wasn’t available online. This involved using something called the “telephone” and “calling” to “talk” with people. That said, I think a lot of agencies and other entities do not value their institutional wisdom.

Because I’ve moved over 30 times, and have helped others moved at least twice that, I’m really good at packing our car when we’re going on a trip. My wife has told me this repeatedly.

As bad as I am with names, I’m pretty good with numbers. I can figure out a 15% tip or even 8% sales tax sans calculator. I make change with alacrity, so I’ll give the pizza guy $21 for a $10.95 purchase, knowing that one-dollar bills are precious in retail.

Usually, I remember phone numbers, so if the phone/computer address book isn’t available, I’m still OK. Definitely, I know my wife and daughter’s Social Security numbers.

I can name all of the Presidents of the United States, including their years. So I don’t have to “Google it” to help my daughter with her American history homework. Whether she would LET me help her is quite another matter.

Now, there are a few things I can do in my blog – assuming I’m not using the new editor – by hand. And, as Arthur knows, I can keep score in bowling, even during the apocalypse.

Roger’s Retirement music too

With a Lot O’ Soul

Marvin Gaye More music in honor of my retirement in 2019, compiled by JF and DC.

Fame – David Bowie. Beyond two-octave riff, it was co-written by John Lennon. I was very sad when each of them died.
Let’s Go Crazy – Prince. Among my favorite songs of all time, ever since I saw the Purple Rain movie, The 12″ inch vinyl, which I own, has an even more delicious guitar line. Sad when he died, as well.
Paperback Writer – the Beatles. The Fabs, of course, but I suspect this was a reference to my blogging.
Got To Give It Up – Marvin Gaye. More cool. No wonder Blurred Lines purloined it.
Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough – Michael Jackson. The first song from the MJ album I contend is better than Thriller.

This song IS about you

If You Don’t Know Me By Now – Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, featuring Teddy Pendergrass. One of my theme songs.
You’re So Vain – Carly Simon. Saratoga’s only 30 miles from Albany.
I Got You – Split Enz. The only Split Enz album has that song.
I Say A Little Prayer – Aretha Franklin. Great cover.
Until – Cassandra Wilson. New Moon’s Daughter (1996) is the first of four of her albums I own.

Tell the Truth – Otis Redding. He definitely died too soon.
I’ll Take You There – The Staple Singers. Mavis so often sounds like church.
Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing – Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Tammi died WAY too early. And Marvin’s death at the hands of his father…
It’s A Shame – the Spinners. One of the few Motown hits by the group before they moved to Atlantic Records.
I Know I’m Losing You – The Temptations. If I had but one Tempts album, it would be With a Lot O’ Soul, which includes this song.

Slip Slidin’ Away – Paul Simon. “You know the nearer the destination…” Truer words were never spoken.
Where Is the Love – Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway. Donny died a tragic death. I saw Roberta perform on New Year’s Eve in ALB in the late 1990s.
The Glamorous Life – Sheila E. Ah, my personal close relationship with Sheila, who I’ve seen perform twice in the past few years.
Moving Out – Billy Joel. That’s what I did at work. Saw him way back in 1974.