Ramblin' with Roger

Unexpected: Muldaur; Ronstadtesque

Elizabeth Ward Land

My wife went to two musical performances two days apart. This was unexpected because we had no idea we’d be attending either at the beginning of September.

Early in the month, we went to the Showstoppers show at Mac-Haydn Theatre in Chatham, NY, a “celebration of our season cast members and the magic of theatre – it’s the ultimate show tunes revue.”

My wife was sitting next to Elizabeth Ward Land, who knew many artists performing and several Mac-Haydn actors in the audience. She said she loved the Producing Artistic Director of the Mac, John Saunders, who was one of the fine performers at that show.

Before the show, Elizabeth casually mentioned that she would be presenting Still Within The Sound of My Voice: The Songs of Linda Ronstadt on the 13th. She knew her Ronstadt. I am a big Linda fan. So we got tickets.

When we got there, they were requesting people wear masks. MacHadyn had scheduled a program called The Marvelous Wonderettes, featuring over 30 “throwback hits” from the ’50s and ’60s, from September 7 through 17, 2023. But the notice on September 12 noted, “With heavy hearts, we announce that, due to Covid cases within our performance team, the remaining performances… have been canceled.”

As I noted here, this program also had COVID challenges.

The show went on.

Still, it was a fine show. Ward Land has a lovely voice, though she didn’t especially sound like Linda, not that she was trying to. But the songs with the tight harmony trios were pretty darn close.

What was interesting was the storytelling about Linda’s musical journey from country to pop to light opera to the American songbook to Mexicali. Much of this I knew, but there were a few pieces I didn’t. Elizabeth tied it to her varied musical and acting career.

The playlist was similar to her 2022 album with the first five and the last four in the same order. Someone To Lay Down Beside Me was out, but Adios, a lovely solo by Madison Stratton, was in. The other vocalist was a last-minute addition, Mac-Haydn musical director Eric Shorey.

Different Drum

Someone To Lay Down Beside Me

Long Long Time

Still Within The Sound Of My Voice

More than the camel song

The next day, a guy I know, in that Smalbany way, posted on Facebook that he had two tickets to see Maria Muldaur at the Egg on Friday, the 15th. I claimed them and went to his place to pick them up.

At the beginning of her show, we thought it might be more talking than singing. It would have been OK; she had just turned 81 on September 12. She told great stories about the McGarriagle Sisters, Dr. John, Doc Watson, and many more.

Muldaur loved a B-side of a Peggy Lee single, the Leiber-Stoller song, I’m A Woman, which Bob Dylan, who she knew from the Greenwich Village neighborhood where she grew up as Maria D’Amato, often requested. It was the first song in the show.

Soon enough, she played more music from 43 recorded “albums in the folk, blues, early jazz, gospel, country, and R&B traditions.”

She noted that when she recorded My Tennessee Mountain Home, with vocals by Linda Ronstadt, it may have been the first cover of a Dolly Parton song; Maria still has the thank you note from Dolly.

Her story about Hoagy Carmichael’s presence at her recording of his Rockin’ Chair was lovely. Benny Carter got Hoagy to the session.

Not nearly the end

She said Don’t You Feel My Leg (Don’t You Get Me High), the Blu Lu Barker song, was her most requested. She played that just before Midnight at the Oasis. Some musicians would have ended it there, but she had at least another half dozen songs to share

The photos of her with various musicians, including Bonnie Raitt, Geoff Muldaur (of course), and many others, some taken by Annie Leibovitz, were astonishing.

Ultimately, besides being a great musical experience, the concert was an incredible musical history lesson.

Richland Woman

I’m A Woman

My Tennessee Mountain Home

The Work Song, with Kate and Anna McGarrigle. The lyrics were displayed on the screen at the Muldaur show:

Backs broke, bending, digging holes to plant the seeds
The owners ate the cane, and the workers ate the weeds
Put the wood in the stove, the water in the cup
You worked so hard that you died standing up

Don’t You Feel My Leg

He Ain’t Got Rhythm with Tuba Skinny

Midnight at the Oasis

Reactions to music reaction videos

Cartier family

Dee asked me a question about six months ago, and it got lost in my email. Do you have an opinion, pro or con, about the music reaction industry? If so, what do you think? The first link she sent was a Medium members-only article called 10 Hit Music Videos Highlight Race and Stereotypes. And humor, reflection, and insights follow. It begins: “Jaws dropped recently when countless folks discovered Mr. Bobby Caldwell, the late talented, singer, songwriter, and musician was not a person of color.

“Regardless of age, listeners knew his iconic 70s hit ‘What You Won’t Do for Love’ but only thought they knew what he looked like because of the sound of his vocals.”

This is very true: “Countless listeners may sheepishly question their own sets of assumptions. And many may realize stereotyping is so automatic it’s scary.” Then she shares videos of the music of Caldwell, the Rascals (Groovin’), Michael McDonald, and BeeGees (Stayin’ Alive).

Sidebar: In the Warner Brothers’ Lost series, COOK BOOK (PRO 660) from 1977 was “Focusing on Warners’ black acts.” One track was The Doobie Brothers’ Taking It To The Streets, with McDonald on lead vocals.

The article has a short video of black opera singer Ryan Speedo Green. I’ve long railed against black musicians being put into a musical straitjacket.

Dee’s second Medium link is The Appeal and Value of Music Reaction Videos. 24 time-traveled videos cross color lines, entertain, educate, inspire, and create income. The artists listened to Rick Astley, Johnny Cash, the Danish National Anthem, Chaka Khan, Parliament-Funkadelic, Pavorati, Phil Collins, and the Temptations.

Better in concept

I embrace the IDEA of the videos more than the OH-MY-GOD-THAT’S-INCREDIBLE reactions. After seeing a few in a row, I find them exhausting. To be sure, I’m not the target demographic.

This Reddit post speaks to this. “There’s some psychology behind why some of us enjoy watching people react to hearing music for the first time- music that viewers know to be great. We like having more information than the people we watch, whether that’s in movies, tv, etc…

“My problem is that most reaction videos I’ve seen are positive 100% of the time. It takes away some from the enjoyment and the feeling of authenticity when the youtuber is superlative with every song, maybe because they don’t want to lose viewers who love that song.” Yeah, it’s just too much for me. Too hyper, and often too hyperbolic.

That said, Dee’s third link is to the Cartier Family watching the last few minutes of the movie Stormy Weather, featuring Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers. Yes, they talk over each other. But I’ve seen this segment several times before, and it continues to leave me slack-jawed.

Do I prefer spam or Ask Roger Anything?

“your electric company”

Why are they wasting my time? Since I have used my cellphone more frequently, the number of spam calls has exploded. The only reason it hasn’t been worse is that I don’t always carry it around when I’m at home.

Because I’m old, a LOT of these calls are from “Medicare” – yeah, right – or even more hilariously, “your electric company.” National Grid is never going to call me up and say that. Most are purportedly from my area code, 518, and many are marked Scam Likely.

Sometimes, when I miss a call, I dial the number. “The number you have dialed is almost always not in service.”

Email

Every damn politician, it seems, wants money. As an old poli sci major, I know cash can be the lifeblood of campaigns. But I’m annoyed to get an email solicitation from someone I never even heard of.

Here’s one from a Democratic candidate for Congress in 2024 that I received last month. “Roger, have you been getting my emails recently? If not, let me explain why I’m reaching out. My campaign has established an August fundraising goal of $12,000…”

I opt out of these things, but they’re too prolific. Obviously, they have sold my info to the next candidate. And by the way, it’s not just the Democrats. Because I get a lot of conservative publications, I get the pleas for money to save the country from the godless, baby-killing, left-wing Antifa anarchists.

What I prefer

I’d much rather be getting messages from people such as yourselves. You all can be the antidote for my spamola inundation. All you need to do is Ask Roger Anything. Anything at all, especially if you have a music theme, which I might use some Saturday.

And I will most likely answer to the best of my ability in the next 30 days. Please make your requests in the comments section of this post, email me at rogerogreen (AT) Gmail (DOT) com, or contact me on Facebook. Always look for the duck.

Moving certain elections to even-numbered years

local elections in New York State

I went to the local Price Chopper grocery store yesterday to buy some items. There were two people at a table in the entryway. One asked if I was registered to vote. I said truthfully, “Always.” They were pleased as they were participating in National Voter Registration Day. I had no idea.

Then I asked them about a piece of New York State legislation, Assembly Bill A4282B/Senate Bill S3505B, moving certain elections to even-numbered years.

It was passed in June 2023, but I hadn’t heard about it being signed by Governor Kathy Hochul. As it turns out, at least as of September 18, she had not. There are over 400 bills that “need to be sent to her desk for signature – or veto. “

Reinvent Albany, the Citizens Union of the City of New York, and Common Cause New York support the legislation. “We believe this legislation will strengthen local democracy in the state by bringing more people to vote for local offices, leading to a more representative voting population and a stronger mandate for elected officials.

“The benefits of holding local elections during even-numbered (‘on-cycle’) years have been thoroughly documented in research, and dozens of towns, cities, and states have successfully made that transition in the previous decade. Good government groups and election advocates support this reform, as does the public.”

Conversely, John Quigley, Ulster County Board of Elections Commissioner (Republican), notes, “While the intentions of these bills may appear well-intentioned, the move to align certain local elections with even-numbered years carries significant risks for voters. Decreased turnout, diluted focus on local issues, limited voter engagement, reduced accountability, and the potential for increased partisanship are all concerns that should be carefully considered. “

My take

Do I agree with a branch of Common Cause or a Republican BoE official? The latter, big time. The voter initiative folks I met agreed with me, FWIW. There may be a greater voter turnout because of the top of the ballot. But will the voters have time/inclination to look at the local issues and candidates?

The even-numbered years encompass the US House of Representatives, state Assembly, and state Assembly races. Some of the even years will have the Presidential elections, the others, the statewide races for governor, comptroller, and attorney general. The US Senate races will also fall in an even year. How are local issues and candidates going to get the oxygen they need?

An interesting element of the bill is that it only pertains to local elections outside New York City. This rubs me wrong and could aggravate the ongoing upstate/downstate fissure.

Moreover, when vacancies exist in many offices, the state Constitution promptly mandates a special election. So, odd-year elections wouldn’t be eliminated anyway. Also, I think a change of such magnitude should be addressed by Constitutional amendment, not legislation.

So I wrote to the governor. I do that too infrequently, but this issue roiled this old poli sci major’s stomach.

The Pirates lost the first World Series

I loved 1979!

It occurred to me that this is the 120th anniversary of the Fall Classic. The Pittsburgh Pirates lost the first World Series to the Boston Americans, who would become the Red Sox, 5 games to 3 in a best-of-nine series in 1903. But in 1909, the Pirates beat the Detroit Tigers, 4 games to 3. Fred Clarke was the Bucs’ manager in both series.

The Pirates also led the National League in 1901 and 1902 before the Series was initiated, their first two titles since joining the league in 1882 as the Pittsburgh Alleghenys; they became the Pirates in 1891.

The Bill McKechnie-led team of 1925 beat the Washington Senators, 4 games to 3. McKechnie was the first of only two managers to win a World Series with two different teams, also helming the 1940 Cincinnati Reds to the title.

Donie Bush’s 1927 Pirates were swept by the 1927 New York Yankees, with Ruth, Gehrig, and others of the Murderers’ Row.

The Pirates didn’t return to the Series until 1960 when Danny Murtagh led them to an exciting and dramatic win over the Yankees. Some claim Game 7 was the greatest ever played.

The Pirates won two Series in the 1970s over the Baltimore Orioles, 4 games to 3, in 1971 under Murtagh, and the exciting 1979 games when Chuck Tanner led them from a 3-1 deficit.

Downhill from there

They haven’t been to a World Series since. Of course, they have gotten to playoffs a few times with the ever-expanding playoffs. They lost the National League Championship Series in 1970 (to the Cincinnati Reds), 1972 (Reds), 1974 (Los Angeles Dodgers), and 1975 (Reds), all under Murtaugh, except 1972 when Bill Virdon led them.

Then they lost the NLCS when piloted by Jim Leyland in 1990 (Reds), 1991 (Atlanta Braves), and 1992 (Braves). I STILL remember former Pirate Sid Bream scoring the winning run in Game 7 of the 1992 series.

Since then, they’ve lost the NL Divisional Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2013, then were eliminated in the Wild Card game in 2014 and 2015 by the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs, respectively. Clint Hurdle was the manager.

Even those were the good old days. Since then, the team has had only one season above .500, in 2018 at 82-79, and lost over 100 games in 2021 and 2022. They were in first place in the NL Central in mid-June 2023, but they’re well under .500 again. At least they can’t lose more than 95 games this season.

HoF

Here are 13 members of the Baseball Hall of Fame who spent most of their careers as Pittsburgh Pirates. Every year, I hope the team does better. Alas, no.

Also, “Kent Tekulve, the closer for the 1979 World Series champion Pirates, Elroy Face from the 1960 World Series team, and the late Bob Friend and Dick Groat were all inducted into” the Pirates’ Hall of Fame.

Finally, you can VOTE for the 2023 Roberto Clemente Award until October 1. It honors “the MLB player who best represents the game through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy, and positive contributions, both on and off the field.”