Sunday, June 8, 2014

BIG DOG DAMN IT, THIS GUY IS RIGHT ABOUT AMERICAN MILITARY AGGRESSION!


No “Christian Evangelical” am I. But Christ Yeshua (“Jesus”) is absolutely my Savior and my Best Friend. He has appeared to me; He has spoken to me. I love Him. I disappoint Him. I’m going to do better.

Nevertheless, no “Christian Evangelical” am I but, Big Dog damn it, Chuck Baldwin is right!

[My thanks to Br’er Marc for sending me the following Email.]

Published: Thursday, May 29, 2014
.
CHRISTIAN  MINISTER  CHUCK  BALDWIN
.
When Will Evangelical Christians Start To See Through This Charade?

Ever since the George W. Bush administration, evangelical pastors and churches have been America’s loudest cheerleaders for virtually every act of war the U.S. has waged against foreign countries. For pastors such as John Hagee, wars of aggression in the Middle East are predicated upon the notion of protecting Israel--even though military meddling by the United States has only served to make life more dangerous for Israel. But leaving Israel out of the equation, evangelicals are the first to trumpet U.S. wars of aggression. I would even suggest that the favorite hymn of most evangelical churches these days is no longer John Newton’s “Amazing Grace,” but John McCain’s “Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran.”

I would go even further to say that evangelical churches have become the very best friend that the military/industrial complex has ever had. It is congressmen and senators from districts and states heavily-laden with evangelical churches that continue to pump unlimited tax-dollars into the Warfare State. One could even make the argument that in most evangelical churches, Jesus’ adage “Blessed are the peacemakers” has been changed to “Blessed are the warmongers.”

Let’s set the record straight: perpetual war is a tool of elitists and globalists to enslave the U.S. citizenry. While we are killing thousands of people abroad (most of whom are innocents)--all in the name of “liberating” them--we are tightening the tyrannical noose around the necks of the American people. In the name of the “War on Terror,” the most sophisticated surveillance society in the history of mankind has been created right here in the continental United States. With the advent of the Patriot Act and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under G.W. Bush, Washington, D.C., has constructed (and is continuing to construct) a burgeoning police state the likes of which Joseph Stalin, Mao Tse-tung, and Adolf Hitler could have only dreamed about. And for the most part, evangelicals are fine with it.

But what is really happening in those countries that these endless wars are supposedly “liberating?” And specifically, what is happening to the thousands and millions of Christians within those countries after having been “liberated” by Uncle Sam? After all, America’s evangelical churches of every denomination spend millions of dollars every year sending missionaries around the globe to evangelize folks. How many missionary slides have we seen? How many passionate, tearful sermons have we heard imploring us to get a burden for missions? One of the most sacred elements of any Christian church is its missions program.

So, on the one hand, evangelicals are weeping, praying, and giving millions of dollars to make Christians out of the peoples of the world and on the other hand, they are leading the charge for America’s efforts to rain death and destruction down upon those same people.

Aside from the utter inconsistency of the above, what are all of these endless wars accomplishing for the Christians who live inside the countries that we are “liberating?” What is all of these Christian-endorsed wars doing to the people of God around the world? The answer will shock most believers.

According to an Infowars.com report, “In areas where we spent hundreds of billions of dollars and where thousands of precious American lives were sacrificed, churches are regularly being bombed, Christians are being brutally beheaded, and laws have been passed to make it illegal for a Muslim to convert to Christianity.  If we were not even able to provide the most basic of liberties and freedoms to the people living in those nations, what in the world did we actually accomplish by ‘liberating’ them?

“Just look at what has happened in Afghanistan.  We have been at war in Afghanistan for more than a dozen years, and yet things are so bad for Christians in that country at this point that there is not a single church left . . .”

The report goes on to say, “We find a similar story in Iraq. It is estimated that before the invasion, there were up to 2 million Christians living in Iraq. Now that number is down to less than 450,000, and it is falling fast.

“In fact, things are so dire for Iraq’s Christian community that some Iraqi Christian leaders are warning that Christians may soon become ‘extinct’ in that nation…”

The report continues, “In Syria, the Obama administration is shamelessly allying with radical al-Qaeda jihadists in a desperate attempt to overthrow the Assad regime.

“As these jihadists torture, behead and even crucify Christian believers, the mainstream media in the United States is virtually silent about it.

“Why is the media being so quiet?

“Well, because exposing what is going on would make the Obama administration look bad.

Those carrying out this persecution of Christians in Syria are being directly funded and aided by the governments of the United States and Saudi Arabia.”

See the report at:

Why Does Christian Persecution Get Worse In Every Country The U.S. “Liberates”?

The same could be said for Christians in the country of Libya.

But remember that these wars of aggression began in earnest under the “Christian” George W. Bush administration and have been ongoing throughout the Barack Obama administration. In fact, Obama’s continuation of the Bush preemptive war policy is the one thing about the Obama administration that most evangelical Christians actually support.

And please understand that what has happened to Christians in Middle Eastern countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria has happened in every other country that U.S. government has chosen to pressure--either by military intervention or economic sanction--including Nigeria and The Sudan.

A report in National Review Online states, “Prominent indicators confirm that the U.S. is the chief facilitator of the persecution of Christians around the world today.

“According to the recently released 2014 World Watch List, which ranks the 50 nations where Christians are most persecuted, Syria is the third worst nation in the world in which to be Christian, Iraq is fourth, Afghanistan fifth, and Libya 13th. All four countries receive the strongest designation, ‘extreme persecution’ (other designations are ‘severe,’ ‘moderate,’ and ‘sparse’ persecution). 

“Aside from being so closely and harshly ranked, these four nations have something else in common: heavy U.S. involvement. Three--Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya--were ‘liberated’ thanks to U.S. forces, while in the fourth, Syria, the U.S. is actively sponsoring ‘freedom fighters’ against the regime, many of whom would be better labeled ‘terrorists.’”

The author of this report, Raymond Ibrahim, concludes by saying, “I am often asked, ‘How can we help persecuted Christians?’ At this point, one must respond: ‘How about starting with getting the U.S. government to stop being the chief facilitator of Christian persecution?’ Altruism aside, it would be in the interests of all freedom-loving people--and especially their descendants.”
See the report at:

The U.S. and Christian Persecution

I wonder what the vast majority of evangelical Christians would think if they realized that their support for all of these preemptive wars around the world--especially in the Middle East--are actually the major cause of much of the persecutions against their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. I shudder to think what America’s Christians will say to their fellow-believers in Heaven who were savagely martyred due to the wars of aggression that they, America’s Christians, so enthusiastically supported.

America’s Warfare State, complete with the military/industrial complex, is facilitating the most egregious persecution of Christians since the days of Stalin, Hitler, and Chairman Mao and is turning the land of the free into a giant police state. When will the American people start to see through this charade? When will America’s pastors and Christians start to see through this charade?

If America’s evangelical pastors and churches would end their constant support for all of these foreign wars, if they would recognize the danger--globally and domestically--that the military/industrial complex poses, and if they would start putting the interests of this country above their parochial preoccupations with favored foreign states and personal eschatological opinions and interpretations, the Warfare State would collapse.

The Church has always been the compass of the country; and right now, the compass is broken, and the ship of state is way off course.

© Chuck Baldwin

~ Stephen T. McCarthy

YE OLDE COMMENT POLICY: All comments, pro and con, are welcome. However, ad hominem attacks and disrespectful epithets will not be tolerated (read: "posted"). After all, this isn’t Amazon.com, so I don’t have to put up with that kind of bovine excrement.
.

Sunday, June 1, 2014

'BATTLE OF THE BANDS #21' (Or, 'BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN VS. MANFRED MANN')


TWO QUICK SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1: FarAwayEyes regrets to inform us that due to a recent domicile disruption she is currently without Internet service. She wants us all to know that she will post her ‘Battle Of The Bands’ installment ASAP. She hopes and expects to have her ‘BOTB’ up by no later than Monday (possibly sooner).
.
2: Al Bondigas, come on down! The winner of the Battle Of The Bands’ Free Compact Disc Drawing was... YOU. You’ll be contacted soon to place your order for the compact disc of your choice, so start giving it some thought.
. 
Republican Vs. Democrat, Male Vs. Female, War Vs. Peace, Light Vs. Dark, Good Vs. Evil, Man Vs. Machine, Love Vs. Hate, Dog Vs. Cat, Sun Vs. Moon, Brain Vs. Brawn, Oscar Vs. Grammy, Angel Vs. Demon, Laurel Vs. Hardy, Beer Vs. Wine, TV Vs. Radio, Pitcher Vs. Batter, Paper Vs. Plastic, Reality Vs. Fantasy, Yeshua Vs. Beelzebub, Conservative Vs. Liberal, You Vs. Me, House Vs. Senate, Offense Vs. Defense, Kramer Vs. Kramer, Spy Vs. Spy, Fischer Vs. Spassky, W.C. Fields Vs. Sobriety, Harold Gimpy, Jr. Vs. Sheldon J. Pismire, Rock Vs. Paper Vs. Scissors, Islam Vs. Everything, Singer Vs. Singer, Band Vs. Band...
.
THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BANDS! (‘BOTB’)

.
.
Shoop-Shooby –
Shooby-duh-Dooby-Doop-Dooby-Dooby-Doo-Wah –
Buh-Doo-Wah!
.
Yes, it’s time once again for ‘Battle Of The Bands’ ('BOTB').
. 
EUGENE  MARTONE  VS.  JACK  BUTLER
.
In 1973, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN released his debut album ‘Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.
.
.
Springsteen was being touted by some as “the next Bob Dylan”. One listen to his first album and it was easy to see why. Although Springsteen concentrated his songs on urban tales, the stylistic manner of the lyrics was nearly pure Dylan: the songs were verbose and loaded with enigmatic references and symbols. Dylan couldn’t have done Dylan any better!

But it would have been a big mistake to dismiss Springsteen as just a copycat artist, even if he was quite consciously “doing his best Bob Dylan”. Just the words to the song ‘Growin’ Up’ alone was more than ample enough evidence to conclude that Springsteen was a very talented songwriter in his own right.

In very late 1976 or very early 1977, I was listening to an album called ‘The Roaring Silence’ by MANFRED MANN’S EARTH BAND. The LP had a monster hit on it titled BLINDED BY THE LIGHT. It went all the way to #1 on the Billboard music charts, getting massive airplay on radio stations across the country. I loved the song so I bought the album.

I was playing the song one day when my friend Eric stopped by and he happened to mention that ‘BLINDED BY THE LIGHT’ wasn’t a Manfred Mann’s Earth Band original; it was a cover that was actually written by some other musician named Bruce Springsteen. That was news to me; I had never even heard of this Springsteen guy. Eric said he owned one of his albums called ‘Born To Run’, and he loaned his copy to me. I played side A, didn’t even turn the album over to the B side, but returned the record to Eric and immediately went out and bought my own copy of ‘Born To Run’. Beginning that day and lasting until late 1984, I was a Bruce Springsteen fanatic – he was unquestionably my favorite songwriter / musician.
.
Immediately I purchased all of his older albums, which didn’t take long because he had released only 3 up to that point. Sometimes I liked to do sketches illustrating certain song lyrics, and below is a very old drawing inspired by a line in ‘Blinded By The Light’:
.


.

And here’s another one inspired by the name of Springsteen’s group ‘The E Street Band’:

.
THE  E  STREET  DOGS


I even wrote ‘Mining For Redemption’, a 24-page single-spaced essay on Springsteen’s work. Eventually, Bruce and I had a quarrel, a falling out and, no, it wasn’t solely related to politics. 
.
Today, I own only 2 Springsteen albums, his debut and his second one, ‘The Wild, The Innocent, And The E Street Shuffle’, which is less Dylanesque Folky and more Funky and even Jazz-ish. So, I still own Springsteen’s original of ‘BLINDED BY THE LIGHT’ as it’s the first song on his first album.

Alright, you know what’s comin’. We’re going to put Springsteen’s original version of ‘BLINDED BY THE LIGHT’ up against Manfred Mann’s Earth Band #1 hit cover version in this episode of ‘BATTLE OF THE BANDS’ and see who comes out ahead.

Most of the time, I post ‘BOTB’ songs in chronological order with the earliest recording toward the top, followed by the later one(s). In this case though, I am going to reverse the order only because the video for the Manfred Mann cover displays selected lyrics to the song, which are many and cryptic, and probably a bit more difficult to discern in the Bruce Springsteen original recording.

Alright, let’s get on it...

‘BLINDED BY THE LIGHT’ ~ MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND (Album: ‘The Roaring Silence’ – 1976)


.
GODZILLA  VS.  KING  KONG
.
‘BLINDED BY THE LIGHT’ ~ BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
(Album: ‘Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.’ – 1973)


.
RIDDLER  VS.  BATMAN
.
Alright now, “you know the gig”... I welcome EVERYONE to vote for their favorite of these songs in the comment section below. And feel free to tell us WHY you chose one song over the other. (NOTE: Comment Moderation is activated. All submitted comments that do not transgress "Ye Olde Comment Policy" will be posted as soon as possible. Thanks for taking the time to comment.)
.
After voting here, I suggest - actually I insist - you pop over to FAE’s ‘Far Away Series’, Arlee Bird’s ‘Tossing It Out’, Robin’s ‘Your Daily Dose’, and LC’s ‘DiscConnected’ blogs to see which songs they have chosen and vote there also. (If their ‘BOTB’ blog bits aren’t posted yet, pour yourself two shots of ‘Grand Marnier’ over ice – do it twice – and then return to their blogs to vice your voice ...vote your vice ...voice your vote.)
.
Voice Your Vote @ ‘FAR AWAY SERIES’ by clicking HERE.
Voice Your Vote @ ‘TOSSING IT OUT’ by clicking HERE.
Voice Your Vote @ ‘YOUR DAILY DOSE’ by clicking HERE.
Voice Your Vote @ ‘DISCCONNECTED’ by clicking HERE.
Voice Your Vote @ 'A WRITER'S LIFE IN PROGRESS' by clicking HERE.
.
As I've done in the past, I will continue to return to my 'BOTB' blog bits on the 7th and 21st of each month to post my own votes and announce the winners in the comment sections.

Links To Previous 'BOTB' Installments:
.
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
.
YE OLDE COMMENT POLICY: All comments, pro and con, are welcome. However, ad hominem attacks and disrespectful epithets will not be tolerated (read: "posted"). After all, this isn’t Amazon.com, so I don’t have to put up with that kind of bovine excrement.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

GOT DRUM? (Or, THE GREATEST DRUM SOLO EVER RECORDED?)


“On ‘IT’S A RAGGY WALTZ’, particularly, I feel all of us achieved the goal of playing polyrhythmically and polytonally in a swinging groove that was as natural as if we were in 4/4. ... I play best when Gene is happy, when Desmond is determined – and,” [he smiled] “Morello is recovering from the flu!”
~ Dave Brubeck

Joe Morello may have been just one pocket protector short of being classified as an A-list nerd, but NO ONE played the drums better!

I was raised on three things: Rock music, and the shouted demands, “Turn it down!” and “Comb your hair!”

In my day, in my musical era, John Bonham of Led Zeppelin was considered a beast when it came to drumming. A little later, Neil Peart of the band Rush came to be thought of as Rock music’s premier drummer. ...*YAWN*

I usually drop right off to sleep, but I have trouble staying asleep. Maybe I should keep a tape loop of John Bonham’s drumming playing next to my bed. That just might keep me asleep.

I’ve only owned one Rush album in my life. As a teenager, I purchased their 1977 release ‘A Farewell To Kings’ but I really couldn’t stand Donald Duck’s vocals, so I never bought another Rush record. I’ve heard some of their later songs on radio and I kept hearing how great Neil Peart was on drums, but... I just couldn’t hear it.

So one night, several years ago, I asked my buddy LC to loan me a compact disc with what he considered to be Neil Peart’s best drumming. He gave me (I think) a ‘Live’ recording and told me which track to play. I played it. It was OK – better than I expected, but it still wasn’t enough to convince me that Neil Peart was all that great.

The problem was that in 1981, I discovered Jazz and began to realize how weak and underdeveloped most of the Rock music I’d been raised on really was.

I had already been exposed to Jazz from my childhood because my parents liked some of it: From Pa I got Louis Prima; from Ma I got Cannonball Adderley. But it didn’t really stick, because there were no electric guitars.

So what happened in 1981? I went to see the movie ‘AMERICAN POP’ with my buddy Marty. We both dug it, and shortly afterwards I bought the movie soundtrack LP:
.
.
Included on that album was an instrumental titled ‘TAKE FIVE’ by The Dave Brubeck Quartet. The more I played that album, the more I began to notice the peculiar drum solo in ‘Take Five’. After awhile it became my favorite cut on that album because the drum solo was so unique. In fact, there was one particular place in it that always made me laugh out loud... for real! I could scarcely believe it, as this was the first time I’d ever found “humor” in an instrumental music piece!

Even though I had heard some fairly decent drum solos up to that point (most notably on a Santana album I’d owned for a number of years), I always felt the drums were meant to keep time and add a little texture to a song, but I had never fully embraced the idea that drums could or should be considered solo instruments. That was until I discovered JOE MORELLO and his legendary solo in The Dave Brubeck Quartet’s hit ‘Take Five’.

It was ‘Take Five’ on the ‘American Pop’ soundtrack album that really opened my ears to Jazz and drums. As I began to explore more types of Jazz and the master musicians of that form, I came to truly appreciate drumming that went well beyond the rather boring hammering-away-at-the-skins that I had previously encountered in the Rock genre.

I discovered Buddy Rich, Shelly Manne, Billy Cobham, Jimmy Cobb, Wynton Kelly*, Steve Gadd, Art Blakey, and Gene Krupa. But ultra-quirky Joe Morello has remained my all-time favorite.

The other day, my friend LC and I were discussing some favorite record albums recorded “Live”. You’ll find that commentary HERE. 
.
Earlier today, I listened to both discs from ‘THE DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET AT CARNEGIE HALL’, and I can say that without a shred of doubt, this album would HAVE to make any list of ‘Favorite Live Albums’ that I composed.

It’s not entertaining in the way a Todd Snider album is because Todd says a lot of funny things between songs. And it’s not high-octane electric like Thin Lizzy’s ‘Live And Dangerous’ is.

But speaking strictly about the music the album contains... nothing is better! I mean, we are talking about some of the most accomplished, creative, and gifted musicians on the planet. They improvise so creatively that even the band’s frontman, Dave Brubeck, listening to the recording years later, is mystified about how he and his 3 band companions managed to transcend the tunes, the esteemed forum, and Joe Morello’s flu bug, and took these tunes, and the audience that heard them that night, to some new, undiscovered territory of the mind. It’s not loud, it’s not flashy and colorful; there are no smoke bombs and strobe lights but, in my opinion, ‘THE DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET AT CARNEGIE HALL’ is as good and complex as instrumental music can get! It also includes what I consider the best drum solo I’ve ever heard.

Take it away, Joe!...

CASTILIAN DRUMS’ (Disc 2; Track 4)
Album: ‘THE DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET AT CARNEGIE HALL’ (1963)
Drummer: JOE MORELLO



~ Stephen T. McCarthy
Doggtor of Jazzological Studies, 
Bourbon Street University

POSTSCRIPT: In my opinion, Rock music’s most underrated drummer is probably TONY BROCK of ‘The Babys’. Brock never overplayed, but he hit hard, had a great beat, and always used the perfect amount of cowbell!

YE OLDE COMMENT POLICY: All comments, pro and con, are welcome. However, ad hominem attacks and disrespectful epithets will not be tolerated (read: "posted"). After all, this isn’t Amazon.com, so I don’t have to put up with that kind of bovine excrement.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

‘BATTLE OF THE BANDS #20’ (Or, ‘TOM WAITS VS. THE EAGLES’)


GOOD NEWS, BOYS AND GIRLS! FarAwayEyes and I have a new ‘Battle Of The Bands’ contest running through May, and one lucky cuss is going to win the compact disc of their choice. No jumping through hoops necessary; no coupons to clip, no cereal box tops to collect, and nothing to buy. All you gotta do is vote and comment on our ‘Battle Of The Bands’ posts. And, hell, you were gonna do that ANYWAY, right? Be sure to check out FAE’s ‘Far Away Series’ blog for rules ‘n’ regulations (which ain’t many). Alright, let’s get this party started...
.
Republican Vs. Democrat, Male Vs. Female, War Vs. Peace, Light Vs. Dark, Good Vs. Evil, Man Vs. Machine, Love Vs. Hate, Dog Vs. Cat, Sun Vs. Moon, Brain Vs. Brawn, Oscar Vs. Grammy, Angel Vs. Demon, Laurel Vs. Hardy, Beer Vs. Wine, TV Vs. Radio, Pitcher Vs. Batter, Paper Vs. Plastic, Reality Vs. Fantasy, Yeshua Vs. Beelzebub, Conservative Vs. Liberal, You Vs. Me, House Vs. Senate, Offense Vs. Defense, Kramer Vs. Kramer, Spy Vs. Spy, Fischer Vs. Spassky, W.C. Fields Vs. Sobriety, Harold Gimpy, Jr. Vs. Sheldon J. Pismire, Rock Vs. Paper Vs. Scissors, Islam Vs. Everything, Singer Vs. Singer, Band Vs. Band...
.
THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BANDS! (‘BOTB’)
.
.
Shoop-Shooby –
Shooby-duh-Dooby-Doop-Dooby-Dooby-Doo-Wah –
Buh-Doo-Wah!
.
EUGENE  MARTONE  VS.  JACK  BUTLER
.
This is Part 2 of my 2-Part ‘BOTB’ look at American Automobiles. In the last installment I used the song ‘Mercury Blues’ and put Steve Miller up against David Lindley. This time, it’s a song about a 1955 automobile – the make is undeclared, but I’m going to call it a Chevy.

In my youth, I had a great friend named Kelly “Andy” Anderson. Sadly, he killed himself in 1986.
.
.
There was almost nuttin’ Kelly couldn’t do. He was a professional animator, he was a locksmith, he was a mechanic (rebuilt the engine in his Chevy pickup truck by himself), he was a firearms expert who handloaded his own ammunition, and he was the photographer who took and developed all of my publicity photos during the years I was attempting to put an acting career together (I paid him in beer).
.
GRADE  A  QUALITY  PHOTOGRAPHS  FOR  12  CANS  O'  COORS.  WHAT  A  STEAL  DEAL!
.
As mentioned, Kelly owned a Chevy pickup truck, and we had numerous adventures in it. With the help of Sheboyganboy Six, I narrowed it down to a 1953 to 1955 or ’57. I eventually decided that it was most likely a ’53.
.
.
STMcC  &  KELLY:  DRINKIN'  LONE  STAR  BEER  &  SMOKIN'  CHEROOTS
.
Kelly had his issues, but he was as good a friend as I’ve ever had, and a better friend than most people ever have in an entire lifetime. On any given day, I could have called Kelly at 3 AM and said, “Andy, I’m stuck in Wyoming with no way back to L.A. Can you come and get me?” By 3:15 AM (or the time it would take to brew a cup of coffee), Kelly would have been in his Chevy pickup and on his way to Wyoming to pick me up. SERIOUSLY!!!
.
So, every time I have ever heard the song OL‘55, I have always thought of Kelly (even if his Chevy pickup truck was really a ’53). It’s a song I would love even without the Kelly “Andy” Anderson association.

It was written by Tom Waits and was the opening track on his 1973 debut album ‘Closing Time’. Here’s the original:

TOM WAITS – OL’ ‘55 (album: ‘Closing Time’, 1973)


.
GODZILLA  VS.  KING  KONG
.
OL‘55 was covered by The Eagles the following year and included on their 1974 album ‘On The Border’. I heard this song (and owned it) many years before I ever knew of the Tom Waits original. In Los Angeles, OL’ ’55 got a lot of airplay. In fact, I was sure it had been a Billboard Top 40 hit because I’d heard it so often, but in checking my copy of ‘The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Hits, 1955-1995’ I was stunned to discover that it had NOT cracked the Top 40; apparently it was just a big FM radio hit.

Here’s what an Eagle had to say about the song...

Liner Notes from ‘THE VERY BEST OF THE EAGLES’:

OL' ‘55
GLENN FREY: David Geffen played me a tape of Tom Waits in his office. "Ol’ ‘55" was the first song on a demo that had maybe three songs on it. I loved the song, got Tom Waits' version, and took it to the band. I played it for Don and said, "I think we should do this. We can split the vocals, it could be really cool, and we could do oooohs in this section here." I really liked the song. Still do. It's such a car thing. Your first car is like your first apartment. You had a mobile studio apartment! "Ol’ ‘55" was so Southern California, and yet there was some Detroit in it as well. It was that car thing, and I loved the idea of driving home at sunrise, thinking about what had happened the night before.

I agree with every word of that!

The Eagles had more radio success with this Tom Waits song than Tom did, so let’s hear how The Eagles interpreted this great song.

THE EAGLES – OL’ ‘55 (album: ‘On The Border’, 1974)


.
RIDDLER  VS.  BATMAN
.
Alright now, “you know the gig”... I welcome EVERYONE to vote for their favorite of these songs in the comment section below. And feel free to tell us WHY you chose one song over the other. (NOTE: Comment Moderation is activated. All submitted comments that do not transgress "Ye Olde Comment Policy" will be posted as soon as possible. Thanks for taking the time to comment.)
.
After voting here, I suggest - actually I insist - you pop over to FAE’s ‘Far Away Series’, Arlee Bird’s ‘Tossing It Out’, Robin’s ‘Your Daily Dose’, and LC’s ‘DiscConnected’ blogs to see which songs they have chosen and vote there also. (If their ‘BOTB’ blog bits aren’t posted yet, pour yourself two shots of ‘Grand Marnier’ over ice – do it twice – and then return to their blogs to vice your voice ...vote your vice ...voice your vote.)
.
Voice Your Vote @ ‘FAR AWAY SERIES’ by clicking HERE. (And check out the rules to the new ‘BOTB’ Compact Disc contest!)
Voice Your Vote @ ‘TOSSING IT OUT’ by clicking HERE.
Voice Your Vote @ ‘YOUR DAILY DOSE’ by clicking HERE.
Voice Your Vote @ ‘DISCCONNECTED’ by clicking HERE.
Voice Your Vote @ 'A WRITER'S LIFE IN PROGRESS' by clicking HERE.
.
As I've done in the past, I will continue to return to my 'BOTB' blog bits on the 7th and 21st of each month to post my own votes and announce the winners in the comment sections.

Links To Previous 'BOTB' Installments:
.
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
.
YE OLDE COMMENT POLICY: All comments, pro and con, are welcome. However, ad hominem attacks and disrespectful epithets will not be tolerated (read: "posted"). After all, this isn’t Amazon.com, so I don’t have to put up with that kind of bovine excrement.