Top Ten, January 2009

16 films

1. The Road To Memphis (Richard Pearce et Robert Kenner) 2003
2. The Foutainhead (King Vidor) 1949
3. A Perfect WorLd (Clint Eastwood) 1993

Bullshit Detector : Kalifornia (Dominic Sena) 1993, Forty Guns (avec Barbara Stanwyck... it hurts me too honey / de Samuel Fuller l'abominable réalisateur de "Pickup On South Street"), My Super Ex Girl Friend (avec Uma Thurman), Female (Michael Curtiz) 1933

The World's Forgotten Boy Died (& Nobody Cares...)

R.I.P Ron Asheton July 1948 - January 2009

Like "1969" said :

"It's 1969 Baby, War Across The U.S.A
It's Another Year For Me & You
Another Year With Nothing To Do... "

Nothing Change. Yes We Can, That is nothing but bullshit.

Joltin' Joe DiMaggio !

LES BROWN & HIS ORCHESTRA - Joltin' Joe DiMaggio

Une baseball song que j'ai découverte il y a un peu plus d'un an grâce à fantastique show radio de Bob Dylan consacré pour le coup au baseball. Cette chanson m'était tombée dessus (avec "Take Me Out To The Ball Game") et l'amour du jeu qui va avec.

On n'en fait plus des novelty songs comme ça... Le 45T était sorti, carrément, durant cette série de runs. Les mecs de la maison de disque avaient dégainé direct vendant des singles par wagons. Une chanson si jouissive... Ca marche toujours comme ça les novelties (notez le "good twelve more" du second couplet, un truc anodin mais qui permet à tout le monde de faire sienne de la chanson en changeant le "12" à chaque nouvelle étape franchit par Joe, c'est pratique, interactif, c'est la pop music quoi !). Les Américains doivent se souvenir de cette "streak" associée à cette chanson comme du début de l'été, du soleil qui claque sur la nuque et de la 2WW qui bat son plein. Ombre et Lumière, Adolf Hitler vs. DiMaggio. Les radios et les journaux s'en faisaient l'écho et les exploits de DiMaggio étaient aussi légers dans les esprits que la guerre pouvait être pesante.

Mais ce n'est pas seulement une chanson sur Joe DiMaggio, le "Yankee Clipper" plutôt une chanson à la gloire de sa "fifty-six game hitting streak" débutant le 15 mai 1941 face au pitcher des White Sox Eddie Smith pour en finir le 16 juillet 1941 à Cleveland devant Al Minar et Joe Krakauskas (dernier couplet "Cleveland Oh Oh Oh...").

Uné série de 56 matchs où Joltin' Joe frappera un coup sur à chaque match. Sur la série, son pourcentage à la batte est de .408 dont 15 Home Runs (+4 triples et 16 doubles, 55RBI). Durant la Streak, ni le All Star Game et la tripotée de futurs pitchers Hall Of Famers n'arrêtera Joe. Et le plus fort dans l'histoire, c'est qu'après sa série terminée, Monsieur remettra le couvercle (nouvelle série de 16 matchs) ! Une saison 1941 qui le verra remporter le titre de MVP devant Ted Williams et son % à la batte de .406! et les World Series avec les Yankees donc.

En 1973, le commisionner de la Major League Baseball ira même à établir un Top Ten des records imbattables (depuis certains ont été battus mais celui de DiMaggio court toujours !) : http://www.baseball-almanac.com/legendary/lifrick.shtml

Hello Joe, whatta you know?
We need a hit so here I go.
Ball one (Yea!)
Ball two (Yea!)
Strike one (Booo!)
Strike two (Kill that umpire!)
A case of Wheaties

He started baseball's famous streak
That's got us all aglow
He's just a man and not a freak,
Joltin' Joe DiMaggio

He tied the mark at forty-four
July the 1st you know
Since then he's hit a good twelve more
Joltin' Joe DiMaggio

From coast to coast that's all you'll hear
Of Joe the one man show
He's glorified the horsehide sphere
Joltin' Joe DiMaggio

He'll live in baseball's Hall of Fame
He got there blow by blow
Our kids will tell their kids his name
Joltin' Joe DiMaggio

We dream of Joey with the light brown plaque

And now they speak in whispers low
Of how they stopped our Joe
One night in Cleveland Oh Oh Oh
Goodbye streak DiMaggio

Joe, Joe DiMaggio
We want you on our side

“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” Casablanca 1942

Ernie Andrews - Where Were You (When I Needed You)

Oh baby now that you're here,
What's that I see : "Is it all tears?
Did he tell you goodbye? Is that the reason why you're here?",
I wanna know now that you need me so...

I said WHERE WERE YOU when I needed you,
Where where you when i was going through,
My heartache will fear of now having you near where were you,
You were with him, i was alone...

(where were you when i needed you)

Oh the lonely nights, cracked up on me ,
You left my arms so suddenly, now you're feeling so bad,
"Do you miss the love you had from me?",
I wanna know now that you need me so...

I was alone, I was alone...

http://www.box.net/shared/2hsnj6e7au

Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)

Le Disquaire du Mange-Disques (Clermont de l'Oise) a toujours des histoires magiques à raconter saupoudrées de "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend"...

Frank Wilson était un arrangeur/songwriter pour la Motown bossant sur quelques chansons pour les Supremes ("Stone Love"), les Temptations, les Four Tops, Brenda Holloway... Un jour, le Wilson eut la possibilité de sortir son propre disque "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" sur une sous-filiale de la Tamla-Motown baptisée "Soul". Sans promotion particulière, le disque fait son chemin dans les clubs et est pressé à 250 (ou peut être 500 vu que l'Histoire a tendance à s'emmêler les pinceaux très facilement dès qu'on évoque la Pop Music) exemplaires.

Berry Gordy (patron de la Motown qui a fait de son label une gigantesque compagnie de travail à la chaine - Ce n'est pas pour rien qu'on est à Detroit), ayant eu vent de l'affaire, convoque Wilson fissa dans son bureau : "Good Morning buddy... J'ai pu écouter ton 45 et Whoaaaa ! Chapeau ! But Frank, il reste un problème : tu es arrangeur pas chanteur, jete un oeil, c'est écrit noir sur blanc sur ton contrat. On va en rester là, le reste des exemplaires on va les balancer à la poubelle. Tiens, tu as encore fait tomber une liasse de billets de ta veste..."

Donc il ne reste plus rien... mis à part 2 ou 3 exemplaires ! Qui selon "The Northern Soul Top 500" de Kev Roberts est côté à 15 000 £ !



Et cet homme, born again Christian depuis 1976 avec sa femme Bunny, gospel producer, bibles publications, seminary et tout l'attirail ricain du commerce religieux, n'acceptera de monter sur les planches pour chanter cette chanson qu'une seule et unique fois sous les acclamations de la scène Northern ...

Tracks of my Tears #5

Everybody remembers of the song "Return To sender." (released on the B.O of Girls Girls Girls, one of three elvis hawaiian movies peaked at #2 for 5 weeks in its 16-week run on Billboard's pop singles chart. And #1 during three weeks in British pop charts)... That's not an elvis rock'n' roll song but still sounds good (the session reunited scotty moore on guitar, drums for D.J Fontana/Hal Blaine, the yakety sax Boots Randolph... and the Jordanaires for vocals backup), the song is so cool, so pop with an universal theme that anyone can appreciate it.

Written by the duo Winfried Scott & Otis Blackwell, this song tells us the break-up story between a guy (that we'll call elvis) and his girlfriend. Refusing that their love affair is over, Elvis keeps mailing letters to her girlfriend and each letter returns to him thanks to the postman with the mention "return to sender". We don't know what happened before but i think the girl doesn't take time to answer, to give some explications... Bitch.

It's a real damn good novelty song about a love&hate relationship ! Over 14 millions copies only in the us territory (and it really meant something in the past)!

In January 8, 1933, an elvis commemorative stamp has been print in order to celebrate his birthday (his 58 th ! Can someone explain me why have we to celebrate this year?) ... All along the year 1992, America was tear, on the verge of explosion : WHAT MUST WE CHOOSE ? A young dashing elvis by Mark Stuntzman or an old but mature elvis by John Berkley? Ballots paper were distributed in every post offices across america.
It was tough times, America was divided : if you're not with me, you're against me! (personaly, i think both are ugly so...). Even Bill Clinton (ran for president at this time) voiced for the younger elvis ! The counting gave a huge lead (more than 75 %) for Elvis the young.

This elvis stamp remains far far far the most popular stamp of the U.S Postal Service ahead collections of "Legends of Baseball", "Wonders of America" or "Civil War" and for your own pop culture trivia, you should know that many americans after this special release, wrote invalid adresses on their letters just for having their letter back with the mention "return to sender" on it !!!

And now ladies & gentlemen, you can listen this answer song to "Return To Sender..." called "Don't Want Your Letters" by Gerri Granger, soul woman with few songs on northern soul compilations, which shows the point of view of the "ex elvis girlfriend" aka exactly the opposite meaning of the original song ! And we can see abyssal depths separating boys & girls...

Gerri Granger - Don't Want Your Letters
http://www.box.net/shared/1cb8dfknok



Top 25 Most Popular Commemorative Stamps
http://www.usps.com/communications/news/stamps/2006/sr06_055dl.htm

Willie Tee Passed Away

The curse of Turbinton's family goes on... One month later after his older brother Earl, a jazz saxophonist, Willie Tee has succumbed quickly of his colon cancer at the age of 63 on Touro Infirmary this september 11. Friends remembered of Willie on http://blog.nola.com/living/2007/09/wilson_willie_tee_turbinton_de.html and it's very blessing...

That's a tough period for me and not only with deaths of willie tee & bobby byrd... But death of any persons related to "Pop Music" remains a terrible shock for me... I think it's just the reflect of the near end of the music I love.

Born Wilson Turbinton in september 6 1944, Willie Tee is an important figure in the creation of this distinctive sound of new orleans. Keyboardist, arranger, producer, songwriter,vocalist, he is also known as one of architects of the early funk of crescent city funk.

When he was a teenager, he made succes with "Teasin You" fantastic mid-tempo soul on Nola produced by the owner Wardell Quezergue who added punchy horns (national distribution by Atlantic). There is many great tunes like "Thank You John", almost the same soulful mid tempo than "Teasin you", "It Was You" with the girls during the chorus and the song that made me cry, completely fall in love with "Walking Up a One Way Street", his majestic nostalgic Northern side powdered by magig trumpets. This song remains one of the best tunes when your gal left you and "tears flow just like rain" and you're walkin' up a one way street... Pretty Picture.

We can remember his part of work with the Gaturs, almost always instrumental, one of the band pionner of the original funk in new orleans where he holds the place of keyboard player... Same funky work with the Wild Magnolias backing with his older brother Earl... With his brother, he also backed up Cannonball Aderley (he dad see Willie performing while he was touring in the same city) (the keyboardist of Cannon, Joe Zawinul died this tuesday... The Curse...) for his passage on Capitol.

Removed in Baton Rouge after Hurricane Katrina ("I litteraly lost everything in a flash") but nevertheless full of life, he shared his passion with the students of Priceton's university and he's always touring until the ultimate dawn of his life. We can see a long moment of his show on youtube http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=4xrT2JU2s_E (Willie Tee At the Carolina Beach Music Awards nov 2005) ad a short video of Walking Up... in Columbia 2007 here http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=VA0FhgXelb0

All my condolences to the Turbinton's family and a funeral will be held on september 22, 2007 at 11 am at Our Lady of the Sea Catholic Church, 1835 St. Roch Ave, New Orleans.

Home of the Groove, your private pillow blog about new orleans, did a couple of great posts on Willie Tee. Have a look !

Willie Tee - Walkin' Up A One Way Street
http://www.box.net/shared/1m4c5agady