I Hope You Enjoy Your Stay

Ben Harper

Welcome to the Cruel World

1994, Virgin

produced by JP Plunier

singles-

• Like a King/ Whipping Boy

I like this guy a lot.  This is his first album and has a softer folk sound to it than some of his later albums.  This album helps usher in a new era of the blues and American folk.  The songs speak to the multiracial working class unlike hip hop, r&b, or country music could.  Honestly, those genres probably still can't.  This music had quiet desperation, power in sadness.  Harper had a realness about his music, unlike other '90s acts that seemed to force their pain out in order to make hit records.  Rolling Stone called him the man who inherited the Blues.  I think I agree.  

Speaking of being welcomed to the Cruel World... I don't own this album anymore.  I lent it to a guy who lived across the hall from me in college, and he stole it.  Not only did he steal it, but he came up to me and handed me the empty case, telling me that he was returning it.  I didn't open it to look.  So, not only did he steal from me, he lied also.  This is actually not the last time I lent a Ben Harper album to someone who didn't return it.  

They Can't all be Winners

Neil Young

Living with War

2006, Reprise

produced by Nick Bolas and LA Johnson

singles-

• Let's Impeach the President

This sounded like a good idea.  Coming from the man who wrote Ohio and Rockin' in the Free World, an album of Bush era protest music sounded like a great thing, epic even.  However, this album falls so far short, I gave it another listen just to make sure it wasn't me.  It wasn't.

I heard it was rushed to completion and distribution, and it sounds like it.  The fact that the album cover is just a stenciled paper bag should have tipped me off.  It sounds like Young wrote the songs on Monday, recorded on Tuesday, and then handed it in on Wednesday, like some college kid completing a term paper that was supposed to take a month.  The lyrics are predictable, and overly simplified.  The music is nothing to write home about, compared to his other work.  If someone told me it was all improv, I think I'd have more respect for it.  Even the album cover looks like the brown paper bags I used to use to cover my school textbooks.  Recycling is a great idea.  Just not for album cover art.

What I can't understand is how it was nominated for 3 Grammy awards.  Clearly the dude in control of nominations didn't actually listen to the music, he just saw "new Neil Young", and got excited.

Swinging with the Flappers

Cherry Poppin Daddies

Zoot Suit Riot

1997, Space Age Bachelor Pad

produced by Steve Perry (not the guy from Journey)

singles-

• Zoot Suit Riot/No Mercy for Swine
• Brown Derby Jump
• Here Comes the Snake

This really wasn't my thing.  I had a buddy in high school who was into this sort of stuff, learned how to swing dance too.  The single was catchy, had radio play, so I bought the album.  I think it wasn't what I really was expecting and I shelved it for years.  But the album is well done.  A showcase of swing era sounds done by a ska band.  Picture smoke filled speak-easys, an energetic band with a horn section, wise guys from the Mob making deals in the corner, and perhaps Jim Carey dancing like a fool dressed like the Mask.  That's what this album sounds like.

and now... some nerdiness

I think I'm a closet nerd. A classic dork. This will make sense as I go on. The other day I had a conversation about how George Lucas missed an opportunity to make Star Wars more epic, and if he should reboot his prequel trilogy and forget the first one ever happened. There seems to be a rash of reboots and remakes in the film industry lately and if they can redo the Incredible Hulk, the Punisher, Superman, Spiderman, and even Star Trek, why not Star Wars episodes 1-3?

remember when this was cool?

There are plenty of problems with Star Wars as a science fiction franchise. It is probably the best example of the softest of soft science fiction. However, whether or not the physics and science actually makes sense is an argument for another time. This article is purely about story telling. The prequels are a classic example of poor storytelling.

I think the problems with the storytelling for these films has been documented enough online and perhaps the most comically and accurately by this guy right here. His review is in three parts for each of the three films. This guy touches on each of the big problems with these movies. First and foremost is the lack of character development.

There are an awful lot of throw-away characters. Because they are either in the original movies prominently, or at the very least alluded to, Anakin Skywalker, Obi Wan Kenobi, Padme, Yoda and Palpatine are necessary for these prequel films. Just about every other character is not. Just because a character shows up in the original films doesn't mean they have to be in the prequels. So, these films would have survived without R2D2, C3PO, Boba Fett, and Chewbacca. Bringing in all these other characters from the other films causes questions of continuity, like why didn't Kenobi or Darth Vader recognize the droids decades later, especially since Vader created C3PO? Unnecessary things like this ruined the films.

It seems that Lucas has left character development and depth to the legion of fanfict writers that publish a ridiculous amount of pulp trash about this universe. I would think that the films, the basis for everything these books are about, would be the best place for developing characters. Quigon Jinn and Darth Maul seem to be important characters and they are gone before being developed. This makes them pretty unnecessary.

unnecessary.  grow up.

Anakin Skywalker, specifically, was a poorly conceived character. He had to be in the film, as he is the fallen hero of the first original films. But, did we have to start with him as a bratty little boy? And did we have to find him on the same planet where we found Luke? It's pretty impressive that the Empire never went to Darth Vader's home planet to search for relatives. It also highlights Lucas's creative ineptitude. Anakin could have been from any planet in the universe, and Obi-wan Kenobi could have hidden Luke on any planet also. But Lucas chose the same planet twice. A much better idea would have been to skip the home planet stuff and begin with Skywalker already as a padawan.  Skip the freed slave, podracing, child with no father, midichlorian nonsensical backstory. There would be so much more to explore if Skywalker turned evil from inside the Jedi ranks, instead of him coming in from the outside and being some sort of  force-miracle baby who is already a little bent. Little boy Anakin failed to be a good protagonist.

Also, they never do explain this midichlorian stuff very well, and should have left it out. Part of the coolness of Jedi was the mystery surrounding the Force. Explaining it by creating microbial force-creating organisms takes away from that cool factor. Biology lessons in a sci-fi action film can be a turn-off.

So, right away, if the prequel were to be rebooted, the Phantom Menace needs to be skipped over completely.  Which lets us begin with....

Attack of the Clones:

Or some other, perhaps better sounding Star Wars name. First of all, establishing characters...
We need some better, stronger characters. Comparing again the originals to the prequels, the cast of characters in the original did not change too much, unlike the prequels where there were new villains each time. I say, build up convincing villains like Count Dooku and Darth Maul, and Grievous and don't kill any of them until the third film. The only villain in the original films that died before Return of the Jedi was Grand Moff Tarkin. No loss there. If you really need to kill someone every film, fine, but introduce all your villains ahead of time. No surprises later on, no one sitting in the theater whispering, "who is that guy, and where did he come from?"

like father, like son?

What made Luke and Han such good characters is they are thrown together and you watch them grow on each other. The prequel trilogy never showed that happen with Anakin and Obi Wan, they just talk about it, reminiscing scenes we never saw. So... the beginning of this reboot ought to have padawan Anakin being paired with Obi Wan for the first time. In Return of the Jedi, Obi-Wan states that he thought he could train Anakin as well as Yoda and was mistaken, so this pairing has to happen.

The Anakin and Obi-wan relationship ought to be better established. Are they master and apprentice, or Jedi Knight peers, like police officer partners? The original films have already decided that they were master and apprentice, which is a completely different sort relationship than co-workers on equal footing. The reboot characters need to be developed accordingly.

In the first films, Anakin is described as a great pilot. Obi-wan tells Luke that Anakin was already "a great pilot" when they first meet. We see Anakin do some piloting in the prequels, but he isn't known in the prequels as a pilot. Anakin, the rebooted character, should be a well known fighter pilot. A Jedi commander of a Republic squadron, perhaps? I'm thinking much like a Roy Fokker character (yes, from Macross.  I told you I'm a bit of a dork).

Padme Amidala is a character that never really made sense. Is she Naboo royalty? Is she an elected Senator? Why change her character between films? In the reboot, let's just make her an elected official, the junior senator to Palpatine's senior and be done with it. No fancy weirdass outfits, no decoys, no weird age difference between Anakin and Padme that leaves questions about how Anakin mysteriously grows older between films and Padme does not. She ought to be a vehicle for Palpatine to take power by using her naivete, and be the vessel for Anakin's kids and that's it. Speaking of government...

The Phantom Menace is the movie where you wonder how any sort of government can function when they allow businesses to build and use their own private armies. For example, if Starbucks built a robot android army and tried to annex the state of Washington, the United States government would probably have something to say about it. However, this is how Lucas pitches the beginning of the Clone Wars.

The Attack of the Clones goes even further to establish this ridiculous intergalactic system of government. It is not clear what, if any, authority the Senate has over the thousands of worlds it represents. And in this movie it makes it clear that aside from the Jedi, it has no means with which to enforce law and manage disputes (read: no standing army). There is no way that armed conflict disappeared from the known universe, even our own UN has peacekeeping forces donated from member nations.

For the reboot, these issues must be addressed. Timothy Zahn wrote the first Lucas approved Star Wars fiction in 1992.  The Zahn Trilogy, as it would be known, started with the Heir to the Empire, and established a few things in the Star Wars canon that had previously been hinted at, but not set in stone.  The Clone Wars, according to Zahn, were a period of war that devastated the universe, as both sides had an inexhaustible supply of soldiers and weapons.  Lucas liked to borrow familiar historical themes in the first films, why not this time?  Where in our history was there a war of universal devastation?

People understand the fundamental issues surrounding the American Civil War, and  World War 2, why not mirror one of those in the reboot? The audience shouldn't have to guess at why the galaxy is gearing up for war. It should be pretty obvious and easily understood. A section of the Republic wants to secede, why? Because they feel under represented and feel another government would treat them better. War starts because the Republic wants to keep itself together, preserve the thousand year old union, and the other government believes in slavery, or human sacrifice, or something equally disturbing and evil, and must be stopped. See? That was easy.

Imagine they're clones, and have lasers

Usually wars are fought between nations, or people. In movies, there is usually a good side, and a bad side. And they are usually easy to tell apart. The original movies did this easy.  The Empire was led by this big angry guy in black armor. The Empire does horrible things, like ambushes, torture, and blowing up entire planets just as a test. In the prequel films, the "bad guys" don't seem too bad. It's a bunch of bumbling goofy looking businessmen and their robotic army that somehow is a threat to an enormous well established intergalactic government protected by telekinetic kung-fu monks with laser swords. There needs to be an antagonist that truly horrifies with means and motive to do harm. Something bad enough that the people of the Republic would rather be kept safe under Imperial Rule than by the antagonist of the Clone Wars.

In fact, according to all of the Star Wars literature, there are plenty of bad guys you could start a war with...  like the Mandalorians (think an army of Boba Fetts), or the Nagai (failed Marvel comics antagonists), Yuuzhan Vong (if we plunder the literary mythos), or even the Hutts. Once again, it is a pretty big universe, you could make up a new evil, as long as Palpatine is still the most evil and takes control from the shadows. Much like the prequel, only better.

There could still be three films. The first sets up the conflict, the second brings you into the middle of the conflict, and the third nearly resolves the conflict with the Republic coming out on top, only to be toppled by Palpatine and Darth Vader when no one is paying attention. There should be no need of an animated series to bridge the films so they make sense.

There should be no obvious clues as to how Anakin falls until he falls. Pride, they say, goes before a fall. Instead of jealous love, a better turn would be Anakin's pride, pride in being a great pilot, a Jedi hero?  Perhaps Obi-Wan's pride in being a superior Jedi teacher to Yoda could help with Anakin's downfall? Anything is better than some star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet cliche. By the way, since when did Jedi not get married? I thought hate, fear, and anger were paths to the dark side, not friendship, love, and happy thoughts.

In short, the prequel left much to be desired. And even though it would be a miracle if Lucas actually decided to redo his prequel from scratch, I think everything would have to be rethought, rewritten, and built from nothing in order to make better movies. The only things that went well with the prequels were the way Palpatine/Darth Sidious manipulated everything to his design for domination. And the special effects. Everything else should be changed, and Lucas should give up his writing duties to an actual writer. Some of those pulp-fiction guys do write some good stories. Comic book writers know what they're doing most of the time too. A director not named George Lucas ought to direct also, with Lucas executive producing.

Perhaps these guys could do it?

Long Time to be Gone, and a Short Time to be There

I'm kind of impressed it took me this long to write about my favorite band of all time. For those of you who recognize the lyrics in the title, you know what's coming. For those who don't, the title is from a song called Box of Rain by the godfather of all hippie jam bands, the prototype to modern file sharing, the Ken Kesey house band, the Grateful Dead.

I figure, this band is so important to me, I could do what I did for Rage Against the Machine and Blues Traveler by writing about each album I own...  but that may take a while and would probably end up being pretty repetitive and boring. Also, studio albums do not do the band justice. They are a good way to be introduced and get familiar with the songs, but the Dead were special because of their live show.

I'm not that old... Jerry Garcia died on August 8, 1995. That was nearly two months before the Dead were supposed to close out the Boston Garden, one final live performance before they tore the old Garden down. I was 13 and planned on buying tickets. The year before was my first and only show, my parents bought me tickets for my birthday. I went with my father.  In comparison to other fans, known as Deadheads, I'm basically an infant. Heads were known for following the band, some seeing hundreds of shows between 1965 and 1995. The counter culture that grew around the touring band is a legendary and very interesting social phenomenon. The documentary film Tie Dyed does a very good job presenting the fan base. I recommend watching it if you're interested in this sort of thing.

The catalog in my music collection is as follows:

The Ship of the Sun is Piloted by the Grateful Dead

Warner Brothers, 1967

produced by David Hassinger

Pig Pen - vocals, organ, harmonica

Jerry Garcia - lead guitar, vocals

Bob Weir - rhythm guitar, vocals

Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals

Bill Kreutzmann - drums

singles-

• Stealin'/Don't Ease me In
• The Golden Road/Cream Puff War
• Viola Lee Blues

Anthem of the Sun

Warner Brothers, 1968

produced by David Hassinger

Jerry Garcia - guitars, vocals
Bob Weir - guitars, vocals
Phil Lesh - bass, trumpet, vocals
Pig Pen - organ, vocals, percussion
Tom Constanten - piano
Bill Kreutzmann - drums, percussion
Mickey Hart - drums, percussion

singles-

• Dark Star/Born Cross Eyed

Live/Dead

Warner Brothers, 1969

produced by Bob Matthews, Betty Cantor

Pig Pen - vocals, harmonica, organ

Jerry Garcia - lead guitar, vocals

Bob Weir - rhythm guitar, vocals

Phil Lesh - bass, vocals

Tom Constanten - organ

Bill Kreutzmann - drums, percussion

Mickey Hart - drums, percussion

Workingman's Dead

Warner Brothers, 1970

produced by Bob Matthews and Betty Cantor

Jerry Garcia - guitars, pedal steel, vocals

Pig Pen - organ, piano, vocals, harmonica

Bob Weir - guiatrs, vocals

Phil Lesh - bass, vocals

Bill Kreutzmann - drums, percussion

Mickey Hart - drums, percussion

singles-

• Uncle John's Band/New Speedway Boogie
• Casey Jones

American Beauty

Warner Brothers, 1970

produced by Steve Barncard

Jerry Garcia - lead guitar, pedal steel, vocals

Pig Pen - organ, piano, vocals, harmonica

Bob Weir - rhythm guitar, vocals

Phil Lesh - bass, vocals

Bill Kreutzmann - drums, percussion

Mickey Hart - drums, percussion

singles-

• Truckin'/Ripple

Vintage Dead

Sunflower, 1970

produced by Robert Cohen

Pig Pen - organ, harmonica, vocals

Jerry Garcia - lead guitar, vocals

Bob Weir - rhythm guitar, vocals

Phil Lesh - bass, vocals

Bill Kreutzmann - drums

Grateful Dead (Skulls and Roses)(Skull Fuck)

Warner Brothers, 1971

produced by Bob Matthews and Betty Cantor

Jerry Garcia - lead guitar, vocals

Pig Pen - organ, piano, harmonica, vocals

Bob Weir - rhythm guitar, vocals

Phil Lesh - bass

Bill Kreutzmann - drums

Merl Sanders - organ

singles-

• Johnny B Goode/Truckin'

Europe '72

Warner Brothers, 1972

Jerry Garcia - lead guitar, vocals

Bob Weir - rhythm guitar, vocals

Phil Lesh - bass, vocals

Pig Pen - organ, harmonica, vocals

Keith Godchaux - piano

Bill Kreutzmann - drums

Donna Jean Godchaux - vocals

singles-

• One More Saturday Night/Bertha
• Sugar Magnolia/Mr Charlie

Bear's Choice

Warner Brothers, 1973

produced by Owsley Stanley

Jerry Garcia - guitars, vocals

Bob Weir - rhythm guitars, vocals

Phil Lesh - bass, vocals

Mickey Hart - drums, percussion

Bill Kreutzmann - drums, percussion

Pig Pen - organ, harmonica, guitar, vocals, percussion

Wake of the Flood

Grateful Dead, 1973

Jerry Garcia - guitar, pedal steel guitar, vocals

Bob Weir - guitar, vocals

Phil Lesh - bass

Bill Kreutzmann - drums, percussion

Donna Jean Godchaux - vocals

Keith Godchaux - piano, vocals

singles-

• Let me Sing your Blues Away/ Here Comes Sunshine
• Eyes of the World/Weather Report Suite

Shakedown Street

Arista, 1978

produced by Lowell George

Jerry Garcia - guitars, vocals

Bob Weir - rhythm guitars, vocals

Phil Lesh - bass

Mickey Hart - drums, percussion

Bill Kreutzmann - drums, percussion

Donna Jean Godchaux - vocals

Keith Godchaux - piano, vocals

singles-

• Good Lovin'/Stagger Lee
• Shakedown Street/France

Reckoning

Arista, 1981

produced by Dan Healy and Betty Candor-Jackson

Jerry Garcia - guitars, vocals

Bob Weir - rhythm guitars, vocals

Phil Lesh - bass

Brent Mydland - keyboards, vocals

Mickey Hart - drums, percussion

Bill Kreutzmann - drums, percussion

singles-

• Dire Wolf

Without A Net

Arista, 1990

produced by John Cutler

Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals

Bob Weir - rhythm guitar, vocals

Phil Lesh - bass

Brent Mydland - keyboards, vocals

Mickey Hart - drums, percussion

Bill Kreutzmann - drums, percussion

Branford Marsalis - tenor saxophone

Two From the Vault

Grateful Dead, 1992

produced by Dan Healy

recorded August 24, 1968 at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles

Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals

Pig Pen - keyboards, harmonica, vocals

Bob Weir - rhythm guitar, vocals

Phil Lesh - bass, vocals

Mickey Hart - drums, percussion

Bill Kreutzmann - drums, percussion

Hundred Year Hall

Grateful Dead, 1995

produced by John Cutler

recorded April 26, 1972 at Jahrhunderthalle, Frankfurt

Jerry Garcia - guitars, vocals

Pig Pen - harmonica, vocals

Bob Weir - rhythm guitars

Phil Lesh - bass

Bill Kreutzmann - drums, percussion

Donna jean Godchaux - vocals

Keith Godchaux - piano

Dozin at the Knick

Grateful Dead, 1996

produced by John Cutler

recorded March 24-26, 1990 at Kickerbocker Arena, Albany

Jerry Garcia - guitars, vocals

Bob Weir - rhythm guitars, vocals

Brent Mydland - keyboards, vocals

Phil Lesh - bass

Mickey Hart - drums, percussion

Bill Kreutzmann - drums, percussion

Fallout from the Phil Zone

Grateful Dead, 1997

produced by Phil Lesh

Jerry Garcia - guitars, vocals

Pig Pen - organ, harmonica, vocals

Bob Weir - rhythm guitars, vocals

Brent Mydland - keyboards, vocals

Phil Lesh - bass

Mickey Hart - drums, percussion

Bill Kreutzmann - drums, percussion

Tom Constanten - organ

Keith Godchaux - piano

Good Morning Little School Girl

Grateful Dead, 1997

produced by John Cutler

recorded February 11, 1969 at the Fillmore East, New York

Jerry Garcia - guitars, vocals

Pig Pen - harmonica, vocals

Bob Weir - rhythm guitars, vocals

Phil Lesh - bass

Mickey Hart - drums, percussion

Bill Kreutzmann - drums, percussion

Tom Constanten - organ, prepared piano

Nightfall of Diamonds

Grateful Dead, 2001

produced by John Cutler

recorded October 16, 1989 at the Meadowlands

Jerry Garcia - guitars, vocals

Bob Weir - rhythm guitars, vocals

Brent Mydland - keyboards, vocals

Phil Lesh - bass

Mickey Hart - drums, percussion

Bill Kreutzmann - drums, percussion

One can see that quite a few of the albums I own are newer posthumous releases of live shows. I did have a few tapes from random shows from the 70s courtesy of my hippie dentist. But, the quality wasn't very good, as most of them were copied from another master tape. My father had the entire catalog of Grateful Dead releases, up until Built to Last. He even had Infrared Roses, which is a bizarre collection of "space" jam sessions from live shows. So, I've heard everything released through a record company, except for the Dick's Picks releases (there must be like thirty of them), and now Dave's Picks (Dick died in 1999).

The Grateful Dead took up much of my adolescence. I read several books and interviews about them, including The Grateful Dead Family Album by Jerilyn Lee Brandelius, One More Saturday Night by Sandy Troy, Searching for the Sound by Phil Lesh, the Annotated Lyrics by David Dodd, Box of Rain by Robert Hunter, and even Harrington Street by Jerry Garcia. I have copies of the People Magazine and Guitar Player special Jerry Garcia editions, and the Rolling Stone tribute. It was kind of an obsession.

The music is unlike anything I've ever heard, unique for a few reasons. The first is the blending of genres never done quite the same. Its like that Osmonds song, a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll... a little bit blues, a little bit jazz, a little bit bluegrass. Lenny Kaye once said that they touch "on ground that most other groups don't even know exists".

Second, the individual members are fantastic musicians and they aren't like conventional rock stars learning how to play in the garage. Phil Lesh, the bass player, is a Berkley grad who studied classic piano and trumpet. Jerry Garcia was a well known Bay Area bluegrass banjo picker and this influences his style of guitar playing.  Mickey Hart studied percussion in a variety of different countries and cultures, and he plays with Bill Kruetsman, sometimes drumming in-sync, and sometimes blending different beats together. Add to this a young garage taught guitar player (Bob Weir), a crusty blues front man who also played harmonica and the organ (PigPen) and you have an interesting band.

Also noteworthy: the musicians rarely wrote lyrics. Robert Hunter and John Barlow wrote most of the lyrics in the Grateful Dead catalog. This means the other members had more time devoted to actually writing music, and usually the music writer would sing. Because of this, there is actually no true lead singer, as Garcia, Weir, PigPen and even Phil Lesh led songs, and most contributing backing vocals.

These things coupled with the drug induced '60s spirit of discovery, craziness, and experimentation leads to a unique live sound that really can't be truly described. In fact, the Grateful Dead sound changes (evolves?) as the band changes. This is pretty understandable, as they played constantly for 25 years and kept changing organ/piano players.

I like acoustic Dead, and when they kick out the blues with Pig Pen, or Brent and Bobby. They're also the best band Bob Dylan ever had. Some claim the best Dead era is the early '70s, specifically the Europe tour in 1972. I definitely recommend this band to anyone. Skip the first few albums and stay away from any 'best of' compilations. Start with the 1970 self title album (also known as Skulls and Roses, or Skull Fuck), Live Dead (live, duh), American Beauty, Workingman's Dead (acoustic), Europe '72 (live), Reckoning (acoustic and live, its a double whammy), Deadset (live), In the Dark (the album with their only hit Touch of Grey).

There is so much to be said about this band... but I've gone on long enough.