SATURDAY NIGHT MUSIC

Dallas Taylor, drummer for CSNY on their Deja Vu album passed this week at age 66. One of Crosby's-"Almost Cut My Hair".

Letting my freak flag fly-me on the right with my best pal Lowell circa1974. 

MLK Day

With thoughts of Dr. King, music from Paul Simon, 1972.
 
The year I graduated from high school. By then, disillusionment with We Can Save The World/Give Peace A Chance had set in, the smell of incense had soured. Those who gave us hope had been shot down, Nixon was re-elected and we were still mired in the Big Muddy of Vietnam. There has been some change but much to the disappointment of my generation, it has not come quick enough or as widespread as we had wished. Our impatience has always been our curse because sometimes, it takes a very long time to change the human heart

Peace like a river ran through the city
Long past the midnight curfew
We sat starry-eyed
We were satisfied

And I remember
Misinformation followed us like a plague
Nobody knew from time to time
If the plans were changed
If the plans were changed.

You can beat us with wires
You can beat us with chains
You can run out your rules
But you know you can't outrun the history train
I've seen a glorious day.

Four in the morning
I woke up from out of my dreams
Nowhere to go but back to sleep
But I'm reconciled
Oh, oh, oh, I'm going to be up for awhile

Mo' TV: "True Detective" Review

With the weather outside frightful, it's a good time for some TV binge-watching. I took on "True Detective" starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. They play a pair of wildly different State Police detectives operating in southern Louisiana investigating a murder featuring elaborate and bizarre staging. McConaughey's character senses that this is the work of a serial killer and the chase is on. A classic pulp gumbo of creepy bayous, extented family connections, beautiful women, sinister politicians and clergy, bikers, voodoo, drugs, heavy drinking and chain-smoking.

Another Southern Gothic piece in the cottage industry that HBO seems to excel in with some obvious nodding to the Lynchian universe. But not quite enough as far as I am concerned. While very well photographic and staged, with excellent, albeit over the top, acting by the two leads, the series sags when the story turns to a predictable,domestic melodrama subplot between Harrelson and his wife. And,true to form in so many cable network series, there is of course, gratuitous T&A. These two items made me groan as they smell like network blueprinting for audience appeal. The female characters in the series are barely developed and seem merely eye candy. As far as I am concerned, eliminating the wife and subplot would have made this a stronger, much more interesting and off-beat piece. I realize the writer was using this as a character juxtapose between the two detectives but it didn't work. It was, in a way, trying to introduce a part of reality in this unreal universe. Another writing cop-out: the overused plot device of the hollering police supervisor. Seems a bit sloppy if one accepts the notion that the writer is trying to create something quite unique. How many times have we seen this? C'mon.

Still, "True Detective" is worth your time if you enjoy this genre. Please be advised there are a lot of folks to keep track of. There is not a lot of blood and gore. McConaughey and Harrelson create memorable characters aided by some very good dialogue writing. A small quibble is Harrelson's choice to give his character a facial tick. Perhaps he has an actual problem but I found this to be distracting.

Series Two is scheduled to begin this summer featuring a new pair of detectives, Vince Vaughn and Colin Farrell, set a lesser-known part of California. Hmmm, shades of "Inland Empire"?

Happy New Year

From Simon Nicol of Fairport Convention: 
"End of a Holiday", 1969.