In Which David gets to be a guest Blogger...

My friend Allen, whom I know through my son Josh, asked me to do a guest posting on his music themed blog, Weed, Whites and Wine. I did a post about Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Tom Rush, but mostly about Ramblin' Jack. Find it HERE. There is much good stuff in Allen's posts. Sit down there and rest a spell.

This February Day...

Abraham, Charles, and...who else?

Born on this date in history:

Dom Dimaggio, the little centerfielder who could. One of the all-time great centerfielders...

Bill Russell, the center who revolutionized defensive "Big Man" basketball, and who was a true champion...

Ray Manzarek, the classically trained keyboardist who joined with Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore to form The Doors, and who still performs with Krieger today as well as doing many solo projects... 

Auspicious birth day, this.

Long Toad Evenin'

For the past week or so I have been listening to "Astral Weeks" by Van Morrison. I don't know what it is exactly... the instrumentation, the quality of the playing, the evocative lyrics, the familiar voices, or maybe it's just where I think I was when I remember first (and often) listening to it. I think I was in the desert outside Tucson, where I lay on my back looking at the summer night sky, and I was playing it on my 8 track in the cab of my flatbed truck. Or not. Maybe it just takes me there, to 1969, the summer I turned 21. 

Maybe it's the image of Cyprus Avenue and its habitues, or the Ballerina, or the Slim Slow Slider... maybe it's just the fact that I never knew I would hear these words in this order, and have never since: "If I ventured in the slipstream, between the viaducts of your dream"... Could you find me... to be born again.

The lyrics here: Astral Weeks Lyrics

ATTRIBUTION

I used to have to help my mom find my dad. I think sometimes he just needed a way to have his voice; to keep from feeling lost, getting lost, or going into slippery places. He was smart, he was good looking, and made friends wherever he went. He had a way with words. I think he would have been a remarkable blogger. 

He was born in Texas, and was even a cowboy a couple of times. From him, and from the silver screen heroes Gene, Roy, and Ben Johnson, I learned that a real cowboy took care of his responsibilities, and never put his horse away wet. Here we go...no wet horses.