I Am A Musical Whore

The past few months have provided lots of musical excitement. I've got CDs coming from folks all over and it's absolutely wonderful. I joke with my friends about my many musical affairs. I am such a whore... I'll trade mix CDs with anyone who's willing!

I once met a musical partner in Mt. Airy by accident. I overheard a conversation this old-time banjo player was having about a mix CD that a friend gave him. As he was describing the songs, I realized that it was one of my mine! I introduced myself and we instantly connected musically. We had an amazing ongoing musical affair for a couple years. He would send me multiple mini discs of these crazy old ska 45's that he very roughly recorded and collections of dirty blues songs. I'd send him mixes of food songs, dirty R&B, silly old country songs and indie pop. I haven't heard from him in years, but I still send him a mix CD every now and then.

Christa and I started our affair in the late 90s, when she cohosted a few Thursday Night Features on WXYC with me. We'd do these three-hour shows on dreamy vocalists from the 40s and 50s and we's share tapes or CDs of our favorites. And then there were the tapes of our annual Bettyfest on Divaville at WXDU. Our musical affair continues to this day. She is the only person around who I can geek with on the best decade of Bobby Darin's career, the slur in Sarah Vaughan's voice, or the best version of "The Way You Look Tonight."

Back then, WXYC led me to another musical partner. A listener in Brazil had loved one of my shows and emailed the station to find out who I was. I can't remember his name. He was obsessed with Superchunk and I was obsessed with Latin psychedelic music and Carmen Miranda. Our musical affair was beautiful. He would go absolutely nuts when he received a stack of autographed Superchunk CDs in the mail.

There was also Jason. Over the course of many years, I'd get a phone call every few months: "Dude, whatcha doin' tonight? Well, ya see, I need your help, Charlotte. Can I come over?" We'd pull out the bourbon and cigarettes and I'd listen to his sometimes dire stories of his romantic relationships. His stories would end with "What should I do, Charlotte?!? I really like her!"

My response: "We have to make her a mix tape!" Concocting a mix tape on cassette would usually take us all night since we were recording in real time and we never managed to hit the stop button at the right moment. And then there was the discussion of the lyrics... everything had to be perfect. We couldn't give off the wrong impression!!! Our mix tapes of woo always seemed to work for Jason. I know what girls want. A couple years ago, the night before Jason moved across the country, we made our last mix tape together. We made a pact that twice a year, we'd make mix CDs for each other. It worked for a little while, but alas that musical relationship has fizzled, too. (Jason, come back!!! I need your mix!)

I have been having an ongoing musical affair for the past couple years with my friend, Lightnin'. I saw him about a month ago and found out that when I was going through my Donovan obsession, he was on a Donovan kick at the same time. How cool is that!? He's sent me some great ukulele music, some crazy calypso, yodeling, and we even swapped comfort CDs.

Every now and I then I am invited to be in a musical orgy, more politely called Mix Tape Club. I am currently having musical relations with a bunch of folks in Manhattan, some of whom I will never meet. There's 12 of us and each month one person mails out a CD to the rest of the group. It's thrilling!! My month is July which is National Hotdog Month... heh heh heh.

No Mail Days Are Sad Days

I first got an email account in 1995 back when I had some sort of 486 computer. (I am not really sure what the 486 stands for, I just remember that it was old.) I would go days and days without receiving any emails. I put a postcard on my computer monitor that said "No Mail Days Are Sad Days." When I did see a message in my inbox, it was such an thrilling event. Nowadays, I get probably 75-100 work emails a day (which for some people is low) and lots of personal ones and tons of spam. The days of receiving no email are over. And the days of being excited over receiving email are over. Reading and responding to emails are now a chore.

But regular mail is another story. I used to be such a good correspondent and wrote letters to friends frequently, but times have changed. No mail days are not sad days, but just typical days. The only mail that I receive nowadays include bills, pizza coupons and magazines. Who has time to sit down, write out a letter, address an envelope and find a stamp, etc.? I love letters, but I have just gotten out of the habit of writing them. It seems that the majority of letters that I write are post-holiday thank you notes. I also send out homemade mixes every now and then.... usually right after I go to the post office and stock up on stamps. Other than than, my old habit of writing letters is dead.

But it is so exciting to come home to find real mail outside on your porch in your mailbox! When I receive a letter in the mail with a real stamp and a hand-written address, I usually make a little squeal and do a little jig in my foyer as I rip the envelope open. Even better is when I come home and find a *package* with a hand-written address and a stamp. Over the past couple days, I have received three such packages, all of which had music inside: Donovan, 10cc, Woody Guthrie and a couple homemade mixes. GRIN!

Right now, I am listening to this 10cc collection. I love 10cc's song, "I'm Not In Love."

Ukulele, Lamp, and Fire Disjointed Post

All weekend, I played hooky from working... which is bad since I am trying to get tax stuff ready for some clients. Instead this weekend, I had fun. After spending several hours in Granddaddy's Antiques in Burlington and fighting the urge to buy a HUMONGOUS folk art boat made out of twine and tiny sticks, I went to Elizabeth's and played a little uke with a handful of folks. I really struggled at first... having to look down at my chord book for every single chord change and missing most of the notes. But, after awhile (and for the first time in my life) I felt like I was starting to get it. I could actually play along and be a part of the group as I struggled through "Folsom Prison Blues." Eventually, I got most of chord changes down and was able to concentrate on the rhythm and play along. And it felt amazing. Oh my gosh! What a rush. (The snip of whiskey helped as well.)

After playing the ukes, Elizabeth, Noah and I rode over to Hillsborough to see my inspirational friend, Lightnin' play some amazing stuff not only on a regular ukulele, but also on his BANJO UKULELE. He makes it look so easy and sound so good. Just thinking about him playing the ukulele makes me want to keep trying no matter how much I feel like I suck. My goal is to get "Wabash Blues" and "12th Street Rag" down... but that is years off at the rate that I am going. Lightnin' tells me that he's been on a Donovan kick, too. I'd like to learn to play some Donovan on the ukulele, but again... that is YEARS away.

So this evening, after an afternoon of bocce and a tragic basketball loss, I tried practicing my banjo uke and I suck all over again. The freakin' tuning is just messing me up. The "standard" GCEA tuning just doesn't sound right to me. For some reason, I seem to prefer the outdated Roy Smeck tuning of ADF#B. I don't understand how one tuning can sound "better" than another, but somehow that is what is happening. I really tried to play some GCEA songs tonight on my own and it was really discouraging. But I know, I need to keep trying. AND HOW DO YOU KEEP THIS THING IN TUNE!?!??! I think I need to make more of an effort to make it to Uke Jam Night at High Strung. I need some major help... even if it is just sitting and watching other people play while holding my uke in my lap.

Oh, and where the hell did this lamp come from? I walked over to Elizabeth & Kevin's house (Different Elizabeth and not Ukulele Elizabeth) to watch the basketball game. I left during the last minute of overtime because it was just too painful to watch. When I got home, I found this lamp on my porch. It is kinda ugly, but I also kinda like it. I don't like the shell finial, which is actually cut off in this photo. If the finial were an olive shell, I'd like it more. But is this lamp really ugly? I might like it with the right shade.

Follow up to the fallen tree: Elizabeth took this photo of the tree that caught fire last weekend. I was a little doubtful about the tree catching on fire, but this picture proves it. Never a dull moment in our neighborhood. Whee!

New Records

I love buying music. I buy enough that I even track it as a separate item in Quicken. (Geek! Geek!) Last night I really wanted to find that Vetiver record, so Chris and I stopped in Bull City Records after dinner and margaritas on Ninth Street. Perhaps under the influence of a teeny bit too much alcohol, I bought:

CDs:
The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
Joanna Newsom - Ys

Vinyl:
Fleetwood Mac - Mystery To Me (pre-Buckingham/Nicks)
Marshall Tucker Band - Long Hard Ride (featuring a guest appearance by Charlie Daniels)
Flip Wilson - Cowboys & Colored People
Christopher Cross - Self-Titled
Fetchin' Bones - Monster
Little River Band - Self-Titled from 1975

My friend, Bill, whose musical tastes are very similar to mine, told me that the new Shins CD is really good and is already on his top ten list for 2007. So, I had to buy it. And everybody's talking about Joanna Newsom. So, I had to try that one, too. But then I went crazy with the records. I had to whittle down my stack of ten LPS to a more manageable six.

Chaz talked me out of the Charlie Daniels Band record. Is Charlie Daniels really that bad? Is my newly developing obsession with Southern/Country rock something that I should keep to myself? Nah.

I'm still waiting on my Donovan Catch the Wind record and my Say Anything DVD. The bozo that I ordered it from through Amazon never mailed them and won't respond to my emails!!! Jerk. So, my obsession with Donovan has been put on hold for the time being.

Golden Hour of Donovan

On my lunchbreak, I stopped by Offbeat Music to search for that Donovan record of which I've been obsessing the past few days. No luck, but I did run into a friend who works at Nice Price Books and and said that he would set aside that Donovan record (if he could find it) at his store to pick up after supper. But I couldn't wait until after supper... what if they didn't have any Donovan records at Nice Price!?! When I returned to work, I went ahead and ordered that Catch the Wind CD off Amazon and it was cheap! I also ordered Say Anything on DVD. Both were so cheap that I even used expedited shipping, so I could have them by the weekend.

Speaking of Say Anything, Ione Sky, who stars in that movie, is the daughter of DONOVAN!!!! Ione looks like her dad. Anyone needing a Lloyd Dobbler fix, please let me know... watching Say Anything is best done with others. I can play you some Donovan, too.

After I got home from supper at Blue Corn (the chicken with mole sauce was great!) and my trip to Nice Price Books, I pulled out my two new Donovan LPs and listened to side two of the Golden Hour of Donovan. The LP was full of pops which produced a cozy warmth that you just don't feel listening to a CD or an Ipod. The music was great and hearing "Catch the Wind" again just about made me melt. But I cannot figure out this record. It is some sort of collection put out by the Golden Hour label who put out other hits such as Golden Hours of Sounds Orchestral and Golden Hour Presents a Latin Happening. Nice.

Donovan Is Not the Same as Bob Dylan

Sunday, a week ago, I heard a song on Back Porch Music, that really resonated with me. The song was called "Catch the Wind." I thought to myself as I drove down the street, "Wow, I really LOVE this Bob Dylan song." I kept the song in my head until I was talking with Bill and I said, "Do you know a Bob Dylan song called "Catch the Wind?" He politely pointed out to me that it was not a Dylan song, but a song by Donovan. He played it for me. It is such a great song and so beautiful and so freakin' sad. It was perfect. Something in that song makes me want to somehow absorb it... soak it up like a sponge. I don't know how to do this, but maybe if I curl on the couch under a blanket with a cup of tea and just sit quietly and listen to it hard enough, I can make it a part of me. But I need to go out and get the record. I actually heard the entire first side of the Donovan's Catch the Wind record and just loved it. It is where I am right now. I have several Dylan records that I got from my parents, but for now, my love is Donovan.

Bob Dylan's latest release, Modern Times, has been sitting up in the new releases box at the radio station for awhile now. I hadn't played it until last Friday, because after hearing "Catch the Wind," I thought I need to start learning more about Dylan. But the track that I chose, "Thunder on the Mountain" just didn't do it. It sounded too produced and gloppy. I guess I need to try out some of the older Dylan records that I have: Nashville Skyline, Highway 61 Revisited, and Bringing It All Back Home. But right now, I just want to feed my Donovan craving.