Soul Survivor - Al Green

Soul Survivor: A Biography of Al Green by Jimmy McDonough, 2017

Read this is September 2017.

After reading this biography I have strongly mixed feelings about Al Green now. An amazing singer and performer… an awful nasty person with moments of empathy. He was mostly a cruel person after those hitmaking years and his life was like a tv soap opera drama. He was terrible with women and incredibly cheap with his money. His Christian ministry was a bogus money making attempt after his hits dried up.

Despite that he was an incredible performer and singer in his time. I love his music and even some of the later comeback albums. I guess I could say I was a die hard Al Green fan but it was very painful to read about his personal life.

Al Green albums in my collection:

• Back Up Train, 1967
• Green Is Blues, 1969
• Al Green Gets Next to You, 1971
• Let's Stay Together, 1972
• I'm Still in Love with You, 1972
• Call Me, 1973
• Livin' For You, 1973
• Al Green Explores Your Mind, 1974
• Al Green is Love, 1975
• Tokyo Live, 1981
• I Can't Stop, 2003
• Absolute Best, 2004
• Lay It Down, 2008

Bed-Stuy is Burning

 

The What When Book List

Bed-Stuy Is Burning by Brian Platzer, 2017

Read in August 2017

An interesting novel about race relations and the gentrification of the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of New York City. It seemed to successfully depict the climate and culture of a city and neighborhood under siege as long time residents try to protect their homes from the encroaching wealthy "urban pioneers". It explores very complex issues and develops into a very powerful and timely book.

The Sail

 

One Year and Reading

Today it’s been one year of retirement and folks have been asking what I’ve been doing… Ongoing work on the house and backyard, gardening, traveling, our first grandchild and apparently a lot of reading. I checked my Good Reads app this morning and realized I’ve read 67 books since last September 1 including 35 novels, 6 biography/memoirs and the remaining were assorted history, political, social and music non-fiction. And listening to a lot of music of course.

Some novels by old favorite authors… Richard Russo’s Everybody’s Fool, Tana French’s The Trespasser, Benjamin Black’s Wolf on a String. Also Laila Lalami’s The Moor’s Account, Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad and Colum McCann’s Let The Great World Spin. I also read a lot of SF and dystopian stuff like the Expanse series and the Red Rising series that held my attention over multiple books. Over the years I’ve read everything by Neil Stephenson but somehow missed Snow Crash which I remedied last spring. Also Paulette Jiles' News of the World.

I read a lot of political books too… an essential that everyone should read is Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped From The Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. Also Arlie Russell Hochschild’s Strangers In Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, Noam Chomsky’s Who Rules The World, George Packer’s The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America, and Jane Mayer’s Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right.

Some other great reads from my list… Patti Smith’s M Train , Blair Tindell’s Mozart in the Jungle, Graham Nash’s Wild Tales, Bruce Springsteen’s Born To Run and David Hajdu’s Love For Sale: Pop Music in America. Also William Knoedelseder’s Bitter Brew: The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America’s King of Beers.

The Moor's Account

 

The What When Book List

The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami, 2014

Read in August 2017

A fascinating well written novel about 16th Century conquistadors exploring what is now know as the Gulf Coast of America from the perspective of a Moroccan slave. The story is based on true historical accounts from surviving documents. The author has taken factual events and created a fictional tale.

Enjoyed this book very much.

The Albums - 4 Way Street

I’ve still been listening to a lot of CSNY since reading Graham Nash’s book and I’m looking forward to seeing him again in the Fall. I was at the concert in Chicago where some of this album was recorded in 1970. Great show. I saw the 1974 tour in Philly which was also good but a little weird and it was interesting to read about it in the book.

Perfume River

Perfume River by Robert Olen Butler, 2016

Read this novel in August 2017

This was a beautifully written and thought provoking novel that explores family ties and the legacy of the Vietnam War. I enjoyed this book very much although it was both powerful and painful. It gives insight into how war damages people and families.

This is one of many Vietnam War novels I've been reading these past years. It is the war of my generation. I'll never forget hearing other young guys standing on our neighborhood street corners telling stories about their experiences in Viet Nam or seeing that haunting look in the eyes of old friends who enlisted in the Marines or Army at 17 and came back damaged for life. This novel brought back a lot of that.

Oboe Reeds

Listening to a lot of oboe music lately. While reading Mozart in the Jungle, a memoir by an oboe player, I became fascinated with oboe reeds and the necessity of serious players to make their own reeds. I was a reed player… clarinet and saxophone. You bought a reed, moistened it and started playing. I’ve always known oboe and bassoon double reeds were very different from what I used but didn’t realize the extent the customized shape and thickness impacted the tone and quality of the sound. So much of the playing depended on the expertise of reed making. The oboe player in the book obsessed over her reeds, bought imported cane and spent hours working at her reed table. Also found out there is a cottage industry in NYC of oboe reed makers used by professional oboist who don’t have the time to make their own.

Family Library of Great Music - Vinyl Spins

Vinyl Spins. Family Library of Great Music

Recently reading Blair Tindall’s Mozart in the Jungle reminded me of my early purchases of classical music in the 70’s. In addition to her memorable descriptions of her life in the orchestra pit she also wrote about the social, cultural and financial aspects of classical music in America during her career before becoming a music journalist.

I purchased these classic music albums from supermarket checkout line displays in the mid 70’s where a new one was added to the rack each week. They were inexpensive budget albums and a good place to start a collection. I bought about a dozen of them before I realized I was better off spending a little more and getting Deutsche Grammophon records instead.

Mozart in the Jungle - The Memoir

Readings - The Book List 

Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs and Classical Music by Blair Tindall, 2005

Read this in August 2017.  Different and in some ways better than the TV show.