Video - New Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

From the new album - Mojo - "I Should Have Known It".

Economics Made Easy

It is amazing to me how some comedians can cut through all the bullshit and explain things in a few minutes, as opposed to the talking heads on your favorite infotainment/news channel(s) blathering and bloviating on and on ad nauseum.

Here we have the trans-Tasman comedy duo of New Zealander John Clarke (the bald guy, aka "Fred Dagg") and Australian Bryan Dawe explaining a couple of our current economic issues, breaking it all down with some dry humor and wit from down under.

First up - the banking mess...



Second - the PIGS woes...

Listen and Enjoy

Since my heart attack nearly two months ago, I've taken stock in what is important and what isn't. I think I've mellowed a lot since then, and I certainly feel a bit more fragile and aware of my own mortality.

I have been a big James Taylor fan since I was a kid in the 1970s listening to my Mom's records. This is a beautiful song, a live rendition of "The Secret O' Life" from his double live CD from 1993.

The song says a lot to me, and I share it with you hoping that you will find some wisdom in it, as well.

Life is too short for bullshit.

How Not To Get Your Ass Kicked By The Police

I like Chris Rock. Like all good comedians, he has something to say, a point of view, and it's presented in a way that not only makes you laugh but makes you think, as well. More importantly, one of the main qualities that separates a great comedian from an average one is delivery, how they say what they say - the timing, changes in vocal inflection, etc. I don't agree with all of his views on everything, but, as I have said before, I don't agree with ANYBODY on everything. And, yes, I know he is a big Obama supporter, but nobody is perfect.

Anyway, in this clip from one of his old HBO shows Rock gives some 100% sound advice that applies to anybody (not just the bruthas, as is shown in the following examples) and, of course, it's funny AND true!

Video: The Day Obamacare Died

Set to the tune of Don McLean's magnum opus, "American Pie", this is a well-made video that takes a light-hearted, satirical poke at what has become a maelstrom at the forefront of politics in America.



Hat-tip: Don

Can You Handle the Truth?

This might make you uncomfortable; it might upset your sensibilities and beliefs about the “system”. You might not agree with all his observations, but for the most part Carlin hits it on the head, especially his observations on the dismal state of education and why it is the way it is.

Go ahead. Watch and listen – if you can handle the truth.



Here's another one for you. The next time you're behind somebody with one of those "My child is an outstanding citizen at such-and-such school" - type bumper stickers, remember this clip from Carlin.

A REAL American Music Icon, Les Paul, Has Passed Away

Guitar legend-inventor Les Paul dies at age 94

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY (AP) – 20 minutes ago

NEW YORK — Les Paul, the guitar virtuoso and inventor who revolutionized music and created rock 'n' roll as surely as Elvis Presley and the Beatles by developing the solid-body electric guitar and multitrack recording, died Thursday at age 94.

Known for his lightning-fast riffs, Paul performed with some of early pop's biggest names and produced a slew of hits, many with wife Mary Ford. But it was his inventive streak that made him universally revered by guitar gods as their original ancestor and earned his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the most important forces in popular music.

Paul, who died in White Plains, N.Y., of complications from pneumonia, was a tireless tinkerer, whose quest for a particular sound led him to create the first solid-body electric guitar, a departure from the hollow-body guitars of the time. His invention paved the way for modern rock 'n' roll and became the standard instrument for legends like Pete Townshend and Jimmy Page.

The guitar that Les built.

Gibson solicited Paul to create a prototype for a guitar, and began production on the Les Paul guitar in 1952. Townshend of the Who, Steve Howe of Yes, jazz great Al DiMeola and Led Zeppelin's Page all made the Gibson Les Paul their trademark six-string.

The Les Paul series has become one of the most widely used guitars in the music industry. In 2005, Christie's auction house sold a 1955 Gibson Les Paul for $45,600.

Paul was born Lester William Polfuss, in Waukesha, Wis., on June 9, 1915. He began his career as a musician, billing himself as Red Hot Red or Rhubarb Red. He toured with the popular Chicago band Rube Tronson and His Texas Cowboys and led the house band on WJJD radio in Chicago.

In the mid-1930s he joined Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians and soon moved to New York to form the Les Paul Trio, with Jim Atkins and bassist Ernie Newton.

Paul started out as an accompanist, working with key artists until he struck out on his own. His first records were released in 1944 on Decca Records. Later, with Ford, his wife from 1949 to 1962, he earned 36 gold records for hits including "Vaya Con Dios" and "How High the Moon," which both hit No. 1.

He had met Ford, then known as Colleen Summers, in the 1940s while working as a studio musician in Los Angeles. For seven years in the 1950s, Paul and Ford broadcast a TV show from their home in Mahwah, N.J. (Ford died in 1977, 15 years after they divorced).

Les Paul was also an inventor whose genius changed music and the recording industry forever.

Paul had made his first attempt at audio amplification at age 13. Unhappy with the amount of volume produced by his acoustic guitar, he tried placing a telephone receiver under the strings. Although this worked to some extent, only two strings were amplified and the volume level was still too low.

By placing a phonograph needle in the guitar, all six strings were amplified, which proved to be much louder. Paul was playing a working prototype of the electric guitar in 1929.

His work on recording techniques began in the years after World War II, when Bing Crosby gave him a tape recorder. Drawing on his earlier experimentation with his homemade recording machine, Paul added an additional playback head to the recorder. The result was a delayed effect that became known as tape echo.

Tape echo gave the recording a more "live" feel and enabled the user to simulate different playing environments.

Paul's next "crazy idea" was to stack together eight mono tape machines and send their outputs to one piece of tape, stacking the recording heads on top of each other. The resulting machine served as the forerunner to today's multitrack recorders. Many of his songs with Ford used overdubbing techniques that Paul had helped develop.

"I could take my Mary and make her three, six, nine, 12, as many voices as I wished," he recalled. "This is quite an asset." The overdubbing technique was highly influential on later recording artists such as the Carpenters.

Paul's use of multitrack recording was unique: Before he did it, most recordings were made on a single tape. By recording each element separately, from the vocals to instrumentation on different tracks, they could be mixed and layered, adding to the richness in sound.

"In the old days, if you only had one track, you put a microphone in the middle of the music and hope for the best," Juskiewicz said.

In 1954, Paul commissioned the first eight-track tape recorder, later known as "Sel-Sync," in which a recording head could simultaneously record a new track and play back previous ones.

In the late 1960s, Paul retired from music to concentrate on his inventions. His interest in country music was rekindled in the mid-'70s and he teamed with Chet Atkins for two albums. The duo were awarded a Grammy for best country instrumental performance of 1976 for their "Chester and Lester" album.

In 2005, he released the Grammy-winning "Les Paul & Friends: American Made, World Played," his first album of new material since those 1970s recordings and his first official rock CD. Among those playing with him: Peter Frampton, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Richie Sambora.

"They're not only my friends, but they're great players," Paul told The Associated Press. "I never stop being amazed by all the different ways of playing the guitar and making it deliver a message."

Paul was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2005.

More on Les Paul here.
What some other musicians had to say about Les Paul here, including one quote that sums up almost exactly what I think.

"Les is single handedly responsible for the direction and evolution of the modern rock movement. Period. If you are a fan of modern music, you owe Les Paul an enormous THANK YOU!" _ Dave Navarro

Show Them To Me

I'm not a big Country & Western fan, but there are exceptions. This is definitely one of them. His name is Rodney Carrington, a comedian who uses music as his comedic "vehicle". This is all about the love of the female breast. NSFW and inappropriate for younger kids; but that's your call, not mine.



Hat-tip: Stephanie

And I guess this is as good a time as any to re-introduce my advocacy of Global Warming...

Moo Cow WHAT Milk???

If you watch these, I guarantee you will get to a part where you may very well ask yourself that very same question.

Lots of guys have great material and shitty delivery (fewer have it the other way around), but it's the great ones that have both great material AND delivery. It's not only what they say but how they say it - and not just with words - that makes them funny. It's the facial gestures, mannerisms, peculiarities, vocal inflection, timing and pauses, the impromptu moments...you know what I mean.

Two guys (among many others, of course) that meet those criteria are Ron White and Lewis Black. The following feature is Lewis Black, another of my favorite comedians. His material is great, delivery superb - and THAT is what makes a good comic.

There are 6 parts, just under 10 minutes each. It's the whole set. I suggest you watch them all in one sitting because...well...it's Sunday back in the States, and you have nothing better to do.

Remember to watch for the bit about milk...

Part One


Part Two


Part Three


Part Four


Part Five


Part Six

Music - Album of the Week

The current Album of the Week, 'But Seriously, Folks...' is the fourth studio album from Joe Walsh, and it's a classic; possibly his best as a solo artist. Anyway, I'm leaving it up for another week, and I came up with a novel idea for this and future Album of the Week features. Each day (or thereabouts) I will put a different song from the album on the blog in video format for your enjoyment. Nothing fancy, just a way that you can hear different songs from the album. So here is track 1, "Over and Over."

For Battlestar Gallactica Fans

And, no, I'm not talking about the cheesy, original series from the late 70's with Lorne Green. The new series is far better, not only for the improvement in special effects, but the story line is really good, with an intelligent plot and lots of symbolism. But even if you aren't into the show, I think you'll enjoy this very well-done video that uses various screen shots from the show set to the music of Queesnryche. The song, "The Right Side of the Mind," has an eerie quality that just matches perfectly with the images.

Music: Jackson Browne

OK, since this is at the center of this big hoo-ha, I might as well feature the song in question. Here is Jackson Browne performing "Running on Empty" at the No Nukes concert at Madison Square Garden in 1979. Trivia note: The drummer is Russ Kunkel, one of the great studio musicians that backed not only Jackson Browne, but also James Taylor, Carole King, and Carly Simon (among others) in the 1970's on most of their albums of that time. And the guy that just rips on steel lap guitar is the legendary David Lindley, another fixture in Browne's band at that time.



More Jackson Browne biography and discography.

Music - Steely Dan

Wow! What can I say about Steely Dan? I grew up listening to their music, and I still love it. Led by the "dynamic duo" of Walter Becker and Donald Fagan, their unique blend of rock, jazz, and blues; often nebulous and mystifying lyrics; tight arrangements; distinctive melodies and chord progressions; and the constant flow of great musicians - from great guitarists like Elliot Randall, Denny Dias, Larry Carlton, and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter to back-up singers like Michael McDonald (who both went on to join the Doobie Brothers, and Baxter is now private missile defense consultant at the Pentagon!) and countless others - made them one of the premier musical fixtures of the 1970's. Wikipedia, which may not be a very reliable source for most things, is quite thorough (and most of the time accurate) when it comes to musical biographies and discographies. Check it out for a pretty detailed history.

This is from the video/DVD "Plush TV Jazz-Rock Party," a live concert given at the Sony Studios in New York City in January 2000. The song is "Green Earrings" from the 1976 album "The Royal Scam." I have the VHS of this show and the original album, and, personally, I think this is a better version than the original album recording.

70's NZ Classic Rock - Dragon

From what I have heard and read, these guys were quite popular down-under back in the 70's. Here's a quick bio:

Dragon was one of Australasia’s top groups from the mid 70’s to mid 80’s. After two moderately successful albums for Polygram NZ, Dragon moved to Australia in 1975 and by 1978 had conquered that country also with smash singles like 'April Sun in Cuba', 'Are you Old Enough' and 'Still in Love With You'.

The classic line-up from 1975 – 1979 consisted of Marc Hunter, Todd Hunter, Paul Hewson, Robert Taylor and various drummers. In 1998 Raven via EMI released two compilations of Dragon recordings; a single disc greatest hits called 'Snake Eyes on the Paradise' and a double album called 'Tales From the Dark Side' which included the greatest hits plus a disc of collectible items including Marc Hunter solo material.

Dragon are an important part of Kiwi music history, Dragon was known world-wide. Formed in the 70's, they are known best for their hits 'April Sun in Cuba' and 'Are You Old Enough'.

This is their big 1977 hit, "April Sun in Cuba."


For more info go here and visit the band's official website.

Music - Earth, Wind, and Fire

Believe it or not, the first concert I went to was Earth, Wind, and Fire in 1979, and it is one of the best shows I have ever seen. You may not think that, being a big fan of 60's and 70's rock, I would be into EWF, but I'm here to tell you that I am. These guys had it all - the soul, the groove, the harmonies. I can't say enough about a group like EWF that can put a full sound out there with REAL horns, REAL percussion, guitars, and front men like Maurice White and Phillip Bailey who had real stage presence and could REALLY sing! The crap that tries to pass itself off these days as R&B is pitiful; I can't even call it music. This is EWF at their peak, just as I remember them. Bassist Verdine White (brother of lead singer and founder, the late Maurice White)provides incredible musical as well as vocal harmonies and lays down such solid time and rhythmic energy to complement the solid back beat, and check out Johnny Graham's ultra-soulful guitar solo with that crunchy blues riff toward the very end - WOW!!! So, without further ramblings from me, here is Earth, Wind, and Fire, live at the Oakland Coliseum, 1981, with their huge break-out hit from 1975, "That's the Way of the World." Enjoy and turn up your speakers!

Stand-Up Comedy - Ron White

Today's comic is Ron White, featured as part of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour a few years back with Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy, and Bill Ingvall. This routine is called "Drunk...In...PubLICK." To me, one of the things that makes somebody funny, aside from good material, is the delivery - timing, facial gestures, and voice inflection. Ron's got it all. Have a good laugh!

Music and Comedy

Yeah, to me they go together like peanut butter and jelly, bacon and eggs, beer and nachos - you get my point (hopefully). First up, some comedy from the recently departed George Carlin. Agree or disagree with some, most, or all of his politics, to me he was one of the funniest people I can remember. Here is one I put up last year, but it is still so relevant that I feel compelled to put it up again. This is George on "The Planet is Fine." Now, I don't think anybody in their right mind is "in favor" of poluting our environment willy-nilly; we all have to breathe and have clean water to drink and uncontaminated soil to grow food. That is not what George is talking about here. He is satirizing the over-the-top, self-important environmentalists out there, hell-bent on trying to save the planet and dictate to the rest of us how we should live. I always use a varied version of what he says here when debating moonbats, telling them, "Let's be clear, here. We are not really interested in saving the planet, per se, but rather saving our own little place in it." When I hear all the nonsense about "preserving bio-diversity" I just have to laugh. This vain attempt to preserve the environment - to freeze it in time - is absurd and arrogant. The planet is always changing. That's what it does, and it will do it with or without our help. That's all. Here's George:


As for music, here's something a little different. I'm sure you're all familiar with the song "What a Fool Believes," a HUGE hit for the second incarnation of the Doobie Brothers from their 1978 album "Minute by Minute" with Michael McDonald as the new front man. My friend, Scott, refers to McDonald as "the voice that killed the Doobies." He has that effect on some people - most either love it or hate it. While I am partial to earlier Doobies stuff from the Tom Johnston era, I also like some of the stuff from the second era. I enjoy McDonald's unique vocal qualities, especially as a back-up singer - he can be heard backing other artists from Rickie Lee Jones ("Youngblood" on her 1979 self-titled debut album), Steely Dan (multiple albums and as a member of their "live band" when they briefly toured in the early 70's), to Little Feat, which is where, by the way, he first came to the attention of Patrick Simmons (co-lead singer and guitarist from the older incarnation of the Doobies) when they met for the first time in the studio to sing back-up on "Red Streamliner" on the 1977 Little Feat album "Time Loves a Hero." The rest, as they say, is history; but I digress.

What you may not know, though, is that "What a Fool Believes" was co-written by McDonald and Kenny Loggins, and was actually released earlier in 1978 on Loggins' "Nightwatch" LP (most known for a big Top 40 hit, a duet with Stevie Nicks entitled "Whenever I call You Friend"). McDonald rearranged the song a bit, and it was, as I stated above, a HUGE hit for the Doobies later that year. The following is Loggins and McDonald doing the song together in a 1992 Loggins concert that was released on his 1993 album "Outside: From the Redwoods." As the title suggests, it was an outdoor concert in a beautiful Redwood forest setting, perfectly complementing this version of the song which has a very laid back, soft jazz feel, quite different from that of the staccato syncopation that drove the Doobies version. There is lots of space and understatement from a terrific back-up band with a soulful alto saxophone solo towards the end, and Loggins' and McDonald's voices work very well together. I really like it, and I hope you do, too.


While we're at it, here's the Doobies, once again reunited with founding member, Tom Johnston, in a live recording of "Clear as the Driven Snow" (originally found on their 1973 album "The Captain and Me") from the 2004 DVD release "Live at Wolf Trap." This features Pat Simmons on lead vocals and acoustic guitar and a rousing electric guitar solo from Johnston, getting that clear, powerful sound and trademark sustain from his Mesa/Boogie amplifiers (first made famous by Carlos Santana on the "Abraxas" album). The guys are tight and sound awesome! It's hard to believe they're well into their 50's! Enjoy!

The Lighter Side

You may remember these guys from their Top-10 hit single, "One Toke Over the Line." Brewer and Shipley were part of the folk-rock movement of the late 60's - early 70's. In the tradition of FM radio back then (which would have been in its fledgling stage) I like the album cuts and "B-sides" so here is one of 'em: Brewer and Shipley from their 1970 album, "Tarkio," the song "Oh, Mommy (I Ain't no Commie)." By the way, for you trivia buffs, this is the B-side of "One Toke," and that's the late Jerry Garcia, of Grateful Dead fame, featured on the pedal steel guitar which really adds to that down-home, country/bluegrass feel. Enjoy!



Now, if you like this early FM radio "Album Rock" (as opposed to the commercial "classic rock" stations that rotate the same six songs from the same 12 bands, check out the link to RadioIO over on the right in the "Radio Links" section. You "Guys" (you know who you are!) who are older than I will definitely have a few "senior moments"!

We're Back!

After almost a year, the Yank is back! A lot has happened in the world, and we'll cover that in time. First, though, we're making some changes. I've said this before when I have gone away from the blog for a while, but this time we'll be making a REAL effort to not get caught-up in the day-to-day bullshit of politics. You can visit any one of the blogs on our blogroll for the latest in that type of coverage, but we're really going to expand the blog into much more of an eclectic experience. I'm getting back to what I really enjoy - music, cars, bikes, music, racing, rugby, music; book, movie and TV reviews; cartoons/funnies/photos; did I mention music? Yeah, I'll still do essays and op/eds and coverage of things happening here in Kiwiland, but I want to share a bit more of my interests, and hopefully you'll find at least some of it interesting, too!

First up, let's get into some music. I started playing guitar nearly 30 years ago because I had a real passion for the music I was growing up with - the rock music of the 70's. Not long after that I got into jazz, too, thanks in no small part to a high school band-mate named John Medeski, a real prodigy and fantastic musician (keyboards) who has since gone on to a career in music with his own band, Medeski, Martin, and Wood, as well as playing with some jazz notables like guitarist John Scofield. While still a kid in high school, John played with the late, iconic jazz bassist, Jaco Pastorius of Weather Report fame as well as backing-up Pat Metheny and Joni Mitchell among others. I played guitar through high school and university where I double minored (along with English literature) in music theory and played a lot of jazz and rock gigs, and, while I haven't put in the 6-8 hours a day practicing like I did back then, I still enjoy picking-up the guitar now and then, and my love for music has never waned.

Lately, I have found a lot of really good stuff on Youtube, the following being no exception. This is a band you may be familiar with: Free, two of whose members, singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke, went on to form Bad Company. The following clip is from the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, which, while surpassing Woodstock in sheer attendance numbers, was considered by most observers and participants to be a less the favorable gigging experience. Gone was the flower power, peace and love movement embodied by the Woodstock festival, to be replaced with more angst and some violent episodes, due in at least some part to the presence of biker gang elements, though nothing like what happened at the Rolling Stones concert at Altamont, CA the previous year (Note: The Wikipedia article cites the stabbing death of Meredith Hunter as having occurred during the performance of "Under My Thumb", but it was actually during "Sympathy for the Devil").

Anyway, Free was an awesome band with a minimalist, hard-edged bluesy sound; raw, young talent at its best (they were barely out of their teens when they appeared at the Isle of Wight). Paul Kossoff had one of the best quivers (string-bending tremelo), and was a master of the "less is more" approach to guitar soloing; Simon Kirke lays down solid time; Andy Fraser's bass is sublime, providing great syncopation and rhythmic links to Kirke's drumming and harmonies to complement Kossoff's guitar; and Paul Rodgers has one of the best rock voices ever, full of soul and power. Essentially a "power trio" (much like Cream) with a vocalist, Free relied on tight interplay between the musicians to achieve a sound that was bigger than the sum of its individual parts.

One thing I noticed while watching these old videos was a rather uncanny resemblance between Rodgers and Jason Lee (of the TV show, "My Name is Earl"), who played the lead singer, Jeff Bebe, of the band Stillwater, featured in the Cameron Crowe film "Almost Famous." It's almost as if Crowe said, "Make Jason look like Paul Rodgers."

Jason Lee as Jeff Bebe in Almost Famous (photo credit: Cameron Crowe)


From left to right: Andy Fraser (bass), Paul Rodgers (vocals), Paul Kossoff (guitar), Simon Kirke (drums)

Enough of the background; here is Free doing "Mr. Big" at the Isle of Wight Festival. Enjoy!!!


Here is a much "cleaner" rendition, a live-in-the-studio version from 1971.


And this is a (reportedly) rare black-and-white clip of a performance of their BIG hit, "Alright Now", circa 1969, Australian release.


For more just got to Youtube where there are quite a few videos of Free doing a few of their other songs as well as some interviews.

I'll try to do a new music feature on every post, and I'll definitely do some more on Free.

The Planet Is Fine

George Carlin - comedian, social commentator, raconteur - has been on the scene for going on 40 years now. He is enlightened, witty, blunt, and hilarious. I don't agree with all his views, but I don't agree with anybody all the time. This is one of the times that I do agree with him, and he is right on the money. Here he takes the piss out of the so-called environmental movement.