Saturday, May 10, 2008

Hey y'all~

What a wonderful Saturday afternoon I've had talkin' to old DOTHAN TIGER pals http://classof68.myevent.com/
on the phone, reading Charles Jarvis' VISIONS OF KEROUAC, eating sauteed shrimp w/cauliflower and napping with the TV on.

Jarvis' book got me going all over the Internet dis evenin'
& I revisited my old buddy John Allen Cassady's website
http://www.johnallencassady.com/

image courtesy of http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=110241603
JOHN ALLEN CASSADY

John's family also has a wonderful site http://www.nealcassadyestate.com/family.html
which commemorates the virtues & accomplishments of John's Daddy, Neal Cassady.( Seeing as how Neal was a railroad brakeman & recapper & seeing as how my Grandpa Register was a railroad brakeman & my Daddy, Earl Register, was a recapper
~ I've always related to Neal The Wheel)

One of strangest nights of my life occurred back in the winter of '73/'74 when I met John Allen Cassady.

John was one my guests at a party in my apartment at 1519 8th Street here in Tuscaloosa but I had no idea who this California cat with the long platinum blond ponytail WAS.
He walked over to my desk and picked up the copy of Ann Charters' KEROUAC Susan had given me in October of '73.
He opened the book & pointed to a picture of Cowboy Neal, smiled and told me,
"That's my Dad."
Whew!

photograph by Carolyn Cassady courtesy of http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/15/books/15kero.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Neal Cassady & Jack Kerouac

Here's a portion of Jarvis' book that got me going when I read it this afternoon...


"Do you correspond much with Cassady?" I asked, being careful to stay in the present tense.

"Well I used to," came the reply. "But the past few years, I haven't. Neal's not an easy guy to keep up with, you know."

A few months later we talked again about Neal Cassady. Cassady had been out of Kerouac's life for some years. While Kerouac had lived mostly on the East Coast, Cassady persisted on the West Coast. They had remained buddies but during this period a new phase in Cassady's life surfaced that could not have escaped Kerouac's attention. The hero of ON THE ROAD had gone beyond the pages of Kerouac's epic and had emerged under his real name in another book: Tom Wolfe's THE ELECTRIC KOOL-AID ACID TEST. This was a non-fiction novel, a documentary really, on Ken Kesey, young author of the best seller, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST.
Kesey had become the leader of the LSD-Hippie Syndrome (until he dropped out later after a few legal adventures) and his story was chronicled by Wolfe in a massive volume written in a careening style which at times shouted echoes of Kerouac's ON THE ROAD. Certainly Dean Moriarity-Neal Cassady lived on as the inimitable con man-philosopher-individualist; the only difference now was that Ken Kesey had replace Jack Kerouac as the focal point of reference for Neal Cassady.

As I said, a few months after Cassady's death, his name came up again. I wondered if Kerouac had finally accepted the fact of his demise. "I won't believe it," he said, "until I see Neal packed away neatly like a new suit of clothes."

"I don't want to get morbid about this, Jack," I said, "but I understand that Cassady's body was cremated."

"Now that's a crock of shit, " he almost shouted. "First of all, Neal has always been a good Catholic, like me. He wouldn't allow anything like that. Secondly, the story of his cremation sound like one of Cassady's jokes." I made up my mind that Kerouac was mad, psychotic if you will, on the matter of Cassady's death. I left this subject as hopeless.

"What about Tom Wolfe's portrayal of Cassady, Jack?" I injected suddenly. "Some of those passages seem to have come right out of ON THE ROAD."

"I'm flattered," he said impishly. "Tom Wolfe is no Thomas Wolfe- my first writer-saint by the way- but if he saw fit to echo some of my visions of Neal, then I'm flattered." He gave me a fish-eye. "And if you're going to start talking about plagiarism- and it seems to me that that's all you professors are ever interested in, playing cops and robbers with the students- if you're going to start in on plagiarism, then I give you the back of me arse."

I laughed. Kerouac had made a hip movement with those last words. "You injure my sensibilities, Mr. Kerouac," I said, trying to perpetuate his "me arse" intonation. "Far be it from me to suggest plagiarism. Tom Wolfe is such a skillful writer and such a skilled reporter. And after all, his book on Kesey and Cassady is a monumental documentary; it is a tribute, among other things, to his research talents."

"and a toodle-de doo to you, too," came Kerouac's response.

"No really, Jack," I went on. "What I'm asking you is: did you notice any difference in your Dean Moriarity and Wolfe's Neal Cassady?"

"How in the fuck can I answer that," he said, half-smiling, "when I haven't even read Wolfe's book."

It hadn't occurred to me; that is, that Kerouac might not have read THE ELECTRIC KOOL-AID ACID TEST. "Well, then you ought to read it," I tried to recover.

"Man, I ain't got the time," he said. "I'm too busy reading other things, like Plato and Aristotle, Mutt and Jeff, The Bible- and the greatest newspaper east of the Mississippi: THE LOWELL SUN.

"The shame on you," I took another tack. "Your friend Neal would feel hurt if he found out you weren't interested in reading about him."

"My friend Neal could never feel hurt from anything I ever did that concerned him." I noticed immediately Kerouac's voice had dropped in volume. He seemed to have uttered this remark to himself. "Everything I've written about Neal has been written out of love, the kind of love that one can feel only about his brother."

"Do you miss Neal, Jack?"

"Of course I do." He answered in a way that rendered my question an accusation. "Wouldn't you miss somebody who gave you so much? I mean, I'm not afraid to admit that Neal made me a better writer. His letters, his philosophy, his whole existence were a treasure to me."

"You're not implying that Cassady's name should also have been under the title of your books?" I wondered if I had pushed too much. Kerouac threw a stare at me- and I was relieved. I had learned to interpret his stares; he had about twenty of them. This one said: "Jarvis, you are trying to mindfuck me."

"My name is where it should be: under my book titles." He was admonishing me. "But I'll tell you one thing. Neal Cassady was the greatest writer of the bunch. Better than Ginsberg, Holmes, Corso-"

"Kerouac?"

"Ah yes, Kerouac." He didn't miss a stride. "Well, we will never know that because Neal was too busy to sit on his ass like the rest of us and scribble. But he did write some things and someday these will all be collected and Neal will emerge as the father of us all."

"But in the meantime, " I said, "he keeps turning up as a character in your books and now, lately, as a character in Tom Wolfe's book. Do you feel any resentment against Tom Wolfe, or even Ken Kesey who obviously became Neal Cassady's buddy?"

Kerouac threw me the accusatory mindfucking stare again. "I'm too old to resent anybody- you diabolical professor, you." He smiled faintly. "But even if I weren't too old, and even if this were a few years back, I could bear no grudge against any man."

"Especially Neal- and the rest of Beat brothers."

"Right you are."

"Do you miss them, Jack? I mean, besides Neal. Do you miss Burroughs, Ginsburg, Corso, Ferlinghetti?"

Kerouac's face flashed sadness. Then he spoke slowly, quietly. "No, not really. I still love them all but each time frame in life is different. Back in the late forties and in the fifties, I used to see one or two or three of them and we'd get together and we'd try to decide what the hell this cockeyed world was all about. When I went out West a few times, I'd stay with Neal sometimes and it was always a great thing. And in San Francisco we all had the great times."

"And you don't miss that now?" I interrupted.

He seemed to hesitate. "Naw. Once was enough. Besides, I always kept the door open."

"A door for what?"

"A door which would lead me back."

"Back to Lowell?" I suggested.

"Well you might put it that way, although that door was also a path to my own private little monastery where I would communicate with the angels."

"The angels, " I echoed.

"That's right...Gerard, Sammy Sampas, John Koumantzelis, Billy Chandler...Memere." All the names Kerouac uttered were of dead people- except the last one, his mother. The first, of course was his brother; the second was his teenage Lowell poetic young friend; the third was high school fellow athlete; the fourth was a childhood chum. Except for Gerard, the others had died in the war.

"Did you use that door often, Jack?"

"Man, I practically existed on the threshold of that door. I think I had one big toe in the room and rest of me was up in a tall mountain walking through a little garden and talking with those angels."

"Sounds to me like you never had your heart in it... I mean the Beat Brotherhood. By your admission, you had more than just one foot out the door." Kerouac did not respond to this. A short impasse settled between us. Then I thought of something else to say. "You know, Jack, this open door business you mention reminds me of one of Aesop's fables- something about a couple of foxes or bears breaking into a farmer's food cellar and one of them gorging himself, while the othere one ate a little at a time and kept going in and out of the opening to the farmer's cellar to make sure he didn't bloat himself too much and not be able to squeeze himself out of the place. I guess the other bear or fox ate himself into a balloon and got trapped in there."

When I stopped, Kerouac affected an expression of mock surprise. "So I'm the fox," he said. Then he looked down at his distended middle. "Or maybe I should say the bear." He patted his belly, and then focused on me again. "But you're not implying, Jarvis, that I was some kind of thief, a man who only took and gave nothing in return."

"No, not exactly, " I said somewhat hurriedly. "I'm saying that this going in and out the door was a manifestation of your desire to remain free, to leave your options open, so to speak."

"Beat Brotherhood," he said. Kerouac had a way of suddenly changing direction. " I think I like the term. Did you think that up all by yourself- or did you plagiarize it somewhere?"

I feigned being offended. "I assure you, Mr. Kerouac, that I did not steal it. Seems to me that all we've been talking about the last couple of minutes is thievery- on both sides."

"Beat Brotherhood," Kerouac repeated. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. We were all brothers; but we were all on the road, each unto himself."

"Except when you traveled with Neal Cassady."

"Well yes. That was something else. Neal was the man there."
There was a quiet moment."Now he's with the angels," Kerouac added.

I knew then that Jack Kerouac had at last accepted the fact of his friend's death;
or passing on really, on to join the other
angels of his life:
Gerard, Sammy Sampas...

The following images courtesy of http://www.thebeatmuseum.org/grandopening.html

The Worthen House - one of Jack's favorite hangouts.

Inside the Worthen - see the Kerouac poster on left.

So, we’re inside the Worthen toasting a few to Jack’s memory (as if we needed that for an excuse) when we meet these couple of guys and strike up a conversation with them and it turns out they’re from out of town like North Carolina or some place and they had just left Jack’s grave like five minutes before we got there and decided to go to the Worthen as well. The one guy didn’t believe John was who he said he was and asked to see his license to prove it. We had such a hoot with these guys, everyone buying everyone else drinks etc etc.

You really ARE John Allen Cassady!




I bought my copy of Charles Jarvis' VISIONS OF KEROUAC & walked down to the Worthen.
This Yankee walks up to me and we start talking and he asks, "What brings an Alabama Rebel to this bar?"

"I guess I'm chasing the ghost of one of my favorite authors."

"Yeah, he used to drink here and lived upstairs for about a year.
The upstairs has the belt drives for those fans. The slaves used to peddle the belt drives."

"Kerouac lived upstairs?"

"Naw, Edgar Allen Poe."

An excellent example of the many Kerouac YouTube clips http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBILjdzkpzU

Here's a Cassady clip http://youtube.com/watch?v=HoopzKD8tIk&feature=related
best,
rr

Thought you all might enjoy this


1961 Minaret Recording.... written by Buddy Buie, Finley Duncan and
Chuck Reed

Females
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc66pZGrVcc

Enjoy!

The Playground Team



Playground.... Most Eclectic Mix to yet.. Turn up the Volume!!
Sent:
Sat 5/10/08 7:01 PM
To:
BassAce123@aol.com



Friends of Playground: We have changed our MySpace mix once again.. This time to include an eclectic mix of material recorded or processed by the Chief... Years run from 1968-2007...TURN UP THE VOLUME and enjoy! Thanks for the support from all of our friends.. as usual a little bio on the tunes..Click on the link above no PW needed
Motivation Mary Gresham "A Voice From the Shadows" Soulscape
Released Just 2 Weeks ago by our friends in the UK.. enjoy the Raw Playground Soul of Mary Gresham.... backed by the infamous PRS Rhythm section.. This one here is a scorcher! and yes That is John Rainey Adkins on electric guitar and Brother David on Keys.....
No One Here Klaudia... Unreleased
This is not a PRS cut. Recorded in Nashville 1988.. The Chief recorded this in a studio that was located behind Jimmy Velvet's Elvis Presley Museum.. It's our ole bud James Stroud and his merry band of "Kingsnakes", which included St Louis guitarmaster, Mike Henderson with a little assistance from American Rhythm section ace Ed Kollis on Harp and Captain Memphis (Jim Dickinson) is even playing a little banjo on this cut backing Klaudia's Austrian accented vocals... The song is as relevant today as it was then.
How Much Can A Man Take? Big John Hamilton
Just can't leave off the Playground Soul.. This cut by Big John, perhaps sums up the epitome of PRS Deep Soul. This was cut at Fame in Muscle Shoals in 1968 written by RJ Benninghoff, and backed by the Fame Rhythm Section...If Soul gets any deeper south than this someone ought to let us know. Released by Sundazed in 2007.. expect a European compilation from Soulscape later this year that includes some of the Classic Big John cuts..
Sharecropper's Son The Waco Ramblers
This is T-BONE, fiddle player from the Wacos singing the classic Ralph and Stanley Carter tune... and doing a hell of a job.. The Wacos will be appearing all summer down here on the beach.. can't blame them for not wanting to go anywhere else when you can play with a gulf view and a bikini view. The Waco CD art is in the National running for an ADDY in CD art thanks to our award winning art department WWMAD DESIGNS.
Any Americana Music Association members should please vote for the Waco Ramblers in all nominating categories.
Natchez Girl Mason Arnold and the Delta Wildcats
Recorded by the Chief in 1980 in Jackson, Mississippi... Natchez Girl has been covered by Chett Lott but we still prefer our orig..Mason writes about a Natchez prostitute.. in this southern classic... That's Violin virtuoso Mickey Davis along with piano legend Jim Dickinson playing with the Wildcats.. who include Mississippi Bobby Maxwell
Boggy Bayou Blues Clayton Lancaster
A song about a fish's trials and tribulations searching for contentment as he makes his way from the Great Lakes down the Mississippi. Southern Americana at it's best.. players include Fred DUMALOT, Ed Kollis,
and our buddy, Doug, who has inserted some mandolin... This one is for the Mullet Festival guys
Thanks for your continued support of Playground Recording Studios in Valparaiso, Florida... Some product may now be purchased on our website at www.playgroundrecordingstudio.com . Wilbur Walton Jr. release date is May 15th..
The Playground Team




Friday, May 09, 2008

RR~
Thanks for posting the lyrics. I received my Redbud cd along with The Waco Ramblers cd yesterday. I'm lovin Mr. Redbud & I think that "Johnny" may be my favorite...but that is subject to change without prior notice.
To Wilbur, David, Jimmy, John, Warren, Jim & Jill, Howard, Clayton & Chief Bigwater:
SUPERB JOB !!!
BQ~

MUCHAS, IGOR~


But Dylan adds: “One guy gave me a book that Woody Guthrie wrote called Bound For Glory, and I read it. I identified with that book more than I even did with On the Road.”

Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg at Kerouac's graveWhen Allen Ginsberg was travelling with Dylan during the Rolling Thunder Review tour of 1975 they visited Lowell, Massachusetts and stopped by Kerouac’s gravestone at Edson Cemetery, where, in a scene which appeared in the movie Renaldo and Clara, they read choruses from Kerouac’s Mexico City Blues. Ginsberg asked Dylan how he knew Kerouac’s poetry and Dylan replied: “Someone handed me Mexico City Blues in St. Paul [Minnesota] in 1959 and it blew my mind. It was the first poetry that spoke my own language.” Dylan mentions Mexico City Blues in his song Something’s Burning, Baby from the 1985 album Empire Burlesque.

Kerouac’s influence can also be heard on Dylan’s earlier album, Highway 61 Revisited. Two of the songs, Desolation Row and Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues include direct quotes from Kerouac’s novel Desolation Angels, including the phrases "the perfect image of a priest," "her sin is her lifelessness," and "Housing Project Hill." It is also informative to compare the song title Desolation Row and the phrase "junkyard angel" (used in another of the songs on the album -- From A Buick 6) with the title of Kerouac's book.

Desolation Angels was published in May 1965, and Highway 61 Revisited recorded in August 1965. The book was the first major Kerouac work to appear after Dylan began writing songs in the early 1960s. Clearly, Dylan was sufficiently affected by Kerouac's book that he chose to write those phrases into his new songs.


http://www.wordsareimportant.com/kerouaccorner.htm
dylan and ginsberg visit kerouac's grave.

William Alford

GI Motility Medical Research Page
http://alford.grimtrojan.com/





(ed. note: the end of this YouTube link finds Dylan & Ginsberg hanging out @ Kerouac's grave in Lowell, Massachusetts) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5Mnk6K_0m4

Thursday, May 08, 2008


Wilbur On Stage @ COWBOYS


WILBUR WALTON JR. & THE STRANGE GANG
take the stage!!!!!
{David Adkins, Larry Coe, Buddy Burke, Frank Tanton, Jimmy Dean, WILBUR}

See Wilbur's April 13 performance of "Georgia Pines" @ THE NORMAN ANDREWS MEMORIAL JAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YpVtW4cKvo


Johnny

Wilbur Walton Jr.

Southern Americana Tunes BMI

A Dream

Good and Evil Dream

A Dream

A Race

Johnny had a Race… A race

Johnny at his best… Hey hey hey

Johnny at his best… Hey hey hey

is still lacking

is still lacking

A Vapor

Vanishing Vapor… A Vapor

A Trip

Johnny on a Trip….A Trip

Johnny at his worst …. Hey Hey Hey

except for just one thing

Johnny at his worst …. Hey Hey Hey

Can still be saved

Can still be saved

A light

one way light….a Light

A Hope

Johnny got Hope…. A hope

Johnny at his best…..Hey Hey Hey

Johnny at his worst …. Hey Hey Hey

EXCEPT FOR JUST ONE THING

Can still be saved

Can still be saved

Johnny at his best..Johnny at his worst


LONELY SONG

Howard Martin, Wilbur Walton Jr.

Southern Americana Tunes BMI

LONELY SONGS AREN’T HARD TO SING IF YOU’VE LIVED THEM

IT’S EASY TO SPOT A BROKEN HEART IF YOU’VE HAD ONE

NIGHT TIME CRIERS DAYTIME SMILERS

THEY’RE USUALLY THE SAME

YOU CAN’T HIDE I SEE BEHIND YOUR EYES

I FEEL THE PAIN

LONELY SONGS STRAIGHT FROM THIS HEART OF MINE

LONELY SONGS OVERFLOWING MY MIND

TEARS TURNING INTO WORDS MELODIES THAT CAN BE HEARD

IT’S SUCH A LONELY LONELY SONG

DRAWN SHADES CLOSED DOORS ARE FRIGHTENING THINGS

FRIENDS WILL LEAVE YOU STANDING IN THE COLD AND POURING RAIN

ROAD BLOCKS STOPPED CLOCKS SEEM TO SUDDENLY APPEAR

DREAMS YOU THOUGHT YOU HAD WITHIN YOUR GRASP ARE SUDDENLY NOT SO NEAR

LONELY SONGS STRAIGHT FROM THIS HEART OF MINE

LONELY SONGS OVERFLOWING MY MIND

TEARS TURNING INTO WORDS MELODIES THAT CAN BE HEARD

IT’S SUCH A LONELY LONELY SONG

LONELY SONGS STRAIGHT FROM THIS HEART OF MINE

LONELY SONGS OVERFLOWING MY MIND

TEARS TURNING INTO WORDS MELODIES THAT CAN BE HEARD

IT’S SUCH A LONELY LONELY SONG


MR. REDBUD

Howard Martin, Wilbur Walton Jr.

Southern Americana Tunes BMI

MR. REDBUD

IT’S BEEN SO LONG SINCE I’VE SEEN YOU

I THINK PERHAPS YOU’RE NOT COMING

OR HAVE BEEN DETAINED AT THE COAST

AS FOR ME THINGS ARE GOING QUITE SMOOTH

THERE ARE OTHER FIELDS YOU KNOW

I'VE GOT A FRIEND ON AN ISLAND

AH MR REDBUD

I NEED YOUR SMILE

I’D LIKE TO SEE YOU

IN A SHORT WHILE

MR REDBUD

IT SEEMS YOUR SO MISUNDERSTOOD

A PASSPORT IS ALL YOU NEED

BUT UNTIL THEN I’LL GET BY

AH MR.REDBUD I NEED YOUR SMILE

I’D LIKE TO SEE YOU IN A SHORT WHILE


YOU'LL SMILE AGAIN

Wilbur Walton Jr.

Southern Americana Tunes BMI

The Years and the Wine

Sure took their toll

The Feet that were once steady

Now aren’t so Bold

Old Maps are eyes

that show where you’ve been

I still get the Feelin'

That You’ll Smile Again

YOU’LL SMILE AGAIN

YOUR DREAMS CAN COME TRUE

All of the Hard Times

They’ve been a School for you

YOU’LL SMILE AGAIN

WITH HOPE IN YOUR HEART

YOU’LL SMILE AGAIN BELIEVE ME MY FRIEND

YOU’LL SMILE AGAIN

I know there have been Heartaches

Disappointments on a roll

Handouts from Strangers

Sleepless nights in the cold

There’re Hills

There’re Valleys

It’s a Valley you’re in

I Still get the Feeling

You’ll Smile Again

YOU’LL SMILE AGAIN

YOUR DREAMS CAN COME TRUE

All of the Hard Times

They’ve been a School for you

YOU’LL SMILE AGAIN

WITH HOPE IN YOUR HEART

YOU’LL SMILE AGAIN BELIEVE ME MY FRIEND

YOU’LL SMILE AGAIN

WILBUR WALTON JR

Click on the link below to purchase Wilbur's first recording in 35 years
http://playgroundrecordingstudio.com/_wsn/page2.html
(sometimes this page has trouble loading.
In that case, go to http://playgroundrecordingstudio.com
& click on "PRODUCTS" icon)

Or click below to download Wilbur's four new tunes
http://www.digstation.com/AlbumDetails.aspx?albumID=ALB000018284




all three images courtesy of http://myspace.com/playgroundrecordingstudio

Wednesday, May 07, 2008


excellent article sent to us by our old friend Jim Tiger from out in Oregon~

The Day Newman Dumped a Director


Promotional poster for Sometimes a Great Notion courtesy of
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sometimes_a_Great_Notio...
Film - It was 1970, and things weren't going so well on the "Sometimes a Great Notion" set

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

TED MAHAR

The Oregonian

The success of Aaron Posner's Portland Center Stage production of the play of Ken Kesey's "Sometimes a Great Notion" -- held over through May 10 -- may stir younger folks to wonder whether the 1964 novel was ever filmed.

The answer is, sort of. But good luck finding it on DVD.

Whims of fate put me on the movie set when the Newman-Foreman Co. got the notion to fire director Richard Colla and replace him with co-producer and star Paul Newman.

On a lovely summer afternoon in 1970 inside the house the film company built on the Siletz River, I watched Newman, Henry Fonda, Lee Remick, Michael Sarrazin and Richard Jaeckel converse tensely at a dinner table as Colla's camera glided around at head level. Each spoke as his or her face came into lens view.

The tricky shot required intricate planning and rehearsal of actors, sound and lighting technicians, the camera crew and stagehands to pull back a wall so the camera could orbit the table in one smooth take. It turned out to be exactly what Newman and co-producer John Foreman did not want.

The next morning Colla was not even in Oregon anymore. Newman-Foreman hoped to keep Colla's firing from Hollywood as long as possible to avoid distracting publicity.

A writer for a newspaper -- I would be on the set for three days -- could get the news out right away. Alas for Newman-Foreman, that's exactly what they got.

Journalists were welcome on Oregon film sets in those days. The governor's office lavished invaluable help to film companies in finding locations, transportation, lodging and specialized support of all kinds. News stories about film production theoretically reflected credit on the governor's office and sold Oregonians on trying to attract a clean industry that left only dollars behind.

That first day I met all the stars and director Colla, plus co-producer Foreman and screenwriter John Gay. Gay blithely admitted he cut all flashbacks and made the point of view neutral rather than the novel's shifting first-person viewpoints -- one being a dog's. Gay said readers would recall what was in the flashbacks, but the simple plot of the Stamper family, divided against itself as it battles its entire logging community, was story enough for a film.

Newman played Hank Stamper, son of hellion patriarch Henry (Fonda) and cousin of born-again logger Joe Ben (Jaeckel). Newman said his spur to make the film was the scene of Hank trying to save Joe Ben, pinned underwater by a felled tree, by gulping air and blowing it into his mouth.

We were all chatty and friendly the first day. Newman offered me a beer from the working fridge in the Stamper kitchen. The unit publicist showed me around the house, and Colla described the meticulous dinner table shot, citing the movable wall and other camera moves.

On my second day on the set, I didn't see Colla -- then, or ever again. I interviewed Jaeckel, Remick, Sarrazin and makeup artist Monty Westmore away from the house. I gradually sensed something unsaid in the air. In the lunch line, I spotted cinematographer Richard Moore, whom I had seen in vigorous discussion with Colla the day before. I made a remark that implied I thought something was up. I thought it was a disagreement between Moore and Colla. But Moore assumed I had intuited the whole story and gave it away. He also gave savvy advice: Stay away from Newman and Foreman. They were in a multimillion-dollar turmoil over the firing and might well tell me to leave the set.

The great result of this was that I spent the afternoon of a lifetime hanging out with Fonda in his trailer. Fonda and Moore confirmed my guess: Colla concentrated on elaborate cinematography, which took too much time and threatened to make the film a photographic marvel while the cast felt more like models than characters.

I knew there would be no third day on the set for me. I wrote a short story in longhand in my Lincoln City motel room, quoting Moore and Fonda but not Newman or Foreman, and dictated it to The Oregonian by phone.

Foreman called me the next day, when the story appeared, furious to the point of tears. He felt betrayed. The next year I interviewed him in connection with another film, "They Might Be Giants," and all was hunky-dory again.

As a film, "Notion" is an OK story, well acted, but it barely hints at the novel's complexity. Remick seems out of place, and Sarrazin, who plays Hank's bitter half-brother Leland, doesn't convey the depth of his character's vendetta against Hank. The film's shortcomings rise not from the directorial handoff but from its streamlined concept in the script. And, perhaps, an original director more focused on his camera than his cast.

Ted Mahar: tedmahar@comcast.net

SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION was released in Great Britain under the title
NEVER GIVE AN INCH

image courtesy of http://www.rarefilmposters.com

image courtesy of www.allthelittlelivethings.blogspot.com/


image courtesy of THE BAMA QUEEN http://myspace.com/fiddledeedeeme

Fighting Over The Corpse of Kerouac...
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19980711/ai_n14177514


image courtesy of http://www.roadratroberts1.bravepages.com/JACK%20KEROUAC%202.htm

Monday, May 05, 2008

Hey y'all~

Something good happened on YouTube...
All of Justo's videos from THUNDER BEACH got posted & they play way better than the myspace posts...
Large Time (042808) - Atlanta Rhythm Section w/ Rodney Justo
Who You Gonna Run To (042808) - ARS w/ Rodney Justo
Imaginary Lover (042808) - ARS w/ Rodney Justo
So Into You (042808) - ARS w/ Rodney Justo
Ballad Of Lois Malone (042808) - ARS w/ Rodney Justo
Drum Solo / Outside Woman Blues - ARS w/ Rodney Justo
Georgia Rhythm (042808) - ARS w/ Rodney Justo
Not Gonna Let It Bother Me (042808) w/ Shaun Williamson

I just may have done something right when I named one of my little blogs ROCK PILGRIMAGE.
http://rockpilgrimage.blogspot.com
I wasn't the first to use the term on the Web but I appear to be about the first person in America to use the term on the Web so when you google "rock pilgrimage", you get over 5000 hits & not only ARE WE THE FIRST TO USE THE TERM,
GOOGLE includes images from our blog at the beginning of the search.

We gotta lock on ROCK PILGRIMAGE!

Here's a shot from my April Fool's trip to FLA that I didn't publish

CAP'N CRUNCH Was Found Beside A Body Shop Below Ponce De Leon

Keasler, Jonathan
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TUSCALOOSA Jonathan Keasler, age 18, of Tuscaloosa, died May 1, 2008. Services will be 11 a.m. Monday at Memory Chapel Funeral Home with Rev. Sandy Felkins officiating. Burial will follow in Memory Hill Gardens with Memory Chapel Funeral Home, a Dignity Memorial Provider, directing. Visitation will be tonight from 5 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home.

He was preceded in death by his grandfather, Jerry Jones, his grandmother, Virginia Keasler, and his great grandparents, Dorothy and "Hott" Jones.

Survivors include his parents, Robert and Shirley Caffee and Dwayne and Michelle Keasler, all of Tuscaloosa; his brothers, Jacob and Matthew Caffee and Zane Keasler, all of Tuscaloosa; his sisters, Julia-Ann Caffee, Cherish Keasler, and Kelbi Schreiver, all of Tuscaloosa, his grandparents, Ellen Jones, Robert and Peggy Caffee, and Gerald Keasler, all of Tuscaloosa; his great grandparents, Mark and Max Mitchell of Tuscaloosa; and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Pallbearers will be Mitch Bonnett, Jason Darden, Robin McLemore, Hunter Wiggins, Logan Rigsby, Chase Wiggins, Dylan Amundson, and Will Robertson.

Honorary pallbearers are the faculty and staff of TCHS, students of TCHS, employees of AMR, Dr. McGee and nurses of DCH Emergency Department, Northstar Paramedic, Sandi Graham, Northport Fire and Rescue, Dr. Crawford, and Camie Smith.
Published in the Tuscaloosa News on 5/4/2008.


Christopher had the sad duty today of attending his friend's KEASLER KEYS
funeral.

The only thing good about it was he got dressed up.






Hey Roberto---

I ain't getting your daily posts anymore since about a week and a half ago,
and I am getting pretty friggin' upset about it.
Without my daily zero nw fla. blog fix,
I am considering going onto a straight aspirin and Coca-Cola diet,
and you know what kind of damage that can do to a beer drinker's kidneys.

I may have to call my lawyers Sooem and Sneer about this,
if I can get them paid off for that nasty business last year,
and Tuscaloosa ain't seen anything like these ol' boys getting loose in a university town.
JD

Sunday, May 04, 2008


image courtesy of http://johnnymackbrownfestival.com


image courtesy of http://www.myspace.com/jeribacm


Rodney looks so good, and sounds terrific... It really is a thrill to see and hear him again after all these years, and in such fine form... The Section is very fortunate to have him...
Thanks for the ride,

Frank Tanton http://myspace.com/thebopcats

Andy was back last night !! My daughter and I ran into him in the
elevator at the hotel ! He looked great. He made it thru the whole
show ! Rodney was there too..Did a few songs . Also Wendell Cox from
Travis Tritt's band sat in ! OMG !! ARS tore up Snellville !!
I've put up all my pics, even the fuzzy ones up on my
myspace...don' t have a link for it yet.

Jeri in Woodstock.


I watched the videos, and I'll have to say that the band sounds the best
that they've sounded in many years. Rodney's voice is perfectly compatible
with ARS' classic hits.

I decided several years ago not to go see the band in concert again unless
something changed. That "something" has now happened, and I can't wait to
see them again!

Rodney, thank you man! I believe that you have reinvigorated one of the
best bands that ever was.

Peace,
-Doraville

Thanks for what you said Doraville. We had seen the band with Ronnie in the late '90's and it was amazing. We then went to the Stabler Arena show, where the DVD was filmed. ARS was second on the bill between John Cafferty and America. They came out on stage and started cranking, our heads started bobbing and then Andy started to sing and we looked at each other in disbelief, we watched Barry Bailey's face with a very pained expression and noticed that the crowd was silent.
We will now go back out and check out my favorite band.
Thanks,
Concertrader

From Tom Ely:

Alright, I've finished posting a select few videos
from this show on Myspace, and I'm still working on
putting them on Youtube.

Large Time (042808) w/Rodney Justo
http://myspacetv. com/index. cfm?fuseaction= vids.individual& videoid=33345495

Not Gonna Let It Bother Me (042808) w/Shaun Williamson
http://myspacetv. com/index. cfm?fuseaction= vids.individual& videoid=33387552

So Into You (042808) w/Rodney Justo
http://myspacetv. com/index. cfm?fuseaction= vids.individual& videoid=33452794

Homesick (042808) w/ Rodney Justo
http://myspacetv. com/index. cfm?fuseaction= vids.individual& videoid=33483627

Imaginary Lover (042808) w/ Rodney Justo
http://myspacetv. com/index. cfm?fuseaction= vids.individual& videoid=33510935

Drum Solo/ Outside Woman Blues (042808) w/ Rodney
Justo & Shaun Williamson
http://myspacetv. com/index. cfm?fuseaction= vids.individual& videoid=33538108