MY SHOCKING CONFESSION!!!
In keeping with the explanation of the House of Pancakes, I'm up late and working on the second bottle of wine. And for some reason (probably connected with the music I'm listening to at the moment), I feel moved to make a SHOCKING CONFESSION!!!! And here it is:
I think Al Stewart is about the best thing since sliced bread. As I write, I'm listening to "League of Notions" from the long out of print album "Between the Wars." Who else would write a song about the armistice after World War One, in a semi-Country style, and then end it with a Latin phrase?
He sometimes plays at the Mucky Duck in Houston. And sometimes at Cactus Cafe in Austin. Either way, it's more than worth the trip. I think I've mentioned him tangentially before (as in Hayes Carll opened for him), but I don't believe I've ever just come out and said how gosh darn good he is.
He's really quite good in concert. In the Willie Nelson review, I had to qualify the "best concert I've ever seen" with "or pretty darn close, anyway" because I've yet to see someone do it better than Al. (But then, I'm an Al Stewart fan, and Al plays small rooms, whereas I'm not a Willie Nelson fan and Willie plays in places bigger than I like.) Anyway, Al has a new album coming out shortly, so I'm going to give it a plug here. It's called Beach Full of Shells. I don't know why its called that. I'm sure it's a literary reference that I don't get. Or something. Anyway, I've heard a couple of the tracks-in-progress in concert. It should be good. I pre-ordered mine from a fan site for about a few bucks more than Amazon (if you're paying Amazon's shipping) because it comes with an opportunity to purchase an exclusive limited edition unreleased track that didn't make the album. (You may laugh, but last exclusive limited edition Al Stewart release like this has sold for as much as $300 on eBay and regularly sells for $70-$100.)
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Now here's the problem with the "second bottle of wine" thing. My mind tends to wander. And it's wandered. (Actually, it wandered a while ago when the song changed. I wrote what's below back then and came back to finish what's above. I'm actually listening to Blue Oyster Cult, "Burning for You" at the moment, but it doesn't inspire me to write anything.)
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But "League of Notions" ended. Now it's Billy Joel singing "Piano Man." And there's that line about "John at the bar is a friend of mine; gets me my drinks for free...." That's the job I'd rather have--John at the bar. But then there's that line where John says "Bill I believe this is killing me, as the smile ran away from his face." I notice that happens to me a lot (the "smile ran away from his face" thing), but I don't think I could be a movie star if I could get out of this place. I just want to be John at the bar. Funny how things work out. The grass is always greener, I guess.
I think Al Stewart is about the best thing since sliced bread. As I write, I'm listening to "League of Notions" from the long out of print album "Between the Wars." Who else would write a song about the armistice after World War One, in a semi-Country style, and then end it with a Latin phrase?
He sometimes plays at the Mucky Duck in Houston. And sometimes at Cactus Cafe in Austin. Either way, it's more than worth the trip. I think I've mentioned him tangentially before (as in Hayes Carll opened for him), but I don't believe I've ever just come out and said how gosh darn good he is.
He's really quite good in concert. In the Willie Nelson review, I had to qualify the "best concert I've ever seen" with "or pretty darn close, anyway" because I've yet to see someone do it better than Al. (But then, I'm an Al Stewart fan, and Al plays small rooms, whereas I'm not a Willie Nelson fan and Willie plays in places bigger than I like.) Anyway, Al has a new album coming out shortly, so I'm going to give it a plug here. It's called Beach Full of Shells. I don't know why its called that. I'm sure it's a literary reference that I don't get. Or something. Anyway, I've heard a couple of the tracks-in-progress in concert. It should be good. I pre-ordered mine from a fan site for about a few bucks more than Amazon (if you're paying Amazon's shipping) because it comes with an opportunity to purchase an exclusive limited edition unreleased track that didn't make the album. (You may laugh, but last exclusive limited edition Al Stewart release like this has sold for as much as $300 on eBay and regularly sells for $70-$100.)
______________________________________________
Now here's the problem with the "second bottle of wine" thing. My mind tends to wander. And it's wandered. (Actually, it wandered a while ago when the song changed. I wrote what's below back then and came back to finish what's above. I'm actually listening to Blue Oyster Cult, "Burning for You" at the moment, but it doesn't inspire me to write anything.)
______________________________________________
But "League of Notions" ended. Now it's Billy Joel singing "Piano Man." And there's that line about "John at the bar is a friend of mine; gets me my drinks for free...." That's the job I'd rather have--John at the bar. But then there's that line where John says "Bill I believe this is killing me, as the smile ran away from his face." I notice that happens to me a lot (the "smile ran away from his face" thing), but I don't think I could be a movie star if I could get out of this place. I just want to be John at the bar. Funny how things work out. The grass is always greener, I guess.
Labels: Al Stewart, Entertainment, Music
posted by Jack at 5/18/2005 01:53:00 AM
4 Comments:
So this is what you were doing last night instead of finishing your work or other things....
I am glad to see you come out of the closet like this, I am sure it will be a good step forward ;-)
I did it years ago and even though my father wondered out loud if I was a groupie (I am not) it was definitely the right thing to do. I think he is better than sliced bread but then again I don't eat bread.
Even a okay Al concert is better than most other people's best. There was one Paul Simon concert where he really let go and held the arena in the palm of his hand, but I digress....
Al's concert in Chicago last week was fantastic, well worth the journey, 6.5 hrs down there. Al is also an extremely nice and personable man on top of his talents as a musican.
I understand procrastination well, at the moment I am writing this instead of packing and my ride comes in 10 mins!!!! Yikes!!!!!
You don't want to be a bartender. You got to talk to people all day and listen to people all night. It sounds much more glamorous in the song. It is a stressful, annoying, sometimes very fun job. On the other hand, it's a great way to meet members of the fairer sex. You get a lot of drunk chicks that order stuff like sex on the beach and screaming orgasms.
From what I've seen though, guys in your profession have no problems meeting women. The babes think power and money is an aphrodisiac.
Anomyous--
I've been a bartender and 've been a lawyer. I know what I like.
Where can I to learn abt it in detail?
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